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The West Indies allrounder, Dwayne Bravo , will be joining the Mumbai Indians team for the ongoing innaugral season of IPL 2008 replacing the injured Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga. Lalchand Rajput, Mumbai’s coach, confirmed that Bravo was the unanimous choice of the “few” names discussed by the team think-tank. Malinga, recovering from a knee injury that he picked during the CB Series in Australia, and, had to miss the Caribbean tour but was confident last week he would be fit to join the Mumbai squad. But Rajput said “we got a report that his recovery might take a further two to three weeks. So we decided to have a back-up”.

Lasith Malinga has been the second player to be not playing the initial matches for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League this season, earlier Sachin Tendulkar has ruled himself out from the start ups and the captaincy of his team was passed to Harbhajan Singh who is playing from Mumbai Indian’s team.

Brendon McCullum gave IPL the perfect start that was expected of the first match of the much hyped tournament. On Friday at 8:00 IST the whole world with million of cricket fans all over the world saw the cricket changing for ever. Earlier in the evening thousands of people sitting in the Chinnaswamy stadium and millions watching glued to their television watched a spectacular opening ceremony of the gala event with host of artists performing there but soon cricket took centrestage as the two former captains of India Ganguly and Dravid walked out for the toss.

The destiny played leveler in the match, as it eventually turned out Dravid won the toss but lost the match and Ganguly lost the toss but had it leveled by winning the match .

There were bollywood style razzmatazz,scurrying lasers, heart stopping cheerleaders and resplendent fireworks but the night actually belonged to Knight. The real fireworks were actually provided by him. Brendon McCullum played an innings which one seldom gets an opportunity to see these days. None of the Bangalore’s Royal Challengers bowlers were spared from his wrath. Such was his marauding batting display that he hit 10 fours and 13 sixes to blaze to 158* coming of just 73 balls and in process taking his team Kolkata Knight Riders score to 222 in their stipulated 20 overs. But what came as a  real shock was the meek submission of the Royal Challengers. They were skittered out for a paltry 82.

Rahul Dravid would have rued about his desicion to bowl first on winning the toss in the second over of the match itself with Zaheer Khan proving expensive with 18 runs of his very first over. McCullum alone proved to be more than handful for the Royal Challengers by belting 158 of his team’s 222. No other Knights left any impression in batting. Ganguly coming on to open the innings with McCullum never looked comfortable and went cheaply for 10 but what mattered was the partnership of 61 that he put for the first wicket before he was caught at slip by Kallis of Zaheer Khan’s delivery. Ricky Ponting then made 20 before he too perishing of Kallis caught by P. Kumar but not before adding 51 runs for the second wicket. D Hussey could also not do much with the bat as he too fell cheaply for 12 caught by White of Noffke but from their Hafeez and McCullum made sure that no balls are further wasted on falling wickets and in process took their team’s total to 222.

Coming in to bat Royal Challengers looked bludgeoned even before the first ball was bowled. The score of 222 was never going to be easy to achieve but it was the manner in which Dravid and his team went about in chasing  the score that showed lack of game plan on their part. Moreover the Knight Rider’s bowlers were right on the track from the very first delivery. Ishant took the prized wicket of Rahul Dravid of the very first ball of his spell and since then the Bangalore team never seemed to get over the setback. How miserable was their performance could be imagined from the fact that the highest scorer for them was the extras with 19 runs.

For knight Riders, A Dinda took 2 wickets for 9 runs, Ishant took 1/7, Ganguly and L R Shukla too joined the party with 2/21 and 1/11 respectively. But the man who took away the accloades in the bowling department was the Indian veteran Ajit Agarkar who took 3/25.

As the Kolkata Knight Riders gear up for their first match of the Inaugural edition of Indian Premier League(IPL) 2008, Here we present the heart pumping Anthem of Kolkata Knight Riders to all you fans. The team anthem has been composed and sung by Vishal Shekhar; one will get to hear a line often in the anthem,”Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo“(Will do, Will fight, Will win) and that happens to be the team’s slogan while ‘Hoog Lee’ a cartoon caricature of Royal Bengal tiger is the team’s mascot.

For more videos keep visiting watchlivecricket.co.in

Since than it has covered all the news of cricket in itself.

Here are some views of some of the main protagonists in the IPL to know how it will effect on World Cricket.

SOURAV GANGULY: Former Indian Captain and Captain of Kolkata Knight Riders’ Team In IPL

“This is such a big tournament and players are giving such importance to it, that the ICC has to work out a time when all the players are available to take part.

I’m sure all the Test-playing nations can sit down and find a time for the IPL.

Why should the English players be deprived of the financial benefits of taking part?

I can certainly see England players like Kevin Pietersen taking part in the IPL next year.

The IPL will be a threat to county cricket, but I don’t think Test cricket will lose its importance.

The players give importance to Test cricket. We know it is the real cricket and always will be.

Twenty20 is basically a revenue earner. Now we will have to wait and see what the ability of players and the turnout for the matches is.

I’m sure it will kick off well and we’ll have to see if the interest can be sustained.”

JOHN BUCHANAN: Coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders and a former coach of Australia

“It’s crucial that the administrators understand what they’ve got here.

Everybody has to allow a window for players to come into the IPL, earn their money, and then go back to their countries.

I foresee a situation where we have eight to 10 zones around the world and you have zonal play-offs in a three or four-week period.

Then you would have a world series, in a roofed stadium in say Dubai, Australia or America, which would be a carnival of cricket.

Administrators need to understand some of the potential dangers. Cricketers are professional people with a professional skill that doesn’t last a lifetime.

Take the West Indies. They are almost bankrupt as a cricketing nation, yet you’ve got wonderful players over there.

What will they say if they get an offer from the IPL? Chris Gayle was signed by us for $800,000 but would struggle to probably earn a 20th of that back home.

England, India and Australia players are relatively well remunerated, but virtually every other country struggles.

Countries need to understand that their players will be subsidised by this short tournament and then go back and play in their country competitions.

But Test cricket will always have a following. Maybe not a following that comes through the turnstiles, but a latent following that listens to, reads about and understands the game.”

MANOJ BADALE: Chairman of Emerging Media, which owns the Rajasthan Royals

“Any tournament that aspires to have the best players in the world is going to be poorer for not having access to England, one of the major cricket-playing countries.

But it’s a reality that the IPL was always going to clash with at least one domestic season, because the calendar is so packed.

And when you look at the players who are on show and bear in mind that each team can field only four foreign-based players, there’s plenty of talent there.

I think it’s critical for the IPL that all the franchises operate within the rules of the various cricket boards around the world.

We have the only English player currently in the IPL, Dimitri Mascarenhas.

His county, Hampshire, were incredibly supportive, pro-active and flexible and looked for a way to make it work for the player.

We conducted the conversation with the full knowledge and involvement of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and they saw it as very much a decision for Hampshire.”

DAVID LIGERTWOOD: Main agent for the IPL. He has brokered 24 player deals for the competition

“I would be very surprised if there isn’t a big increase in the number of English players in the IPL next season.

It will be difficult to resist, because the players want to play and there will be pressure from the Indians.

If you get someone like Vijay Mallya (owner of the Bangalore Royal Challengers) wanting Pietersen to play for Bangalore, he could make that happen by offering a very lucrative package.

Pietersen would command a salary in the $1m plus bracket, there’s no doubt about it.

I don’t see any point in the ECB being dogmatic about it. In all new ventures, you need to be open minded.

If the scheduling can be worked so that England players can be made available, even for a few weeks, people need to have a positive approach to that.

I think it’s purely a scheduling issue. I don’t think anyone wants to see people playing in the IPL instead of for their countries.

The ECB will need to be more flexible, particularly when there aren’t Test matches or international games on, for example at the start of the county season.”

HAROON LORGAT: Chief executive of the ICC and will formally take over from Malcolm Speed on 1 July

“I think the IPL will be a real challenge.

Whenever there are large sums of money at stake, the possibility of conflict is a lot stronger and one would have to be very careful in managing it.

That’s a genuine risk. But hopefully member countries will adhere to the principles they have agreed to.

As long as the BCCI maintains the right of the ICC to control the game internationally, I think it will work well.

I would love to see the Twenty/20 as an opportunity to grow the game around the world.”

INDERJIT SINGH BINDRA: Co-founder of the IPL and sits on its governing committee. He is also a special adviser to the ICC and former head of the BCCI

“We want to function as part of the global cricketing family.

In the long run, we will do a lot of good to cricket and make it truly a global sport.

We would love to see English stars like Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff as part of the league - they are the only players missing for the time being.

We will be very happy to do anything to accommodate the requirements of the ECB and ensure that these players can participate, but not by disrupting the system.

We don’t want to be a rebel league, we want to be part of the system, with the support of the ECB.

Unfortunately, the only season the IPL clashes with is the English one, so we have to find some way of accommodating their requirements as we go along.

The ICC have said they will try and find a permanent slot for the IPL, which will make it a lot easier for the players to know what the calendar is and what the options are.”

KAPIL DEV: India’s captain when they won the World Cup in 1983. He is now head of the Indian Cricket League, a rival to the IPL

“If English players want to play in the IPL, I’d say please come and play and work out a better life for yourselves.

How can you stop anyone getting education and learning more in life? Do you say that unless someone gets educated in a certain school, they cannot be educated?

Let’s not be hypocritical. Contracts should be very open. Whenever a player’s country or county is playing, they should turn out for them, but when they are free, they should be allowed to do whatever they want to do.

People from all around the world are coming to play in England. Is that wrong? When we say we are coming to play in England, you people are happy.

Nobody stops us, no board comes forward and says ‘no’. When cricket is being played in India, that’s also good.”

The stage is finally set for the much hyped Indian Premier League(IPL) to begin on April 18. After several months of hype and negotiations regarding players, their auctioning, billion dollar TV-right deal, the threat by the medial of a blackout of whole tournament its finally time for the curtains to rise.

Stadium roof has been connected to the playing square with a giant bubble with acrobats also a part of the opening ceremony of the gala event to add to its entertainment quotient. But still for a first of its kind, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, both former Indian Captains and now the rival Skippers for tomorrow’s game will walk out for the toss in a stadium that will be plunged into darkness.

Shortly after a "short, sharp and sweet" opening ceremony to launch the inaugural edition of the Twenty20 tournament, the organizers are planning to switch off the floodlights before the first match between Dravid’s Bangalore Royal Challengers, the hosts, and Ganguly’s Kolkata Knight Riders, the visitors, which begins at 20:00 local time . "Then, the spotlights will come on, and focus on the two skippers as they walk out for the toss," Charu Sharma, the Royal Challengers’ chief executive told in a press meet.

"We are pushing to have the toss under spotlights and are waiting for permission from local authorities, considering the number of people who will be there at the stadium when the lights will be switched off. This is something that has not really been tried before," he said.

After the toss, a couple of players from the fielding side will be "miked up" to chat directly with the TV commentators during the match. "Another attraction for the TV audience, but this has been done before, I guess," Sharma said.

  However, the most important part of the whole 45 minute opening ceremony starting at 18:30 IST is being speculated as the reading out of the pledge by all the captains gathered at the mid-pitch stating IPL’s faith in the spirit of cricket."There will also be speeches by Ray Mali, the ICC president, Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, and Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman."

The ceremony also incorporates an amalgamation of brilliant fireworks, stilt walkers, aerial gymnasts, performers in the bubble suspended over the ground with some tinsel town stalwarts also coming down to the match venue which is going to add the cine glitz to the match. As for now its known that SRK, Preity Zinta are going to make their presence there with Shankar-Ehsan-Loy set to mesmerize the crowd with their performances.

Bangalore is also banking on 12 cheerleaders from the Washington Redksins, the ‘First Ladies of American Football’, to draw more fans to the stadium. "The entire exercise is to have the right balance of glamour and cricket," said Sharma. "Usually, cricket is not associated with such ceremonies, and this will be a novelty. At the same time, we would not want the genuine cricket fan to get frustrated waiting for the game to start. Our aim is to present a spectacle that’s short, sharp and sweet, which reflects the spirit of the IPL."

So fans get set to welcome a new era of cricket, come the anticiapted hour[8 pm] and the game of cricket will  change forever.

After the Indian Premier League from BCCI, Cricket Australia(CA) also want to launch its own version of a privately funded Twenty20 competition similar to the IPL. But the league will not be at the expense of Future Tours Program(FTP).

In a program for Fox Sports,Cricket Australia’s acting chief executive Michael Brown said ,”We always look at new ideas. We remain committed to international tours, but we are also aware of what Allen Stanford is planning in the West Indies with Twenty20, as is the International Cricket Council. We will also be monitoring the new IPL competition, which is about to start in India. It will be a case of suck it and see.”

Brown also said ,”We’ve seen tremendous growth and interest in our own domestic (Twenty20 competition) KFC Big Bash. The competition has been a huge success, averaging crowds of between 12,000 and 15,000. But at the moment we are dealing in hypotheticals. We remain committed to our future tours policy, that is the game’s bread and butter.”

Brown’s comments assume significance in the wake of reports that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is in talks with American billionaire Stanford to discuss the creation of a Twenty20 tournament similar to the IPL in England.

The ECB said that it was considering detailed proposals from Stanford, who set up the Stanford Twenty20 tournament in the Caribbean.

The inaugural IPL has attracted many of the world’s leading players, including Australians Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee, Mathew Hayden, Andrew Symonds, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. Also the biggest thing that has attracted the various cricket boards is money because no other series can bring that amount of money which only few twenty20 matches having superstars of various countries can do.

Bollywood King Shah Rukh Khan is still hopeful of Rawalpindi Express’s participation in the first match of Indian Premier League. King Khan is the owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders team and Sohaib was to play from his team.

"I am still hopeful that he will be able to play in the first game."

The Indian Premier League(IPL) Kicks off from Tomorrow.

"Even if he (Akhtar) can come midway through the tournament, I would like him to play," the actor said.

Akhtar at present is banned for five years by the Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) for violating the players’ code of conduct.

The actor made it clear that he had talked this issue with the coach John Buchanan and the skipper Sourav Ganguly and both have assured him that the team is going to be a balanced one even in the absence of Akhtar.

"I believe the tribunal is hearing the appeal the day after tomorrow and we are hopeful that the PCB gives him an NOC (No Objection Certificate) and he can play," expressed Shah Rukh yesterday.

Shah Rukh also brushed aside the woos regarding the ticket sale’s slow pick up in initial stages, he  was optimistic of ticket sales improving with passing times as the tournament progresses.

"In this case, unlike films, the tickets for the matches will sell even on the day and day before the match. Hopefully, sales will be better in the coming days."