Lions looking to settle scores - Petersen

Lions captain Alviro Petersen doesn't have any preferences for their opponents in the Champions League final on Sunday, but has a score to settle with both Sydney Sixers and Titans. Lions lost to the Titans in the final of the MiWay T20 Challenge earlier this year while the Sixers are the only side to beat Petersen's side in this competition.

"I don't really mind any of them [Titans or Sixers]," Petersen said after they beat Delhi Daredevils by 22 runs in the first semi-final on Thursday. "We lost to the Titans in last year's (sic. 2012) final. It would be nice to beat them there. The only game we lost in this tournament has been to the Sixers so we would like to put one over them as well."

Petersen believed that hunger and focus are the constants which the team will take to the final. "What I can assure you is the team will be up for it once more, the boys are hungry. We are playing good cricket. We know that the road that we are on doesn't end here. We are focused on preparing for what lies ahead, and that will be our real focus.

"I think the hallmark of this team is that the guys are so committed to each other. We know that everyone can't perform every day. When it's someone's turn, they make the play for us," he said.

The Lions were also not put off by the forecast of inclement weather. Petersen said their performance had improved as they progressed through the tournament.

"We wanted to get out there and play. There was talk of rain but the guys were really professional and mature, the way we have gone about our preparations and performance.

"Running at 75% we have still beaten teams, and today I thought we really upped it to about 85-90% and we showed what sort of team we are. We will take that confidence to the final as well," said Petersen.

Neil McKenzie brought the experience of his 105 Twenty20 games after he walked into bat in the 11th over with his side on 63 for 3. He forged a 59-run fourth-wicket stand with half-centurion Gulam Bodi, McKenzie himself making a 28-ball 46 with four boundaries and a six. However, McKenzie still believed the Lions were ten runs short of a competitive total, but the confidence in the dressing-room made the difference.

"We got off to a nice start with Gulam [Bodi] and Alviro [Petersen] but then we had a little hiccup in the middle there," McKenzie said. "When I got in, there wasn't much time to settle in. It was a case of getting in as quick as I can. Gulam played some nice shots and he got a fifty. But I thought we were ten [runs] light.

"Back in the dressing-room, the guys were saying 140 is enough and the bowlers backed up with a huge effort. The Man-of-the-match could have gone to a lot of the bowlers - [Aaron] Phangiso, [Chris] Morris, Sohail [Tanvir], all the guys did the job. Alviro rotated the bowlers beautifully. It was a great team effort."

McKenzie, who was part of the Hampshire side that won the English domestic Twenty20 competition as well, said experienced batsmen like him also have a place in the format.

"There's definitely a room to bat my way and for the other ways. As long as the strike-rate is high at the end of the day, you can't have seven hitters in the side or seven deflectors. We have a nice balance at the moment, we have a plan to go till a certain stage and then go big from there. It is all about communication, role clarification," he said.

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Vaas to assist NZ bowlers during SL Tests

New Zealand has taken on Chaminda Vaas as their assistant bowling coach for the two-match Test series in Sri Lanka. He will assist Shane Bond, who was appointed bowling coach last week, for the last part of their five-week tour, which begins with the one-off Twenty20 international on October 30.

"We wanted someone with experience in the subcontinent to work with our young bowlers. [Chaminda] Vaas will work alongside bowling coach Shane Bond during the Tests," New Zealand coach Mike Hesson told reporters in Colombo on Friday. "Vaas' extensive playing experience in local conditions will provide valuable input, as we plan and prepare for the Test series. An important part of his brief will be to provide tactical advice to the bowling unit, especially our contingent of left-arm seamers.

"In terms of professional development, it's a great opportunity for Shane Bond to work alongside a different style of coach and I'm sure he'll benefit from the experience."

Vaas, Sri Lanka's second-highest wicket-taker in Tests and ODIs, said he was eager to work with the likes of Doug Bracewell, Chris Martin and Tim Southee, and the left-arm trio - Trent Boult, James Franklin and Neil Wagner.

"I am pleased to have the chance to work with an international team, particularly a side like New Zealand [which has] such a large number of talented young fast bowlers," he said. "I feel my recent experience as a player and understanding of conditions in the subcontinent will benefit the team."

Ahead of their last full tour of Sri Lanka in 2009, New Zealand hired former Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq as a consultant, to help their spin bowlers as well as advise the batsmen on how to play spin in the subcontinent, a trend that Hesson, the new man in charge, has followed.

"When we tour a number of countries, we try to access specialists," Hesson said. "When we play in the subcontinent the conditions are very foreign, so we need to learn. We try to take every opportunity that we can. We are very open to get people on short term basis and hopefully it will work."

Following the one-off T20 and the five-match ODI series, the Test series begins in Galle on November 17.

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New Zealand have enough talent to win - Oram

New Zealand have not enjoyed much success in 2012 so far, with defeats to South Africa, West Indies and India, and a Super Eights exit from the World Twenty20. They are determined to make amends on their five-week tour of Sri Lanka, and, according to allrounder Jacob Oram, are confident of doing so.

"We are not here to lose and we are not here to just make up the [numbers], we want to win," Oram told reporters in Colombo on Friday. "If we play well we are confident that we can win. We do appreciate that Sri Lanka is a very good side in their home conditions and more than a match for us at times, but we have enough talent.

"We come with young guys who have played only a handful of matches, and experienced ones with the likes of me, Kyle Mills, Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum. We are hoping to balance our team with a bit of both. We've got to make sure the talent comes out at the right time."

Another senior man in the squad, James Franklin, said that most of his team-mates are familiar with conditions in Sri Lanka and this could come in handy. "Our last trip here was a few weeks ago [for the World T20], and the temperature and humidity hasn't changed much. We are reasonably familiar with the grounds here.

"We play the first couple of games in Pallekele, where we were based during the World T20. It might take the new guys a few days to get used to conditions, but for the majority is a bit of a groundhog day being back in Sri Lanka."

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will enter a new era with Angelo Mathews the new man at the helm in the shortest format. Mathews will face a bit of a challenge to begin with, as Sri Lanka are without two of the team's lynchpins - Mahela Jayawardene and Lasith Malinga - for the one-off Twenty20.

"The selectors wanted to give these two cricketers a rest. Their absence from the team is a big loss but with the squad I have been given, I am confident we can win," Mathews said. "Working under Mahela [Jayawardene] is a big learning curve because he is the best captain Sri Lanka has ever had. It is a privilege to be his vice-captain.

"The selectors thought that I was ready for it [the captaincy] so they gave me the job. I am excited."

The one-off Twenty20 on October 30 will be followed by five ODIs and two Test matches.

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Sydney Sixers in final after nailbiter

Sydney Sixers 164 for 8 (O'Keefe 32, Lumb 33, van der Merwe 1-23) beat Titans 163 for 5 (Wiese 61*, Davids 59*) by two wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Fortunes ebbed and flowed in true Twenty20 style in Centurion, as Sydney Sixers scripted a final-ball jailbreak to set up a title clash with Lions on Sunday. It was a heartbreak for the home fans, who showed up to cheer for Titans, and for the rest of the country, who would have hoped for an all-South Africa final.

In a tournament that hasn't seen too many of the high scores normally associated with this format, a target of 164 was always going to be a challenge. Sixers were the form team, coming into the semis unbeaten, and seemed best equipped in all departments to overhaul any challenge thrown at them.

It was still anybody's game in the final over, with Sixers needing eight with three wickets in hand. Titans captain Martin van Jaarsveld gambled by tossing the ball to CJ de Villiers, who had had an ordinary night leaking 26 off his first two overs. Ben Rohrer was adventurous enough to paddle-scoop the first ball but could fetch only a couple. He scooped the second ball straight to mid-off but crucially in those few seconds, Pat Cummins - who blitzed a six the previous over - crossed and shielded the new batsman from facing. The following ball cost Titans as de Villiers sprayed it too wide of the off stump and was penalised. Cummins heaved the next to deep midwicket, survived a run-out appeal and picked up two more. He stole a leg bye, exposed Mitchell Starc who couldn't put away a short ball but also managed to sneak a leg bye. There were memories of Johannesburg 2011, when Cummins snatched a Test win for Australia with the bat. He did it again this time when he swung and missed, but it didn't hurt Sixers as the wicketkeeper Heino Kuhn was way off the mark with his throw and, despite a collision with the bowler amid the frenzy, Cummins managed to crawl to the other end to secure a thriller.

A nailbiter seemed unlikely after the electric start provided by the openers Michael Lumb and Steve O'Keefe, who was in his makeshift role due to Shane Watson's departure to Australia. The pair added 54 in just under five overs with clean hits, each boundary met by a hush from the crowd. The first eight overs contained at least one boundary. The ninth was the start of Titans' comeback, via their spinners. Eden Links clean bowled O'Keefe for 32 and the following over by Roelof van der Merwe produced two wickets, including a run-out. It was the first of two communication breakdowns in Sixers' innings - Steve Smith and Nic Maddinson found themselves stranded on two separate occasions and Sixers had slipped from 85 for 1 after eight overs to 115 for 5 after 13.

Van der Merwe came back well after being caned in his opening over but a couple of meaty blows by Moises Henriques narrowed the equation. The match see-sawed again when Henriques and Nathan McCullum fell off consecutive balls, and it came down to Cummins to secure the highest-successful chase in this edition of the tournament.

That the match even had a competitive ring to it though was thanks to contrasting half-centuries by two Titans batsmen with similar sounding names. Henry Davids batted through the innings with 59 off 44 balls while David Wiese made the most of his relatively short stint with an unbeaten 61 off 28 balls.

Titans were at an underwhelming 91 for 5 after 16 overs, desperate for a push. Wiese began his onslaught by lofting Cummins high over midwicket and in the same over fetched back-to-back fours to take 15 off the over. It was a sign of things to come as Wiese bludgeoned consecutive sixes over the on side off Henriques in an over that leaked 23. They ransacked 72 off the last four overs and Wiese brought up the tournament's fastest fifty - off 25 balls - to give Sixers something to think about. In the end it was fitting that Sixers, the most dominant side in the competition, made the final.

Innings Dot balls 4s 6s Powerplay 16-20 NB/Wides Titans 48 13 7 39/3 75/0 0/4 Sydney Sixers 45 16 5 60/1 43/3 0/5

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Australian and South African powerhouses clash

Match facts

October 26, 2012
Start time 1730 local (1530 GMT)

Big Picture

As expected of a young tournament with potentially different qualifiers every year, we have a semi-final between two sides that have never met each other. However, these two sides - not literally, but the regions they are derived from - are traditional powerhouses in their respective countries.

It is generally said that a healthy New South Wales equals a healthy Australia. The same can be said of Pretoria and surrounds, the region the Titans represent, and South Africa. This is one of the appeals of the Champions League. We can quibble about the formats, but here are two teams, traditionally best or thereabouts in their own domestic tournaments, facing each other for a right to play the final of a lucrative tournament.

Sydney Sixers don't have Shane Watson or David Warner (both New South Welshmen now) available, but Titans have lost out on more stars for various reasons. Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers all come from the region, yet they are either injured or representing other franchises, South African or Indian. Sixers, on the other hand, have retained services of a homegrown pace attack that has even Test fans excited. If only Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were going up against Steyn, Morkel and Marchant de Lange, we could even have looked at this as a bit-sized precursor to the blockbuster Test series next month.

Watch out for…

Starc and Cummins have been known outside Australia for some time now, but this was an important tournament for Josh Hazlewood. The rest of the world now knows of another potential baggy green holder. He might not have taken many wickets, but he has bowled his quota in all the four matches he has played, and has gone at just 4.5 per over. Starc, who is leading the charts with 11 wickets, will no doubt acknowledge Hazlewood's contribution to his wickets.

Forget homegrown players, Titans have the services of one who has taken a rather circuitous route. Alfonso Thomas was born in Cape Town, moved to the North-West team in Potchefstroom, then joined Titans, before leaving for Dolphins and then came back to Titans. Despite his one Twenty20 international representing South Africa, he is mostly known to those outside South Africa as a Somerset professional. He will be key if Titans are to exploit what remotely resembles a weakness: Sixers' batting.

Weather and conditions

The forecast point to a "mostly sunny" day and a "mostly clear" evening in Centurion. If it does rain enough to wash the game out, we still have a reserve day on Saturday. That reduces the teams' challenge to dealing with the slightly tacky bounce at SuperSport Park. That this is Titans' home ground should give them a slight advantage.

Quotes

"There won't be any change in game plan. Everybody knows their role and we will continue to play our roles whether Shane's here or not. So, I don't think that is going to be an issue."
Sydney Sixers' Peter Nevill on the absence of Shane Watson

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England have point to prove - Finn

Steven Finn has said that England will head to India in search of a fresh start and eager to restate their credentials as one of the best Test sides in the world, after a difficult year in which they lost the No. 1 ranking, their captain and very nearly their star batsman.

A 2-0 defeat at home to South Africa led to England being deposed as the top-ranked team in Tests and precipitated Andrew Strauss' retirement from cricket, leaving Alastair Cook to assume the Test captaincy ahead of one of the most difficult touring propositions in the game.

England have not won a Test series in India since 1984-85 and struggled against subcontinental opposition last winter, being whitewashed 3-0 by Pakistan in the UAE and drawing 1-1 in Sri Lanka. England's victory in Colombo was only their fifth Test win in Asia, against countries other than Bangladesh, in 27 years but Finn said Cook's squad have a point to prove and invoked their landmark Ashes victory of 2010-11 by way of inspiration.

"It is almost a fresh start for us," Finn said, "the Test team hasn't played together since August so we've had a bit of time and we've got a new captain who will have his own ideas how he wants the team to move forward. There are a few fresh faces in the squad and I think we like proving people wrong. We like rearing our backs up in the face of adversity.

"It is something we're excited about, I don't think an England team have won out there for 27 years so we're looking to do a similar thing to what we did in Australia, by breaking those sort of records."

The tour is likely to provide Cook with plenty of challenges, not least brokering a successful return to the England environment for Kevin Pietersen, after a turbulent summer in which he retired from limited-overs internationals and was then dropped from the Test side after admitting sending messages about Strauss to members of the South Africa squad. The circle will be completed when Pietersen joins up with England in Dubai over the weekend, after his IPL team, Delhi Daredevils, were knocked out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage.

England have set much store by team unity in recent years but Finn said that he was looking forward to playing with Pietersen again. "He is a world class player and has produced some splendid innings that have won us games so I think it's great to have him back and good for English cricket," he said.

England's last win on the subcontinent, against Sri Lanka in April, was inspired by Pietersen's magnificent innings of 151 and knitting him back into the fabric of the team would appear to be essential to the tourists' chances in the four-Test series. While India will be seeking to avenge the 4-0 whitewashing they suffered in 2011, England also have plenty at stake.

"We have a massive point to prove," Finn said. "We have to prove to the general public, to the people who comment on the game and to people within the game. If we want to be the number one side in the world again and get that mantle back we have to be able to perform in subcontinental conditions.

"We have done a lot of work since we played Pakistan earlier this year, as a unit and as a team, developing skills that we will need in the subcontinent - playing against spin, using old balls on wickets that aren't doing much. We have done a lot of work to refine our game to become better in the subcontinent and hopefully that will bear fruit on this tour."

Investec, the specialist bank and asset manager, is the title sponsor of Test match cricket in England. Visit the Investec Cricket Zone at investec.co.uk/cricket for player analysis, stats, Test match info and games

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Mitchell Marsh loses Australia A spot

The allrounder Mitchell Marsh has missed out on being selected for Australia A because of his behaviour in South Africa over the past week. Marsh was one of several Perth Scorchers players who had a big night out in the lead-up to a must-win Champions League Twenty20 match and he and his brother Shaun were subsequently dropped from the Scorchers' final match of the tournament.

It has also cost Marsh the chance to play against South Africa in a three-day match in Sydney starting next Friday. The Australia A team will be captained by the Victoria allrounder Andrew McDonald, one of four players with Test experience in the side along with Phillip Hughes, Tim Paine and Steven Smith, and while there are plenty of allrounders in the 11-man team, Marsh is not one of them.

"Four or five days ago we had a squad of 15 that we were looking to mould and Mitch was in that," the national selector John Inverarity said. "What's happened in South Africa recently didn't help his cause there. It's up to the WACA to deal with that and they will deal with that appropriately. As soon as that has been dealt with and whatever sanctions they have in mind…when that's finished he'll be very much back on the radar.

"Mitch is a good lad but apparently there was alleged to be an indiscretion there. I'm sure we've all had indiscretions in our time. But he'll come back onto the radar. He's a very good cricketer, a very promising cricketer and a cricketer that Australia needs to develop."

When asked if Marsh's name was taken off the list of 15 specifically because of the events in South Africa, Inverarity said: "Yes, his name was taken off the list because of what's happened recently. Mitch is a lively 21-year-old and a very good cricketer. I feel really confident he will kick on as a young man and as a player. I'm sure he will."

Inverarity, a former Western Australia player, said the incident in South Africa, in which players were believed to be out on the town celebrating Marsh's 21st birthday, was a concern for the culture of cricket in the state.

"There are concerns there, the concerns are fairly widespread, yes," Inverarity said. "We want cricket to have a very healthy culture in all parts of Australia, and I think in WA there need to be some changes and they need to pull up their socks."

Two Western Australia players made the Australia A side, the fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile and the opener Liam Davis. Victoria's prolific opener Rob Quiney was also included, along with the Tasmania batsman Alex Doolan, who made 149 for the Tigers earlier this month against South Australia, followed by a fighting 95 in the ongoing match against Victoria at the MCG.

There was no place for Callum Ferguson, who impressed with a career-best 164 in this week's Sheffield Shield match for South Australia in Adelaide, nor for the Queensland batsman Usman Khawaja. Ferguson's century this week was his first major score in some time, after he averaged 32.40 in the Sheffield Shield last summer.

"We were delighted he made 160-odd the other day, which was terrific, the issue with Callum is consistency," Inverarity said. "We want him to do it again, and again and again. I think Phil Hughes really benefited by having an uninterrupted time at Worcester. He was there, he was settled, he made runs there, and we're looking for Callum staying with SA, batting at No. 4, batting under pressure and getting runs consistently."

There were plenty of allrounders picked in the 11-man group, including Smith, Moises Henriques and Glenn Maxwell. The new ball will be shared by Coulter-Nile and John Hastings, while other fast men including Jackson Bird and Luke Butterworth were overlooked.

The team will play the South Africans in Sydney ahead of the first Test, although the Australia A players cannot force their way into the Test side with performances in this match, for the Test squad will be announced on Monday.

"The national selection panel does not intend, at the moment, to include any of the players in this Australia A team in the squad for the first Test," Inverarity said. "Phillip Hughes, Rob Quiney, Liam Davis and Alex Doolan are four top-order batsmen who have played well recently and will have an opportunity to impress against the formidable South African pace attack.

"Rob Quiney has been very close to receiving recognition for some time and his sound technique and equable temperament should serve him well as an opener. Phillip Hughes has been in pleasing form and showing the benefits of his four month uninterrupted spell with Worcestershire and settling in well with his new team, South Australia.

"Andrew McDonald, Steve Smith, Moises Henriques and Alex Doolan have been in sparkling form recently. Following the unfortunate shoulder injury to Jon Holland, Glenn Maxwell has been given the responsibility of being the team's sole spinner. The NSP is very keen for him to develop as a genuine allrounder.

"John Hastings has made a splendid return from injury, as has Tim Paine, and John will share the new ball with Nathan Coulter-Nile, who impressed with Australia A in England a few months ago, as did Davis. They will be supported by the medium pace of McDonald and Henriques."

Australia A squad Phillip Hughes, Rob Quiney, Liam Davis, Alex Doolan, Andrew McDonald (capt), Tim Paine (wk), Steven Smith, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, John Hastings, Nathan Coulter-Nile.

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BCCI holds firm on broadcaster fees

The BCCI remains firm in its demand of what it calls "realistic costs" of providing space and access for independent TV and radio commentary teams from Sky TV and BBC's Test Match Special to cover England's tour of India which is due to begin in early November.

Officials have refused to make a statement on the matter but ESPNcricinfo understands that the BCCI has not signed any rights deals or contract with either Sky or TMS. The dispute of the amounts mentioned - £500,000 (US$806,000) for Sky and £50,000 (US$80,000) for BBC - has arisen because, for the first time, the BCCI holds production rights for the coverage of Indian cricket.

Sky and BBC have signed sub-licencee agreements with Star TV which is the owner of "global media rights" of Indian cricket which will give them access to the world feed. As Star is not in charge of production, the arrangements to set up independent commentary teams and provide access to commentary boxes and independent studios must be made between sub-licencees and the production house, in this case the BCCI.

A BCCI official, preferring anonymity, said: "It is not as if they have only asked for a commentary box. They have demanded a full control room, just like the one our host broadcaster has at every venue. If you have to create an additional space of 2000 sq ft, fully air-conditioned, it will bear a lot of cost. And neither the BCCI nor any of our affiliated units who would be hosting the match would bear the additional cost."

In the past, the TV channel that owned the rights, usually also controlled production. During overseas tours, the cost of providing access and facilities to overseas commentary teams were worked out between the production house and the visiting media channels. The "access fees" were worked out through mutual relationships between broadcast and production companies. Costs have often been waived and even if the extent of the support required was substantial, the fees were arrived at following mutually-agreeable discussions.

With the BCCI owning production rights to all cricket out of India, the visiting broadcast companies must independently negotiate costs over and above what it has paid the rights owners for sub-licences. Just after Star won its global media rights, a joint ESPNStar production team had made a pitch for production rights of cricket in India but had not won the contract.

BCCI is not the only cricket board that owns production rights: Cricket South Africa's global rights are sold to SuperSport but it keeps production under its own control. Under CSA's terms, the Board has the final say on its commentary team for its home audience while IMG takes care of some of camera crew and graphics and also sorts out the agreements between independent visiting commentary teams.

The fees being asked for by the BCCI from Sky and BBC for production costs have led the visiting broadcasters to suggest they may decide to provide independent commentary from their UK headquarters off a television set rather than live action at the venue.

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PCB to buy bulletproof buses

The PCB governing board has sanctioned the purchase of bulletproof buses to ensure best security protocol for visiting teams, and thus address some of the security concerns that have prevented international teams from touring Pakistan over the last three and a half years.

Pakistan has been a no-go zone for major international teams after the attack on Sri Lankan team - their bus was shot at by gunmen near Gaddafi Stadium in March 2009, and the attack injured five cricketers and killed six security men and two civilians. Since then, Pakistan have been playing their 'home' series abroad, and the PCB has been trying to bring international cricket back to the country. Now, the PCB hopes it can be revived as early as next year, following the successful staging of two exhibition Twenty20s involving an International World XI in Karachi last week.

The PCB relies heavily on the government with regards to providing the visiting teams' security. The bullet proof buses will be an additional safety measure for visiting teams, ensuring box security while travelling. The buses were sanctioned at the PCB governing board meeting on Thursday in Abbottabad, the garrison town north of Islamabad.

"To ensure best security protocols for international teams, the Board of Governors unanimously approved the purchase of bullet proof buses," the PCB said in a statement. "The members noted that the step would enable the PCB to achieve higher security measures for the teams visiting Pakistan in future."

Apart from working on security protocol, the PCB has been working on identifying potential new venues for international cricket across the country and upgrading them to international standards. The board had visited the Abbottabad cricket stadium and, at the meeting, approved a Rs 12.5 million budget for its upgrading and development.

Earlier this year the PCB had identified a 35-acre piece of land in Islamabad, where a stadium that is meant to be the biggest in the country, with a capacity of capacity of 50,000, will be developed. "The board unanimously decided to name the stadium after Mohtarma Shaheed Benazir Bhutto," the PCB statement said.

The stadium will be in the Shakarparian area of Islamabad, with multiple facilities that include a cricket ground, a cricket academy and lodging facility. According to the Memorandum of Understanding between the PCB and Capital Development Authority (CDA), the PCB will receive 70% of the revenue generated by the stadium, while the CDA will take 30%.

Also at the meeting, the governing board reviewed the progress made in bringing together Pakistan's proposed Twenty20 league. "The board was updated on the progress thus far and a roadmap was shared with them," the statement said. "The board appreciated it as a positive initiative for the revival of international cricket in Pakistan." The league is planned for March 2013, immediately after Pakistan's South Africa tour, which ends on March 24.

The board also sanctioned the use of Kookaburra balls in domestic cricket, terming it a 'positive step' for the improvement of the domestic game. The PCB is yet to introduce the balls in the ongoing President's Trophy; the fifth round of the tournament, starting from November 2, will be played with the imported balls.

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At least three bids expected for new IPL franchise

For the second time in as many months, the BCCI's mandarins will assemble on Thursday in an attempt to find a new franchise owner for the IPL. Their last attempt was foiled when the owners of Deccan Chargers rejected the sole bid by PVP Ventures to take over the then beleaguered (and now terminated) Hyderabad franchise on September 13, and the BCCI would be hoping Thursday does not see a repeat.

It's unlikely the new invitation to tender - floated by the board on October 14 after India's Supreme Court upheld Chargers' termination - won't attract bidders. When the BCCI top brass meet in Mumbai on Thursday, they would be hoping to have "at least three" bidders for the new IPL team that would feature in at least five editions of the tournament from the 2013 season. "Around half a dozen tender documents have been bought by prospective owners, so it cannot be said that the response has been negative," a BCCI insider told ESPNcricinfo.

The lower base price is expected to draw more interest from bidders. When the Sahara group bought the Pune franchise in 2010, the base price was $225 million for 10 years. It was learnt that this time, the BCCI has set the base price at Rs 60 crore ($11.2 million) per year for a period of five years.

Though the BCCI bigwigs were tightlipped over the expected winning bid amount, a market expert, requesting anonymity, said he "won't be surprised if the winning bid is around Rs 600 crore ($112 million) for five years".

Recently, Kamla Landmarc group had offered to buy Chargers hours before they were terminated for Rs 1250 crore ($231.5 million) payable over ten years, according to Ajay Vazirani, senior partner of Hariani & Co, legal advisors to the group.

"If the base price is lowered, then it will certainly become an investor-friendly entity," Prahlad Kakkar, the leading ad filmmaker, said. "What has been happening till now is the cost of the team is so high that the only option to make money is to sell the team. A lowered base price suddenly makes it more viable for a lot of investors."

The tender had invited bids with respect to 12 cities: Ahmedabad, Cuttack, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Indore, Kanpur, Kochi, Nagpur, Noida, Rajkot, Ranchi and Vizag. Among those who will most likely submit their bids are PVP Ventures, whose efforts to buy Chargers last month went in vain. And don't be surprised if the Ahmedabad-based Adani group and Noida-based Jaypee group end up bidding for their home cities. However, with the BCCI having imposed stringent measures when it comes to the termination clause by adding a performance deposit, investors will think long and hard before bidding for the team.

Meanwhile, the IPL governing council, which meets on the sidelines of the bidding process, will discuss a host of matters regarding IPL 2013. The main issue will be to decide the fate of the Chargers players. The governing council could decide to send all those players back into the auction pool.

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