Cricket news: Pepsi IPL player auction 2013 to take place on February 3

The IPL Player sale 2013 will be held on Sunday, February 3, 2013, at the ITC Grand Chola, Chennai, and a media release said. The proceedings will begin at 11:00 am. The public sale will be conducted by Richard Madley, a specialized auctioneer from England who has behavior each of the previous IPL player auctions. The events will be telecast live on SONY SIX.

"The Dutch auction signals the start of the sixth season of what has been an occurrence. The 2013 version of the IPL will feature a new title support - PEPSI - and a new team - SUNRISERS HYDERABAD. It will be attractive to see how the Franchises go about bolstering their respective line-ups prior to the contest.

The development during the auction will be followed by fans from all over the country, and overseas, who cannot wait for the action to begin," Rajeev Shukla, Chairman, IPL, said. The aperture match of the Pepsi IPL 2013 will take place on 3 April 2013 in Kolkata.

Visit URL : Ambersports.com

Jaffer stepped down captaincy of mumbai ranji team

Wasim Jaffer stepped down from his post after a stint of four years at the helm but will be available as a player. "Wasim Jaffer has stepped down from his position as the captain of Mumbai Ranji Trophy team after allocation at the position for 4 years. He led the Mumbai team to 2 Ranji Trophy titles in the year 2008-09 and 2009-10," said Mumbai Cricket Association's joint secretary and older selection panel Nitin Dalal.

"Jaffer continues to be available for selection in Mumbai team as a batsman. The new captain would be selected by the selection panel, in all probability, next week," he added. "Jaffer has written a letter that he wanted to focus on his batting. Dalal, however, denied that left-handed batsman Abhishek Nayar, who has played a few ODIs too, is the front runner to take up the position vacated by Jaffer who, during the course of Mumbai's failed run this season, became the highest run-getter in the national championship.

"Nayar has denied that he talked that he was ready to take up the job if offered. That was a wrong report," Dalal clarified. Mumbai ran out of the steam this year to regain the trophy that they have won on 39 occasions at the semi-final stage when they were knocked out by concluding runners-up Tamil Nadu. Last season, the oft-crowned champions bit the dust against Rajasthan, who went on to retain the trophy after overcoming Tamil Nadu away from home this year.

Graham Ford is appointed as Sri Lanka coach

South Africa’s Graham Ford has been named as Sri Lanka’s new cricket coach, a day after Mahela Jayawardene took over the captaincy. Ford will replace Geoff Marsh of Australia after the Lankan team resist on the South African tour. Ford’s selection comes in the background of massive overhaul the Sri Lankan sports ministry has initiated in a bid to get better the standard of the game in the emerald islands.

The 51-year old started his coaching career with Natal in the year 1992 and was later on selected as an assistant coach to late Bob Woolmer when the team made it to the 1999 World Cup semis. Ford has also served as the director of cricket at Kent.

Mohammad Talha included in Pakistan Squad

Fast bowler Mohammad Talha was the one prominent inclusion in Pakistan's squads for the upcoming full tour of Bangladesh. Talha replaced Wahab Riaz in the Test squad that beat Sri Lanka 1-0, while the limited-overs side remained unchanged. Pakistan departs from Abu Dhabi for Dhaka on November 26, and the tour will kick off with a T20I on November 29, followed by three ODIs and two Tests. Talha, 23, is one of the fastest bowlers on the domestic circuit.

Misbah-ul-Haq will continue to lead the side in all three formats while middle order will depend on Younis Khan, supported by youngsters Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq. Umar Akmal continues to be sidelined from the Test side, since he is yet to prove his character in the longest format. Shoaib Malik, who has been unimposing since his comeback to the side was chosen over Akmal, probably for his all-round abilities. The selectors also retained Sohail Tanvir in the limited-overs side despite his normal form.

ODI and T20I squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Junaid Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Abdul Razzaq, Asad Shafiq

Test squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Younis Khan, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Shoaib Malik, Adnan Akmal (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Umar Gul, Mohammad Talha, Aizaz Cheema, Junaid Khan

Florida Theme Parks

More Sports News

Sachin, Zaheer gains same position in ICC rankings

Sachin Tendulkar stays the highest placed Indian batsman at fifth position, while Zaheer Khan held on to his sixth spot in the bowling chart of the latest ICC Test rankings. Rahul Dravid, unchanged at 10th, was the only other Indian batman in the top-10. Meanwhile, Kumar Sangakkara edged nearer to recapture the number-one position in the Rankings for Test batsmen after hitting a match-saving double century against Pakistan in the first Test at Abu Dhabi which concluded on Saturday.

Sangakkara, whose 211 also earned him the man of the match award, has gained 29 points for his brilliant effort and he is now just 31 points away from reclaiming the number-one position which is currently held by South Africa's Jacques Kallis. Sangakkara, who had surged to the top of the batting table in December 2007, had lost the popular position earlier this year to Tendulkar and Kallis after the two batsmen stroked dazzling centuries in the drawn Test in Cape Town.

The main mover in the batting table is Taufeeq Umar, the Pakistan opener, who has gained 17 places after his epic 236 which came off 496 balls. The 30-year-old from Lahore is now in 46th position. Also heading in the right direction are Azhar Ali in 33rd (up by one place), Angelo Mathews in 37th (up by two places), Prasanna Jayawardene in 48th (up by two places), Mohammad Hafeez in 60th (up by six places) and Asad Shafiq in 90th (up by six places).

Athletic Goods

More Sports News

Debutants guide easy win for New Zealand

Debutants Rob Nicol and Doug Bracewell led New Zealand to a easy nine-wicket win over Zimbabwe in their series opener in Harare. Bracewell's early three-wicket burst helped reduce the hosts to 21 for four and, though Zimbabwe skipper Brendan Taylor (128 not out) and Forster Mutizwa - the only batsmen to reach double figures - led a fightback to 231 for six, Nicol's century powered the Black Caps to 232 for one and victory with more than six overs to spare.

Bracewell flew out of the traps to remove top three Vusi Sibanda, Chamu Chibabha and Hamilton Masakadza with just 12 on the board and Tatenda Taibu quickly followed, extremely caught by Kane Williamson at cover off James Franklin. But Taylor and Mutizwa battled back, the captain reaching a guilty half-century from 66 balls with four fours. Andy McKay palming the ball over the boundary.

Mutizwa reached his own half-century from 85 balls, with only two boundaries, but then began to open up with a six off Nathan McCullum followed by a boundary off Franklin. But he paid the price when he chased a wide delivery from the latter and edged to give keeper Brendon McCullum his third catch and end a stand of 156.

Guptill fell for 74 when he holed out to Kyle Jarvis off Masakadza but Nicol pressed on and reached his century with his 11th boundary from his 120th delivery, bowled by Christopher Mpofu. By that stage, just a handful of runs were needed for victory, and Nicol hit the winning single off Sibanda in the 44th over to finish 108no, with Brendon McCullum 39no at the other end.

Plyometric Platform

More Sports News

Bangladesh thrash Windies by 8 wickets

Bangladesh renovates some pride as they thrashed West Indies by eight wickets in the third and final ODI in Chittagong. Two behind in the three-game series, the home side ended on a high as they bowled the tourists out for a meagre 61 - the second-lowest total in their memorable history - and then chased down the runs they required in a watchful 20 overs to seal the win.

Only two West Indies batsman - Kieran Powell (25) and Carlos Braithwaite (11) made double figures, though, as Shakib Al Hasan (four for 16) ripped through their line-up on his way to 150 ODI wickets. With the skies still heavy when they started their response, the home side also found the going tough but resolutely managed to keep the greater part of their wickets intact.

Pinch-hitting openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes took them to 24 without loss from the first four overs, although their partnership was ended. A collapse of West Indies extent looked a possibility 13 balls and five runs later when Shahriar Nafees lost his stumps to Marlon Samuels, but Mushfiqur Rahim joined Tamim at the crease and the two put on a ship-steadying partnership of 32 to see them over the line. Tamim`s 62-ball 36 was the match-winner, with Mushfiqur adding a careful 10.

Plyometric Cones

More Sports News

Uthappa comeback to India squad

Robin Uthappa’s comeback to international cricket after nearly three and a half years in the backwoods was formalised on Monday night when the Karnataka limited-overs wicketkeeper-batsman was named in the 15-man squad for the one-off Twenty20 international against England in Kolkata on October 29.

Uthappa last played for the country in July 2008 against Sri Lanka in the final of the Asia Cup in Karachi and was ushered out after worsening to strengthen his place. But a string of impressive limited-overs performances, including a century in the recent Challenger Series, have paved the way for the 25-year-old’s return to the national team.

Uthappa and Yusuf Pathan are the two changes from the 15-man squad that did duty in the first two one-dayers, and that was retained by the national selectors for the last three games of the five-match series which India leads 2-0 when they met here during the second one-dayer. While Uthappa comes in for Parthiv Patel, Pathan replaces Gautam Gambhir, who will miss the T20 game because he is getting married, a release from the BCCI said.

Team for last three ODIs: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, R Ashwin, R Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, S Arvind, Manoj Tiwary, Rahul Sharma.

Team for T20 international: MS Dhoni (capt), A Rahane, Robin Uthappa, V Kohli, Yusuf Pathan, S Raina, R Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, R Ashwin, U Yadav, V Aaron, S Arvind, M Tiwary, R Sharma.

Starting Blocks

More Sports News

Mitchell Marsh in Aus ODI Squad

Australia replaces Brett Lee with all-rounder Mitchell Marsh after the fast bowler had his appendix removed. Marsh was already with the squad on their tour of South Africa and Australia's selectors determined he should remain for the one-day series. Lee had been ruled out of the Twenty20 and ODIs after being diagnosed with appendicitis and underwent successful surgery in Cape Town on Monday.

Australia's National Selection Panel chairman Andrew Hilditch said: "Mitchell is a very exciting young all-rounder who we think has the ability to have a major impact at international level."He played extremely well during the recent Australia A tour of Zimbabwe and is a pace bowler who has the ability to bat in the top six, providing great balance and elasticity to the squad.

"The one-day squad already has four specialist fast bowlers in Doug Bollinger, Mitchell Johnson, James Pattinson and Patrick Cummins so the NSP did not consider it necessary to replace Brett with a specialist fast bowler."Mitchell was very close to selection in the one-day squad when it was primarily picked and Brett's unlucky illness has provided a great chance for him to gain more experience at the international level."

Sports Accessories

More Sports News

Brett Lee out of South Africa Tour

Brett Lee, Australia fast bowler, has been ruled out of the South Africa tour due to appendicitis. He will undergo surgery in Cape Town on Monday night and is probable to be out of cricket for six to eight weeks. Australia is yet to name a replacement for Lee in the one-day and Twenty20 squads.

"Brett complained of some abdominal pain after arriving in Cape Town on Sunday," Alex Kountoris, Australia team physiotherapist said. "After consulting specialists and having the related investigations he has been diagnosed with appendicitis. He will obviously be ruled out of the Twenty20 and ODI series in South Africa."

Lee's illness could mean Johnson is flown in earlier but it may also open the door for Peter Siddle, to make his mark in the limited-overs formats. Other options include Ryan Harris, who improved from a hamstring strain after the recent Sri Lanka series but has been talked about as a Test match only player or one of Trent Copeland or Mitchell Starc, who played against South Africa A in a tri-series in Zimbabwe in June.

Sports Goods

More Sports News

Hudson concerned over T20 injuries

South Africa's chairman of selectors Andrew Hudson is worried over the number of injuries that has affected the balance due to T20s."The Champions League T20 hasn't been kind to us," Hudson was quoted as saying. "Last year, we lost Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis and Albie Morkel and we can only hope we don't experience more," the former Proteas opener said.

Steyn fell on his head after backpedalling to take a catch while Kallis continued a back injury and Morkel stressed his side, which caused the trio to miss out on matches against Zimbabwe. With 10 more days remaining in the Nokia Champions League T20, Hudson fears that there may be a few more injuries. "What we are realizing is that T20 is hard on players, it's intense," Hudson said. "We're going to have to accept that we will get injuries," Hudson said.

Sports Equipments

More Sports News

Indian ODI squad selection on May 13

The Indian squad for the one-day series and a Twenty20 match against the West Indies in the latter's backyard will be picked on May 13 in Chennai."The selection panel is to meet at Chennai on May 13 to choose the team," Cricket Board sources told on Wednesday. The meeting will be held a day after Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni would have led Chennai Super Kings against the Delhi Daredevils at home.

Super Kings' next fixture is against Kochi Tuskers Kerala, also at the M A Chidambaram Stadium, on May 18.The Indian squad, which is scheduled to leave for the Caribbean on June 1, will start the tour with a Twenty20 international against the West Indies at the Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain in Trinidad on June 4.The five ODIs follow the end of the one-off Twenty20 game at the Queen's Park Oval (June 6 and 8), Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua (June 11 and 13) and Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica (June 16).

After the conclusion of the limited-overs games, India will take on the West Indies in a three-match Test rubber from June 20-July 10 with the matches scheduled at the Sabina Park, Kington Oval in Bridgetown (Barbados) and Windsor Park in Roseau, Dominica. The team for the Test series would be picked later.

Sehwag happy with Fletcher's early appointment

India and Delhi Daredevils opener Virender Sehwag reckons the BCCI did the right thing by appointing Duncan Fletcher as coach soon after Gary Kirsten's departure as it has given the Zimbabwean enough time to settle with the side."It's good for India. It's a good thing that the BCCI has found a replacement in quick time. It will clearly help the players and the new coach to settle down early. Fletcher will get enough time to do home work before our series against England starts," Sehwag said.

Fletcher, a former England coach who guided them to the memorable 2005 Ashes triumph, would not be able to join the Indians during next month's tour of the West Indies due to personal reasons but would be there when Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men tour England later this year. The former Zimbabwe captain's appointment has evoked varied reactions with some former greats including Sunil Gavaskar insisting that an Indian would have been a better choice.

Asked whether he has had any interaction with Fletcher, Sehwag merely said, "No, I don't know him."Sehwag's opening partner Gautam Gambhir, on the other hand, is not even thinking about the new coach right now as he is totally focused on his role as Kolkata Knight Rider’s skipper in the ongoing Indian Premier League."Right now, my concentration and focus is totally on the IPL. I am not thinking about all these things. I will only think about all this once the IPL ends," he said.

As Kirsten's successor, Fletcher has massive expectations to live upto as the friendly South African left after taking India to their first World Cup title in 28 years besides being at the helm during some of the most unforgettable overseas triumphs of the team.

Ishant destroys Tuskers

A fiery spell by Ishant Sharma gave the Deccan Chargers a much-required lifeline in the IPL, approximately alone taking the Hyderabad side from a apparently losing position to a highly delightful win over Kochi Tuskers Kerala at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium on Wednesday. Taking a cue from the way the rival bowlers had spelt gloom on his side earlier in the day, the lanky fast bowlers was simply tempting as he ran through the Tuskers top-order from wherein the local side found no way to retrieve itself.


Sharma finished with figures of five for 12 while Steyn returned with a three wicket haul costing him only 16 runs. The target of 130 was something like Mount Everest to climb for KTK all of a sudden or exactly within the first two overs. And, certainly, what pushed the local side up against the wall was the spell from the hitherto struggling Sharma who found his wonted form at the nick of time by claiming three wickets off his first over he had Parthiv Patel caught by Sangakkara, clean bowled Gomez the next ball and then breached Brad Hodge's defence in the fifth ball of the brilliant over.

Brendon McCullum had been dismissed by Dale Steyn in the first over the Kiwi was caught behind after fishing out to an outgoing delivery. Then, Sharma neatly removed Kedar Jadha, trapping the batsman plumb in front with a delivery which straightened, and then completed his five-wicket haul capturing the prized wicket of Mahela Jayawardene off the last ball of his second over the Sri Lankan picking up an edge off a hiking delivery and guiding the ball to the gloves of Sangakkara behind.

Pune Warriors face tough task

Pune Warriors would need to lift themselves up by the boot-straps when they clash with Chennai Super Kings just a day after being crushed by them, at their home venue, the D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The Warriors, led by India's World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh, began their first appearance season on a high with back-to-back victories over Kings XI Punjab and Kochi Tuskers Kerala earlier this month, both at the DYP.

But the defeat against Delhi Daredevils at their home venue, despite scoring an imposing total of 187 for 5 started the Warriors' slide and they lost consecutive ties to Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, and to CSK at the latter's backyard - Chidambaram Stadium. On a slow pitch last night, Warriors allowed the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-skippered Super Kings to score 140-plus through less-than-perfect work on the field and their batsmen failed to get going in the run-chase.


Two big defeats in the space of five days would be a dampener and the task in front of Warriors is to put the past behind and regroup as a winning combination in home conditions which suit their method of play. In fact, the DYP stadium track brings out their best as it helps the pacers get movement and the batsmen like Yuvraj, Jesse Ryder and Robin Uthappa to play shots more freely because the ball comes on to the bat nicely.

Uthappa made a duck and was bowled round his legs while trying to sweep R Ashwin, but a return to a venue where he has batted much better would lift his spirits. The unavailability of the injured Graeme Smith did affect the team's balance as Mohnish Mishra was sent up to open with Jesse Ryder and it's not clear when the South African southpaw would completely recover from the hamstring strain."He (Smith) feels much better now," said a team source.

IPL 2011: Mumbai Indians beat Pune Warriors

Pune Warriors extended hosts Mumbai Indians to the final ball of the game in what should have been a simple win for Sachin Tendulkar's team. After Munaf Patel led Mumbai's bowlers in bowling out Pune for 118, the target seemed easy. But Tendulkar (35) and Rayudu (37) fell in quick sequence leaving Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds to score six off the last over and a single off the final ball by Murali Kartik. Rohit slapped the ball over extra cover for six to complete the seven-wicket win.

With surgical cut with the ball, Mumbai bundled out Warriors in 17.2 overs - their lowest so far this season. After losing James Franklin (6) cheaply, Tendulkar and Rayudu added 74 runs for the second wicket to lead an easy chase. However, Rahul Sharma struck in the 14th over to get rid of Tendulkar trying to go over long-off for six. The master batsman was dismissed for the first time in the contest after having made unbeaten scores of 46, 55 and 100 in the three previous matches. The in-form Rayudu soon followed trying to finish the proceedings in a hurry.

This was Mumbai's third win in four games after losing their previous encounter against Kochi Tuskers Kerala by eight wickets. Abu Nechim, playing his first game of the season, and Munaf rocked the high-flying Pune Warriors early. Electing to bat first, Pune lost their four top-order batsmen, including skipper Yuvraj Singh, with only 17 runs. Robin Uthappa resisted Mumbai's march by making 45 runs off 37 balls with six fours and a six. Kieron Pollard took a stunning catch at long-on off Ali Murtaza to end his innings.

IPL 2011 - Match 19 Preview: DD vs DC

The Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday will face Deccan Chargers in a match of Indian Premier League.

Delhi Daredevils:

Openers Virender Sehwag and David Warner will again shoulder a majority of home expectations while Venugopal Rao’s form has come as another major boost for the side. Apart from South African Morne Morkel none of the Delhi bowlers have looked penetrative and the domestic players haven’t been too impressive. Umesh Yadav and Ashok Dinda haven’t been able to hit the top gear and with pacemen Ajit Agarkar and Varun Aaron waiting in the wings for their first matches, Delhi has the option to try the untested combo.

Morkel, who missed the last match on Sunday, looks to have recovered from the injury he sustained and did bowl at the nets during the team’s training session on Monday evening. But a final call on his availability will be taken only before the match. All- rounder James Hopes, in all probability, is likely to retain his place ahead of Matthew Wade.

Key Players: Virender Sehwag, David Warner, Venugopal Rao, James Hopes



Deccan Chargers:

The going has been tough as well and they have won just one of their four matches. The team has some big names with captain Kumar Sangakkara being the most prominent of them all.JP Duminy, Shikhar Dhawan and Bharat Chipli have had a decent run while the Deccan have a good bowling line- up with Dale Steyn leading their pace attack.

Besides, the Chargers also have the spinners like Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha who can exploit the Kotla wicket that is known for its slow and low nature. Despite the presence of good players, the 2009 champions haven’t been found a footing in the tournament. All- rounder Cameron White hasn’t had a game yet for the Chargers and it remains to be seen if the Australian finds a place in the playing XI against the Daredevils.

Key Players: Kumar Sangakkara, Bharat Chipli, Dale Steyn, Amit Mishra

IPL 2011 - News

IPL 2011 - All Records

Emphatic win for KKR

Kolkata Knight Rider’s pacer Lakshmipathy Balaji, who played a crucial role in the team's forceful eight-wicket win over the Rajasthan Royals at Eden Gardens on Sunday, said the team has left behind its string of poor performances in the previous three seasons of the Indian Premier League. He said the new-look squad with numerous youngsters and a new captain is looking forward to a good performance in the coming days.

"I feel what is past is past. It has no relation with the future. We are a new team full of youngsters and a new captain. We are looking forward to a good future," said Balaji in a post match media conference."We have struck beat but we have 10 more matches to go," he said. The KKR performed unhappily in the last three editions of the cash rich Indian Premier League and they are the only team to have never made the semi finals of the tourney.



Balaji was all praise for KKR bowling Coach Wasim Akram and said that all the players particularly the youngsters will gain a lot under the former Pakistani pacer's able guidance."We all know how helpful it is to have him in the team. It's really an education to work with him and learn from him, particularly in terms of attacking and coordination of ball which is very significant for bowlers.

Definitely, the next generation of players who are coming up from here will gain a lot. I am sure lot of good bowlers will come up from here," said Balaji when asked to specify the role being played by Akram.Balaji who picked up three wickets to help KKR bundle the Rajasthan Royals just for 81 marked Shane Watson's wicket as the best among the three scalps.

IPL 2011 - News

IPL 2011:Match 13 Preview: MI vs KTK

Mumbai Indians vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala

The Mumbai Indians on Friday will clash with Kochi Tuskers Kerala at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Mumbai Indians led by Sachin Tendulkar has won both its earlier matches of Indian Premier League (IPL) season 4.Mumbai comfortably defeated Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore.


On the other hand, Kochi Tuskers Kerala led by Mahela Jayawardene has lost both its earlier IPL matches. However, Jayawardene is still hopeful of performing well. It is just the beginning of the tournament, we need not be negative. I think just one win can change things for us," he said.

Mumbai Indians:

SR Tendulkar, AN Ahmed, AC Blizzard, YS Chahal, CRD Fernando, JEC Franklin, Harbhajan Singh, MC Henriques, DJ Jacobs, S Kanwar, DS Kulkarni, SL Malinga, AG Murtaza, MM Patel, KA Pollard, AT Rayudu, R Sathish, RG Sharma, TL Suman, P Suyal, A Symonds, AP Tare†, BSK Yadav, SA Yadav

Kochi Tuskers Kerala:

Mahela Jayawardene, B Akhil, DA Chougule, Y Gnaneswara Rao, RV Gomez, JW Hastings, BJ Hodge, RA Jadeja, KM Jadhav, M Klinger, VVS Laxman, BB McCullum, C Madan, SH Marathe, M Muralitharan, SNJ O'Keefe, PA Patel†, NLTC Perera, RR Powar, P Prasanth, OA Shah, RP Singh, SPD Smith, S Sreesanth, TM Srivastava, R Vinay Kumar, Yashpal Singh

Lee, Shakib to join KKR

Having recorded their maiden win against the Deccan Chargers this season, the Kolkata Knight Riders will be boosted by the arrival of their Australian recruits on Thursday. The Gautam Gambhir-led team, which reached Jaipur on Wednesday evening, takes on the Rajasthan Royals in their next commitment on Friday.

Fast bowlers Brett Lee and James Pattinson, wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, along with Bangladesh captain and left-arm spinner Shakib-al Hasan will be joining the team on the eve of the match. With their arrival, Gambhir will have a full strength side at his disposal. The Australia-Bangladesh three-match one-day series completed on Thursday with the Michael Clarke-led side winning 3-0.



The Knights will play three home matches next week against the Rajasthan Royals on Sunday, the Kochi Tuskers on Wednesday and the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday.

IPL 2011 All Matches Photos