IPL 2011 - What's New ?
The Indian Premier League (IPL) kicks off on April 8 in Chennai. The point is that after the humongous success of the WCC, will it sizzle or fizzle?
There are some new features and some fundamental changes that will be remarkable. Lets take a look...
1. Two New Teams
The season saw the addition of new teams The Pune Warriors and Kochi Tuskers Kerala. The Warriors announced that Yuvraj Singh will be their captain for IPL 2011. Mahela Jayawardene, Former captain of Sri Lankan will lead the Kochi Tuskers Kerala team.
2. Format Change
With the introduction of 2 new teams, a new ten-team format was created. This new format consists of 74 matches and was introduced as retaining the previous format would result in 94 matches, (60 matches from the previous season), where teams compete in a double round-robin tournament.
The knockout stage was changed to a playoff format. If a match ends in a tie, a Super Over will be played to determine the winner.
3. Dada.... OUT!!
If there is one person who will be seriously conspicuous by his absence, it will be Saurav Ganguly, who found no takers for the price he quoted.
4. Gambhir, Seriously Expensive!
Gautam Gambhir became the first ever IPL player to be bid for a whopping price of $2.4 Million. Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR) named Gautam Gambhir as their captain.
5. Cheerleaders in Saris
Yessss! That's the buzz is doing the rounds... lets see what the spectators have to say about that!
6. Lalit Modi Out
After all the controversy that surrounded him in the last season, Lalit Modi, whose brainchild the Indian premier Leagues was, will be missing in action henceforth.