BPL 2013 to kick off on January 17

The second edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is set to begin on January 17 next year, the Bangladesh Cricket Board has confirmed. The inaugural edition, played from February 10 to February 29, 2012, was won by Dhaka Gladiators.

The franchise auction will be held on November 9 this year, and the players' auction will follow it, on December 7.

Apart from the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur and the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong, the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna will host BPL matches. Two more stadiums - the Sylhet Divisional Stadium and the Shahid Kamaruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi - will host the warm-up games.

There would be three categories of players to be auctioned. 'Golden' category players would have a base price of US$75,000, the foreign cricketers would have base prices ranging from $50,000 to $15,000, and the local players will have base prices ranging from $30,000 to $10,000.

The second edition of the BPL will be without icon players. Shahriar Nafees, Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Ashraful, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Alok Kapali were the icon players in the 2012 BPL.

Bangladesh Premier League 2013

Bangladesh Cricket Board said that Bangladesh Premier League 2013 will be held in January second week
with more franchise Team and BCB also said they expand tournament cricket venue in second session BPL

Teams Confirm Initial Squads For IPL 2013

179 players have had their contracts extended as the nine Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises confirmed their initial squads for the 2013 season.

The franchises were permitted to extend contracts with their players under the same financial terms as 2012, something which the Hyderabad franchise - now owned by Sun TV - opted to with 20 of the Deccan Chargers players.

The IPL trading window will open on 19th November and in addition to signing and trading international players, franchises will be able to sign new uncapped India players, including the 52 such players who have been released by their franchises.

A salary cap of $US 12.5 million is in place for each IPL team, which can include up to 33 players in its squad with no more than 11 of them foreign cricketers.

Franchises now have the option of re-signing any players they drafted in as temporary replacements during 2012.

"The Franchises have clearly focussed on performance in the IPL in making their decisions as to which players will form part of their respective core groups for the 2013 season," Rajeev Shukla, IPL chairman said.

"Each Franchise has room under the Salary Cap to be able to sign additional players, either by trading or in the auction or, in the case of uncapped Indian players, by direct agreement with the player in question."

Among the international players who have not been offered new contracts are Twenty20 International captains George Bailey (Chennai Super Kings) and Stuart Broad (Kings XI Punjab) as well as Australian Test captain Michael Clarke (Pune Warriors).

Pune, already minus Sourav Ganguly through retirement, have also axed Callum Ferguson, Nathan McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Steven Smith, James Hopes, Tamim Iqbal and Graeme Smith.

At the other end of the scale, reigning champions Kolkata Knight Riders have opted to release only one player - Jaydev Unadkat.

Best Roars West Indies To Victory and win

West Indies 527-4d & 273 (Gazi 6-74) beat
Bangladesh 556 & 167 (Best 5-24) by 77 runs

Ultimately it wasn’t to be for Bangladesh as their batting line-up crumbled when faced with a gettable target on the final afternoon in Mirpur. Tino Best tore through their middle order after Sohag Gazi had removed the West Indies lower order to end with the best figures by a Bangladeshi on debut.


Gazi had ensured that West Indies had batted for less than 10 overs in the morning in adding only 29 runs as he ended with six for 74 to go with his first innings haul of three for 145. He deceived all four of the men to fall - including the ill Shivnarine Chanderpaul who walked out at number 11 - with arm balls and beat Manjural Islam’s 11-year-old record for a Bangladeshi debutant.

The real action, however, was still to come. Chasing 245 to win in two and a half sessions, the home side suffered a crucial blow early on when Tamim Iqbal was caught behind off Ravi Rampaul for just five. They also lost Junaid Siddique before lunch and went in at the break on 45 for two needing exactly 200 from the final two sessions.

It was then that Tino Best began his demolition job. The beauty of Test cricket is that, despite it being played over five days, the match can turn in a single session and be won or lost by either side. On this occasion it was very much a case of Best winning the match for the West Indies as he bowled with pace and accuracy - the latter quality having been largely lacking from his first innings performance.

The 31-year-old, having removed Siddique on the stroke of lunch, had Shahriar Nafees beaten for pace on the pull shortly after the resumption and Shakib squared up and caught behind in his next over. He then ended a promising fifth-wicket partnership between Mushfiqur Rahim and Naeem Islam at 30, having Rahim caught on the crease and out leg-before.

Veerasammy Permaul then chipped in by having Naeem trapped in front and Nasir Hossain bowled, as well as debutant Gazi caught by the sub, before Best took over once again to complete his five-wicket haul and end the match.

He removed Bangladesh’s last recognised batsman, Mahmudullah, with 78 still needed and so ended a thrilling Test match in a blaze of fist-pumping celebration.

West Indies had won, taking Bangladesh’s losing record to 64 out of its 74 Tests, but at least on this occasion they had taken it to the final session and come close to upsetting the Twenty20 world champions.

Bangladesh's opportunity to bounce back comes when the second Test begins on 21st November in Khulna.

Toss ka boss: It's advantage to the team batting first in Tests in India

MS Dhoni and England captai Alastair Cook during the toss at Motera.

India may be closing in on a comprehensive win against England after the third day's play in Ahmedabad on Saturday, but a look at the records would suggest they actually won it when they won the toss.
The wicket at Motera has come under criticism for being absolutely flat and lifeless and crumbling almost from the start of play. Most experts have been saying since the first day of the ongoing Test that the result of a Test match in India depends largely on the toss, and this one is no exception.
In fact, toss has played a more than important role in the result of a Test match played on Indian soil for a long time now.
Before the ongoing Test, India had decided to bat first in 12 straight games where they won the toss - and won five of them, drawing six more and losing only one.
The last time an Indian captain decided to field first after winning the toss was way back in March 2006, when Rahul Dravid put England in at Wankhede Stadium and India lost that Test.
Incidentally, the lone Test India lost after deciding to bat first on winning the toss was at the same stadium - Ahmedabad - against South Africa in 2008. Other than that, India have won Tests against Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies and New Zealand, and drawn against England on the 2008 tour and Pakistan in 2007, the last time they toured India.
However, this would be India's first win at Ahmedabad batting first after winning the toss. The last three times they played at Motera, India drew two and lost one.
Statistics may be read the way one wants to but the past 12 Tests only prove the experts right.