There are two religions in India. Cricket and Bollywood. The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a marriage of the two. The best players in the world playing for teams owned by some of the biggest actors, businessmen and playing in front of packed stadiums in the mecca of cricket, India.
An explosive start to the tournament is expected starting today when the defending champions, Deccan Chargers take on Kolkatta Knight Riders at Mumbai.
IPL3 is even bigger as not only is it back in India, almost all the world players will be there (sooner or later). And most importantly, there is no Pakistani players (thank God for small mercies). Hope it stays that way for years to come.
For the first time ever, IPL will not only be streamed lived on youtube, but also will be telecast live in multiplexes around the country. Imagine watching 3 hours of cricket on a mega 70mm screen with stereo sound and hunderds of screaming fans in a dark hall.
Am sure, i don’t need to spell out my favourites. Once a Hyderabadi, always a Hyderabadi.
Go Deccan Chargers Go !
Full schedule of IPL3 can be obtained here
All pictures source: Ibnlive, Rediff & Telugupeople
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Playing around with the look of my blog. That’s what you do when you have nothing better to do. 
Deccan Chargers crashed out of the T20 Champions Trophy and i hardly watched even a single match of the tournament. Ended up wondering why the hell are they playing. Read some news that the TRPs of the T20 Champions Trophy are worse than the other Champions Trophy played recently in South Africa.
With so many Champions Trophies in a single sport, no wonder the people are disinterested. Read Pritish Nandy’s tweet where he predicted that cricket is on a decline as a sport as money has corrupted it. But then, the self professed God of cricket, Lalit Modi has some other plans. He plans to have 2 IPLs in a year, 3 Champs leagues, 4 world cups and if possible a few more matches here and there. Not that i care. Fortunately for me, once i left India, i left the craze for cricket behind too. Earlier used to subscribe to sports channels to watch them. Now, even with tons of websites doing free streaming of all TV channels, i still dont bother watching them.
With Diwali around, 3 big movies are releasing in Hindi. I might finally drag my sorry ass to some multiplex and watch one of them. Which one of them is something that will depend on my mood at that particular moment.
Mr & Mrs Khanna surely wont be the one i will spend my money on. Who in the right frame of mind wants to see 2 constipated faces (Salman and Sohail) on the screen after having paid so much money?
Picture source: Icanhascheezeburger
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The Twenty20 Champions League cricket tournament starts off at Bangalore today with a clash between the Royal Challengers Bangalore (India) and Cape Cobras (South Africa) at 2000 IST.
I dont think i need to mention where my loyalties lie. Go Deccan Chargers Go.
The trophy that the below mentioned teams are playing for; along with the prize money of US$ 2.5 million.
The teams are:
India - Deccan Chargers, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils
Australia – New South Wales Blues, VB Victorian Bushrangers
South Africa – Cape Cobras, Diamond Eagles
New Zealand – Otago Volts
Sri Lanka – Wayamba
west Indies – Trinidad & Tobago
England – Sussex, Somerset County Cricket Club.
For comprehensive information about the tournament, go to their official website at clt20.com
All above pictures source: clt20
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Stayed up till 2:30 in the morning to watch the match as Deccan Chargers, the winners of the wooden spoon in the competition last year scored a thrilling 6 run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore to emerge the champions of Indian Premier League – 2009.
What an awesome month this has been. The chaddi gang routed in the elections. Deccan Chargers coming out of nowhere to win this year’s IPL. Twenty-20 world cup coming up in another 10 odd days. Yay.
Missing the sleep was worth it. Tonight, i will have a contented sleep 
It was a double whammy for Vijay Mallya yesterday. His Formula 1 team, Force India just missed out on the points table and his cricket team, Bangalore Royal Challengers just missed out in the finals.
Pictures courtesy: IBNLive & Rediff
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Who will win the Indian Premier League -2009? Will Gilly and his boys do the trick for the Deccan Chargers or will the old wily fox, Kumble pull one final trick and win it for the Bangalore Royal Challengers ?
The war begins in approximate 4 hours.
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Adam Gilchrist put the Delhi Daredevil’s bowling to the sword as Deccan Chargers beat the Daredevils by 6 wickets. Batting first Delhi put up a modest 153 in the stipulated 20 overs. But a hurricane knock by Gilchrist who hit 85 in 35 balls with 10 fours and 5 sixes, knocked the winds out of the Delhi sails.
Deccan Chargers will now meet the winners of the Chennai Super Kings and Bangalore Royal Challengers match in the finals of the IPL 2009 on Sunday.
Above pictures courtesy: Cricinfo
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The long winding IPL 2009 finally comes to a close this weekend. The semi final line up is ready. Deccan Chargers take on the Delhi Daredevils in the first semi final today (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday), the Chennai Super Kings take on Bangalore Royal Challengers in the second semi finals.
Go Deccan Chargers Go
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On one hand it was a great feeling seeing Deccan Chargers back to their winning ways by trouncing Mumbai Indians by 19 runs. A stupendous bowling effort by Rohit Sharma who took 4 wickets for 6 runs which included a hat trick was the main reason for the DC win.
And on the other hand, heartbreak to see Chelsea miss yet another seat to the Champions league finals. Andreas Iniesta’s injury time goal meant that Barcelona drew 1-1 with Chelsea and thus moved into the finals with a better away goal record.
Earlier, Michael Essien scored for Chelsea in the 9th minute to go 1-0 for the English team.
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