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Tag: BCCI

  • Greymatter Entertainment: Getting into a different league

    Greymatter Entertainment: Getting into a different league

    MUMBAI: Mumbai-based Greymatter Entertainment’s name comes from that part of the human brain which is involved  in muscle control and sensory perception such as seeing, hearing, memory, emotions, speech, decision making and self-control. Its promoters have been using a lot of that over the past five years as they have steered it into a tour de force in  the Indian subcontinent’s sports television production business. Amongst the major sports events Greymatter has filmed for television include: the Indian Badminton League (IBL), Afghanistan Premiere League, Sri Lanka Premiere League,  as well as the Celebrity Cricket League.
     

    However, what the company is most kicked about these days is a new contract it has been awarded: that of producing the World Kabaddi League (WKL) which is slated to flag off from 9 August at the O2 Arena in London.  With Wave as the title sponsor, WKL will be broadcast not just in India through Sony Six but to nearly 30 other countries over the four months it is slated to run.
     

    “We can now  proudly say, that we have only IMG-Reliance ahead of us in terms of days of sports television production in India,” says Greymatter director Rahul Sarangi. “It is quite an achievement to arguably become the second largest sports TV producer  in the Indian subcontinent.  Leaving IPL and BCCI events out, we have 25 per cent of the live sports television events production pie.”
     

    Promoted by founder and CEO Chandradev Bhagat, Sarangi and director Payal Mathur – who were earlier engaged in various sports and entertainment events – Greymatter bagged the WKL rights following a fierce bidding war that included four or five other major sports TV producers globally.  

     

    The WKL is a privately owned company of Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal (he also serves as the president), and has Pargat Singh as commissioner with Raman Raheja serving as the CEO.  It is slated to travel across six countries – the UK, the US, India, Pakistan, Canada and UAE –  and has eight franchisee teams battling for  a purse of Rs 4 crore.

     

    The cities that the league matches will be held in include:  London, Birmingham, Dubai, New York, Sacramento, Stockton, Toronto, Vancouver, Delhi, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Mohali.

     

    Each Kabaddi match will be played on a circle style Kabaddi ground, 44 metres in diameter, as big as a hockey field. Cheerleaders, celebrities  and performance will – as has become the practice in most sports telecasts –  be there in good measure to spice up the screen. Sarangi, says that the WKL will have a narrative structure just like the IBL.

     

    The country where the event is being held will have a live telecast during its prime time. Therefore, when it is in the US, it will be the US prime time and since it is early time for India, there will be a repeat during prime time.

    “Sony Six has built an early morning prime time with NBA and this will also be at the 8 am slot. We can’t not have ground audience just to give a live evening feed to India,” points out Sarangi. Most of the matches will be held on weekends with very little during weekdays.

     

    For the Indian feed, commentary will be in Hinglish with Anjum Chopra while for the world feed it will be in English. “The WKL will be full of action because it is a contact oriented sport, especially due to its circular format. Contact is the reason why WWE works and we believe this will too,” he adds.  

     

    Greymatter has put together a crew of 70 seasoned sports television production professionals from Australia, South Africa, Malaysia, and India to create the HD feed for broadcasters in the US, the UK, Canada, and Asia. 10 to 12 cameras will capture the action and relay it live for various broadcasters in Europe, Asia, the US, Canada, Pakistan and Africa. Bhagat and veteran sports television producer Keith McKenzie have been roped in as TV directors for the league.

     

    During the four months, the actual shooting days will be about 45 with two matches per day. To keep its life simple Greymatter has tied up with local event and equipment  rental companies. 

     

    Sources estimate the per day TV production cost to be at between Rs 25 lakh and 30 lakh with the budget for the entire league pegged at between Rs 15 crore and Rs 18 crore. That makes it a major win for the Rs 50 crore turnover production house.

     

    “When we do something we spend the most amount of time on planning to get perfect quality work. We also ensure we have a tight and the right kind of people with us,” says Sarangi.

     

    That’s something that is endorsed by a sports broadcasting executive who told indiantelevision.com that “Chandru has been a friend for long. He and his team do a damn good job, hence they have been winning production contracts.”

     

    Greymatter has offices in Mumbai, Dubai and Europe with a team of 30 across verticals in production services, feature films, events, strategic consulting and a creative cell. It plans to open another office soon in Delhi.

     

    Apart from sports production, Greymatter has done well with  its non-fiction  format slate too. Remix – an original music show format – has been licensed to south east Asia broadcasters in Thailand, Vietnam and Philippines and optioned in three European countries. This apart, it has co-produced 52 episodes for French comedy producer Novovision, while two of its travel shows (Sunset to Sunrise and Heads or Tails) are being distributed by Off the Fence globally. Then two of its formats have been licensed to Sparks Eccho Rights for global distribution.

     

    The self funded company is now trying to make the most of the digital medium and fiction content on TV and  films, reveals Sarangi.

     

    Going by its track record in sports TV production and TV formats, it might score well on those fronts too.

  • Champions League T20 to kick start in India from 13 September

    Champions League T20 to kick start in India from 13 September

    MUMBAI: Kolkata Knight Riders will take on Chennai Super Kings, in the inaugural group match of the Champions League Twenty20 2014, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad, on 17 September 2014.

     

    India will host the sixth edition of the world’s premier domestic T20 competition from 13 September 2014 to 4 October 2014. The tournament will follow a format similar to the three previous editions, with a Group Stage preceded by a Qualifier. A total of 29 matches will be played in the competition.

     

    The Qualifier will start from 13 September with the main tournament, comprising 10 teams, scheduled to begin from 17 September in Hyderabad. 

     

    Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings apart, Group A will comprise Dolphins (winners of South Africa’s domestic T20 competition), Perth Scorchers (Big Bash League winners), and a team from the CLT20 2014 Qualifier.

     

    Group B will feature Hobart Hurricanes (Big Bash League runners-up), the winner of the domestic T20 competition in the West Indies, Kings XI Punjab (runners-up in IPL 2014), Cape Cobras (runners-up in South Africa’s domestic T20 competition), and a team from the CLT20 2014 Qualifier.

     

    Each side will play the other four in its group once, with the top two sides from each group going through to the semi-finals.

     

    BCCI honorable secretary Sanjay Patel said, “The Group stage matches will be played at Mohali, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Raipur. The Qualifier will be played at Raipur. The CLT20 Governing Council has confirmed the teams that will compete for a total prize money of US $ 6 million.”

     

    The CLT20 2014 Qualifier, to be played till 16 September, will feature four teams – Mumbai Indians (fourth-ranked team in IPL 2014), Northern Knights (winners of New Zealand’s domestic T20 competition), Southern Express (winners of Sri Lanka’s domestic T20 tournament) and Lahore Lions (Pakistan’s domestic T20 competition champions).

     

    In the Qualifier, all teams will play each other once, with the top two advancing to the Group Stage.

     

    The top team from Group A will play the second-ranked team from Group B, and vice versa, in the semi-finals, both of which will be played at Hyderabad on 2 October. Bengaluru will host the final on 4 October.

  • Sunil Gavaskar relieved as BCCI interim president

    Sunil Gavaskar relieved as BCCI interim president

    MUMBAI: India’s cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar has been relieved of his duties as the interim BCCI president by the Supreme Court. He was appointed to manage the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014.

     

    The bench headed by Justice T.S Thakur relieved Gavaskar but appreciated the work he had done of conducting the affairs of both the board and the IPL.

     

    The court also allowed him to seek compensation from the BCCI for the work he had done so far. The move comes after Gavaskar had written to the apex court seeking clarity on his role since the IPL had concluded.

     

    Senior BCCI Vice President Shivlal Yadav will meanwhile continue to function till further orders of the apex court.

     

    The Supreme Court had appointed Gavaskar after taking control of the board on 28 March from current ICC chairman N. Srinivasan who was asked to move aside in the wake of the alleged betting charges against his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan during the previous season of IPL.

  • ICC Board meet concludes in Melbourne

    ICC Board meet concludes in Melbourne

    MUMBAI: The ICC and IDI Boards, under the newly appointed chairmanship of  Narayanaswami Srinivasan, met yesterday during the ICC Annual Conference week in Melbourne. A number of decisions were made and various reports were presented.

    The ICC Board noted the significant progress made on the Future Tours Programme (FTP) which has been extended through to 2023. They have expressed satisfaction that is certainty around long-term scheduling with balance between home and away matches for all 10 teams and the three formats. The ICC Board agreed with the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) recommendation that the Members must sign all bilateral agreements through to 2023 before the next ICC meeting, which will take place in October.

    The ICC Board approved the composition of various sub-committees. David Cameron of West Indies and Najam Sethi of Pakistan have been elected to the five member ICC executive committee , which will be chaired by Wally Edwards and will also include Srinivasan and Giles Clarke, with ICC chief executive David Richardson as an ex-officio member.

     

    Clarke will also chair the Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee (F&CA), which will include Edwards, Srinivasan, Nazmul Hassan of Bangladesh and Jayantha Dharmadasa of Sri Lanka with Richardson again as an ex-officio member.
     

    On the other hand, the Governance Review Committee will be chaired by Martin Snedden and will include Peter Chingoka of Zimbabwe,  Hassan of Bangladesh, Sanjay Patel of India and Imran Khawaja of Singapore with Srinivasan and Richardson as ex-officio members.

    The ICC Development Committee has also been reconstituted to emphasise the importance of developing the game beyond its traditional boundaries.
    The committee will be chaired by the ICC chairman and include the three associate member representatives of the ICC Board, the three associate member representatives on the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee and the Affiliate Members’ Global Representative. It will also include the Full Member Directors like Chingoka of Zimbabwe, Cameron of West Indies and Snedden of New Zealand as well as Richardson and ICC Head of Global Development Tim Anderson, both ex-officio members.

    The ICC Board agreed to give T20I status to the Netherlands and Nepal, both of which qualified for the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014. This means there are now eight associate sides with T20I status. The other six are Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Scotland, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and United Arab Emirates (UAE) which already have T20I status by virtue of having ODI status.

    The ICC Board also  noted with  concern about the number of bowlers with suspected illegal bowling actions currently playing cricket and noted the recommendations of the ICC Cricket Committee and the CEC to revise processes to encourage umpires and referees to identify suspect bowlers with greater confidence, to use the expertise of the bio-mechanics working in this area to assume a greater role during the assessment process, and to allow for ongoing scrutiny of bowlers once they have been identified under the ICC procedures. The ICC Board will receive a further update at its next meeting.

    It also concurred with the view that international venues must be set up to their maximum possible boundary dimensions, as per the playing conditions, to help maintain an appropriate balance between bat and the ball.

    The ICC Board noted a number of other changes approved by the CEC, which met on Tuesday. The major changes to the ICC playing conditions for international cricket will come into effect from 1 October 2014.

    The ICC Board received the annual anti-corruption report from Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the anti-corruption and security unit chairman, who repeated the need for the ICC to maintain its vigilance in the area of anti-corruption and also sustain the current high levels of education and strategy of prevention.

    The ICC Board discussed and agreed on the terms of reference for a review of cricket’s anti-corruption processes and resources at both international and domestic level. The review group, which is aimed at improving the structures and resources, will be chaired by ICC chief executive David Richardson and will also include ECB chief executive David Collier, BCCI representative Sundar Raman, James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia Chief Executive, and an independent expert.

    The ICC Board also received an update on the encouraging progress in preparation and ticket sales for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which will be staged in Australia and New Zealand from 14 February. New Zealand and Sri Lanka will feature in the opening match in Christchurch, while on the same day Australia will host England in Melbourne, which will also stage the final on 29 March.

    On Thursday, the ICC Board had confirmed that the USA Cricket Association (USACA) was the ICC’s recognised member in the USA and approved the Development Committee’s recommendation that Oman Cricket (OC) should become the 38th Associate Member of the ICC. It also confirmed the suspension of the Affiliate Membership of Brunei and removal of Tonga as an Affiliate Member.

  • N Srinivasan confirmed as ICC chairman

    N Srinivasan confirmed as ICC chairman

    MUMBAI: Narayanaswami Srinivasan has been confirmed as the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman after the 52-member full council approved amendments to the ICC’s Memorandum and Articles of Association at the annual conference in Melbourne.

    Srinivasan was nominated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the top position and will assume charge following the conclusion of the ICC annual conference week.

    The approval of the constitutional changes, which flowed from an ICC Board resolution taken in Singapore on 8 February and finalised on 10 April, also means that a new executive committee was formed, which will report to the ICC Board.

    The initial chair of the executive committee will be Cricket Australia’s chairman, Wally Edwards, while the chair of the ICC’s finance and commercial affairs committee (F&CA) will continue to be England and Wales Cricket Board’s chairman, Giles Clarke.

    Srinivasan said it was an honour to become ICC chairman and promised that the ICC will continue to play a leading role in the promotion and development of the global game.

    “It is an honour to be confirmed as the chairman of the International Cricket Council,” said Srinivasan, adding: “I will leave no stone unturned in trying to strengthen the pillars and foundations of our sport, both on and off the field. I want to ensure that cricket retains and grows its popularity, and that the ICC plays a leading role in this global growth.”

    “I want to see more strong teams in international cricket. For this to be achieved, we all need to work hard to develop local talent in our countries. Naturally, there will be more support to those who first show they can help themselves. The ICC is a members’ organisation and the pathway is now there for any member to play test cricket or in the major ICC events if it performs well enough over a sustained period of time.”

    Srinivasan congratulated outgoing ICC president Alan Isaac for his contribution.” Isaac has been an inspirational president of the ICC. He provided guidance to everyone during his two-year term and all three international formats remain incredibly popular. The game is unquestionably stronger than it was at the start of his term,” he said.

    The annual conference also saw Mustafa Kamal become the eleventh president of the ICC.

    Kamal said: “This is a memorable and historic day for Bangladesh cricket. On this day 14 years ago, Bangladesh became the tenth test playing country. Today, a Bangladeshi becomes the eleventh president of the International Cricket Council. Thank you for bestowing this honour on Bangladesh and me.”

  • Star Sports bags India Bangladesh ODI rights

    Star Sports bags India Bangladesh ODI rights

    MUMBAI: The suspense has ended finally. Sports broadcaster Star Sports has acquired the broadcasting rights for the tri-series between India and Bangladesh. The sports broadcaster got the rights from Bangladesh Cricket Boards official media partner Gazi TV.

     

    As reported earlier, Gazi TV officials were apprehensive about finding a media partner in India and were reportedly in talks with star Sports to bag the telecasting rights.

     

    Sony Six already has its hands full with the ongoing FIFA World Cup and wasn’t too keen on bagging the series. With BCCI and sports channels: Ten Sports and Neo Sports fighting it out in the court, it was unlikely that the two would bag the rights.

     

    According to media reports, Star Sports had offered Rs 50 million per match, which was too less according to Gazi TV. Thus, with Star Sports being the only player it was expected that they only would bag the rights.

     

    The three match series began on 15 June and will be played on 17 June and culminate on 19 June in Dhaka.

     

    The English commentary match will be shown on Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD 1 and starsports.com, while the Hindi will be aired on Star Sports 3.

  • No takers for India-Bangladesh tri series, yet

    No takers for India-Bangladesh tri series, yet

    MUMBAI: With just two days to go for the India –Bangladesh one-day international (ODI) series, the Bangladesh’s official television rights holder, Gazi TV, is yet to get an Indian broadcaster on board according to a report in a daily today.

     

    The report further mentions that Gazi  TV has put a $ 1 million offer for the rights of the three-match ODI series which will be held on 15, 17 & 19 June. The offer was being customised for Star Sports but as of now it has not shown any interest and wants the price to be lowered.

     

    The report quotes Gazi TV CFO Salahuddin Chowdhury saying that it has not received any confirmation from Star. “We don’t want to deprive the Indian fans of live action of the series, unless, something dramatic happens over the next two days, I cannot assure you that the matches will be telecast in India.” 

     

    With FIFA being aired on Sony Six, it is unlikely that the channel from the Multi Screen Media (MSM) kitty would be interested in telecasting the tri-series.

     

    Also, Ten Sports and Neo Sports are currently occupied fighting the big bully Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in court.  It’s safe to assume that they will also not telecast the matches.

     

    However, there could be  some good news for Gazi. India’s state owned broadcaster Doordarshan is open to a revenue-sharing deal.
     

    The three matches will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium at Mirpur.

  • Selectors pick squads for Bangladesh and England tours

    Selectors pick squads for Bangladesh and England tours

    MUMBAI: The All-India Senior Selection Committee which met in Mumbai, earlier today has finally picked the two squads for the ODI series to be held in Bangladesh and the test series to be held in England.

     

    Suresh Raina will lead the Indian team during the ODI series to be held in Bangladesh on 15, 17 and 19 June. The matches will be held at the Shere Bangla stadium in Mirpur. The team members comprises:  Suresh Raina (Captain), Robin Uthappa,  Ajinkya Rahane,  Cheteshwar Pujara, Ambati Rayudu,    Manoj Tiwary, Kedar Jadhav, Wriddhiman Saha, Parvez Rasool, Akshar Patel, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Stuart Binny, Mohit Sharma and Amit Mishra.

     

    Captain cool Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli may have been kept out to provide them much needed rest before the crucial England tour. Uthappa who is the leading run scorer in the ongoing IPL is now all set to make a comeback in Team Blue.

     

    Meanwhile the Indian squad for the England test series is as follows:  M.S. Dhoni (Captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Gautam Gambhir,Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ravinder Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishwar Pandey, Ishant Sharma, Stuart Binny, Varun Arora, Wriddhiman Saha and Pankaj Singh.

     

     

    The England tour will begin from 26 June with a three-day game to be held in Leicester. India will play one more warm-up, three against Derbyshire (1-3 July) before the five-match test series that starts on 9 July at Trent Bridge. The other tests are to be played at Lord’s (17-21 July), Ageas Bowl in Southampton (27-31 July), Old Trafford (7-11 August) and The Oval (15-19 August). The tests would be followed by the five-match ODI series commencing on 25 August at Bristol before India completes the visit by playing a one-off T20 international against the hosts on 7 September at Edgbaston.

     

    But both the series will be in direct conflict with the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil that will begin from 12 June and culminate on 13 July.

  • IND-PAK may face-off in 6 test series between 2015 and 2023

    IND-PAK may face-off in 6 test series between 2015 and 2023

    MUMBAI: If there is one face-off in the sport of cricket that is more anticipated and watched than the Ashes, it has to be India taking on arch rivals Pakistan.

     

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has expressed interest in rekindling its relationship with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to play at least six home and away test series between the boards in the next eight-year FTP cycle between 2015 and 2023, which will also include an “off-shore” home series in the United Arab Emirates. 

     

    According to a few media reports, the PCB awaits a final confirmation from the BCCI following its working committee meeting that is expected to take place in the next 15 days. It will then enable the PCB to work out a long-term broadcasting deal with regular India series at its centre. 

     

    Earlier PCB chairman Najam Sethi had made it clear that Pakistan’s conditional support for the ICC revamp depends on the promise of said number of series against India. The change in the PCB’s stance has taken place on the condition that Pakistan would be involved in bilateral series against all Full Members, including India. 

     

    It is learnt that all the nine member boards have confirmed their earlier commitments with PCB until 2020 and are chalking out a fresh plan for the period from 2020 to 2023. 

     

    The BCCI could look to slot in as many as six series against Pakistan, due to the gaps that are available in the existing FTP calendar. The first of these bilateral series could take place in the UAE in the winter of 2015.

     

    India and Pakistan have not played a full series since the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. Pakistan visited India for a short limited-over series in December 2012 which included three ODIs and two T20 Internationals. The PCB estimates that after committing to the ICC revamp, the financial benefits could reach PKR 30 billion from the bilateral ties, the major chunk of which will be earned from hosting India.

  • Indian leg of the IPL to begin from 2 May

    Indian leg of the IPL to begin from 2 May

    MUMBAI: There is good news for Indian cricket fans, who were left disheartened after the news hit that the first 20 matches of this edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will kick-off in UAE.

     

    IPL is set to return to Indian shores on 2 May for the remaining 36 matches, including four play-offs, which will be played in the home-leg.

     

    The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after having successive discussions with the authorities at home, decided that the IPL can be played at home beginning from 2 May. The first leg of the IPL will be held in UAE from 16 to 30 April due to the general elections in India.

     

    In the home-leg, each franchise will play nine matches and five of the eight teams will be playing at least four matches in their home stadium.

     

    Chennai Super Kings will play two matches at Ranchi, while Kings XI Punjab will play two games at Cuttack. Rajasthan Royals will play four matches at Ahmedabad. There will be no matches on 1 May and 17 May.

     

    The schedule of the UAE leg has also been tweaked to suit the franchises. The evening match slated for 26 April in Abu Dhabi, between Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), will now be designated as a home match for the Knight Riders and the 28 April match in Dubai, between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and KXIP, will be designated as a home game for Kings team.

     

    “Following on from the launch of ticket sales for the UAE leg today (3 April), I am pleased that we are now able to confirm the dates for the rest of the season,” said BCCI-IPL interim president Sunil Gavaskar in a press statement.

     

    “It is great news that the fans back home in India will be able to watch a large part of the Pepsi IPL 2014. Given the various challenges and the logistical complexities, we have spent a considerable amount of time in crafting a balanced schedule,” he added.

     

    IPL governing council chairman Ranjib Biswal said, “We are delighted to have the season back in India at the start of May. Organising an event of this scale at multiple venues in two countries is an enormous organisational undertaking and we are very grateful to the Government of India, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the police authorities in the various states for their support.”

     

    Hosting IPL involves elaborate planning on several fronts, logistics included and it is critical that there is surety on the availability of the match venues, for a tournament of this magnitude. The BCCI has tried to work with various franchises and stakeholders to get confirmations to host matches in the cities.

    The Rajasthan Royals have indicated to the BCCI that they are pleased to play their four home matches of the India leg of the 2014 season, at Ahmedabad, to avoid any uncertainty to their home matches. KXIP and CSK will be playing some of their home matches outside Mohali and Chennai respectively, due to non-availability of their home venue, for a large portion of May 2014.

    Looks like the IPL will continue to look at as many venues as possible to play the tournament in forthcoming seasons, and that’s a good sign for smaller states and regions to come to the forefront.