DLF Indian Premier League

Foreign players participating in the IPL (Indian Premier League) may soon find a higher amount being deducted in the form of taxes if the Income Tax department has its way. The I-T department has sent a notice to BCCI asking for copies of all agreements signed between the players and the franchisees.

Twenty20 - cricket’s latest format is making waves in India throught the Indian Premier League. A huge noisy crowd, film stars rooting for their own teams and cheerleaders are reminders of the league’s resounding success. So with everyone sharing the spoils, how can the Income Tax department want to miss the party.

The income tax department has now asked BCCI to furnish details of the tax deductions made while making payments to these players. The income tax department and the BCCI  have had a long history of dispute on taxation issues. And even as BCCI is busy milking the IPL cashcow, the I-T department is determined to extract its pound of flesh with what it feels is a purely commercial business venture and not just cricket.

In its notice served to BCCI, the I-T separtment has asked the BCCI to clarify whether TDS at 11.33% has been deducted before releasing the payment
They have also said that since the contract is a long term contract of three years, why should the applicable tax slabs prevailing in the country not be applied, a demand that is supported by tax experts.

BD Gupta, Former Income Tax Commissioner said, “There is no exemption. Whatever money they make they have to pay 11% TDS and after that they also have to file their income tax returns.”

The BCCI is likely to contest this claim on the grounds that the IPL is a short term venture and does not amount to employment.

Meanwhile the service tax department is also investigating whether any of  the contracts signed between BCCI and the various franchisees come under the service tax net or not.

Report By: CNBC TV 18

Australian cricketer Brad Hodge will soon be joining Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkotta Knight Riders in the Twenty 20 cricket of IPL.

Brad Hodge went back to Australia as a replacement of Michael Clarke as he was injured. As per the sources he will soon be joining the team and would play up the coming match for Kolkottas’ knight riders.

“He is coming back but I cannot say when he will reach the city,” Joy Bhattacharya, the team manager of the Shahrukh’s team said.

Though, some other sources said that he will only be able to join the team by Friday to play the league matches of Indian premier League.

The departure of Hodge was due to the unavailability of Clarke for the series against West Indies there by leaving no options for the selectors to recall him from the money mine in India.

But after some time Clarke confirmed that he would be available for the series against West Indies there by again making room for Hodge to mine the gold in IPL.

Agencies

The BCCI on Monday banned off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for 11 matches of the Indian Premier League. The decision was taken at a hearing by DLF Indian Premier league match referee Farokh Engineer.

Harbhajan Singh was accompanied by Lalchand Rajput and Harsha Bhogle whereas Yuvraj Singh and Maxwell came to support Sreesanth. The hearing started at 1PM IST and lasted for 1:30 hours. It took 1 hour after the hearing for the decesion to be made.

Kings XI Punjab termed Harbhajan’s behaviour as unacceptable and against the spirit of the game.

The match referee Farokh Engineer found conclusive evidence about Harbhajan’s guilt and Sreesanth’s innocence. While he banned Harbhajan for 11 IPL matches, no penalty was announced on S Sreesanth. He was let off with a mild warning. The match referee got video footage from 7 angles that proved beyond doubt that Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth without any provocation.

Harbhajan Singh, had carried a letter, which he presented before the commission. He also expressed regretted for his actions which hurt Sreesanth’s feelings.

Harbhajan Singh, now, wont be able to play in any league matches for IPL Mumbai team.  It has not been clarified whether the previous match when Bhajji was suspended is part of the 11 games. If it is , it means that technically Harbhajan is eligible to play the semi finals in the event of Mumbai Indians reaching the last 4.

BCCI President Sharad Pawar said that he had told the IPL Chairman if there was prima facie evidence of wrong-doing on the part of any player, the IPL should take immediate action against the player.

Mumbai Indians captain Harbhajan Singh and Kings XI paceman S Sreesanth were on Friday involved in a bitter row, following which the fast bowler was seen crying bitterly on the ground at the end of their IPL match here.

The slap left players of both the teams shell-shocked and brought an unsavoury end to the otherwise electrifying IPL match at the PCA Stadium here tonight.

The paceman was seen crying bitterly on the ground at the end of the IPL match, which his team won by 66 runs

It was not the media but policemen on duty who were witness to the shocking and bizarre incident that corroborated the Aussies impression of how misbehaved these two Indian players are.

However, within half an hour of slapping Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh had to apologise for his ‘regretful’ action.

The incident took place immediately after Kings XI Punjab defeated Mumabi Indians and the players were moving back to the dressing room. An infuriated Bhajji not only allegedly picked an argument with temperamental Sreesanth but also delivered a slap on his face. Sreesanth was later seen weeping on the field at the time of the award ceremony.

Immediately after the fracas, Mohali captain Yuvraj Singh walked up to Harbhajan to have a chat with him. Yuvraj said he did not know what transpired between the two. “I do not know what exactly happened but one does not want to see such things happening. IPL commissioner Lalit Modi and ICC’s principal advisor I.S. Bindra also had a word with the off spinner. In the post-match conference, asked if there was an incident involving Sreesanth and him, Harbhajan said: “Can we talk cricket?”

At the end of the day, players shake hands.

After promotion by bollywood stars its time of cheerleaders giving boost to Indian Premier League.  A new chapter is opening in Indian cricketing history with the IPL. It was first time when bidding was done on cricket players and now bringing cheerleaders like an item number in the Bollywood movies.

All teams particticipating in IPL is also on race of having best cheerleaders. With voting for best IPL team is going everywhere but also for Team having best cheerleaders. It seems assured that cricket’s old guard will not know what has hit it.
The Redskins cheerleaders have promised to deliver an entirely novel form of motivational dance — a blend of traditional all-American cheerleading moves and Indian “Bollywood hip-hop” steps, to add razzmatazz to the IPL.

Lisa Ince choreographing cheerleaders for the Wests Tigers, Melbourne Storm and the St George Illawarra Dragons got a call from Indian Agencies for getting hired as cheerleaders and in an hour it was a done deal.”The 12 cheerleaders, dressed in white tops, red tartan miniskirts and black knee-high boots, hail from Sydney and Melbourne.

“It was just crazy,” Ince said.

She was immediately struck by the reception from the vast Eden Gardens crowd, which included typical wolf-whistling and wild “The girls are just really excited and the crowd is really behind them.”

Melbourne Storm cheerleader Emily Runting said the crowd was “way bigger than the rugby and more noisy”.

“I didn’t know what to expect. It’s huge. It’s exciting,” she said.

Not only cheerleaders from abroad are participating in this league but Indian cheerleaders are also in this race. Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings also having there cheerleaders team. Lets see till how much height these cheerleaders gives boost to this game.

Some of pictures of cheerleaders in DLF IPL :

 Cheerleaders of Deccan Chargers

Cheerleaders of Royal Challengers

Cheerleaders of Super Kings

Cheerleaders of Mumbai Indians

Something doesn’t quite smell like team spirit here: From Mohali, home to a team that has played two games and lost two so far, comes a bizarre tale of discrimination within the ranks that might not help their cause.

According to sources, a bunch of players in the Mohali squad, mostly juniors and not among those picked for the first couple of games, were moved out of the posh Taj hotel and into the less fancy Maya Palace some days ago.

Why? Well, there are two versions. One says it was to save escalating costs in any way possible (which doesn’t make sense given the huge monies spent so far). The second comes from a team official, who said it was only for a day, to accommodate the Mohali-team promoters and guests at the Taj on the day Mohali played Chennai. A bunch of players in the Mohali squad, mostly juniors and not among those picked for the first couple of games, were moved out of the posh Taj hotel and into the less fancy Maya Palace some days ago.

Team manager Sachin Bajaj maintained that all the players were always at the Taj, but the Press contacted the Maya Palace and learnt that at least five or six players (who were named to us) have been at the Maya Palace for the last few days. Players confirmed this.

It is believed that after some protests and a rethink on the part of the team management, the other players will be moved back to the Taj, but this part is as yet officially unconfirmed. “We were moved out but I think we’ll be moved back,” a player told Press, refusing to say more for fear of getting into trouble.

Whatever the reason, this ‘discrimination’ isn’t restricted to Mohali alone. In a couple of high-profile teams, the higher profile players have single room while lesser known players have been asked to share. Elsewhere, some players are flying economy while others get business class tickets.

Logically, this is bound to cause resentment at what could be viewed as second-class treatment for some and, in any case, is alien to the concept of “team”.

When a player plays for India, the BCCI treats him the same way — as an India player, irrespective of whether he is a Tendulkar, (who’s been around 20 years) or a rookie Piyush Chawla. He gets the same air-ticket (business class), the same room (a single), the same DA and the same official perks.

When players play for their Ranji team, their state associations treat them the same way. They travel together (unless it’s at their own expense) and invariably share rooms, with only the captain being entitled to single accommodation and often choosing not to take it.

This is the inaugural IPL event and India’s first exposure to a private franchise. It will set a precedent for how things happen in future. Team bonding - generally speaking too, but definitely in units already made up of a hodge-podge of people from different countries, cultures and credos — is going to be vital for a team to succeed. Discrimination of any sort, for any reason, will not help anyone’s cause.

The cricket has not remained just a sport; overcoming its genre as traditional physical workout, it has crossed all its definitions and now this sport is not less than billion dollars stuff! People from all across the world go crazy for cricket and it is no more surprise that in coming days, it would hit the top rank in chart among other sports.

According to an agreement, Kingfisher Airlines would receive the branding on Umpires’ Uniform that includes the shirts and hats during the entire battle. The DLF Indian Premier League has already announced Kingfisher Airlines as official sponsor for Umpire and also Third Umpire decisions for all 59 action-packed matches. The deal was fixed with the stunning figure of the sum of 1.6 bn INR for a five year period.

“I am very pleased to have the country’s premier 5-star airline Kingfisher join us as the Umpire Partner in an exclusive 5 yr deal. Kingfisher Airlines has a long association with a variety of sports at both; the domestic and international level including Tennis, Formula 1, Polo and now Cricket. Their decision bears testimony to the fact that the DLF Indian Premier League is here to stay and is set to carve out a distinct niche for itself in the international cricket calendar”, said Mr. Latlit Modi, the Chairperson and Commissioner of DLF Indian Premier League.

On the other hand, Mr. Vijay Mallya, Chairman & CEO, Kingfisher Airlines added that they are delighted to extend their relationship with the DLF IPL with the airlines that come as an official Umpire Partner. He further added that a 5 yr association with DLF IPL would be a kind of testimonial for the airlines and they are committed to build the airline as a brand that should be exclusively associated with the sports. According to him, DLF IPL is very groundbreaking concept and the Twenty20 format would be the responsible for the skyrocketing popularity of the game in coming years. As a part of sponsorship, the airlines would present umpires in a total new avatar with modern touch though holding back their traditional and critical role in cricket.

With a grand total of 59 astounding action-packed stuff with 177 hours of the ‘live’ family entertainment will rock the world of the sports. Though it solely belongs to India, the event is going to be viewed by hundreds of thousands of international audience with full zeal and enthusiasms. All the matches would be during late afternoon and evening to co-occur with prime time of television and providing a commodious time for the stadium audience since the events are held in summer. DLF IPL would provide a non-stop entertainment over 44 days in eight Indian happening cities.