Sport - Cricket

ICL’s second edition kicks off today

HYDERABAD: Mughal Emperor Aurangazeb had stationed his horses at this very ground, which he named Fateh Maidan (Field of victory). It was from here that he launched his military campaign on the powerful medieval kingdom of Golconda, which was long-drawn but eventually successful.

Over time, it became the scene for less martial pursuits, mainly sporting in nature. It even hosted the first-ever cricket event to be insured against the elements, when Graham Dowling-led New Zealand played a Test match against India here.

So did its name change with the passage of time from the locally known Fateh Maidan to the Lal Bahadur Stadium.

If parallels can be drawn from this page of history, the Indian Cricket League (ICL) could well be mounting its own brand of assault on the well entrenched establishment of world cricket.

Back for its second edition with renewed vim and vigour, the nine-team format promises increased excitement, the nine runs awarded for a 90-yard hit being one of them.

If Hyderabad is seen as a mirror of popular public perception, the programme seems to have gone down well with the game’s followers here.

Little surprise then that organisers of the extravaganza have retraced their steps to this historic city, perhaps with the hope that the whole season picks up on a positive note.

Most of the matches in its last edition were well attended and talked about too, much after stumps were drawn and the ICL marquee had made off for some well-earned rest.

People-friendly pricing of tickets had brought in sizeable crowds, with passionate cricket fans from the City’s fairly large corporate community catching the action live at the centrally located L.B. Stadium.

For Friday’s lung-opener between reigning champion and runner-up Hyderabad Heroes and Lahore Badshahs, it will be the former’s youthful exuberance against the experience and guile of the latter.

With more all-rounders in its ranks, ready to step in when crisis comes calling, an all too common occurrence in the Twenty20 format, the Heroes should pull it off in its opening outing.

Epitomising this last season was wicketkeeper-batsman Ibrahim Khaleel, who came in seven down but rose up the order to even open the strike.

Abdul Razzaq, Ambati Rayudu, Alfred Absolom, Justin Kemp and Nicky Boje could only make things more volatile.

For the visitor, Imran Farhat and Shahid Nazir can get explosive, the latter known to pulverize rival attacks. Throw in some spin from a seasoned hand such as Saqlain Mushtaq and be sure the cricketing cauldron is bound to be on the boil.

The teams (from):

Lahore Badshahs: Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt.), Azhar Mahmood, Shahid Yousaf, Imran Farhat, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Rana Naveed-ul-Hassan, Arshad Khan, Naveed Latif, Shahid Nazir, Hafiz Khalid, Muhammad Sami, Imran Nazir, Riaz Afridi, Tahir Mughal.

Coach: Moin Khan.

Hyderabad Heroes: Chris Harris (capt.), Abdul Razzaq, Nicky Boje, Justin Kemp, Jimmy Maher, Alfred Absolom, Ambati Rayudu, Anirudh Singh, Ibrahim Khaleel, Indra Shekar Reddy, P. Kaushik Reddy, P.S Niranjan, Shashank Nag, Stuart Binny, Syed Shahabuddin, Vinay Kumar, Zakaria Zuffri.

Coach: Steve Rixon.

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