ICC T20 WORLD CUP SCHEDULE

Date and Time	Match Details and Series
Thu Sep 13 09:30 local | 04:00 GMT	Warm Up : 1st T20 - Ireland vs Zimbabwe Moors Sports Club Ground, Colombo
Thu Sep 13 09:30 local | 04:00 GMT	Warm Up : 2nd T20 - Sri Lanka vs West Indies Nondescripts Cricket Club, Colombo
Sat Sep 15 09:30 local | 04:00 GMT	Warm Up : 3rd T20 - Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka A Moors Sports Club Ground, Colombo
Sat Sep 15 09:30 local | 04:00 GMT	Warm Up : 4th T20 - Australia vs New Zealand Nondescripts Cricket Club, Colombo
Sat Sep 15 09:30 local | 04:00 GMT	Warm Up : 5th T20 - Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe Colts Cricket Club Ground, Colombo
Sat Sep 15 09:30 local | 04:00 GMT	Warm Up : 6th T20 - India vs Sri Lanka P Sara Oval, Colombo
Mon Sep 17 09:30 local | 04:00 GMT	Warm Up : 7th T20 - Australia vs England Nondescripts Cricket Club, Colombo
Mon Sep 17 09:30 local | 04:00 GMT	Warm Up : 8th T20 - Bangladesh vs Ireland Moors Sports Club Ground, Colombo
Mon Sep 17 09:30 local | 04:00 GMT	Warm Up : 9th T20 - New Zealand vs South Africa Colts Cricket Club Ground, Colombo
Mon Sep 17 14:00 local | 08:30 GMT	Warm Up : 10th T20 - Afghanistan vs West Indies P Sara Oval, Colombo
Mon Sep 17 14:00 local | 08:30 GMT	Warm Up : 11th T20 - India vs Pakistan R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Wed Sep 19 09:30 local | 04:00 GMT	Warm Up : 12th T20 - England vs Pakistan P Sara Oval, Colombo
Tue Sep 18 19:30 local | 14:00 GMT	Group C : 1st T20 - Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota
Wed Sep 19 15:30 local | 10:00 GMT	Group B : 2nd T20 - Australia vs Ireland R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Wed Sep 19 19:30 local | 14:00 GMT	Group A : 3rd T20 - India vs Afghanistan R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Thu Sep 20 19:30 local | 14:00 GMT	Group C : 4th T20 - South Africa vs Zimbabwe Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota
Fri Sep 21 15:30 local | 10:00 GMT	Group D : 5th T20 - New Zealand vs Bangladesh Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
Fri Sep 21 19:30 local | 14:00 GMT	Group A : 6th T20 - England vs Afghanistan R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Sat Sep 22 15:30 local | 10:00 GMT	Group C : 7th T20 - Sri Lanka vs South Africa Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota
Sat Sep 22 19:30 local | 14:00 GMT	Group B : 8th T20 - Australia vs West Indies R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Sun Sep 23 15:30 local | 10:00 GMT	Group D : 9th T20 - New Zealand vs Pakistan Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
Sun Sep 23 19:30 local | 14:00 GMT	Group A : 10th T20 - England vs India R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Mon Sep 24 19:30 local | 14:00 GMT	Group B : 11th T20 - West Indies vs Ireland R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Tue Sep 25 19:30 local | 14:00 GMT	Group D : 12th T20 - Bangladesh vs Pakistan Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
Thu Sep 27 15:30 local | 10:00 GMT	Super Eights, Group 1 : 13th T20 - TBC vs TBC Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
Thu Sep 27 19:30 local | 14:00 GMT	Super Eights, Group 1 : 14th T20 - TBC vs TBC Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
Fri Sep 28 15:30 local | 10:00 GMT	Super Eights, Group 2 : 15th T20 - TBC vs TBC R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Fri Sep 28 19:30 local | 14:00 GMT	Super Eights, Group 2 : 16th T20 - TBC vs TBC R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Sat Sep 29 15:30 local | 10:00 GMT	Super Eights, Group 1 : 17th T20 - TBC vs TBC Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
Sat Sep 29 19:30 local | 14:00 GMT	Super Eights, Group 1 : 18th T20 - TBC vs TBC Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
Sun Sep 30 15:30 local | 10:00 GMT	Super Eights, Group 2 : 19th T20 - TBC vs TBC R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Sun Sep 30 19:30 local | 14:00 GMT	Super Eights, Group 2 : 20th T20 - TBC vs TBC R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Mon Oct 1 15:30 local | 10:00 GMT	Super Eights, Group 1 : 21st T20 - TBC vs TBC Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
Mon Oct 1 19:30 local | 14:00 GMT	Super Eights, Group 1 : 22nd T20 - TBC vs TBC Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
Tue Oct 2 15:30 local | 10:00 GMT	Super Eights, Group 2 : 23rd T20 - TBC vs TBC R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Tue Oct 2 19:30 local | 14:00 GMT	Super Eights, Group 2 : 24th T20 - TBC vs TBC R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Thu Oct 4 19:00 local | 13:30 GMT	1st Semi Final T20 - TBC vs TBC R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Fri Oct 5 19:00 local | 13:30 GMT	2nd Semi Final T20 - TBC vs TBC R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Sun Oct 7 19:00 local | 13:30 GMT	Final T20 - TBC vs TBC R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

MS DHONI QUITS CHENNAI SUPER KINGS

This ‘Breaking News’ is a complete shocker! Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will no longer be a part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) squad from the forthcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL)! Dhoni, who was appointed the ambassador of Nepali Cricket last week, will captain a new IPL team from Nepal that will feature in this cash-rich tournament in 2013.

"The IPL governing body is pleased to announce that the the league will have its first foreign team in Gorkha Brigade in 2013," said an ecstatic Rajeev Shukla, the commissioner of the IPL, to the press that gathered outside the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) office at Mumbai late last evening. "After the termination of Kochi Tuskers Kerala from the IPL, a tenth team was needed to make the schedule more feasible, and hence this addition."

Talks are doing the rounds that Dhoni reached this decision after a feud with current BCCI President and CSK owner N Srinivasan left the former fuming with rage. When quizzed by the media, Dhoni denied any rift with his former franchise owner, and revealed that the plan to shift base to Gorkha Brigade was in fact suggested by Srinivasan himself.

A devout Hindu, Srinivasan said in a press release later that he did this in support of the neighbouring Hindu kingdom. "This is the least I could do to help a Hindu country is to get them a place in the IPL and provide them with the best available leader. I feel it’s my responsibility as the head of the country’s apex cricket body and a Hindu," opined Srinivasan.

Dhoni, too, appeared happy with the move. "Well of course, I’m looking forward to it. Representing a foreign team in the IPL is going to be a unique experience, you know."

Sources reveal that Dhoni was keen on taking Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin along with him. The same sources also revealed that Dhoni cold shouldered Ravindra Jadeja. 

“I requested Mahi bhai to take me along as well. But he bluntly refused,” said a dejected Jadeja. “I even offered to engrave GB (Gorkha Brigade) on the left side of my head, just like I engraved CSK on the right a few months ago. But Mahi bhai retorted that Aamir Khan’s hairstyle in Ghajini, despite suffering from a head trauma, looked better than mine on any given day. That kind of took me aback. I was hurt. Mahi smirked when he said that,” he added.

The inclusion of Gorkha Brigade in the IPL got a mixed response throughout India. While many are happy that the IPL has extended its wings a little, an equal number of people are livid at the fact that there’ll be an increase in the number of IPL games yet again. But the Gorkha community’s joy here in Hyderabad knew no bounds. I managed to talk to quite a few people and had interesting conversations with them. One such conversation that enthralled me was with a man named Bahadur, who had always loved the concept of a ‘Night-watchman’ in cricket. “I’m sure that Gorkha Brigade is going to win the next IPL with ease,” said Bahadur. “We are used to playing cricket with lathis back in Nepal, and one can only imagine the damage we can inflict when we have something as broad as a cricket bat in our hands.” he added.

It’s believed that when Chris Gayle hit a lean patch a few years ago, he packed his bags to Nepal where he practiced hitting the ball with alathi instead of a bat at the Kirtipur Cricket Stadium, situated in the premises of Tribhuvan University in the outskirt of Nepal. He did this for several days, and the difference in his approach and his efficiency is there for everyone to see now.

However, the housing societies are not too thrilled at the news as IPL time could put their security in danger as Gorkhas could be glued to the TV. “The addition of Gorkha Brigade is not a good sign for us residents. My security guard would be watching TV and celebrating a ‘DLF Maximum’ or a ‘Karbon Kamaal Catch’ instead of preventing burglars trying to break in. I fear his work may take backseat,” said a worried resident.

Nevertheless, the Indian cricket fraternity is fairly happy with the turn of events, and this happiness was reflected in N. Srinivasan’s words. “Mr. Tony Greig stated in his Cowdrey Lecture that the IPL should be expanded into ‘an Asian League’ to include teams from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. We believe we’ve taken a huge first step by including Nepal, and we’re proud of our decision,” he said triumphantly.

The Gorkha Brigade franchise will meet in a month’s time to discuss their plans and strategies for the forthcoming IPL. Also, it is believed that former actress Manisha Koirala could be the brand ambassador of the Gorkha Brigade team. The 41-year-old actress was, however, unavailable for comments.