2012 IPL Season 5 Schedule, Teams, Tickets

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IPL Trophy

(For 2013 IPL Season 6 click here! For 2012 IPL Season 5, continue reading!)

Do you remember the days of ‘circus’ in your town? It had that huge tent built on a big ground near to the town. The preparations for that tent and sets would start a couple of weeks prior to the first mega show of circus. Then the local newspapers, radio, cable channels would have advertisement citing the specialty, uniqueness of the circus - African elephants, Bengali tigers, cyclist monkeys, speaking parrots, Russian athletes and comic jokers!  All that was so much exciting. The thing why I remembered all those memories is the ads currently aired on TV for 2012 IPL season 5. They have chosen very unique Circus theme this time. Yes, the great IPL circus is here, all over again! More glamorous, more star studded, more exciting and of course more rich!

IPL Season 5 that is IPL 2012 will be played between 4^th April 2012 and 27^th May 2012. Following is the schedule of entire IPL Season 5, followed by teams, tickets. Cheer up your favorite team!

Powerplay Rule in Cricket

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Nowadays, when you check the scoreline for an ODI match, shown mostly at the bottom of TV screen, you see characters such as 'P1', 'P2' or 'P3'. Or when we listen to the commentators, we hear phrases such as 'mandatory Powerplay', 'batting/ bowling Powerplay'. Now all these rules come under the category of 'the field restrictions'. ODI innings is divided into parts where there are certain rules, restrictions for the field placement such as number of fielders on a particular side, distance of fielders from batsman in certain overs etc. This field restriction rules are a little complex to understand. But when to get the idea, it becomes easier to understand the strategy of captains as to why they place certain fielders at certain place only. Or why Powerplay are taken instantly or delayed. Let's looks at what rules say:

• In any Powerplay/ non Powerplay over, there cannot be more than 5 fieldsmen on the leg side.
• In non Powerplay overs, there cannot be more than 5 fielders outside the field restriction area.
• Once a side nominates a Powerplay, the decision cannot be reversed.

The 30 Yard Circle

How is the field restriction area is marked? Two semi-circles, with 30 yard radius, are drawn on the field of play with center of the middle stump at either end of the pitch as their center. And they are connected by two parallel lines. (Many a times you must have heard ‘the 30 yard circle’- this is the area commentators refer to!) This - the field restriction area - is shown in blue color in adjacent picture.

During the first block of Powerplay Overs, only two fieldsmen are permitted outside this fielding restriction area. Two fieldsmen should be within the 15 yard from the batsman on strike (15 yard aread marked by the dotted circles, mostly seen as white discs on ground). However, this 15 yard restriction is not observed if fielders are standing in slip, leg slip or gully position. This is the ‘mandatory Powerplay’, as in, no team has any choice about its selection, always taken between over  number 1 to 10 i.e., at  commencement of an innings , marked as ‘P1’.

Tendulkar's List of 100 Centuries

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Sachin Tendulkar in Traditional 'Pheta'

Sachin Tendulkar! Well, the name speaks for the man himself. As described one of Sachin's online profiles, he is "Perhaps the most complete batsman and the most worshiped cricketer in the world, Tendulkar holds just about every batting record worth owning in the game, including those for most runs and hundreds in Tests and ODIs, and most international runs." Arguably, he is the best batsman, the world has ever seen! Non- arguably he is the highest test run scorer (15470), the highest ODI run getter (18260) AND, most centuries in both the formats (51 Test + 48 ODIs = 99 International Centuries).

As I write this, there is a huge talk in media about this year in which Sachin Tendulkar is unable to score a century. And rightly so, it's been more than a year that Sachin has failed to cross 100 figure mark in an international innings. After Dravid, few people, including legendary Kapil Dev, are asking Sachin to retire. But in all the commotion, what matters is how Sachin feels about himself. And if he thinks, he is fit enough - mentally and physically, to play, then he should, rather he must. It's privilege to watch Sachin Tendulkar bat.

Now, coming to the topic, Tendulkar's  List of Centuries! Today morning, when I woke up, I suddenly felt that today is the day when Sachin will reach the 100th Ton milestone. Let's see if my hunch turns out to be correct or not. But in the meantime, let's all cherish the other 99 internaltional hundreds Sachin Tendulkar has scored so far. There is another myth which I would like to rubbish- but that is at after this list.

Rahul Dravid

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'Rahul Dravid announced his retirement today from Test Cricket.' This can be the headline in tomorrow's news. Yes, Rahul Dravid is likely to announce his retirement, says the reports. Rahul Dravid- the Wall, well, words fail to describe the greatness of this man. First, I feel very sad to post about his retirement. But then, I am glad that 'Rahul Dravid' happened in Cricket, happened in India.

Rahul Dravid- What a batting profile!

Dravid, started his career with brilliant performances in Test Cricket. Then, he was stamped as the 'only' Test Cricket batsman, later proved himself in ODI Cricket. He adapted to the situation like nobody could have. Later, he took wicket - keeping responsibility so that his team could afford to play an extra batsman! Who can make such big sacrifices for team? Navjot Singh Sidhu, once said that 'if captain asks Dravid to walk on the path full of broken glasses, for the team, he will walk that path!' Such is the greatness of the man!

Asia Cup 2012

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While excitement for CB Series 2012, as to who will be playing finals against Australia, is still on, there comes buzz about the Asia Cup 2012 with the controversies surrounding the Team India selection. While Sehwag (and selectors) claim that he has been rested, nobody can buy this statement considering Sehwag's poor run with bat Down Under. Second, Gambhir is still in the team, why suddenly Virat Kohli was made Vice Captain? Anyway, any team selection cannot satisfy 100% of people and there will always be debates going on about what is correct and what is not- till the team wins!

Coming to the facts, following is Indian Squad selected for Asia Cup 2012: