IPLT20CRICKET.NET

I have been asked this question repeatedly by many of my website visitors, friends, relatives etc. as to where they can buy the IPL tickets online. So, I am writing a short post about the websites where you can officially purchase DLF IPL T20 Season 3 tickets.

There are three main websites to buy the IPL tickets online:

1. Ticket Genie: Ticket Genie is being used by the official IPL website, the franchisee websites etc. it seems.

2. Book My Show: BookMyShow is also selling IPL 3 tickets online and they are the most popular online booking website in India. So, you can expect the booking and whole system to be quite smooth as they have been in the booking business (especially movie booking) for several years now. In BookMyShow, they are providing both booking of stadium tickets as well as IPL in cinema tickets it seems. They are also selling IPL and teams merchandise on their website.

3. Kyazoonga: I am not sure if normal stadium tickets would be available in Kyazoonga but they selling IPL in cinemas tickets on their website.

So, If you want to watch live in the stadium, you can book the “Sabse Bada Ticket” using the above websites. Aapne Khareeda Kya?

IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi had promised that the third edition of the Indian Premier League would be bigger and better than the previous seasons and he seems to have left no stone unturned to fulfill his promises. The opening ceremony of IPL 3 will be a huge event and there would be a bunch of international celebrities and Bollywood stars performing in the gala event. Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone will dazzle the spectators at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai with her scintillating performance. Amongst the performers in the IPL opening ceremony are Deepika, Internation R&B singer Akon, Ali Campbell of the British reggae band UB40, Björn Again and Lionel Ritchie. The performances in the opening ceremony is expected to start with Ali Campbell of the British reggae band UB40 singing the evergreen hit song “Can’t Help Falling In Love” which will be followed by Bjorn Again entertaining the audience Abba’s super hit Dancing Queen. This performance is promised to be spectacular with visual effects too. Then there will be a choreographed light show announcing Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone’s entry. Deepika and the forty dancers on stage with perform a medley of songs including I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas, Uff Teri Ada from Karthik Calling Karthik and Twist from Love Aaj Kal. This will be followed by performances from Lionel Ritchie and then Akon. The IPL opening ceremony would be grand and Bollywood stars, celebrities, cricketers, corporate biggies, politicians and several other eminent personalities are invited to the opening ceremony. After the opening ceremony, there would also be a post-match party cum fashion show at a posh hotel in Mumbai.

The opening ceremony would be telecast live on Set Max from 6 PM Indian Standard Time.

The oldest and most popular television network in the United Kingdom, ITV has been awarded TV rights for broadcasting this year’s edition of the Indian Premier League in the UK. The IPL was without a television broadcaster in the UK after collapse of Setanta last year. However, IPL had announced that the matches would be streamed online free on Youtube all over the world. ITV bagged the rights for television broadcasting in UK and they will show 59 of the 60 matches this year on one of their digital channels ITV4.

This will also mean that cricket coverage in the UK will return to free-to-air after a long time as ITV4 can be seen free by almost 80 percent of the UK and around 20 million households in the UK should be able to view the matches. The only match that will not be shown, because of a commitment to show British Touring Car Championship racing from Thruxton, is between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils on April 4. It is also a landmark event as live cricket will be shown for the first time since 1970s. The feed will be provided by Sony and will be fronted by presenter Matt Smith and Bollywood actress Mandira Bedi.

The Indian Premier League will expand the number of franchisees to 10 franchisees with the addition of two new franchisees for the IPL 2011 season onwards. The IPL Management has already put application forms for the two new teams on sale. There are twelve cities in contention for the two new teams which include Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Kanpur, Dharamsala, Indore, Cuttack, Gwalior, Visakapatnam, Rajkot, Pune, Vadodara and Kochi. The first eight cities already have cricket stadiums while stadiums are in construction in the last four cities. The base price for the bidding for the two new franchisees are $225 million which is more than four times the base price of $50 million when the original eight franchisees were auctioned in 2008. The number of games in IPL would also increase to 94 games from the year 2011 instead of the present set of 59 games.

As per reports, the IPL Management has also set tougher conditions for applying for the two new teams. One of the major conditions is that the bidder has to have at least $1 billion (Rs.4,580 crores) and if a group makes a bid, it must contain an individual or a single party with that amount of money. As per the IPL’s tender condition, the bidders should submit a Rs 460-crore bank guarantee to participate in the bidding process. The IPL has set a base price of US $ 225 million per franchise. Many are also speculating that Ahmedabad might be one of the strongest contenders for an IPL team. The Ahmedabad based billionaire Gautam Adani-owned Adani Group has also submitted its bid for a new franchisee.

Videocon Industries-led team called P Sports Vision is supposed to have placed bid for Pune franchisee. There are also reports that the guardians of the laws of cricket, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is also supposed to be running for the Pune franchisee. The other prominent bidders might include Sahara Group, Jaypee Group and ICICI Ventures. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel is also speculated to have placed bid for either Pune or Nagpur franchisee. Bollywood stars like Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Ajay Devgn had also showed interest though there is no confirmation if any film stars have bid for any team this time round. There have been 11 bids supposed to have been submitted till now for the two new teams.

The winning bids for the two new franchisees would be revealed on Sunday, March 7 at 1200 IST. Many are speculating that Pune and Ahmedabad might have good chances of hosting the two new teams though everything would be revealed only this Sunday.