Pitches give bowlers hope in IPL

Harsha Bhogle writes in the Indian Express that the bowler-friendly pitches in South Africa have given a new dimension to matches in the IPL.

The power play, for example, has been almost completely redefined. Earlier, with a hard ball and a flat deck, it was a licence to the openers to go for it ... But the world has a way of turning things around and the bowlers are now the beneficiaries of the stand-off between the government and the IPL! Help comes from unlikely sources sometimes!

In the Times of India, Bobilli Vijay Kumar says John Buchanan's ideas have completely failed to lift the Kolkata Knight Riders. He also observes that most of India's ODI and Twenty20 stars are looking jaded.

In the Guardian, Lawrence Booth looks at the 'Fake IPL player' blog which has generated loads of interest in the first couple of weeks of the IPL.