Rating the IPL captains

In the Times of India, Imran Khan gives his views on each of the eight IPL captains.

Shane Warne: A born leader, I rate him very highly for his cricket brain and also his ability to absorb pressure. Shane has also shown that he can work with youngsters, and Rajasthan did really well under him in the first year. The only reason I have not placed him at the top of the heap is because he is not playing regular cricket. This will make a difference with every passing year of the IPL. He has now not played cricket for over two years, and that’s a long time.

In his column in the Hindustan Times, Gautam Gambhir shares an anecdote about how the IPL has brought players of different nationalities together.

At the T20 World Cup last year in England, on the eve of South Africa’s semifinal, I got an SOS visit from my Delhi Daredevils’ mate, AB de Villiers in Trent Bridge. India, unfortunately, were already out of the championship and AB, one of the mainstays of the Proteas line-up, had broken all his bats.

He dropped in and asked if he could borrow one of mine. I just said, “My kitbag’s over there, open it and take what you want. We’re out, you’re in, they're all yours”.

If you don't know the Knight Riders from the Royal Challengers, the Guardian provides a basic intro to the eight IPL teams. And in the Daily Telegraph, Nick Hoult calls this year's competition the first real IPL, since it's being held in India and is not the rush job that the first season was.

Also check out this profile of Lalit Modi in the Times, where he is called "a successor to Gandhi, in Gucci loafers."