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Cheerleaders may have added a dash of glitz to the Indian Premier League but Shahid Afridi sees them as a distraction. "The girls in skimpy dresses should be removed from the ground as this is distracting the batsman," he told The News, a Pakistan daily. "Cricket itself is an entertainment. It does not require such cheerleaders to entertain."

From games on field to the ones online - IPL is taking cricket places. The Kolkata Knight Riders have signed on Zapak Digital Entertainment to develop online games for the franchise's official website. Zapak will develop flash-based games on the team as well as individual players. Rohit Sharma, the chief operating officer for Zapak, said the idea was to create a community feature on the portal. "So we will not only provide games for the Knight Riders but also run contests and other content about the players and the game," he told Business Standard.

The website already offers two games and is expected to launch four to five more in the next two weeks. In all 10 games have been planned.

Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan captain, has said he has no problem in playing seven IPL games in Hyderabad despite his dispute with an Indian family based in that city, who he has threatened to sue for defamation for alleging that he married their daughter and is not granting her divorce as per Islamic laws.

An unfazed Malik said he had nothing to hide and was looking forward to play in the IPL. “If I had anything to hide or was afraid, I would not go to Hyderabad for the IPL game. If you know there are two legal notices with the Siddiqui family that I have sent them to retract their claims and apologise for trying to defame me, and they have kept quiet on the notices," Malik said. "I don't think there will be any problem in playing in Hyderabad. As it is, it is purely up to our Delhi captain Virender Sehwag if he even plays me because we already have eight overseas players in the side.”

MA Siddiqui, the father of the girl, confirmed Malik sent him a legal notice to withdraw his claims and apologise. "But I didn't respond to his notice nor will I do in future because he is trying to save his image. I am simply asking him (Malik) to legally divorce my daughter so that she can start a new life but if he persists to deny this relationship, we will soon move court for annulment of the marriage on behalf of my daughter."

Aircel, the telecom service provider and the team sponsor of the Chennai Super Kings, unveiled a specially designed trophy for the ‘Aircel Man of the Match’ award in the forthcoming IPL matches to be played in Chennai. The Aircel ‘Man of The Match’ trophy, made of solid aluminium and adorned by gold plated edges and Swarovski crystal is shaped in the waves of Aircel.

Aircel had commissioned Titan Design Studio for designing this trophy. As per designer Abhijit Bansod, “we wanted the trophy to seamlessly combine Aircel logo and depict the story of 'best of the best' and the three layers design expresses the best talent standing out amongst equally competitive players which has been captured very smartly in this design."

Shah Rukh Khan, the Bollywood actor and owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders, talks about concerns over entertainment tax in an interview with the Times of India.

Meanwhile, a petitioner from Faridabad has filed a Public Interest Litigation with India's Supreme Court, asking whether the telecast of matches involving the Bangalore Royal Challengers would indirectly be promoting alcohol.

This is because the Challengers' logo is similar to the Royal Challenge alcohol brand owned by Vijay Mallya, the team's owner. The petitioner was banking on the Indian Cable Network Act, 1995, which bans advertisements for alcohol, to drive home his point. The litigation comes up for hearing on April 21. An article, also in the Times of India, has more.

John Buchanan's son, Michael, will join the Kolkata Knight Riders’s support staff in the Indian Premier League. Michael will be the strength trainer of the team and the New South Wales' coach Matthew Mott will be Buchanan’s assistant. Michael, a batting allrounder, was part of the Queensland's championship winning Ford Ranger Cup one-day team in 2007. The deal was finalised when Buchanan arrived for the team launch last month. The team and the support staff will be assembling on April 11 in Kolkata.