Cape Town: The streets of South Africa's carnival city will be flooded with bollywood stars in a different off-screen guise joining the well-known Cape Minstrel groups on Thursday as the DLF Indian Premier League launches itself on April 17. DLF Indian Premier League will hold a news conference on Thursday, where the Commissioner and Chairman of DLF IPL Chairman, Lalit Modi will be joined by Bollywood stars to announce, a major carnival through the streets of central Cape Town. The parade will feature floats - one for each team and the DLF IPL itself - and various teams of Cape Town Minstrels, players and other celebrities will be on the floats. As they parade through the streets of Cape Town, the Bollywood stars will get a taste of the uniquely Capetonian art form practiced by the Cape Minstrels, colourful groups who for more than a century have been traditionally competing on New Year's eve by marching through the streets showing the skills that they practice all year long. More

Brett Lee has flown to South Africa in a bid to advance his comeback from ankle surgery, and will seek to train with the touring Australian one-day side in the coming days. Lee's trip across the Indian Ocean comes amid speculation he could be in the frame for a surprise recall to the Australian squad for the limited-overs series against Pakistan. Lee is not guaranteed to be recalled to the squad for the Pakistan series, but the fact he has entered selection calculations indicates he is nearing full fitness. Should Andrew Hilditch's panel opt for the more conservative approach and overlook him for the three-week one-day series, Lee is likely to make his return to competitive cricket with the Kings XI Punjab in the IPL, as originally planned. Lee has been confined to bowling indoors in recent weeks as Australian cricket fields have been turned over to the nation's various football codes, but will now have the opportunity to increase his workload during outdoor sessions with Australia and the Kings XI. He will do so under the supervision of New South Wales and Kings XI physiotherapist Pat Farhart, who has made the trip to South Africa with him. More

Jerome Taylor, the West Indies fast bowler who was picked up by Kings XI Punjab in this year's auction, has withdrawn from the IPL due to an injury. Taylor sustained the injury from a motor vehicle accident. He has been replaced by the 26-year-old South African left-arm fast bowler Yusuf Abdulla, who made an impressive Twenty20 debut against Australia last week. The news of Taylor pulling out comes as a blow to the franchise, which has already lost the services of their most successful bowler from the previous season, Sreesanth, due to a back injury. Also, one of their most expensive players, Australian fast bowler Brett Lee, is recovering from a foot injury, and has not played any cricket this year. Ness Wadia, the Kings XI owner, said having South African players in the squad will be "critical" to success in the second season because they know the conditions well. He cited that as one of the reasons for signing up Abdulla. "We will be playing six matches in Durban, which is Abdulla's home ground," he told reporters via telephone, "and he knows the ground better than anybody." Abdulla has played 26 Twenty20 matches, and his economy rate of 5.83 ranks among the best in the world. More

Kolkata Knight Riders will announce their captain and squad for the IPL's second season in South Africa and not in India. "I don't want to disclose the names of the players who would be going to South Africa now as we want to keep all options open," Joy Bhattacharya, Kolkata's team director, said after the conclusion of a six-day training camp at the Eden Gardens. "We might take the whole squad which took part in the conditioning camp to South Africa. Nothing has been finalised right now. The final team for KKR would be announced in South Africa." John Buchanan, Kolkata's director of cricket operations, had already sparked speculation with his revolutionary theory of doing away with a fixed captain and instead have four or five leaders through the tournament. Kolkata had been led in the first season by their 'icon' player, Sourav Ganguly, who is not fully convinced by Buchanan's multiple-captain theory. Kolkata's players will leave for Bloemfontein in batches, with the first lot flying out on Tuesday evening for the tournament which kicks off on April 18. Ganguly is expected to leave for South Africa on April 5. More

Andrew Flintoff, who was bought by the Chennai Super Kings for US$1.5 million in the second auction, believes the IPL will help him reach his peak for a busy summer. Flintoff has signed on for two weeks with Chennai and intends to absorb as much as he can from team-mates and opposition in a bid to aid England in the World Twenty20 at home in June. "It's been frustrating with the hip injury, thigh injury and getting hit on the thumb just before the end of the tour of the West Indies and I think the IPL will be good for me," said Flintoff, who had earlier expressed disappointment at not being able to play the tournament in India. "There are a few people putting it down but keeping playing should help me out a lot. When I stop and start is when my body is at its most vulnerable. During the IPL Flintoff will play alongside Matthew Hayden, MS Dhoni and Muttiah Muralitharan for Chennai and he hoped it would give him clues about preparation techniques and the strengths and weaknesses of opposition in the World Twenty20. "The Twenty20 World Cup is going to be huge and international Twenty20 cricket is going to become bigger and bigger," Flintoff said. "While I'm out there I'll be watching the likes of Dhoni, who has played a lot of it, and Hayden who had a good IPL last year. I will be speaking to a few of the Indian guys and see if I can pick their brains. Flintoff will play his first IPL match against the Mumbai Indians in Cape Town on April 18 before facing Pietersen's Bangalore Royal Challengers in Port Elizabeth two days later. He can play up to seven IPL games before returning to England. More

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