We first had MoYo.

Then we got YoYo.

Then came HaHa.

And today we bring to you RaRa!

Last ICL season, Ra denied the Lahore Badshahs the championship, despite all the efforts of the other Ra.

On opposite sides, Ra and Ra were at each other throats during the finals of the ICL 20-20 Championship - last season as well as this season.

In the 1st final this season, Ra smashed Ra all over the park before Ra got his wicket and dished out some abusive remarks.

Tempers flared between Ra nd Ra. Ra complained but no one listened.

In the 2nd final Ra clean bowled Ra and the contest stood even.

They did not cross paths in the 3rd final but stayed away from each other when handshakes were exchanged.

And then in true bollywood style, they were brought together in the ICL World Series as part of the ICL Pakistanis.

In today's must win game they were set an imposing target of 189 by the World XI, and were soon 2 down with only 38 on the board.

That's when Ra and Ra came together.

74 deliveries, 133 runs, 19 boundaries, 4 sixes, a record partnership, and a joint man of the match award later Ra and Ra became RaRa!

Starting today there will be 20-20 cricket in your face everyday for the next two and a half weeks.

Its not international 20-20 cricket by the way, its club cricket, for the lack of a better way of describing it.

Never before has club cricket been covered by the media in the way it is now. Or rather since 20-20 cricket went commercial with a bunch of leagues.

Those who think 20-20 cricket is not changing the cricket world, need to stop and ponder again.

A test series is being played in Australia, which I believe is being covered on TV only in Australia. Maybe in England. But I can't watch it here in Dubai, nor can anyone watch it in the wider Middle East, nor in Pakistan. I'm not sure about India.

Another test series is being played in South Africa. Oh you weren't aware? Yeah I thought so. For that is not being shown anywhere on TV it seems. Not here in Dubai, not in Pakistan, and from Soulberry's comment on his post, niether in India.

An ODI series is being played out in India. That I can watch and have watched. The TV coverage is great but the series is 4 matches too long I reckon. The English have probably lost interest already. Maybe the Indians as well. Or maybe not with Sachin returning to the fold today - perfect timing to keep the interest alive!

Oh and international cricket has returned to Zimbabwe after a long time. But does anyone care? The matches are just as good as 20-20 cricket anyway, with niether of the 2 ODIs lasting over 3-4 hours.

With a few uninteresting international series being played coupled with international cricket that is not being televised, it would not surprise me, or rather it would surprise me if the ICL World Series starting today followed by the 20-20 Champions League kicking off on December 1st don't generate more interest.

Atleast in the subcontinent, which by the way is 80% of the cricket viewing public.

The ICL World Series will be televised all over the subontinent, in the Middle East, and in England.

With the Lahore Badshahs capturing the imagination of a number of fans all over the world, their return to the field in the form of ICL Pakistan XI, will definitely rouse some interest.

And this time they've got Abdul Razzak on their side too.

Rana & Razzak in the same team? That's some viewing.

The ICL World Series also involves teams from India and Bangladesh, and a World XI.

While the ICL Bangladesh XI played as the Dhaka Warriors in the just concluded ICL 20-20 Championsip, the India XI and World XI puts together the best performers of that ICL tournament.

ICL India XI is being led by R. Sathish and includes the likes of Stuart Binny, Rohan Gavaskar, Abbas Ali, Ambati Rayudu, and RS Sodhi.

Whereas the ICL World XI is captained by Chris Harris and comprises of Damien Martyn, Jason Gillespie, Ian Harvey, Lance Klusener, Justin Kemp, Marvan Atapattu, and others.

ICL India are the defending champions, however ICL Pakistan should be the favorites going into the World Series.

The team that played as the Lahore Badshahs in the ICL 20-20 Championship, and won that tournament, was by far the strongest team on display.

With Imran Nazir & Imran Farhat at the top, Inzamam and Yousuf in the middle, Rana & Razzak in fiery form with the ball, and Saqlain inventing new deliveries in every match, there should be little the World, India, and Bangladesh teams would be able to do.

But stranger things have happened in cricket.

Even more so in 20-20 cricket.

I reckon it will be a tournament worth watching.

As will be the 20-20 Champions League that kicks off a day after the World Series ends.

That will be televised all over the world - India, Pakistan, Australia, South Africa, England, the Middle East, Singapore, Hong Kong, and everywhere else where cricket is watched.

Not only that, but international cricket will come to a standstill as domestic teams from 5 test playing countries go up against each other.

To read more on the Champions League, see this and this.

And then they say that 20-20 cricket will not have an impact on test cricket.

Its already been taken off TV!

When we went to watch the 2nd ODI between Pakistan and the West Indies dressed in white t-shirts with the letters P A K I S T A N painted on them, we also carried with us several banners.

One such banner was this one.

At that time it was something we had talked about, thinking out aloud about who would win and how the players would fare against each other if such a match up ever took place.

With the ICL considered a rebel league and the players taking part in it banned by national boards, none of us really thought such a match would take place.

Though it ran through all our imaginations.

I talked about the two teams, as did Jrod, while NC had a completely different take on it.

Even then, no one really thought it would happen.

Or did we?

Whether we did or not doesn't matter anymore for Inzamam Ul Haq has come out openly and challenged the Pakistan international team to a match.

Pakistan vs Lahore Badshahs!

Inzamam wants it. Yousuf wants it. The Badshahs want it. We want it.

But does the PCB want it?

Will Shoaib Malik accept the challenge?

With Inzamam's recent meetings and conference calls with Ijaz Butt indicating that the bans on Pakistan's ICL players will be lifted, such a match is very much a possibility.

Who do you think will come out on top?

Pakistan or Lahore Badshahs?

Irrespective, I think it will be one charged up contest with a number of players looking to settle some scores.

If you thought the Badshahs vs Heroes game was a heated one, wait till you see this!

The Lahore Badshahs take on the Hyderabad Heroes for the ICL bragging rights tonight. With the best of 3 finals tied at 1-1, the winner takes all in tonight's match.

There is a lot of history between the two sides, which makes today's match even more compelling.

Rewind to November 2007 when the first ever ICL tournament kicked off.

The Hyderabad Heroes team in that tournament was captained by Inzamam Ul Haq and coached by Moin Khan. The team included Abdul Razzak, Azhar Mahmood, Chris Harris, Nicky Boje, Ambati Rayudu, Shahabuddin, Ibrahim Khaleel, IS Reddy, Alfred Absolom, and others.

The Heroes didn't win much in that tournament.

Fast Forward to March 2008 and the 2nd edition of the ICL 20-20 Championship kicked off.

A dozen and a half Pakistani cricketers had joined the ICL and there was a new team playing the tournament - the Lahore Badshahs.

Inzamam, Azhar Mahmood, and Moin Khan had all moved from the Heroes and were part of the Badshahs now.

Razzak however, remained with the Heroes.

The Badshahs cruised through the group stages and entered the finals series unbeaten.

Up against the Heroes in the finals, the Badshahs stumbled for the first time in the competition.

They lost the 1st final by 6 runs and were down 1-0.

The 2nd final ended in a tie and the Badshahs' players failed to hit the stumps even once in the bowl out, hence conceding the ICL championship to the Hyderabad Heroes.

Inzamam and Moin Khan had lost out to a team they had captained and coached in the previous tournament.

And their main nemesis in both the finals was their old team mate Abdul Razzak who was also the player of the tournament.

Fast forward to October 2008 and 2nd season of the ICL kicked off with the 3rd edition of the ICL 20-20 Championship.

The tournament started with a rematch of the previous tournaments final and the Heroes were victorious once again on the basis of run rate as the match ended prematurely due to the lights of the stadium switching off 6 overs into the Badshahs innings.

The tournament went on, the Badshahs gained steam with every match, qualified for the semis, went past te Superstars in emphatic fashion, and then waited for the Heroes to join them yet again in a best of 3 finals.

In the 1st final, Abdul Razzak, a former team mate of the Badshahs and the one who had denied them the title in the previous tournament, yet again proved to be the thorn between the Badshahs and a victory.

Tempers flared as Razzak smashed his way to 69. The Badshah bowlers seemed flustered by Razzak's onslaught and the casual taunting by Razzak got under the skin of Rana Naveed and other bowlers.

But this time the Badshahs were not going to stumble.

Despite an imposing total of 170, the Badshahs raced to their target with 5 balls to spare.

The Badshahs were 1 up but they had to win 1 more match.

Come the day of the 2nd final and tension between the 2 sides was evident.

The Badshahs wanted to win badly and not repeat the same mistakes of the previous tournament.

The Heroes wanted a 2nd title and were not going to fall without a fight.

158 should have been an easy target for the Badshahs but Abdul Razzak, their enemy number 1, shook them up with 2 early crucial wickets.

The Badshahs were rocked and were staring at defeat with the scoreboard reading 87-6.

Their innings ended at 150 but not without drama. Sami, batting on 18 and looking good, smashed Boje to the long off boundary. Kemp running around took a stunning one handed catch while still in air.

The catch was cleanly taken but the Badshahs thought otherwise.

For a minute it seemed like Oval 2006 but this time sense prevailed over Inzamam and the match continued but not before some foul verbal exchanges between Azhar Mahmood and Steve Rixon, the Heroes' coach.

Come today and the teams go one on one in the 3rd and last final of the series.

With so much history, stress, tension, and drama between the Badshahs and the Heroes, you should expect nothing less than a totally charged up contest.

A contest that even the rivalry of two international sides cannot match.

Mohammad Yousuf, who "ditched" Pakistan for the Lahore Badshahs, kicked off his ICL stint on Friday with 3 boundaries in 3 deliveries before edging the ball to the keeper.

Yousuf began in emphatic fashion against the Dhaka Warriors on Friday as he walked to the crease at the fall of the 2nd wicket.

His first deivery was the first ball of the 5th over from the former Bangladesh pacer Tapash Baisya, which was cover driven in true Yousuf style.

No one looks more graceful when playing the cover drive than Yousuf.

The next delivery was hit past extra cover for another boundary, and the 3rd delivery was hit to the mid wicket fence as Yousuf raced to 12 runs of his first 3 deliveries in the ICL.

His ICL debut was shortlived though as Baisya induced an edge of the next delivery that went straight into Dhiman Ghosh's gloves.

Yousuf's next appearance, against the Chennai Superstars last night, was an ever more entertaining experience as his 4th wicket partnership with Inzamam Ul Haq provided nostalgic moments from the last decade.

Inzi and Yousuf have scripted a number of victories for Pakistan over the last 10 years and have been involved in a number of partnerships in the middle.

Last night was no different.

Inzi joined Yousuf in the 14th over with the Badshahs cruising on 141-3.

From there the pair added another 64 runs in only 6 overs to take the Badshahs to a match winning score of 211 in 20 overs.

Yousuf remained unbeaten on 40 off 28 deliveries that included 2 sixes and 3 boundaries, while Inzi scored 31 off 19 deliveries with a six and 4 hits to the fence.

The two will be in action again tonight against the Superstars in the 1st semi-final of the ICL 20-20 Championship.

The Lahore Badshahs entered the semi-finals of the ICL 20-20 Championship last night when they overcame the Chennai Superstars in a high scoring game.

Unlike last season when the Badshahs clean sweeped all opposition in the round games to qualify for the semis, this time round they lost a few matches in the beginning before bouncing back.

The lack of cricket for the Pakistani players before the ICL was blamed for the lacklustre performances when the tourament began.

But the Badshahs campaign soon caught up and they qualified for the semis ending the group stages with 5 wins and 3 losses, only behind the Hyderbabad Heroes in the points table.

The Heroes are the defending champions, who won the last tournament by beating the Badshahs in a bowl out in the 3rd final of a best of 3 finals series.

The Semi Final line up is:

Lahore Badshahs vs Chennai Superstars
Hyderabad Heroes vs Royal Bengal Tigers

The potential of a repeat of last year's final is very high and Inzamam's team would be looking for some sweet revenge this time round.

Tonight, the Badshahs and the Superstars go into a repeat performance of last night while the Heroes take on the Tiger tomorrow with the best of 3 finals starting from Thursday.

Mohammad Yousuf might become the first person to represent the "rebel" ICL as well as his national team at the same time.

On the same day that the PCB selectors announced the 15-man squad for the ODIs against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi, a squad that included Yousuf, the news of him joining the ICL was also revealed.

Yousuf is currently in Delhi and he will be launched by the ICL tomorrow in some kind of unveiling ceremony.

It will be intriguing to see how the PCB will react to this.

Yousuf has never been out of Pakistan's ODI and test plans and he was always going to be selected for the upcoming ODI series and he definitely knew this.

Then what brought about this signing with the ICL?

Obviously the still pending case that has stopped him from appearing in either of the two indian 20-20 leagues.

Its an open secret that Inzamam and Moin Khan had been pushing Yousuf for a long time now, and he finally gave in.

So where does this leave his international career?

I believe Yousuf made this move after gaining consent from the PCB administration, especially Ijaz Butt.

Ijaz Butt's comments last week assured that he would be looking after the Pakistani ICL players and it was widely speculated that he would allow them to play domestic cricket in the near future.

Yousuf in all probability will turn up for the ODIs against the West Indies later this month.

I may be wrong but I have a big hunch that this is what is going to happen. And if it does, it will highlight 3 very important points:

1) There is a future for ICL players in Pakistan's cricket structure;
2) The PCB is no longer going to tow the line of the BCCI;
3) The ICL will release players for national duty when required.

The impact of each is quite significant for the times ahead, but I won't get into that right now.

At this moment, lets just hope that Yousuf becomes the first cricketer to appear in the ICL and his national team without announcing his retirement or getting banned.

Surrey have released Saqlain Mushtaq, who served the county for 11 years, in order to sign Harbhajan Singh.

Due to Saqlain's ICL links, the BCCI had not allowed Harbhajan to sign with Surrey for this last season.

However, the Surrey boss has now made it clear that they will not be going into the next season with an ICL player on board and that this will also allow them to sign up Harbhajan Singh.

Hence Saqlain, who plays for the Lahore Badshahs in the ICL, has been released from his contract.

I guess the world is still far away from accepting ICL players, and I thought we were moving closer to that.

So where does this leave Mushtaq Ahmed, who also plays for the Lahore Badshahs in the ICL, as England's spin coach?

I think a more consistent approach is required from the ECB. Surely the counties' and the ECB's interests should be aligned.

Over at the ICL, Saqlain Mushtaq, the inventor of the doosra (the second / other one), is busy showing the world his new delivery - the teesra! (the third one).

What he does is, is that he holds the ball with an offspinner's grip, but instead of the open-end of the hand facing the cover region (off side for a right handed batsman), it faces the midwicket region (the leg side for a right handed batsman).

Can you picture that? I tried to explain it the best I could.

And then he delivers the ball by rolling his fingers over it and the resulting delivery is more like a top spinner.

It's gotten him plenty of wickets so far in this ICL season - 2-19 and 3-26.

The Lahore Badshahs are playing the Mumbai Champs as I write and the last 10 ball sequence has been:

4 4 4 6 6 6 4 6 6 4

And Imran Farhat just got out after scoring 21 off 8 deliveries. He was the one who hit the 2 4s and 2 6s.

The previous over that went for 30 runs was faced by Imran Nazir. He's batting on 38 of 10 deliveries.

I have never seen anything like it.

The Badshahs are 59-1 in 3 overs!

Oh the bowlers - Johan Van Der Wath & Micheal Kasprowicz.

The Lahore Badshahs got to 50 in 2.3 overs. 15 deliveries!

Thats the fastest 50 in ICL's 2 year history - Is it the fastest opening 50 partnership in any form of cricket?

I don't think I've seen a faster one.

If Ijaz Butt's comments are to be believed, talks of a possible merger between the Indian Premier League and the Indian Cricket League were held during the recently held ICC moot in Dubai.

During that meeting the BCCI was asked to meet the ICL officials to possible come up with a solution regarding the league and its players considered to be rebels.

Ijaz Butt, at his 1st press conference since taking over as PCB Chairman, claimed that a merger was suggested.

Butt has definitely come out with something that was discussed behind closed doors and this would definitely not please the BCCI or the ICC.

At a time when Pakistan cricket requires all the support it can get, Butt cannot afford to get on the wrong side of anyone, let alone the BCCI.

Lalit Modi & Co. are sure to come out with a reaction soon.

And I can almost see the grins on the faces of Subhash Chandra and Kapil Dev.

What I don't understand though is that how can the smartest cricket brains in the world (they should be that if they're heading the national cricket boards) even think about a possible merger between the IPL and the ICL.

A league with 17 teams including multiple teams from the same region hardly sounds feasible.

So why would these so called cricket brains even think of such an idea?

In my view, the simplest solution is to allow the ICL players to play for their regional teams in domestic competitions and also allow them to be considered for international duty.

No one has to do anything more. And I doubt the ICL is looking for anything more. Maybe they want the BCCI's help in gaining access to more grounds and facilities for holding matches and practices, but surely they are not looking for the two leagues to be merged.

So why is the ICC even discussing such a solution?

The best solution, one that I would like to see, is that the bans on the players be lifted and the ICL winners be granted entry into the 20-20 Champions League.

That for me is the ideal scenario. Not an IPCL!

The return of international cricket has coincided with the return of the rebels with the 2nd season of the Indian Cricket League starting from Friday.

With 9 teams, 41 matches, and 4 venues - the ICL promises to be bigger and better than before.

Has anyone seen the new ICL ad on TV?

I couldn't find a video online. The ad shows a cricketer trying to impress the national selectors who seem to be busy chatting away and not paying attention to him. Frustrated with the selectors' behaviour the cricketer marches off, throws away his playing kit, and walks out in the ICL uniform.

Isn't that the story of the ICL players?

How openly this war between the ICL and the BCCI is being played out is not funny anymore.

Mushtaq Ahmed has even suggested an ICL vs IPL play-off with the best teams from both leagues participating in a tournament. He has even suggested the ICL champions to be a part of the 20-20 Champions League in December.

Brilliant idea I think.

The ICL kicks off on 10th October with the opening match being a repeat of last years final: Lahore Baadshahs vs Hyderabad Heroes.

There's a new team this season - the Dhaka Warriors - taking the team count to 9 and the match count to 41.

The matches will be played over 4 venues.

The tournament will run till 16th November with each team taking on the other once followed by the semi-finals and a best of 3 finals.

The ICL is back and its definitely bigger and better than before.