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IPL Round-up: Kochi on verge of going belly up, Kings XI ‘courts’ BCCI
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Is it the end of the road for the Kochi consortium? A Daily News & Analysis (DNA) report would have us believe so.
Vijay Tagore reports that at a meeting held on Friday, the 12th of November, 2010, the franchisee owners agreed to write to the Board Of Control For Cricket in India (BCCI) to cancel the team.The letter is to be submitted this Monday or Tuesday. This is a good two weeks before the deadline extended by the BCCI.
(Well, if there’s bad news to be had , you might as well receive it early.)
The irreconcilable differences in the cobbled-together-unit could not stand the scrutiny of day. The members’ sole concern is to recover the money and bank guarantee submitted to the Board.The agreement fee was $10 million (Rs. 45 crore) and the bank guarantee Rs. 153 crore , 10 per cent of the team’s worth.
In this case, it does seem a case of a terrible beginning making for an equally tragic ending.
Team selection for the Asian Games at Guangzhou: BCCI miss their cue
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The BCCI have been roundly criticised for their decision to abstain from the 16th Asian Games at Guangzhou. India are the only major Asian cricketing superpower to not send a team. Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have squads representing their respective countries.
The BCCI bailed out claiming that they did not want to send a second string team since the Games clashed with the India – New Zealand Test and ODI series. The Ranji trophy is also scheduled around the same time—sending a team would rob the tournament of it’s sheen.
Indian cricket: BCCI announces revised graded payment structure , list of contracted players
Suresh Raina has made strides in more ways than one. Besides making it to the Test eleven at the expense of Yuvraj Singh, his success at the highest level has resulted in the demotion of Yuvraj Singh from a Grade A contract to a Grade B one.
The BCCI has sprung a few other surprises in its revised structure of payments to Indian cricketers.
The types of graded contracts has been fixed at A,B and C. Grade D has been scrapped.The number of players contracted to the BCCI has also been reduced from 41 to 24.
The retainers for each contract type have been upwardly revised.
A Grade A player receives a crore (Rs. 100 lacs) up from Rs. 60 lacs;Grades B and C cricketers receive Rs. 50 lacs (up from Rs. 40 lacs) and Rs. 25 lacs respectively.
Cricketing Bytes: Tendulkar, racism, UDRS and Modi again
Just when you thought that there were no more honours that could be bestowed on Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, the ICC goes ahead and names him the official event ambassador for the 2011 World Cup.
The master batsman will support and promote a variety of ICC initiatives for the World Cup.This will also be Tendulkar’s sixth World Cup, thus joining Javed Miandad at the top of the heap.
Another South African , former coach Mickey Arthur has joined Herschelles Gibbs in opening up the can of worms that is South African cricket. In his book “Taking The Mickey”, Arthur has revealed that Hashim Amla’s elevation to the SA ODI team was delayed as he was forced to play Loots Bosman instead succumbing to race politics.
Hashim Amla currently tops the ICC ODI rankings. Arthur resigned as coach early this year.
After expressing his unwillingness to use the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS), India captain MS Dhoni has done a volte face and now come out in support of the system.
Dhoni on Thursday:
"The standard of umpiring has gone down and we need to have strong measures to improve that,"
"But, as I have said earlier, I am not going to buy a life jacket that doesn’t come with a warranty,"
"At times you tend to make mistakes. The umpires are also most of the time thinking about over rates and player behaviour,"
Dhoni also came out in support of struggling Gautam Gambhir ahead of the second Test against New Zealand at Hyderabad on Friday.
Gautam was ICC Test cricketer of the year in 2009.
Meanwhile, Chris Cairns is suing ex-IPL commissioner Lalit Modi for posting a Twitter accusing him of match-fixing .Cairns was withdrawn from the IPL auction this year. The tweet was later retracted but Cairns has taken Modi to court alleging the damage had already been done. Cairns claims that he left the Chandigarh Lions , an ICL team, because of fitness issues after damaging his knees.
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You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. |
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World Cup 2011: ICC gives preparations a thumbs-up
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After the scandal-hit CommonWealth Games and the IPL mess, it comes as a breath of fresh air that the ICC has given a thumbs-up to the preparations for the 2011 World Cup to be held in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.
This is the third time the World Cup is being hosted on the sub-continent; the previous two World Cups here were in 1987 and 1996.
Cricketing Bits: MFN UK, Ranji , Hyderabad Test and Gary Kirsten
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The UK has acquired most favoured nation status among asylum seekers —at least among cricketing ones. Pakistani cricketer and wicket-keeper Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider has sought safety there following threats from match-fixers. The 24 year old hit the winning run in the fourth one-dayer against the Proteas in the five match series in Dubai.
Haider alleged that he was approached to fix the fourth and fifth ODIs. Pakistani cricket continues to shrivel under the shadow of the recent spot-fixing scandal.
Of Sania, Somdev , Federer’s run and Nadal’s tendinitis
Sania Mirza’s comeback to the WTA tour may not have quite taken off on the singles circuit but she’s certainly holding her end up in doubles.
Sania failed to secure a second doubles title this season . She and her partner Hsieh Su-wei lost 2-6 4-6 to third seeds Chang Kai-Chen and Chuang Chia-Jung in the summit clash of the ITF $ 1,00,000 tournament in Taipei.
Sania also missed out on the gold medal at the CommonWealth Games in New Delhi in the singles draw — battling all the way.
Somdev Devvarman will be representing India at the Guangzhou Asian Games from November 12 to 27,2010. Somdev was top seeded at the recently concluded CommonWealth Games and was one of the few elite Indian athletes who fulfilled expectations by clinching gold.
Roger Federer is enjoying a good run following his failed bid at a 17th Slam at the US Open. Two tournament victories in quick succession and a red-hot Federer jets into Paris seeking his 18th Masters hoping to equal Rafael Nadal’s record.
"I’m a bit worn-out, I’ve had a lot of matches, I’m hoping my mind and body hold up. But I don’t play until Wednesday and there will be time to recover. I’m confident that my form will carry me through." said the champion.
Nadal, his nemesis, has pulled out citing shoulder tendinitis. But he hopes to be ready for the season-ending World Tour Final in London.
Nadal had a fantastic 2010 reeling off three Grand Slams in quick succession to bring his haul to nine. This includes a Career Slam.
The World Tour Finals will be eagerly awaited; the only possibility of the two great champions facing off once more this year comes at this premier event.
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Living is like tearing through a museum. Not until later do you really start absorbing what you saw, thinking about it, looking it up in a book, and remembering – because you can’t take it in all at once. |
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The IPL Lull: Sunny still simmers, Chahar heads the domestic signup roster
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The IPL saga saw a lull in the proceedings because of the Diwali holidays. Indian fans were quite content enjoying the fireworks on display at Motera with Sehwag and Bhajji eking out explosive knocks.
But the IPL has not quite escaped the news. The side actors have played their part.
Laxman and Bhajji hold the fort: First Test against Kiwis peters to a draw
The first Test match between the Black Caps and India petered out to a tame draw.The great escape was engineered by two intrepid saviours,VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh.
The New Zealanders would surely have hoped to end the Indian innings early this morning but much as Vettori and Martin tried, the experienced duo of Laxman and Harbhajan would not let anything get past them.
The Black Caps, however, let a couple of half-chances go a-begging.
Once the first session was seen through without further loss of wickets, it was a matter for conjecture if Dhoni’s men would choose to continue batting or declare early to try and force a win.The Indian think-tank decided against an early declaration; discretion is the better part of valour.
Laxman and Harbhajan rode into the 90’s in contrasting styles; Laxman —calm and self-assured— radiating confidence and Harbhajan treating his time in the middle as a lark in the park ,with mighty swipes at the spinners.
Both batters looked good for tons but Laxman was undone by a terrible decision by umpire Davis given out leg before off an inside edge. Zaheer followed him back to the pavilion — out off the next ball — and the Kiwi captain was on a hat-trick that was not to be.
Indian cricket: Same old story of batting collapse against Black Caps
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The second innings collapse of the famed Indian batting line-up in the first Test against a weak New Zealand side supports my theory that Indians are notoriously poor starters. The first Test against the Australians in the recent home series too could have easily gone the other way but a fantabulous fight-back by a bravura Laxman snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
India finished at 82-6 at the end of the fourth day at Motera. Chris Martin’s five wicket haul was the highlight of the day. Sehwag was run out.
With Harbhajan and Laxman —the last of the recognised batsmen at the crease — it will be only be about survival on the final day.
India piled up 487 in its first innings essay powered by Sehwag’s bellicose 173 and Dravid’s sedate 104. New Zealand replied strongly with 459 ; debutant Kane Williamson registered his maiden century and talented Jesse Ryder hit a ton as well.
Can India save the match? Will Laxman ride to the rescue once more?
The fifth day will be engrossing.
Full marks to the Black Caps. Few gave them a semblance of a chance following their 4-0 whitewash at the hands of the Bangladeshis.
Pride and over-confidence lulled the No.1 team into a false sense of security. The New Zealanders’ ego had been hurt. No way would they roll over, not even for an Indian side boasting a rampant Sehwag and a resurgent Tendulkar.
Wins have to be earned!
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