My dog, Bolshoi The Boxer, said to me this morning: “Botox and I are going to form our own super sports league.”
“Hmm…. That’s interesting.” I reply, sipping my ante meridiem cuppa tea.
“If the Indian cricketers can have the ICL and IPL, the hockey players, the IHL and the tennis players, the ITL, then us canines should have a league of our own.”
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Anil Kumble will not be on sale in IPL 4.
The former India captain and leg-spinner has withdrawn his name from the list of players for the Jan 8-9 auction.
The move, by itself, is not a surprise;its timing and suddenness has aroused speculation.
Jumbo is a busy man. He has a lot on his plate. He was recently elected President of Karnataka State Cricket Board. He is also a businessman and a keen wildlife photographer.
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If you don’t like the bracket you’re in, you can re-slot yourself in a higher one. That’s the message Saurav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble have sent out. The four were initially categorised into the 200,000 USD fold. IPL rules allow players to increase their base price and the members of the Fab Five (Tendulkar is the fifth) have chosen to do so.
None of the four were retained by their teams. Speculation as to why the four were not in the initial top bracket is useless. The IPL has done little to enhance reputations. VVS Laxman has struggled, Ganguly shone amidst his team’s inconsistency and Dravid is just coming to terms with T20 cricket.
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The IPL show moves on.
The IPL player auctions are scheduled for January 8 and 9 in Bangalore. Over 400 players will go under the hammer.
Each team has a cap of $9 million to be played with.
Only two teams have opted to retain their full complement of four players—Mumbai Indians and Chennai SuperKings. Their kitty is whittled down to $4.5 million.
The cricketers have been classified into six brackets—ranging from $20,000 to $400,000.
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For the BCCI, it has not been a good week, by any standards. Their No. 1 Test side has floundered in the series that could decide who has bragging rights.
But it’s the two setbacks in the Mumbai High Court that will set the agenda this weekend when the working committee meets.
The BCCI are undecided how to tackle the adverse rulings against them in the court cases against the Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab.
Should they pursue the matter further all the way to the Supreme Court? Or should they let laying dogs lie?
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My dog, Bolshoi , the Boxer, is quite peeved with me.
How do I know that?
Well, for one, he keeps giving me these dirty looks, looks that would have you believe that I am going to eat up everything that is laid in his name-plated bowl.
The BCCI created some kind of legal precedent by forcing former Justice BN Srikrishna—the court-appointed arbitrator for the legal battle between BCCI and Kings XI—to seek recusal from his engagement.
The legal luminary represented the Wadia group over 35 years ago when he was a young lawyer. Ness Wadia is a stakeholder in Kings XI Punjab.
I had just stepped out of Bandra station after having climbed up and down the railway bridge. Globus, the retail outlet, were having a huge season-ending sale and I was in a tearing hurry to get there. All I needed was a rickshaw to get me to my destination. It was then that I noticed the ruckus.
A huge crowd was blocking the entrance and exit to and from the terminus. Cries of ‘Hai! Hai!” and “Down with cultural imperialism” rent the air. There were a few interspersed “Go Back”s as well.
I was irritated. “What the hell was going on? Was this my unlucky day?” I thought.
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The Kochi consortium have no glad tidings for even their most die-hard supporters. The investors in the franchise have struck the death blow ,communicating their inability to work together to the BCCI. The IPL Governing Council meet on November 28, 2010 to perform the last rites. The Gaikwads refused to play ball with the other investors leading to the current impasse.The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) are the sole believers in a miraculous turnaround.
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The BCCI, of late, are more than a little adventurous in their selection of the Indian cricket team for the ODIs.
The line-up for the India – New Zealand ODI series is along expected—and unexpected—lines.The resting of seniors for the ODI series—namely Sehwag, Tendulkar, Zaheer,Harbhajan Singh and skipper Dhoni— was expected.Unexpected is the naming of Gambhir to lead the ODI team and the drafting of Wriddhiman Saha as the sole wicket-keeper in the ODI side. The rumour mill had Sehwag in the captain’s role.