death blow

Cricket Bytes: Of Saurav Ganguly,spot-fixing verdicts and World Cup contenders

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Saurav Ganguly is going, going, gone…

The Bengali player’s hopes of participating in IPL4 were dealt a death-blow by objections raised by Royal Challengers Bangalore,Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals. Team Kochi had evinced interest in the former Indian captain but could sign him on only if none of the other franchisees demurred. The iconic batsman remained unsold in the 2011 auction.

Although Ganguly fans—particularly Kolkattans—will be disappointed, bending over backwards to accommodate anyone is not the way to run a premier tournament. Accusations of ad-hoc decision making were leveled against Lalit Modi, the ex-IPL honcho. Modifying the rules to suit two interested parties is not in the best interest of the IPL. The IPL Governing Council is managing a business, not a charity.

Besides, if the Kochi team really needed the ex-skipper on their side, they ought to have purchased him outright when they had the opportunity. The chasing after Ganguly now smacks of ill-preparation. Verily, a case of putting the cart before the horse. 

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IPL Bytes:Kochi’s demise,Tharoor’s anguish,Modi’s reprieve and domestic salaries

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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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