Australia may ban top plays from playing in IPL!

House divided.

That’s Australian cricket beneath the veneer. The Indian Premier League (IPL) moolah has done the seemingly impossible and Australian cricket is grappling with a crisis that threatens to leave the game in tatters Down Under.

The situation became so grave that Cricket Australia, struggling to maintain its authority, warned it might ban top players from playing in the IPL.

It has been an exasperating time for the Australia fans. The cash-rich IPL, BCCI’s ambitious money-milking project, has hit Australian cricket like a hurricane and the result is before us to see.

Andrew Symonds, as if he had not problems enough, now faces disciplinary action for his remarks in an unpublished column. Symonds believes he has a right to earn fast buck and complaints how Cricket Australia was coming in the way.

Ricky Ponting too admits the IPL has become a distraction enough to influence of the team’s performance.

The team looks divided, even though Ponting claimed that his teammates, with the lone exception of Adam Gilchrist, were not concern about IPL.

Ponting’s assertion notwithstanding, the lure of the moolah is too tempting and Ponting himself knows it better. Deep inside, every Australian cricket is craving for the money, which puts Cricket Australia on a tricky wicket.

But the Board does not deserve sympathy, because their predicament is their own making. They have been the partner-in-crime of the Indian cricket board in a venture which treats the game as a mere commodity, its practitioners’ slaves and the followers a bunch of sadists who derive perverse pleasure from a slogathon.

In the coming days, the crisis would only deepen. If Australia has been hit today, tomorrow it might be South Africa’s turn. And some other country the day after.

BCCI has become a monster that is not only usurping ICC’s authority but also scrambling after money, whatever be the cost. Cricket has never looked in more trouble.

Shah Rukh asks Ganguly to sign up Gilchrist for Kolkata outfit

Cricket Australia is yet to give its green signal to Adam Gilchrist but the retiring Australian stumper-bat already looks a hot property with Bollywood czar Shah Rukh Khan, proud owner of the Kolkata franchise of the Indian Premier League, chasing his signature.

According to reports, Shah Rukh has asked Sourav Ganguly, the Prince of Kolkata, to rope in Gilchrist for the Twenty20 extravaganza starting on April 18.

IPL Governing Council chairman Lalit Modi, meanwhile, has claimed that CA has cleared Gilly for the event.

Modi said

Gilchrist will play. He has already got a no objection certificate from the Australian board.

Cracked Bat Rushed Gilchrist’s Retirement?

Did Adam Gilchrist rush his retirement after his lucky bat cracked?

Probably not. But Gilly is a sad man these days after his Wonder Bat cracked during the Twenty20 tie against India.

Gilly is yet to throw away the broken willow, a Puma Ballistic, and is in fact doing everything to repair it. Considering the loads of runs he scored with it – including that 104-ball 149 in the World Cup final -- he definitely has reasons to cherish it.

The retiring hero reportedly carries just three bats in his kit – a practice bat, a spare one and this one.

It’s not that Gilchrist did not score before laying his hands on it but it definitely is a special piece of wood for him.

Image: Getty Images

Ernie Els a Tendulkar Fan!

Sweet swinging Ernie Els is a Sachin Tendulkar fan!

Els is here in Delhi for the Indian Masters, first European Tour event in the country. After the customary press conference, I managed a one-on-one with ‘The Big Easy’ on condition of mentioning the name of a particular watch, of which Els is the global brand ambassador, in my story.

So I got the chance to get an ‘exclusive’ and half of my questions were, as you might guess, on cricket. Make no mistake, the world number four played cricket, tennis, rugby and golf with the same vigour in his childhood before he decided to swap everything for the club.

Here is what he has to say on Indian cricket:

India is definitely a good cricketing side. I think they are the number two team in the world, right after Australia. They are quite a competitive side and most of their batsmen are quite aggressive.

On Tendulkar:

He is an unbelievable player, one of greatest players ever. I love watching him.

On other players:

Your (One-day) captain Mr Dhoni is also a good striker of the ball. I also like Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid. You have a good (Test) captain in Anil Kumble as well.

On his cricketing days:

I was an all-rounder and bowled medium pace.

Well, cricket’s loss turned out to be golf’s gain. This guy is working on a three-year plan to oust Tiger Woods from the world number one spot.

At 6’4”, Ernie is truly a giant of the game and as was the case, I was looking up to him literally. And when it was over and we shook hands, my small hand was lost in his huge paw. But the guy is a genius and incredibly humble with an air of serenity about him. And he has been a perfect ambassador of the game, traveling to different parts of the globe, even if that meant ruffling the feather of the PGA Tour authority.

When he is not playing, Ernie is into wine making business and he is looking for marketing his labels in India. He also plans to design golf course here at some point of time.

Image: Getty Images

IPL-bound Warne sees business opportunity in India

Trust Shane Warne to be explicit in whatever he does. All set to play to the gallery again at the Indian Premier League (IPL), Warne says he sees it as an opportunity to get in touch with the right people in India to find greener business pasture.

In his column for ‘The Times’, the man with the fastest – and dirtiest, claim detractors – fingers on keypad - says

Who knows what other opportunities in business may crop up through contact with people behind the franchises? For example, I would like to help to take Advanced Hair Studios into India and this may be a way in.

In the column, Warnie says both IPL and the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) would do a world of good to the game and the players.

He also rubbished reports that he preferred playing poker than playing for Hampshire.

In the same column, Warne finds it “ridiculous” that Shane Bond’s contract was terminated after he aligned with ICL.

Warne revealed he called up Sachin Tendulkar before his century at Adelaide and reminisced their meeting with Don Bradman.

Sachin has been a great ambassador and he deserved to leave on a strong personal note.

(Image: Illustration by Sydney Morning Herald artist John Shakespeare)

Christchurch Cricketer Suspended for Monkey Taunt

Harbhajan Singh probably got away with it but Ben McCord could not. The Lancaster Park-Woolston (a Christchurch club) all-rounder was handed a four-match ban after he called Marist batsman Niranjan Nagelswaran a "f****** monkey".

The incident actually occurred in a premier grade match in January, McCord was hit for a boundary by the young Sri Lankan.

Unlike the Harbhajan-Andrew Symonds saga, umpire Phil Agent heard the abuse in this case and reported the player.

The Lesson from Brisbane

One swallow possibly does not make a summer. But then it’s only the dolts who ignore the inklings and miss the obvious.

Agreed, the pathetic batting display in Brisbane in the tri-series opener should not prompt India to reach out for the panic button. But the manner should cost the selectors-- assuming they are a passionate and scrupulous bunch who see their role beyond just penning down 16 names -- their sleep.

Promoting youngsters sound irresistibly sweet, probably too sweet to cloud your commonsense. And investing in youth is a policy that requires certain amount of restraint that has eluded the selectors when they sat to pick India's ODI squad.

Apparently, Dilip Vengsarkar and his colleagues in the selection committee were driven by the doomed idea that packing the team with fresh legs would be a sure-shot formula for success, besides giving the team a refreshing young look. But a cricket match is not won by a team's average age or its look. Skill continues to have the last say and it would remain same in the future too.

So if Sourav Ganguly is a sulking misanthrope at his Behala residence, fair dinkum. But the selectors can be hold responsible for another cricketing felony -- bungling with their handling of the youth.

At a time when the youngsters needed to be guided to the pool, they were simply thrown at the deep end, with a swarm of hungry Australian sharks around to boot.

While Ganguly can consider himself unlucky—even Ricky Ponting was baffled by the southpaw’s exclusion -- the selectors have done a huge disservice to the youngsters as well. It would not be surprising if the likes of Manoj Tiwary returns from Australia with a complex, believing he is just not worth stepping into the bigger shoes of the departing stalwarts like Ganguly.

The Getafix in the selectors have clearly goofed up while concocting the magic potion. They simply forgot to add that vital mix of experience.

Image: AFP