7 reasons why Bangalore Royal Challengers won’t win IPL II

1. Spirit is volatile and it doesn’t last the whole nine yards;

2. Vijay Mallya has got the right men but in wrong places. For instance, Adrian Sutil spins more than Anil Kumble, while Rahul Dravid drives better than Giancarlo Fisichella;

3. You don’t open a cola bottle with Praveen Kumar but BRC can open their batting with him!

4. Ray Jennings has complained to Mallya that Jesse Ryder has not attended a single net session and is often spotted flirting with a particular Mischief Gal;

5. BRC looked a Test team in IPL I and resembles an ODI outfit in IPL II. In other words, the T20 metamorphosis is still some distance away;

6. Virat Kohli has an ego problem with spinning balls;

7. Business magnates have a penchant for bouncing cricketers’ WAGs on their knees – medics call it Stanford Syndrome -- and that explains the hurry of the BRC players to return to the pavilion.

SCOOP: Why Daredevils dumped Asif

My only purpose and wish is to play for my nation Pakistan again, and for that I need to disengage from any other cricket engagements and work towards this.

Mohammad Asif wants all to believe that he is on a redemption mission and hence decided to 'disengage' himself from all cricket engagements so that he can work his way back to the Pakistan team again. Amen.

Apparently, the PCB forgot to tell the poor chap that it has already done that disengagement job by banning him from all forms of cricket pending the IPL drug inquiry.

So effectively Asif has volunteered to twiddle his thumbs till he digs himself a new hole, most probably in an airport that starts with the letter D.

In case Steven Spillberg makes a sequel to 'The Terminal', he can draw on Asif's experience.

Meanwhile, Doosra laid its hands on some classified information and here are the five genuine reasons that prompted the Daredevils to dump Asif:

1. Asif had inquired if Daredevils management could arrange some basic practice facilities at the detention centres of some of the airports around. Especially when the Daredevils owners are into the airport-building business.

2. Asif had revealed how he planned to argue his case before the IPL drug tribunal and escape with a minimum punishment for drug offence. "I'm going to tell the tribunal that regular customers get discounts everywhere," he said.

3. Asif deposited his sweater, cap, glass and mistakenly the chillum as well to Sehwag who was umpiring in the nets.

4. The Daredevils apparel makers informed the management that Asif had sought a special pocket in his trousers and sent a tube-shaped substance as the measurement.

5. Asked in the Daredevils promo what’s his favourite flower, Asif said ‘Poppy’.
(Pix: HiCric.com)

IPL, the holy shrine

Rejoice, for cricket has finally chanced upon its version of the Church of the Nativity, Golden Temple, Al-Masjid al-Harām and Tirupati. I can see future, all roads leading to India as devotees from across the globe flocking for that annual pilgrimage that would culminate in the holiest of holy shrines, the Indian Premier League.

Before you brand me insane, consider how many-- and more importantly how -- fringe players got back to their national sides, courtesy IPL. If fulfilling wishes is what draws the devotees in droves, IPL to fringe players is what Bethlehem is to a true blue Christian.

Ask Brad Hodge, Shane Watson, Luke Ronchi and Manpreet Gony and the baptized souls would vouch that without IPL, they had as much chance of getting into national side as China has of conceding Tibet.

Consider Hodge's fortune. Hodgey came, saw and though could not conquer IPL, managed to find his way to the Australian Test squad in the Caribbeans in the most extraordinary of circumstances. He was recalled as cover for the cupid-struck Michael Clarke who refused to board the West Indies-bound flight and stood by the bedside of his fiancée’s ailing father.

The last time Hodgey was seen with a baggy green was when Australia had a different Prime Minister; Nicolas Sarkozy’s wife went by the name Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz and not Carla Bruni; and Barack Obama was yet to discover his ambition to be the most hated person on earth.

Watson’s case is no less freak either. Of all people, Matthew Hayden, cricket’s own Arnold Schwarzenegger – not the senator but the terminator – fell to a heel injury sustained, where else but in IPL! So Watson is back in Australia’s ODI scheme of things. The cricketing world rubbed eyes in disbelief as the erstwhile doctors’ delight rose to the pink of his health, while an exasperated Hayden was cooling his healing heel!

Ronchi too has reasons to give thumbs-up to IPL. It required nothing less than a divine intervention to clear the passage for a salacious sounding surname and accordingly, Brad Haddin had to break his ring finger and twiddle his thumb in the sideline as Ronchi flew in.

Back home, Manpreet Gony could not believe his slice of luck either. Sreesanth survived a mighty Rs 3 crore slap from a feisty Sikh but was rendered hors de combat with a fishy side strain and Gony was shoehorned into the side for the Bangladesh tri-series!

I owe the bottom line to Paulo Coelho and it is -- if a Test/ODI cap is your dream, come to IPL and the world would conspire to help you achieve it.

Amen.

Indian Premier League: Circa 2011 and beyond

I didn’t see CNN’s ‘Talk Asia’ programme which featured IPL ring master Lalit Modi this weekend. For that matter, I haven’t seen any of the episodes, even if that makes me lesser a human. And to be honest, I don’t see myself seeing any of the ‘Talk Asia’ episodes either, of course unless I figure there.

But as a professional hazard, I read the transcript and found that during the course of answering a series of ego-massaging questions, Modi said he envisages two IPL seasons in the same year from the fourth edition onwards.

When not cricket ball, crystal ball gazing is my favourite pastime and allow me take a sneak peak into the future of IPL:

1. Sreesanth will be slapped twice a year and the PDCB (Prabhu Deva in Cricket Boots, for those who came in late) would maintain that Harbhajan is like his elder brother;

2. The contract for Bhajji, assuming he still finds a taker, would replace the mandatory post-match handshakes with a folded-hand namaskar and any deviation from there would incur immediate termination of the same;

3. Meanwhile, all roads would lead to Mohali as players, arms wide spread, would make a beeline for Kings XI Punjab, obviously drawn by the hugly incentives from the franchise owner;

4. Kolkata Knight Riders coach John Buchanan will take the opportunity to publish sequel of his “If Better Is Possible” in the Australian embassy. Shane Warne will once again buy a copy, tear the pages, make a kite and fly it over Sawai Mansingh Stadium;

5. Modi will depose in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, explaining why cheerleaders’ presence cannot be construed a performance-enhancing substance;

6. Darren Berry will stay put in Jaipur to issue travel advisory that India had become a dangerous place to visit since a kid burst two firecrackers somewhere in Mizoram;

7. Vijay Mallya will ask Mike Gascoyne to tutor Bangalore royal Challengers on how to get fast off the block;

8. Grandpa, I mean Glenn McGrath would still look inconsolable after conceding 11 runs off his four overs;

9. Sachin Tendulkar would insist that even though teammate Arjun Tendulkar outscored him, he still has lot of cricket left in him;

10. Shoaib Akhtar would manoeuvre his way to IPL, pointing out the precedence set by the previous appellate tribunal which had spared him for the previous drug offence which incurred him a previous life ban.

Image: Daily Mirror

Kanpur, Ahmedabad in 2010 IPL mix

Purists can go and fly a kite. The Indian Premier League is getting bigger. Come Twenty10…I mean 2010… and Kanpur and Ahmedabad too will be thrown into the IPL mix. Sahara is keen to get the Kanpur franchise, while Anil Ambani’s ADAG is speculated to land the Ahmedabad team.

Here is a sneak peek into the future:

1. Mohd Kaif would be found unconscious in his Noida flat following the announcement that he has been granted Icon status for the Kanpur franchise;
   

2. Luck Ben, as they would call Dame Luck in Gujarat, would smile as much for Parthiv Patel, who’ll be in an altered state of consciousness following a similar Hai Kaun- to-Icon metamorphosis;

3. Kanpur players would dump hi-fives for Sahara Pranaam after every dismissal/boundary.

4. Aishwarya Rai, in that trademark bordered saree, would be Sahara’s Brand Ambassador, with the entire Bachchan clan, and the toady Amar Singh, in tow;

5. Kokilaben Ambani, also in bordered saree, will give Aishwarya tough competition as her Ahmedabad counterpart. Much to the relief of the players, blessing would be doled out instead of flying kisses and hugs.

Welcome to Cricket Inc, and that’s the way out gentlemen

# Australian players yet to see the money they were promised
# Kolkata Knight Riders shows the door to five players
# Royal Challengers Bangalore jettisons Charu Sharma
# Team Mohali asks fringe players to shift to less-opulent hotels

Well, I don’t expect foreign imports to be jolted out of their illusion of a dollar deluge yet. But by now, some of them must have regained enough sense to realize that the Indian Premier League is not exactly the El Dorado.

But to be honest, they are not the only ones who felt the moneybag franchise owners have ankle-deep pockets. So did we. And some of the players clearly saw only the chequebook on one hand of their owner, completely overlooking the whip on the other. Suddenly, quite a handful of them have been driven out of their comfort zone.

Welcome to Cricket Inc. Perform of perish.

Behind her bubbly eyes, Preity Zinta is as much an entrepreneur as her thoroughbred fiancé; beneath the veneer of his charm, Shah Rukh Khan is a fierce salesman who has succeeded in monetizing a dimpled smile; and for the Ambanis and Mallyas – they have been schooled to believe that loss is essentially a four-letter word, which also happens to be the eighth deadly sin.

With IPL reaching its business end, and this is the apt phrase, now it’s clearly showing who’s the boss. With Charu Sharma went out a clear message for Dravid, Kallis, Ponting, Laxman as well as Cheteshwar Pujara and Ranadeb Bose. It’s out and out a cut-throat business proposition. No wonder, Shah Rukh is dealing in flying kisses these days, and Preity in hugs. Mallya apparently doesn’t care a hoot for niceties and Ambani does not think it worth making an appearance in the venues. Wife Nita, no wonder she handles charitable arm of Reliance industries, is representing the family these days.

Well guys, welcome to Cricket Inc. and that is the way out. Thank you very much.

Jayasuriya defies the age-old issue

One more myth lay in tatters as the apocalyptic Indian Premier League chugs on. Once again, the stereotype has been shattered and once more, pre-conceived notions were hit for a six -- 11 sixes to be precise -- at the Wankhede Stadium last night.

Champions of ageism preached Twenty20 is that brash drop-dead lass who woos the old as well but romances only the youth. It’s all about fresh faces, new blood and unabashed exuberance, asserted the modern day Dorian Grays.

But only till an unassuming 38-year-young from a nondescript city in the southern coast of Sri Lanka came to thumb nose at them.

Few player contradict their persona with their performance like Jayasuriya does and last night, the Matara Marauder not only stole the thunder from his illustrious opening partner but also proved that worshipping youth is alright, but the old trickster in him still have an ace or two up his sleeve.

McGrath and Warne have already made their retirement seem a mischief by novice rumour-mongers and now Jayasuriya gatecrashes into the party, which so far had a rude ONLY YOUTH sign hung at the entry.

Like McGrath and Warne, Jayasuriya made the point that it’s not about age but ability, not number but efficacy. Those who ridiculed the creaking bones, ageing legs and thinning thatch better take note. Age is just a number people unnecessary lose sleep about. It’s a matter of the mind, it doesn’t matter if you don’t mind. It’s all about delivering the goods, and especially when you need it most.

Enough of the age rub-a-dub. Let’s make performance the lone common currency.

Image: Cricinfo

Good morning Mr Modi…and hat’s off too

In India, if you are trying to ‘cap’ someone, you are trying to hoodwink him.

“Topi pehna raha hai kya?”

To give devil its due, Lalit Modi is obviously not the first soul on earth trying to act smart but he definitely is taking the art to a new stratosphere.

Now that the IPL is into its last leg (ok, ok, business end), the IPL madcap realizes the folly. Maximum six award, Orange Cap…oops no candy for the leather-flingers? Hastily he comes up with something for the bowler, clearly the second class citizen in this Twenty20 world, and here you have Purple Cap for the bowlers with maximum cumulative wicket against his name.

We have seen over the course of the inaugural season of the DLF Indian Premier League so far that bowlers have just as important a role to play in winning T20 matches as batsmen do.

Thus spake Zarathustra, I mean Modi.

Some would say, better late than never. In this case, I would have loved better never than late. Don’t you think it’s too early for IPL’s next edition, Mr Modi? Well, Rip Van Winkle finally has got some competition here.

It’s not that Modi the Mad Hatter is actually taking his hats off to the bowlers by introducing the Purple Cap. The Purple Cap is just yet another gimmick-rabbit which Modi the magician pulled out of his hat.

And talking of caps, this guy himself wears multiple hats, simultaneously, and talks through each of them when he obliges section of the media (which, I’m sorry to say, approach him hat in hand).

I thought it was Laxmipathy Balaji. But Modi is IPL’s original hat-trick guy.

Image

Gilly ready to sledge Punter

Those who thought it’s only politics which makes strange bedfellows, time to get their basics right. So does the Indian Premier League (IPL). Here friends turn foe and hatchets are hurriedly buried for six weeks, as if they didn't exist. In fact, Shane Warne and Graeme Smith would soon take their position next to the wicketkeeper to feature in cricket’s own ‘Slipping With the Enemy’.

Thanks to Lalit Modi, here you have a unique world where Bush hugs Osama, Hillary hosts Obama and China hails Dalai Lama. After IPL, United Nations beckons Modi.

There is other side of the coin as well. In fact what provoked the post is Adam Gilchrist’s announcement in Kolkata that says he’s ready to sledge-hammer his former captain Ricky Ponting. Well, Gilly is perfectly entitled to giving vent to his pent-up frustration after being Punter’s deputy for so long. More so because he is through with international cricket and does not care a hoot if that antagonizes Ponting.

But will that be the case with, say an Ishant Sharma and MS Dhoni? I doubt so. Tell me which nitwit would go after his ODI/Test captain and give him a mouthful and still hope for a prolonged international career? Don’t let the foofaraw fox you. At the end of the day -- I would say even at the start of the day too -- IPL is, merely a six-week romp. The bread and butter, fortunately, Test/ ODI cricket.

Image

Warne retires

Hold on, this is not an older post. Shane Warne, the champion text-star who also happens to be a spin legend, has quit first class cricket. The Hampshire captain, who would captain and coach Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has snapped his ties with Hampshire.

Dimitri Mascarenhas will take over as the new Hampshire captain.

Meanwhile, with Warne quitting cricket – come on IPL is after all just another romp for him – Doosra finds it an ethical duty to issue an advisory.

Doosra fears now that Warne is through with cricket, there is an urgent need for the British nurses, especially the plump ones, to keep their cell numbers frequently changing in order to avoid getting lewd SMS from a certain number.

Enough time at his disposal, Warne is expected to make the optimum use of his mobile phones and his daily SMS output, it is feared, far exceeds his wicket tally. The leggie with a liking for leggies is expected to hit back with a vengeance, especially after every effort to forge a new partnership with former wife Simone fell flat on its face.

For someone who considered text and Test equally important, Warne is simply irrepressible and young British women would ignore this advisory at their peril. God save them.

Cartoon: Peter Nicholson of The Australian (Instead of Warne's right arm, it could have been his mobile phone as well)

Injuries betide Team India

Sachin Tendulkar -- tendonitis in right hip

Ishant Sharma -----toe and finger

Harbhajan Singh –- pulled left hamstring

Yuvraj Singh –----- knee

Irfan Pathan -------lower back

S Sreesanth ------- left ankle

MS Dhoni --------- ring finger

Zaheer Khan –---- heel.

No, these are not being auctioned. This is the medical bulletin prepared by Team India physio John Gloster that has left Gary Kirsten with a corrugated forehead and robbed him of his sleep.

While Zaheer is recuperating in Centre for Sports Medicine in Johannesburg and looks doubtful for the first Test against South Africa in Chennai on March 26, both Yuvraj and Harbhajan might need to put their limb under the knife.

Gloster is clearly not the most popular physio we ever had. Javagal Srinath was in Delhi a couple of months ago when he lashed out at Gloster. “As a physio, you should not wait for injuries to happen before taking care of the players,” he said.

Well, players are to be blamed as well. The same cricketers who cried hoarse at the increasingly taxing schedule are gleefully putting themselves under the hammer and volunteering for the Indian Premier League (IPL) without any qualms. So to an extent, the injuries are self-inflicted. So why blame the calendar?

Who is this imposter in cricket’s garbs?

It was one of those days when you regret working in the sports desk. Calculator was out and eyes glued to television as cricketers, in an unprecedented move, went under the hammer and their high-profile, deep-pocket bidders hammer and tongs.

Mind-boggling figures and strings of never-ending zeroes -- is it the game I claimed to be so familiar with? Or is it actually a garbled annual budget of Mr P Chidambaram, which somehow got leaked? Is not the business desk a better choice to handle the issue?

And finally I found myself confronting the question -- who is this imposter?

Richard Madley, the Dreweatts auctioneer who otherwise specializes in oriental carpet probably did not have an idea of the magnitude of the event. But he can’t be blamed either. See, Ricky Ponting is sulking he went cheap. And the likes of Brendan McCullum can’t stop laughing.

The Indian Premier League auction left me with an awful feeling. Only Paris Hilton could have been more brazen.

When industry is ready to pump in money, resisting the temptation is the actual challenge for the administrators. Succumbing to the lure should not be trumpeted around.

Cricket does need money, to ensure that the Aminis of Papua New Guinea continue to strive for excellence; to help Arjuna Ranatunga at the helm of a cash-strap board to efficiently run the domestic tournaments in Sri Lanka; to make sure that youngsters see a career in cricket.

But if cricket needs money, it needs its aura as well. When a kid picks up the bat or holds the ball fort the first time in his palm, career is a word he would probably misspell and to him, money’s only perceived worth is it can be bartered for a lozenge. More than money, he needs heroes. Heroes who would make grand appearance in his innocent dreams, inspire him to rise above himself and tell him to live his dreams.

Sadly, those who offer their soul under the hammer do not fit into this hero’s role.

Blinded by his Twenty20 vision, Lalit Modi understandably fails to see it but cricket actually got pauper on February 20.

Australia to reschedule calendar around IPL

So, BCCI has set the cat among pigeons and cricket boards are scurrying for extra cover.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is ticking like a hand grenade about to explode after BCCI has removed the safety pin. And cricket is the obvious casualty-in-waiting.

Shane Warne (see previous post) may have earned his stripe as the fastest-finger-on-cell-keyboard but he also owns the copyright of the idea that IPL should be incorporated in the ICC calendar.

And now realising the futility of waging an already lost war against the cash-awash Twenty20 extravaganza, Cricket Australia (CA) is all set to dance to the IPL tune and reschedule its Future Tours Program, outlined till 2012, and fit it around the Indian league.

In a sense, this was inevitable. Whatever they may claim, cricket’s real stars, fortunately, are its practitioners and not the rulers and, cricketers should have the last word.

“There is a little bit of the whore in all of us, gentlemen. What is your price?” when Kerry Packer was asking the question to the Australian cricket board officials back in 1976, he was just stating the obvious -- that money talks, and sings too as people dance to its tune.

Already, Neil Maxwell, who manages Brett Lee and Mike Hussey, has warned that players might ditch their national team to take the IPL plunge if CA does not listen to their demand. That left CA hardly with any second option.

Suddenly, no one is talking about burnout. The same players who felt being flogged by a demanding schedule, are merrily queuing up to sign their IPL contract. Men of honour, who swore by the national colours, stood shoulder-to-shoulder in those spectacular huddles to the refrain of the national anthem and pledged their life for the honour of the country, are suddenly holding their board to ransom.

A nouveau riche and unscrupulous BCCI, high on its stinking riches, has planted a seed of discord that threatens to tear apart the game and cricket could consider itself lucky if it can survive the upheaval.

Old fogies would mutter Bodyline, some would claim World Series Cricket and a couple might say Oval controversy or Bollyline. But if inkling are anything to go by, IPL could well be the biggest crisis in the history, geography and everything else of the game.

Warne wants IPL to be part of ICC calendar

Shane Warne has a simple solution to rescue players from the moral dilemma of deciding between the Indian Premier League (IPL) and national commitments, if they coincide.

Make IPL part of international schedule, says the retired leggie.

Let's make it part of the international schedule and the ICC and the boards can create a new future tours program.

In his column for The Daily Telegraph, Warne also dismissed Cricket Australia’s objection that IPL might lead to a conflict of interests among the sponsors of the Australian team and those of the IPL.

… here in Australia, each state has cricket sponsors that differ from our national ones, so I don't buy that argument. This issue can be overcome

Warne simply can’t wait to get started and gushed

Imagine how good it would be seeing Glenn McGrath bowling to Adam Gilchrist, and M.S. Dhoni behind the stumps? Exciting, I reckon.

And he urges all to welcome the Twenty20 venture, instead of fighting it.

We should all be embracing the IPL rather than trying to fight it.

Image: Peter Nicholson (The Australian)

Simon Taufel, next IPL casualty!

If my previous post-- on how the Indian Premier League (IPL) has hit Australian cricket and poses a serious threat to the game at large-- seemed far-fetched, sample this.

Simon Taufel, who never missed the ICC Umpire of the Year award since its 2004 inception, is not keen to renew his contract which expires on March 31.

Talking to The Daily Telegraph, Taufel says

After that I am on the open market.

While he tried to convince the world that he wants to spend more time with family and hence the decision, Taufel hinted he was game for the IPL plunge.

That's possible but I don't know what the parameters are yet.

Now, if officiating in 59 Twenty20 matches of the cash-awash IPL spread over 44 days fill your coffers, who wants to stand under the scorching sun and intermittent shower for days at stretch throughout the year to earn his bread?

This would be a terrible blow for the ICC, which is already grappling with umpiring blunders that blighted the Sydney Test.

Of the 10 umpires on the ICC panel, finger-happy Steve Bucknor and the Oval-faced Darrell Hair are cooling their heels on the sidelines. South African Rudi Koertzen has no clue about what happened at the striker’s end and 22 yards seems too much for his eyeshot.

By April, when the IPL is thrust on us, prepare for more crises.

Image: Getty Images

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.

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)

Indian Premier League woos celebs, biz bigwigs

The suspense is over and BCCI has finally laid the cards on table. Shahrukh Khan, Mukesh Ambani and Vijay Mallya have bagged some of the bids and it would be interesting to see how they fare in this uncharted territory. Analysis can wait, let's get the facts first.

I Thought I should share the BCCI release that landed in my inbox with you all (excerpts):

• Bids were received from: Red Chillies Entertainment, DLF, UB Group, Deccan Chronicle Holdings, GMR Holdings, RIL, India Cements, Deutsche Bank, Emeralds Telecoms, Priety Zinta and Emerging Media (UK).

• Late bids were received from: Sahara India, Future Group, ICICI Ventures

IPL Franchise Winners Are (And How Much They Are To Shell Out)

• Delhi – GMR Holdings at USD$ 84 m

• Mumbai – RIL Pvt Ltd at USD$ 111.9 m

• Chennai – The India Cements Ltd at USD$ 91m

• Bangalore – UB Group at USD$ 111.6 m

• Mohali – Preity Zinta/Ness Wadia/Karan Paul/ Mohit Burman at USD$ 76 m

• Jaipur – Emerging Media at USD$ 67 m

• Hyderabad – The Deccan Chronicle at USD$ 107.01

• Kolkata – Shahrukh Khan/Juhi Chawla/Jay Mehta at USD$75.09m

Some other points:

• Each Franchisee bid to own teams in any 8 of the 12 cities that satisfy the eligibility criteria

• The 12 cities are: Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Cuttack, Kanpur, Gwalior, Mohali, Jaipur, Delhi, Hyderabad

• IPL has contracted the Top 80 Players according to ICC Rankings

• The IPL Player Auction to be held in Feb ’08, and will allow each Franchisee to bid for the Indian national team and overseas players contracted by the IPL

• A maximum of 8 overseas players will be allowed per Franchisee

• The Franchisees in consultation with IPL will finalize the appropriate Names for the Teams

• Team Names will be associated with the city or area they are based in

• The tournament will begin on 18th April ‘08

• There will be 59 matches spread over 44 days, with 2 matches every Saturday and every Sunday

• IPL franchisees to get following returns:

• 1. Central revenues:

• a. 80% of TV revenues in Yrs 1-5, and 60% from Yrs 5-10

• b. 60% of Sponsorship revenues from Yrs 1-10

• 2. 100% of Local revenues: Gate revenues, Franchisee Shirt sponsorship, Local sponsorship, Licensing programme, Uniform Merchandising, Hospitality and Premium seating, Match-day Concessions, Match-day promotions, Franchise media platforms.

• Till Date IPL has successfully raised a total of USD$ 1.749 billion which is INR 6996 crores.

Shah Rukh to buy IPL team, no hope for Tendulkar

Well, Russell “Gladiator” Crowe is not the lone actor, who is bidding to buy a team for next year’s Indian Premier League (IPL). According to reports, Shah Rukh “Chak De” Khan is among 90 people who have made a beeline to buy a franchise in the BCCI-conceived, ICC-backed Twenty20 extravaganza.

And media reports also claimed that Kishore Biyani’s Future Group was in talks with Sachin Tendulkar to convince for a joint bid to buy the Mumbai team. BCCI, however, has scuttled the move, making it clear that it won’t allow any of the current players to have stake in any of the teams.

Meanwhile, England-based industrialist Lord Swaraj Paul is reportedly interested to buy a team, as are liquour baron Vijay Mallya and Anil Ambani. English Premier League, some guys from the American National Basketball Association, couple of foreign banks and handful of investment bankers also harbour the same hope.

Naturally, BCCI Vice President Lalit Modi, mastermind behind the IPL, is sporting an ear-to-ear smile these days. Modi maybe a sworn enemy of Jagmohan Dalmiya but much like the wily Marwari from Kolkata, this firebrand BCCI official surely knows how to mint money.

Image