Not on Cricinfo

Pretoria , May 1 Rajasthan Royals pacer Kamran Khan has been reported for suspect bowling action and the issue has been referred to the team management and the Technical Committee of the Indian Premier League. After the Rajasthan Royals match against Chennai Super Kings yesterday, on-field umpires Rudi Koertzen and Gary Baxter felt Kamran had a suspect illegal bowling action on certain deliveries. After the match was over, footage was obtained and examined by all the three umpires, including TV umpire Amish Saheba, and they felt further action was necessary under the MCC&aposs Laws of Cricket section 24/3 that governs the game. The matter has now been referred to the Rajasthan Royals management and the IPL Technical Committee as per the MCC&aposs Laws of Cricket."I have officially received a copy of the match umpires report duly signed by all the three umpires and the video footage for the game at the Centurion,"IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi said.

My comment on the Ajay Shankar article

Does the term "slander" resonate at all in the hallways of Cricinfo? You make a categorical statement that "Cash-rich BCCI couldn't afford ICC's anti-corruption price tag " and all you have by way of evidence are statements by unnamed state officials who attended the BCCI meeting.

There is no corroboration whatsoever from either the Secretary/Treasure of the BCCI or the President of the BCCI or the Chairperson of the IPL and yet we should believe that this is, in fact, a true version of the events.

You may have an axe to grind with the BCCI, and more power to you for that.. But must you insult your reader's intelligence so in the quest of a few more eyeballs?

How different are you then from the IPL commentators you so constantly berate?

Cheers,

Hatchet on....

Cash-rich BCCI couldn't afford ICC's anti-corruption price tag

stunning headline.

The Indian board's commitment to fight corruption in cricket has come under the scanner after it has emerged that it stayed silent for months on an ICC offer to provide full anti-corruption cover for the IPL this year, mainly because of the fee involved. The issue was raised at the BCCI's working committee on Wednesday, when members were informed that the fee quoted then by the ICC - US$1.2 million - was too high.

great opening paragraph.. Sets the scene for some serious BCCI bashing.

But wait...

• Officially, the BCCI is well within its rights to organise its own anti-corruption measures for the IPL, which is deemed a domestic event.
• The IPL's anti-corruption protocol last year was handled by a team of around 10 officials, including retired police and military officials, recruited independently by the league. The team was guided by ACSU officials, who played a supporting role.
• The ICC had first offered full ACSU coverage for the second IPL edition a few months after the hugely successful inaugural event got over last May, based on independent observations and inputs collated during the tournament. The IPL agreed and were then sent a quote on the fee this would involve. The IPL, however, indicated that the fee was too high and said they would revert on the offer, which they didn't till the ICC board meeting 12 days ago.
• The ACSU's pre-event spadework involves staging reconnaissances in the host cities and gathering intelligence from local sources to identify potential corruptors. Against this background, the effectiveness of the IPL's anti-corruption procedures this year is open to question after the tournament - involving 59 matches over 37 days, at eight venues - was shifted to South Africa just three weeks before its scheduled start in India.

Juxtapose this information with the second paragraph of Ajay Shankar's "exclusive"

The BCCI, which runs the IPL, finally agreed to the offer this month when reminded about it during the ICC's executive board meeting in Dubai. That was on April 17, the day before the IPL began, and it was too late for the ICC's Anti Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) - which starts work on an event at least two months in advance - to provide a credible level of preventive cover.

I agree with the BCCI - given the logistics involved and given that Paul Condon was of the view point that

"the IPL brings with it the biggest threat in terms of corruption in the game since the days of cricket in Sharjah."

despite having the ACSU involved with the first edition of the IPL, the cost-benefit of recruiting the ACSU for the second edition of the IPL was just not worth it.

Getting it right.. somewhat

The Soopher Kinks seem to have done a few good things today. For starters, Sudeep Tyagi gets a look in. For the best domestic bowler in 2008 to be warming the Kinks benches for so long while Gony and Joginder got an extended run is beyond unfair.

Then, Subramanian Badrinath given another opportunity to fail at the top of the order instead of languishing at 6/7/8/9. Badri readily obliged, but thats another post for another day.

Now, if Dhoni comes in at the fall or Rain ( or Oram), it would be perfect.

Bloody hell...

Wilkin Mota and Romesh Pawar can play for bloody Maharashtra next season. Or Punjab.Or whoever else.

Great game... Bad loss... Kick in the teeth for Mumbai.

Crap!

PS: Gavaskar not a happy chappie at the post match presentation... Ditto SRT...

Amnesty

The Indian board has announced an "amnesty" for all Indian players associated with the ICL, who can return to official cricket provided they cut all ties with the unofficial league by May 31. The players who choose to return to the official fold will be eligible to play international cricket after a one-year 'cooling period' but can play domestic cricket from June 1, when the ICC's new rules on official and unofficial cricket come into force.

Bloody masterstroke, that!

1. It boosts the Indian talent available to the various franchises. Imagine Stuart Binny playing for the BRC and an Ambati Rayadu for the Deccan Chargers!

2. It undermines the ICL in a manner that no "negotiations" ( regular and underhand) could have.

3. Imagine how interesting the Ranji will be now that teams can actually call upon their best talent instead of having to make up with the best of the rest.

4. The BCCI is no longer beholden to the whims and fancies of different cricketing boards. Pakistan can no longer shadow box on offering amnesty to the ICL players in lieu of conessions from the BCCI, CA is welcome to withdraw its players after committing them to the IPL etc etc.

5. No more having to listen to the carping from the sidelines - from British journos and disgruntled Kiwi supporters.

And if the offer for "amnesty" is not accepted by the ICL players, the BCCI can always turn around and say, "We tried".

New moniker

From this day forth, in honor of the mad acting skills ( operative word being mad) of Ben Affleck,the Dilli Daredevils will be called the

D _ _ F _ E C K S.

or _ _ F_ E C K S (for short)!

The bloody dabbawallas win...

....and I am a happy chappie coz, who the be the we? We the be the Mumbai, yaaar!!

Is Cricinfo dead?

Or am I the only one unable to access the website, irrespective of browser, machine or IP?

Is left right?

MS Dhoni seems to think so. Vide the batting order today

Parthiv Patel
Matthew Hayden
Suresh Raina
MS Dhoni
Jacob Oram
Albie Morkel

5 of the top 6 - left handers.

And seriously, why is Parthiv being persisted with? He wont keep and he definitely cannot open - so what is he doing in the team, especially when you have Sudeep Tyagi, S Vidyut and Murali Vijay warming the bench?

The Kinks need to address their team balance. And fast.

Fk

Fk Fk Fk Fk Fk


FK!

Its back...

And how!!!

Two close contests.. One a high scoring match, the other a super over cliff hanger..Emotion. Drama. Action. A contest.

Cricket has taken back the narrative of the IPL.. No need for the extra hype anymore because the cricket has taken care of that too.

The biggest USP of IPL 1 was the fact that people bought into the city franchises and because the quality of cricket was of such consistently high standard.

The IPL 2 began on a damp note, was talked up by Lalit Modi and Ravi Shastri and the motley crew of commentators. Till today.

Cricket is back baby!!! Front and center!

Watching Pragyan Ojha

Loop, control, variation, angles, changes in speed.

Is Pragyan Ojha the left arm spinner India need to complete their troika of offie, leggie and left arm orthodox?

And will his performance in the IPL finally open the door for his test match debut?

Kindred spirits

This was last year

Rohit Sharma, the most successful batsman for Deccan Chargers in the ongoing IPL, has found an admirer in South African team-mate Herschelle Gibbs, who believes the young batsman has a "prosperous" career ahead.

This was yesterday

That brought together Rohit and Gibbs, who knuckled down to work a few singles and steady the innings. Gibbs then started playing some inventive shots, a bent-knee sweep off Ganguly for four followed by a deft dab towards third man. Any pressure that Kolkata had built up vanished, and neither batsmen was afraid of lofting the ball after that.

Rohit joined in the fun once Ajit Agarkar was introduced, a huge six over long-off and a couple of boundaries helping take 17 runs off his first over. Some more merry hitting from the pair finished off the game with nearly seven overs to spare.

The Kaif factor

Md Kaif

• captained the India U-19 team to World Cup success
• led Uttar Pradesh to to their maiden Ranji Championship in 2005-06
• Led Uttar Pradesh to being losing finalists in2007-08 and 2008-09.
• Led Central Zone to Deodhar Trophy honors in 2007-08
• Led Central Zone to Duleep Trophy success in 2004-05
• Led Uttar Pradesh to the Ranji Trophy ODI finals in 2004-05 ( where they were joint winners with Tamil Nadu).

Under Kaif, under rated teams have consistently punched above their weight. Vide Uttar Pradesh's run in the Ranji Trophy or Central Zone's performance in the Duleep Trophy.

And yet, the Future India Captain finds himself out of favor - both with the Indian cricket team and the Rajasthan Royals.

Which I believe is a travesty . He may not be flashy enough or consistent enough to be a part of the national set up, but being cut by the Royals was uncalled for , given what he brings to the plate as a leader.

And that is also a worry.

Being out of favor with the national set up is one thing. Being out of favor with a year old franchise, quite another. And given that he now leads a Uttar Pradesh team filled with "names" ( Suresh Raina, Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla, Tanmay Srivastava), how much longer before he finds himself out of favor with the powers that be in U.P?

And that , for me, is the biggest worry. Because what Kaif brings to the plate is something that cannot easily be replicated.

And if Md. Kaif is lost to Indian cricket, the greater the pity. For Indian cricket.