BCCI unlikely to take decision on India coach on April 27

Mumbai, April 22 (PTI): The BCCI is in no hurry to appoint a new cricket coach for the team and is unlikely to decide on the matter in its Working Committee's meeting on April 27 where the agenda would include various sub-committees' reports.

"We are still in the process of doing so (finding a new coach). There's no hurry as the team is leaving for the West Indies only on June 1," BCCI President Shashank Manohar told PTI from Nagpur today.

A lot of names, including England's director of coaching Andy Flower and another Zimbabwean Duncan Fletcher, are doing the rounds as the candidates likely to get the job.

There are talks that an interim coach could be appointed by the BCCI for the Windies tour in case it is unable to find a suitable candidate to replace Gary Kirsten who quit the job after guiding India to the World Cup triumph on April 2.

"The reports of various sub committees would be tabled at the meeting," the BCCI chief said about the agenda for the April 27 meet.

Manohar confirmed that an understanding has been reached by the BCCI with its Sri Lanka counterpart, which allows the players from the island nation to stay on and represent their franchises in the ongoing Indian Premier League till May 18.

"They will be here till the 18th and then directly go to England from Mumbai," said Manohar.

The BCCI Chief, however, could not confirm whether the same understanding will apply to speedster Lasith Malinga who has been excluded from Lanka's Test outfit to tour England as he had cited an injury to stay on and play for Mumbai Indians.

Mumbai Indians beat Chennai Super Kings by 8 runs

MUMBAI: The last time at Wankhede when Mumbai Indians had lost to Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Sachin Tendulkar had pointed out that fielding remained the difference between the two sides who contested fiercely.

On Friday night, fielding once again remained the difference between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in a fiercely fought contest except this time it was Tendulkar's team that turned out to be better than the opposition.

The Wankhede cheered when Chennai dropped three catches and engaged in some sloppy fieldwork that allowed Mumbai Indians to set a target of 164 runs batting first. Wankhede cheered again when Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, R Sathish and James Franklin, among others, dived and threw themselves at everything to resist a successful chase.

Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field in what is fast becoming a norm to follow here at the Wankhede. Strictly by way of record so far at this newly renovated stadium, the team batting second would have a better chance.

Chennai Super Kings almost did, reaching 100 runs in 11.4 overs. But from there on, some fantastic effort by the Mumbai Indians fielders stifled their chase.

Earlier in the evening, Mumbai Indians rode on an impressive 87 by Rohit Sharma to reach 164 in 20 overs.

For the first time in four and half years of playing any kind of professional cricket, Rohit Sharma - an Andhra lad by genes, Nagpur-born, but essentially a Mumbai cricketer - received an overwhelming welcome in his city.

"Rohit, Rohit, Rohit", the crowd began chanting as the 23-year-old raced to a 31-ball 50 and from there to an eventual 87 off 48 balls, giving the Wankhede enough reasons to acknowledge his Mumbai roots.

The batsman walked out in his own leisurely manner after Sachin Tendulkar's wicket fell down - one Mumbaikar eager to make his mark at the Wankhede replacing another Mumbaikar who is a legend. It wasn't immediately that the crowd stood on their feet and applauded his arrival. Sharma would have to stay there, find his feet, play the ball well, and earn it for himself. 48 balls, eight fours and five sixes later he made that happen.

When Sharma eventually walked away, getting caught at long-on trying to hurry up for what could've been a century, the crowd stood on their feet and applauded. The innings turned out to be innovative and destructive both as he bade time for conditions to ease before the walloping began.

A 'Dilscoop' off Doug Bollinger will have to stand out as the shot of the evening but the shots that he played over mid-wicket and square leg, or moving down the leg side to loft the ball over covers were trademark Sharma. Later in the evening, the stupendous catch he took on long on to get rid of MS Dhoni was another stand out.

That he's immensely talented has never been the question but what exactly has he been able to make of it in four years had certainly been nagging him and those expecting better things from him. On Friday, he took his first step in settling that debate.

In weekly wages, Indian Premier League among top 2

NEW DELHI: The world's No. 2 sporting league in terms of average pay - only considering weekly pay - is the Indian Premier League, according to a salaries survey in world sport.

The IPL follows the NBA which remains the richest league in terms of average pay per player. "It (IPL) lasts just six weeks per year but with multi-million dollar short-term contracts for the best players and six-figure deals for many more, it is justifiable for inclusion, not least because many of those involved earn other incomes elsewhere during the rest of the year," says Nick Harris, editor, sportingintelligence.com, who has published the Global Sports Salaries Survey 2011 along with ESPN The Magazine.

Royal Challengers Bangalore is No. 26 in the team list with weekly wages of $86,667 and Kolkata Knight Riders 29th with $85,545. NBA teams occupy 10 of the top 30 places, while MLB baseball teams occupy eight. Kings XI Punjab (40) and Mumbai Indians (44) are the other IPL teams in the Top 50.

Spanish football giants Barcelona and Real Madrid have overtaken baseball's New York Yankees as the world's highest paid teams. The survey said the average annual first-team wage at Barcelona was $7,910 million ($152,130 a week).

Real Madrid were second with their players earning an average $7,356 million a year while the average first-team salary at the Yankees was $6,756 million. NBA teams LA Lakers and Orlando Magic were fourth and fifth respectively followed by the Premiership's Chelsea.

Rank	Team	League	Ave Annual Salary	Ave Weekly Salary
1	Barcelona	La Liga	$7,910,737	$152,130
2	Real Madrid	La Liga	$7,356,632	$141,474
3	NY Yankees	MLB	$6,756,301	$129,929
4	LA Lakers	NBA	$6,540,690	$125,782
5	Orlando Magic	NBA	$6,367,114	$122,445
6	Chelsea	EPL	$6,020,741	$115,783
7	Inter Milan	Serie A	$5,999,643	$115,378
8	Boston Red Sox	MLB	$5,991,203	$115,215
9	Denver Nuggets	NBA	$5,990,174	$115,196
10	Manchester City	EPL	$5,863,585	$112,761
India's Top Three
26	RCB	IPL	$4,506,667	$86,667
29	KKR	IPL	$4,448,333	$85,545
40	Kings XI	IPL	$4,065,833	$78,189
(IPL 2010 season, annual figures pro rata from weekly pay)

The report compares average first team pay in 14 of the world's sports leagues, including the NBA, IPL, MLB, Premier League, NFL, NHL, Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga. The salaries report features average salary information from 272 teams in 14 leagues in seven sports across 10 countries.

The Premier League remains the richest football league in the world with Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal among the top 30 best paid teams.

Manchester City, owned by Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi, have stormed into the Top 10, with City's average first-team annual pay in the 2009-10 season calculated at $5.9m ($112,761 per week).

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