Kirsten faces BCCI backlash

The Cricket Board today took strong exception to coach Gary Kirsten's comments in the media that Mahendra Singh Dhoni was ready for Test captaincy and asked the South African to concentrate on his job only.
BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah has categorically told Kirsten to avoid airing his personal views in media and focus on his job of coaching.
"As per the rules and regulations, Kirsten should not have spoken such things in the media, it is not his job. We have the selectors to decide who should be the captain," Shah told reporters.
"His job is to coach the Indian team and not give interviews on the selection matters or the captaincy. His comments have not gone down well with those concerned because he is an important member of the support staff. But I will still give him a benefit of doubt," Shah said.
He also dismissed the notion that Kumble should hang up his boots.
"Anil is a great cricketer and he knows well when to quit. As long as he is in form, I don't think the selectors are going to drop him," he said.
Kirsten had told a television channel earlier this week that ODI skipper Dhoni was ready to take over the Test captaincy from Anil Kumble.
"He (Dhoni) is ready for it (Test captaincy) but there is no need to rush as of now. Anil (Kumble) has done an exceptional job, he is a great leader and he is toiling in many overs for India. He is prepared to do 30 overs in a day. But he is on the other side of the physical side of the game.
Shah said Kumble was doing well and the selectors were not contemplating any change at the helm of the Test team.
"Anil Kumble is a great cricketer. He knows when he should bow out or give up the captaincy. Right now he is bowling very well and the selectors will never drop him or change the captaincy," he said.
When asked if Yuvraj Singh, who is struggling with the bat, should take a break from international cricket, the Board secretary expressed hopes that the left-hander would soon rediscover his form.
Shah further added that the decision to include or exclude a player from the team was that of the selection committee.
"Our selection committee has been doing the job with great responsibility. Let them select the team," Shah added.

source: www.mid-day.com

Zimbabwe pull out of World Twenty20

July 4, 2008, Zimbabwe have agreed to pull out of next year's Twenty20 World Cup in England, clearing the roadblocks for the competition to be staged there, but will retain their status as Full Member of the ICC and receive funding as usual. They will also receive their full participation fee for the tournament.
"We have decided to pull out in the larger interests of the game," Peter Chingoka, the chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket, told Cricinfo. "We have been informed that the British government may not grant visas to our players, and that situation may prevail during the Twenty20 World Cup. We don't want to be gatecrashers."
"It was a collective decision and I was a part of that decision," Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, told Cricinfo.
"The full membership of Zimbabwe is currently not in doubt," ICC president David Morgan said. "There was not even a discussion on the issue of Zimbabwe's membership."
The decision, Chingoka said, pertained only to the tournament in England. "We are now looking forward to more tours and international cricket with our Asian friends, especially India."
The Zimbabwe issue had occupied a large part of the discussions during the ICC executive board meeting, which carried over to an unscheduled third day on Friday after a failure to reach a consensus.
Some countries, led by England and South Africa, had been pushing for Zimbabwe to be stripped of Full Member status but that move had been opposed by India.
Ray Mali, the former ICC president, has recommended the setting up of a sub-committee to "advise the ICC board on all matters relating to Zimbabwe cricket including its return to full participation in the international game. The specific terms of reference for the sub-committee will be finalised in due course." The sub-committee, if approved, will chaired by Julian Hunte, the head of the West Indies board, and include Arjuna Ranatunga and another official (who hasn't been confirmed).
Source: www.circinfo.com

Kapil's Devils relive 1983 triumph

June 18, 2008 Nostalgic moments of a historic victory were relived by members of 'Kapils Devils' as BCCI felicitated the 1983 World Cup heroes in New Delhi on Sunday night.

The Indian team, then considered underdog in international cricket, created history when they shocked two-time World Champions West Indies in the final at Lord's in June 25, 1983 to lift the Prudential World Cup Cup which is till date considered one of the greatest moment in Indian sports.

After 25 years of that triumph, the day was once again relived when the 14 cricketers along with then manager P R Mansing were felicitated by the BCCI

Source:www.rediff.com

The Indian Cricket League

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Indian Cricket League (ICL) is a private cricket league that runs parallel to the existing cricket league managed by BCCI. At the moment, matches in the ICL follow the Twenty20 format, though there was a ODI (50 over) championship in January 2008. Matches are held at Tau Devi Lal stadium in Panchkula, near Chandigarh, Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad and Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Gurgaon, near New Delhi. In the second edition the league has been expanded to eight teams, almost doubling the number of group stage games from 15 to 28.HistoryZee Telefilms (part of the Essel group, which is promoted by Subhash Chandra) bid for the telecast rights to the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Although the highest bid, it was unsuccessful. In 2004, Subhash Chandra again bid for telecast rights and ended up in an inconclusive court battle. He made another bid for the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy rights and once again lost. He responded by creating the ICL. “They denied us the cricket content,” says Himanshu Mody, business head of ICL and Zee’s sports, “so, we had to create our own content” . Zee Telefilms announced that it would partner infrastructure major IL&FS to create a new, ambitious cricket organisation, the Indian Cricket League (ICL) with prize money of one million US dollars in the initial edition for the winning team. The ICL was set up with a billion dollar Indian Rupee corpus, and was to initially comprise six teams playing Twenty20 cricket, with plans to expand to sixteen teams within three years and to eventually move to 50-over matches. These plans, if realised, will make ICL the richest professional league in India. On 24 July 2007, some famous international names were announced to have signed to play in the ICL, including Brian Lara [3]. Due to the unofficial nature of the league, most of the national cricket boards warned their players against joining it and as a result most of the international players who signed for the first edition were retired internationals, such as Brian Lara, Chris Cairns and Craig McMillan, or former players with little hope of breaking back into their national team, such as Chris Read and Daryl Tuffey. A notable exception was Imran Farhat, who chose to opt out of his Pakistan Central contract to sign with the League . Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad said he was not able to understand why the PCB would not allow its players to participate in the league and why it was threatening players with a lifetime ban[citation needed]. The PCB subsequently banned players involved in the ICL from playing domestic cricket, a move that prompted some players, notably Farhat and Taufeeq Umar, to threaten court action . The opposition to the league from most national cricket boards has continued into the league's second edition, with several players who were signed to play domestic cricket for teams in the English County Championship, including Shane Bond, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Mushtaq Ahmed and Jason Gillespie being unable to fulfill their County Championship contracts because of their home counties cricket boards refusals to grant them the necessary paperwork to play in England .The first edition of the league commenced on 30 November 2007. The league consisted of six teams with the matches played at Panchkula, near Chandigarh. It concluded on 16 December 2007 with the Chennai Superstars winning the first title. A second edition which commenced on 9 March 2008 saw the league expanded to eight teams and matches being played at two further venues, Hyderabad and Gurgaon.

Shah Rukh would not attend IPL matches

By Khabrein.info Correspondent,
Mumbai, May 23: Shah Rukh Khan has said that he would not attend the remaining matches of the IPL due to the bar set on him by ICC. The actor owns the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) Kolkata team. He was stopped from entering his team’s dressing room by ICC officials.

A dejected Shah Rukh who has paid more than 300 crore rupees for his team said, “The Indian Premier League (IPL) has its set of rules and regulations and I am a law-abiding person. But why pick on me? Other team owners are seen near their players. Is it because I am a celebrity and vulnerable?”.

His team that has failed to qualify for the semi finals despite having star players and initially being seen as the top contender for the tournament is also marred by rumours of rift between captain and owner of the team.

But Shah Rukh Khan seems to be more concerned over the behaviour of ICC and BCCI officials. “I have paid my players to win. Will I pay them now to lose? This is illogical”, said Shah Rukh Khan.

Shah Rukh Khan was banned from visiting the players’ dressing room and dug out. The BCCI had asked the actor not to violate ICC code of conduct.
The move comes after the ICC asked the BCCI to question Shah Rukh Khan for his on field conduct.

Shah Rukh Khan has been putting in extra efforts to prop up his team and also encourage the players. It has been observed that his team Kolkata Knight Riders lost all the matches when the actor was not present during the match.

SRK while commenting on the BCCI move said, “I like to hang around with the boys. I am very energetic. I am very disappointed that the ICC has stopped me. I don’t know the rules. I’ll tell only one thing. Nobody dare stop me from coming to Calcutta. I’ll be here whenever my team plays a match at the Eden”.

The Bollywood star says that he was not happy with the performance of his team. “But this is a game and if there is a winner then there has to be a loser too,” SRK said.