Sachin Tendulkar's Simple Message From Twitter To Raised Rs 1.25 Crore

A simple message from Sachin Tendulkar on his twitter page is enough to raise Rs 1.25 crore in two weeks and the beneficiaries would be the children of the veteran batsman`s project "Sachin`s Crusade against Cancer in Children".

"Sachin just tweeted once two weeks ago and overnight lakhs came in donations. Over Rs 125 lakhs have been collected," Dr P Jagannath of the "Crusade against Cancer Foundation" said at a press conference here on Thursday.

"This is an astounding figure and is probably the highest that has been collected by a single celebrity in India for a single fund raising event," Dr Jagannath said, adding he had approached Tendulkar through his wife Anjali for the cause.

"I approached Dr Anjali Tendulkar who is a paediatrician and known to me through some friends. She convinced Sachin for this cause," he said.

"In the last one week itself over Rs 30-40 lakhs have been collected for the project which reaches those in the low income group in India. An expert panel will access the medical and financial needs and offer better treatment as well as the dosages," he said.

The project is close to the champion batsman`s heart and Tendulkar issued a statement terming it "as the most satisfying contribution" in his life.

"Every child is precious and bringing the smile back to the child and lighting a new life is the most satisfying thing one can dream of," Tendulkar said about his project.

"I`m grateful to all the donors in every part of the country who rallied behind me in my effort to save the lives of children afflicted with cancer. This is the most satisfying contribution in my life," the batting great said.

Dr Jagannath said that what was most interesting among the contributions were those who donated Rs 100 and 200.

"Corporate India has responded well (to Tendulkar`s appeal). What is heartening is we have received donations for as little as Rs 100 and 200. This shows there are people who feel for the cause and have contributed whatever they could," he said.

"I`m surprised why other celebrities have not used this medium (Twitter) to raise funds (for charity)," he added.

Dr Jagannath said Tendulkar and his wife Anjali were also scheduled to take part in a fund raising dinner tonight.

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Lalit Modi Planning A Rebel Twenty20 League In England

Lalit Modi on Monday will submit his reply to the second showcause notice issued to him by the BCCI which accuses the suspended IPL Commissioner of planning a rebel Twenty20 league in England.

"The reply would be filed Monday. It would not be as voluminous (as the reply to the first show cause)," Modi's legal adviser Mehmood Abdi reiterated today.

Modi's reply to the first showcause served on him soon after the conclusion of IPL's third edition on April 25 ran up to over 15,000 pages, including a 160-page main reply with supporting documents.

Modi responded to the first notice over allegations of murky financial deals in the IPL and bid rigging on May 15. He was served a second showcause by the BCCI on May 6 based on an e-mail sent to the Board by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Chairman Giles Clarke.

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Speedster Vinay Kumar Has Been Ruled Out Of Zimbabwe ODI

Indian speedster Vinay Kumar has been ruled out of the ongoing One-day International (ODI) tri-series here with a knee injury. He will be replaced by Abhimanyu Mithun.

Vinay, who made ODI debut against Zimbabwe Friday was replaced by spinner Pragyan Ojha in the Sunday's match against Sri Lanka.

Mithun will leave for Zimbabwe as soon as formalities are completed, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary N. Srinivasan said in a statement.

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English County Cricketer Was Offered Five Million Pounds Betting

An English county cricketer has revealed that he was offered five million pounds to organize his team to fix the outcome of some games in this season.

"I knew this chap through business. All of a sudden he brought up cricket betting in India, and how people could make millions," The Australian quoted the player, as saying.

"The money mentioned to me - for helping to fix matches rather than spot-fixing because there's much more to be made from that - was enormous. Like five million quid," he added.

The player, who had earlier said that he was invited to "name his price" by the man who approached him, wishes to remain anonymous for fear of his own safety.

According to reports, he has also spoken to the Professional Cricketers' Association and the International Cricket Council (ICC) Anti-Corruption Unit, and they are investigating the matter.

"Match-fixing has been going on for years and it's a huge concern. I don't want to go anywhere near it. Look what happened to Hansie Cronje and Bob Woolmer. Cronje hated flying. For him to miss a flight and then book onto a cargo plane [that crashed] the next day to me doesn't stack up. Woolmer had just lost to Ireland with Pakistan, and had a book coming out," the player said.

"I reckon he was going to blow the lid and somebody said, 'No thanks Bob, I don't think so'," he added.

The incident supports the idea that the fixing of results, as opposed to manipulating minor aspects of matches with "spot-fixes", remains a major aim of corrupt bookmakers.

Earlier, on the eve of the first Test between England and Bangladesh at Lord's, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan had revealed that he was tapped by someone he believed wanted to manipulate the result of a ODI game against Ireland in 2008.

"One and possibly two of the batsmen in this team have been approached," a source close to the players said.

Other incidents of match-fixing issues include former Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam raising questions over wicket keeper Kamran Akmal's intentions when he dropped three crucial catches and missed an important run out in the Sydney Test against Australia, which Pakistan lost despite being in a commanding position. (ANI)

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Inexperience India Captain Suresh Raina Forgot Bowling Powerplays

Inexperience showed as India captain Suresh Raina forgot to tell on-field umpires about bowling Powerplays he intended to take against Sri Lanka in the tri-series match. Raina won the toss and asked Sri Lanka to bat first.

After the first 10 overs, the field setting indicated that Powerplay had been taken by the Indian side but there was no official communication from Raina to the umpires. The confusion prolonged till the 15th over after which the fielders were pushed back in the deep, as is done after the Powerplays.

One more over went like this before Raina realised the gaffe and approached the on-field umpires, who told him that they had not been informed anything about Powerplay. The episode provided much amusement to Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan who was seen giggling.

Eventually, official powerplay was taken from 17th to 22nd overs and Raina conceded his mistake after the match. "I forgot it. I thought I had told the umpire about the Powerplay, but he said I hadn't," an embarrassed Raina said.

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Captain Suresh Raina Chose To Bowl Against Sri Lanka In Bulawayo

On a mildly overcast day, Suresh Raina chose to bowl against Sri Lanka in Bulawayo as India looked to bounce back from the defeat against Zimbabwe.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, captaining Sri Lanka for the first time in an ODI, said he too would have bowled had he won the toss because of the overnight rain. The experts reckon there would be something on offer for the bowlers in the first ten overs but they believe the pitch would play true and be full of runs. India made one change to their team: Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, replaced the injured Vinay Kumar.

India: 1 M Vijay, 2 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Ashok Dinda, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Pragyan Ojha, 11 Umesh Yadav. 

Sri Lanka:1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt & wk), 3 Chamara Silva, 4 Thilan Samaraweera, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Chamara Kapugedera, 7 Lahiru Thirimanne, 8 Suraj Randiv, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Thisara Perera, 11 Dilhara Fernando.

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Zimbabwe Is Also Against John Howard's ICC Nomination

Despite the backing of incoming International Cricket Council (ICC) president-elect Sharad Pawar, former Australian prime minister John Howard may still find it difficult to take his place the next time around.

The Australian reported that after Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe is also against Howard's nomination and the former prime minister may suffer for the deeds of ex-ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed.

Speed was sacked two years ago because he instituted what became a damning investigation into the Zimbabwe Cricket Union's (ZCU) finances.

The ICC still refuses to release the report and according to the daily is financing a ZCU administration which has such close links to the Robert Mugabe regime.

ZCU president Peter Chingoka, who has close links with Mugabe, and is banned from travelling to Australia, the UK and the EU. And next month's annual meeting, which needs to ratify Howard's position, is being held in Singapore instead of the traditional location of Lord's in London so Chingoka can attend.

The ZCU has now mounted an unprecedented behind-the-scenes campaign to block Howard's candidacy, fearing his strident opposition to the Mugabe regime and, by extension, the ZCU administration, will be brought to the ICC board table.

Chingoka motivated South Africa, which often acts as proxy for the discredited Zimbabwe, to challenge Howard's nomination.

The unexpected impasse became yet another embarrassment for cricket when last month's ICC meeting failed to automatically ratify the proposal. Instead it was taken off the table to avoid a damaging split among leading cricket nations.

The ICC is divided into five regions of two cricket nations, with each region in turn nominating a vice-president who, after two years, becomes president for another two years.

Australia is grouped with New Zealand, which rightly expected that its highly respected and long-serving former president, John Anderson, would be the regional nomination given Australia's Malcolm Gray held the ICC presidency a decade or so ago.

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Pacer Sreesanth Replaced As Captain Of Kerala Rounder Raiphi Vincent

Pacer S Sreesanth was on Saturday replaced as captain of Kerala for 2010-11 season by all-rounder Raiphi Vincent Gomez, though he was named in the list of probables.

Robert Fernandez will be vice-captain of the team, Kerala Cricket Association said after announcing list of probables for the senior side.

Another notable change was the absence of Tinu Yohanan, the first Test cricketer from the state, from the 25-member list.

The probables were chosen by the selectors at a meeting held here, KCA said in a release.

The players will have extensive match practice in Kerala and outside the state, it said.

The probables:

Raiphi Vincent Gomez (Captain), Robert Fernandez (vice-captain), Sreesanth, Rohan Prem, Abishek Hegde, Rakesh KJ, VA Jagadeesh, Sony Cheruvathoor, Sachin Baby, Arun Paulose, Sebastian Antony, P Prasanth, Sambasiva Sarma, CP Riswan, Arjun NK, Jineesh, Ramesh Kumar, Surjith, Sreejith, Sunil Thomas, CM Thejas (wk), Prasanth Pramaeswaran, Manu Krishnan and Niaz N.

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Pakistani Allrounder Rana Naved Supports The Affected Players

Pakistani allrounder Rana Naved-ul Hasan on Saturday demanded the cricket board (PCB) to remove bans and fines on all the affected players collectively who were penalised in March for indiscipline on the shambolic tour of Australia.

Expressing his happiness that the board has lifted the one-year ban on former captain Shoaib Malik, Rana, who is presently in England playing county cricket, felt that the action of removing the bans and fines should have been done collectively for all the seven players.

"I am trying to remain positive but obviously it is a bit disappointing that they have only removed Malik's ban and not decided on other players as yet," Rana said.

The Pakistan board's appointed appeal's judge, Justice (retd) Irfan Qadir on Saturday during a hearing at which Malik was not present lifted the one-year ban and reduced a two million rupees fine to one million on the all-rounder.

Rana said that board should now do justice with other players as well or they would feel victimised.

"I am hopeful now my ban would also be removed at my hearing next month. I also want this stigma of being an indisciplined player removed from my name," he said.

The allrounder who also appeared before an inquiry committee that probed into the team's poor show in Australia was banned for 12 months and fined two million rupees like Malik.

The other affected players include Younus Khan and Muhammad Yousuf who were banned for indefinite periods while Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal were fined by the inquiry committee.

Rana said that he was disappointed at not being included in the list of players for the Asia Cup and England tour but remained hopeful he will make another comeback to the national team.

"I have always played with a positive mindset and it has worked for me and once my ban goes I am sure the selectors will give me a chance," he said.

Asked what sort of affect Malik's return to the team will have on the dressing room since he was most criticised and described as a trouble maker at the inquiry committee hearings by some fellow players and team officials, Rana played down the issue.

"I think at the inquiry committee proceedings we had come back after a bad series in Australia and there was pressure on everyone. But I don't think this is something that can't be worked out. We have been playing together for a long time now and these things happen," he stated.

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Rs 50 Crore Sponsorship Bids Between Sahara Group And Bharti Airtel

In the end, only two players, Sahara Group and Bharti Airtel, submitted bids for the right to sponsor the Indian team. Both Sahara, the existing sponsors, and Airtel bought the tender document at the last possible minute before the submission deadline, and has learnt both companies have submitted the mandatory Rs 50 crore (US$10.7 million) deposit required by the BCCI.

The Indian board issued the tender on Monday inviting companies to bid for the rights, whose tenure is three-and-a-half years beginning July 1, 2010. Other companies in the fray included the ADA Group (ADAG), consumer electronics major Videocon, Delhi-based Monnet-Ispat, sports broadcaster Nimbus, which owns the rights to matches played in India, and advertising firm Percept.

A source close to Nimbus said the broadcaster was approached by ADAG on Saturday morning, as its top brass was reluctant to commit as much as Rs 400 crore (US$ 85.6m) on its own. Nimbus, meanwhile, was trying to put together a consortium to bid for the rights, but was unable to pull it off due to the short time-span - less than a week - between the date the tender was released and the date the bids were submitted. "They released the tender on Monday and all the bids need to go in by Saturday, which is just about four working days by the time the tender was in hand. That is not very easy to work out when you are trying to get people to commit to Rs 400 crore."

It was reported widely that the BCCI was against consortiums bidding for the rights, but one of the interested players, who was among the first to pick the document, said that the board never had any issues there. "They had sent a clarification stating they did not want any marketing agencies to be part [of the consortium]."

The BCCI has set a base price of Rs 2.5 crore per match for a three-and-a-half year period, during which India will be playing between 144 and 167 matches, depending on how far the team progresses in the ICC tournaments.

The current price represents a 16% discount from the tender the board issued late last year, which had a base price of Rs 3 crore per match, and failed to attract a single bid. As a stop gap measure, the Sahara Group agreed to extend its sponsorship of the Indian team for a further six months, a period that ends on June 30.

The lack of interest in the tender six months ago and the subsequent lowering of the base price represents "the impact of the IPL," according to Hiren Pandit, Managing Partner-Entertainment, Sports and Partnerships at Group M, a prominent media buying agency. Pandit believes the IPL gives firms an alternative avenue to get involved with cricket, thereby reducing the exclusiveness of the Indian team.

After winning the bid for the Pune IPL franchise, Sahara chairman Subrata Roy had said the company would re-evaluate its sponsorship of the Indian team. Subsequently, when contacted by Cricinfo, the company declined to comment to on whether it would be bidding this time around. The Sahara Group had paid roughly Rs 400 crore in 2005 for the right to sponsor the Indian team for four years.

At least one prospective bidder, who bought the bid document, thought the current base price was still too high. "Anyone who bags the rights will have to spend on an average 125 crore annually only on this. That is a huge amount of money."

Shailendra Singh, joint managing director, Percept Limited, which had reportedly purchased the bid document for a client, says the Indian team is still the best cricket brand around. "From a value perspective, the sport of cricket stands unparalleled as a property for sponsors today," he said. "For any fan, especially in India, the national team is the ultimate. People follow IPL because you have the cricketers from the Indian team playing, they are the main attraction. Hence this in no way reduces the importance or following of Team India. Team India will be one of the best cricket properties always."

The BCCI will announce the winning bid after holding its marketing committee meeting in Mumbai on Monday.

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Andre Nel Has Been Suspended For Two Matches By His English County

South African bowler Andre Nel has been suspended for two matches by his English county Surrey after his latest controversial clash.

Fiery paceman Nel has a history of on-pitch rows with opponents and had already received a two-game ban from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) at the end of April for another incident.

His latest charge relates to an incident in this week's victory over Northamptonshire when Nel apparently threw the ball in the direction of batsman Niall O'Brien.

Nel appeared before an internal hearing on Friday where he was found guilty of a level two breach of the ECB code.

He has also been fined 5,000 pounds (7,200 dollars), with half of that suspended for the remainder of his Surrey contract.

Surrey managing director Gus Mackay said: "The way we conduct ourselves on and off the field is of utmost importance to us and breaches like this can't go unpunished.

"We have to be firm and consistent in our stance regarding improper behaviour that can bring the club and game into disrepute."

Nel's ban covers the County Championship matches against Glamorgan and Leicestershire.

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I Did Not Go For Any Of The IPL Parties-Sachin Tendulkar

Contradicting Mahendra Singh Dhoni's views, senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar on Friday said IPL parties cannot be blamed for India's debacle in the recent Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies.

India could not reach the semifinals of the Twenty20 World Cup and skipper Dhoni said late night parties and continuous travelling during the Indian Premier League took a toll on the players' body.

Tendulkar, however, begged to differ and said every player should be aware of their responsibilities.

"Parties and performance are two different things that cannot be related and every player should know his responsibility," Tendulkar told reporters after laying foundation stone of an extension of Deenanath Mangeshkar hospital.

Besides, Tendulkar said parties are not new in cricket. "Parties used to be held even in the past," he said, laying stress on observing individual's discretion in the matter.

Tendulkar, who led Mumbai Indians to the final of IPL 3, said he avoided the parties since he wanted to be fresh for the next day's match.

"I did not go for any of the IPL parties. I always wanted to be ready for the next match," he said.

Tendulkar said every player should know how his body reacts and follow certain things to carry out his duties and responsibilities.

Arguably the greatest batsman ever, Tendulkar said it was important to "understand your body" and strike a balance between play and rest.

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PCB Overturned Shoaib Malik's One-Year Ban And Halved His 2 Million Fine

Shoaib Malik's appeal against the punishment handed out to him by the PCB earlier this year has been "partially accepted" by an independent arbitration tribunal, which has overturned his one-year ban and halved his Rs 2 million fine.

"His appeal has been partially accepted," the PCB's legal advocate Talib Rizvi told Cricinfo. "The ban has been lifted and his fine has been halved. The board has the right to review the decision but as of now he is eligible to play for Pakistan again."

The charge against Malik was never clearly explained by the inquiry committee that decided on the punishment but it was widely thought to be for what a number of management officials and players called his negative influence on the side. This was confirmed in a subsequently leaked video of the inquiry committee meetings, in which Malik's role within the squad was blasted by a number of players including Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Yousuf.

Irfan Qadir, the arbitrator and a retired judge, will now send a report to the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt, who will put the decisions in front of the board of governors. "We're going according to our constitution which says an appeal can be filed in such cases," Butt told Cricinfo. "I will now receive the report from the arbitrator and then put it up in front of the board of governors for their approval."

Though Butt refused to say so, it is expected he will approve the findings and that the board of governors will ratify it as well, thus removing legal obstacles from the way of Malik's potential return. Malik was named in the list of 35 probables for Pakistan's next two assignments, in Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup and then a long summer tour to England, but it is unlikely he will make the cut for the first task. The 15-man squad for the Asia Cup is to be picked in the first week of June and the governing board's next meeting is likely to be after that.

The decision also paves the way for some of the other players' punishments to be reduced or removed. The board has eased its stance in recent days against the punished players. Butt first told a national assembly meeting that he would review the punishments again before lavishly praising Younis Khan - another player punished by his board. Malik's relief, Cricinfo understands, is part of an agreement the board has reached already with at least three other players. According to board sources, like Malik, Afridi and the Akmal brothers will also see their monetary fines cut by half.

A decision on Younis may also emerge on Saturday as his hearing was due to take place immediately after Malik's. Of the other five players punished, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan's next hearing is scheduled for June 19th, while no dates have yet been set for Afridi and the Akmal brothers.

When and if players such as Malik and Younis return - and if Mohammad Yousuf comes back from retirement - questions are likely to be asked about how cordial Pakistan's dressing room will be, given the startling levels of mistrust and disunity in the side. The PCB says they have given the team's manager Yawar Saeed and other officials greater authority in clamping down against any future incidents.

"I have instructed the team manager and other officials including the captain that any act of indiscipline, any such problem, and they have my full backing in immediately sending a player back," Butt said. "They need not even refer the case to me, they can send the player back immediately as they will have full authority to do so."

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Harbhajan Singh Had No Plans To Tie The Knot With Geeta Basra

Despite rumours about his link up with and impending marriage to model-turned-actor Geeta Basra, cricketer Harbhajan Singh  said he had no plans to tie the knot now.

"I don’t have any plans for marriage right now," Harbhajan told reporters here.

Harbhajan said rather than marrying, he was more keen on doing well in the 2011 World Cup being jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

"Right now, my focus is on the 2011 World Cup," said the Jalandhar-based cricketer.

Though there has been no official confirmation from either of them, much has been reported in the media about Harbhajan and Geeta’s closeness of late.

Geeta has admitted that she knows Harbhajan well, but claimed they are just good friends.

To a wicked question from a scribe whether he was making his comment with a hand on "Geeta", Harbhajan blushed and said with a smile: "No".

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Zimbabwe Shocked India By Six Wickets In The Opening One-Day International

India’s miserable form continued as they slumped to a 6 wicket loss at the hands of Zimbabwe in the first match of the triangular series in Zimababwe.

Zimbabwe shocked India by six wickets in the opening One-day International of the tri-series cricket here Friday.

Set a winning target of 286 runs, Zimbabwe gave a power-packed performance to reach the target with 10 balls to spare.

Brendan Taylor (81) and Hamilton Masakadza (46) laid the foundation of the chase, smashing 88 runs in 13 overs.

Craig Ervine (67 not out) and Charles Coventry (32) then held the reins in the middle overs.

Earlier, Rohit Sharma struck a century as India scored 285 for five against Zimbabwe in the opening ODI of the tri-series here Friday.

Sharma made 114 off 199 balls with the help of six fours and four sixes. He got able support from Ravindra Jadeja who scored a run-a-ball 61, smashing five fours.

The two added 132 runs for the fifth wicket after India were reduced to 128 for four in 30 overs.

For Zimbabwe, fast bowler Chris Mpofu picked up two wickets.

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New Zealand Beat Sri Lanka In America's First International Match

New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 28 runs as the first international match between two Test-playing nations held in America produced a low-scoring affair in Florida.

The first of two Twenty20 Internationals saw New Zealand post 120 for seven and Sri Lanka were then dismissed for 92 in reply at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Lauderhill.

Ross Taylor top scored for New Zealand with 27 with captain Daniel Vettori hitting an unbeaten 21 in 16 balls and Brendon McCullum 18 in 13 balls.

New Zealand used the match to hand Rob Nicol his international debut and he made ten runs before being trapped in front by Suraj Randiv while fellow spinner Ajantha Mendis picked up two for 18 in a match that bowlers, unusually for a Twenty20 game, largely dominated.

No Sri Lankan could pass Taylor's mark of 27, indeed the best they could manage was the same score, courtesy of Angelo Mathews who hit one of two sixes in the match.

Only he and captain Kumar Sangakkara (17) could manage double-figure scores as New Zealand's bowlers turned in an impressive display.

Scott Styris picked up three for ten, Kyle Mills two for 17 and Andy McKay two for 20 as the Sri Lankans failed to bat out their 20 overs.

Styris dismissed big hitters Chamara Kapugedera for seven, Thissara Perera for three and Mathews for 27 to leave Sri Lanka reeling at 69 for six and effectively end the game as a contest.

The second and final match takes place at the same venue on 23rd May.c

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MS Dhoni Is All Set To Lose His Numero Uno Status In The ICC Rankings

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is all set to lose his numero uno status in the ICC rankings for ODI batsmen after deciding to skip the triangular series in Zimbabwe starting on Friday. 

A player loses half a per cent of his ratings points for every ODI missed and Dhoni, who currently leads Michael Hussey by just eight rating points, will slip behind the Australian when the rankings are released after the Zimbabwe tri-series.

Dhoni had regained the top spot from Hussey in February after the Australian scored 23 against New Zealand in the fourth ODI and didn't play in the fifth.

Sachin Tendulkar (fourth), Kumar Sangakkara (10th), Virender Sehwag (11th), Yuvraj Singh (14th), Gautam Gambhir (23rd) and Mahela Jayawardene (29th) are all likely to slip in the rankings after opting out of the May 28-June 9 series.

India and Sri Lanka have rested their top players for the low-profile Zimbabwe tri-series and it will give a chance to the players who have gone for the tour to increase their ranking.

Stand-in captains Tillakaratne Dilshan (13th) of Sri Lanka and India's Suresh Raina (16th) along with Virat Kohli (21st) will get good opportunities to move up the table.

In the rankings for ODI bowlers, Sri Lankan iconic spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is certain to drop out of the top 20 for the first time since March 1996.

Muralitharan, who will also miss the series in Zimbabwe, currently sits in 16th position and leads the pair of Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan and Dwayne Bravo of the West Indies by only six ratings points.

In the ODI championship table, India sits in second position on 122 rating points while Sri Lanka is in sixth position, 14 points behind. Zimbabwe occupies 10th position, just two ahead of Ireland.

Meanwhile, South Africa batsman Hashim Amla has rocketed up the ladder after producing player-of-the-match performances in the first two ODIs against the West Indies in Antigua.

Amla scored 102 in South Africa's 66-run win and followed it up with 92 in his side's 17-run victory in the second game, which saw him jump 13 places to be the fourth highest-ranked South African batsman, after AB de Villiers (third), Jacques Kallis (seventh) and Graeme Smith (eighth), in 12th position.

AB de Villiers, who scored 102 and 41 in the two ODIs, has consolidated his third position, while Kallis, who scored 85 in the second ODI, has swapped places with Smith.

In the bowlers' ranking, Dale Steyn has slipped two places to ninth but Bravo and Morne Morkel has risen up the ladder.

Bravo climbed three places to share 20th spot with Pakistan's Ajmal while Morkel has moved up 12 places to 39th position.

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The Reasons Why Sachin Tendulkar's Personal Life Was Not A Material For Gossip

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar rated the century he scored in Chennai against England that helped India chase 387 runs in the fourth innings soon after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai as the best of his career.

"It was not about the Test match but about something which happened two weeks before that. Something that had happened in Mumbai. It was difficult to prepare for a Test (under those circumstances). It was gracious of England to come here," Tendulkar, who along with wife Anjali, hosted a fund-raising dinner for the 'Crusade against Cancer Foundation', said.

"There were all sorts of talks around and then suddenly all our focus was on the match. England dominated the match for almost four days before Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir brought us back into it," he recounted.

"Generally when we win, it is the groundsmen who run to congratulate us, but on that day the grounds-women rushed to congratulate us. It was just because of something that had numbed the nation.

"By no means India winning a Test match could compensate the lives lost. But for our team, we had succeeded in bringing a fraction of a smile on the faces of the people. That is why the hundred in Chennai Test match will be the best (of my career)," Tendulkar said.

He scored an unbeaten 100 as India upset all calculations to score an unlikely six-wicket victory over England while chasing a target of 387. Tendulkar, who shared tit-bits of his life, said he had not given a thought to life after retirement as yet.

"As a child I had dreamt of playing for India and I am still living my dream. Hopefully, I am good enough to play for some more time. When I play cricket, the centre of focus should be cricket and nothing else. I may explore what I want to do when I retire from cricket. Right now I want to focus my energies on cricket," said the little master.

The champion cricketer, who made his international debut against Pakistan in 1989 in Karachi, revealed he did not remember the first of his over 31,000 runs in international cricket as he was too nervous on the occasion.

"I don't remember my first run. The first match was a blur. I don't remember walking in. I was asking myself whether I belonged here. I was told by my seniors to spend sometime in the middle and luckily I could do it," he said.

Tendulkar said he did not regret quitting Twenty 20 internationals after playing just one match in this form of the game. "I made a decision in 2008 and will stick to that."

He said one of the reasons why his personal life was not a material for gossip could be his simple lifestyle.

"It has perhaps to do with lifestyle. I came from a simple family. There were no major celebrations whenever I had a good performance. It was just putting sweets in front of god. That was in the childhood. It was an unwritten rule. Brother Ajit made sure it stayed that way."

When asked who he would dedicate the first page of his book, if he ever writes one in the future, Tendulkar said, "The first page has to be my family. My brother is the reason I started playing cricket. My father, mother, sisters (it is with them) that my cricket started and it will end with my children”.

Tendulkar thanked Dr. P Jagannath of the 'Crusade against Cancer foundation' and complimented his wife Anjali for making it a success. "The kind of response we have seen is remarkable. If by donating generously one can help a cancer patient, I don't think anything is better than that.”

Meanwhile, Jagannath said that the overall donations received by the 'Crusade against Cancer foundation' had crossed over Rs 1.30 crore.

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Suresh Raina Won The Toss Against The Other First-Time Captain

On his captaincy debut, Suresh Raina won the toss against the other first-time captain, Elton Chigumbura, and chose to bat on what looked like a batting beauty. Given a 9am start, there might have been a case for bowling first and use whatever moisture might be available, but India chose to put runs on the board.

With a largely inexperienced squad to choose from, India went without Naman Ojha, Pragyan Ojha, R Ashwin and Pankaj Singh. Ironically, they went with a similar composition as the World Twenty20, in that they had in the XI two bits-and-pieces players, Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja. Not that they could be blamed: the selectors gave them only six specialist batsmen, that too only while considering both Dinesh Karthik and Naman Ojha as specialist batsmen.

While the batting line-up had few surprises, India handed out debuts to the fast-bowling trio of Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar and Ashok Dinda.

Zimbabwe's tournament didn't get off to a great start: they had to go in without Tatenda Taibu, who was out with an injured ankle. Craig Ervine was handed an ODI debut in his absence, and Brendan Taylor was to keep wicket.

India 1 M Vijay, 2 Dinesh Karthik, 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Vinay Kumar, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Ashok Dinda, 11 Umesh Yadav.

Zimbabwe 1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 Charles Coventry, 3 Brendan Taylor (wk), 4 Andy Blignaut, 5 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 6 Craig Ervine, 7 Greg Lamb, 8 Graeme Cremer, 9 Prosper Utseya, 10 Chris Mpofu, 11 Ray Price.

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Former Pakistani Players Will Upset With The Shahid Afridi's Appointment

The decision to appoint Shahid Afridi captain in all three formats of the game, especially Tests, came in for sharp criticism from former Pakistani players who feel the move is a big gamble and could backfire as the all-rounder was not a regular in the five-day side.

Former captain Zaheer Abbas was stunned by the decision and said the selectors should have given more thought on the captaincy issue.

"I am really surprised at the board's decision because he has not played a Test in the last four years," Abbas said.

"It is a strange decision and one that could badly backfire because Shahid (Afridi) has not been a regular Test player and his last test was in 2006. So how can the board give him the captaincy for two very tough series against Australia and England," he said.

"I don't think there was a hurry to announce the captain for the England tour. The board could have waited for the Asia Cup to begin and then decide who was the best choice to lead Pakistan in the Tests," Abbas added.

Abbas pointed out that Test cricket was unlike Twenty20 and ODIs where luck played a big part.

"Test matches are the real challenge and no player can hide his weaknesses or issues in a Test match," he said.

Former captain and ex-chief selector Aamir Sohail was equally disappointed with Afridi's appointment and said it would be tough for the 30-year-old all-rounder to lead the

Pakistan in England.

"The board has taken its decision but it is a debatable one. It is a big gamble. I think Shahid (Afridi) will be really tested in England as he has been out of the Test side for four years now," Sohail said.

Sources said that another former skipper Javed Miandad was also not in favour of Afridi's appointment as Test captain and had even conveyed his reservation to the PCB chief Ejaz Butt.

However, former selector Abdul Qadir has backed Afridi's appointment and said it was a step in the right direction.

"I think the board should have done this much earlier. I don't know why they delayed it. I would also urge the PCB to name Salman Butt as vice-captain for the Asia Cup and England tour," the former leg-spinner said.

"In the existing circumstances he (Afridi) is the best choice and I think he should continue until the board is able to groom a vice-captain properly," he said.

Qadir backed former skippers Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik's inclusion in the 35-man list of probables for the Asia Cup and the subsequent tour of England.

"What has happened has happened and I think we should not waste our best players at this level," he said.

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The 2010 Airtel Champions League Twenty20 Ten Team List

Ten teams will participate in the 2010 Airtel Champions League Twenty20, the organisers have confirmed with only one place still to be decided.

The West Indian domestic champions will join three teams from the Indian Premier League, two apiece from Australia and South Africa and the domestic champions from New Zealand and Sri Lanka when the tournament gets underway in South Africa on 10th September.

There will be 23 matches, the same amount as in 2009, and the final will be held on 26th September with venues yet to be decided.

Teams from England will not be participating this year because the tournament clashes with the end of their domestic season while there remains no place for teams from Bangladesh, Pakistan or Zimbabwe.

“The fact that only a third of last year’s field have re-qualified to play for the US$2.5 million first prize demonstrates the evenness of Twenty20 competitions around the world and the desperation of teams to compete at the world’s most prestigious domestic event," N Srinivasan, BCCI secretary said.

“There is no doubt that the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 has improved the quality of domestic Twenty20 cricket around the world and motivated teams in all countries to strive for a coveted place at the tournament.”

Airtel Champions League Twenty20 2010 line-up:

Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore (Indian Premier League), Victoria Bushrangers, South Australian Redbacks (KFC Twenty20 Big Bash, Australia), Warriors, Highveld Lions (Standard Bank Pro20, South Africa), Wayamba Elevens (Inter-provincial T20 Cup, Sri Lanka), Central Stags (HRV Cup, New Zealand) plus West Indies' domestic champion

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Finance Minister Investigating In IPL's Tax Evasion And Money Laundering

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee made it clear that his ministry has been investigating into two aspects of whether there was tax evasion and money laundering in the IPL and it has nothing to do with other issues concerning the Twenty20 event. 

"So far IPL is concerned we are looking into two angles. One is about tax evasion or avoidance angle and the other is whether there was money laundering aspect. Except these two areas there is no other angle which the Finance ministry or the Income Tax department is looking into," Mukherjee said.

"If there was tax evasion and avoidance the Income Tax officials will look into it. These are the statutory responsibilities of the tax officials. They have been vested with this power and authority by the Act of Parliament and they don't need any approval or concurrence from anybody," he said.

"Regarding the management of the sporting event, its character and how it was conducted, these are not under the purview of Income Tax department," he said.

Asked about the alleged phone tapping of Union Minsiter and former Cricket Board President Sharad Pawar, Mukherjee, who is also the leader of the Lok Sabha, said, "I myself had not listened to any such tape, very honestly. That is not my job."

Following now suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi's revelation of share holding patterns of Kochi franchisee owners which led to the resignation of former junior foreign minister Shashi Tharoor, Income Tax officials surveyed BCCI and IPL headquarters in Mumbai besides offices of franchise owners throughout the country.

Modi was later suspended by the Board after the IPL final on April 26 and served show cause notice for financial irregularities in running the Twenty20 event to which he had replied on May 15.

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BCCI Is Set To Play A Crucial Role In Australian Prime Minister's ICC Nomination

The BCCI is set to play a crucial role in former Australian Prime Minister John Howard's nomination as ICC vice-president, as two African countries are against such a move, reports said.

Howard, who was jointly nominated by Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket, have apparently received stiff resistance from the boards of South Africa and Zimbabwe, who are gearing up to block his nomination.

According to ICC rules, four votes are needed to block Howard's nomination for ICC vice-presidency, a post which will be vacant once incumbent Sharad Pawar replaces David Morgan as president next month.

Morgan, who has been facing flak from Cricket South Africa for taking Howard's nomination as a personal matter, is meeting Pawar on Thursday to discuss the issue, according to Cricinfo.

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat, however, played down the matter.

"The ICC board has not yet discussed the matter. The process is that Australia and New Zealand nominate someone, followed by the board considering the nomination before putting it before the annual conference. It is a three-step process.

"It (opposition to Howard's nomination) is speculative at this moment. We haven't yet faced such a scenario; it has not been blocked as yet, nor even considered," Lorgat said..

Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket re-affirmed their support for Howard.

"We remain rock solid in our support of the nomination," CA spokesperson Peter Young said.

"CA and NZC are convinced Howard is the best possible nomination we could put forward. We will continue to be welded on in our joint support of that nomination. We have made that clear to the ICC in recent weeks."

"We certainly haven't heard any notification from ICC that there's a problem with that. We're certainly not contemplating any other scenarios than John Howard being our man," said NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan.

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Bangladesh's Captain Has Confirmed He Received An Approach For Match Fixing

Bangladesh's captain, Shakib Al Hasan, has confirmed he received an approach from an unknown person whom he believed wanted him to manipulate the result of a one-day international against Ireland. 

The incident is believed to have taken place in Dhaka in March 2008, and involved a brief phonecall on the eve of an ODI series against Ireland in which Shakib, who was not captain at the time, was offered "sponsorship" in return for his under-performance.

In accordance with the strict guidelines of the ICC's anti-corruption and security unit, Shakib immediately reported the approach to a Bangladesh Cricket Board official and to Colonel Qaza Noor, the ASCU's regional manager, and never heard from the caller again. Bangladesh had been expected to win the contest, and duly did, by a comfortable 3-0 margin.

"It was a long time ago, probably two-and-a-half years ago, in our home conditions against Ireland," Shakib said on the eve of the first Test against England at Lord's. "I didn't talk to him much because we had a team meeting to go to, so I told him 'I'll talk to you later' and immediately told a member of the board and the ICC guy. They took action and after that he never called me again."

Shakib's revelations come on the same day that the Daily Telegraph revealed that a senior county cricketer was asked to "name his price" to fix the result of televised one-day matches in English domestic cricket, and the ECB later confirmed two players had reported approaches to them. It confirms the fears of the outgoing head of the ASCU, Lord Condon, that the threat of match fixing will never be entirely stamped out, and that it could "spread like a rash" if the game's players and administrators relax their vigilance.

"Cricket probably has the strongest anti-corruption code for players and support staff of any international sport," said Condon. "The modern generation of players know that if they bet on games, underperform for fixing, or even if they don't report an approach that is a disciplinary offence in itself. If we have due reason we can ask for their phone records, and they have to provide them.

"We introduced an education programme so that anyone who wanted to play international cricket had to go through a programme that raised their awareness of who the fixers were, how they fixed, and how they groomed players. That has been very well thought out and very useful, because we now have a generation of players who are supportive of what we are trying to do, and aware of how the fixers operate. They are the providers of the most important intelligence that we get."

Shakib added that the exact nature of the deal that the phone-caller was proposing was never fully revealed. "We didn't have time to discuss all the things, and what I should do," he said. "I took the phone, and from the way he was talking, I thought he might do something, so I told someone. He never exactly told me he wanted me to fix a match, he just told me he wanted to be my sponsor.

"I can't speak for anyone else, but as far as I'm concerned my head wasn't turned at that time," he added. "What I feel is I do not care about the money. I want to play for my country, because that is a great pride for me, and I want to continue to do well for my country. As far as my family is concerned we are settled enough to lead our lives, so I am not concerned about those monies. If I play well for the next ten years, the money will come and I won't have to worry about it."

England's captain, Andrew Strauss, said: "I've never heard or had any reason to suspect that a game I've played in has been fixed in any way. If it is happening, it needs to be stamped out straight away. There's no place for it in any form of cricket, and we've got a duty as players to make sure that if we hear of it, or are approached by someone, we come forward and report it straight away.

"It's the only way of ironing it out. For players to be tempted by taking money is ludicrous in my mind. The authorities are doing everything they can, but there is a huge responsibility on the players to make sure it doesn't take hold and spread."

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Take Effective Action In The IPL Issue

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised effective action in the IPL issue if any wrongdoings were found during investigations. 

"There was a discussion on this issue in Parliament and the Finance Minister also gave a reply. He said that the Finance Ministry is investigating the issue and if anything comes out of it, then we will take effective action," Singh said when asked to comment on alleged black money involved in the Twenty-20 cricket league.

After a public spat between former minister Shashi Tharoor and suspended IPL Chief Lalit Modi, the issue was discussed in Parliament during the second half of the Budget session.

There were allegations that black money was also invested in the IPL teams.

The IPL bid for two new teams from 2011 season opened a can of worms, leading to the then Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor losing his job, while IPL Commissioner and Chairman Lalit Modi was suspended for alleged financial irregularities and bid-rigging.

Tharoor found himself in the eye of a storm after it was revealed that his friend Sunanda Pushkar had a 'sweat equity' in Rendezvous Sports World which had coughed up Rs 1533 cr to win the Kochi franchisee. Tharoor denied having any financial stake in RSW, saying he merely played the mentor's role in forming the consortium.

Modi, meanwhile, was accused of trying to rig RSW's bid to get another franchise on board. Modi was also labelled charges of making proxy investment through his relatives, which prompted the BCCI to suspend him pending a probe into the matter.

The issue rocked the parliament as well with the opposition claiming IPL had become a cesspool of corruption and money-laundering with some members even going to the extent of demanding that the league be scrapped.

Following this, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had assured an investigation into the financial transactions in the IPL.

"I can assure you that all aspects of IPL will be probed, inclusive of the sources of funding, how the funds were routed and invested," Mukherjee had told the Lok Sabha.

Mukherjee said the Ministry was looking into allegations of both tax evasion and money-laundering.

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Lalit Modi Asked The BCCI President To Remove Themselves From All Proceedings

Lalit Modi, the suspended chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL), has asked the BCCI president, Shashank Manohar, and secretary N Srinivasan to remove themselves from all proceedings involving the show cause notice issued to him and to instead constitute an independent panel to adjudicate on the issue. This was communicated in an email - a copy of which is with Cricinfo - sent on Tuesday by Modi to the league's governing council, which also contained a series of allegations over several decisions regarding the IPL. 

The mail is effectively Modi's counter to the chargesheet served on him by the BCCI on April 26 - Modi's official reply, which ran into 160 pages and 15,000 pages of supporting evidence, has not yet been made public. While part of the mail deals with issues mentioned in the chargesheet - including the ownership of the Rajasthan Royals franchise - the bulk of it comprises the alleged involvement of Manohar in the franchise auction process last March and of Srinivasan in the 2010 player auction. It is this involvement, Modi contends, that warranted the absence of both officials from the process that would investigate the charges against him.

Manohar, Modi alleges, was responsible for the controversial decision to scrap the initial opening of tenders for the franchises and went out of his way to entertain former minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor and accept the Kochi bid much after the lapse of deadline.He denies the allegation that he tried rigging the bids in favour of two business houses for the two new teams added for the fourth edition of the IPL; instead he claims the bids were processed and vetted by the board's corporate lawyers and counsel Akhila Kaushik, appointed on Manohar's recommendation.

He claims Manohar was party to the decision fixing the net worth of the bidder at $1 billion and that he discussed the issue of deposit also with him at the Governing Council meeting on March 7 and got his approval.He also alleged it was Manohar who pitched in for Tharoor to include the bid of Rendezvous after the deadline had lapsed. "You wanted me to wait till the Kochi bid came from Delhi," Modi writes, adding that Manohar spoke to Tharoor and his secretary several times after he refused to entertain the minister's request for extension of deadline.

Modi has brought up the issue of the controversial IPL TV contract with Sony and MSM, claiming that Manohar was aware of the termination last year of the contract with Sony and the subsequent litigation and eventual settlement. The litigation process was, he claims, supervised by Akhila Kaushik, "who reports directly to you".Srinivasan, Modi alleged, had been "instrumental in sponsoring complaints" against him and his participation would be "tantamount to him being a judge in his own cause". Modi also said he wanted to cross-examine Srinivasan in the inquiry.

Among the charges levied, Modi said he had "sufficient cause to apprehend bias" on Srinivasan's part and that he had "consistently frustrated and exposed his attempts at misusing his position as Honorary Secretary of the Board, so as to confer a wrongful benefit to his team at the cost and expense of other teams and the BCCI." Modi alleged that Srinivasan had tried to "alter or propose panel of umpires" officiating in the IPL matches and had circulated an email "directing a panel of umpires handpicked by him". He claimed Srinivasan had attempted to ensure umpires from Chennai or Tamil Nadu stood in his team's matches.

Another charge Modi made against Srinivasan was that he had "consistently pushed tailor-made policies" intended to benefit the Chennai franchise. In support of this charge, Modi cited the proposal of franchises retaining seven players (four Indian, three foreign) for the 2011 season and beyond. Modi's reply to the show cause says Srinivasan tried to get franchises to agree to the proposal and that the "only reason for doing so was to ensure that Chennai Super King retained its players." Modi also alleged that Srinivasan had tried to ensure Kieron Pollard, who was bought by Mumbai Indians during a silent tiebreaker in the 2010 auction, could not play "by raising some frivolous issues with the West Indian Cricket Board." Modi termed Srinivasan's action a "brazen act of abuse of power".

He claimed Srinivasan had used his power to "alter the auction rules" so that Chennai's purse would be $2 million as opposed to the $1.85 million that was mentioned prior to the auction. "Despite my opposition he used his clout as secretary to pressure the management to accept back-dated player contracts and cancel the contracts of one of his players so that he could have his full purse and thereby have an advantage in the bidding process vis-a-vis other teams." Regarding the issue of Srinivasan's alleged conflict of interest, raised by former BCCI president AC Muttiah, Modi said "false statements have been made in pleadings filed in Court" to protect the position of Srinivasan.

"In the proceedings filed by Mr. Muttiah, it has been stated by the Honorary Secretary on oath that the Regulation 6.2.4 was amended after an action taken report was filed by the two-member committee consisting of Mr. Shashank Manohar and Mr. Niranjan Shah recommending amendment," Modi said. "I state that no such committee was ever appointed, no recommendation was ever made, no special general body meeting approving such report and such amendment ever took place and hence Mr. Shashank Manohar, Mr. Niranjan Shah - the Vice Chairman - IPL and Mr. N Srinavasan have connived and played not only on the members of the Board but also on the Court."

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Indian Cricket Squad Left For Zimbabwe For Tri-Nation Series

A second string Indian cricket squad, led by young Suresh Raina, on Wednesday left for Zimbabwe where they will play a tri-nation series and two Twenty20 internationals against the hosts.

The team boarded a Jet Airways flight at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport here for Johannesburg from where they will take a connecting flight to Harare.

India will begin their campaign in the tri-nation series, also involving Sri Lanka, on May 28 against the hosts at Bulawayo and then play Sri Lanka on May 30 at the same venue.

India's next two matches will be held in Harare -- against Zimbabwe on June 3 and Sri Lanka on June 5.

The final of the tri-series will be held on June 9 in Harare.

The Indians will then play two T20 internationals against Zimbabwe in Harare on June 12 and 13, for which leg-spinner Piyush Chawla will join the squad later.

Experienced members like Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra have been rested for the tour.

The squad: Suresh Raina (capt), Virat Kohli (vc), Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Pankaj Singh, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Naman Ojha.

Coach: Gary Kirsten.

Manager: G V K Ranga Rao.

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Industrialist Anil Ambani Becomes One Of The Major Sponsors For Team India

Anil Ambani may not own an Indian Premier League team like his brother Mukesh yet, but the industrialist is vying for other things - Team India's sponsorship. 

Reports suggest that the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group has bought the tender form floated by the BCCI for Team India's sponsorship. Though no BCCI or ADAG official spoke on record about Ambanis interest in Team India's sponsorship, sources said that the industrial house purchased the form paying Rs 5 lakh on Monday, the day it went on sale.

This is the second tender process initiated by the BCCI in six months. The last attempt in December 2009 evoked no response as the BCCI had reportedly put a high base price of Rs 3 crore for the sponsorship.

Anil Ambani is also one of the major sponsors for the International Cricket Council, having reportedly invested about $100 million for an eight-year deal. This time, however, the situation looks different as Team India's sponsorship means the logo of the company will be prominently flashed on Indian cricketers' jersey.

Before Anil, his elder brother Mukesh entered Indian cricket by buying the IPL team Mumbai Indians. Mukesh owned Reliance Industries Limited purchased the rights for the Mumbai franchise for a total of Rs. 441 crore during the first IPL auction in 2008.

The BCCI floated the tenders as Team India's sponsorship deal with Sahara is about to end in a month. It is not known if Sahara will continue its association with the Indian team as they recently bought the new Pune IPL franchise for Rs 1700 crore.

Earlier, they had bagged the sponsorship for the Indian team for Rs 400 crore for a four-year period that ended on December 2009. However, they had agreed to continue for 6 more months as BCCI could not find any sponsors. However, it is likely that the company will buy the form too.

Two-wheeler major Hero Honda are also reportedly in the fray. They have been title sponsors for a number of cricket series and also title sponsors of the IPL team Delhi Daredevils. Hero Honda officials were not available for comments, but industry sources said they are likely to bid for deal.

The BCCI has set a base price of Rs 2.25 crore per match while inviting bids to sponsor the team for a four-year period, beginning with the 2010-2011 season. The BCCIs tender notice, which also invited bids for sponsoring the India A, India Under-19 and the women's teams, opened on Monday while the deadline for bids closes on May 29. The bids would be opened and awarded at the Boards marketing committee meeting in Mumbai on May 31.

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Twenty20 World Cup forced Mahendra Singh Dhoni to skip his graduation exams

The Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies forced India cricket skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to skip his graduation exams for the second consecutive year.

Dhoni, who is enrolled with St. Xaviers College here to study Office Management and Secretarial Practices (OMSP), thus failed in his exam for the second time. Last year also he did not appear in the exams as dates of the T20 World Cup in England clashed with it. "Yes it is true, that Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni did not take exams," the examination controller, Prof. Ajit Kumar Sinha, said.

India were ousted from the World Cup after losing all the Super Eights matches. Prof. Sinha said that the examination of the fourth semester began on May 10 and will conclude on May 29 whereas the World Cup began on April 30 and concluded on May 16. The entire programme is of six semesters, spread over three years but Dhoni had hardly attended any class because of a busy cricket schedule.

Dhoni missed the first semester exams and has not been able to clear his Part I exams either, said Prof. Sinha.

Dhoni has the option to clear all his papers in six semesters within a period of five years but till date he has not appeared for even a single paper. After completing his schooling from DAV School nearly a decade ago, Dhoni had sought admission to the college in 2008 for his graduation under sports quota and was exempted from attending classes because of his cricketing commitments.

Vice Chancellor of the Ranchi University Prof. A.A. Khan said St Xaviers College is an autonomous College of the University and conduct exams on its own.(PTI)

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West Indies and South Africa's final ODI moved to Caribbean island due to violence

The final one-day international and the first test between West Indies and South Africa next month could be moved from Kingston to another Caribbean island due to violence in the Jamaican capital.

"The WICB (West Indies Cricket Board) is monitoring the situation in Jamaica and is discussing it with the major stakeholders and will take a decision (on whether to move the matches) in the coming days," a spokesman for the board told reporters in Antigua on Monday.

The ODI is scheduled to be played on June 3 and the test from June 10-14.

Jamaica declared a state of emergency in two parishes of Kingston on Sunday after shooting and firebomb attacks on police stations by suspected supporters of an alleged drug lord who faces extradition to the United States.

Gunmen fired on two police stations and set fire to another. At least one policemen was injured.

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ICC has stopped investigating the Australia-Pakistan Sydney match-fixing

The ICC has stopped investigating the Australia-Pakistan Sydney Test after finding no evidence of match-fixing, a Cricket Australia spokesman said.

The Test, which Pakistan lost from an advantageous position, was under the scanner as the then coaches Initkhab Alam and Aqib Javed suspected match-fixing by their players, particularly stumper Kamran Akmal.

According to media reports, the ICC's Anti Corruption and Security Unit head Paul Condon, who was looking into the match-fixing claims, has given a clean chit to Pakistan.

Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland had sought information from the ICC when Condon revealed last week that they were investigating the Test.

"The ICC has replied, saying it has seen no evidence of match-fixing and that there is no current investigation of match-fixing," CA spokesman Peter Young was quoted as saying by 'The Australian'.

"Haroon Lorgat has assured James Sutherland that Australia won the match on its merits. Lord Condon found evidence of a demoralised team and warned that cricket authorities needed to be extra vigilant," Young added.

Pakistan on that ill-fated tour were whitewashed by Australia as they lost the Test and ODI series and also a Twenty20 international.

The disastrous outcome led to the Pakistan Cricket Board forming a enquiry committee to probe the national team's failure Down Under.

Appearing before the committee, Alam and Javed suspected match fixing. The Committee recommended bans and fines on seven players, including Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan for alleged indiscipline.

The proceedings of the committee were recently leaked and created a stir as Alam and Javed suspected match-fixing apart from revealing the politics and infighting in the team.

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The Indian Premier League looks set for a drastic change in format next season

The Indian Premier League (IPL) looks set for a drastic change in format next season, with teams likely to be divided into two groups to prevent cramming too many matches in too few days. 

With 10 teams instead of the current eight, continuing with the current format would have meant playing 94 matches instead of the current 60, a prospect that was giving organisers the jitters, given the fact that the tournament would still have to be restricted to about seven weeks.

To get over this problem, BCCI bigwigs have informally discussed two alternative two-group formats for the league stage in their last meeting on May 17 and sources said the board would discuss the issue with the IPL’s governing council in June.

One suggestion is to split the 10 teams into two groups, each of which will follow the current home-and-away round-robin system. The top three teams from each group would then advance to a Super Six stage, where each team will play the three teams from the other group, at home and away, to determine the semi-finalists.

This would keep the total number of matches to a manageable 62. There is, however, a huge downside, which is making the proposal unattractive to franchisees — the four teams which do not advance to the Super Six stage end up playing just eight league matches and just four at home.

The other proposal deals with this downside by drawing upon the National Basketball Association (NBA) model, which has a format that ensures all teams play each other in the league phase despite having divisions. The 10 teams would still be broken up into two groups. However, while each team would play the other four in its group twice, once at home and once away, it would also play each team from the other group once. The top four teams at the end of this process would then advance to the semifinals.

Thus each team would get a minimum of 13 matches, even if it does not go beyond the league stage. Also, every team would play every other team at least once, thereby doing away with the possibility of two popular teams never clashing, a scenario that the organisers and broadcasters would clearly like to avoid.

The five matches of each team with those from the other group, the proposal suggests, could either consist of two home matches, two away matches and one on a neutral ground or three home matches and two away matches in one year followed by two home matches and three away in the next year.

If either of these proposals is accepted by the IPL governing council, it will be put up for the franchisees to discuss followed by ratification at the BCCI’s working committee.

If everything falls into place, IMG, which has been involved in conceptualising and running the IPL, will be forced to work on a league structure that could suit a 52-day window next year.

Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, an IPL governing council member, had told Times Now recently, "We can look at this (the problem of too many matches in too little time) and see how we can reduce matches. I think there is a need perhaps to review that. But it will be very difficult now to reduce the number of teams.

THE 2 NEW POSSIBLE IPL FORMATS

- The 10 teams will be split into two groups, each of which will follow the current home-and-away round-robin system. The top three teams from each group will then advance to a Super Six stage. Only 4 matches for those who don’t qualify.

- To placate those who don’t qualify and hence play less games, the BCCI might borrow an idea from the NBA in the US: Divide 10 teams into two groups, with each team playing the other four in its group twice - once at home and once away - and also playing each team from the other group once. Ensures at least 13 matches for all teams.

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Sachin Tendulkar Has Come To The Rescue Of His Friend Dilbir Singh

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar has come to the rescue of his friend Dilbir Singh, who had been bed-ridden since a near fatal accident in 2002, by sponsoring his treatment.

He also came to the city to meet him today after his successful hip-replacement surgery at Shelby Hospital.

Tendulkar had played under-17 cricket with Singh and both are close friends, Singh's sister Sukhbir Kaur said.

"Dilbir has been suffering since his accident in 2002. But now with the hip-replacement his life would be normal again. I am very thankful to Sachin for all his help and support throughout these years," she said.

Tendulkar was paying for Dilbir's treatment, Kaur said, adding "I salute Sachin for his gesture of kindness."

Dilbir's mother Sukhdayal Kaur said she was relieved after the successful operation of her son.

"This is all with god's grace," she said.

Medical Director of the hospital Pankaj Doshi said Dilbir was referred to them by Dr Ananth Joshi, who was earlier associated with the Indian Cricket Board.

"Dr Joshi, after looking at Dilbir's condition suggested hip replacement as the only solution and referred him to Dr JA Pachouri, one of the top hip replacement specialists in the country, who is working with us here," Doshi said.

"The operation took around four hours, during which the left hip was replaced. After 8-12 weeks the right hip would be replaced," Doshi said.

He said Dilbir was in a coma for nearly six months after his accident and was given steroids as a life saving measure.

"The steroids had a side effect on his hip joints which were destroyed resulting in arthritic problems," Doshi said.

"After the replacement of hips on both the sides, Dilbir would be able perform his routine work normally," he said.

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Indian Premier League Tournament Is A Business-Sharad Yadav

Blaming the hectic Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament for "burning out" Indian cricketers, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav on Saturday said the BCCI should be accountable to the government as well as Parliament.

"IPL is a business which has exploited our cricketers leading to their burn out and to their subsequent ouster from T-20 World Cup.

The growth of IPL shows that cricket has gradually become a tool in the hands of market forces," he said while speaking to reporters.

Yadav further said that "BCCI should be made accountable to the government as well as the Parliament".

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Indian Skipper M.S.Dhoni Will Play Jharkhand Premier League T20

The next Indian Premier League (IPL) auction may be some time away, but Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni's name will go under the hammer much sooner than that.

The Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) and Elite Sports Management (ESM) have planned an intra-state Twenty20 tournament, the Jharkhand Premier League (JPL), along the lines of IPL. And for that, they are planning to rope in Jharkhand's 100 best cricketers, including, of course, Dhoni and Mumbai Indians' star Saurabh Tiwary.

The event is slated for September in Dhanbad.

The JSCA is expecting big corporate houses to bid for the five franchises: Ranchi Ranchose, Jamshedpur Janbaz, Dhanbad Damdar, Bokaro Balwan and Singbhum Shers.

Both Sunil Singh, the secretary of Ranchi District Cricket Association (RDCA) and Nishant Dayal, Director, ESM, admitted that there were question marks over the availability of the India skipper.

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Tillkaratne Dilshan Has Been Appointed For Captain In Zimbabwe Tri-Series

Sri Lanka have named Tillkaratne Dilshan as captain after deciding to rest several senior players for their tri-series in Zimbabwe in June.

Normal captain Kumar Sangakkara, vice-captain Muttiah Muralitharan, former captain Mahela Jayawardene and fast bowler Lasith Malinga were all rested for the three-nation tournament.

All-rounder Angelo Mathews, 22, has been appointed as Dilshan's deputy as Sri Lanka seek to trial young players ahead of the 2011 World Cup. India will also take part in the tri-series.

Leg spinning all rounder Jeewan Mendis and batsman Dines Chandimal are the uncapped players in the squad.

Squad: Tillakaratne Dilshan (Capt), Angelo Mathews (Vice-Captain), Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Chamara Kapugedera, Suraj Randiv, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Ajantha Mendis, Jeewan Mendis, Dilhara Fernando, Chamara Silva, Thisera Perera.

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Six Indian Players Described The Pub Incident To BCCI

Four of the six Indian players, who were asked by the Indian cricket board why action should not be taken against them for their role in the St Lucia pub incident in the West Indies, say they only reacted when the fans got abusive.

The four either met a senior Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official individually or talked to him on phone to protest their innocence.

"Going by what they graphically described to me, the incident absolves them of wrongdoing, though it is for the BCCI President Shashank Manohar to take a final call," the official said.

The official, however, said the six players - Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Rohit Sharma, Piyush Chawla and Ravindra Jadeja - should explain their conduct as they have been given an opportunity to do so.

"The only hitch is that the team manager (Ranjib Biswal) has told the BCCI chief about the incident and so the board had to act by issuing the players the show-cause notice," he said.

The BCCI on Tuesday issued show-cause notice to the players for their alleged involvement in a pub brawl May 11, hours after India crashed out of the World Twenty20 losing their Super Eights match against Sri Lanka. The players have been given seven days to respond to the notice.

The show-cause notice was served by secretary N Srinivasan at the behest of BCCI president Shashank Manohar.

According to reports, the brawl started after the Indian cricketers were taunted by some fans for their failure to reach the semi-finals and the cricketers reacted strongly.

Both Yuvraj and Nehra denied the brawl ever took place but team manager Biswal, seeking to play down the incident, said there was 'only an altercation' at the pub.

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MS Dhoni has sent a legal notice to a Chennai-based healthcare company

India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has sent a legal notice to a Chennai-based healthcare company for allegedly defaulting payment of his brand endorsement fees.

The healthcare company, Sujatha Biotech, has failed to pay endorsement fees, payable quarterly, since the deal was signed in 2008, the cricketer's business manager Prateek Sen said.

"After paying the initial token amount, they did not pay Dhoni the remainder of the fees. We have, therefore, sent a legal notice to them," Sen said.

"The company is still using Dhoni's name and his photograph on their products. When they haven't paid the money, how can they use his name to sell their products," said Sen, director of sports and celebrity management firm Mindscapes Maestros.

Dhoni was roped in as a brand ambassador by the company for two years to endorse 'Nivaran 90' cough syrup and 'Memory Vita' line of products, which include health drinks.

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The growth and development of cricket in the United States of America

Sri Lanka and New Zealand will stage the first cricket matches on US soil between two ICC full members this weekend, a move officials hope will launch a US boom for the sport.

"The historic event will provide great exposure," USA Cricket Association president Gladstone Dainty said. "We're very excited about the potential impact of this series for the growth and development of cricket in the United States."

Saturday and Sunday afternoon matches will be staged at Lauderhill's Central Broward Regional Park, the only ICC-approved venue in the United States.

The 20,000-capacity facility, which must still upgrade lighting to ICC standards in order to host night events, tried in vain to land a match ahead of the 2007 West Indies Cricket

World Cup.

But with an India property developer sponsoring the Pearls Cup T20 matches and Indian Premier League officials talking about staging US events as early as 2011, the US breakthrough could be only a hint of greater things to come.

"We'll be meeting with potential investors and event developers to keep building our momentum," USA Cricket chief executive Don Lockerbie said.

"Interest is already high and this is very encouraging.

"To grow the game of cricket in the USA, we need to have the best teams in the world play in our country. We want to demonstrate to the American public just how exciting the T20 format is."

More than 15 million people in the United States follow cricket and ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has said he sees "vast potential for the growth of the sport in the USA."

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Cricket Australia has denied match-fixing allegations against Pakistan

Cricket Australia has denied reports that the Sydney Test against Pakistan was fixed, and said that Ricky Ponting-led side pulled off a remarkable victory through its own hard work.

The Pakistan team management believes that their players fixed this year’s Sydney Test as well as a Twenty20 match; an inquiry into the failed Australia tour revealed.

A Cricket Australia spokesman said he had heard nothing about match-fixing allegations. “Our view on that match has always been that we won it from behind through our own efforts,” The Australian quoted him, as saying.

Pakistan had a 206-run lead after the first innings and reached 1-50 in their last innings, chasing a victory total of 175, but Pakistan lost its last nine wickets for 89 runs and with it the match by 36 runs.

The performance of Pakistani wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal attracted most attention in the match. He dropped four catches in the third innings and missed a run out chance against Shane Watson when the opener was on 49. Watson went on to make 97.

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BCCI acceded Lalit Modi's 10 additional days to reply

Lalit Modi got a breather after the BCCI granted the suspended IPL Commissioner 10 additional days to reply to the second show cause notice issued to him for his acts 'detrimental to world cricket'.

Modi was issued the notice on May 6 on the basis of an e-mail received from England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke and has now time till May 31 to reply, according to Modi's legal advisor Mehmood Abdi.

The suspended IPL chief, who responded to the first show cause notice from the BCCI over allegations of murky financial deals and bid-rigging with a voluminous 15,000-page reply last Saturday, had asked for more time to answer the second notice on Sunday.

The deadline for submitting his reply to this notice was May 21 before BCCI acceded to his request and gave Modi a 10-day grace period.

The notice referred to Modi's March 31 meeting in New Delhi with representatives of three English counties in which he allegedly talked about a parallel IPL in England and Wales.

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Team India is not a favourite for the ODI World Cup in 2011

If one thing has emerged from the ruins of the T20 World Cup, it is that Team India is not a favourite for the ODI World Cup in 2011.

In terms of tournament form, we don’t even appear to be in the top three in world cricket right now. We have failed to make it to the semis of three big ICC tournaments in a row: 2008 T20 WC, 2009 ICC Champions Trophy and 2010 T20 WC.

Australia continues to rock on…

So who are the favourites then?

Is it possible for a team to win four straight world cups? Well that’s not in the realm of impossibility anymore as Australia appears to be peaking at the right time. While South Africa and India in turn captured the No. 1 status some time back, Australia has quietly returned to the top. It sits at 134 points as against second-placed India, which is lagging at 122.

Steve Waugh retired before the 2003 World Cup, Shane Warne left before the 2007 edition, while both Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath retired before the 2009 ICC Champions trophy. It didn’t make any difference to the Australians. They won all three comfortably. Three WCs and two mini WCs in 10 years is mind-boggling and there is really no indication that they are done yet.

In other teams, England have finally broken their World Cup jinx, while both Sri Lanka and Pakistan look good and always do well in the sub-continent. South Africa is always a good team, and they’ll be eager to break their own jinx, which appears far greater than the one England had.

Poor Hosts, Rich Travelers

Interestingly, being the hosts, history is against us. We used to be called poor travelers, but that was only in Tests.

In ODI tournaments featuring six teams and above, we save our worst for home and best for away. Arguably, our three greatest wins are: The 1983 ODI World Cup (England), the 1985 World Championship of Cricket (Australia) and the 2007 T20 World Cup (South Africa). There’s also the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy of which we were joint winners (Sri Lanka). All are away.

What of home soil? In the 1987 World Cup, we collapsed in the semis. The 1989 Nehru Cup saw us being thrashed by the Windies by eight wickets in the last four-stage. Semi-final Kolkata, 1996 WC, was probably our worst moment. Trailing 131 runs to Sri Lanka with just two wickets in hand, we lost by default thanks to a stadium riot. Vinod Kambli was left in tears pleading with the crowd. We also failed to make it to the semis of the only ICC Champions Trophy to be held in India in 2006.

While it is true that the 2011 edition will be held jointly by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, we’ll be playing most of our matches in India.

F for Fitness, V for Victory

As the post-mortem of the T20 World Cup continues, it’s heartening to note that IPL fatigue and short balls on fast pitches won’t be an issue next year. There was also talk of bad selection and mediocre captaincy. Giving all credit to the selection committee, most of them are ex-senior cricketers and they do try their best. After the recent debacle, they’ll be more circumspect and hopefully will get it right next year.

When it comes to captaincy, MS Dhoni’s best and worst have been in T20s. In Tests and ODIs he’s been consistent and stable. There’s nothing much one can do about that too.

But there’s one thing that rankles really badly. That is the problem of fitness. Not only did the team in West Indies look jaded, but they looked totally unfit. They looked overweight, lethargic and listless.

You could say the fielding was bad, but that is a direct result of fitness or lack of it. Contrast this with three absolutely stunning catches that England took in the final to put Australia at 8 for 3. That probably won them the final. The BCCI would do well to crack down on the issue of fitness. Maybe even bench the really unfit players who refuse to shape up. That’s where the trainer and physio have to be taken more seriously.

That way the decision to send a second string team for the Zimbabwe tour may not be such a bad idea. It will rest the seniors and give some international exposure for the newcomers. As it is, it is immediately follows the Asia cup and the Sri Lanka Test tour.

A fit, fresh and raring team along with a slice of good fortune is the only way MS Dhoni can lift the World Cup in Mumbai next year.

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