79 ICL players make exodus and rejoin BCCI fold

MUMBAI: In a major exodus, 79 rebel players took advantage of BCCI's time-bound amnesty offer and deserted the Indian Cricket League to return to official, mainstream cricket.

The BCCI on Tuesday said in a statement that the cricketers snapped their ICL ties to immediately become eligible for domestic cricket and would also be considered for international matches once they complete their one year cooling off period.

Among the 101 players and others who have deserted ICL, bankrolled by the Essel Group, were former internationals Rohan Gavaskar, Deep Dasgupta (Bengal), Dinesh Mongia, Reetinder Sodhi (Punjab) and Hemang Badani (Tamil Nadu).

The 11 former cricketers who have quit the ICL are ex-Test skipper Ajit Wadekar, spin legend Erapalli Prasanna and 1983 World Cup-winning Indian squad members Sandeep Patil, Madan Lal and Balwinder Singh Sandhu.

Most of them were tied up with the ICL as coaches. Significantly, India's only World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev, who is the chairman of the ICL's Executive Board, has not severed his relations with the league along with former Test stumper and ex-Chief Selector Kiran More.

"The BCCI, after scrutinizing their requests, has written to the concerned state associations that these players are eligible to play in the domestic tournaments for this year", said BCCI secretary N Srinivasan.

The BCCI secretary said that guidelines with respect to participation in Indian Premier League will be intimated in due course.

The Indian Board has already decided that such persons will have to serve a one-year cooling off period before becoming eligible to play international cricket for the country.

Though the ICL has been virtually emptied out of its Indian players, the rebel league put up a brave front and said that the league is not shutting down and will recruit new talent as and when it's needed.

"We still have 40-50 players, out of the original 140-odd, on our roster and as and when the need arises we would recruit fresh talent. The League is on. We are not closing down. The next season is in October-November and it's still early days", an ICL official said.

Landers said that in all there were around 85 Indian players in their roster till the second season, out of which 77 have left their fold now.

"We had already left out two of them", he pointed out, one of them being Mongia who had been suspended in October last for allegedly under-performing along with former New Zealand all rounder Chris Cairns.

http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4608232.cms?TOI_Cricket_mostread

Pak ICL players can play domestic cricket

Karachi: The Pakistani players, who were contracted with the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), have been formally allowed by the PCB to play in the domestic cricket.

PCB lawyer Shan Gul said the board had banned all ICL-contracted players from playing domestic or international cricket in Pakistan, because the rebel league is not a legal tournament in its home base.

Gul is hoping to see the banned players in cricketing action soon and said, "Chairman board Ijaz Butt is also not in favour of ban on the players featured in the Indian Cricket League."

The board took the decision after the Sindh High Court suspended the ban on players last week.

PCB chairman Ejaz Butt then said that he wanted to follow a procedure before allowing players to play in the domestic cricket.

http://cricketnext.in.com/news/pak-icl-players-can-play-domestic-cricket/38177-13.html

Pawar says counties can play ICL rebels

New Delhi: There's a new twist in the BCCI versus English counties battle over rebel ICL players participating in the proposed Twenty20 Champions League.

BCCI President Sharad Pawar says that all teams participating in the event have the freedom to include players of their choice. But there is a rider. Pawar says the BCCI would then take its own decision on the matter.

That turns back the heat on the ECB, the only board to allow rebel players to play in domestic competition.

IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi had earlier said that any team with ICL players will be automatically disqualified.

The ECB has said that it would wait for the rules to be framed before taking a stand.
Meanwhile, The Indian Express has learnt that the International Cricket Council has been advised by lawyers to amend some of its existing rules in order to prevent more leagues like the ICL from coming up and challenge its authority.

The Indian Cricket League, owned by the Zee Group, is already two T20 tournaments old and has long applied to the ICC to recognise it as "official". While the ICC had indicated that the ICL had to seek the same via the Indian Cricket Board, the BCCI has only furthered its plight by deeming it "rebel".

The ICL organisers have already indicated that they will go to court against the BCCI and the ICC.

Sheridans, a UK-based law firm, has reportedly advised the ICC to amend its rule pertaining to the "official and unofficial status" of cricket events, because the original rules were made for events relating to "one-off testimonial and exhibition matches (such as Asia XI versus Rest of the World XI)".

Cricket's governing body has been recommended to amend those regulations to "deal with domestic T20 events and rebel domestic leagues expressly."

The paper has also learnt that even the BCCI has asked the ICC to amend these regulations.

http://www.cricketnext.com/news/bcci-allows-counties-to-play-icl-rebels/32268-13.html

T20 can dominate world sport: Stanford

London: Billionaire businessman Allen Stanford said Twenty20 cricket could replace football as the world's leading team sport after announcing a series of 20 million dollar matches between England and his Caribbean Super Stars side.
"With the right financial support behind it, the right vision, it can be the dominant team sport in the world," Stanford told a news conference at Lord's here on Wednesday.

"I think Twenty20 combines almost all the elements of all sports: soccer, basketball, baseball, it even has track and field in it."

The first of five annual floodlit Twenty20 matches between Stanford's Super Stars and England will take place at his own ground in Antigua on November1.

Players on the winning side will earn one million dollars each - a huge sum by cricket standards.
However, members of the losing team will not get anything.

Of the remaining nine million dollars being put up by Stanford, a million will be divided among the rest of the winning squad and a further million will go to the victorious coaching team.
The other seven million will be shared between the cash-strapped West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Over the course of five years, a player on the winning side in all the games could earn as five million dollars while both boards are guaranteed a minimum of 17.5 million dollars each.
"The winner goes home happy, the loser goes home unhappy," Stanford, who arrived at Lord's in his own private helicopter, said.

These matches are effectively exhibition games as England are not playing the West Indies although ECB chief executive Davi Collier said they were "unofficial but authorised" by the International Cricket Council. Stanford, a Texan who became a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda, has already invested heavily in a domestic Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies which now features his trademark all-black bats. He denied he was simply giving money away.

"I'm investing in cricket's future in the West Indies. We're in a bit of a trough and I want to do everything I can to bring it back up." Former West Indies captain Vivian Richards, one of Stanford's advisors, added he was sure the matches would be competitive.

"We believe we have the product to do it justice. We wouldn't like you guys to come to the Caribbean and take it (the money) back to England." Twenty20 has grown rapidly in global popularity since being launched as a professional sport at county level in England six years ago and spawned it own world championship, won by India in South Africa last year.

In India, the first edition of a new, lucrative Twenty20 tournament was recently concluded but Stanford said he believed English officials were best-placed to help him realise his Twenty20 vision.

"The ECB have the best organisation and the best management to drive cricket into the 21st century."

Meanwhile ECB charman Giles Clarke denied his organisation's involement was a way of placating England cricketers, who might otherwise earn big money in matches beyond the board's control.

"We are not trying to appease them," he said. "It gives them a chance to perform under pressure and to make money beyond the dreams of some of their predecessors," Clarke added as he addressed an audience including West Indies cricket greats Everton Weekes, Garfield Sobers, and Curtly Ambrose.

England coach Peter Moores denied the money on offer would damage squad morale but admitted: "It will be a different set of pressures for all the players. It's ruthless, as it should be. If you perform, you earn money." WICB president Julian Hunte said the cash was vital for Caribbean cricket.

"We see this as part of the resurgence of West Indies cricket. We need this investment to underpin our own strategic plan."

Only last weekend plans were announced for a tournament later this year featuring the best eight Twenty20 sides from England, Australia, India and South Africa and this has led to fears regarding the future of five-day Tests.

"I find Test cricket boring," said Stanford. "But I'm not a purist. Test cricket is the foundation, Twenty20 is the future," added Stanford whose news conference ended with the unveiling of a box containing 20 million dollars.

And former England all-rounder Ian Botham, also at Lord's, said: "You still need Test cricket to get your players for Twenty20. No-one quibbles about golfers or footballers earning big money, so why shouldn't cricketers?"

Stanford is also understood to have held talks with the ECB regarding the staging of an annual four-nation Twenty20 tournament at Lord's although, as yet, no details have been made public.

Source: http://www.cricketnext.com/news/t20-can-dominate-world-sport-stanford/32116-13-single.html

By V Veera Kumar

Mumbai: After witnessing the highly successful Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament, backed by the cash rich Indian Cricket Board (BCCI), their parallel body the Indian Cricket League (ICL) is all set to launch a bigger and better Twenty20 tournament in October.

"We have lots of innovative plans for this edition of the ICL and we are planning a bigger and better Twenty20 tournament for sure some time in October. Everything is still at the planning stages and it will be disclosed to the media in due course of time," former Indian stumper and one of the ICL board members Kiran More told Cricketnext.com on Monday.

"Due to the rainy season, we can only plan things right now as the next three months will not be conducive for any serious cricket but I am sure we will have lots of innovative ideas for the third edition of our tournaments though everything is at the planning stage right now, we are hopeful of finalizing most of the activities within the next ten days," he added.

Speaking about the stupendous success of the IPL, More said, he enjoyed every minute of the inaugural event while watching with his family and friends and was happy that IPL had done a world of good for all the youngsters who showcased their talents.

"Twenty20 has really caught up with cricket buffs everywhere and I personally enjoyed watching the matches. To me, a battle royal between two good teams in any sports is worth watching especially when you can witness it in the comforts of your drawing rooms," he pointed out.

"I sincerely hope like the youngsters in IPL, the ICL players too get recognised one day as the main intentions of both the leagues is to popularise the new format," More observed.

Source: http://www.cricketnext.com/news/bigger-better-icl-t20-in-october-more/32058-13.html

IPL bats its way into business school syllabi

MUMBAI: From stadiums to classrooms, IPL fever is raging. After the success of the Indian Premier League— known as much for its marketing glitz as for its cricketing antics—popular B-schools in Mumbai and outside have sought to include the IPL phenomenon in their syllabi. Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Vile Parle, plans to rope in financial and marketing experts associated with IPL to train its faculty at a workshop on 'teaching sports management', slated to be held after the IPL tamasha ends.

"We plan to offer an elective in sports management. We want the IPL team to help us design the course," said Ramesh Bhat, dean, school of business management at NMIMS. According to him, there's a lot to learn from the IPL's contract arrangements, with remuneration being based on performance. "IPL has huge implications for the country," said Bhat.

The authorities at Mudra Institute of Communications-Ahmedabad (MICA), and S P Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) in Andheri also echo his views. Students enrolled in the executive post-graduate programme in communication management (PGPCMX) course at MICA were recently given an assignment on the economic implications of IPL in the context of the Indian market.

"Besides the business aspect, there's also a lot to be learnt in terms of organisational behaviour and leadership skills. While there are a number of team captains who are relatively new, some of the established players have not been able to find their place in the sun," said Hemant Trivedi, chairperson of the PGPCMX course.

He plans to introduce a component on IPL in an elective on media and entertainment as well. For B-schoolers, the IPL's success has underlined just how big a career in sports management could turn out to be. Raghu Chaitanya, a student at MICA, sees immense opportunity in the league. "After all, it's a mix of the two most popular things in the country—cricket and Bollywood," he said.

At the S P Jain Institute, students recently asked their marketing professor to discuss the IPL phenomenon with them. The issue was taken up at a faculty meeting where the dean, M L Shrikant, suggested that IPL could be an integral case study for a business model. Students have been asked to read 'What is Management?' by Joan Margretta and co-relate parts of the book with the IPL success story.

"IPL will help students understand the concept of a business model where there are a number of stakeholders whose interests have to be met," said Shrikant. According to Bhat, IPL also presents a great career opportunity for management students in the years to come. After all, the GMR group, the infrastructure giant which owns the Delhi team, hired Colonel Vinod Bisht, who was a student of IIM-Ahmedabad's postgraduate programme in public policy and management, as its assistant vice president (operations).

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Jaipur/File_IPL_bats_its_way_into_business_school_syllabi/articleshow/3075145.cms

Akhtar nothing but a problem: Ex-PCB chief

Shoaib Akhtar may claim to be a perfect team-man but former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan says the maverick pacer has been nothing but a “problem” for captains and coaches who have worked with him in the past couple of years.

Khan feels the pacer, who is fighting a five-year ban imposed on him for disciplinary violations by the PCB, has only himself to blame for the problems that he is facing right now.

“In the last two years he was a problem for the coach, captain and the board and we could see he was more interested in playing for himself rather than the team and this attitude was having a bad effect on others,” Khan said.

Khan felt it was better not to have Akhtar in the team as it has always done well without him.
“When he didn’t play the team did well and won. I think the fame and pampering he got early on in his career got to his head and he couldn’t handle it maturely,” he stated.

The former PCB chief said the only way left to deal with Akhtar was involve his family in counseling him.

“The best way to handle him is to sit down and talk to him or ask his family members to talk sense into him and he would come around,” he told ‘Geo TV’.

Apart from the Akhtar, Khan said the PCB should also give some attention to the plight of cricketers banned by it for participating in the rebel Indian Cricket League.

Khan felt the PCB should lift the ban on these players and allow them to earn their living.

Source: http://premierleaguecricket.in/news/akhtar-nothing-but-a-problem-ex-pcb-chief/

A high-octane contest between two well-balanced teams is on the cards when table toppers Rajasthan Royals take on a confident Delhi Daredevils in the first semi-final of the Indian Premier League in Mumbai on Friday.

The teams, which finished first and fourth in the preliminary 56-game phase of the Twenty20 tournament, appear evenly matched ahead of what promises top-drawer stuff in front of a capacity crowd at the Wankhede stadium.

The team that holds its nerve better and grabs the chances that come its way will go through to the summit clash against the winners of the second semi-final, on May 31, between Punjab Kings Eleven and Chennai Super Kings.

The second semi-final will also be held at the Wankhede, while the final, on June 1, will be played at the D Y Patil stadium, which has a bigger crowd capacity.

The Shane Warne-led Rajasthan Royals, impregnable at home in Jaipur, had only three losses in their 14 preliminary phase outings and have a 1-1 head-to-head record against the Virender Sehwag-led Daredevils, who got into the last four after seven wins and 15 points to their credit.
Both lost their matches when Mumbai Indians hosted them at the D Y Patil, and must be hoping that a change in venue for the knock-out round will bring happy tidings.

While both teams depended on their top-orders to fire and pile big totals, their middle orders looked a bit under-prepared when the chips were down.

Tracks at the Wankhede for the IPL have helped the seam bowlers, providing lateral movement and extra bounce, and bowlers of the calibre of Delhi Daredevils' Glenn McGrath should relish rolling his arm over.

The battle between McGrath, with support from Sri Lankan Farveez Maharoof and V Yo Mahesh, and Rajasthan's successful innings launchers, Graeme (416 runs) and Swapnil Asnodkar, could be crucial to the game's outcome.

The same applies to the Sohail Tanvir-Shane Watson-Munaf Patel combine, which will be up against the marauding Delhi opening pair of Gautam Gambhir (523) and Sehwag (403), as well as another in-form batsman at number three, Shikhar Dhawan.

Tanvir, with his extra quick bowling arm action, similar to that of his Pakistani countryman Wasim Akram, is the revelation in the IPL. He was hardly collared by any batting line-up, as indicated by his superb haul of 21 wickets at just 10 runs per victim.

The left armer was outstanding, both in the beginning and at the death, and is a major threat that needs to be negotiated well by the Delhi batsmen, who did not play him in the previous two clashes.

Rajasthan possess a better spin attack in the great Warne and his understudies, Yousuf Pathan and Dinesh Salunkhe, while Delhi depend on Amit Mishra for the most part, with Sehwag chipping in with his off breaks. But seam bowlers are expected to play a bigger role at the Wankhede.

Delhi had a sizeable break of five days going into the semi-final while Rajasthan, without a few key players, including Warne, were outclassed by Punjab King's XI on Wednesday.

Winning the toss and fielding first has become the order of the day for matches that commence at 2000 IST and the trend is likely to continue on Friday.

Barring light drizzles, Mumbai has been largely rain-free and the IPL authorities must be hoping that the weather remains clear over the next few days. The high prevailing humidity though is an indicator that rain is around the corner.

Teams (from):

Delhi Daredevils: Virender (c), Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Rajat Bhatia, A b de Villiers, Tillakratne Dilshan, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Brett Geeves, Glenn McGrath, Farveez Maharoof, V Yo Mahesh, Mithun Manhas, Amit Mishra, Pradeep Sangwan, Mayank Tehlan, Manoj Tiwary.

Rajasthan Royals: Shane Warne (c), Graeme Smith, Swapnil Asnodkar, Kamran Akmal, Yousuf Pathan, Mohd. Kaif, Shane Watson, Ravindra Jadeja, Niraj Patel, Sohail Tanvir, Siddharth Trivedi, Pankaj Singh, Munaf Patel, Mahesh Rawat, Dinesh Salunkhe, Morne Morkel, Taruwar Kohli.

Umpires: Rudi Koerzen and Billy Bowden

Third umpire: Billy Doctrove

Match referee: J Srinath.


Source: http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/may/29semis.htm

To play a virtual Pakistan team in the final is an exciting experience: Abdul Razzaq

I have been a professional cricketer for a long time and have played against my compatriots on number of occasions in the English county. But to play a virtual Pakistan team in the final was an exciting experience.

If you see the line-up of the Lahore Badshahs you will find that I have played alongside almost every individual who has represented Pakistan in the last decade. On the plus side that meant that I knew the opposition very well and that knowledge came handy in preparing our game plan for the first final. Even when I came into bowl the last over, I exactly knew what I had to do to restrict the batsmen and despite bowling three wide balls I was confident of pulling through.
But we are professionals and we have to give our best for the team we are playing for. And I am happy that I could deliver the same both with the bat and the ball.

This was the first time that the Badshahs have lost a game in the second edition of the Indian Cricket League and apart from the win in the first final it also gives a psychological upper hand over them going into the second final in Hyderabad on Sunday. Add to that the vociferous crowd support that we receive in this Andhra Pradesh capital and you will understand why all of us are now pretty confident of bagging the coveted title.

But we can't be overconfident since we know that the Badshahs are known to raise their game every time they are down in the dumps and have time and again proved that they have the big match temperament needed to succeed at this level.
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The ICL India team players meet the Great Inspiring Khali

Mumbai, May 10, 2008: The robust new India story has trickled into the sporting world & is best exemplified by these two new sporting icons - one in the form of the Great Khali who made Indians believe that it is possible for an Indian to compete & win, amongst a galaxy of global wrestling icons & second in the form of the ICL India team that forced the cricket crazy nation to take notice of cricket talents & win against some of the best international names in the business, at the recently concluded ICL 20s World Series. An eventful Saturday afternoon today witnessed these two sporting champions - the Great Khali & the young ICL India team players, come together to spend some time & mutual admiration for each other.

In the pic (from LHS):ICL India team players - Stuart Binny, G. Vignesh, Ali Murtuza, Raviraj Patil, Khaleel Ibrahim & Syed Mohammad with the Great Khali in the centre.

ICL - Taking Cricket to a Higher League

The goal of Indian Cricket League (ICL) is to promote and foster the best of the talent in the country. ICL will work to create a highly competitive domestic environment, giving the talented an equal opportunity and ensure that cricket provides superior entertainment, value and service against its sporting peers. And in the process creating a fun and friendly atmosphere for our player and fans.

Indian Cricket League 2008 season
The inaugural season for the Indian Cricket League will begin in October 2008 with 6 teams. The first tournament will be organized on a double round-robin basis in which each team will be playing the opposite team on home and away basis. The top four teams will reach the semi-finals and the final be played between the top teams. There will be a total of 20 matches for the entire season.

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.

Pak batsman Md Yousuf sad at missing out on both ICL, IPL

ANI Thursday, May 22, 2008 4:08:47 PM

Pakistan's star batsman Mohammad Yousuf has once again expressed his disappointment at missing out on an opportunity to play in both the Indian cricket leagues - ICL and IPL, and urged the PCB last evening to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

Last year Yousuf had signed up for the ICL, but on PCB's insistence he reneged on the contract, with the IPL being one of the incentives.The ICL insisted that as Yousuf had signed a contract he should not be allowed to play in any other league including the IPL. The matter went to a court of arbitration in Mumbai, which passed an interim order earlier this month barring Yousuf from playing in the IPL. Yousuf, who is slated to fly to London to play for Lancashire, last evening reminded PCB Chief Nasim Ashraf of his promise to resolve the matter so that he could play in IPL."It's very sad missing out on the IPL. I left the ICL on the insistence of the chairman and I did that for the country. I ended up playing for neither.

This matter should be resolved because the chairman promised me he would do it and it should be done quickly," the Daily Times quoted Yousuf as saying while speaking to reporters.The PCB is planning to file an appeal against the interim order in the Mumbai High Court.

"We have appointed a senior Mumbai advocate, Iqbal Chagla, to represent us in this case in the Mumbai High Court," a PCB spokesman said, and added: "In the next few days we will discuss the issue amongst ourselves and then direct our representative in Mumbai to file the appeal."

Source: http://in.sports.yahoo.com/cricket/ipl/news/news_20080522_461.html