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Tag: BCCI

  • A livid M S Dhoni offers to quit as CSK skipper

    A livid M S Dhoni offers to quit as CSK skipper

    MUMBAI: After speculation around his association with the match-fixing and betting scandal in the sixth edition of the Indian Premiere League (IPL), India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is miffed and has offered to step down as captain for the Chennai Super Kings, if reports are to be believed.

     

    According to media reports, the Indian captain spoke to N. Srinivasan, now suspended by the Supreme Court as the BCCI chief, and offered to step down as skipper and a vice-president of India Cements.

     

    Harish Salve, the counsel for Bihar cricket association chief Aditya Verma, on Thursday accused Dhoni of giving false statements to the Mudgal committee about the role of Gurunath Meiyappan in Chennai Super Kings.

     

    Dhoni has led the team in yellow for the past six editions of the IPL, captaining the team to the title twice.

     

    The Team India skipper, currently in Dhaka for the T20 World Cup, is “extremely disappointed and annoyed” that his name has been dragged into the spot-fixing controversy.

  • IPL Governing Council releases schedule for first 20 matches

    IPL Governing Council releases schedule for first 20 matches

    MUMBAI: After days of speculation and curiosity around the schedule for Pepsi IPL 2014, the IPL Governing Council in a meeting held in Chennai today has confirmed the first phase of matches being played in the UAE.

     

    The first leg of the tournament will be contested from16 April to 30 April. A total of 20 matches will be played in three stadiums — the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi; the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah; and the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai.

     

    The opening match on Wednesday, 16 April, will be played in Abu Dhabi, and contested between 2013 winners – Mumbai Indians and the 2012 IPL champions – Kolkata Knight Riders.

     

    Pursuant to the initiative taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, many State Governments have indicated that IPL matches can be conducted in their respective states. Based on the responses received so far, the BCCI believes that the Pepsi IPL 2014 can be conducted in India from the first week of May.

     

    The schedule for the remaining 40 matches will be announced in due course.

     

    Indiantelevision.com will keep you posted on further updates.

  • starsports.com witnesses huge traffic during IPL 7 auction

    starsports.com witnesses huge traffic during IPL 7 auction

    MUMBAI: The digital arm of Star Sports – starsports.com – seems to be living up to its claim of being known as the YouTube of sports in India. The portal witnessed a huge traffic when it streamed the two day auction of the Pepsi Indian Premiere League (IPL) 2014 with five-minute delay.

     

    The reach of the auction managed to outmatch Sony Six’s 2013 Pepsi IPL player auction numbers, claims the website as it attracted close to 680,000 visits over the two days.

     

    Last year, the IPL auction on Sony Six witnessed traffic of 404,000 viewers with average time spent being 25 minutes in the male SEC ABC 15+ demographic.

     

    In comparison, starsports.com reached 387,000 viewers with average time spent on the web being 31 minutes on each day.

     

    Star India EVP and head new media Ajit Mohan said: “We had decided to produce a high quality show around the auctions, with commentary and analysis from Harsha Bhogle and Sourav Ganguly. This is a vindication of our approach. The Indian consumer is evolving fast and more and more consumers want to catch action while on the move. We are convinced that this year, the mobile screen will be where the action will be for IPL.”

     

    The highest growth in traffic was seen in the first session of the auction on 12 February when marquee players like Yuvraj Singh and Kevin Pietersen were going under the hammer. The traffic peaked at 3 pm on 12 February. And almost 60 per cent of the traffic was from sports fans between the age of 18-24 years, and almost all of the traffic was in the coveted male demographics.

     

    starsports.com is India’s first multi-sports digital service with availability across the web and mobile. Powered by live and video rights, it covers the best of world sports including major cricket tournaments, BPL, La Liga and Serie A in football, F1, hockey and tennis. This year, for the first time, all IPL matches will be available on the portal after it won the online streaming rights from Indiatimes.com this time around.

  • Nat Geo takes viewers ‘Inside IPL’

    Nat Geo takes viewers ‘Inside IPL’

    MUMBAI: One of the biggest sporting extravaganzas in the world – which brought together the best of sport, entertainment and state-of-the-art machinery – the Indian Premiere League, will be seen in a different light for the first time in history.

    Beginning 21 February at 9:00 pm, viewers will get the opportunity to get an up-close and personal look into the inside story on the cash rich league, that has taken the country by storm. Nat Geo gears up to bring all the behind the scenes clips from the locker rooms to the management in its new series Nat Geo Inside IPL.

    A six-part documentary series, Inside IPL will feature leading cricket stars and experts from around the world, senior management from the IPL and celebrity team owners, who will be revealing their fascinating insights in exclusive interviews. The scale of stadium production, the clockwork precision of the broadcast crew, the sensitive dynamic between team management and captains, and the revelation of sporting heroes, are just a few of many themes that will be explored across the six episodes of the series. Each one hour long episode will unravel every meticulously planned nuance of the sporting event that has 250 million viewers across 160 countries.

    Talking about the launch of one of the biggest Nat Geo properties of the year, National Geographic and Fox International Channels MD Keertan Adyanthaya said: “The Inside franchise on NGC stands for two things – unparalleled access, taking the viewer where he has never gone before, and a 360 degree view. And Inside IPL is a great testimony to both these points. Fans of this game would get to know a lot more under this comprehensive compilation. Inside IPL is a one-stop show that brings together the talent, the sound business acumen, the brands, and even the machinery that goes into making of this extravagant event.”

    In its inimitable style of taking audiences where they have never been before, Nat Geo ‘Inside’ constantly strives to bring to the viewer, some of the world’s most restricted places and iconic events. And with Inside IPL, classic documentary filming that brings out the glamour and gloss, merges seamlessly with a much more personal observational style, taking audiences into the heart of this two month long tournament, for the first time on television.

    Commenting on the association with Nat Geo, BCCI honorary secretary Sanjay Patel said: “The IPL is a labour of love, and the outcome of a tremendous amount of hard work, and teamwork. We are pleased that Nat Geo has decided to tell the ‘inside story’ of this tournament. ‘Inside IPL’ will definitely provide a 360° perspective on this very unique cricket league.”

    Though the focus is on the sixth season in 2013, the show reveals a more generic view of what makes this league tick. Leading cricket stars from around the world, senior management from the IPL, celebrity team owners, an international commentator who has seen world sports close up and top cricket experts share never before insights in exclusive interviews.

    The story unfolds on Nat Geo’s Inside IPL beginning 21 February at 9:00 pm every Friday for six weeks. So with IPL’s season 7 soon approaching one can get to see what all goes into the making of this gigantic event.

  • IPL 7 auction: The big winners

    IPL 7 auction: The big winners

    MUMBAI: More than Rs 465 crore were spent during the IPL player auctions as the eight franchises gear up for the seventh season of the cash rich tourney – but bargain buys were hardly the headline makers this time around. While that can still change – money was clearly splashed on the big names in Twenty20 cricket. Here’s a list of the players who were bought for a high price in this year’s auction.

     

    Yuvraj Singh (Rs 14 crore to RCB): The naysayers will say that the Punjab lad has gone for a buck too many, but Vijay Mallya seems ecstatic about the inclusion of another marquee T20 player who will add to the firepower of Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, Ravi Rampaul and AB de Villiers. The key contributer to the World Cup and World T20 winning Team India will add more all-round ability to the team – however, the price tag may prove to be a burden if he fails.

     

    Dinesh Karthik (Rs 12.5 crore to DD): The darkhorse in the auction and clearly being rewarded handsomely for his consistency with the long handle in the middle overs and his daredevilry behind the stumps. It was slightly startling that Mumbai Indians didn’t retain him and Mitchell Johnson or used their ‘Right to Match card – but Karthik is certainly laughing all the way to the bank. With 1,741 runs in 92 IPL games, he may be worth all the moolah.

     

    Kevin Pietersen (Rs 9 crore to DD): KP is cricket’s latest ‘lone ranger’ and he doesn’t have to care about the international calendar anymore. His mere presence in the middle will be unsettling enough for bowlers – but now they’ll have to contend with a fit Pietersen for the whole season.

     

    Mitchell Johnson (Rs 6.5 crore to KXIP): The aussie is out to prove a point, but he lets his pace and swing do the talking for him. Johnson is fast, fearsome and in insane form and is very handy with the bat as well. He will certainly add some stability to a fairly young KXIP squad.

     

    Glenn Maxwell (Rs 6 crore to KXIP): The million dollar man from season 6 continues to be a favourite among the franchises. Though he didn’t get much opportunities in the MI camp last season, his poor showing didn’t deter Kings XI from coughing up the cash. He would certainly want to prove a point and justify his worth. And being an all-rounder will help the franchise.

     

    Jacques Kallis (Rs 5.5 crore to KKR): The old man of cricket is certainly worth every penny paid for his services. He’s 38 but will be the knight in a shining armor for the KKR, hopefully once again. He has a staggering 2,276 runs in 90 IPL matches and a strike-rate of above 100. Complimenting his contribution with the bat are the 61 scalps under his belt.

     

    David Warner (Rs 5.5 crore to SRH): Last year’s surprise package – Sunrisers Hyderabad – has added loose-cannon Warner to their side. They’ll be happy to see that side of him on the pitch though, rather than off it. When he’s in the mood, he can devour the opposition bowlers. Also, he had a cracking IPL 6 – scoring 410 runs in 16 matches. His strike-rate was 126.93.

     

    Robin Uthappa (KKR), Murali Vijay (DD), Michael Hussey (MI) and Mitchell Starc (RCB) – Rs 5 crore each: Uthappa’s value has come down a bit but he’s still handy with that bat and a reliable customer. Vijay’s permanent place in the Indian team guarantees quality and Huseey aka Mr Dependable is never a bad pick. As for Starc, a good fast bowler will always cost good money.

  • IPL 7 auctions: Day 2 begins with uncapped Indian players

    IPL 7 auctions: Day 2 begins with uncapped Indian players

    MUMBAI: After all the action on day one of player auctions for season 7 of the Indian Premiere League (IPL), the day two began with the uncapped Indian cricketers going under the hammer for the first time.

     

    The day 2 will see players with base prices ranging between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 30 lakh being auctioned, with only Michael Klinger (batsman) and Ryan Ten Doeschate (all-rounder) at a base price of Rs 1 crore.

     

    The second day of auctions will also witness the unsold players from yesterday going under the hammer once again in the afternoon session. There are a few names from the unsold lot who would certainly give the franchises some exercise after lunch.

     

    On day one of auctions, nearly 90 odd players were sold to the eight franchises of IPL. The second day may not spring any surprises like on the first day but it will certainly be interesting to see how the franchises go about using their remaining resources to the fullest.

     

    At the time of writing this, Ryan Ten Doeschate was sold at his base price of Rs 1 crore to KKR and the uncapped Indian player to benefit the most was Rishi Dhawan who went to King’s XI Punjab for Rs 3 crore with a base price of Rs 20 lakh. Another Indian player, Kedar Jadhav was bagged for Rs 2 crore by Delhi Daredevils, which used its right to match card against Sun Risers Hyderabad’s bid.

     

    Keep watching this space for more updates.

  • IPL 7 auction: Day 1 – The haves and the have-nots…

    IPL 7 auction: Day 1 – The haves and the have-nots…

    MUMBAI: It was a long and tiring first day of auctions of players for the Indian Premiere League (IPL) season 7. There was a lot of action prior to the lunch break but mostly fizzled out after it resumed for the afternoon session.

     

    Two of the highest bids for the day were made by Delhi Daredevils as they had the deepest pocket – the entire Rs 60 crore – having decided not to retain any of their players from the previous edition.

     

    Delhi Daredevils were the most aggressive making the day’s both the big strategic acquisitions.

     

    Firstly Delhi Daredevils waited for the hammer to come down on Kevin Pietersen and then reclaimed him from Chennai Super Kings at a high price of Rs 9 crore. This was the first ‘Joker Card’ that was used at the auction.

     

    The swords were drawn when Yuvraj’s name came under the hammer, after some frantic bidding and almost being sold in a state of chaos, the final fight was between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Royal Challengers Banglore. Vijay Mallya had the final say with the highest bid of Rs 14 crore on day one and bag the Punjab boy to play alongside Virat Kohli.

     

    The other overseas player who was sold for a high price was Mitchel Johnson for Rs 6.5 crore to King’s XI Punjab, and Mumbai Indians declined to use its right to match card for the Aussie fast bowler.

     

    The biggest surprise of the day was Delhi Daredevil’s big bet on Dinesh Karthik at a whopping Rs 12.5 crore. The move would have certainly been made on the back of his stupendous showing in the 2013 season. Here again the Mumbai camp declined to use its right to match card.

     

    On day one, a lot of players who went under the hammer saw themselves moving to new teams. A lot of players still went unsold because of either dearth of funds or in anticipation of bagging bigger players on day two. Any which ways, the players who remained unsold today will again go under the hammer tomorrow.

     

    Teams at the end of Day 1 of Pepsi IPL Player auctions:

     

    Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Ashish Nehra, Mohit Sharma, Samuel Badree, Ben Hilfenhaus, Matt Henry.

     

    Budget left: Rs2.9 crore. Squad Strength: 13. Overseas Players: 7.

     

    Delhi Daredevils: M Vijay, Kevin Pietersen, Dinesh Karthik, JP Duminy, Manoj Tiwary, Quinton de Kock, Mohammad Shami, Rahul Sharma, Saurabh Tiwary, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jaydev Unadkat, James Neesham.

     

    Budget left: Rs8.6 crore. Squad Strength: 13. Overseas Players: 5.

     

    Kings XI Punjab: David Miller, Manan Vohra, Virender Sehwag, Mitchell Johnson, George Bailey, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shaun Marsh, Wriddhaman Saha, Thisara Perera, Glenn Maxwell, L Balaji, Parvinder Awan.

     

    Budget left: Rs14.2 crore. Squad Strength: 12. Overseas Players: 6.

     

    Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir, Sunil Narine, Jacques Kallis, Robin Uthappa, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Morne Morkel, Piyush Chawla.

     

    Budget left: Rs9 crore. Squad Strength: 10. Overseas Players: 4.

     

    Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Michael Hussey, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, Corey Anderson, Josh Hazlewood.

     

    Budget left: Rs5.15 crore. Squad Strength: 10. Overseas Players: 5.

     

    Rajasthan Royals: Shane Watson, Ajinkya Rahane, James Faulkner, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson, Brad Hodge, Steve Smith, Abhishek Nayar, Ben Cutting, Kane Richardson, Tim Southee.

     

    Budget left: Rs12.1 crore. Squad Strength: 11. Overseas Players: 7.

     

    Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel, Albie Morkel, Mitchell Starc, Ashok Dinda, Ravi Rampaul, Muttiah Muralitharan, Nic Maddinson, Varun Aaron.

     

    Budget left: Rs1.8 crore. Squad Strength: 12. Overseas Players: 7.

     

    Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan, Dale Steyn, David Warner, Darren Sammy, Amit Mishra, Aaron Finch, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Brendan Taylor, Moises Henriques, Venugopal Rao, Jason Holder.

     

    Budget left: Rs8.4 crore. Squad Strength: 13. Overseas Players: 7.

     

  • IPL season 7 auction kicks off with a bang

    IPL season 7 auction kicks off with a bang

    MUMBAI: The stage is set for history to be rewritten. This time around the maximum number of players will be going under the hammer with 514 players in the pool – 219 capped players (169 Indians / 50 overseas) and 292 uncapped players (255 Indians / 37 overseas).

     

    IPL’s official auctioneer Richard Madley says: “The first IPL auction in Mumbai which was held just six years ago but feels like it was held 600 years ago, no one knew what would go down on that day at the Oberoi hotel; it was a historic day for cricket and in my point of view an historic day for auctioning. Today is going to be no different in Bengaluru”

     

    This year’s auction witnessed a full house of the regulars from the franchises. The likes of Ness Wadia and Priety Zinta from the Kings XI Punjab camp; Tom Moody, VVS Laxman and Krishnamachari Srikkanth from Sunrisers Hyderabad; Kolkata Knight Riders is present in full strength with CEO Venky Mysore, Jay Mehta and Juhi Chawla.

     

    Royal Challengers Banglore owner Vijay Mallya was seen sporting a cool Mohawk hairstyle and was beaming after getting Yuvraj Singh for his team for a whopping Rs 14 crore, the highest bid in the morning session.

     

    Mumbai Indians is represented by Nita Ambani and Anil Kumble, Rajhastan Royals has Rahul Dravid at the table along with the team management.

     

    The ones missing from the auction this time are Rajasthan Royals’ Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty and CSK’s Gurunath Meiyappan after being in the news for all the wrong reasons.

     

    This is the first time uncapped Indian players have earned a spot on the auction list. Also, until last year, auctions were done in dollars. Beginning this year until 2017, all auctions will be carried out in Indian rupees. The cap on players’ cumulative salary has got reduced to Rs 60 crore this year from Rs 75 crore. Though the highest base price of players will continue to be at Rs 2 crore ($400,000 last year).

     

    This year’s auction also witnesses franchises exercise the right to match a bid, or use the joker card. Under this provision, a franchise can bid for a player who was in its squad in 2013, but wasn’t retained subsequently. The number of joker cards available with the team depends on the number of players retained – if a team doesn’t retain a single player, it can exercise the right to match three times. If a team retains five players, it can exercise it just once.

     

    Delhi Daredevils, which hasn’t retained any of its existing players, is certainly going to be the most aggressive. Most other teams have retained at least a couple of in-form players. The Delhi franchise has the entire salary amount of Rs 60 intact.

  • IPL auction: Yuvraj goes to RCB for Rs 14 cr; DD bags Karthik (Rs 12.5 cr) & KP (Rs 9 cr)

    IPL auction: Yuvraj goes to RCB for Rs 14 cr; DD bags Karthik (Rs 12.5 cr) & KP (Rs 9 cr)

    MUMBAI: The auction of players for the seventh season of Indian Premiere League (IPL) is currently underway in Bengaluru and it’s certainly got everyone’s attention. The auction this year is the biggest with 514 players in the pool – 219 capped players (169 Indians / 50 overseas) and 292 uncapped players (255 Indians / 37 overseas).

     

    The first player to go under the hammer was CSK’s opener Murali Vijay, opening at a base price of Rs 2 crore. He will now be seen in the Delhi Daredevil’s camp after the team bought him for a cool Rs 5 crore.

     

    Next up for bidding was Sri Lanka’s ‘Mr.Dependable’ – Mahela Jayawardena – who went unsold.

     

    After having been shunned by the national side – England – the South African-born Kevin Pietersen was next under the hammer and after some frantic bidding went for a high price of Rs 9 crore to Delhi Daredevils as the team used its right-to-match after Sunrisers won the bid.

     

    The biggest bet was for Yuvraj Singh. After the bid for Yuvraj went past Pietersen’s value, Banglore entered the scene and almost got him for Rs 10 crore. KKR then entered the fray and RCB had to finally make a winning bid of Rs 14 crore for the Punjab lad.

     

    The surprise package was Dinesh Karthik, who just about managed to steal Yuvi’s thunder with a cool bid of Rs 12.5 crore from Delhi Daredevils. 

     

    Other highlights are:

     

    # CSK bags Kallis for Rs 5.5 crore. But, the Kolkata Knight Riders have matched the bid.

    # Virender Sehwag to KXIP Rs 3.20 crore.

    # David Warner goes to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 5.50 crore.

    # Brendon McCullum to CSK for Rs 3.25 crore.

    # Mumbai Indians get Michael Hussey for Rs 5 crore.

    # Sunrisers Hyderabad reclaim Amit Mishra using their right-to-match card. They get him for Rs 4.75 crore.

    # Mumbai Indians win the bid for Zaheer with Rs. 2.6 crore.

    # Aaron Finch goes to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs. 4 crore.

    # Robin Uthappa sold to KKR for Rs 5 crore.

    # Rajasthan Royals win the bid of Rs. 2.40 crore for Brad Hodge.

    # KXIP get Shaun Marsh for Rs 2.20 crore.

    # Manoj Tiwary to Delhi Daredevils Rs 2.8 crore.

    # Dwayne Smith goes to Chennai Super Kings for Rs 4.5 crore.

  • Will IPL 2014 have to relocate a la 2009?

    Will IPL 2014 have to relocate a la 2009?

    MUMBAI: Five years ago, the Board  of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)  was forced to host season two of the IPL on foreign shores – South Africa – because the government of India refused to provide enough security on the grounds that the extravaganza collided with the general elections being held around the same time that year.

     

    This year, with the general elections likely to be held in five or six phases between April and May,  a similar situation seems to be staring the BCCI in the face. While it awaits the final election dates to be announced end February or early March, hosting the 2014 edition of IPL in South Africa is out of question, courtesy the soured ties between the cricket boards of the two nations that culminated in an abridged Indian tour to the rainbow country recently.

     

    Cricket administration sources point out that out of the few neighbouring countries in the fray to host IPL 7, it is possible the BCCI may seriously consider the UAE. The  Arab nation will also host a major ICC event for the very first time –  the ICC under-19 Cricket World Cup UAE 2014 (ICC U-19 CWC) being held from 14 February to 1 March. The tourney will be held across seven venues including the Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi; Abu Dhabi Oval 1; Abu Dhabi Oval 2; Sharjah Cricket Stadium; Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Sports City; ICC Academy Oval 1, Dubai; and the ICC Academy Oval 2, Dubai.

     

    With the UAE having hosted the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2013 between 15 and 30 November, 2013; the final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2011-13 between Afghanistan and Ireland from 10 to 13 December, 2013 and the Asian Cricket Council U19 Asia Cup earlier this month, the emirate seems well equipped to accomodate a major cricketing event from the BCCI stable as well.

     

    It was around September 2013 that the alarm bells were raised regarding a clash with the election dates, and the BCCI had then stated that the options being considered were Sri Lanka or Bangladesh. Its official web site iplt20.com was silent on the relocation of some of the matches at the time of writing. The BCCI had then said it did not want to do things at the last minute like it was forced to do around five years ago.

     

    Relocating the 2009 edition of IPL had then proved a logistical nightmare for the cricket board, what with over 10,000 cricketers and other staff flown from India to South Africa within a span of a few weeks. Not to mention the approximately US$100 million injected into South Africa’s local economy plus the additional expenditure which had to be incurred on the live television telecast to Indian viewers by the BCCI and its telecast partner Multi Screen Media.

     

    Needless to say, the board and team owners would want IPL 7 to be hosted entirely in India but if at all a few matches need to be shifted elsewhere, UAE could well prove to be the ideal location in terms of both logistics and economies of scale.