Chirayu Amin replaces Lalit Modi as IPL chief

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The Governing Council of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has appointed Chirayu Amin, vice-president, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), as the interim chairman of the league following the suspension of its commissioner Lalit Modi.

Modi, also a vice-president of the BCCI, was suspended on April 26, only hours after the conclusion of the IPL final in Mumbai.

Modi, facing 22 charges ranging from financial irregularities to rigging bids proxy holdings and kickbacks in broadcast deal, was not present in the meeting chaired by BCCI President Shashank Manohar at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium.

The meeting, lasting close to one and a half hour, was attended by 13 members of the Governing Council of the IPL who unanimously appointed Amin as the interim chairman of the league.

Besides being the vice-president of the BCCI, Amin is the head of Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) and also a member of IPL Governing Council whose other members are Punjab Cricket Association chief Inderjit Singh Bindra, BCCI treasurer M.P. Pandove, vice presidents Amin, Rajeev Shukla, Arjun Jaitley, board secretary N. Srinivasan, joint secretary Sanjay Jagdale, Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association chief Farooq Abdullah, IPL vice-chairman Niranjan Shah and former Indian captains Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.

"My priority is to clean the game and plan for next year's IPL. We have showcaused Modi and will wait for his reply," Amin remarked in his brief statement after taking over the leadership of the IPL.

The high-flying Modi, however, came in for a scathing attack from the BCCI President during the press conference after the meeting.

Manohar said that Modi would be charged on five counts - shady initial bids of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab, a suspect broadcast deal with Sony, bid rigging of two new franchises this year and his behavioural pattern.

"The charge sheet was discussed and the Committee also appointed Chirayu Amin as the interim chairman. BCCI CAO Ratnakar Shetty will look into all the records," Manohar announced.

"Many documents are missing from the IPL and BCCI offices. Income Tax department has been asking for them but we don't have them. Like the papers of the broadcast deal with Sony are not with us. IT department is asking for these documents but we can't give them because they are not with us," the BCCI chief disclosed.

"With regards to the 2011 IPL, Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar and M A K Pataudi will decide the modalities of holding three foreign and four Indian players after discussing with the franchises," he added.

Meanwhile the suspended IPL chairman and commissioner, Modi, claimed that he was still the chief, and by tweeting "we have just begun" hinted at a long drawn battle ahead.

He didn't sound perturbed by the charges levelled against him. "Had a restful day. Been in the spa all day. Much needed rest," he wrote.

There are indications that Modi can go in for an appeal to the BCCI to lift his suspension and there is also an intense speculation that he might take legal recourse to challenge the way he was removed.

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Dhoni outsmarts Tendulkar in scintillating final

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It was the brilliant captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni that proved decisive in the final of the third edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL-3) and earned Chennai Super Kings the title for the first time.

Dhoni, who has been leading successfully for the past few years, proved himself a better tactician than Sachin Tendulkar captaining Mumbai Indians, who were the favourites to run away with the crown after awesome performance in the league matches.


As we have seen numerous times in an otherwise illustrious career of Tendulkar, over two decades now, he was found wanting in the battle that mattered the most once more. He was unable to play the kind of dominating knock that was so badly needed by his side in the final.

For a change, however, Tendulkar didn’t fail completely as we had witnessed him in doing in other finals or crunch matches. He occupied the crease for considerable length of time to keep the contest alive but at no point did he threaten to take it away single-handedly in the manner he’s capable of.

Dhoni, on the other hand, lived to the reputation of being the Captain Cool. He didn’t panic while defending not too big totals, displaying complete faith in his bowlers. His bowling changes and field placing reflected of the man being in total control of the situation.

He didn’t contribute far too many runs in the final but his leadership skills were instrumental in guiding Chennai to 22-run victory over Mumbai in what truly turned out to be an exciting final.

Although Dhoni’s men held the upper hand in the later stages of the Mumbai innings the magnificent hitting by Kieron Pollard in the 18th over had opened up the game only to be sealed in the very next over by Albie Morkel.

The West Indian Pollard, having played some belligerent knocks earlier in the competition, stunned everyone by blasting Australia’s premier fast bowler Doug Bollinger for 22 runs in the 18th over of the innings.

A couple of huge sixes and as many fours brought Mumbai right back into the business and all eyes were on Dhoni about his next move after the massacre of his trump card Bollinger.

He had the option of using left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati, who had taken two wickets in his last over including that of Tendulkar but the Indian skipper turned to the fast-medium stuff of Morkel, who possessed far greater experience of bowling in these conditions than Jakati.

It turned out to be the move of the evening. Morkel was right on money in the penultimate over of the innings and even Pollard could not get him away. Dhoni was credited to have posted Mathew Hayden at mid-off where the tall West Indian was caught to end hope of a Mumbai victory.

Tendulkar’s decision to bat Pollard low down in the order didn’t work and took many people by surprise. But one factor that could have prompted holding him back was to shield him from the quality spinners on a track where the ball was not coming to the bat.

It was a day to remember for Suresh Raina who blasted 57 off 35 balls to help Chennai post a competitive total. Then he took a brilliant catch besides capturing the wicket of ‘pinch-hitter’ Harbhajan Singh.

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Pakistan captain’s over-confidence could ruin hopes

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Shahid Afridi has tried to be diplomatic while speaking to the media ‘officially’ but his body language has been quite different in off-the-record sessions. Sometimes he has been found very arrogant and occasionally he passes the impression of disowning the squad for the ICC World Twenty20 2010 having been selected before his appointment as captain.

Shahid probably wants to have the cake and eat it too. He aims to kill two birds by firing just one shot. No questions would be asked obviously if the team returns triumphant from the Caribbean and he will quite proudly claim the credit for victory. And if the team gets jolted he might simply say the combination given to him was not to his liking.

“Our team is geared up to tactically and technically live up to the expectations of the nations to accomplish the task in the West Indies,” he told APP Correspondent Ehsan Qureshi in an interview in Karachi prior to his departure to Lahore on his way to St.Lucia on April 24.

“Without the prayers of the nation and supporters across the world, Pakistan team can not achieve anything. Besides playing patriotically for Pakistan we needed support of countrymen and media,” he added.

“My appeal to the national media would be healthy in criticism but should keep the interest of Pakistan above all. My mission as a captain and with the support of players and team management to keep the team away from any controversy,” he pointed out.

“I like to lead the team from the front because of my style and I always believe in an aggressive approach which had his stigma throughout his career. We are fully equipped to face the challenges in West Indies. He got well balanced team in batting and bowling and we have to further lift the standard of fielding,” the Pakistan captain remarked.

“Fielding is crucial area in this fastest version of the game and a lot of hard work was done to raise the standard. We are ready give our best and rest with Almighty,” he stressed.

Shahid dispelled the impression that Pakistan may face trouble in batting department. “It’s altogether different in T20 cricket. We got a lot of firepower in our batting. We are initially planning to start the innings with Muhammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal. We have experienced Misbahul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Akmal, Khalid Latif and Salman Butt,” he said.

He expected spinning tracks in the West Indies and considered Pakistan’s bowling attack potent enough to come good on all kind of surfaces.

“Saeed Ajmal and Muhammad Hafeez would be the off-spinners to complement my leg-spin. We have adequate resources in the fast bowling department as well with the likes of Mohammad Aamir, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Asif and Abdul Razzaq,” the Pakistan captain believed.

“T20 is very tough and demanding cricket and we can afford to take any team lightly. We even can not take Bangladesh lightly as they possess a number talented cricketer in their line-up,” he concluded.

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Karachi set to host 13th Sindh Games 2010 in June

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The city of Karachi will be hosting the Sindh Games for the third time in 24 years as the 13th edition of the premier provincial event will be staged here during in the first week of June.

The Government of Sindh, with the collaboration of the Sindh Olympic Association (SOA), has announced to organize the 13th Sindh Games 2010 in Karachi from June 1 to 5. Karachi had earlier hosted the Sindh Games in 1989 and 1999.

Dr Muhammad Ali Shah, Sindh Sports Minister, and Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs to the Government of Sindh, have pledged to hold the event at different venues of Karachi in a befitting manner.

As in the past, he said, all the five regions of the province, Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur and Larkana would be taking part in the 13th Sindh Games.

“This is a special year during which the Commonwealth Games as well as Asian Games are scheduled to be held. The Sindh Games will have added significance in order to provide an opportunity to our athletes to prepare for these international events,” Shoaib Siddiqui, who is also the Secretary of the Sindh Sports Board (SSB), remarked in a recent interview.

“Athletics, basketball, boxing, badminton, bodybuilding, cycling, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, karate, netball, swimming, softball, squash, table tennis, taeknowndo, tennis, weightlifting, wrestling and wushu would be part of the 13th Sindh Games,” he revealed.

“The tournaments in the indigenous games like kodi kodi, malkhara, wanjh watti, shootingball will also be held while the proposal of having the Twenty20 cricket making an entry in the Sindh Games was under consideration,” he added.

The Sindh Games, it may be recalled, was launched by the SOA in 1986 with the inaugural event staged at Larkana. The 2nd Sindh Games was held at Mirpurkhas in 1987 followed by one in Karachi in 1989.

The infighting and the subsequent litigation kept the provincial Olympic body dormant for a number of years, prompting the SSB to revive the Sindh Games in 1991 at Hyderabad. The fifth, sixth and seventh editions were also organized by the SSB at Sukkur (1993), Larkana (1995) and Mirpurkhas (1996).

The SOA dispute was resolved in 1996 but they have had to seek the financial assistance from the provincial government for holding the Sindh Games all along. Its eighth and ninth editions were staged at Karachi (1999) and Hyderabad (2000) before yet another long break.

The Sindh Games was revived in 2006 with Hyderabad hosting it for the second successive time. The 11th edition was held at Sukkur in 2008 with Larkana having played host to the 12th Sindh Games last May.

Dr Mohammad Ali Shah and Shoaib Siddiqui are credited to have organized the last Sindh Games against the heaviest of odds in Larkana. The weather was not particularly friendly to a sporting event during the month of May but the Sindh Sports Minister as well as the Sindh Sports Secretary remained convinced that the athletes would benefit a great deal by competing in rough and tough conditions.

Their fierce determination silenced the critics and the Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, had publicly recognized the grit of the provincial sports functionaries for having blessed Larkana with a magnificent event

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Modi to go down fighting

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The high-profile IPL Chairman and Commissioner, Lalit Kumar Modi, is not going down without a fight. He is believed to be set for moving to the Bombay High Court on April 23 to question the legality of the IPL Governing Council meeting on April 26.

Modi has contended that as IPL Chairman only he was entitled convene a meeting of the Governing Council. This came after the BCCI President, Shashank Manohar, had accused Modi of breaching confidentiality.

"Modi violated the confidentiality clause by putting out share holding details on Twitter," the BCCI President was quoted as saying when Modi had tweeted about Union Minister Shashi Tharoor's friend Sunanda Pushkar's sweat equity in the IPL Kochi team.

Sharad Pawar, the Vice-president of the International Cricket Council (ICC), had made the announcement following a meeting with BCCI President that the governing council of the IPL would meet on April 26 to discuss the future of the competition's commissioner, Modi, at the centre of allegations regarding financial irregularities.

"Manohar met me today and he briefed me about the situation. The IPL governing council will take a unanimous decision on Modi's resignation and, thereafter, we will take the required action,” Pawar, who appointed Modi during his time as President of the BCCI, stated.

"The governing council will take the decision in the interest of cricket. Don't forget Mr Modi is also a vice-president of the BCCI and our total approach and past experience is we always take collective and unanimous decisions that everyone is party to, including Lalit Modi," Pawar added.

Modi has come under scrutiny after the IPL's affairs became the subject of a government inquiry amid parliamentary allegations of money-laundering.

The IPL offices were raided by tax officials investigating the allegations. They reportedly spent seven hours questioning IPL staff, including Modi, who has denied any wrongdoing.

Modi had revealed on his Twitter account that the girlfriend of Shashi Tharoor, a junior government minister, had invested in a consortium awarded the new IPL franchise in Kochi. The revelation caused a political storm, and forced Tharoor's resignation.

Modi has issued a statement denying newspaper allegations that he has been charged with betting and laundering. He called the reports "absolutely baseless, ill-founded and motivated" and promised to "initiate appropriate legal action against" a "defamatory and malicious campaign against him by a motivated section of media".

The Income Tax department has been scanning the IPL bid papers and a series of allegations of financial irregularities against Modi with the prospects of a detailed inquiry against him to track the irregularities.

A probe has already been set out with the department examining the data on bids and financial details of various franchisees stored in Modi's office computers. With the ongoing probe not only the IPL financial records would come under scrutiny but also the tax details of BCCI with regard to IPL will come under the scanner.

Modi, credited to have masterminded the launch of the IPL, has also been accused of going overboard in taking many crucial decisions for which he could face the music.

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Sehwag out of World Twenty20 once more

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Easily the most destructive batsman in every format of the game, Virender Sehwag will be missing the Twenty20 World Cup for the second year running. According to the reports the explosive Indian opener has suffered a shoulder injury, which has ruled him out of the ICC World Twenty20 beginning in the West Indies on April 30.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), preoccupied of late with the crisis in the Indian Premier League (IPL), has announced that Sehwag has been advised rest for three to four weeks and has been replaced by Tamil Nadu batsman Murali Vijay in the 15-man squad with Gautam Gambhir being made the vice-captain.

There was no mention, however, in the BCCI statement about the details of the latest injury sustained by Sehwag having played all 14 IPL-3 league matches for Delhi Daredevils.

Sehwag wasn’t at his best in the IPL-3 having scored only 356 runs at an average of 25. His last appearance in the IPL was on April 18 as his team failed to make it to the semifinals. Since he was deemed fit when included in the World Twenty20 squad the injury must have occurred during the course of the IPL-3.

Sehwag was unable to play for India in the ICC World Twenty20 last year because he had sustained a shoulder injury during the IPL-2 in South Africa, shortly before the World Twenty20 was due to begin.

He had accompanied the national the squad to England but was not able to play a game. His absence was not felt in the first round where India, the defending champions, thrashed their rivals convincingly but he was missed in the second round where India lost all three matches to get themselves were eliminated.

Murali Vijay, who has been in spectacular form in the IPL-3, has been chosen as Sehwag’s replacement for the upcoming event but the hugely talented youngster, who has also been India's back-up opener for Tests as well as ODIs in the recent past, could find it very hard to smash the bowlers at the international level.

There’s a feeling that Robin Uthappa, who played for India in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007, would have been a better choice than Vijay. But then Uthappa has been playing in the middle-order for the Royal Challengers Bangalore that might have prompted the selectors to go for a specialist opener in Vijay.

It doesn’t really matter if Vijay plays or Uthappa was included in his place because India would always be missing Sehwag because he possesses the ability to win the match on his own.

With Sachin Tendulkar unwilling to represent the country in the Twenty20 games India could well be short of experience once more and they might face the prospects of returning empty handed once more from the Caribbean.

Although the slow and low pitches in the West Indies are understood to be to the liking of the Indians but they might never be able forget the nightmare of the 2007 World Cup when they had failed to qualify for the second round.

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Umar Gul, Yasir Arafat ruled out due to injury

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Yes, Umar Gul, an experienced fast bowler, has been ruled out of the of the ICC World Twenty20 due to start in the West Indies later this month due to an injury like all-rounder Yasir Arafat.

The clarification is very much needed here because of the ongoing chaos and mess the Pakistan cricket is in at the moment. Quite a few celebrated performers didn’t make the squad because of ineligibility.

Umar and Yasir were very much eligible for selection and both of them featured in the Pakistan squad for what has also been acclaimed as the Twenty20 World Cup.

Umar had sustained a shoulder injury during a practice session at Lahore’s National Cricket Academy while Yasir was struggling to get out of his calf injury. Neither them could not clear the fitness test conducted at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on April 18.

Their absence has been described as a big blow to defending champions Pakistan, who have replaced the injured duo of fast bowlers Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Irfan.

"In mutual agreement with captain and coach, we have decided that we will not take a chance with half-fit players,” chief selector Mohsin Khan was quoted as saying.

"We recommended the names of fast bowlers Mohammad Sami and uncapped Mohammad Irfan as replacements for the injured players. We have picked Sami from the list of five reserves we had kept for the World Cup," he added.

"Umar Gul would be missed in the Twenty20 World Cup and this is disappointing that he is not the part of the team," Mohsin remarked.

Umar was hopeful of recovering in time but coach Waqar Younis and chief selector Mohsin Khan insisted that no player will be part of the squad unless fully fit.

The lion-hearted had come up in sterling performance in the last two editions of T20 World Cup and was the leading wicket-takers for Pakistan on both occasions. In fact he has taken the highest number of wickets in Twenty20 Internationals, having scalped no less than 43 batsmen in 26 matches.

He also recorded the best Twenty20 bowling figures when he took five wickets for six runs against New Zealand in the second World Twenty20, which Pakistan won in England last year.

The Pakistan skipper, Shahid Afridi, also expressed his disappointment at Umar’s absence but hoped that the team will cope with the situation.

“Umar is our best bowler, but we have to cope with it and now Sami has to replace him and perform,” he observed.

Sami, who clocked 90 miles an hour, has played 34 Tests and 83 One-day matches for Pakistan but he has yet to play a Twenty20 International. Irfan is a lanky left-arm quickie, who has not represented the country as the international level yet.

Pakistan have been placed in Group A of the ICC Twenty20 and they will play their first match against Bangladesh on May 1 in St Lucia before taking on Australia the next day at the same venue. The tournament starts on April 30 and ends on May 16

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Minister resigns following IPL controversy

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs, has been reported to have resigned from the Union cabinet on April 18, after days of relentless controversy over his alleged involvement in the bidding for an IPL team.

According to the reports from the Indian capital, New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has forwarded Tharoor's resignation letter to the President with the recommendation that it be accepted.

"It’s a voluntary resignation. I don't want to embarrass the party. I want parliament proceedings to go on, hence I have decided to resign," Tharoor is believed to have written in his letter.

Tharoor's association with the Kochi IPL and the bidding process for the team had come under fire leading to the issue becoming a major controversy and claiming the seat of the minister.

The 54-year-old Tharoor, a writer and a former Under Secretary General at the United Nations, tendered his resignation after the Congress core group, comprising the top leaders of the party, sought it.

He also had an audience with the Prime Minister during which is he is understood to have explained his position. He had met Sonia Gandhi and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A K Antony separately in a bid to convince them about his innocence.

Tharoor was accused of helping his friend, businesswoman Sunanda Pushkar, in acquiring a stake in the Kochi IPL team. Pushkar, who has a sweat equity valued at Rs 70 crore in the IPL Kochi franchise, announced earlier in the day that she had resigned from Rendezvous Sports World, which is one of the stakeholders in IPL Kochi.

"Given the deeply unpleasant publicity surrounding my involvement, I can no longer find the enthusiasm required to associate myself with any IPL activity in the future. I therefore voluntarily offer to return to Rendezous the sweat equity they offered me. I do not wish to ask for compensation for my services rendered to them," Pushkar said in a statement.

Pushkar also denied having acted as a proxy for Tharoor and said that the Rendezvous Group had given her equity as payment for her marketing expertise and her help in putting the bid together.
Tharoor, a first time MP from Thiruvananthapuram, got into controversy after IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi revealed that Pushkar had equity stakes in Rendezvous Sports World (RSW), which heads the consortium that owns the Kochi team.

The controversy over the ownership of the Kochi franchise became public after IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi revealed the composition of its stake holders on his Twitter account.

The role of the high-profile Modi behind the deals in the IPL has also been questioned but he appears to be having total support of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at present.

The BCCI high-command seems to be right behind Modi at the moment but there’s pressure mounting for transparency and accountability. The IPL Commissioner has been calling the shots all along and it remains to be seen if he will survive the ongoing Kochi controversy.

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