Left out of the IPL bash

As cricketers set the stage on fire with their heroics at the inaugural edition of the IPL, there were some players who couldn’t cash in on this ‘rich’ cricketing experience, writes Vaibhav Sharma

While foreign players like McCullam and Watson are setting the stage on fire at the IPL, others like Shoaib Akhtar, Mohd Ashraful and Michael Clarke are part of a long list of players who have kept away from the league due to various reasons. — PTI photos

It has been a dream start for the BCCI-backed IPL. All fears of the glitz and glamour stealing the thunder from players have been put to rest by some booming drives and splendid performances on the field. The league, just by looking at the first few reactions, has started giving the feel of a runaway success.

But as the world gets up and takes notice, despite an official media boycott, there are players, with potential to add to the firewroks, who have missed the league due to various reasons.

The biggest name that comes to mind, due to the ongoing controversy, is of the maverick Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar. Akhtar who was supposed to play for the Kolkata Knight Riders, was handed a five year ban by the PCB and was subsequently banned by the IPL authorities too. The team owners have stood by Shoaib in his crisis, and Shoaib too has contested the ban in Pakistan, while mustering a lot of public sympathy and political support as well. But as things stand the oft-in-trouble speedster finds himself unavailable for the IPL.

Another big miss has been the Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke. But unlike Shoaib, Clarke opted out of the league to concentrate on his international career. He along with Mitchell Johnson, another highly-rated player on the T20 circuit, had chosen to stay out of the league to work on their international careers. This even as their skipper Ricky Ponting is rubbing shoulders with the likes of Sourav Ganguly and Ishant Sharma.

There is also the Bangladeshi duo of Mohammad Ashraful and Mashrafe Mortazza. Both of them were star performers for their team during the T20 World Cup in South Africa, and expectedly were put up for bidding, during the second round of the IPL auctions. But somehow, these two were not picked up by any of the franchisees and there wasn’t much fuss created over it either. Bangladesh have found it tough to get rid of the ‘minnows’ tag, but these two players have impressed one and all with their ability to deliver on the world stage with extreme confidence. Therefore their exclusion from this mega event comes as a big surprise.

Arguably the best Pakistani batsman after Inzamam, Mohd. Yousuf has a different story altogether. He had signed up with the rebel Indian league, the ICL, initially, only to be convinced to back out of his contract by the PCB. He was then put on the list of foreign players available for the IPL, but at this very point the ICL challenged his contract with the IPL on the grounds that he was already their contracted player. The legal hassle and tussle that has ensued since then didn’t lend any clarity to the prevailing confusion over Yousuf’s participation in the IPL. That meant that none of the franchisees made a bid for the classy batsman.

It is a well known fact that the English and Australian domestic structures are among the best in world cricket. So it was only expected that when the IPL was launched, the most annoyed were the boards from these countires. Although the Australian Board had to relent after Ponting and co. made it clear that they were participating in the league, the ECB took a different view of things. The county season might have been a reason for the board telling its players to stay away from the cash bonanza on offer, but it definitely wasn’t the only reason. The BCCI’s financial muscle has had the superpowers of yesteryears crying foul at the drop of a hat. There has been widespread criticism of the IPL in the British media and that is on expected lines as the media follows the boards stand.

Players like Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen could have set the cricketing scene alight. Although Flintoff has repeatedly said he is not interested in playing in the IPL, Pietersen has made public his anguish at missing out the opening season of the league. He has received support from a vociferous Michael Vaughan, who has asked the ECB to reconsider its stand on the league as any further restrictions on the players could result in a revolt.

Whatever be the case, one thing is clear that although the BCCI was late in coming to the T20 party, they have more than made up for it by an offering which the whole world is finding hard to resist.

BCCI needs Networking
Bhartesh Singh Thakur

The richest cricket board in the world is yet to come to terms with the times. A search for the official website of the BCCI on the Internet leaves one utterly disappointed as the board runs a partial website that deals only in ticket sales. This at a time when all franchisees in the newly-launched IPL have brought up their exclusive sites with details about the team and other useful information available just at the click of a mouse.

It is hard to digest, but shockingly true that the BCCI, India’s wealthiest sports body, doesn’t have a full time website. The boards physical address at Mumbai is the only complete presence that one can locate. On the other hand all the IPL franchises have exuberant multimedia websites studded with anthems, pics, player’s profile, statistics, fixtures, fan-interface, live-score updates, contests and quizzes. These websites are clearly in competition of getting more hits than those already in business like cricinfo.com, cricketnext.com, cricket.indiatmes.com, cricket.expressindia.com, cricketnext.com and the list goes on.

The BCCI, which is responsible for the development of cricket in India, is a conglomerate of around 30 cricket associations, including state cricket associations, cricket clubs, railways sports control board and services sports control board.

It is disheartening to find out that only 10 state cricket associations have dedicated websites, while others are continuing with their postal addresses.

The website of the Tripura Cricket Association is under construction. The state cricket associations build the bench strength. Unfortunately, their websites inform more about officials and committee members, rather than players and domestic fixtures. A sloppy way of just registering their existence it seems.

The citizens of a cricket crazy nation expect and deserve more from the BCCI, including annual financial reports. Websites can induce transparency in the working of the board. However, it is a society and is also shielded from the RTI Act.

All other nine Test playing nations have their websites including Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. The Sri Lankan cricket board (www.Srilankacricket.lk), headed by Arjuna Ranatunga, promises to upload financial details of he board; how much is spent on cricket development, player’s fee etc.

Even the otherwise shabbily-run Pakistan Cricket Board (www.pcboard.com.pk) has publishes inquiry reports related to doping and disciplinary actions taken against the players.

Interestingly, BCCI president Sharad Pawar’s own party –Nationalist Congress Party has a dedicated website -- www.ncp.org.in -- like other political outfits. Lets just hope that even with their cash lockers overflowing, the BCCI isn’t looking for a little more funding to register its official presence online.

IN THE NEWS
Premier performances

Brendon McCullam’s innings at the IPL opener in Bangalore matched the fireworks at the inauguration ceremony. Delhi Daredevils’ Fervez Maharoof helped his team humble Rajasthan Royals in their first IPL match.

In a delightful case of sibling rivalry, the two Hussey brothers, David (left) and Mike played match-winning knocks for Kolkata Knight Riders against Deccan Chargers and Chennai Superkings against Kings XI Punjab, respectively. —  PTI photos

Still a long way to go
Donald Banerjee

Although Gaganjeet Bhullar threw away an impressive start at the Volvo masters in Beijing, the Kapurthala lad holds a lot of promise.

Gaganjeet Bhullar of Kapurthala, who turns 20 on April 27, created a flutter on the par-72 greens of the Beijing CBD golf course, when he fired a three-under par 69 on the opening day to start with a tied ninth spot in the prestigious Volvo China Open.

Gaganjeet, who picked up golf at the age of four from his father H.S. Bhullar at the Kapurthala Golf Club, could not keep up the momentum on the remaining three days to finish tied 44th returning a disastrous nine-over par 81 on a rain-hit final day.

Pitted against the cream of Asian and European golf talent, it goes to the credit of the 19-year-old that he started the Volvo China Open campaign by playing a blemish-free par first nine.He struck a bright patch on the return nine sinking birdies on the 11th, 13th, 15th and 16th holes and appeared tied for the second spot. But then a bogey on the 17th saw him settle for a tied ninth after the first round.

Gaganjeet, who enjoyed a good rookie season on the Asian Tour last year, conceded a double-bogey on the 17th on day two and could muster a three-over par 75. His two-day par tally of 144 saw him slip to tied 23rd spot.

A one-over par 73 on the penultimate day put him at the tied 29th spot. But the worse was yet to come. Torrential rains battered down hard on the final day. It was one of the worst days on the greens. Despite his all out effort, Gaganjeet could not brave the torrents. He bogeyed four times in a row (4, 5,6,7) on the front nine. The back nine was even worse. He ended with a bogey, double bogey and bogey on the last three holes for a nine over par 81 card and an overall 10-over par tally of 298, a tied 44th spot and a cash prize of $11,660.

In 2007 Gaganjeet had a good chance of winning the inaugural Pertamina Indonesia President Invitational in October, but was pipped to the title by one shot when Filipino Juvic Pagunsan produced a stunning birdie-eagle finish to triumph.

The performance served as a sign of more to come from the young Indian, who missed only one cut in nine tournaments. He was India’s number one amateur in 2004 and 2006 and claimed a silver medal in the team event in the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. He also won the World Junior Masters Championship in 2005. With age on his side this rookie looks set to earn himself a name on the golf circuit.