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Dhoni bought for Rs 6 crore
Buchanan to coach Kolkata
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It’s a landmark day: Bindra
‘Laxman put team interest before self’
Pak too great a risk: Symonds
England, Kiwis play historic draw
Trivedi restricts North
Anand held by Radjabov
Namdharis triumph
HSIDC lose
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Dhoni bought for Rs 6 crore
Mumbai, February 20 Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the pinch hitter with the flowing mane and nimble feet, score the highest boundary going for $ 1.6 million (US) or Rs 6 crore. He was 'bought' by the Chennai team promoted by Board of Control for Cricket in India's treasurer N Srinivasan's India Cements. The dark swashbuckler from Jharkhand was joined by another Southern heart-throb Muttiah Muralitharan. The Sri Lankan spin wizard went for Rs 2.4 crore or US $ 600,000 as the Chennai team pulled out all stops to bag him. The Australians made big money as well. The second highest bid was for Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds who got bid for $ 1.3 million by Hyderabad. Jaipur bought Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne for Rs 1.8 crore or $ 4,50,000 - the base price he set for himself. Unlike him most other stars were picked at a good premium over their base prices. Warne's fellow countryman Adam Gilchrist was bought for Rs 2.8 crore or $ 700,000. Actor Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata team picked up Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar for Rs 1.82 crore or $ 455,000 while Priety Zinta's Mohali team bagged Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene for Rs 1.9 crore $475,000. The Mohali team also has another Sri Lankan, wicketkeeper/batsman Kumar Sangakkara who went for Rs 2.8 crore $700,000. In the second round Anil Kumble was won by Bangalore for Rs 2 crore or $500,000. The team also bagged off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for Rs 3.4 crore. Mukesh Ambani's Mumbai team paid Rs 3.9 crore for Sri Lankan opener Sanath Jayasuriya for Rs 3.9 crore or $975,000. In all 78 players were up for grabs by the eight franchisees and the auction was still on at press time. Nearly Rs 200 crore will be bid on the players. Early today, all the celebrities who won the franchisees for the IPL arrived at the Hilton Towres in South Mumbai to participate in the bidding. Among the first to arrive were Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Vijay Mallya, Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia. The auction is being conducted by Richard Madley, auctioneer of Dreweatts Auction House. The top Indian players, called the icons, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh were not put up for auction. They will play for their home cities. They will be paid 15 per cent more than the highest paid player in their team. The bidding process is likely to end by midnight tonight. The high-profile Twenty20 venture, to be held from April 18 to June 1, will be the first time that international cricketers will ditch their national allegiances to play for privately-owned sides, after organisers raised more than a billion dollars to fund the tournament. Symonds' high price came as a surprise as he went over his base price of $ 250,000 by a whopping margin even though Team Hyderabad knew he may not be available in the first edition of the Twenty20 League because of his commitments for the Australian national team. Star Earnings MS Dhoni, Chennai $ 1.5 million
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Melbourne, February 20 Buchanan confirmed he would coach Kolkata and Moddy to take charge of Mohali. “That is an exciting prospect for cricket — and it is amazing how the game brings people together,’’ Moody was qouted as saying by the Australian Associated Press, a news agency here. “When you are playing in opposing sides in any sport things can get heated, and cricket is no different. “But when players get together in a team, cricket tends to take control of all egos and all past discrepancies,’’ he added. Buchanan said one of his main roles as franchise coach would be to blend different cultures into a team. “I don’t ever see that as a problem, once players merge together as a side you are actually trying to achieve a result,’’ Buchanan said. “What will be interesting is that you will have Australian players, Indian players, New Zealand players, Sri Lankan players, Pakistani players ... and they could all end up in the one franchise. “That will make for an interesting cultural exchange no doubt ...and that will be one of the exciting parts, bringing together cultural differences in a very short period of time,’’ he said. West Australian Cricket Association (WACA) Chief Executive Officer Graeme Wood backed up Moody’s decision of coaching another team, despite the possibility of his franchise and WA meeting in the Champions League stage of the tournament. ‘’We see this as a real coup for the WACA,’’ Wood said. “Tom ... his main contract is with the WACA, and he has ensured there will be no conflict whatsoever. “He will lead the Warriors at the proposed Champions Twenty20 tournament regardless of whether Mohali qualifies for that competition or not.’’
— UNI
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It’s a landmark day: Bindra
Mumbai, February 20 "This is the second most important day in world cricket, according to me. The first was in 1994 when the monopoly of Doordarshan came to an end when we won the court case. This opened up the market forces," Bindra told reporters today after the second round of players' auction here. "It's a landmark day. I have not seen anything like this before even on a cricket field. It has been amazing and full of drama. I wish it had been telecast live," Bindra also pointed out that for the first time market forces were determining the worth of a player instead of the selectors. "This is for the first time that market forces are determining the price of a player and not the selectors. This is how free market economy works," he said after 10 players were bought over by the eight city-specific franchises for $7.1 million dollar with India's World Twenty20 Cup winning skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni sold for a staggering $1.5 million (approx, six crore).
— PTI
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‘Laxman put team interest before self’
Mumbai, February 20 "Laxman has been named the captain of the Hyderabad team. He put the team interest before his own and gave away the icon status (which the franchise owners had demanded from the IPL Governing Council) as he wanted Hyderabad to have a larger budget (for buying players). He showed fine sportsman's spirit," said P K Iyer, the managing director of franchise owners Deccan Chronicle, after buying the veteran cricketer for $ 375,000. Each icon player will get 15 per cent of the highest paid player of that franchise. The Hyderabad franchise too wanted Laxman as their icon player before withdrawing the demand a day before the players' auction held here.
— PTI
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Adelaide, February 20 The tour has been in doubt for some time due to security concerns, with tensions again heightened in Pakistan for this week's elections. There have been reports in the media that some worried players were willing to boycott the tour, sparking fears Australia might be forced to send a second-string side to Pakistan. Neutral venues have been suggested and even India has weighed in to the debate, telling Australia it would take a dim view of the tour being cancelled. Symonds has been outspoken about his concerns over the tour, which was this week shortened to 30 days after a meeting between Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Cricket Australia (CA) officials in Kuala Lumpur. Speaking on Australian television today, Symonds said he believed Pakistan was too great a risk. "I don't think I would go," he told Network Ten. "I just dread to think what would happen if someone got hurt, let alone killed. "It's just a situation you'd never want to find yourself in," he added, noting that CA were aware of his views. CA were expected to send a delegation to Pakistan in early March to assess security.
— AFP
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England, Kiwis play historic draw
Napier, February 20 After being sent into bat England made 340 for six, and when it looked as if New Zealand had paced themselves to pull off a high-scoring victory, bolstered by a century by Jamie How, they were denied victory with the final
delivery. Scoreboard England Cook b Ryder 69 Mustard c Oram b Ryder 83 Bell c Mills b O'Brien 43 Pietersen b Vettori 50 Collingwood not out 54 Shah c Fulton b Vettori 5 Wright not out 24 Extras (b-4, lb-2, w-6) 12 Total (5 wkts; 50 overs) 340 Fall of
wickets: 1-158, 2-158, 3-232, 4-277, 5-291, 6-340. Bowling: Mills 9-1-5-0, Martin 10-2-70-1, Oram 7-0-43-0, O'Brien 6-0-59-1, Vettori 9-0-66-2, Styris 6-0-30-0, Ryder 3-0-14-2. New Zealand Ryder c Anderson b Broad 39 McCullum st Mustard b Shah 58 How run out 139 Taylor c Mustard b Anderson 48 Styris c Anderson b Sidebottom 20 Fulton run out 0 Oram c Pietersen b Broad 6 Vettori not out 14 Mills not out 0 Extras
(lb-1, w-15) 16 Total (6 wkts; 50 overs) 340 Fall of
wickets: 1-70, 2-161, 3-253, 4-301, 5-304, 6-315, 7-139. Bowling: Anderson 10-0-86-1, Sidebottom 10-0-45-1, Broad 10-0-75-2, Collingwood 10-0-67-0, Mascarenhas 2-0-14-0, Shah 7-0-46-1, Wright 1-0-6-0.
— AFP
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Trivedi restricts North
Mumbai, February 20 However, Trivedi (six for 67) could not stop North Zone taking a crucial 66-run lead due to some defiant batting by their lower order. West Zone were two for no loss in their second innings at close. Openers Aakash Chopra and Shikhar Dhawan got good starts but were unable to capitalise and perished to Trivedi’s bowling for 35 and 30 respectively. Four balls after Chopra was sent to the pavilion, Trivedi found the edge of Karan Goel’s bat and later sent skipper Mithun Manhas packing for 26. Yashpal Singh (59) and Rajat Bhatia (84) consolidated the innings and added 128 runs for the fifth wicket.
— PTI
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Doha, February 20 "I don't think I am at that stage in my head where I would leave the country. It has given me whatever I have. But I might perhaps get another base, though I want India as my solid base as it has given me a lot," Sania was quoted by 'The Gulf Times' as saying after her disappointing outing at the Qatar Total Open Tuesday. Sania has been hounded by series off-court controversies, ranging from showing disrespect to the Tricolour to her recent pul out from the WTA Bangalore Open. After the controversy surrounding the resting of her bare feet near the national flag during the Hopman Cup in Perth, she was again in news for wrong reasons when she announced that on her manager's advise she has decided to skip the next month's WTA Bangalore Open to evade off-court issues. Sania also said it has now become imperative for her to learn how to deal with controversies, as she feels there would be no end to such issues. "I don't know whether there can be any control over it (controversies). It doesn't matter what I think. "I don't know if it would end; if it's going to go on, I have to deal with it. If it ends early, its good," she said.
— IANS
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Morelia (Mexico), February 20 Anand was once again deprived of a win with white as he could not do much after he was surprised early in the opening and the match was drawn in the middle game with many pieces still on board. The Indian ace had lost his previous game with white pieces against Levon Aronian of Armenia. Anand took his personal tally to 2.5 points out of a possible 3 and is now atop the tables along side Topalov and a lucky Aronian, who scored over Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, thanks to a blunder by the latter. Shirov jumped to the joint fourth spot with his first victory in the tournament and now shares it with Peter Leko of Hungary while Radjabov, Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Ivanchuk are now in joint sixth spot on 1.5 points apiece in the event which is being played in two parts: first half here and the second half at Linares in Spain. It was a Ruy Lopez wherein Radjabov surprised Anand early going for an off-beat Schliemann variation and it was clear that the Azerbaijani got adequate counter play for a lost pawn in the opening. The game progressed only till move 22 when Anand accepted the draw proposal in an unclear situation. Shirov had recently qualified to the finals of the world chess cup and was invited to this event after a gap of three years. The Latvian born, famous for his brilliancies over the board show cased his other class today. The technicalities of a rook and pawns ending. Playing white Shirov faced the Sicilian Sveshnikov from Topalov who apparently equalised with exchanges of pieces at regular intervals.
— PTI
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Namdharis triumph
New Delhi, February 20 Bharat Petroleum struck through Amar Aiyamma (11th) and Jarnail Singh (13th) to go 2-1 up but Karamjit fired in his second goal in the 19th minute as the Namdharis drew level. Karamjit completed his hat-trick in the 60th minute to help Namdhari XI emerge victorious.
— UNI
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