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IPL set to roll today
FICA threatens to break away from ICC
Sachin confident of playing in opener
T20 tough: Inzy
IPL, NBA resolve dispute
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Torch relay douses people’s spirit
Para-Olympics competitor Rajender Singh carries the Olympic torch during the torch relay in New Delhi on Thursday. — AFP
Dempo stun Muharraq
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Bangalore, April 17 The Shah Rukh Khan-owned Knight Riders and Vijay Mallya's Royal Challengers will kick off the 44-day twenty20 tournament that has several international stars playing alongside the best of Indian domestic cricket and under-19 rookies. Led by two former Indian captains - Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid - who currently don't have a fixed place in the ODI squad, it will be intriguing to see how the Knight Riders and Royal Challengers match up to each other in the floodlit Twenty20 contest. Knight Riders also features marauders like Australian skipper Ricky Ponting besides Indian teen pace sensation Ishant Sharma, who has just recovered from a finger injury. The Bangalore team may not have as a big a star as Ponting in its fold but the presence of players like South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis and Indian Test skipper Anil Kumble makes it a formidable unit. Kumble, though, is likely to miss the lung-opener, as he recuperates from a groin injury picked up during the recent series against South Africa. But more than the cricket, it is the whopping money at stake that has been making headlines. The winner of the tournament is all set to take home Rs 4 crore, while even the last-placed team would end up with Rs 40 lakh in its kitty. Millions were spent during the players' auction, which made some cricketers feel like livestock. The money on offer also ignited a debate on whether the players will be able to keep their country above IPL as a few weeks of cricket was offering them several folds more than what they are earning through their central contracts right now. Players, as expected, denied that any such thought ever crossed their mind but the English cricketers' clamour to be in the IPL, even at the cost of their central contracts, suggested otherwise. The issue of player-burnout was all but lost in the maddening millions and not one cricketer complained of how the 59-match tourney was going to rob them of a break in a choc-a-bloc international calendar. Instead, there is already talk of creating a window for IPL in the Future Tours Program (FTP), a suggestion likely to get the ICC nod, given the BCCI's influence in the governing body. The money-talk has taken over the tournament to such an extent that ever since its launch, IPL has always been described in the millions that it has generated. The film stars and business barons who lined up to buy the teams have left no stone unturned in their efforts to build loyal fan clubs on the line of football leagues. But despite the media blitz and aggressive promotion, the response at best has been lukewarm and there are already concerns about the still-to-pick-up ticket sales. However, the stakeholders are keeping their fingers crossed for the tempo to build after the tournament gets underway. And it remains to be seen whether the fans will be interested in seeing Bangalore's Dravid facing off against Kolkata's Ganguly.
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FICA threatens to break away from ICC
London, April 17 The Federation of International Cricketers' Association (FICA), showing its resentment over the way the ICC has handled some key issues like the Harbhajan Singh-Andrew Symonds racial allegations controversy in Australia recently, will decide at its meeting at Austin, Texas, starting May 26 whether to break away from the 100-year-old body. FICA's international legal adviser Ian Smith told the Guardian newspaper that the two Indian Twenty20 leagues have helped players re-assess their worth and this has encouraged them to think about playing a breakaway tournament of top cricketers. "The two days (of the conference) will be dominated by Indian cricket, what to do about the IPL (Indian Premier League), Twenty20 and Stanford (Challenge in West Indies)," he said. "People are increasingly seriously asking why aren't we walking away. The competence of the administrators is being called into question at a policy level. We believe that because the players are better organised and that talent has been radically revalued by the Indian leagues it's time to look at whether the players can do a better job than the current policy makers." Smith hoped the resolution at the meeting would demand for more accountability from what he termed as the "Indian-dominated governing board" of the ICC. "There is no loyalty at all (from the players) towards the ICC at the top level. We know that if someone came along and said let's do a 10-year, £1billion deal and create a world circus of cricket, we could take the top 200 players in the world into that circus if there is a guaranteed good income, good competition and good standard of living. All it would take is one broadcast deal," he said. "So there's no trust between the top level of cricket administrators and the guys who play it. It's not the fault of the executive of the ICC - people like Malcolm Speed (ICC CEO) are good guys who do their best for the game. It's that the decisions of the ICC are governed by the board and the structure of the ICC is wrong for world cricket. They've cocked up on every single policy issue." — IANS
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Sachin confident of playing in opener
Mumbai, April 17 He said there were two more days left for him to get into shape to lead his team at the Wankhede Stadium here. "I am following the fitness regime given to me by the physio. There are two more days for the match. No decision has been taken as yet (whether he will play or not). It will be decided before the 20th," said the champion batsman at the team launch. Tendulkar has not played any competitive cricket since being ruled out of the last two Test matches against South Africa after aggravating an old groin injury. He could not take part in the Olympic Torch relay event in New Delhi for the same reason. Team coach Lalchand Rajput announced that off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has been appointed vice-captain of the team. Also present at the official launch of the squad was guest of honour Sunil Gavaskar and Nita Ambani, wife of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, the franchise owner of the team. Tendulkar said surprise was the key element in Twenty20 matches. "The key factor in Twenty20 (matches) is introduction of surprise element and we will have quite a few of these planned (for our rivals)," he said. The 27 players, barring the absent Lasith Malinga and Loots Bosman, and support staff, were applied "tilak" mixed with mud from Tendulkar's nursery Shivaji Park ground in Dadar. Tendulkar turned nostalgic and said he could never forget Shivaji Park and the way he had been taken around the ground and other places on a scooter by boyhood mentor Ramakant Achrekar. Achrekar was specially present on the occasion to apply 'tilak' on the forehead of all Mumbai Indians players. "I have grown up in that area and can never forget those days. I used to be taken around by Sir (Achrekar) on his scooter for playing matches. I would not have reached where I am without those happenings," he said. Tendulkar, who skipped last year's World Twenty20 Championship won by India, said he had limited experience of playing the shortest form of the game when representing Mumbai last year in domestic cricket. "I have played a few Twenty20 games for Mumbai last year and I enjoyed it. It's a great challenge and I am looking forward to it," he said. "Shaun (Pollock) has already started giving tips to the young fast bowlers of our team. I am not sure how the wickets and conditions will be as the matches would start at 8 pm. "I don't know how much dew will be there. We will have a few practice sessions to see how the conditions are," he added. — PTI
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Karachi, April 17 "We have learnt that Twenty20 cricket is not as easy as it appears to many people. It is a very tough form of the sport. And I think playing consistent matches in the ICL eventually took its toll on our players," Inzamam, who captained the 'Lahore Badshah' team in the ICL, said on returning home. "We faced many fitness issues with our players and had to juggle around the combination and that affected our performances," the burly batsman added. The 'Lahore Badshah' players, who lost to 'Hyderabad Heroes' in the final and also were defeated against the World XI, returned home to a quiet reception with no fans at the airport to greet the players. "The next tournament is around December and before going there we will be having a proper training and conditioning camp so that we are well prepare for the rigours of Twenty20 cricket," Inzamam said. He said it was a good move by the ICL to seek recognition from the International Cricket Council. Former Pakistan players Abdul Razzaq and Imran Farhat said they were hopeful the ice would break between the ICL and the Cricket Boards and ICC. "Hopefully this would also result in our cricket board lifting their ban on us from playing domestic cricket. But if they don't then we have no option but to seek legal help," Razzaq said. Razzaq said he was still keen to resume his Pakistan career which was his first priority. — PTI
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IPL, NBA resolve dispute
Mumbai, April 17 "All the pending disputes were resolved and the meeting was a success," sources close to IPL said here today. The TV channels were unhappy with the charges demanded for showing clips of the IPL matches that, they felt, were too high and had threatened to boycott the multi-million dollar Twenty20 tournament starting in Bangalore tomorrow. Last night, representatives of the NBA discussed the contentious issues with IPL Chairman Lalit Modi and representatives of Sony Television, which holds the broadcasting rights for the event that ends on June 1. The television channels were protesting against the exclusive rights given to Sony Network and the NBA had written a letter to Modi which resulted in the late night parleys among the parties involved. A few days ago, the IPL had resolved a dispute arising over stringent media accreditation guidelines with the Indian Newspaper Society.
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Torch relay douses people’s spirit
New Delhi, April 17 There was no people's participation, which defeated the very purpose of taking the torch on a world tour. The theme of the relay — Journey of Harmony — was anything, but that. Those who ventured out and braved the intimidating security cover, were disdainfully kept out of the route of the relay. Which again made a mockery of the Olympic slogan "Light the passion, Share the dream". Even a large number of media persons, dangling passes issued by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), were also shooed away by the Delhi Police personnell. The policemen were apologetic for their behaviour as "we are only following instructions and doing our duty". But the whole exercise was in gross violation of the Olympic spirit and the IOC charter. It was an out and out an IOA and Delhi Government show, and only their favoured ones could hold the torch or get a ringside view. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) technical manual on Olympic Torch Relay (OTR) categorically states that "the torch and the Olympic flame are two of the greatest symbols of Olympism. The Olympic torch relay is a key signature property of the Olympic Games and is a valuable promotional activity which heralds the coming of an Olympic Games to the host country and the world". If it was a promotional activity for the Beijing Olympic Games, then, well, the promotion generated only negative vibes in Delhi. All roads and offices leading to the relay route were closed hours before the torch relay started from the Raisina Hill on Rajpath. And hours after the race, people were still waiting for the roads to be opened for traffic. The torch relay began when Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit passed the lit flame to IOA president Suresh Kalmadi, who ran a brief distance before passing on the torch to the other runners. The 70 runners covered a few metres each before the flame reached India Gate in just over half-an-hour where tennis stars Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi jointly lit a cauldron to "light the Olympic passion". Delhi Lt. Governor Tejinder Khanna, Union Sports Minister M.S.Gill and Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yan were ther prominent dignitaries present. School children, waving Indian and Chinese flags, lined up the route to cheer the relay runners to bring a whiff of fresh air in an otherwise intimidating atmoshpere. Film actor Aamir Khan, who passed the flame to IOA secretary general Randhir Singh, P.T.Usha, Karnam Malleswari, Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Kunjarani Devi and Dhanraj Pillai hogged the spotlight as they took turns to cover the short stretch. A luxury hotel close to Rajpath, where the flame was kept before being mounted in a decked up vehicle and taken to the starting point of the relay, was like a fortress with foot soldiers, mounted police and barricades all around denying entry to one and all. The entire exercise of the Olympic torch relay should have been to whip up the Olympic spirit among people. But it totally failed on that count. "Whether you carry the Olympic flame or watch from the sidelines, you are captivated by what the OTR (Olympic Torch Relay) represents and regard your proximity to the flame as a once in a lifetime experience. For most people, this experience is perhaps the closest one will ever be to experiencing the Olympic Games and all it symbolises, for the flame/torch is the most personal of all the Olympic symbols", says the IOC manual on torch relay. But Delhiites, who tried to get a glimpse of the torch relay, will now have a different take on the "Olympic spirit". |
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New Delhi, April 17 According to information received here, Martins opened the scoring after 11 minutes. He doubled the lead two minutes after the hour mark before Brazilian striker Leandson Da Silva converted a 77th minute penalty for Muharraq. Dempo's second win of the competition yesterday sees the I-League side move to within a point of group leaders Muharraq and Al Ansar with just The I-League champions opened the scoring as Robert Silva's free kick was flicked by Chidi Edeh for Martins to net from close range. Muharraq came close to equalising but Leandson volleyed over the crossbar four minutes later. Abdulla Omar also shot over midway through the first half. Muharraq should have drawn level but Dempo goalkeeper made several crucial interventions. The best came in the first minute of stoppage time as he diverted Abdulla Omar's close range shot away from danger. Muharraq held a siege on the Dempo goal in the second half and came within a whisker of equalising. But Jaycee John's well-struck effort rattled off the crossbar before being scrambled clear by Dempo defender John Dias. The home side were made to pay for wasted opportunities. Dempo doubled their lead three minutes later as Martins' first time volley from Silva's free-kick found the back of the net. Muharraq continued to press for a breakthrough. They finally pulled a goal back with 13 minutes remaining. Leandson made no mistake from the spot after Domnic Noronha had fouled substitute striker Mohamed Jaafar. Dempo could have scored another goal in the first minute of stoppage time but Martins was denied a hat-trick by Muharraq goalkeeper Saye Mohamed Jaafar.
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Bangalore, April 17
If the purpose of the Indian leg of the Olympic torch relay was meant to be a symbolic affair, it was just that. Symbolic.
There was no people's participation, which defeated the very purpose of taking the torch on a world tour. The theme of the relay — Journey of Harmony — was anything, but that.
