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‘It won’t be the same’
This is the best team to travel New Zealand: Martin Crowe
Three Indians in ICC Women's World Cup Team
England an attractive venue: Modi
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Set to leave for Johannesburg
Randhir sees no security threat for CWG
PCB to contact BCCI on players participation
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‘It won’t be the same’
“It is disappointing that the IPL has been moved out of India. We will certainly miss playing in front of our supporters. It won’t be the same,” Tendulkar said. “Obviously the Indian public would have liked to have the IPL played in India. Due to certain circumstances it is difficult. I'm sure the authorities must have tried, but it is not workable. That is the reason it is not in India. I guess we have no choice at this moment,” said the champion batsman.
“It is obviously going to be different. In India it is about home games and away games. Right now, looking at the itinerary, either in England or South Africa, everything is going to be an away game. It really doesn't matter where you play everything is going to be an away game,” he said. “It is always fantastic to have Indian fans away from India. Support in any part of the world is always welcome. Virtually wherever we go we have got a lot of Indian support and that is something that has been a strength for us. “It is always nice to play in front of your supporters. But I guess we can’t help it this time around,” he said. Yuvraj said although he was disheartened, he would abide by the decision of the cricket board. Yuvraj said the Indian fans would be disappointed at not being able to watch the matches at their venues. “It is a mixed bag of feelings. We were looking forward to playing in front of our home crowds, but now we have to play away. You feel sad for Indians who were looking forward to watching the IPL. But then again there are Indians around the world in places like America who can’t make it to India, but maybe they can come to England,” he said. The left-hander said he would miss playing in front of home crowds. “It will be different. The whole concept of home and away games is gone now. It will be all away games, no home crowd, no home conditions. It is going to be different from last year,” he said. Balaji said the players ought to accept what the Board decides. “Definitely, it will be different. I am sure the IPL is trying its best to make it possible to hold the tournament. So we have to accept whatever options we are getting. It is tough at present because elections are more important in India now,” he said. Gambhir, meanwhile, hoped that IPL would be held in England so that it helps the team prepare for next month's Twenty20 World Cup there. “I think it is going to be good if the IPL happens in England because the Twenty20 World Cup will be played there. We would have a good chance to get acclimatised to the conditions and the wickets as well. That should be good for the Indian team. But at the same time we would have loved to play in India and spend some time with family,” he said. — PTI
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This is the best team to travel New Zealand: Martin Crowe
Napier, March 23 “This is probably the best Indian team to have travelled to New Zealand. There is no doubt about that it it is the best Indian side that I have ever seen,” Crowe said. “Since 1976, when they won here last, they had wonderful players Sunil Gavaskar, Surinder Amarnath, (Gundappa) Viswanath, obviously Bishan (Singh) Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna, all magnificent players. It is the best Indian side since then,” said the former captain. Crowe was surprised that it took India 33 long years to record their first Test win here. “I am certainly surprised that it has taken India 33 years to win a Test match here. When you consider Kapil Dev and I don’t think he toured here that much. But with his abilities to win a game and he didn’t do that. There have been some great players who have come here from India in those 33 years. So it is a surprise,” he told www.cricketnirvana.com. Impressed by the quality of cricket dished out by the Indians, Crowe said he would not be surprised if India blanked New Zealand in the Test series. “India has the ability and potential to clean up 3-0 if they want to, if they are motivated enough, which they should be because all this helps in the rankings and they would want to be the No 1 side in the world,” Crowe said. “You have to got to be able to put these minnows away. New Zealand have to be regarded as one because they are just playing very poor Test cricket,” said the former skipper. According to him, the hosts got their team combination wrong and the batting order too is far from perfect. “Issues around selection were clear. Leaving out Jeetan Patel was a mistake, not having Tim Southee a specialist swing bowler in the side was a mistake. James Franklin in the side at No 6 was a mistake because he has clearly has not proven himself to be a top-order batsman, because he has never been one,” Crowe said. “Daniel Vettori should consider whether he himself should go upto No 6 or whether Brendon McCullum should go upto No 6, that allows them to bring in Patel and keep three seamers using Jesse Ryder as the fourth seamer,” he added. — PTI
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London, March 23 “All we know so far is that we’re just one of the options. I must say from my side, I’m not that optimistic. The real reason I say so is the timing. I've worked with the Indians for eight years now,” he told Talk Radio 702 today. “A decision has to be taken shortly. So I suspect they would be speaking to maybe their preferred choice and I think South Africa is just a standby to whoever their choice is. All that's happened so far is that we've received an invitation, an approach in fact, from the BCCI to be a possible option. From my gathering so far, nothing has happened since then. ... they are supposed to come back to us today ... hopefully they will get back at some point,” Majola said. — PTI Modi set to tour both SA and London Mumbai: Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi is all set to leave the country and finalise the host nation for the second edition of the Twenty20 League which has been shifted overseas. The IPL Chief has kept open his option of going both to South Africa and England. “Booked (for) both places”, Modi told PTI when queried whether he was leaving tonight or any time soon for London or South Africa to hold discussions with the officials of the cricket boards there. Modi is scheduled to be accompanied by IPL CEO Sundar Raman and Tournament Director Dhiraj Malhotra. — PTI
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Three Indians in ICC Women's World Cup Team
Sydney, March 23 Skipper of the Cup-winning English side and ICC Women's Player of the Year in 2008, Charlotte Edwards was named captain of the 12-woman world team. Not surprisingly, players from the winning side made up most of the team but in total four of the eight competing teams in the March 7 to 22 event are represented. Five of the team are from champion England while losing finalist New Zealand has provided three, including the 12th woman. Third-placed India has three and fourth-placed Australia has one representation. The world team was selected by a specially assembled panel of experts, headed by former Australia captain Belinda Clark, which had also picked the player of the tournament. The side includes five specialist batters - Suzie Bates, Shelley Nitschke, Claire Taylor, Mithali Raj and Charlotte Edwards - an all-rounder in Kate Pulford while Sarah Taylor has been picked as wicketkeeper/batter. The four bowlers include wrist spinner Priyanka Roy and off-spinner Laura Marsh and fast bowlers Katherine Brunt and Amita Sharma.
— PTI |
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England an attractive venue: Modi
London, March 23 “England is a very attractive venue. It is easy to access from India and there is a large Asian community to tap into. The IPL, is a big competition. We would bring around $100 million of revenue to the British economy and anybody in a recession would want to have us,” Modi, who is due to arrive here today for discussions with the England and Wales Cricket Board, told 'The Daily Telegraph'. A spokeswoman of the ECB told PTI that a statement would be issued as and when a decision was taken. Modi said the prospect of England hosting the IPL is "very real". Cricket South Africa has already submitted a written proposal to Modi and he is awaiting a similar offer from the ECB, the report said. Keith Bradshaw, chief executive of the MCC, yesterday spoke to Modi to offer Lord's as a venue. The ECB's executive board held a teleconference on the matter on Friday and security issues, the broadcast contract with Sky TV and the hangover from the Stanford debacle were major concerns. The IPL is due to begin on April 10, the day after the English first-class season starts, and will run until May 24, less than two weeks before the start of the World Twenty 20. It is due to feature five England players including Kevin Pietersen, who has been named as captain of the Bangalore Royal Challengers. The ECB would need to squeeze in 59 matches and some counties will not want to see their own tournaments getting disrupted for the IPL. ECB chairman Giles Clarke said yesterday the board “stands ready to help”.”We have opened discussions with the BCCI and I think there is a strong desire to come to England,” ECB chief executive David Collier said. “We have opened discussions with Sky and clearly that is one of the things on the agenda. We realise this is an unusual set of circumstances and we expect to have a meeting with the BCCI in the coming week and a decision has to be made soon,” he added. — PTI
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New Delhi, March 23 Modi, who will be travelling to England from Johannesburg tomorrow evening, refused to concede South Africa as favourite to host the lucrative tournament saying it was logistically easier for him to travel to the rainbow nation first. “We will have to evaluate clearly and carefully before coming to a decision about the venue. We also need to take the weather pattern into consideration as well,” Modi said. Modi, is supposed to be accompanied by IPL CEO Sundar Raman and Tournament Director Dhiraj Malhotra, said both countries have their pros and cons. He said there are a number of factors working in favour of England. “England has easy connectivity with a number of flights operating from India. The country is also well prepared since it will host the Twenty20 World Championship and the county championship too is going to start," said Modi. However, he conceded that weather could pose a problem. “Weather could be a problem and moreover due to the London Marathon, there could be a problem finding hotel rooms for some days. There's also the Test series between West Indies and England we have to take into account,” he told CNN-IBN. With South Africa as venue, the tournament can begin on April 10, the scheduled starting date of the tournament. But with Lord's hosting the county season opener on that day, that's another problem the IPL could be facing. But Modi said he has another set of dates ready. “Our original dates are from April 10 while the second set of dates are from April 17. But I didn't release the second set since we didn't want to hit further roadblock.” Modi also said he is not reading much into comments made by the International Cricket Council about too many Twenty20 events happening in England. — PTI
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Randhir sees no security threat for CWG
New Delhi, March 23 Randhir said the Commonwealth Games were over one and a half years away, and there would be no security hassles for the event. He said the Indian Premier League clashed with the Lok Sabha polls, and since the Government could not spare security forces for the cricket event during the Parliamentary polls, the BCCI thought it prudent to shift the event, instead of postponing or cancelling it. He said the IOA was confident that fool-proof security cover would be provided for the Commonwealth Games for which sportspersons and officials from 70 countries would converge in Delhi. Randhir, who is also the secretary-general of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and a member of the IOC, said the IOA had plans for the "highest-level" of security plans, and the Delhi police, in close association with Central intelligence agencies, were working to ensure that the Commonwealth Games had the tightest security arrangements. |
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PCB to contact BCCI on players participation
Karachi, March 23 PCB chairman Ejaz Butt said there were lot of issues to be cleared up regarding the participation of Pakistani players in the IPL which was shifted from India yesterday as it clashed with the Indian general elections. “I will be talking to the Indian board President and also our government. I am sure some of the players would now like to play in the IPL if possible,” Butt said. The Pakistan government had stopped its players from going to India for the IPL due to security issues and also because of diplomatic relations taking a nosedive after the Mumbai attacks in November. Butt said he was not in a position to say if the government would reconsider its stance on allowing players to appear in the IPL now. “But if some players are interested in playing in the IPL and if their commitments don't clash with our national team commitments I will talk to the relevant authorities,” Butt said. The former Test player described the shifting of the IPL from India as unfortunate and said security issues and fears were playing havoc with cricket in the region. Pakistan has suffered the most because of the security situation in the country in the last few years with chances of international teams now touring the country dim after the terror attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore this month by suspected militants.
— PTI |
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