IPL 6 is
drawing to a close – but lot happening towards the close…. Police keep claiming
that the net is widening as more are reportedly involved and the noose is
tightening……… when will all that happen ?
On field, CSK
majestically marched to the Finals and would wait for the winner of RR/SH Vs
MI……… off the field, Sahara India,
owners of the Pune Warriors franchise, have pulled out of the IPL over
financial differences with the BCCI stemming from the valuation of the annual
franchise fee it has to pay. The decision, the latest crisis to hit the IPL,
comes three years after it bought the Pune franchise for $370 million - the
highest price paid for any of the IPL franchises. It seems the immediate cause
was the BCCI's decision to cash the bank guarantee from Sahara
that that it was obliged, under its contract, to furnish at the start of each
season. The guarantee is equivalent to the amount to be paid annually to the
BCCI and can be cashed in case a franchise fails to honour its commitments. In
this case, Sahara had furnished a bank
guarantee worth Rs 170.2 crore (approximately $30 million). Since the deadline
for paying the franchise fees was May 2, the BCCI waited till Sahara 's
IPL 6 commitments were over and cashed the guarantee on May 20.
Pune Warriors
coach Allan Donald was caught off-guard by the decision. "This is a
massive surprise to me," Donald told ESPNcricinfo. "I'm shocked
because we had spoken, not in great detail but loosely, about prospects for
next year. The owners were really upbeat for next season and the next three
years because next year we'd have new contracts, new players. This is not the 1st time though ~ Deccan
Chargers terminated in Sept 2012 due to financial problems as the owners were
unable to service their debt obligations to lenders, eventually leading to its
being bought by Sun TV and becoming Chennai team 2. Sahara
earlier threatened BCCI in Feb 2012 withdrawing sponsorship from the Indian
team and ownership of the franchise. However, the two patched up later, ending
the dispute by issuing a joint statement. Another team which never had any
charmed existence but lot political backing, Kochi Tuskers Kerala - faded away in Sept 2011 for breaching the
terms of agreement - their inability to furnish a new bank guarantee for 2011.
The scoreline
may not perhaps reveal the domination. Chennai Super Kings 192 for 1 (Huseey
86*, Raina 82*) beat Mumbai Indians 144 (Smith 68, Bravo 3-9, Jadeja 3-31) by
48 runs. Murali Vijay failed to convert
his good start but there was no looking back as no wickets fell thereafter with
Michael Hussey and Suresh Raina powering
with 80s. The target was a good
193 and they had initial success too… but Dwayne Smith tore into them striking
sixers at will ~ eventually when got out making
68 off 28, the MI folded rather ordinarily. Sir Jaddu took the wickets of Smith, Dinesh
Karthik and Kieron Pollard.
Lasith Malinga
too went for runs though he did bowl some excellent Yorkers. At one stage Mumbai were 86 for 1 in seven overs. On came
Jadeja and just like that Smith sliced one inexplicably. Albie Morkel played
the match and Du Plessis is yet to play one.
MI had many changes which their captain Rohit Sharma was unable to
remember even. Cricinfo reports that in
the 13th over of the first innings, Umpire
Nigel Llong called up Rohit Sharma for a chat by the end of which Rohit
was seen signalling to his boundary fieldsman. Turned out the umpires had spotted
the fielders bouncing the ball hard into the practice pitches, sending the ball
to the keeper on the second bounce. It helps you get any little reverse swing
you can get in 20-over games, and can also help you make it soft. Later in that
over, Dwayne Smith was seen throwing almost on the full. When Dinesh Karthik
was given out lbw off Ravindra Jadeja, he not only showed his bat to the
umpire, he shouted at least three times: "bat, bat, bat". It seemed
then that he got a rough decision, but the replay failed to show a clear edge.
In his first
public statement since his arrest last week, Sreesanth has denied any
wrongdoing. Sreesanth and his two Rajasthan Royals team-mates, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila, who were
arrested on Thursday for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing, were
remanded on Tuesday by a Delhi court to a further five days in police custody
and charged by Delhi Police under Section 409 of the Indian Penal Code, which
deals with criminal breach of trust and is a non-bailable offence. "I am
innocent and have done no wrong," Sreesanth said in a statement emailed by
his lawyer, Rebecca John. "I have never indulged in any spot-fixing."
Meanwhile, PTI reports that the government-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd
suspended Sreesanth, who was employed as an assistant manager in its marketing
division, posted at Irumpanam, near Kochi
With regards – S. Sampathkumar .
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