Mumbai, May 01: Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, who is under scanner of Income Tax department for suspected financial irregularities in the bidding process, is facing death threat with the underworld allegedly conspiring to bump him off, police said.
Modi was on the target list of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim even before IPL season III had begun, police said, adding Dawood’s men had plotted to eliminate him either in Mumbai or Bangalore.
Mumbai, May 01: The Indian Premier League was about fun, frolic and also cricket.
The World Twenty20 will be only cricket. There won’t be any late-night parties in the West Indies.
At least not for the Indian team. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has handed out a list of dos and don’ts for Mahendra Singh Dhoni & Co currently in the West Indies for the World Twenty20.
New York, April 30: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar and Nobel-winning economist Amartya Sen are among nine Indians who figure in the annual Time magazine list of 100 most influential people while its alumnae chart is topped by Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
Other Indians on the list of most influential people are: Eye specialist Perumalsamy Namperumalsam, humanitarian worker Sanjit Buker Roy, writer Chetan Bhagat, Indian-America doctor and Harvard professor Atul Gwande, paramedic from Toronto Rahul Singh and entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.
Caribbean, April 30: A police investigation into suspected “match irregularities” at Essex county cricket club has stirred unwelcome memories of the match-fixing scandal which rocked the sport a decade ago.
The investigation follows rumours of match-fixing in the second Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament staged in South Africa last year and was announced shortly before the third Twenty20 World Cup opens in the Caribbean on Friday.
St Lucia (WI), April 30: Up against an unheralded Afghanistan in their tournament-opener, India will have to guard against complacency to ensure a flying start to their campaign in the T20 cricket World Cup here tomorrow.
Considering there is very little room for errors in the slam-bang format of the game, India would have to be at their best to avoid the ignominy of being destroyed by the minnows of international cricket.
Mumbai, April 30: Former India skipper Nari Contractor, who had to return home after being stopped at the gate of the D Y Patil Stadium on last Sunday for not carrying a valid ticket for the IPL final, said that he was flummoxed and wondered how this was allowed to happen by the ticket issuing authorities.
“I was completely stumped when I was asked for a badge to accompany the ticket. I did not have the badge, as it was not given to me along with the ticket. I just turned around and went back,” Contractor told PTI today.
St Lucia, April 30: Afghanistan coach Kabir Khan has warned the Indians, saying his side were unperturbed by their reputation and will look to exploit the surprise element to dazzle Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men in their twenty20 World Cup opener tomorrow.
“On the technical side it is good that they don’t know us because when they know about you they will plan. The coaches will watch the videos and work on our weakness. Luckily, we know everything about them. We have seen all their IPL games.
We will give them a surprise which will make them remember us after the game,” Kabir said.
Karachi, April 30: Pakistan’s former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has tipped Pakistan to successfully defend its title and win the World Twenty20 Cup in the West Indies that starts from tomorrow.
“The way I see it this Pakistan team is well balanced and so strong for this format of the game that it shouldn?t lose to any team unless they self-destruct with internal issues,” Inzamam, the country?s most capped player said.
Inzamam said that Pakistan had a very strong bowling line-up but they needed to be consistent in their batting.
Johannesburg, April 30: South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs desperately wants to win the ICC Twenty20 World Cup and said he is ready to exchange any individual honour of my career for a victory in the Caribbeans.
“I would exchange any major individual honour in my career for a winner’s medal at an ICC event,” Gibbs told ‘The Star’ from Bridgetown, where South Africa is practising ahead of their first match against India in St Lucia on May 2.
Mumbai, April 30: Surprisingly, none of the women picked any cricketer from other countries. This shows that expectations from Team India to win the T20 World Cup this time is very high.
Chitrangada Singh (actor): Dhoni has matured so much over the years. This is his third T20 World Cup and he is so good at handling stress and responsibilities of a captain.
Raima Sen (actor): Dhoni because he is a fiery mix of innocence and passion when he’s playing. He is dependable, always delivers and is a born leader.
Bangalore, April 30: Even as the likes of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes fight for glory at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships this year, there will be a young Indian earning glory for the country doing a job often termed tougher than the hard fought duels on the field.
Mysore lad Sagar Kashyap (22) will become the youngest Indian to officiate at the championship, to be held from June 21 to July 4 at the Winnman’s hill village.
St Lucia (WI), April 29: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday warned his team-mates against taking unheralded Afghanistan lightly in their Twenty20 World Cup opening match here on Saturday, saying any slip-up against them can put his side out of contention for super eights.
“If you ask me, I would not consider our opening match against Afghanistan as a practice game. I don’t take my opponents lightly. At the end of the day you have to win whichever team you play,” said Dhoni, ruling out complacency in the Indian camp.
Mohali, April 29: PCA chief I S Bindra today threw his weight behind embattled Lalit Modi, saying the suspended IPL Commissioner should be given a fair trial.
Modi is facing corruption charges and was served a show-cause notice by the Indian Cricket Board on April 25, the day season-III of the IPL came to an end.
Bindra, who is also ICC Principal advisor, said IPL owes its success to the marketing skills of Modi.
New Delhi, April 29: After the conclusion of third season of IPL the controversy is refusing to die and it seems more skeletons are going to come out of the closet.
Earlier it was Rajasthan Royals Team which was scrutinised and role of Shilpa Shetty was questioned now its Kings XI Punjab which is facing the Heat.As interim Chairman of IPL Chiryau Amin has Pleadged to clean the IPL dirt it seems to be the first step.There is no doubt tha Lalit Modi has taken IPL to heights and it`s famous immensly not only in India but Abroad as well.
Mumbai, April 29: The Mumbai Cricket Association will raise the issue of humiliation inflicted on former India captain Nari Contractor at this season’s IPL final at the upcoming BCCI working committee.
Contractor returned to his South Mumbai home without witnessing the IPL final on April 25 at D Y Patil stadium as the ticket he carried was declared invalid.
The MCA had got the ticket from the IPL authorities.
Sydney, April 29: Australia’s Twenty20 captain Michael Clarke Thursday called Twenty20 as important as Test cricket and has asked Cricket Australia (CA) to include Twenty20 specialists like batsmen David Warner and David Hussey in their contract system.
“It’s the same – it’s exactly the same,” Clarke was quoted as saying in Daily Telegraph as Australia prepares for the World Twenty20, beginning Friday, in the Caribbean.
“For me, it’s as serious as a one-day match or a Test match.”
New Delhi, April 29: Former Test batsman Sanjay Manjrekar feels Virender Sehwag’s absence will not affect India’s chances in the T20 World Cup as they have enough back-up to fill up the explosive opener’s place.
Sehwag was dropped due to a shoulder injury sustained during the recently-concluded Indian Premier League and was replaced by Tamil Nadu opener Murali Vijay, who had a successful stint with the Chennai Super Kings.
“While Sehwag’s absence will hurt, it will not be decisive,” Manjrekar said.
St Lucia, April 29: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday warned his team-mates against taking unheralded Afghanistan lightly in their Twenty20 World Cup opening match here on Saturday, saying any slip-up against them can put his side out of contention for super eights.
“If you ask me, I would not consider our opening match against Afghanistan as a practice game. I don’t take my opponents lightly. At the end of the day you have to win whichever team you play,” said Dhoni, ruling out complacency in the Indian camp.
Bridgetown, April 29: An unbeaten 61 from Chamara Kapugedera was in vain as Sri Lanka slumped to a five-wicket defeat to South Africa with three balls to spare in a World Twenty20 warm-up on Wednesday.
Kapugedera and veteran Sanath Jayasuriya helped Sri Lanka post 137 for 8 before a 61-run partnership between Mark Boucher and Johan Botha allowed South Africa to squeeze home in the final over.
Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara opted to bat first after winning the toss at the Kensington Oval but Tillakaratne Dilshan fell first ball to Rory Kleinveldt.
The ICC has cleared the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua to host international cricket after it passed an inspection by the governing body following a 12-month suspension.
In February last year, a Test match between West Indies and England lasted just 10 balls before being abandoned because of an “unfit” outfield.
Georgetown, April 29: The ICC then told the West Indies Cricket Board that the ground could not be used for international cricket for 12 months and also gave the board an official warning for not preparing the ground effectively for the match.
Bangalore, April 29:Home advantage and the return of Jerome Taylor and Ramnaresh Sarwan have made West Indies a balanced side and a team to beat in the Twenty20 World Cup beginning in Guyana from Friday, captain Chris Gayle said.
Fast bowler Jerome Taylor and veteran batsman Sarwan are returning to the April 30-May 16 tournament following long spells out of the game due to injury.
New Delhi, April 29: Ravindra Jadeja, who missed IPL 2010 after being banned by the tournament organisers for trying to negotiate a contract outside the player auction, wants to put the disappointment behind him and focus on the World Twenty20.
“There is no point in looking back, at the moment my focus is on the ICC World Twenty20. I didn’t play cricket for 45 days, there was frustration but I’m keeping my fingers crossed now. It hurts when you see your colleagues playing and you are practising at home,” Jadeja told the Indian Express.
London, April 29: The spectre of match-fixing is once again hanging uneasily over cricket and the ICC will be alert to anything untoward during the World Twenty20 in the West Indies, but remain confident they have robust processes in place to keep the game clean.
New Delhi, April 29: Dinesh Karthik, India’s reserve wicket-keeper at the World Twenty20, believes the team’s powerful batting and flexibility provided by the presence of allrounders will be a major asset in the Caribbean.
India will be missing the services of the injured opener Virender Sehwag but still have some of the finest limited-overs batsmen in their line-up, including Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni. Their allrounders include Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja, and the likes of Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma can chip in with a few overs of part-time spin.
Melbourne, April 29: Australian skipper Michael Clarke has conceded that the importance of Twenty20 has become equavalent to that of Test cricket.
”It’s the same. It’s exactly the same,” Clarke said yesterday.
”For me, it’s as serious as a one-day match or a Test match. There are blokes in this squad who haven’t played Test cricket. They haven’t played one-day cricket. It’s the ultimate for them.
”It’s become exactly the same as one-day and Test cricket. It’s a form of the game that we want to be the best in the world at.