Sports

New Delhi, April 25: It could be a real comedown for NCP chief Sharad Pawar if a decision is taken to set up a Joint Parliamentary Committee into the IPL controversy.

This is because the last probe by a JPC was headed by Pawar himself.

This time, however, a JPC probe is being demanded in the backdrop of demands of resignation of Pawar and his party colleague Praful Patel as Union Ministers.

Pawar was a former Cricket control board chief during whose tenure the IPL tournament began with Lalit Modi as its Commissioner.

Mumbai, April 25: Barely 24 hours to go for the crucial IPL Governing Council meeting, BCCI’s top brass was huddled in a meeting of its own at the Board headquarters here today.

BCCI President Shashank Manohar, secretary N Srinivasan, Chief Administartive Officer Ratnakar Shetty and IPL vice-chairman Niranjan Shah are at the headquarters on what is generally an off day for the officials.

The IPL governing council meets tomorrow to decide the fate of its controversial chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi, who has refused to step down despite allegations of financial irregularities.

Mumbai, April 25: Deccan Chargers captain Adam Gilchrist conceded that his team’s poor display against Royal Challengers Bangalore here today was pathetic and ascribed it to the Hyderabad outfit’s inability to overcome mental and physical fatigue.

“Yes, it’s very disappointing. It was pathetic, I agree.

Mumbai, April 25: Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Anil Kumble expressed his happiness for having finished the IPL engagement with a thumping nine-wicket victory over Deccan Chargers in the third place play-off match

“It’s always good to go out on a happy note and it has given a great opportunity to feature again in the Champions League Twenty20 in September in South Africa. Our game today was exceptional,” said the former India captain.

Mumbai, April 25: In a bold, but what might be a last ditch effort to salvage his fall from grace, the beleaguered IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi sought to take the battle to his adversaries, promising ‘to reveal the men who brought disrepute’ to the game once the IPL concludes on April 25th, i.e. Sunday.

“Wait for the IPL to finish,” read Modi’s latest tweet. “I will reveal the men who have tried to bring disrepute to the game and how we stopped them from doing it.”

Mumbai, April 25: The city, whose film industry has patented the shake-and-grind routine of “item numbers”, has now given beleaguered IPL organisers a new cause for worry.

Navi Mumbai cops have registered an obscenity complaint against cheerleaders for their shake-and-grind act, wearing “minimal” clothing, during the first IPL semi-final held at the D Y Patil Stadium earlier this week.

A senior official said that after the complaint was registered, the cheerleaders were seen in “proper clothes” during the second semi-final.

Lahore, April 24: Cricketer Shoaib Malik has requested the public of Pakistan to treat Sania as their ‘Sister in law’ and welcome her in a decent manner.

Shoaib was reportedly upset by the uncontrollable behavior of crowds that gathered to greet him and his bride Sania Mirza on their arrival in Pakistan.

“I know the people here are very happy about our marriage but at the same time, they should be decent in expressing their emotions. In our country, respect is shown to
sisters and mothers,” Shoaib told a TV news channel.

New Delhi, April 24: With Lalit Modi’s ouster as IPL Chairman all but certain, Ravi Shastri has emerged as a strong contender for the post of Commissioner of the Indian Premier League
(IPL).

Sources close to Zeecric.com confirmed that Ravi Shastri’s name was doing the rounds after it was reported that Modi had agreed to step down from his post.

It was learnt that sixty percent of the BCCI top brass is in favour of appointing Ravi Shastri, who is presently a governing council member. Even BCCI president Shashank Manohar wants Shastri to take over as the new IPL Commissioner.

Mumbai, April 24: Royal Challenger Bangalore owner Vijay Mallya today threw his weight behind beleaguered Lalit Modi and said the IPL Commissioner should be given a chance to defend himself in the wake of the raging controversy.

“Lalit Modi is a friend of mine and I met him at the awards function last night. But we did not discuss the current controversy. I think Modi must be given some opportunity at some point of time to explain himself,” Mallya told reporters after meeting former BCCI president Sharad Pawar.

“This whole controversy has become an unnecessary toofan.

Mumbai, April 24: In what could be a path-breaking move in the entire IPL controversy that has been raging over the past few days now, Lalit Modi might voluntarily quit the post of IPL chairman and commissioner at the governing council meeting on April 26.

According to reports, Modi might quit his post of IPL chairman, a decision which is believed to have been taken after a telephonic conversation with BCCI president Shashank Manohar.

New Delhi, April 24: IPL chairman Lalit Modi made an emotional speech at the Twenty20 Leagues’ inaugural awards function in which he thanked BCCI, among others, for making his seven-year-old dream come true.

The IPL chief has been facing heat from several quarters including the government and BCCI for alleged financial irregularities in the running of the T20 event. He thanked the legions of cricket fans for making the tournament “the most successful cricket league” in the world.

New Delhi, April 24: Shashi Tharoor, who quit as minister of state for external affairs over his alleged links to the Kochi Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, says in his latest tweet that he looks forward to a “thorough inquiry” into the Twenty20 cricket tournament.

Tharoor, who was very active on social networking site Twitter before the IPL controversy unfolded, tweeted late Friday: “Looking forward to a thorough inquiry into the IPL. If my resignation leads to real reform, it will be worthwhile. Our cricket should be clean.”

New Delhi, April 24: Amid increasing attack on Lalit Modi, a member of the IPL Governing Council today gave enough hints to its Commissioner that he should quit.

“Wisdom should prevail upon him,” said Rajiv Shukla, also BCCI vice president, when asked whether Modi should quit as IPL Commissioner.

Shukla, who briefed Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on the ongoing IPL controversy earlier in the day, asserted that the Governing Council will meet on April 26 as scheduled.

Mumbai, April 24: Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar was today named best batsman while Deccan Chargers’ Pragyan Ojha bagged the best bowler honour at a glitzy IPL Awards Night here today.

Tournament’s most prolific batsman, Tendulkar, who turns 37 tomorrow, has 570 runs in his kitty from 14 matches with five fifties.

He beat competitions from Royal Challengers’ batsmen Jacques Kallis (553 runs from 15) and Robin Uthappa (374 from 15) and Chennai Super King’s Suresh Raina (463 from 15) and Murali Vijay (432 from 14) for the Jury Award for best batsman.

New Delhi, April 24: Sunanda Pushkar, who was at the centre of the IPL Kochi controversy that led to Shashi Tharoor’s exit from government, says the media just turned her into a ‘slut’, some kind of ‘brainless eye candy’.

Mumbai, April 24: Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar turns 37 on Saturday, while also marking 20 years of his presence in international cricket. The cricketing genius who debuted in 1989 as a 16 year old has come a long way since then and has broken almost every cricket landmark imaginable.

The Mumbai Indian captain, who has lead his team to to the finals for the first time, is also the top scorer in the tournament. Tendulkar has been in top form in IPL 3 and hopes that his team wins the final on the April 25 and gives him the perfect birthday gift.

Mumbai, April 23: Embattled IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi on Friday urged the BCCI to give him just five days to prepare answer for all the questions in lieu of his five year long services and he is unlikely to move court against IPL’s governing council meet on April 26.

“I have worked for you for five years… Give me just five days to prepare answers to all the questions,” Modi communicated to BCCI, sources close to him said.

At the same time, they said that Modi is not going to Courts to challenge the governing council meeting on April 26 and he is just requesting for more time.

Mumbai, April 23: Even as IPL franchise owners continue to face the heat from income tax authorities amid allegations of financial irregularities, netizens are making quick bucks after buying their favourite teams in the virtual world.

Online T20 games launched by prominent gaming portals like zapak.com, indiagames.com and dream11.com, have become popular this season with cricket fever on a high fuelled by the ongoing IPL and the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Doug Bollinger,April 23: Architect of Chennai Super Kings’ comprehensive victory over Deccan Chargers, heaped praise on his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, saying the CSK skipper marshalled his resources with aplomb in the IPL semifinal match tonight.

“Mahi is a great captain and player. He grabbed the bull by its horns against Kings XI Punjab,” said Bollinger.

“He’s captained very well,” said the Australian left-arm pacer after returning splendid figures of 4 for 13 that flattened the Chargers hopes and earned him the Man of the Match award.

Mumbai, April 23: Newly wed tennis star Sania Mirza has said she will retain her maiden name and play for another three to four years.

In an interview to ‘People’ magazine along with husband and former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik, Sania said, “no matter what happens I am always going to be Sania Mirza. May later I’ll add his name (sic).”

She said they have chosen Palm Jumeirah in Dubai as their new residence.

“My husband wants to live in Palm Jumeirah and I am not fussy, so that’s where we live,” says Sania.

New Delhi, Apr 22 (PTI) Cricket ruled over the country’s cyberspace in 2010 with master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar emerging as the most popular cricketer and Deccan Chargers as the most popular Premier League team, according to a Google India survey.

The new survey — The Google ‘Zeitgeist'(Spirit of the times) 2010 — based on Google India search queries, which reflect what Indians were searching during the year.

Australian spinner Shane Warne held the top position in popular international player category for the second year in a row, the survey, which was released today, said.

Mumbai, April 23: Mumbai Indians today heaved a sigh of relief after key all-rounder Kieron Pollard was found fit for Sunday’s Indian Premier League final even though there remains a cloud of doubt over captain Sachin Tendulkar’s availability.

“There is no problem with Pollard. He’s fit,” team sources said here today.

In that match, Pollard was seen limping during the semifinal tie against Royal Challengers Bangalore last night while batting as well as bowling even though it did not deter the big-built West Indian from dishing out a superb all-round display.

Mumbai, April 23: A case was registered against IPL organisers for allegedly violating noise pollution norms during the semi final match played at D Y Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai here today, police said.

“We have taken note of noise pollution levels which were beyond prescribed levels and a case has been registered against IPL organisers under the provision of noise pollution related act,” DCP Ashok Dudhey said.

Mumbai, April 23: The war in the Cricket Board intensified today with Lalit Modi planning to move court against the Governing Council meeting that may oust him from the post of IPL Commissioner as BCCI accused him of hiding details of stakeholding by his relatives in franchises.

The embattled Modi was tonight said to be considering moving the Bombay High Court seeking an injunction against the April 26 meeting where Governing Council member M A K Pataudi says he would be ousted if he keeps away.

Mumbai, April 23: Doug Bollinger led Deccan Chargers’ rout as a ruthless Chennai Super Kings crushed the defending champions by 38 runs in the second semifinal of the Indian Premier League tonight to set up a summit clash with Mumbai Indians on Sunday.

Opting to bat first, the Super Kings looked in trouble before a 52-run partnership between skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (30) and S Badrinath (37) guided them to a competitive 142 for seven.