Mumbai Indians retain players for IPL 7

MI retain Rohit, Malinga, Pollard, Bhajji and Rayudu

MUMBAI: Defending champions Mumbai Indians on Friday retained five players including skipper Rohit Sharma and dashing West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard, for the upcoming seventh season of Indian Premier League.

Gautam Gambhir KKR captain for IPL 7

Gautam Gambhir retained as Kolkata Knight Riders captain

NEW DELHI: Gautam Gambhir will lead Kolkata Knight Riders in the upcoming Indian Premier League as the Shah Rukh Khan co-owned franchise has decided to retain the left-handed opener along with West Indies mystery spinner Sunil Narine.

IPL7 may be held in two halves

IPL7 may be held in two halves 2014 general elections

Cricket lovers of the country may miss out on some matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year as the seventh edition of the league is likely to clash with the 2014 general elections.

IPL 7 Retention rules

IPL 7 Retention rules leave Mumbai, Chennai worried

NEW DELHI: The new Indian Premier League (IPL) retention rules are pinching big teams like Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.

IPL 7 auction to be held 12th February

IPL 7 auction to be held 12th February

  NEW DELHI: IPL franchises will be allowed to retain five cricketers during the 2014 Indian Premier League auction to be held on February 12 with the option of buying back a limited number of players through the newly introduced 'right to match' provision.

After a series of discussions, the IPL Governing Council today came up with a number of regulations related to Players' Contracts, Squad Compositions and the Retention of Players in advance for the 2014 Auction.

"The Pepsi IPL 2014 Player Auction will be held on 12 February, and if necessary, 13 February 2014. The venue of the auction will be announced soon," BCCI said in a release.

"A franchise may sign up to a maximum of 5 players (either capped or uncapped, no more than four of whom may be capped Indians) who were in its squad in 2013, including those who were unavailable during the season and those who were taken as temporary replacements."

Regarding the Salary cap, the Governing Council said the franchises will be charged Rs 12.5 crore, Rs 9.5 crore, Rs 7.5 crore, Rs 5.5 crore and Rs 4 crore for respectively the first, second, third, fourth and fifth capped players retained and it would be "irrespective of the IPL league fee that is agreed between the two parties and which is set out in the player contract."

Apart from the cricketers who are retained in advance, all other players will have to enter the 2014 player auction process if they want to play in the IPL in 2014, the release said.

Leander Paes say,Franchise leagues need to learn from IPL

Paes was speaking at the Star Sports India Pro Leagues Forum on the subject of "Growing the Club Culture".    

NEW DELHI: Hailing IPL for successfully creating loyal followers, India tennis star Leander Paes on Friday said the city-based franchise league is the way forward to popularise other sports, which need to replicate the model of the popular cricket tournament.

In the USA, city-based franchise tennis tournament -- World Team Tennis (WTT) -- is extremely popular and Paes said something on those lines should be introduced in Indian tennis as well as other sports in the country.

"IPL is close relevant of the World Team Tennis (WTT). The stadia are packed with fans for entire 21 days. The format of the tournament makes it interesting for the viewers. Also there are great players participating in the league. That is what IPL has been successful in doing here and we have to learn from it to replicate it in other sports," said Paes, who plays for Washington Kastles franchise in WTT.

Paes was speaking at the Star Sports India Pro Leagues Forum on the subject of "Growing the Club Culture".

"Cricket may not be the fastest sport nor the most athletic one but it has successfully managed to get the community involved with it. Linking franchises with major cities of the country, the IPL has been able get supporters who identify with their teams. They believe they are a part of the team," the 14-time Grand Slam title winner said.

"The focus of a league is also very important. It should be an entire family packages. People from all age group should be attracted to it. It should offer people something tangible they believe in."

The 40-year-old veteran said the timing of hosting a league was very important as the event required lot of investment and focus should be on grabbing as many eyeballs as possible.

"A professional league brings like-minded people as a vehicle to popularise the game. Lot of efforts goes into it. The timing of any league is very important to garner maximum response. With so many tournaments happening in any sport, a league should be able to draw best players from across the world. The timing and the duration of the event is also very crucial as there is a large dependency on television viewerships," said the current US Open doubles champion.

Paes added that growth of league culture gives opportunity for budding players to learn from their role models and become future stars.

"Such leagues give chance to upcoming players to rub shoulders with some of the greats of the game, which in turn widens the talent pool of a country. I believe in 10 years we will have multiple medal winners at the Olympics," he said.

He said a league gives an opportunity to athletes, corporates to flourish, besides the sport gaining fans.

"IPL governance is so well done. IPL has been able to evolve rules, governance and involve communities. It has allowed athletes to flourish. The businesses also gain from it. It's a win-win situation for everyone," Paes added.

NEW DELHI: Banned for life from India's cricket establishment, a beleaguered former IPL boss Lalit Modi is not ready to throw in the towel yet and declared that he would indeed have the "last call" in this entire issue.

"They (BCCI) will have their day and I will have the last call. I am not going anywhere. I will be right here," Modi told 'Times Now' after BCCI imposed a life ban during a special general meeting (SGM) in Chennai today.

Modi also took a veiled potshot at BCCI's controversial president N Srinivasan accusing BCCI members of protecting the Tamil Nadu strongman.

"I think fans are a little disappointed on this match-fixing issue and also the persons involved. It is really sad that they banned the person who created the league but people who are fixing matches and those who are running the Board are being protected by the BCCI members," Modi said.

"The issue is very simple to me. The brand itself is bigger than any one person. But my name is married to IPL. I am the architect of IPL. It was a difficult dream but I realized it.

"I did a few things but I wanted the league to improve. But it's now going in backward direction. Hope BCCI get their act together. I wanted to tighten the rules but at the same time make it transparent," the former IPL czar said from his London residence.

Modi feels that it's imperative that one makes all the owners "responsible for running the game" but at the same time said that "BCCI probably doesn't want to lose control".

However on the issue of financial irregularities, Modi didn't come up with a concrete answer.

"I don't what they are saying. I brought USD 8 billion for BCCI," he claimed.

"I tried to protect the interest of BCCI and they accuse me of arm-twisting a franchise! After I left two franchises had to quit the league (Deccan Chargers Hyderabad, Kochi Tuskers). BCCI lost USD 700 million. Since I didn't toe their line, I was accused of financial impropriety," Modi said.

Modi didn't stop short while terming Srinivasan as a "Master match-fixer."

His family had been supportive during crisis period but the maverick administrator declared that he is "ready to move on."

"I have moved on and I will soon be associated with a global league. There are a lot of people in sporting fraternity across the world, who want me on board."

Lalit Modi banned for life by BCCI

CHENNAI: A pariah in Indian cricket for three years now, former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi was on Wednesday slapped with a life ban by the BCCI after its disciplinary committee found him guilty on eight charges of "indiscipline and misconduct".

On a day of high drama, which was marked by legal tug of war between Modi and the BCCI, a special general meeting of the Board took less than half an hour to unanimously impose a life ban on the controversial 49-year-old administrator.

"The BCCI, at its special general meeting on Wednesday considered and discussed the report of the disciplinary committee of the BCCI on the show cause notices issued to Mr. Lalit Kumar Modi, in accordance with Clause 32 (iv) of the Memorandum of Rules and Regulations," the Board said in a statement.

"...Mr. Lalit Modi is guilty of committing acts of serious misconduct and indiscipline, and therefore, in exercise of powers as per Regulation 32 of the Memorandum and Rules and Regulations of the Board, Mr. Lalit Modi be and is hereby expelled from the BCCI.

"He shall forfeit all his rights and privileges as administrator. He shall not in future be entitled to hold any position or office, or be admitted in any committee or any member or associate member of the Board," he added.

Modi, the brain behind the highly successful IPL, made a last-ditch effort to avert the impending sanction by writing a letter to the BCCI members requesting them to refrain from any decision till the matter was sub-judice.

"Not a single member in the meeting supported Modi and the House took a unanimous decision to impose a life ban," a top BCCI official said.

The BCCI disciplinary committee, comprising Arun Jaitley, and Jyotiraditya Scindia, submitted a 134-page report in July in which it had found Modi guilty on eight charges, including financial irregularities, indiscipline and "actions detrimental to the interest of the BCCI."

Wednesday's meeting could take place only after the Delhi high court vacated a lower court stay order and it turned out to be a brief since all the members had already been submitted the disciplinary committee report.

The hearing into the charges against Modi, who is currently based in London claiming a threat to his life in India, started in July 2010 and the disciplinary committee conducted several hearings over a period of two years, none of which were attended by Modi in person.

Modi was suspended under Rule 32(iv) of the Board's constitution on April 25, 2010, seconds after the IPL final held in Mumbai. The Board then slapped three show cause notices on him. He replied to all of them.

Modi's decline started after the 2010 IPL bidding which saw the creation of two new teams -- Pune and Kochi. Modi revealed the ownership details of the Kochi franchise on twitter leading to the resignation of the then Minister of State for foreign affairs Shashi Tharoor.

Modi's act allegedly breached the confidentiality agreements between the Board and the IPL franchises.

Modi was suspended as chairman and commissioner of the IPL in April 2010. A suspension notice and a 34-page letter stating 22 charges of impropriety were served via email to Modi.

He claimed innocence all through, defending himself mostly on twitter and television channels but never appeared in person to face the BCCI committee.

Initially, the three-member disciplinary committee also included BCCI President N Srinivasan but he recused himself and erstwhile IPL chairman Chirayu Amin was made a member.

However, Amin also recused himself and it became a two-member committee.