Jadeja costliest player at 5th IPL auction
Saturday 04 February, 2012: Ravindra Jadeja on Saturday expectedly turned out to be the biggest draw for the franchises with Chennai Super Kings buying the young Indian all-rounder for a whopping USD two million (approx. Rs 9.72 crore) in the players' auction for the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League in Bangalore.
The 23-year-old, whose base price was USD 100,000, went to Chennai after the tie-breaker clause was invoked when two teams -- CSK and Deccan Chargers -- bid the maximum (USD two million) for the Saurashtra player.
Both the franchises were asked to bid a secret amount in the tie-breaker and it was Chennai which managed to outbid Deccan in this.
But the cricketer himself will get paid USD 950,000 as per the contract he had signed with the now-disbanded Kochi Tuskers Kerala last year and even the secret amount that was bid on him by Chennai would go into the BCCI coffers.
Former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene, incidentally the KTK captain last season, was also a big draw going to Delhi Daredevils for USD 1.4 million (approx Rs 6.8 crore).
Jayawardene will, however, get USD 1.5 million as per his contract last year.
Among other big gainers at the auction, New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum was bought for USD 900,000 by Kolkata Knight Riders. McCullum's base price was USD 400,000.
Indian stumper Parthiv Patel went for USD 650,000 to Deccan Chargers, which was quite high from his base price of USD 200,000.
Veteran Indian batsman VVS Laxman, who was a big disappointment during the recent Test series against Australia, went unsold in the auction along with England's James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara and Matt Prior, West Indies' Ramnaresh Sarwan, Adrian Barath and Darren Bravo and South Africa's Mark Boucher.
Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan, who was with Chennai Super Kings and Kochi in the previous editions, was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for USD 220,000 (approx. Rs 1.06 crore).
South Africa's veteran opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs, who was released by Deccan Chargers, fetched USD 50,000 (approx. Rs 24 lakh) from Mumbai Indians, while Australian batsman Brad Hodge was taken by Rajasthan Royals for USD 475,000 (approx Rs 2.3 crore).
Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson went to Mumbai Indians at his base price of USD 300,000 (approx Rs 1.4 crore). West Indies Andre Russell fetched USD 450,000 from the Delhi Daredevils, a substantial hike from his base price of USD 50,000.
Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal was turned out to be a bargain buy for Rajasthan Royals, who bought him at his base price of USD 50,000.
Jadeja was supposed to be the highlight of the auction today and so it turned out to be with almost all franchise placing their bids on the all-rounder.
Ironically, just two years ago, Jadeja was banned for a year after trying to negotiate a deal with Mumbai Indians while still on contract with Rajasthan Royals.
Dubbed the "rockstar" by Australian spin legend and Rajasthan captain-cum-coach Shane Warne, Jadeja was bought by Kochi for USD 950,000, and he did well by making 283 runs at a strike rate of 124.12, and taking eight wickets at an economy rate of 7.26.
India will look to carry T20 momentum into tri-series
Saturday 04 February, 2012: Finally a win under their belt in what has been a highly disappointing tour, India would aim to carry the Twenty20 momentum into the one-dayers when they take on Australia in the first match of the tri-series starting in Melbourne on Sunday.
After a 0-4 thrashing in the Tests and a loss in the first T20 against Australia, India tasted victory in the second T20, winning by eight wickets Friday night.
The beleaguered Indians have been revitalised by the arrival of young players such as Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Rahul Sharma.
The effort on the field was markedly improved and the Indians would be hoping that the shift in the momentum continues in the ODIs as well.
The team will have its share of seniors as well with veteran Sachin Tendulkar's return to the fold.
Tendulkar, still on the threshold of his 100th international century, has put his hands up for the tri-series in order to cross the milestone.
The maestro has faced unprecedented pressure in the last one year during which he played 11 Tests and 21 innings but still wasn't able to get over the line.
There were two scores in the 90s and one in 80s but Tendulkar could not go the whole hog and found a way to eject him out from the middle.
Now the iconic player is available for selection and it means either Ravichandran Ashwin or promising leg-spinner Rahul Sharma would have to watch the proceedings from the sidelines at the MCG.
Both Ashwin and Sharma were excellent in the first two Twenty20 matches though the latter appeared to have done marginally better than his more experienced spin partner.
Ashwin claimed one wicket at an economy rate of 7.12 while Sharma had three wickets at an economy of 7.63.
Australian Twenty20 captain indeed pointed out Sharma as very difficult to work around as the 6'3" leg-spinner got unusual bounce even on a flat deck at the MCG.
If India wants to keep both the spinners in the eleven, it would imply shortening the batting, most likely at the cost of Rohit Sharma.
Sharma waited the entire Test series for his opportunity which never came his way.
Luck bedevilled him in the Twenty20s as well. He was bowled on nought on a diabolic pitch in Sydney and didn't have the opportunity to bat in the second at MCG on Friday.
Tendulkar's return would mean greater stability in the top order which is finally beginning to show promise with Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag.
One of the two regular Test openers would have to make way for Tendulkar at the start of the innings but both Gambhir and Sehwag would have no qualms in doing so.
Gambhir in fact has quite a decent record at number three and indeed slammed an outstanding 91 in the World Cup final coming one drop.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is another one who is just turning the corner of a miserable summer with unbeaten knocks of 48 and 21 in the two Twenty20 internationals.
India most probably would bring back Zaheer Khan and it could mean the omission of one of the two Kumars -- Praveen or Vinay.
As has looked so far post-Test matches, returning all-rounder Irfan Pathan would have to wait for his chance for sometime later in the series.
PCB proposes England hosts ODI tri-series featuring India, Pak
Saturday 04 February, 2012: PCB chief Zaka Ashraf has proposed that the England and Wales Cricket Board hosts a one-day tri-series involving Pakistan and India next year, during the recent ICC executive board meeting held in Dubai.
A board official said during the ICC meeting, Ashraf had held informal talks with heads of the other boards, including England and India and proposed that England can host a tri-series next year involving Pakistan and India.
"Ashraf's contention is that the series would be a success in England due to the presence of the big Pakistani and Indian population in the United Kingdom and Europe and secondly it would also pave the way for proper restoration of bilateral ties between Pakistan and India soon," the source added.
During the meeting, the President of the South African cricket board also made an offer to host an ODI series between Pakistan and Australia.
"The South African cricket head assured his Pakistani counterpart that Pakistan would incur less expenses compared to if it decided to organize the series at some other neutral venue including UAE," one board official said.
He said while the PCB was keen to get international teams to start touring Pakistan again but was aware of the fact that it might be forced to play the one-day series against Australia once again at a neutral venue.
"Since it would be the month of fasting and the weather will be hot during July-August in the UAE that is why Pakistan is looking at other alternate neutral venues as well," he said.
Pakistan has been forced to play all its "home" series at neutral venues since March, 2009 when militants attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore killing six Pakistani policemen and a van driver and wounding some of the visiting players.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi since 2009 have become virtual home grounds for Pakistan which is currently also playing its "home" series against England at these two venues.
The PCB chief said he had assured his South African counterpart that he would get back to them after consulting his board members regarding the proposal.
"South Africa is a viable neutral venue for us because of many factors but once I get back to Pakistan we will discuss this proposal further and see how it goes. We also have to consult the Australians about this," he added.
One source said that since the World T20 Cup would also be held in September in Sri Lanka, the Pakistan and Australian boards are looking at increasing the number of T20 matches in the coming series which presently includes five one-day internationals and a two T20 matches.
Sahara Force India unveil VJM05 for 2012 season
Feb 3, 2012, SILVERSTONE: Aiming a fifth-place finish in the 2012 season, Sahara Force India on Friday unveiled its new car - VJM05, which the team says is more refined and fast.
Drivers Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg pulled the covers off the VJM05 which is the second car to be created under the watch of technical director Andrew Green.
"We have set our sights on challenging for fifth place. To do so we will need to begin the new campaign by delivering the kind of form we showed in the second half of 2011. I believe this is a realistic goal and that we have the talent and determination to realise these ambitions," Team Principal Vijay Mallya said.
Chief Operating Officer Otmar Szafnauer echoed those sentiments as he praised the team's efforts to develop the VJM05.
"The new car has come together nicely over the winter. We don't know what our competitors have done, but we've made some gains over the winter and believe we're in reasonable shape."
Paul Di Resta said it was exciting to see the new car. "It's when you realise that all the waiting is finally over and the season is beginning for real. I've had a good winter and I've recharged my batteries, but now I'm fully focussed on 2012 and looking forward to the start of testing."
Nico Hulkenberg, who was promoted to racing seat from reserve driver, said, "I saw the new car in the wind tunnel a few times and followed its progress during the winter. It looks aggressive and fast, but we won't know where we stand until we get out there and compete against the others."
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