Melbourne (PTI) India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Sunday said that he was unaware about the extent of Yuvraj Singh’s illness, when asked by the media-persons at the post-match media conference.

Yuvraj has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy in the United States.

“I don’t know about his illness because I haven’t been in touch. He is a pleasure to have in the side. He is one among a few players who has been good at number six and then climbed to do well at number four.

“He is someone who could change the momentum of the game.

He could block and also take aggressive option. Then not to forget his bowling. People call him pie-chucker but he is very effective,” Dhoni told reporters, at the MCG here.

The 30-year-old left-hander has been in the US since last month being treated for what was earlier claimed to be a non-malignant tumour, by his family.

But it has now been diagnosed as malignant and Yuvraj is currently undergoing chemotherapy in the Cancer Research Institute in Boston, his physiotherapist Dr Jatin Chaudhary said.

Bangalore (IANS) The following is the list of 25 players who were sold in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction-5 here Saturday:

Players Sold:

Brendon McCullum – $900,000 to Kolkata Knight Riders (base price $400,000).

Ravindra Jadeja – $2 million to Chennai Super Kings (base price $100,000).

Muttiah Muralitharan – $220,000 to Royal Challengers Bangalore (base price $200,000).

Mahela Jayawardene – $1.4 million to Delhi Daredevils (base price $300,000).

Herschelle Gibbs – $50,000 to Mumbai Indians (base price $50,000).

Brad Hodge – $475,000 to Rajasthan Royals (base price $200,000) .

Parthiv Patel – $650,000 to Deccan Chargers (base price $200,000).

Dinesh Chandimal – $50,000 to Rajasthan Royals (base price $50,000).

Andre Russell – $450,000 to Delhi Daredevils (base price $50,000) .

Mitchell Johnson – $300,000 to Mumbai Indians (base price $300,000).

R. P. Singh – $600,000 to Mumbai Indians (base price $200,000).

Vinay Kumar – $1 million to Royal Challengers Bangalore (base price $100,000).

Sreesanth – $400,000 to Rajasthan Royals (base price $400,000).

Ramesh Powar – $160,000 to Kings XI Punjab (base price $100,000).

Brad Hogg – $180,000 to Rajasthan Royals (base price $100,000).

Sunil Narine – $700,000 to Kolkata Knight Riders (base price $50,000).

Robin Peterson – $100,000 to Mumbai Indians (base price $100,000).

Daniel Harris – $70,000 to Deccan Chargers (base price 50,000).

Kevon Cooper – $50,000 to Rajasthan Royals (base price 50,000).

James Faulkner – $190,000 to Kings XI Punjab (base price $100,000) .

Azhar Mahmood – $200,000 to Kings XI Punjab (base price $100,000).

Thisara Perera – $650,000 to Mumbai Indians (base price $50,000).

Marchant de Lange – $50,000 to Kolkata Knight Riders (base price $50,000).

Darren Bravo – $100,000 to Deccan Chargers (base price $100,000).

Doug Bracewell – $50,000 to Delhi Daredevils (base price $50,000).

Bangalore (IANS)  The following is the list of unsold players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction-5 here Saturday:

James Anderson – base price $300,000.

Tamim Iqbal – base price $50,000.

Adrian Barath – base price $50,000.

Ramnaresh Sarwan – base price $100,000.

Ian Bell – base price $200,000.

Owais Shah – base price $200,000.

Upul Tharanga – base price $50,000.

VVS Laxman – base price $400,000.

Matt Prior – base price $200,000.

Brendan Taylor – base price $100,000.

Mark Boucher – base price $100,000.

Justin Kemp – base price $100,000.

Marlon Samuels – base price $100,000.

Steven Smith – base price $200,000.

Ravi Bopara – base price $100,000.

Luke Wright – base price $200,000.

Kevin O’Brien – base price $50,000.

Dwayne Smith – base price $100,000.

Lonwabo Tsotsobe – base price $50,000.

VRV Singh – base price $100,000.

Vernon Philander – base price $200,000.

Fidel Edwards – base price $100,000.

Ravi Rampaul – base price $100,000.

Peter Siddle – base price $200,000.

Tim Southee – base price $100,000.

Graeme Swann – base price $400,000.

Rangana Herath – base price $50,000.

Ajantha Mendis – base price $50,000.

Steve O’Keefe – base price $100,000.

Xavier Doherty – base price $100,000.

Michael Klinger – base price $50,000.

Richard Levi base – price $50,000.

Alviro Petersen – base price $100,000.

Lendl Simmons – base price $50,000.

Farveez Maharoof – base price $50,000.

Jacob Oram – base price $100,000.

Moises Henriques – base price $50,000.

Ben Laughlin – base price $50,000.

Ryan McLaren – base price $100,000.

Nicky Boje – base price $200,000.

Jacques Rudolph – base price $20,000.

Andy McKay – base price $50,000.

Alister McDermott – base price $20,000.

Michael Neser – base price $50,000.

Bangalore (IANS) The dramatic pullout of Sahara India from the fifth edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) as franchisee of Pune Warriors and as the main sponsor of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) overshadowed the players’ auction here Saturday.

In contrast to the excitement and suspense that gripped the second auction also held in this tech hub a year ago, Saturday’s ‘mini-auction’ began on a sour note as the number of franchises reduced to eight from 10 with the cancellation of Kochi Tuskers Kerala over default and walkout by Sahara India hours before international-acclaimed auctioneer Richard Madley wielded the hammer.

As Sahara officials walked out of the auction venue, a damning statement against BCCI from the franchises after the auction got underway at a five-star hotel triggered more questions about the development as it cited several reasons, including denial of natural justice by the world’s richest cricketing body.

“The auction began around 11 a. m. on a sombre note and was held in an orderly fashion for about 150 minutes till 1:30 p. m. when 17 of the 49 players were put on bid and bought by the different franchises. The absence of Pune Warriors’ and Kochi Tuskers’ franchisees was certainly felt,” an IPL official told IANS during lunch break.

When the auction resumed at 3 p. m. on a sedate note for the remaining players, it was called off an hour later as only eight more players could be sold and there were no takers for the remaining 95 players.

“The eight franchises have collectively spent $11 million for purchasing 25 players, which leaves out the remaining 119 for trading online from Monday,” IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla told reporters after the auction ended.

Though Bollywood superstar and flamboyant owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, Shah Rukh Khan and owner of Mumbai Indians Nita Ambani were the noted personalities present along with Ness Wadia of Kings XI Punjab and Siddharth Mallya of Royal Challengers Bangalore at the ‘replacement auction’, the zing was missing and the atmosphere was anything but romantic.

The conspicuous absence of Bollywood celebrities and owners of Kings XI and Rajasthan Royals Preeti Zinta and Shilpa Shetty, respectively, from the venue turned the auction damp squib where 144 players, including eight Indians and 136 foreign were up for grabs.

“The rejection rate was higher this time as the franchises were wary of bidding for anyone or everyone. They were choosy and selective due to fund crunch and utility of the player in the slots that were vacant to be filled,” the official pointed out.

Of the eight Indians, veteran batsman V. V. S. Laxman and pacer and V. R. V. Singh remained unsold, while Ravindra Jadeja, Vinay Kumar, Parthiv Patel, R. P. Singh, S. Sreesanth and Ramesh Powar were grabbed by the vying franchises.

Gujarat-born Jadeja was the star of the pick as he was grabbed by two-time winner franchise Chennai Super Kings for over $2 million (Rs. 10 crore) pipping Deccan Chargers in a tie-breaker.

Pacer Vinay returns to two-time runner-up Royal Challengers of Bangalore, which bid aggressively to buy him for $1 million after dropping him last year.

Deccan Chargers, which lost Kumar to Royal Challengers in the bid, however, managed to get wicket-keeper Patel for $650,000.

Pacer Singh was bought by Mumbai Indians for $600,000 while spinner Pawar was picked by Kings XI Punjab for $160,000.

Among foreign players who were bought include Mahela Jawardene from Sri Lanka by Delhi Daredevils for $1.4 million, Brendon McCullum from New Zealand and Sunil Narine from West Indies by Knight Riders for $900,000 and $700,000, respectively, Muthaiah Muralidharan from Sri Lanka by Royal Challengers for $220,000, Herschelle Gibbs from South Africa by Mumbai Indians for $500,000, and Brad Hodge from Australia by RR for $475,000.(IANS)

Lucknow/New Delhi (ANI) The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement on Saturday that it would be talking to long time Indian cricket team sponsor Sahara India to reconsider its decision to end its financial ties with it and its decision to pull out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) by withdrawing its ownership of the Pune Warriors” hours before the players” auction.

Sahara, which has been the team sponsor for 11 years, signed a renewed agreement with the BCCI on July 1, 2010 till December 31, 2013. Sahara was paying Rs. 3.34 crore per Test match, one-day international and Twenty20 International under the new terms.

“… after an 11-year journey as sponsors, we can say with surety that cricket has become very rich. Many rich people are there to support cricket with a strong will to do so. So, with absolute peace of mind we can exit from cricket under BCCI and are exiting with a heavy heart,” Sahara India said in a statement.

“It was an emotional decision for us to start this sponsorship, but our emotions were never appreciated, and many genuine situations were not given due consideration at all,” the statement read.

Sahara, which entered the cash-rich IPL bandwagon last year along with the now-disbanded Kochi Tuskers Kerala, complained that several requests put forth by it with regards to players and the number of matches were not accepted by the BCCI.

“Our first entry into IPL was thwarted in 2008 when we were disqualified, owing to a small technicality on the whims and fancies of BCCI. Yet our bid was not opened,” the statement said.

“Last year, Sahara entered the IPL on the basis of information in the media and everywhere else that 94 matches will be played among 10 teams. The bid price was accordingly calculated, but only 74 matches were played. We are still pursuing continuously with the BCCI to refund the extra bid money proportionately. It has been denied on the basis of strict rules.

“In the interest of the tournament, we repeatedly tried our best to pursue the BCCI for open auction of all players so that we achieve level playing field and all teams are equally balanced from the quality players” point of view. Again, as per BCCI”s strict rules it was denied and again, we were deprived of natural justice. 12 of the best players were retained by the existing teams then,” it added.

“The two new teams then requested for allowing us at least one extra foreign player but that too was denied, quoting rules.”

Sahara”s marquee player in the IPL is skipper Yuvraj Singh, who is currently recovering from tumour in the lungs.

His unavailability in the IPL this season prompted Sahara to ask the BCCI that the price of the batsman be added to their overall purse for the players auction but the request was turned down.

“Yuvraj Singh, who is truly like one of our family members, is, quite unfortunately, passing through a bad phase health wise, undergoing treatment for critical illness, overseas.

“Our duty is to take care of him, so Sahara has decided to pay him his full fee this year with condition as a Guardian that his priority should be health care and he should not play till he has fully recovered,” the company stated.

“We requested the BCCI on the basis of the fact that we have only one Indian marquee player, that we be allowed to add price of Yuvraj Singh in our auction purse, during the February 4 auction because we had later taken Sourav Ganguly at 0.4 million.

“Again, we have been denied on the basis of the rule book. Yet again, a case of being denied natural justice. We think this peculiar situation of Shri Yuvraj Singh is silent in the rule book because it probably talks only about players who are temporarily injured.”

Sahara is apparently also unhappy with the fact that Royal Challengers Bangalore were allowed to buy replacement player Chris Gayle this season.

“The manner in which Gayle was bought was not liked by many franchises, including Sahara,” a Sahara official said on condition of anonymity.

Sahara said even during the Champions League Twenty20, an injury-plagued Mumbai Indians were allowed to field an extra foreign player due to the crisis in the team but such gestures were never extended to Pune Warriors.

“Incidentally, once during the Champions League, one of the Indian IPL teams had a lot of injured players so they were rightly, out of natural justice, allowed to break the rules and take one extra foreign player. We appreciated this natural justice,” it said.

“We really feel such one-sided emotional relationship cannot be dragged any further. We are withdrawing from all cricket under BCCI,” it added.

But the company said that it would pay its sponsorship free for the next few months giving time to the BCCI to find a new sponsor. It also promised to pay the dues of its IPL players and staff.

“We don”t want to give any problem to the BCCI and we also feel that the players should not suffer. BCCI will definitely take 2-4 months to get a new sponsor and we will continue paying the sponsorship money till then,” it said.

“All other IPL team players, coaches and other such associates will definitely get their due this year, in case they do not get a chance to play,” it said.

Detailing what it felt were the BCCI”s attempts at slighting the company, Sahara was also unhappy about the fact that its logo was removed from the team shirt during the 2003 World Cup and a couple of other tournaments on directives of the ICC.

“Once during a World Cup tournament, Sahara”s name was not allowed because there was a clash of our Airline with a South African airline. In two major tournaments, the team had to play without the Sahara logo,” Sahara said.

“It was ICC”s decision so we could realise that it was for no fault of BCCI and we also did not want the players to suffer. As per the rules, we were not supposed to pay sponsorship money for those matches but we still paid the players share of the amount in entirety. Sadly, we never found BCCI believing in genuine give and take,” the company stated.

Having withdrawn from cricket under BCCI, Sahara said it would put in Rs. 1000 crore in a welfare foundation.

“We are very happy to take a decision that the cricket money will be diverted to social work. We are declaring to put immediately Rs. 500 crore in Sahara Welfare Foundation, which will be run with the association of eminent persons of our country. For the programme as mentioned below, Sahara declares to put around Rs. 500 crore more in the next 1-2 years as per the need of all the programmes,” the company said.

Sahara said it would develop “20 Rural/Semi Urban Sports Promotional Centres including Rural/Semi Urban Cricket promotional Centres.”

Sahara also announced that a support fund for old (retired) and present players who, at times, face “miserable days regarding medical bills, girls marriage, shelter etc.”

“Every year minimum 10 crore will be distributed — Rs. 3 crore for cricketers. Rs. 7 Crore for all other disciplines. We shall discuss with other federations where we are sponsoring different disciplines of sports and as per the genuine need for better promotion, we shall enhance the sponsorship amount.”

Jones said the kind of money which private T20 leagues are offering are too good to resist and the ICC must pay well players, who represent country in Test and ODI format.
He cited example of Australia’s domestic tournament Sheffield Shield, where players’ income has decreased after Big Bash league.

Jones argued that if representing the nation was not rewarding enough financially, the players would automatically be more drawn towards lucrative private leagues.

“T20 cricket cannot be stopped. It is a runaway train prepared to kill everything in its way. I am not joking when I say this. If we don’t handle T20 cricket properly, it will crush everything in its way, including the Test and one-day formats,” Jones wrote in his column for Sydney Morning Herald.

Jones said Cricket Australia along with the Australian Cricketers Association have to be very careful how they govern the game from now on.

“They dropped the squad from 20 paid players to 18 and payments were also dropped by up to 40 per cent. Let’s look at a quality player such as Chris Rogers from the Bushrangers.

“Rogers was earning in the vicinity of USD 100,000, but under the new deal between CA and ACA he is now earning as little as USD 40,000. So this gives me the impression playing first-class cricket is not financially rewarding. Shield cricket has become the ugly sister.”

“The money being offered around the world to T20 cricketers is staggering. So how do we stop youngsters who don’t want to play Sheffield Shield cricket from following the T20 gravy train? “

The he suggested the ways to tackle the problem.

“First, the ICC must standardise Test and ODI payments around the world: make it financially rewarding for players who do play international cricket for their country. Under the present system, why wouldn’t Chris Gayle become a private contractor and earn more than USD 3 million a year instead of USD 200,000 for his country? Cricket boards will realise money will win as it speaks all languages.”

He also suggested that only those players who have played international cricket should be allowed to play T20 cricket and that too with the permission of their boards, including Cricket Australia.

“This will make players want to play Test and ODI cricket first and foremost, as the rewards will be there. Once a player reaches international level, he will understand what the big deal is about and, hopefully, try to keep playing for his country.”

“The way things are going, Australian cricket could easily lose quality youngsters such as Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade, Aaron Finch, Moises Henriques and Glenn Maxwell to the big dollars offered by other T20 competitions. CA must try to stop this from happening.”

Karachi (PTI) Frustrated with the continuing deadlock over Indo-Pak cricket ties, PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf has claimed that India is not keen on a revival as the BCCI fears its out-of-form team would struggle against Pakistan.

Ashraf told Geo News in Dubai that he believed that the India are nervous because of the way Pakistan was playing in the ongoing Test series against England.
“If you see our team is doing very well and it has beaten England. The players are charged up and their morale is very high. In contrast everyone knows how the Indian team has been performing in Australia,” the PCB chief said.

“I get a feeling they are avoiding playing us because Pakistan team is doing very well. What I know is that perhaps the Indian board doesn’t want to play at this time because it is nervous that if their team loses against us the reaction of their people could be strong,” he added.

The bilateral cricket ties between the two countries have been frozen since the Mumbai terror attacks in November, 2008.

India cancelled a scheduled FTP tour to Pakistan in early 2009 and also sidelined a series at home against Pakistan this year.

Pakistani players are also being kept out of the Indian Premier League for the third successive edition.

Ashraf said the Indian board had so far not responded to any efforts by Pakistan to resume ties.

“There has been no response on proposals. They don’t want to play in India, not in Pakistan and not at neutral venues,” Ashraf said.

“But the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh himself attended the World Cup semifinal in Mohali and stressed on the need to resume cricket ties between both nations,” he said.

The PCB chief said while there was no denying that Pakistan would benefit a lot if it played India but he didn’t want both countries to resume bilateral cricket because of financial gains.

The PCB chief also confirmed that India and England had moved the resolution at the recent ICC executive board meeting to get the post of ICC vice-president abolished.

“India and England are not in favour of having a vice president position in the ICC,” he added.

New Delhi (ANI) Dashing left-hander Yuvraj Singh has said that he will draw inspiration from cycling champion Lance Armstrong to battle his lung tumour.

He is now in the US undergoing treatment.

According to the Gulf News, Singh”s much-anticipated return to cricket will hence be delayed further.

Even though he exuded confidence after the game, the national selectors did not want to “rush” him into a comeback for the One-day series in Australia while he has been also ruled out of the Asia Cup (March) and the Indian Premier League (IPL) in April-May.

According to reports in the Indian media, he is currently consulting oncologists in the US and there is growing speculation about the possibilities of surgery to remove the non-malignant growth, which is located between the lung and the heart.

Yuvraj, however, said that it was not true that he was undergoing surgery, and was only receiving medication.

Armstrong is a seven-time Tour de France winner and is a cancer survivor.

Yuvraj said that he was reading Armstrong”s book — It”s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life and hoped to be motivated enough to pull through is current illness.

The Indian Cricket Board, which has been footing the bills for his treatment, has rallied round him well – saying they are willing to bid their time for a fully fit Yuvraj Singh.

Members of the Sahara Pune Warriors team, whom he captained in the IPL last season, reveal he is “much better now” when Gulf News contacted to check on his well being.

Bangalore (IANS) India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was bought for a whopping $2 million by Chennai Super Kings in a hotly contested battle at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction here Saturday.

Jadeja, who had a base price of $100,000, was bagged in a tie-breaker between Super Kings and Deccan Chargers. The $2 million budget cap for the auction means Super Kings have spent all their money on a single player and cannot participate in the auction any more.

Five marquee players were put up for sale in the first session of the auction at the Royal Gardenia Hotel here and four of them played for defunct Kochi Tuskers in the 2011 edition.

New Zealand batsman-wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum (base price $400,000) was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders for $900,000 and was the first player to be sold.

Retired Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan ($200,000) was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for $220,000 while Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene ($300,000) attracted $1.4 million by the Delhi Daredevils after a two-way battle between the Delhi franchise and Deccan Chargers.

England fast bowler James Anderson went unsold with a base price of $300,000.

Melbourne (IANS) India’s cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni commended his side for an exceptional fielding effort in the second Twenty20 International against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground here Friday.

India won the match by eight wickets and levelled the two-match series after losing in Sydney Wednesday.

“The fielding was exceptional. It will be hard to beat this effort. We are a side that relies a lot on a good start, not about the runs, a good, calm start is what we look for. Overall it was a good effort by the bowlers and equally by the top three batsmen,” said Dhoni after the match.

The Indians looked tired and clueless in the field in the Test series which they lost 0-4. An injection of youth seems to have given a fresh vigour into the side. Ravindra Jadeja was adjudged Man of the Match for his exploits in the field.

Meanwhile, Australia captain George Bailey defended his decision to tinker with their winning side, saying that the focus was on the World Twenty20 in September.

“One of the things we wanted to get out of the week was trying a few different people in different spots,” Bailey said.

“Going forward Wade (Matthew) is going to have opportunities at the top and in the middle. Even tonight, I thought it was really pleasing that he showed what he can achieve it in both areas. That just gives us another option at different times. As much as trying to win, this week was as much about trying to find out what different people can do in different situations.”

Bailey though admitted that his side were out-fielded by an enthusiastic Indian side and said that the score in the end really did not project the true story as India cantered to a win.

“It wasn’t as close as it looked. Well short with the bat tonight. Four run-outs is the big difference. We were clearly out-fielded,” he said of Australia’s 131-run effort with the bat