ICC is powerless to stop match fixing, says Sarfra

Pakistan's whistleblowers on match fixing Sarfraz Nawaz and Rashid Latif said Friday that cricket authorities were powerless to stop match fixing in the Indian private leagues.

Banned Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar last week triggered a new controversy by claiming in a television interview that he was offered money to underperform in South Africa in 2003 and in India.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Anti-corruption Unit quizzed Akhtar and three other Pakistani players -- Younis Khan, Danish Kaneria and Umar Gul -- last week.

Nawaz said the ICC was not serious about stopping match fixing.

"I have given a lot of information on fixing to the ICC but they are not serious in stopping the rot. Now, through the various private leagues which offer millions of dollars, this menace will boom," said Nawaz, who played 55 Tests for Pakistan.

He said the ICC-recognised multi-billion dollar Indian Premier League (IPL), which starts on April 18, should be monitored.

"Millions of dollars are spent on this league, and I see an open field for bookmakers to fix matches and the players will be approached to lose matches. There should be some serious monitoring on that," he added.

The former paceman -- nicknamed the Sultan of Swing -- said the ICC had double standards in recognising the IPL and ruling a rival faction, the Indian Cricket League (ICL), unauthorised.

"I think boards of the country are getting big money and that is why they have allowed their players to feature in the IPL and have banned players who joined the other league," said Nawaz.

"I think Kapil Dev (former Indian captain who heads the ICL) must sue the ICC in an international court."

Former Pakistan captain Latif said players would be vulnerable to corruption in private leagues.

"Players are more likely to fall prey to corruption in private leagues as the national honour is not at stake there, so IPL people must monitor it seriously," said Latif.

Latif blew the whistle on fixing in 1995, saying some players were involved in the malpractice.

Latif blamed the ICC for not providing support to the players who reveal facts about fixing and demanded support for Akhtar.

"They (ICC) are ready to take action against a player who does not disclose information but does the ICC or ACSU offer proper protection, rewards and show respect to players who come forward and reveal the truth?" Latif asked.

"They are questioning Akhtar for not disclosing the offers (made) to him but why should any player come forward and reveal details about offers from bookies," the former wicket-keeper added.

Latif stressed fixing still existed in the game.

"Fancy fixing, and other methods are being used to corrupt players and it still exists in cricket," he said, referring to a type of fixing in which people can bet on various aspects of a match.

IPL will throw up a contest : Harsha Bhogle

So now that it is knocking at the door, hammering it down really, what can one finally look forward to from the Indian Premier League? I don't know about you but I am waiting for some cricket to take place. In recent times you might have thought that the IPL was a new movie, a music video, a new page 3 toy or a non-banking finance company. You can put what you want on the cover of the book, it only sells if the story is good and that is how it is going to be with the IPL where cricket is currently the step child grudgingly allowed into the family photograph. The cheerleaders might be good, the ads might be brilliant but it is those boring run-outs and catches, those mundane inhabitants of the real world, that determine who wins and who loses.

I know this sounds boring but the first thing I would like to see at the IPL is where the boundary rope is. If it is pulled in too much and hitting a six becomes an on-demand activity, cricket will cease to be a contest. It will be like one of those movie stars hitting twenty goons at one time. The World T20

championship told us that the bowlers had a role to play and it is the opportunity the bowlers are afforded that will determine how good the cricket is. Taking wickets was a very important part of the mix. It was wonderful to know.

I'd be curious to see how the big names go because I believe that this tournament is the opportunity for the little known, and less expensive, cricketers to shine. I believe every team should have discovered a

new star by game six or seven and it will be fascinating to try and predict who those players will be. If there is any lesson at all from the ICL (apart from the fact that the cricket should be on a channel that is in people's houses), it is that you underestimate any player at your own peril. These young men are audacious and love the big stage. And so when the lights come on, I expect some of them to slip into the front row.

And therefore return on investment will become an interesting way of judging players. How different will the star who costs 900,000 dollars be from the modest 50k man? And by the end, as the league matures and as learnings become apparent, people will start calculating whether it is better to have three players at 200,000 each rather than one at 800,000? Would the Arsene Wenger approach at Arsenal, where you are

forced to look at value for money, become popular or will the free-spending Chelsea style still survive? Indeed would young boys and girls start talking about supporting Mumbai Indians and Deccan Chargers instead of Liverpool or Man U? I would like nothing better than that. But there is no doubt that return on investment is a far better way of judging players than their price. A Shahrukh might be expensive but he delivers profits.

There are a few new captains around and their style will be something to look forward to as well. Mahendra Singh Dhoni backed his instinct in South Africa and let his young men take centre stage. In an extremely dynamic situation, where one over is five percent of the total, tactics become critical. In small games there is no sanctity to batting positions or indeed, to who bowls when. Opening batsmen complained that middle order players were taking over their jobs in one-day cricket. Well, in T20 a stage might well come where there are no openers and no middle order players, just batsmen who can bat anywhere. Robin Uthappa may be no.2 one day and no.7 on another and he must be equally good. No.6 might turn out to be your key batsman with shots we haven’t seen so far. We already know that the 'V' behind the wicket keeper is a reality where once it meant a player was playing straight down the ground. More new shots might emerge. More previously accepted ideas of safety might fly out of the window.

And what of the bowlers? Who is a good bowler? There will be no warm up deliveries, no gentle looseners and sleight of hand might be as useful as the perfectly delivered outswinger. Bowlers might pause in their delivery stride and release the ball after the batsman has committed himself. Learning to bowl straight might be a factor in the bowl out; indeed the regular bowler might not find a place there, replaced by someone who does, or can only do, very little.

It will be different, it will evolve its own subtlety but it will still remain a real contest.

As posted at Espnstar

South Africa players to miss 1st week of IPL action

Proteas recruits of the Indian Premier League will miss the first week's action as they have been asked to play the domestic Standard Bank Pro20 tournament.

"The players will be returning home to play in the semifinals and final of the tournament. The semifinals are scheduled on April 18 and 19 and the final is on April 25," South African team's media manager Michael Owen-Smith said.

The decision would mean that players like Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini will be available for the semi-finals and finals of the domestic competition and will fly back to India only after April 25.

Owen-Smith further added that the players will be immediately available for the IPL once they get free with their domestic duties.

"However, players whose team fails to make it to the final would be available to IPL immediately after the semi-final," Owen-Smith added.

So, we wont get to see players like Greame smith, Makhaya Ntini in action.

Rajasthan Royals Team video, Jaipur IPL team video

Kings eleven Punjab IPL Video, Punjab Ipl team video

Hyderabad Ipl team video, Deccan Chargers ipl video

Wounded Indian Team go thru gruelling net sessions

In between talks that the Indian team wants to play three spinners on what is expected to be a square turner in Kanpur for the final Test match against South Africa, Indian team began their preparations early but were missing two of their tweakers here on Monday.

Skipper Anil Kumble, who is still recovering from a groin strain sustained during the first Test in Chennai, as well as off spinner Harbhajan Singh with an upset tummy, were missing from the nets, while recalled Mumbai spinner Ramesh Powar is to reach Kanpur straight. Only Piyush Chawla was present along with the local spinners.

Having spent their following day after the innings defeat to the Proteas in the confines of their hotel rooms, they returned to Motera for an extended practice session, with a 16-man squad for the next match already announced.

The batsmen returned to the same square on which they were drubbed twice over – 76 all out in the first innings and 328 all out in the second – as coach Gary Kirsten Kirsten kept a close watch. Even Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who missed the fielding session due to a throat infection, came out for a knock in the middle.

Munaf Patel, who has also been recalled for the decider, was seen to be bowling to the batsmen, but Sreesanth, who seems to be having a shoulder niggle, was held back from bowling in the morning session. Gujarat pacer Siddharth Trivedi, who has been in excellent form with the ball for his state, was also seen steaming in.

Having got a clear idea about the surface in Kanpur, it was surprising to see the Indian players sweat it out on a green Motera pitch. Not the ideal preparation, one would say, as they could have atleast asked the ground staff to shave off one of the adjacent turfs to simulate the Green Park Stadium pitch.

The Indian team is scheduled to fly out from the city on Tuesday to Kanpur, where Ishant Sharma, who will have his fitness reassessed on April 10 along with his captain, will also join them.

Joshi on newly formed ICC medical panel

The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) chief sports medical consultant, doctor Anant Joshi, has been appointed as a member of the newly constituted International Cricket Council (ICC) medical committee.

Dr Joshi, who has been heading BCCI's medical committee for almost two decades, is the first Indian to be appointed on the ICC medical committee, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said in a release on Saturday.

The BCCI’s medical chief has a Master of Surgery (Orthopedic) from University of Bombay and Master in Sports Sciences in Sports Mechanic & Fitness from United States Sports Academy, Alabama, U.S.A, the release added.

Australian Board worried over IPL's influence on calender

Cricket Australia has expressed concerns that the success of Indian Premier League may have a negative influence on the international calender in future.

James Sutherland, CEO of the CA, said the cash-rich league may ask for more weeks for conducting the Twenty20 event as it gains popularity.

"It's a six-week window one day, does it creep into eight, 10, 12 weeks when the IPL becomes a great success?"," Sutherland was quoted as saying in 'The Age' today.

"The moment it starts to compromise international cricket, we have concerns and doubts about the whole thing," he added.

Sutherland's fears stem from the fact that the West Indies Cricket Board has allowed three of its players to play in the inaugural IPL, instead of in the Test matches against Australia in May and June in Caribbean.

West Indies captain Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, will be unavailable for the opening two Tests of the series if their IPL sides make the finals.

Donald Peters, WICB Chief Executive Officer, had said that there were little chance of stopping them with so much money on offer.

"Given the amount of money involved, it certainly destabilises the infrastructure of cricket. It's not fair to the players, and it's not fair to the national teams," he had said.

Peters, however, was confident that the series against Australia would be a success even without big names.

"I believe people in the West Indies want to see our team play, and I personally feel if we can put a few young, exciting players out there, people will still come to watch the matches," he said.

Gary Kirsten and Upton begin coaching sessions

India's new coach Gary Kirsten and his associate Paddy Upton, who is in charge of the team's mental conditioning and fitness, have begun their official stints with workshops of an "exploratory nature" spread across two days at the team hotel in Chennai. The sessions, around 90 minutes each, focused mainly on paths to success and ways to overcome failure.

The players were divided into groups, each asked to devise methods to deal with the two issues. They were also asked to come up with inspiring moments that were crucial in their careers.

"It was a low-key affair where both sides (the new coaches and the players) tried to get a basic understanding of where each was headed," one of those present told Cricinfo. "Both sides were slowly getting to know each other better. One player spoke about coming through a period in which he couldn't score, and another spoke about a key childhood experience."

Some of the major points identified as means to attain success and overcome failure were good planning, better understanding, responsibility, determination and enjoying success.

"It was a stress-free affair, with both sides showing signs of settling down," the participant said. "Many of the players are already beginning to feel comfortable in the new set-up. Most importantly, there were no lectures, or any attempt to say, 'Look, we are going to show you something'. Rather, the idea was to make players look inside and come up with the answers themselves. By the second session, there was a fair amount of involvement from the players, though obviously this is just the beginning."

Though the structure and content of the meetings were hardly new, they were an early indicator of the low-key manner in which Kirsten and Upton have begun to integrate themselves into the Indian set-up. This is in stark contrast to the forceful entry of previous coach Greg Chappell, who had the team in awe initially with his reputation and playing record.

Kirsten's style is much more subtle, starting with the way he reached Australia as a consultant and remained in the background during that controversial series, letting the captain, Anil Kumble, and his think-tank take the big calls.

"For now, and considering past experience, this seems the right way to start. But it's still early days," said another participant.

Misbah goes to Bangalore, Mumbai gets Prince in second IPL auction

Pakistans attacking middle-order batsman Misbah Ul Haq, who almost took the Twenty20 World Cup away from India, was one of the top stars to go under the hammer in the second auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday. He went for $125,000 to Bangalore's Royal Challengers.

Another prized catch was South Africa's Ashwell Prince, who was picked up for $175,000 by Mumbai Indians.

The next big catch was England all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas, who was grabbed by Jaipur for $100,000. He became the first England player to be auctioned at the IPL.

So far English players had not figured in the auction as their county season overlaps with the IPL. It now transpires that Mascarenhas' team Hampshire will issue him a no-objection certificate to play in the IPL.

Although there were 18 foreign players up for grabs, the focus was on the India Under-19 players whose fee was fixed at $30,000.

Bangalore got India Under-19 captain Virat Kohli and wicketkeeper Shreevats Goswami while Delhi snapped up local lad and left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan. Taruwar Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja went to Jaipur, while Kolkata took Siddarth Kaul and Iqbal Abdulla. Mohali will have Tanmay Srivastava and Ajitesh Argal.

Mumbai Indians went for Saurabh Tiwary and Manish Pandey while Chennai Super Kings took Napoleon Einstein and Abhinav Mukund, the two Tamil Nadu players from the U-19 World Cup squad.

Among the foreign players coming under the hammer, Jaipur signed up South African fast bowler Morne Morkel ($60,000), Australian all-rounder Shane Watson ($125,000) and Pakistan left-arm fast bowler Sohail Tanvir ($100,000).

Kolkata bought Pakistanis Salman Butt and Mohammad Hafeez for $100,000 each.

Mohali paid $300,000 for Australian James Hopes and $50,000 for his mate Luke Pomersbach as well as $150,000 for New Zealand bowler Kyle Mills.

Bangalore also signed up Bangladesh left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak ($50,000) and New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor ($100,000).

Zaheer Khan doubtful starter for SA series

Left-arm fast bowler Zaheer Khan appears doubtful for the initial part of India's Test series against South Africa as he needs four weeks to be match-fit for international cricket.

"I am not yet ready for international cricket", said Zaheer, who pulled out of the Test series against Australia because of an ankle injury.

The speedster, who is part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team launched here on Wednesday, said he hoped to be in position to bowl in four weeks.

Bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad also said Zaheer needs time to regain full fitness.

The first Test between India and South Africa starts on March 26 in Chennai.

Former India captain Rahul Dravid, who is leading the Vijay Mallya-owned Royal Challengers Bangalore IPL team, said he is excited about the prospect of sharing a dressing room with international stars such as Jacques Kallis and Nathan Bracken.

"It (IPL) is a new concept and whether we succeed will be known in time," Dravid said at the launch of the team here last night.

"If the cricket is good, the crowds will come back."

This is what Zaheer khan had to say

Andre Nel ditched for India tour, may quit South Africa

SA fast bowler Andre Nel has most likely played his last game for his country as politics, through the system of targets, forced his exclusion from the tour of India later this month.

It could lead him quitting South Africa before the tour of England later this year and instead, find him playing under a Kolpak contract that will end his international career.

Andre Nel, who devastated the Bangladesh batting in the second ODI of the series on Wednesday, was a reluctant member of the side for the game, taking 4-29 as the tourists won the game by seven wickets and a 2-0 lead in the three match series.

Upset and angry at being dropped from the three-match Test tour of India later this month, Nel's place in the side for the India tour has been filled by Charl Langeveldt, who is three years older and largely an untried competitor in Indian conditions.

In a career of six Tests Langeveldt has earned 16 wickets at 37.08, hardly the credentials to worry the Indian batting opposition. While he picked up three wickets in the second game against Bangladesh on Wednesday, he was bowling in a slipstream created by Nel's pace.

Langeveldt is seen more as a ODI competitor than a Test bowler, but the team, announced late Tuesday, also excludes an out-of-form Herschelle Gibbs.

Nel's ditching highlights the sort of politics that Cricket South Africa are now prepared to dabble in with their players in what is a crucial tour. But officials such as Cricket South Africa's President, Norman Arendse is not bothered by the future of such players as Nel.

As the rangy 30-year-old East Rand fast bowler is not of the books of teams in either the Indian Premier League or the unofficial Indian Cricket League, he could look for an ICL contract as well as a Kolpak deal.

His axing makes him the first victim of a deliberate revenge tactic employed by certain political circles within South Africa that have been interfering with team selection policy. They want to change the colour of the South African side before the 2011 World Cup in the sub-continent.

Nel was seen in animated conversation with team coach Mickey Arthur at the team's hotel in Chittagong before the second game of the series on Tuesday and is believed to have told the coach he didn't want to play, but reluctantly agreed.

May we see him more often

18 International players finalised for second IPL Bidding

Pakistan's Mohammed Yousuf and South Africa's Ashwell Prince, who were dumped by franchise owners at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction last month, along with Misbah-ul-Haq will be among the 18 players to be auctioned on Tuesday.

IANS accessed the highly confidential players' list that will be distributed to the eight franchise owners not before Tuesday morning.

The list includes seven New Zealanders, four Australians, three Pakistanis, two from Bangladesh, and one each from Sri Lanka and South Africa.

The list includes the cricketers who are already contracted by IPL, an extension of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and would be playing in the maiden edition of the lucrative Twenty20 tournament starting April 18.

"There are 13 other foreign players who have shown keen interest to play in the first season," a top BCCI official told IANS on condition of anonymity.

As per the IPL rules, the high profile team owners are free to buy more foreign players from outside the list of 18. But the teams will have to inform the IPL about the players they are targeting and the organisers will then negotiate their base price and try to secure the no-objection certificates (NOCs) from their home boards.

Pakistani batting's mainstay Yousuf and Prince were up for sale in the first auction, but there were no takers for the two players. They were once again ignored even when they were presented at the end of the eight-round auction, where 75 players went down the hammer. The duo would now be hoping to be picked Tuesday.

Misbah, on the other hand, was not in the fray in the first auction.

The team owners, who were asked to spend between $3.3 million and $5 million at the first auction in Mumbai Feb 20, have varying amounts left in their kitty, which necessitated a second auction.

The amounts left are: $374,000 with Bangalore, $23,750 with Chennai, $71,250 with Delhi, $262,500 with Hyderabad, $1,700,000 with Jaipur, $107,500 with Kolkata, $292,250 with Mohali and $53,750 with Mumbai.

"However, if a team overspends $5 million on players who were initially not available but become available later, the excess expenditure will be ignored. Also, player fees for Indian players who were not in the auction do not count against the $5m purse," said the official.

"There will be no more auctions this season," the official added.

Each team can have a minimum of 16 players, including a maximum of eight currently available foreigners but not more than four in the playing XI. Those foreign players who are not available will not count towards the total.

The minimum of four under-22 players to be selected for the squad will be taken from catchments areas and include U-19, Ranji Trophy and national players. They should be under 22 years of age as on April 1 of the applicable season.

The minimum fee for Ranji Trophy and non-auction players has been fixed at $50,000 per season while under-22 players will receive $20,000 for the same period.

All players must submit the NOCs at least 30 days before the start of every season, with the exception for the Australian players.

Cricket Australia (CA) has said that it would give NOCs to its players, if the franchise keen to contract a player has already met two conditions: (a) it has already signed two CA's centrally contracted players, or (b) it has already signed two players registered to the same Australian state association. This clause was added at the last minute before the first auction and will again apply.

But players who have retired from international and Australian domestic cricket and are not contracted with either CA or their state association - like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath - do not have to meet this condition.

All team owners have to finalise their squads by 30 days before the start of the 2008 season, which is March 19.

Players for second auction: (includes Availability for the tournament)

1 Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan/batsman/season availability 80 percent)
2 Ashwell Prince (South Africa/batsman, 100 percent)
3 Kyle Mills (New Zealand/bowler/ 40 percent)
4 Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan/all-rounder, 80 percent)
5 Ross Taylor (New Zealand/batsman/40 percent)
6 Peter Fulton (New Zealand/batsman/40 percent)
7 Jamie How (New Zealand/batsman/40 percent)
8 Jeetan Patel (New Zealand/bowler/40 percent)
9 Chris Martin (New Zealand/bowler/40 percent)
10 James Franklin (New Zealand/bowler/40 percent)
11 Brad Hodge (Australia/batsman/100 percent)
12 Shane Watson (Australia/all-rounder/100 percent)
13 James Hopes (Australia/all-rounder/80 percent)
14 Luke Pomersbach (Australia/batsman/100 percent)
15 Prasanna Jayawardene (Sri Lanka/wicket-keeper-batsman/100 percent)
16 Mohammad Ashraful (Bangladesh/all-rounder/100 percent)
17 Mashrafe Mortaza (Bangladesh/batsman/100 percent)
18 Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan/batsman/80 percent)

Players who have expressed their interest:

1 Goolam Bodi (South Africa)
2 Shaun Marsh (Australia)
3 Brad Hogg (Australia)
4 Shaun Tait (Australia)
5 Adam Voges (Australia)
6 Mick Lewis (Australia)
7 Darren Lehman (Australia)
8 Allen Wise (Australia)
9 Aiden Blizzard (Australia)
10 Adam Crosthwaite (Australia)
11 Yasir Hameed (Pakistan)
12 Kieran Powell (West Indies)
13 Dwayne Smith (West Indies)

Australian board Cries again, demands action against Harbhajan singh

Harbhajan Singh may have returned from Down Under, but he is still on the radar of the Aussies. Cricket Australia (CA) has asked for an action against the turbunator for allegedly calling Matthew Hayden 'a liar'. And the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) in turn, has told Bhajji to keep quiet.

The spinner apparently in an interview has also said that Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist was "no saint."

Reacting to media reports, Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland has shot off a letter to BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah, in which he was quoted as saying: "Enough is enough. Despite assurances that you have instructed him not to fuel this issue any more, Harbhajan continues to say whatever he wants. When will it ever end? Could you please deal with your player in regard to these comments.

"We've certainly, through our actions with Matthew Hayden, been firm with our own players in terms of where the tipping point is."

"We believe it is possible to make intelligent, thoughtful and even provocative public comment without descending to personal abuse."

Disputes over IPL ticket sale continues

Even as Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment gears up to host matches of BCCI's multi-million dollar Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens here, the contentious issue of ticket distribution among Cricket Association of Bengal's affiliates and members is yet to be resolved.

On February 26, majority of CAB affiliates had demanded at a Special General Meeting that RCE provide a larger share of tickets, than the 20 per cent decreed by the IPL, to the CAB for distribution among the clubs, universities, the Office Sports Federation and the districts as well as life, annual and associate members for the matches slated to begin from April 18.

However, two days before SRK's arrival here for making major announcements regarding the jersey, nomenclature, and theme song of the Kolkata side, the dissidents on Sunday claimed they had no clue to "what happened to the demand voiced by the majority of members at the SGM."

"Nothing seems to have happened after February 26. I doubt whether even the office-bearers have any idea," ex-BCCI joint secretary and dissident leader Goutam Dasgupta said.

"Majority of the units had expressed their view. It's now the duty of the powers-that-be to follow it up. But they seem to be keeping us in the dark on whether they have been able to persuade RCE or not or whether they have at all discussed the issue with RCE," he said.

Harbhajan Singh Controversy - Enough is enough

Enough is enough, Yes. If - and that’s a big If - there is proof that Harbhajan Singh made monkey gestures during the Sydney final, he should be banned. If he didn’t, the Australian media that insist he did should be made to apologise - and perhaps to pay a hefty compensation.

The latest case against him seems to be based on a photograph in the Sydney Morning Herald. Under the headline: Harbhajan in hot water again, up to his armpits it shows the bowler scratching his right armpit with his left hand.

The expression is of a man gaining relief from the most common of gestures. A sportsman spit, scratch intimate parts of his body, blow his nose or dig his ear wax. Not exactly great sights on television, but he is a human like the rest of us. Hence, to mistake an honest armpit scratch for a gesture pregnant with insult is both silly and outrageous.

Those who study these things know - and have been telling us - that the true monkey gesture is about scratching your right and left armpits with your right or left arm respectively. Right with right and left with left. Cross-scratching does not qualify as a racial insult.

Luckily, the story seems to have died a natural death, although the treatment meted out to Harbhajan in Sydney by the crowds has come in for dissection in the Indian media.

They insulted his religion, said one news channel, another said they called out all kinds of obscenities. The player himself behaved with remarkable restraint, even laughing at times and pointing out the special treatment to an umpire.

The newspaper with the photograph gave the lie to its own story by inserting this advertisement asking for public help: Do you know more? Did you see the alleged monkey gesture? Message 0424 SMS SMH (+61 424 767 764) or email us with information or images.

I rest my case.

Harbhajan has got support from unexpected quarters. Former skipper Allan Border is quoted as saying in the same newspaper: "I was over that side of the ground and Harbhajan was copping a fair bit of stick from the crowd. I didn't notice any gestures at all and I thought he handled himself pretty well.”

If there is one thing Australians cannot stomach, it is defeat; and if there is one group of people who seem more upset about it than the players, it is the media.

Harbhajan is no saint, he is perfectly capable of looking after himself as he has shown while earning the title of public enemy number one in Australia. And if the crowds decide to barrack him no matter what, it is a part of touring. Muttiah Muralitharan knows all about it, as do most cricketers who tour Australia.

The Indians have been reacting with remarkable maturity. The beamer fired at Sachin Tendulkar by the world’s fastest bowler is a case in point. Now there is a serious offence - but the media ignored it.

The players are behaving themselves. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the media.

Tendulkar Needed match-winners in IPL

The Reliance Industries-owned Mumbai franchisee had gone to last month's IPL players' auction armed with a strategy and wish-list outlined by master batsman Sachin Tendulkar and executed them to a large extent, according to the chief representative of the franchisee.

In an exclusive interview to PTI, the President and Chief Marketing Officer of Reliance Retail Limited, R Balachandran said he would give a figure of 8 on a 1-10 scale about the outcome of the February 20 auction in which they trained their focus on roping in match-winning players.

"We went into the auction with a fairly clear idea of what we wanted. He (Tendulkar) thinks cricket from many angles and thinks continuously. We had a lot of dialogue. He had a wish-list and there was a strategy behind the players that we went out to pick and the players we got. We executed that strategy.

"He sought specific players. If you look at the players you will see we have selected people who by themselves are match-winners. That's a very important aspect.

"Yes, we came out a happy lot. If you put it in a scale of 1-10, I would say it probably would be around 8," said Balachandran, who headed the Mumbai franchisee team at the auction.

"I believe it's not just possession but a question of choosing match winners. This is what is behind a good amount of our strategy. I know Sachin's mind has worked on all this a lot," he elaborated.

Another major factor influencing their choice of players was their availability in the first year of the April 18-June 1 League, Balachandran said.

"All the players we have picked up at the auction are 100 per cent available this year. That's very important. We did not necessarily go into the auction to choose the entire team which could not have been done as per the rules of the auction.
"What we did was to pick the core of the team in which Sachin is the nucleus, as the icon player not only as a batsman and a vastly experienced captain but also as a thinking cricketer," he said.

The Reliance official also said that the three Ss in the squad - Sachin, Sanath (Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka) and Shaun (Pollock of South Africa) - would play key roles in the moulding of the team with their vast experience as players and captains in the international arena.

"If you take Sanath, Sachin of course or Shaun Pollock, quite apart from anything else they are cricketers with so much experience. Experience finally makes a difference in that split second of a decision and a split second often comes when you have got the compressed format of play.

"All three of them have been captains of their countries as well as among the most respected cricketers in the world," he pointed out.

"That's a huge resource we have, whether its Sanath, Shaun or Sachin - the three Ss in our team - with the fourth S being strategy," the Mumbai franchise representative said.

Balachandran, however, effectively ruled out any chance of Tendulkar emulating Australian leg spin legend Shane Warne who has become the captain-cum-coach of the Jaipur franchise owned by Emerging Media.

"We will have a separate coach. We are not yet ready to make an announcement yet about him and support staff, but are not looking at a combination (coach cum captain)," he said.

"We will clearly have designated support staff. We all recognise the role and the importance of Sachin in the team," he said.

Balachandran pointed out that the opening combination of Tendulkar and Jayasuriya was one of the most explosive that can be found in the history of the game and would regale the crowds.

"It will be absolutely fantastic to watch potentially the most explosive opening pair in the history. We have Shaun Pollock who's known as a thinking cricketer, whether with the ball or bat or the mind.

"We have a couple of other fast bowlers in Lasith Malinga and Dilhara (Fernando). We also have Loots Bosman with a good track record.

"All these men can change the course of the game. I don't have to say much about Robin Uthappa and Harbhajan," he added. The focus now was in completing the team and as a first step the team has chosen Mumbai Ranji Trophy players, all rounder Abhishek Nair and talented youngster Ajinkya Rahane, along with hard-hitting wicket keeper batsmen Yogesh Takawale of Maharashtra and Pinal Shah of Baroda.

"Having built the core with Sachin as the nucleus we have started to look outwards after the auction and picked Abshishek Nair, an explosive batsman, Ajinkya Rahane, Yogesh Takawale and Pinal Shah, the latter two being hard-hitting wicket keeper batsmen. Over the course of the next week we will announce a few more names," he said.

The franchise representative did not worry too much about the absence of many Mumbaikars in the team, saying that the team was not yet complete and that they possessed the biggest of them all -- Tendulkar.

"Here's a man (Tendulkar) who has embodied the spirit of cricket in Mumbai. He's the essence of cricket of this generation. Mumbai has watched him grow and set records which people are still proud of breaking if they are broken.

"Normally cricketers get respected, admired and even envied. I think Sachin is beyond that. Having said that the team is
still like a work in progress, not completed yet.

"But look at the starting point. The starting point itself has fetched us the best loved Mumbai cricketer of this generation. It's a great starting point," he emphasised.

This was a article about Sachin Tendulkar and the mumbai IPL Team

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