IPL not to blame for Test clashes, says Modi

Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi said his organisation could not be held responsible if Sri Lanka cancelled their tour of England in April and May next year.

Sri Lanka, themselves a substitute side for Zimbabwe, could pull out of the scheduled two Tests and three one-day internationals, which precede the Ashes, because stars such as Kumar Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralitharan are contracted to the IPL.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan board, who are in no position to offer their players anything like the money they might earn in the Twenty20 jamboree, are concluding a 40-million dollars deal with the IPL.

That would lead to the full participation of Sri Lankan players in the IPL and the Twenty20 Champions League for the next decade.

Modi, speaking at the Global Sport Summit in London, said: “The ICC’s (International Cricket Council’s) tours programme is fixed seven years in advance. Everybody commits to that and players commit to their countries on that basis.

“There are gaps in the scheduling. Based on those gaps players and countries make other programmes to fill them. The Indian Premier League took into account the ICC’s fixed programme and signed players on three-year contracts.

“The Sri Lanka board gave their players a no-objection certificate for three years to play in the Indian Premier League.

“Unfortunately the Zimbabwe tour to England was cancelled. The ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) had an obligation to Sky television to bring another team in.

“It is always portrayed that the Indian Premier League is stopping the Test matches being played. There was never a scheduled Test in the first place.

“The Sri Lankan tour would breach the contract with the Indian Premier League.”

England is unusual among major cricket nations in that good crowds regularly attend Test matches. Many believe the growth of Twenty20 tournament such as the IPL poses a threat to what traditionalists sill regard as the ultimate form of the game.

But Modi said there was room in the calendar for both brands of cricket. “Test cricket is here to stay. It has its own hard core following and we will continue to see that go forward,” said Modi.

The England and Wales Cricket Board had said centrally contracted players could not play IPL cricket in 2009. But Modi said it might be possible for the likes of England captain Kevin Pietersen to get his hands on an IPL contract.

“We would love to have the English players play for the IPL. We have the top 100 players in the world in the IPL and they are the only players missing.

“The ECB has approached the BCCI and the IPL with the objective of saying they are ready to provide non-objection certificates to the English players to play in the IPL.

“But there is a big catch to it.

“The ECB are set to launch the English Premier League and the quid pro quo is that if the ECB was to release their players, then the IPL must release a minimum of 20 players for the English Premier League.

“It has to go to a governing council and the BCCI board for approval. In the absence of that approval we will continue the way we are.

“I hope the English players can participate but I cannot guarantee that.”

Anand retains world chess title with a draw

Viswanathan Anand was in no mood to relent after his 10th round loss to Russian Vladimir Kramnik a day before Diwali. The Indian Grandmaster mixed aggression with caution to eke out a draw and retain the World Championship title in the 11th game on Wednesday.

Anand required only half-a-point to clinch the title and win a purse of euro 250,000. He grabbed his chance with both hands the moment Kramnik offered him an opportunity. The 38-year-old Indian thus moved to 6.5 points and retained the title he won in Mexico last year by topping a field of eight players that also included Kramnik.

Kramnik tried to take the game on Wednesday through a maze of complicated moves, as that was the only way to put pressure on the Indian. However, Anand fought bravely and negated all threats posed by his rival. He neutralised the complications and steered the game to a position from where Kramnik could see no chance of winning and thus decided to concede the match.

This was the third World Championship title for Anand, who had earlier bagged the title in 2000 at Delhi and Tehran by winning the FIDE knock-out tournament, and then regained it last year at Mexico.

The title also made the Indian undisputed champion of the game. He was already the world champion in ‘tournament and knockout formats’ but this ‘match-play’ victory has made him the all-round champion. Anand’s win is all the more significant considering that the chess bodies have unified.

Anand’s dilemma

Anand was in a dilemma as to whether he should play it safe and allow his rival go for broke, or go for sharp, complicated lines that served him well in the first half of the match. He finally decided to play his usual aggressive game and reached a comfortable position midway through the game. It became clear the Indian Grandmaster would be able to squeeze out at least a draw unless he made a mistake or Kramnik pulled a rabbit out of his hat.

Anand surprised Kramnik by opening with the king pawn, his favourite first move with white that he had steadfastly avoided in this match thus far. Anand had started by moving a pawn in front of his queen, which he had done rarely before this match and forced a bemused Kramnik into sharp, complicated lines that the Russian failed to handle properly.

But on Wednesday, Kramnik was up for a battle and chose the Sicilian Najdorf, one of the sharpest openings and which he has not used many times.

Anand offered a pawn and Kramnik took it and created complications by launching an attack on the Indian Grandmaster’s king.

However, Anand won back the pawn, exchanged pieces and traded off the queens to steer the game to a position where black had no choice but to draw.

As Kramnik offered his hand with a shake of his head, the crowd in the hall stood up to applaud Anand.

Win it, shut it

Sourav Ganguly was doing laps of the ground, jogging alongside Paddy Upton, the trainer. VVS Laxman had just made his way out to the middle with resistance ropes to do some stretching. Sachin Tendulkar was throwing down balls to the last of the batsmen having nets and Anil Kumble was trying to get the session wrapped up, as the sun set on the Ferozeshah Kotla, a ground where India have not lost a Test in nearly 21 years. Just when you wondered where the last of the seniors was, Rahul Dravid arrived to meet the press. No, he did not make any announcements about a retirement plan.

With Diwali around the corner, and a 1-0 lead, the Indian contingent was in high spirits three days before they set out to seal the series. There has been plenty of talk about how India’s fast bowlers have unlocked the key to reverse swinging the ball early but Dravid, typically, played it down.

“Sometimes we can complicate things a bit too much. We talk about this preparation and that, this video analysis and that, this reverse swing and that … we look at a lot of things outside the cricket field and think they make a huge impact on what happens on the field. Realistically we have just batted, bowled and fielded much better than them,” said Dravid. “At the end of the day, it’s what you do between those 22 yards that’s important.”

But Dravid did concede that there was something to the success of the fast bowlers. “Zaheer is hitting right areas consistently. His rhythm is fantastic. The same could be true of Ishant. When I stood in the slips to (Javagal) Srinath I always spoke to him about his rhythm,” explained Dravid. “I feel the same with Zak and Ishant. Standing at slip you just sense it from the way they run in, the approach to the crease and the way they hit the crease.”

But even with the team on a high, Dravid has not played one of his signature big knocks in this series. He has looked positive, struck the ball well, and got solid starts, but the big score has eluded. “It has been a bit disappointing. I thought I’ve batted well in this series. Even in Bangalore, in the first innings, I got a 50. On a very good wicket in Mohali I couldn’t convert. Generally I know that when I’m batting well there are some runs around the corner.”

With all the other batsmen coming into their own quite nicely, the one headache Australia could do without is Dravid slipping into big-scoring mode at No. 3. Australia have spread fields and adopted a semi-defensive approach to stem the flow of runs, but this has not succeeded so far.

“In this series my strike rate (runs per ball) has been better than in 2004 (against Australia where the same tactics were used). If fields are spread out sometimes good shots get you only one run. But this just means you have to bat longer to get your runs. Someone like me might have to bat an extra hour to get a big score. It’s something I’ve done in the past. You just have to be a bit more patient.”

Patience at the batting crease is one thing. But you can be sure this team is in a hurry to wrap the series up at the earliest opportunity.

Indian board snaps bilateral ties with SLC

Miffed at the “hostile” statements from Sri Lanka Cricket officials against Indian Premier League, the BCCI has decided to put on hold India’s all future bilateral series against Sri Lanka.

According to confidential documents relating to a recent meeting between officials of the two boards, the Indians have made it clear that until the SLC changes its present hostile attitude towards BCCI, all tours by the Indian team in the FTP till 2012 stand unconfirmed.

Documents show that IPL Chairman Lalit Modi and other BCCI officials were extremely unhappy with some of the statements made by the Sri Lankan board officials particularly president Arjuna Ranatunga about the BCCI and Indian Premier League.

“Mr Modi and Mr (Niranjan) Shah were very puzzled and shocked at the attitude of Sri Lankan cricket towards the BCCI and had serious concerns with regards to some of the press statements which had been released by some SLC officials,” the document stated.

“Further they were very curious to find out the hostile manner in which the SLC mentioned BCCI/IPL.”

The meeting was attended by Modi and other Indian board officials with a delegation of the Sri Lankan cricket board including Siddath Wettimuny.

The documents state that the Indian board had also decided to withdraw the $40 million bailout package offer to Sri Lankan cricket as they are not happy that the SLC chairman had decided to make public what was a confidential offer.

The Indian officials mentioned a damaging comment from Ranatunga in Dubai stating BCCI was trying to buy Sri Lankan cricket with the bailout package.

Modi said at the meeting that the bailout package was made with a genuine effort to assist Sri Lankan cricket who had a mutual understanding with them.

The two boards were locked in a piquant situation over the clash of dates of the Lankan tour of England and the second edition of IPL in April-May next year. PTI 

BCCI keeps mum

Meanwhile, Hindustan Times  correspondent reports from New Delhi that the BCCI were bemused and irritated in equal parts at reports suggesting suspension of bilateral ties with SLC.

“The FTP is something that is adopted by all playing countries. It is not something that you can just cancel any time you please,” said one top functionary who did not want to be named. “Even if such a decision is to be taken the board has to follow due process. It is not something that one man or a few men can decide on their own.”

When asked if the IPL had told Sri Lanka Cricket that they would not receive financial assistance unless Arjuna Ranatunga was removed as board president a senior IPL official denied the charge.

“We do not tell other boards who to appoint or who not to appoint. There is so much speculation surrounding the deal that is being discussed, but you have to understand that there is nothing sinister about it,” said the official. “We were disappointed, and surprised, at the manner in which Ranatunga has been attacking the IPL and T20 cricket while at the same time having ICL players on the podium to give away awards during India’s recent tour.”

Ronaldinho double helps Milan sink 10-man Sampdoria

Ronaldinho struck twice and Filippo Inzaghi was also on target as AC Milan beat 10-man Sampdoria 3-0 at the San Siro on Sunday.

The Brazilian stepped up to convert a 55th-minute penalty conceded for handball by Sampdoria defender Stefano Lucchini, who was sent off, and he doubled the lead 11 minutes later after some nice interplay with his compatriot Kaka down the left.

Inzaghi dodged past keeper Luca Castellazzi to slip the ball home in stoppage time and make sure Samp stayed without a league win.

Catania beat Sicilian rivals Palermo, who played the second half with 10 men after Moris Carrozzieri was sent off for a second yellow, 2-0 to earn themselves a share of the Serie A top spot.

They have 14 points from seven games and are level with Udinese, who came from 2-0 down to salvage a 2-2 draw at Lecce, and Napoli, who beat Juventus 2-1 on Saturday.

Milan are one point behind the trio, as are champions Inter Milan, who can go two points clear if they win at struggling AS Roma in Sunday’s late game.