BCCI bars Pakistani players from IPL

By Abhishek Manroa

NEW DELHI, India (TheSportsNEXT) December 6, 2012: Bilateral cricket ties between bitter neighbors Pakistan and India may be reviving but the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) is not ready to have Pakistani cricketers in its cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL).

According to local media reports, the IPL Governing Council has ordered the franchises not to pick Pakistani players in the auction to be held in January.

Pakistani players participated in the inaugural edition of IPL but since then they have been put out of the event. Sohail Tanvir was declared Bowler of the IPL-I while Shahid Afridi was one of the most popular cricketers in the event.

Officially the matter of including or not including Pakistani players in the upcoming edition of the IPL has been postponed till the next meeting of the IPL Governing Council which includes its chairman Rajiv Shukla, Arun Jaitley, Ravi Shastri, Anirudh Chaudhary, and MP Pandove.

Since playing the first edition, Pakistani players have been refused to participate in the cash-rich league and only former Pakistani all-rounder Azhar Mahmood was part of the Kings XI Punjab but only as a British national.

The latest development may shock a number of Pakistani players who were hoping to be part of the IPL riches this season. Most of the Pakistani cricketers including Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohail Tanvir, and others have reportedly talked about playing the IPL in great enthusiasm.

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Sun TV brings Hyderabad Deccan back to life on IPL map

By Abhishek Manroa

NEW DELHI, India (TheSportsNEXT) October 25, 2012: The Hyderabad Deccan was resurrected on the Indian Premier League’s map on Thursday when the Sun TV Network acquired the rights to own the IPL franchise after bidding around 15.9 million US dollars for a five-year deal.

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Hyderabad was previously represented by Deccan Chargers in the cash-rich Indian Premier League who were terminated by the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) for failing to meet the deadline for raising its bank guarantee.

The Sun TV Network beat PVP Ventures who offered around 12.9 million US dollars for the IPL franchise. The PVP Ventures have failed for the second time to own the Hyderabad Deccan franchise in the IPL after they offered 900 crore Indian rupees or 164 million US dollars for a period of ten years last month.

IPL Governing Council announced the decision in Mumbai on Thursday a week after it terminated the Deccan Chargers for failing to cope with financial liabilities.

Apart from announcing Sun TV Network as the latest inclusion in the IPL family, the Governing Council also decided on future of the high-profile cricketers like Kumar Sangakkara and Dale Steyn who were part of the Deccan Chargers.

The BCCI has reportedly offered the Sun TV Network to sign new contracts with the Deccan Chargers players who they want to keep in their side till the end of this month. The ones who are not contacted by the Sun TV Network will become free agents and will be available for auction for the IPL’s next edition.

The Sun TV Networks Limited, based in Chennai, is one of the biggest television networks in India and has 32 TV channels as well as 45 radio stations catering mostly to an audience living in the southern India.

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