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.

Read More

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.

-->

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.

Read More

Deccan Chargers are not more part of IPL

By Siddharth Subramaniam

NEW DELHI, India (TheSportsNEXT) October 19, 2012: The Bombay High Court, on Thursday, put brakes on the cash-strapped Deccan Chargers’ bid to stay alive in the Indian Premier League fold as they backed their expulsion from the cash-rich cricket league.

The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has already thrown the Deccan Chargers, champions of the Indian Premier League II held in South Africa, out of the world famous Twenty20 league.

However, an arbitrator had given owners of the Deccan Chargers to stay alive in the hunt but the Bombay High Court put an end to their efforts on Thursday as the BCCI’s decision to get the DC out of the IPL is now final.

The Press Trust of India quoted judge RD Dhanuka as saying, "The arbitrator had no jurisdiction. No case is made out... for granting stay on termination."

Despite of the arbitrator staying the Deccan Chargers elimination, the BCCI had already gone ahead with inviting bids for a new city in the IPL.

It is important to mention here that the Deccan Chargers were removed due to their inability to pay salaries of their players which was against the IPL financial regulations.

The Deccan Chargers were owned by the Deccan Chronicle Holdings, a media company based in Hyderabad Deccan. The media group had bought the IPL franchise in 2008 for 107 million US dollars but failed to submit 19 million US dollars as guarantee money to the BCCI which would work as a proof that the group was capable of paying all of its debts and players salaries.

The Deccan Chargers owners had pleaded the Bombay High Court that it had agreed to sell out the franchise to a Mumbai-based real estate group and tried to buy some time for paying the guarantee money but the BHC judge refused to give them more time and rejected their plea.

Now the BCCI have a couple of things to decide at the first place. They will have to look for new IPL franchise city and decide about the fate of the Deccan Chargers players and their outstanding dues.

With the sixth episode of the Indian Premier League is slated to be played in April-May 2013, the BCCI would accept bids for a new franchise before October 25, 2012.

Read More