BCCI unexpectedly scraps Rajasthan Royals & Kings XI Punjab teams for breach of IPL rules; Kochi gets another life

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali in New Delhi

IN A major and unexpected step, the Indian cricket board on Sunday scratched Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab for unspecified breaches and gave another chance to the beleaguered Kochi to put its house in order.

Both the Royals and Kings XI were close to former IPL chairman Lalit Modi and are believed to have paid the price for it. The BCCI’s decision leaves only eight teams in the fray for the fourth edition of the IPL, to be played in April-May, though there is now a question mark if the lucrative Twenty20 tournament would be held at all.

Modi, whose fight with the board’s ruling group is well documented, was suspended by the BCCI for alleged financial irregularities in April. The board launched an inquiry through its disciplinary committee and Modi has challenged it in the Supreme Court.

N Srinivasan, secretary of the BCCI, said in a statement that Sunday’s decision, based on legal advice and taken at an emergent IPL governing council (GC) meeting held in Mumbai, was a unanimous one. “It was unanimously decided that the franchise agreements with KPH Dream Cricket Pvt. Ltd. and Jaipur IPL Cricket Pvt. Ltd. be terminated forthwith based on the legal opinions obtained by BCCI in the matters,” he said. Srinivasan also said that BCCI advocate PR Raman has been given instructions to issue notices to the three teams.

“The decision to terminate the contract of Punjab and Rajasthan franchises were taken purely based on legal opinion we received and the breaches committed by these franchises,” Srinivasan told reporters after the board announced its unanimous decision. The two franchisees denied the allegations.

Kochi, publicly opposed by Modi, was given a 10-day ultimatum by BCCI president Shashank Manohar on September 29 to form a joint venture company, was given another chance on Sunday, according to the board statement.

Owners of the scratched teams reacted with anger. “I don’t see IPL-IV happening if the BCCI treats other teams like this. The termination of the contract by BCCI is shocking. We are seriously thinking of legal action. We need to see a copy of the termination notice and study it,” Royals co-owner Kundra said.

Arvinder Singh, senior vice-president (cricket operations) of Kings XI, said they haven’t received the notice so far. “We haven’t got anything from BCCI. We will comment only when we get something in writing. Until then it’ll be premature to say anything,” he told Mail Today.

Modi, abroad for many months and facing the Enforcement Directorate’s light blue alert notice as he is required by the government agency for finance-related questions, reacted aggressively. “The action is totally illegal. They are hell bent on destroying something that we as Indians are proud of -- the IPL. So as to satisfy their personal agendas,” he wrote on Twitter. “BCCI’s total disregard for franchisees and there stakeholders only goes to show that BCCI has lost the ability to administer sensibly... the action is totally illegal.”

Experts said that Sunday’s BCCI decision, apparently under pressure from government agencies, is in continuance of their policy to completely wipe out Modi’s name. Modi came in the line of fire after he alleged that Shashi Tharoor, then a junior external affairs minister, had influenced Kochi to win one of the two franchise bids (Sahara won the other, the Pune franchise).

“Modi had rubbed the government the wrong way by claiming a minister’s berth. Plus, Modi is seen as having allowed the change of shareholding pattern of the Rajasthan and Punjab teams without informing the BCCI. Do you think the government will let him go scot free for all this?” an official of another franchisee told Mail Today. “But one positive outcome of all this will be that players will now become cheaper at the upcoming auction when the eight franchisees will bid for them as more players would now be available to the eight franchisees.”

(This story first appeared in Mail Today newspaper in Delhi on October 11, 2010)

Gavaskar turns 61 on Saturday

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali

Sunil Manohar Gavaskar, my childhood cricket hero, turned 61 on Saturday. As usual, I have sent him a mail on his birthday, and am awaiting his reply. Much like his habit of replying to his fan mail in his own hand writing, he always replies e-mail messages.

Gavaskar mesmerised millions of cricket fans around the world, including me, during his long and successful international career. A graduate from St Xavier's College, Mumbai, and Bombay University, the master opening batsman tallied 10,122 runs in 125 Tests and 3,092 runs in 108 One-day Internationals.

The inside story of Lalit Modi’s defence

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali

MUCH has been written and said about the three show cause notices that the BCCI sent to Lalit Modi and the extraordinarily long replies of the suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman. But there are still many interesting aspects of the embattled official’s replies — Hotel Maurya Sheraton’s Bukhara restaurant is thrown in for good measure — that have still not entered the public domain. Here they are. Read on …

One of the charges against Modi is that he tried to launch a “mirror image” of the IPL in the United Kingdom and that this plan was hatched in a secret meeting with representatives of the English counties and IMG. While defending himself in his reply, Modi says that it was a casual lunch and not a sinister meeting or a diabolical plot.

“I was informed by the IMG that some county representatives were in India and they were eager to meet me. I had very little time then since IPL Season-III was already underway. However, as they continued to request IMG, I agreed to briefly meet them,” he writes.

“Originally, it was decided that I would meet them on 30th March, 2010, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Mumbai. I, however, had to unfortunately cancel the meeting. The county representatives, via IMG, requested me to somehow to squeeze them for a brief meeting as they were leaving the same night. On 31st March, I had planned to meet some friends for lunch at Bukhara and this was the only time I had. So, out of courtesy, I asked them to join me for lunch with my friends and they agreed,” he says.

The BCCI has alleged that Modi made a presentation to the guests as part of his “plot”. Modi refutes this. “Anyone who is familiar with the Bukhara restaurant will know that it is hardly the place where a formal business meeting involving ‘presentations’ can be held. The lunch was [a] casual and informal affair with friends in which the county representatives and IMG officials joined in. There was no agenda for this meeting nor did I have any preconceived ideas on the lines on which this meeting would proceed,” he explains.

CLARIFYING his patriotism further, Modi discloses that he virtually thwarted the plans of organising an Arab league on the lines of the IPL. “In fact, when one of the Rajasthan Royals shareholders held a meeting with Sheikh Nahayan regarding a proposed Arab League, I severely reprimanded him,” he claims. “I also sent a mail to the promoters of Rajasthan Royals with a copy marked to BCCI-IPL lawyer John Loffhagen and Andrew Wildblood of IMG, saying that if the said shareholder directly or indirectly associates with any form of unauthorised cricket we would have to take action against him.”

Meanwhile, varying speculative figures have appeared in the media about the number of pages in the show cause notices and Modi’s replies.

For the first time, here are the authentic figures, based on copies of all the notices and the replies. The first notice, which was delivered on April 26, was 34 pages long and, interestingly, there was no date mentioned on it. The second one, dated May 6, was Five pages long while the third one was of eight pages and was sent on May 31.

Modi’s replies have evoked much interest among the media, especially the pictures of huge cartons containing annexures which were delivered to the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai. For the record, the first reply actually was just 156 pages, besides the annexures, while the second and third replies were 24 and 51 pages long respectively. There could be many, many more exchanges as some of the unrelenting top officials of the BCCI and Modi continue to sling mud on each other in the most public spat in the board’s 78-year history.
(This story first appeared in Third Umpire column, Mail Today on July 10, 2010)

Sehwag: Knowing the man behind the batsman
Two of his closest friends recall their association with the swashbuckling batsman

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali

THE Twitter bug has only recently caught Virender Sehwag. The swashbuckling batsman’s millions of fans are now closer to him than ever before. So far, the world has been getting to read or listen to Sehwag’s quips and teasing one-liners only through the media— but now he tweets almost every day.

However, Twitter cannot reveal the real Sehwag, who is extremely witty and a master at pulling other people’s leg. Only his really close friends, with whom he has spent many years and still spends time, know the real person inside Virender Sehwag.

The world knows that Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar are close, but not many are aware that Viru opens up a lot more in the company of some of the lesser-known names of cricket like Delhi-based Raju Sharma, who represented Jammu and Kashmir in the Ranji Trophy betweem 1993 and 2002, Mahesh Bhati, who led Jamia Millia Islamia to its only Rohinton Baria Trophy triumph in 1991-92, Delhi Ranji batsman Mithun Manhas and ex-India pacer Amit Bhandari.

Interestingly, all of them live within a few kilometres of each other in south Delhi. And when Viru is part of this company they all go bananas, cracking jokes, pulling each other’s leg and recalling silly tales from the past — from Virdhavan to Sharjah to Palval — as was witnessed the other day during a local match.

Incidentally, Sehwag, Sharma and Bhati attended Jamia Millia Islamia and that cemented their bond further. “When we meet we recall incidents that happened 15 years ago hundreds of times and laugh our hearts out,” said Sharma, also a BCCI Level-1 coach. “Viru is very sharp, intelligent and has a great sense of humour. He has reached the top because he’s a good person, apart from being a talented player.”

As a rookie, Sehwag started out with Kranti Star Club under Bhati’s captaincy in a team which also included Sharma. Both recall that Viru was very young when their coach RP Sharma asked Bhati to give him an opportunity in the Goswami Ganesh Dutt Tournament in the early 1990s.

“In that match, we also got a taste of Sehwag’s temperament. He told his Najafgarh friends, who had come to watch him play, that he would smash sixes off off-spinner Rajesh Chauhan, who was then representing India,” recalled Bhati. Even Rahul Dravid has commented that Sehwag has a habit of devising his strategies sitting in the dressing room.

Although Sharma and Bhati are older than Sehwag, the three have gelled remarkably because of their idiosyncrasies, sense of humour and the knack of keeping everyone in high spirits. They are excellent raconteurs. When Sehwag played for Leicestershire in England in 2003, Sharma, who has also played in the Leicestershire league, stayed with him and had a great time.

“We often ate out, though I would make tea etc. at our flat,” he recalled. Later, Sehwag’s parents and younger brother Vinod joined them. Needless to say, food was subsequently never a problem.

Recalling Sehwag’s passion for cricket, Bhati said he never accepted the usual match fees after joining Collage Club in the mid-1990s. “He used to tell me he was only interested in playing the game. He was reluctant to accept even the prize money,” he said. “He reached the ground well before all of us. Once, after he bought his first car, a Santro, he reached the ground so early that we found him sleeping inside when we reached the venue.”

Sehwag remains humble, says Sharma. “He used to come to my home on his old scooter and now visits us in a BMW. But he hasn’t changed one bit,” he says.
(from 'Third Umpire', the fortnightly column that I write in Mail Today)

Sehwag’s back after shoulder injury
Cracks breezy 69 in a local match and declares himself match fit for Asia Cup

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali

New Delhi: Virender Sehwag on Junr 8 successfully tested his injured shoulder with a dashing and satisfying knock, which gave him a good reason to smile and crack jokes with some of his close friends at the end of a fruitful day.

The quick fire half-century was enough for Sehwag to declare himself match fit for the Asia Cup beginning in Sri Lanka on June 15.

“Yes, I have recovered from the shoulder injury and am fully fit for the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and the Test series that will follow,” Sehwag told Mail Today after guiding Rajnigandha Cricket Club to the semi-finals of the 34th Lala Raghubir Singh Memorial Tournament.

Sehwag, who returns to the Indian team as vice-captain for the Sri Lankan tour, missed the World Twenty20 in the West Indies recently as well as the ODI tri-series in Zimbabwe. Due to a similar injury on the same shoulder he had missed the last year’s World Twenty20 too.

While the full-strength Indian team was struggling in the Caribbean and the second-string in Zimbabwe, Sehwag was working hard on his shoulder at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore. He slogged it out under the supervision of physiotherapist Paul Close and strength and conditioning expert Paul Chapman.

“I did a lot of shoulder exercises at the NCA. I am especially thankful to Close and Chapman for the treatment that lasted about four-five weeks. Thanks to both of them, I am back in shape,” said the 31-year-old opener. “I am also thankful to the BCCI for establishing a wonderful facility in the form of NCA. You get everything that you require there. It’s such a wonderful place.”

Sehwag’s last big game was the One-day International against South Africa in Gwalior on February 24. On his return to competitive cricket, however, he was satisfied with his outing.

“I felt very good in today’s game, though I felt a little bit tired after the match. It was because I was playing a match after a long time. But, thankfully, the weather was good. More than anything, I am happy that we won the match. It was the real pleasure,” he said modestly.

Sehwag cracked 69 off just 38 deliveries, smashing eight boundaries and four sixes in his inimitable style as Rajnigandha, chasing Air India’s 296 for nine in 40 overs, finished with 299 for eight in 18 overs at Modern School (Barakhamba Road) for a two-wicket win. Amardeep Sonkar won man of the match award for his 82 (69 balls, 9x4s,1x6). In the semi-finals,
Rajnigandha will play Malik Sports on Saturday.

Earlier, when Air India batted, off-spinner Sehwag turned his arm over to good effect and captured two wickets for 13 in the only over he bowled.

Sehwag is keen to utilise the time he is in Delhi before leaving for a two-day camp of the Indian team in Chennai on the way to Colombo. “I will play a couple of more matches because match practice is much better than net practice,” he said.

Sehwag not only batted and bowled well, but he had some fun too. Visibly satisfied with his performance, he cracked jokes with some of his old club mates, including former India pacer Robin Singh (junior). With dark clouds and cool breeze providing a welcome relief – as did the absence of a large crowd -- he got an opportunity to unwind uninhibited.
(This story first appeared in Mail Today on June 9, 2010)

Indias’ first triple ton goes unfeted

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali

MARCH 29, 2010, marked the sixth anniversary of Virender Sehwag's first triple century, scored against Pakistan in Multan in 2004. That day the team management and his teammates promised him that they would celebrate his feat on their return to India. Six years have passed but the celebrations have still not taken place and it can safely be assumed that they will never be held.

After scoring 309, which went a long way in setting up Indias win, Sehwag had a quiet dinner in his hotel room, savouring arhar ki daal and a potato dish. The atmosphere in Holiday Inn — specifically on the floor on which the Indian team was staying — did not look any different from the other days; hardly anyone visited his room and no champagne bottle was uncorked. “They said that they would have a party in India to celebrate the feat,” Sehwag had told this reporter that evening in Multan.

Apart from verbal congratulations from his teammates, the opposition, and the media persons, the then Indian cricket board president Jagmohan Dalmiya sent him a congratulatory fax and a bouquet was presented to him on behalf of Hero Hondas Pawan Munjal.

On the teams return, everyone went his way and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) too conveniently forgot about felicitating Sehwag. And, as if to add insult to injury, the BCCI, ironically, forgot to include his remarkable feat in a documentary that it got made on the occasion of its platinum jubilee celebrations later.

Never one to hold back his feelings, Sehwag pointed out the anomaly to BCCI officials, but except for a “sorry” he didn’t get anything else as compensation.

And this week, the board rescinded the no objection certificate it had given to Sehwag to play for Northamptonshire in the English county league, citing “ heavy workload”. The BCCI has strange ways of functioning. And that’s the way it has been for many years!
(This story first appeared in Mail Today, New Delhi, on April 3, 2010)

Ian Bishop: Ex-Windies fast bowler breaks the stereotype

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali

HE IS almost the perfect example of what cricket stands for — gentlemanly and humble. In spite of being a former tearaway quickie — fast bowlers are supposed to be aggressive — West Indian Ian Bishop is down to earth. Even when he was sending down the thunderbolts in his playing days, you could have hardly faulted him for his behaviour.

The gangling 42- year- old bowler from Trinidad & Tobago is now enlightening television viewers in his thoughtful and quiet way as a commentator in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). He describes the action with insightful thoughts, choosing the right words, and speaking clearly, just enough to provide viewers value addition to the live pictures.

Bishop was a gentleman as a fast bowler too. Although his job was to get the opposition out as quickly as possible with sheer pace, he was sensitive inside.

Recurring back problems, however, cut his career short, allowing him to play only in 43 Tests and 84 One- day Internationals between 1988 and 1998, with long injury- induced gaps in between.

Maybe the many injuries left him disenchanted. “ After my retirement I wanted to get far away from cricket,” Bishop told MAIL TODAY , wearing his trademark enticing smile. It was a surprising disclosure as the once a cricketer, always a cricketer dictum is taken for granted.

“I wanted to go into teaching. Teaching has always fascinated me,” he said, revealing a little-known facet of his personality.

Asked about the subject he wanted to teach, he said: “It could have been any subject. I just wanted to teach.” Did he want to teach because he was good at academics at school or did he have a family history? “No. I was an average student and spent a lot of time playing cricket; it was my passion. No one in my family was into teaching. My father was into the construction business,” he said.

Then, something happened and Bishop decided to venture into television commentary. But even here his way of going about it was distinct. He enrolled himself in a one- year mass communications course in England about four years ago. “ It was a full time course. I remained away from the game and worked only during the breaks,” he said. “ The course has helped me, but maybe it is not as helpful in commentary as its in print journalism.” Bishops good manners are a clear testimony to the way he was brought up. Compliment him and he almost blushes, closing his eyes, and whispering a thank you. He is shy too. You wont find him loitering outside the commentators box during breaks between his stints with the microphone. He would rather watch the action from the confines of the box with a cup of coffee in hand. “I’m not a peoples man,” is all he says when you point out this trait of his.

Bishop also likes to know about different cultures. He has been to India several times, both as player and commentator, and found Jaipur very attractive on his maiden visit there in 2006 during the Champions Trophy. “They use a lot of pink stones in buildings and wear lots of colourful attire,” he said.
(This story first appeared in Mail Today, New Delhi, on April 3, 2010)

Neglect cripples AIR cricket commentary
By Qaiser Mohammad Ali

Ahmedabad: The Indian cricket board recently sold television and radio rights for a whopping Rs 2,000 crores for four years, from April 2010 to March 2014. But while all care is taken to providing top-class facilities for television commentary units at stadiums, the radio commentary, which reaches more than 95 percent of over 1.15 billion population of the country besides 16 other countries, continues to get a step-motherly treatment.

The plight of the radio commentators and scorers, who were on duty for the first India-Sri Lanka Test here, was an eye-opener. That they had to make do with a small room at the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium was just a one of the many problems they face. There are many bigger issues to be resolved, but no one from Prasar Bharati or rights holders Nimbus Communications, seems to be paying any heed to them.

Negotiations between Prasar Bharati and Nimbus Communications on revenue sharing from radio, lack of basic facilities, late assignments to commentators and scorers/statisticians, huge disparity in payments to Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) commentators, scorers and statisticians are some of the issues that always crop up before a home series. No solution, however, seems in sight.

Sample this: the lone scorer at the first Test was paid Rs. 700 daily and the commentators Rs 1,620 per day, besides the Rs. 340 that each one got as daily allowance. In comparison, a scorer or a statistician on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) panel receives Rs. 5,000 per day while the one who keeps scores at any BCCI’s domestic tournament get Rs 3,000 daily. And if a BCCI panel scorer or statistician travels out of his home city he gets extra allowances.

The radio commentators’ fee was Rs. 1,200 until last year, before it was revised after a long time. “We do commentary for the love of the game, otherwise you don’t make anything out of the meagre payments in today’s expensive world,” a member of the AIR commentary unit said on condition of anonymity. “And, mind you, AIR is earning good revenues from cricket commentary as they are getting good sponsorship for Tests and ODIs.”

A radio commentator gets Rs. 340 as DA for second-rung city like Ahmedabad and he has to meet his food and lodging bills within this amount. For metros, it is Rs. 500.

There is also a huge disparity between AIR and Doordarshan commentators, though both are from the same Prasar Bharati family. A Doordarshan commentator who, for instance, covers an ITF Satellite Tournament gets Rs. 7,000 per day.

The ever-present uncertainty about radio commentary adds all the gloom. It was because of this dilly-dallying in deciding about the radio commentary for the ongoing three-Test series that the commentary team had to do without a statistician, a permanent fixture for an AIR commentary unit. The lone scorer had to make up for the statistician’s absence.

“We were much affected by the statistician’s absence. All this because we were told about the coverage of this Test only two days before it started on Monday,” said a member of the unit. “There is always this uncertainty about radio coverage of Tests and ODIs, and because of this we can’t even do our homework before matches.”