IPL isn't distraction: Strauss

Posted by observer | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 06-02-2012-05-2008

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Dubai, Feb 3(ANI): England captain Andrew Strauss doesn’t believes the money-spinning Indian Premier League (IPL) is a distraction for his players, as his team stares at a series whitewash against Pakistan in the final Test match of the series.

The IPL’s auction is scheduled to take place on Saturday and the final Test match starts on Friday and various England players would be available for sale during the auction.

‘I certainly hope not. I think we’ve had this circumstance before,” Strauss said when asked whether the IPL auction would distract his players, Sports24 reports.

James Anderson, Ian Bell, Graeme Swann, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior and Chris Tremlett are some of the England players who will be available during Saturday’s IPL auction whereas Stuart Broad, Eoin Morgan and Kevin Pietersen already have IPL contracts in place.

Strauss believes the thought of the IPL auction is in the background as his team faced first ever whitewash in Pakistan-England Test history and would be surprised if any of his players had IPL auction in his mind.

“I certainly remember Test matches in the past where this has been looming, in the background and it is very much in the background,” he added.

“I would be very, very surprised if any of our players had their attention anywhere other than on the game at the moment especially after what’s happened over the last couple of Test matches. So it’s not a big issue for us.”

He believes that the International Cricket Council (ICC) had given England players ample amount of time to recover from the IPL for their next Test series.

“I think we have become very comfortable with the fact that the (International Cricket Council) ICC have given our players the window to play in the IPL and that window stipulates that the guys have to have enough time when they come back home to prepare for our next series.” (ANI)

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Mitchell Johnson is a great buy, says Harbhajan

Posted by observer | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 06-02-2012-05-2008

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Bangalore: Mumbai Indians off-spinner Harbhajan Singh believes Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson, acquired at his base price of $300,000, was a great buy for the team but was disappointed at not getting New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum and West Indies leggie Sunil Narine at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction here on Saturday.

“I hope Mitchell is fit and he will play most of the matches for us. Now, we have a lot of options. We were sitting till four in the morning discussing about the players. Narine and McCullum got away but still we have a very good team,” Harbhajan said.

Harbhajan, who has been dropped from the Indian national team, was happy with the players bought by Mumbai Indians.

“We had a set plan and we got the players who we were looking for. I was a little tense initially. It was more intense than playing cricket,” he added.

Johnson had shunned lucrative IPL contracts in 2008 to concentrate on his Test career. But now he feels that the high-profile Twenty20 league is the best way to resurrect his Test career.

The 30-year-old Johnson is recuperating from a toe surgery that he underwent in December and won’t be considered for the upcoming West Indies tour in March and April. But he is hopeful he might be able to make his comeback to the Australian team after a good show in IPL which runs through April-May.

The Australian was lucky to get an IPL contract with Mumbai Indians buying him for a base price of $300,000.

Besides Johnson, Mumbai Indians also bought South African Herchelle Gibbs for a base price of $50,000, and India pacer Rudra Pratap Singh, who had a base price of $200,000, for $600,000. Mumbai Indians had to fight hard with Deccan Chargers to get Rudra Pratap, who was the highest wicket taker for the Hyderabad franchise when they won the IPL in 2009.

Harbhajan said with Lasith Malinga, Rudra Pratap and Johnson in the side Mumbai Indians will have a great bowling attack.

Mumbai Indians also made a surprise bid for South African left-arm orthodox spinner Robin Peterson and bought him for his base price of $100,000.

They fought hard with Kolkata Knight Riders for Narine and McCullum. Narine, who had a base price of $50,000, was sold for a whooping $700,000 while McCullum was the first player to be sold for $900,000. McCullum was a part of the Knight Riders for the three years before being bought by Kochi Tuskers last year.





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Ravindra Jadeja hits $2 million jackpot

Posted by observer | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 06-02-2012-05-2008

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It was a foregone conclusion before the IPL auction that Ravindra Jadeja would be the most-sought-after player. Jadeja kept up to his reputation as he fetched more than $2 million to become the highest paid player among those sold for season five of the lucrative T20 league.

Jadeja, whose base price was mere $100,000, was the second player to be put up for auction by auctioneer Richard Madley. In no time, it led to a fight to finish contest between the franchisees to bag him. Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were the first to start the contest. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) soon joined in but left the fight midway preferring to hold on to their purse strings.

Kings XI, too, gave up the fight before Deccan Chargers came in and along with CSK reached the $2 million mark. Finally, it was CSK who clinched the secret tie-breaker by quoting a higher figure than the Chargers. In fact, it was a bonus for Jadeja as he was getting only $950,000 from Kochi Tuskers.

Jadeja wasn’t the only Indian to get into the million dollar club. His former Kochi Tuskers colleague, R Vinay Kumar, was bought by RCB for $1 million as he returned to his home team after a gap of one year.

Like Jadeja, even Vinay had a base price of $100,000. Though there were five teams bidding for him, RCB finally managed to bring him back on board after paying a hefty cheque. In the last auction, Vinay was acquired by Kochi Tuskers for $475,000.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene was the second costliest player after being bought by Delhi Daredevils for $1.4m. The other two big buys on the day were made by the Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR bought Brendon McCullum for $900,000 and West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine for $700,000.

VVS Laxman remained unsold as were the England players. Former Pakistan cricketer Azhar Mahmood, who now has a British passport, was picked up by Kings XI Punjab.

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IPL auction: The full list | Cricket365 | Cricket News

Posted by observer | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 05-02-2012-05-2008

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A full list of players who were bought in the 2012 Indian Premier League auction, which took place on Saturday.

Brendon McCullum – $900,000 to Kolkata Knight Riders

Ravindra Jadeja – Maximum purse of $2 million bid by Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers. Bought by Chennai Super Kings after a tiebreaker

Muttiah Muralitharan – $220,000 to Royal Challengers Bangalore

Mahela Jayawardene – $1.4 million to Delhi Daredevils

Herschelle Gibbs – $50,000 to Mumbai Indians

Brad Hodge – $475,000 to Rajasthan Royals

Parthiv Patel – $650,000 to Deccan Chargers

Dinesh Chandimal – $50,000 to Rajasthan Royals

Andre Russell – $450,000 to Delhi Daredevils

Mitchell Johnson – $300,000 to Mumbai Indians

RP Singh – $600,000 to Mumbai Indians

Vinay Kumar – $1 million to Royal Challengers Bangalore

Sreesanth – $400,000 to Rajasthan Royals

Ramesh Powar – $160,000 to Kings XI Punjab

Brad Hogg – $180,000 to Rajasthan Royals

Sunil Narine – $700,000 to Kolkata Knight Riders

Robin Peterson – $100,000 to Mumbai Indians

Daniel Harris – $70,000 to Deccan Chargers

Kevon Cooper – $50,000 to Rajasthan Royals

James Faulkner – $190,000 to Kings XI Punjab

Azhar Mahmood – $200,000 to Kings XI Punjab

Thisara Perera – $650,000 to Mumbai Indians

Marchant de Lange – $50,000 to Kolkata Knight Riders

Darren Bravo – $100,000 to Deccan Chargers

Doug Bracewell – $50,000 to Delhi Daredevils


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Stars line up for IPL auction | Cricket News | Cricbuzz.com

Posted by observer | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 05-02-2012-05-2008

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England spinner Graeme Swann and Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene head a star cast of cricketers who will be auctioned on Saturday to join the Indian Premier League.

As many as 144 foreign and Indian players have thrown their hat in the ring in an auction restricted to players not already aligned to any team in the money-spinning Twenty20 league.

Australian fast bowlers Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle, and England duo James Anderson and Ian Bell, are among the other leading players going under the hammer in Bangalore.

Each of the nine franchises have a maximum of $2 million to spend at the auction as they bid to strengthen their line-ups ahead of the fifth edition of the IPL which will be played between April 4 and May 27.

Team insiders warn, however, that no more than 20-25 players are likely to be bought since only a few slots are up for grabs to fill the quota of 11 foreign stars in the 33-man squads allowed for each club.

“Teams will focus on their strategic requirements, not on star quality alone,” Delhi Daredevils executive Amrit Mathur told AFP.

“If a team already has a number of batsmen, it will likely go for bowlers. The idea is to provide an all-round balance to the squad.”

Much will also depend on the availability of the players for the seven-week tournament that will host 76 matches.

England’s international players will not be available for more than a month, since their tour of Sri Lanka ends on April 7 and is followed by a home series against the West Indies starting in mid-May.

The leading Australians will join the IPL only after their tour of the West Indies finishes on April 27.

Among the players to be auctioned are those from the Kochi Tuskers franchise, which took part in last year’s tournament before being thrown out of the IPL in September for non-payment of dues.

Sri Lankan pair Jayawardene and world Test and one day wicket record holder Muttiah Muralitharan are among the Kochi players on the market, as well as New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum and Indian veteran Venkatsai Laxman.

Former Pakistan international Azhar Mahmood, who now holds a British passport, is the only player from his country to try his luck at the auction.

Pakistani players took part in the inaugural edition in 2008, but were kept out of the next three editions amid growing political tensions following the Mumbai attacks later that year.

Tom Cooper of the Netherlands and the O’Brien brothers from Ireland — Niall and Kevin — are players from the non-Test nations on the auction list, which also includes Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal.

Players have to be cleared by their domestic cricket boards before they can enter the IPL auction.

“The short-list comprises some outstanding cricket talent,” IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla said in a statement.

“Given that the list was prepared on the basis of the feedback from the franchises themselves, the stage is set for an exciting and eventful player auction.”

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Acting does not excite me: Gaurav Kapur

Posted by observer | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 05-02-2012-05-2008

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Acting does not excite me: Gaurav KapurMumbai: Popular VJ Gaurav Kapur, who has had a tryst with Bollywood with films like `A Wednesday` and `Quick Gun Murugan`, says acting does not excite him.

Gaurav was a VJ with a popular music channel for six long years when movies beckoned him but he admits that he is not that keen on pursuing a career in acting.

“I am not big on acting. Working in films doesn`t excite me much. It is too long and consuming. You have to put in a lot of time and effort which I feel I can`t. I am not ruling out films but it will happen in some 4-5 years. As of now I am not working on any film,” Gaurav told PTI.

“I want to enjoy performing rather than being on the big screen. The day I am told I am too old for all these and asked to leave, I will think of films,” he added.

The VJ-actor, who himself has hosted travel shows, recently went on an extensive hunt for India`s first travel jockey for FOX Traveller`s new show `Freaky Traveller`. But he said he will never be part of travel shows again and is happy with his role as a judge.

Gaurav said he zeroed on Brij Bhakta because he had the crazy-weird attributes that were required for the show.

“The show is weird. It is not like the other travel shows. Out of 6000 online applicants, we had to select one. We were looking for someone who is as weird as the show and its judge. Brij was perfect.”

Gaurav was 17 when he landed an opportunity to work with FM radio and soon after he turned to video jockeying. It was followed by a number of other outings like hosting events, writing columns, plays and also authoring a book on cricket.

“I think I have MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder). I love trying different things. I just perform, only the setting, the camera and the mic changes. I consider myself to be a story teller. I tell stories on different media, be it anchoring or writing columns,” Gaurav said.

“My favourite by far was my stint as an RJ, mainly because it was my first job and I was very young. Being an RJ can be very challenging because there is no visual and you have to interact with the faceless audience. I also enjoy being on stage and interacting with the audience,” he added.

Gaurav, who has been a part of the IPL from the second season, will be back as one of the hosts of the fifth season as well.

“I am back in IPL season 5 and will be seen rubbing shoulders with cricket greats and doing the same serious talk.

We will start shooting for the promos very soon. I don`t think India`s dismal performance in Australia will have any bearing on IPL`S popularity. In India, we forget very easily,” he said.

PTI


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