Won’t allow Pak players in IPL-3: PCB
MUMBAI: Will they, won’t they? The flip-flop over Pakistani players’ participation in the 2010 Indian Premier League continues. A day after Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt said he had no problems with Pakistani players playing in the IPL, he revoked the no-objection certificates granted to them earlier.
Taking an enough-is-enough stand, Butt said: “No Pakistan player will play in IPL this year. The insulting manner in which Pakistan players have been treated will not be tolerated.” He added that PCB was not following any government directive.
A statement issued by PCB on Friday stated: “All NOCs issued to Pakistani players for their participation in IPL-3 stand revoked. In future, if any player receives an invitation for participation in IPL events, PCB will decide the matter on a case-to-case basis after consulting the relevant government authorities.”
When Butt was reminded by TOI about his comments on Thursday, he said: “It (the permission to players) will be done only after consulting the (appropriate) government authorities. The Board will decide on the matter after personally looking into the case involving any individual.”
The PCB chief also told agencies, “The statements from P Chidambaram are very good and those of Bollywood figures like Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan positive. But we expect an apology from IPL… Mr. Modi should follow what India’s home minister and sports minister have said.”
Source : Times of india
Deccan Chargers deny signing Razzaq, KKR interested
Deccan Chargers on Thursday denied signing Pakistan’s Abdul Razzaq for the third season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), saying there was no slot available for an overseas player in their squad.
But the spotlight shifted to Kolkata with Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Sourav Ganguly asserting that his side was interested in roping in the all-rounder.
Razzaq, however, insisted that both the teams have shown interest in him. Deccan Chargers team owner Venkatram Reddy denied reports that Razzaq has been signed by his franchisee.
“We have not signed Abdul Razzaq. We don’t have any slots available,” he said.
Razzaq, who severed his ties with rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) last year, was reportedly signed by the Chargers as a replacement for injured West Indian pacer Fidel Edwards.
IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said Deccan Chargers just don’t have any money left with them to rope in a new player.
“Currently, only Rajasthan Royals can have a slot. Deccan Chargers don’t have any money. Only way to bring a new player is through injury replacement. But for that, the IPL governing has to be convinced that the injured player won’t come back for even a single match,” Modi said.
IPL chief executive officer Sundar Raman also voiced the same thing.
“Deccan Chargers cannot buy any player because they don’t have enough money left in their purse. If they are seeking a replacement, we are yet to hear about it,” Sundar Raman said.
Razzaq said he was in touch with the Chargers as well as KKR.
“I have been approached by the Chargers and I have told them to send me the contract. I am also in talks with Knight Riders and I would love to play for them,” Razzaq said.
Meanwhile, speaking to media-persons, KKR captain Sourav Ganguly said his side had Razzaq’s name in their list.
“We had Razzaq’s name in our list. We wanted him. We were always interested in him. But we will go by the rules,” Ganguly said.
However, the KKR captain said he had no idea about whether Razzaq or other Pakistan players can play in the IPL. “I have no knowledge about it. I read about it this morning in the newspapers. But nobody has told us any thing.”
He said the decision on the Pak players rested completely on the IPL authority and the central government.
Pakistani players were left out by the IPL franchisees in the auction in Mumbai, leading to an uproar over the issue.
Source : Times of India
No offer made to any Pak player for IPL: Modi
All speculation about Pakistani players participating in the forthcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament was nonsense, IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said on Thursday.
“It is complete bull****,”he said, speaking to Hindustan Times from London on Thursday.
“You have to have a purse (to buy a player). Deccan Chargers have no purse, Kolkata Knight Riders have no purse. You have to have a slot. And there’s no slot. No team has made an offer, no team can make an offer without my knowing of it and I know nothing.”
“Let me very clear,” he continued. “The auction is over, there are no spots open. If someone comes in now, he can only be brought in as a replacement for a player injured for the whole season. And if someone’s been injured for the whole season and I don’t know it, no one does.”
On Wednesday, Pakistan cricket chief Ijaz Butt told HT from Lahore that all rounder Abdul Razzaq had been approached by an IPL franchise to play in this year’s league. He later said that team was Deccan Chargers and he had asked Razzaq to get it from them in writing. Butt’s statement was sensational, given that the controversial snubbing of all 11 players from Pakistan in the January 19 auction in Mumbai has practically become an international incident between the two countries.
Modi, clearly tired of the controversy, said, in any case, an injury replacement took “two to three weeks”. “First, I have to verify the injury. Then I send someone to verify it. The home board (of the player) has to verify it. And if the player is available for even one day of the season, he can’t be replaced.”
The injury replacement process can be done till March 8, three days before the IPL opener. PCB chief Ijaz Butt, however, continued to insist Razzaq had IPL offers. On Wednesday, when told that Modi said it wasn’t possible, he had said: “Do you think I’m lying?”
On Thursday, Butt insisted to HT that Razzaq had an offer from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as well. “Razzaq called this morning to say that (KKR skipper) Sourav Ganguly had called him saying he has a one-year contract ready for him. But I can only take a decision (on allowing him to take part) after any of the franchisees officially sends him an offer letter in writing,” said Butt.
“I can only say that if a player is being replaced or being made an offer, I will know first, no one else. I have to give the authorization,” Modi responded.
Asked about a franchise saying it had signed up Razzaq for a year before the auction, Modi replied: “Yes, a franchise did try and sign up Razzaq before the auction but I said that was not possible. So they asked me to put him in the auction and I did. And then that franchise wanted a fast bowler and went and exhausted all its money on Shane Bond.”
Bond was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders for $750,000. KKR did not bid for Razzaq. As things stand, for now, no Pakistani player can be part of IPL III.
Source : Hindustan Times
KKR yet to clear my dues: Shoaib Akhtar
KARACHI: Controversial Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has confirmed that he had payment disputes with the Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders, who are yet to clear his dues.
Responding to the reports that Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan-owned KKR have still not cleared his dues, Akhtar on Wednesday said it was true.
“Yes, it is a fact they have not paid me my dues as yet despite reminders,” Akhtar said.
The fast bowler played for KKR in the inaugural edition of the cash-awash Twenty20 league and was one of the six Pakistani players, whose contracts were terminated after the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.
Akhtar said that after the Mumbai incidents KKR had informed him that they wished to sell him out after paying his dues and documents were signed in this respect.
“But until now my dues have not been cleared as yet,” he said.
Another Pakistani pacer Muhammad Asif, who played for Delhi Daredevils in the first IPL season also had his contract terminated prematurely by his franchise, who, however, cleared his dues.
Interestingly, Delhi Daredevils cleared Asif’s dues for the period of his contract despite the fact that the pacer had been suspended by that time for flunking a dope test in the first season of the IPL.
Akhtar conceded that he had issues with some clauses in the IPL contract sell out agreement and wanted 100 per cent payment for being released by the KKR.
The fast bowler said KKR officials had told him that they had been instructed by IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi not to make any payment to the Pakistani players, including him.
The fast bowler has not played for Pakistan since April-May, 2009 due to fitness and disciplinary issues and also underwent a knee surgery last year.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has already said it would not be issuing him a new central contract for 2010 as he is not playing anymore.
Source : Times of India
Chargers pick Razzaq, signal IPL-Pak thaw
MUMBAI: The Indian Premier League is always full of surprises. After all the fuss over Pakistan being ‘excluded’ from the 2010 auction comes a soothener: IPL-2 champions Deccan Chargers will be signing up Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, as an injury replacement for IPL-3.
Incidentally, Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan had recently said that he was keen on signing Razzaq, but seems to have missed out.
Deccan Chargers chairman V Shankar told TOI on Thursday, “One of our (international) players is injured and needs a surgery. Therefore, we needed a replacement and Razzaq fits the bill well because of his all-round abilities. There was never an issue about Pakistan players being deliberately not picked as has been talked about all along.”
The injured cricketer in the Deccan camp is West Indies fast bowler Fidel Edwards. Chargers did not reveal any further details but the injury to Edwards opened up a slot for an international cricketer, paving the way for Razzaq. However, as of now, Chargers is the only team going ahead and buying a player from across the border.
Source : Times of India
