BCCI President Sharad Pawar said the multi-billion dollar Twenty20 event will go ahead as scheduled and the blasts in Jaipur will not affect the Indian Premier League in any way.
“The IPL will go ahead as scheduled. The next match in Jaipur (May 17) will also be held as scheduled. I have talked to the Rajasthan Chief Minister (Vasundhara Raje) and asked her to beef up security there. There will be enhanced security in other venues too,” the BCCI chief told reporters here on wednesday.
Pawar shot down any notion that the foreign players taking part in the IPL had any apprehension about their safety.
“No one has any apprehension. These things happen everywhere. It (bomb blasts) has happened even in London,” he said.
Meanwhile Shane Warne, the captain-coach of the ladder-leading Rajasthan Royals, is extremely shaken up by the terrorist attack in the team’s base city of Jaipur and held an emergency meeting last night with team owners, fellow players Graeme Smith and Shane Watson, and team manager Darren Berry.
Both teams have been badly wounded in the last few matches. Both lost to Kolkata by similar margin of 23 runs. But, both have tigers in plenty. So, watch out for this clash.
Men at the Helm
Laxman is still doubtful for this game. Gilly and Viru both have been very aggressive and led on instincts. Both will want to better their records and Deccan probably have the last chance to keep their semi final chances alive.
We have the bat
If batting of Delhi depends on Sehwag and Gambhir, for Deccan its depended on Gilchrist and Rohit. Overall. Deccan batting is stronger on paper but they have failed to fire. Delhi need Sehwag or Gambhir to play well up the order while for Deccan, Gibbs will want to set records straight.
We have the ball
Delhi have a far superior bowling line up and have restricted most teams to relatively low scores. Vaas and RP need to come good for Deccan.
Patrolling Party
Delhi are a very good fielding side but they were outdone by Kolkata in their last match. Deccan have good fielders but they need to get their act together.
High on betting meter
Delhi give a return of 8 on 11 while Deccan a 1 on 1.
New Zealand Spinner Daniel Vettori who played for the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League spoke about the upcoming tour while nursing his injured spinning finger. Speaking to the Independant he said - “It’s an incredibly important tour for us, coming off a series defeat against England at home,”.
On test Cricket and 20Twenty Cricket his views were more candid.
“I still see Test cricket as the pinnacle,” he says. “But I’m a realist, and the New Zealand cricket team is not financially as secure as some other nations round the world.” His own value in the IPL auction was a cool US$625,000 (£321,000). “Which was hugely surprising,” he says, “but none of those guys was there just for the money. It was highly competitive, and it gave me a great insight into other cricketers from around the world. I’d played against Glenn McGrath for 11 years, but now I know what it’s like to sit in a dressing room with him.
The serial bomb blasts which rocked Jaipur, the base of the Rajasthan
Royals, killing about a 100 people and injuring much more hasn’t affected the Rajasthan Royals. Most of the players are currently holidaying in
Goa and the others have gone back to their respective homes.
There is a shadow over Saturday’s IPL match in the city between the Rajasthan
Royals and the Bangalore Royal Challengers. The match looks likely to
be shifted out of Jaipur, with Bangalore offering to host the game at
the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“We have said we could host Sunday’s game but it’s up to the IPL,” chief cricket officer Martin Crowe told Hindustan Times on Tuesday. “We’re waiting for (IPL commissioner) Lalit Modi to get
back to us. We’re going to Delhi on Wednesday and will stay there a bit
but would prefer to go back to Bangalore rather than proceed to Jaipur
under the current circumstances.”
However, IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has promised extra security and ruled out a
change of schedule “as of now”. “We are concerned but the matches are
going to continue and we have full confidence in the state government,”
he told news channel NDTV. “We have no plans as of now to change
the schedule. We will provide them additional cover and make sure
everyone is protected.”
After going through the report submitted yesterday by Nanavati, BCCI has given its verdict today for Harbhajan Singh by extending his 11 match ban to 16 matches - that is an additional 5 match. BCCi also warned him of a life ban if he fails to mend his ways in playing the game in its true spirit.
This effectively means that Harbhajan will be out of the Bangladesh Tour apart from the ongoing IPL tournament. He has also forfeited his entire match fees for IPL for the slapping incident involving Sreesanth.
Sreesanth however was spared of any reprimand from BBCI - which established that the incident was totally unprovoked.
BCCI President Sharad Pawar said the multi-billion dollar Twenty20 event will go ahead as scheduled and the blasts in Jaipur will not affect the Indian Premier League in any way.
New Zealand Spinner Daniel Vettori who played for the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League spoke about the upcoming tour while nursing his injured spinning finger. Speaking to the Independant he said - “It’s an incredibly important tour for us, coming off a series defeat against England at home,”.