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Well, this has come as a shocking to me and every fan of cricket and IPL.
Bhajji (Mumbai Indians) slapped Sreesanth (Kings XI- Punjab) after facing a crushing defeat from their hands.

Today, all the news channels were showing sreesanth crying! The poor guy!
And Bhajji like a Dada (goonda) was just not cared about his actions.

Harbhajan Singh found himself embroiled in yet another controversy after allegedly slapping Kings XI paceman S Sreesanth during their Indian Premier League encounter at Mohali on Friday.

The Kings XI team, led by Yuvraj Singh, is reportedly planning to lodge a complaint against the off-spinner, who later apologised to the paceman in the dressing room of the Punjab team.

BCCI Vice president Rajiv Shukla said the Board would wait for the report from the team management before deciding on the future course of action.

Harbhajan, leading Mumbai Indians side, allegedly slapped Sreesanth when latter said something to him which the off-spinner found offensive.

The paceman was seen crying bitterly on the ground at the end of the IPL match, which his team won by 66 runs. While Harbhajan kept mum on the issue during the post match conference, Sreesanth tried to play down the incident.

“It is normal. Nothing serious happened. It is all in the game. I am fine. We will still be part of the national team,” Sreesanth said before leaving from the stadium.

As Sreesanth came to board the bus to return to the team hotel, waiting media mobbed him to listen to his version. Harbhajan though did not speak on the issue. “Can we have questions on just cricket,” Harbhajan said when asked about what happened between him and Sreesanth.

Mumbai Indians coach Lalchand Rajput also requested media to restrict their questions to just cricket.

The winning captain Yuvraj Singh though was upset by the unsavoury incident and termed it “ugly”. “This is really an ugly incident. You do not want to see such things off the field specially after such a win. I am pretty upset at what has happened. This is totally unacceptable,” he said apparently criticising Harbhajan Singh.

Yuvraj though said he did not know what actually transpired between the two. “I do not know what exactly happened but one does not want to see such things happening.”

Kings XI coach Tom Moody was also visibly upset by the incident and termed as “unacceptable” Harbhajan’s behaviour.

“At the end of the day, players shake hands. But today saw more that from Harbhajan and Sreesanth. It is unacceptable behaviour and I am sure officials will take of note. “The positive thing is that Harbhajan had a long chat with Sreesanth. But I am not sure what ramifications this incident will have,” Moody said.

Upset after his team’s third successive defeat, the turbanator also looked unhappy with his teammates. “When you lose nothing seems to be okay. I won’t bowl and bat for other people. They have to be captain of their own bowling and own bowling. I can not do other’s job,” he said angrily when asked if captaincy was tough.

“I don’t like losing. When you lose, you don’t feel happy.”

This has really shocked me. Is the Indian Team splitting because of this IPL?

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram believes one-day cricket will need to undergo some changes for it to survive in the wake of the rising popularity of the Twenty20 format.

Akram said he, at times, got bored watching 50-over matches in the middle stages and there was a definite need to bring about changes in the rules to revive one-day cricket and make it more exciting and watchable.

“Twenty20 cricket is gaining popularity because it is exciting cricket and it is aimed at the younger generation who want to watch high class sport in three to four hours,” Akram said.

“Twenty20 cricket is good for the future of the game but at the same time it is not quality cricket. It is simply entertainment. And to protect the real competition like one-dayers or Test matches, the ICC needs to think about revolutionary rule changes.”

Akram said the idea of Test cricket under lights was not a bad one and could be worked out if given proper thought.

He said that the Indian Premier League was a good idea but the credit for launching this sort of tournament should be given to the Indian Cricket League.

“I think the Indian Board started working on the IPL after the ICL. I know this much these events mean good money for players and will entertain the crowds but they are also going to damage the traditional cricket in the long run. How much only time will tell,” the former left-arm paceman said.

Akram, who played 114 Tests and 356 one-dayers before retiring in 2003, said he was happy the players were getting paid well.

“I think the boards of different countries should also think about raising the pay packages of their players or else we will have a situation where players might opt to give preference to the private Twenty20 leagues instead of their national teams,” he said.

The 10 successive wins over minnows Zimbabwe and Bangladesh notwithstanding, Akram felt Pakistan was quite some way behind India in the cricketing ladder.

“Any win, any century or any wicket does matter in international cricket no matter what the opposition. So I think the team has done well to win so convincingly against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. But I think while it is good for the players’ morale but we are still lagging behind other teams,” he stated.

“The Indian team is well ahead of us at this time and we need to work really hard to do well in the Asia Cup at home and improve our rankings,” the former left-arm paceman said.

Akram expressed surprise over the continued omission of Mohammad Yousuf from the Pakistan Twenty20 side.

“He is a quality player and when Misbah-ul-Haq, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendular who are older or around the same age as Yousuf can play instant cricket why can’t he be considered?” he questioned.

“I think after being deprived of the opportunity to play in the IPL, the board should consider Yousuf for Twenty20 games. He needs to work hard on his fielding but he is a tremendous batsman in any form and I think the selectors and team management is making a big mistake by dropping Yousuf,” Akram added.

This can come as a rude shock to all IPL fans.
Australian players could miss next year’s Indian Premier League campaign due to a fixture clash.

It was revealed on Monday by Cricket Australia that the recently cancelled tour to Pakistan has been rescheduled for next year.

Ricky Ponting’s side are due to play five one-day internationals and one Twenty20 match in April next year - and those centrally contracted to CA are expected to meet their obligation to play for their country.

That means those currently playing in the IPL may be forced to miss the Twenty20 competition because of international commitments.

“Playing (in Pakistan) probably inhibits players playing in the IPL (next year),” CA operations manager Michael Brown told The Sydney Morning Herald.

“Under their contracts players have to make themselves available to play for Australia and so far we have not had any problems.”

Window

With Australia’s top stars set to join England’s players in being unable to play in the 2009 competition, calls will grow for the creation of a slot in the cricket calendar for the IPL to be played.

However, with the future tours programme laid out by the International Cricket Council until the start of 2012, options are limited.

“We often talk about programming being played like chess in three dimensions,” Brown added. “At this stage we have a program that goes through until 2011-12.

“The difficulty (in creating a window for the IPL) is there would be so many groups that would want to be involved in such programs.

“The bread and butter of cricket is based around the future tours programme and we have to make sure that is protected.”
Hope a feasible solution comes around in time!

Money, money, money. Wherever there is IPL there is sure to be money.
The ad world, media, sportsmen and even the glamour industry are busy speculating on the money making potential of India’s cricket T20 party.

But it’s the bookies and their clients who are sure to reap a windfall with the Indian Premier League (IPL). In fact, the format is a gambler’s paradise. After the first match of IPL, it seemed that SRK may do a Chak De on the cricket field too.

Kolkata emerged as favourite team for bookmakers and satorias after their great performance on Friday. However, things changed after the second match between Chennai Super Kings and Mohali Kings XI Punjab. The odds have now tilted towards Chennai Super Kings taking their stake to 100:145.

The odds were heavily loaded in the favour of SRK’s Kolkata Knight Riders specially after their sensational 140-run victory over Bangalore’s Royal Challengers, riding on Brendon McCullum’s blistering strokeplay.

But before going to the press, the betting odds shifted in favour of Chennai Super Kings when they scored 240 for 5 which was much more than 222 for 3 by Kolkata Knight Riders in the first IPL match. Chennai is now at the top of the chart with odds of 1:145.
So if you bet Rs 100 on them, you will get back Rs 145. The stakes on the Kolkata team are 1:155, if you bet Rs 100 on Knight Riders you will be richer by Rs 155.

The bookmakers and satorias in Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Agra, which are major centres for betting, are looking at this as a mega event and it is estimated that Rs 200-400 cr was up for grabs on Friday. The satta bazaar estimates that at least Rs 20,000 cr will be wagered on the IPL’s 59 matches over a period of 44 days.

A leading bookie said, “This is a new form of cricket where players from many other countries are playing together in one team so initially the interest of people betting was not so much. But after the second half of Friday’s match there has been a great response to betting.”

However, initially the bookies found it hard to decide the favorites for the IPL and early betting had Hyderabad as the 4:1 favorites. That’s a profit of four rupees for every rupee wagered. Chennai came next, followed by Mohali at 13:2 and Mumbai at 7:1. Kolkata is at 15:2, Delhi and Bangalore are both at 8:1 and Jaipur is the outsider at 12:1.

A Delhi-based bookie said, “We very hopeful of the IPL. The money that’s been spent on players have seen many bettors coming to us with inquiries on the event. Even last year’s Cricket World Cup and World T20 Cricket Cup did not generate so much interest. After the first match, the interest has increased in betting.”

Rates for some of the teams that have opened have Delhi at 100/210, Mumbai at 100/175, Bangalore at 100/225 and Kolkata at 100/155 and Mohali Kings XI Punjab at 100:230.

Among individual players from India, Yuvraj Singh of King’s XI Punjab, M S Dhoni of Chennai Super Kings, R P Singh of Deccan Chargers and Virender Sehwag of Delhi Daredevils are the favorites of the bookies.

Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi of Deccan Chargers, followed by Australian Bret Lee of Kings XI Punjab, Matthew Hayden of Chennai Super Kings and Adam Gilchrist of Deccan Charges are the other favourites. New Zealand’s McCullum of Kolkata Knight Riders and Craig McMillian are also hot.

Well, be sure to put in your bets on your favorite stars and team!