Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

Shoaib Akhtar’s cricketing options are running out fast with the
Indian Cricket League (ICL) ruling out roping in the erratic speedster unless he
is cleared of the five-year ban imposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Akhtar, who had joined the Shah Rukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight
Riders team for Rs 1.8 crore, has already been barred by the Indian Premier
League (IPL), which insisted the pacer would have to get the ban removed if he
wanted to play in the cash-rich Twenty20 extravaganza starting later this month.

In such a scenario, aligning with the ‘rebel’ league would have been
an option for the beleaguered pacer but even that looks difficult now with ICL
authorities making it clear that they would not welcome the pacer unless he
clears the ban.

“Look we want to promote cricket and we don’t want
to spoil our relations with anyone for anyone,” ICL executive board chairman
Kapil Dev said.

“I don’t think it would look right that a player who
is under ban from his board is entertained by us. And I also think that even a
one year ban makes it difficult for a cricketer to make an international
comeback,” he said.

Asked if the ICL would still be willing to pay
huge sums of money to Akhtar for the ICL, Dev said one could not predict what
would be the scenario in the next few months.

Incidentally, Akhtar
had turned down an ICL offer even though compatriots like Inzamam-ul-Haq aligned
with the rebel league.

Though only two weeks are left for the lucrative Indian Premier League
(IPL) to start, the venues for the 10 matches to be played in Mumbai,
including the semi-finals and final, are yet to be finalised.

Mumbai Indians side will play all seven home matches in Mumbai, The two
semi-finals on May 30 and 31 and the final on June 1 will also be
played in the city.

‘Five matches each will be played at the Wankhede Stadium and at D.Y.
Patil Stadium. But it has not been decided where the semi-finals and
the final will be played,’ Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of
Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), told IANS.

‘It has, however, been decided that the semi-finals and final will be played at the same venue.’

Shah said the venues could be finalised at the IPL governing council
meeting in Mumbai later Wednesday. Officials from Mukesh Ambani’s
Reliance group which bought Mumbai Indians for $111.9 million, the
International Management Group (IMG), which is assisting BCCI in
organising the tournament and the match hosting associations will be
present at the meeting.

Wankhede Stadium in south Mumbai, although floodlit, is not the ideal
venue as it does not match international standards on several fronts,
especially where players’ dressing rooms are concerned.

The stadium was to be completely renovated last year. But the plan has been deferred.

D.Y. Patil Stadium, designed by famous architect Hafeez Contractor, is
a modern cricket venue with floodlights in Nerul, a new township off
Mumbai on the Mumbai-Pune Highway. The stadium is at about a 90-minute
drive from Wankhede Stadium.

The uncertainty over venues in Mumbai has meant that the IPL schedule
has not been finalised. Mumbai Indians are tentatively scheduled to
play their opening match against Bangalore Royal Challengers at home
April 20.

All eight competing teams will play seven home matches and an equal
number of away games as per the round-robin league format, before the
knockout semi-finals and final.

It is reliably learnt that neither IMG nor Reliance is happy about having two venues in Mumbai.

‘IMG wanted Mumbai matches to be played at one venue. It feels that by
having two venues not only will the cost of organising matches go up,
but it will also be time consuming for the personnel involved in
organising matches,’ said a BCCI source.

‘With hardly any time left for the tournament to begin, planning the
matches in Mumbai and elsewhere is also becoming a problem.’

A total of 59 matches will be played for the $3 million prize money.

The source also said that there was a dispute between Reliance and
BCCI/IPL/IMG as to who would bear the extra cost of organising matches
at the second venue.

‘Reliance has been asking the BCCI/IPL for a long time to settle the
venues quickly. But the board has been delaying the issue,’ he said.

All Mumbai matches as well as the semi-finals and final were originally
scheduled at the Cricket Club of India’s (CCI) Brabourne Stadium. Since
CCI members are entitled to watch all matches played at the stadium,
the CCI asked IPL to provide tickets to all of them.

But IPL declined to provide CCI more than 20 percent tickets - the same
that will be given to all match-hosting associations - and the club
rejected the offer, forcing a change of venue.