Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

Shoaib Akhtar’s international career virtually came to an end with an appellate tribunal on Wednesday upholding the five-year ban imposed on him but allowed him to play in the cash-rich Indian Premier League.

The appellate tribunal, in its interim ruling, said Akhtar could not play any match in or for Pakistan but gave him the liberty to play anywhere else in the world.

Justice (retd) Aftab Farrukh, heading the appellate tribunal, said the ban stayed because Shoaib did not try to reform himself.

“Basically he has not tried to reform himself and has continued to violate discipline. That is the view of the tribunal so the ban stays,” told reporters in Lahore.

“This is also the order of the disciplinary committee of the Board that he can’t play for or anywhere in Pakistan domestically or internationally. But there is no bar on him playing anywhere else in the world,” Farrukh added.

Farrukh said the tribunal had taken this decision in view of the unconditional apology submitted by Shoaib on Monday to the nation, his team and the Board for his actions and deeds.

Farrukh said the tribunal would resume proceedings against the overall ban in June. Akhtar had appealed against the five-year ban imposed on him by the Pakistan Cricket Board for breaching players code of conduct by criticising the Board in media when he was already in the probation period.

The interim order basically appears to be a move to allow Shoaib to play in the Indian Premier League.

But the million dollar question is that whether the IPL will allow Shoaib to play in their League because earlier also their stance was clear that they wouldn’t allow a banned player to play in their league. And the tribunal has not lifted the ban.

Farrukh also criticised Shoaib for the irreparable harm he had done to Pakistan cricket, his teammates and the trust of the nation.

Tags: , appeal, ban, cricket board, governing body, indiscipline, IPL, knigh riders, pak, Pakistan, Shoaib Akktar

Indian premier League - IPL News is now available live on mobile phones. iplnews.mobi was launched today by one of the largest fansite of IPL - IPLCricketforum.com as an extended service for all fans of IPL.

iplnews.mobi is a light version of the news with headlines and a brief detail - this is meant for people who wants to stay updated on IPL round the clock and even when they are on the move. Apart from these the site also provides a free toolbar to stay updated from any desktop.

IPL Cricket forum is a community dedicated to IPL and serves with live score, match updates, match results, team status for the Indian Premier League. The site is a user generated community around ipl with user submitted content, images, video and games around cricket. The most unique game is a prediction game for the entire IPL tournament.

Tags: cell, indian premier league, IPL, live, mobile, news, phone, update

Harbhajan Singh was banned for eleven matches of IPL today as announced by Lalit Modi in a press conference a short while ago. The board arrived at this decision after watching a video footage of the incident and Harbhajan’s own acknowledgment. Earlier BCCI - the board of control of India have suspended him pending an explanation from him.

BCCI expressed their shock at his behaviour which was unprovoked during the recently concluded match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab where he slapped Sreesanth playing for the rivals. BCCI found him guilty at a level of 4.2 which is high. This level even allows a board to suspend a player for ten match and even a lifetime ban. It was also mentioned that this kind attitude was not warranted in a game of cricket. Even Lalchand Rajput’s  (Team Manager of Mumbai Indians) behaviour was found not in the spirit of cricketas he was present at the place of the incident. Harbhajan has been fined 100% of the match fee for this incident while Lalchand Rajput will loose 50% of the match fees.

The incident occurred at the end of the Mumbai - Mohali match of the Indian Premier League  when Harbhajan was shaking hands with all members. On reaching Sreesanth who was third in the line he simply punched or slapped him on the face without any provocation.

Mr Farooque Enggineer match referee who was present during the hearing tried to broker peace between the two players by bringing them together when they shook hands and hug each other in front of the press. Harbhajan also apologized and accepted his mistake while asking fans to continue supporting the team.

We think that this is a correct decision which will set and example for players who are not in control of their emotions and cannot honor the spirit of the game. Also each Cricket Board should have proper counselors who should take care of such errant players.

© IPL Cricket Forum

Tags: , banned, bccj, bhajji, Harbhajan Singh, ICC, IPL, lalchand rajput, Mumbai Indians, punching, slapping, Sreesanth

A totally one sided contest today between the IPL Mumbai Indians and IPL Deccan Chargers. A thumping 10-wicket win then for the Deccan Chargers. Mumbai Indians batted first and ended their miserable innings with just 154 for 7. None of the batsman were ever comfortable except for Abhishek Nayar and Dwayne Bravo both of whom scored 34. Nayar looked confident and capable but he alone couldn’t do much.

Deccan Chargers came in to bat second but it was Adam Gilchrist all the way. Gilchrist smashed ten sixes as he blasted his way to the fastest century of the tournament. He was also involved in the highest opening partnership with Laxman who chipped in with 36. It was a real visual delight to watch Gilchrist bat and though the home crowd remained quite at this kind of miserable performance most of the cricket lovers enjoyed his batting. Mumbai Indians slipped to the bottom of the table in th Indian Premier League tournament with four consecutive loses.

Mumbai Indians: 154/7 (20.0 Ovs)
Deccan Chargers: 155/0 (12.4 Ovs)

Man of the Match - Adam Gilchrist

Deccan Chargers recorded their first win by 10 Wkts.

© IPL Cricket Forum

Tags: Abfishek Nayar, Adam Gilchrist, Deccan chargers, IPL, loss, Mumbai Indians, VVS laxman, win

A frustrated Harbhajan Singh got entangled in yet another controversy after allegedly slapping his Indian team colleague and IPL Mohali (Kings XI Punjab) paceman S Sreesanth during their Indian Premier League encounter yesterday.

Yuvraj Singh captain of Kings XI Punjab 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.

Sreesanth 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 avoided the issue and said - “Can we have questions on just cricket,” when asked about what happened between him and Sreesanth.

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

“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,” Yuvraj Singh said apparently criticizing Harbhajan Singh.

Yuvraj also said - “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 behavior.

“At the end of the day, players shake hands. But today saw more that from Harbhajan and Sreesanth. It is unacceptable behavior 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, Bhajji also looked unhappy with his teammates.

When asked if the task of captaincy was difficult - a visibly irritated Harbhajan said “When you lose nothing seems to be okay.” he said angrily when asked if captaincy was tough.”I don’t like losing. When you lose, you don’t feel happy.”

All said and done this is not an acceptable behavior coming from the Captain of an IPL team. He sure requires to be disciplined properly and action taken by the officials. More so it also puts a strong question on his capabilities to lead a team when he himself has no control over his emotions with also the loss of three vital matches with the last one by an overwhelming 66 runs! We think a better example will be to suspend this player immediately and set an example for the rest of the team which will sent out a clear message to everyone that such shameful actions are not tolerated.

Tags: , Bhaji, harbhajan, indians, IPL, Kings eleven, Mumbai, Punjab, shameful, slapping, Sreesanth, Yuvraj