In a landmark move in India's cricket administration, former India captain Anil Kumble, and pace bowling partners Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad are all set to contest Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) elections for the 2011-2013 term scheduled to be held on November 21.
Rahul Dravid, who is also a former captain and is still playing international cricket, is likely to be part of the set-up if Kumble, Srinath and Prasad win.
Both Srinath and Prasad admitted that they are set to contest the elections but didn't divulge much about their prospective move.
"Yes, we are contesting the KSCA elections but we will only speak to the media in detail tomorrow," Prasad said when PTI contacted him.
"I don't want to say anything now since we will talk to the media tomorrow," Srinath said.
Earlier, long-standing KSCA secretary Brijesh Patel confirmed that he won't be contesting for the secretary's post during the upcoming term in a press release.
"I had the honour of serving the Karnataka State Cricket Association as its Honorary Secretary for the past twelve years. I contributed to the Association in all my might and put my heart and soul to the growth and development of the association during these years.
"Now, I have decided to step aside and not contest the ensuing elections and support the young distinguished Test cricketers Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Rahul Dravid and others in the coming elections who have pledged to take KSCA forward in the coming challenging years," the release stated.
"We cricketers, GR VIswanath, Syed Kirmani, Roger Binny, Sudhakar Rao, J Abhiram, others and myself came together in 1998 to contribute to KSCA's growth and prosperity. We put in our best efforts collectively for the past twelve years with utmost sincerity with the interest of the institution as our single goal.
"With the changing times, I'm of the firm belief that fresh energy, new ideas and young feet are always good for an institution. We at Karnataka are indeed lucky that we have living cricketing legends Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath and others who are willing to sacrifice their time and energy to take Karnataka cricket forward," it further stated.
"I've seen these cricketers closely and I've immense faith and utmost confidence in their ability and commitments to make KSCA a model association not only of the country but also of the world."
Although there have been ex-cricketers in cricket administration, there have never been a clutch of cricketers of such stature deciding to enter cricket administration. Given their vast accomplishments and standing in the cricketing community, it will be interesting to see if anybody opposes the former Indian players in the elections or they are chosen unanimously without the need of an election.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly had also expressed his wish to be a part of the CAB administration but his role has mainly been restricted to attending the Annual AGMs and working committee meetings.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Modi gets 10 days to file reply before Passport Office
Former IPL chairman Lalit Modi has been granted a further 10 days time by the Mumbai Regional Passport Office (RPO) to reply to its notice as to why his passport should not be cancelled.
Modi, who is currently in Europe, is facing a probe by multiple government agencies for alleged financial irregularities in the IPL.
Modi's lawyer, Mehmood Abdi, confirmed that the Regional Post Office, Mumbai, has responded to their letters and reminders today and has given his client additional time of 10 days to file his reply.
"The letter dated November 1 says if no reply is received within the stipulated period, necessary action under section 10(3)(C) will be initiated by this office," Abdi told PTI.
"We received this communication from the Passport office today, which sets out the time frame of 10 days from the date of issue of this letter, whereas the time frame usually starts from the service of the communication and not from the issuance of the correspondence," he said.
"The passport office has not supplied the documents requested for by Mr Lalit Modi. However, they have briefly reproduced contents of communication between Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Passport Office," he added.
Abdi said all documents relied upon by the Passport Office for the issuance of such a notice, particularly the communication dated October 4 and October 15 between the ED and the Passport Office, were essentially required for having a proper perspective of the issues involved and the jurisdiction and scope of the proposed action under the Passport Act.
Abdi said the response to this notice of the Passport Office is under active consultation with the senior counsel and the reply would be filed within the stipulated period.
The Regional Passport Office (RPO) had issued show-cause notice on October 15 to Modi as to why his passport should not be cancelled under section 10(3)(c) of Passports Act, 1967.
In response to the letter written by Modi's lawyers to the RPO seeking the clarification and supply of documents on which the Passport officer has relied upon for issuing the show-cause notice, the Modi camp wrote a letter on October 26 and three others on October 28 besides a reminder again on October 29.
Since no response was received from the RPO, Modi's lawyers again wrote a detailed letter on 30th October, Abdi said.
Modi, who is currently in Europe, is facing a probe by multiple government agencies for alleged financial irregularities in the IPL.
Modi's lawyer, Mehmood Abdi, confirmed that the Regional Post Office, Mumbai, has responded to their letters and reminders today and has given his client additional time of 10 days to file his reply.
"The letter dated November 1 says if no reply is received within the stipulated period, necessary action under section 10(3)(C) will be initiated by this office," Abdi told PTI.
"We received this communication from the Passport office today, which sets out the time frame of 10 days from the date of issue of this letter, whereas the time frame usually starts from the service of the communication and not from the issuance of the correspondence," he said.
"The passport office has not supplied the documents requested for by Mr Lalit Modi. However, they have briefly reproduced contents of communication between Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Passport Office," he added.
Abdi said all documents relied upon by the Passport Office for the issuance of such a notice, particularly the communication dated October 4 and October 15 between the ED and the Passport Office, were essentially required for having a proper perspective of the issues involved and the jurisdiction and scope of the proposed action under the Passport Act.
Abdi said the response to this notice of the Passport Office is under active consultation with the senior counsel and the reply would be filed within the stipulated period.
The Regional Passport Office (RPO) had issued show-cause notice on October 15 to Modi as to why his passport should not be cancelled under section 10(3)(c) of Passports Act, 1967.
In response to the letter written by Modi's lawyers to the RPO seeking the clarification and supply of documents on which the Passport officer has relied upon for issuing the show-cause notice, the Modi camp wrote a letter on October 26 and three others on October 28 besides a reminder again on October 29.
Since no response was received from the RPO, Modi's lawyers again wrote a detailed letter on 30th October, Abdi said.
Gavaskar and BCCI spar over IPL payment
Gavaskar, who was controversially omitted from the IPL's Governing Council in September this year, claimed he had not been paid for the last three years but Board secretary N Srinivasan rubbished the claim, saying it was not factually correct.
The Cricket Board did not give any reason for Gavaskar's ouster from the IPL Governing Council during its Annual General Meeting in September this year, but there were reports that it could be a result of the payment dispute.
The legendary batsman created a flutter by stating that he had not been paid for the last three years which forced him to sent a "gentle reminder about the non-payment" to BCCI.
"I am yet to be paid by the BCCI for my role on the IPL Governing Council. I have not been paid at all by the BCCI, since I took on the offer. All I have been doing is that sending a gentle reminder about the non-payment... I am just reminding them of what was offered to me and what was ommitted to me by the BCCI," Gavaskar said.
"I have just been told that Mr. Sharad Pawar (ICC President) will organise a meeting between Shashank Manohar (BCCI chief) and me in his presence to sort out the matter and that for me is good enough," he said.
The former India captain, however, refused to divulge what the pay packet would be, saying, "Never ask a woman her age and never ask a man what he gets."
Srinivasan, however, gave a different version by insisting that the former Indian captain had been paid as per the contract.
"There is no dispute in this regard. He has been paid," he said.
Asked whether there was a miscommunication between Gavaskar and the Board on the payment issue, Srinivasan said "There is no misunderstanding. I am just stating the fact. You asked me whether Gavaskar has not been paid, I said he has been paid... I have a lot of admiration for him as a cricketer," he pointed out.
On whether Gavaskar had asked for Rs 20 crore for his five-year term in the IPL Governing Council, Srinivasan said "He had sent a mail to the BCCI President mentioning that amount. It was placed in the AGM but since there was no prior agreement or any understanding, it was not paid. The BCCI had not made any commitment."
"There was no contract. We had a contract with him for Rs one crore plus taxes and was have paid him that. That's all," he said.
Gavaskar also denied that he had any links with the beleaguered Kochi IPL team and said he had still not made up his mind whether to accept the franchise's offer to head its cricket operations.
"They only came to me for advice," he said.
"I will wait for Kochi's internal problems to be resolved before deciding to take up the offer. Apart from Kochi, I have also been approached by another franchise to head cricket operations," the former opener added.
Sri Lanka to keep heat on Ponting-less Aussies
Sri Lanka will keep the heat on an Australia side that will be without their skipper Ricky Ponting for Wednesday's opening one-day international in Melbourne, captain Kumar Sangakkara said Tuesday.
The Sri Lankans received a significant boost ahead of the Melbourne Cricket Ground match when Ponting said he was withdrawing to attend his grandmother's funeral in Tasmania.
Sangakkara's team hold the whip hand going into the three-match ODI series after thrashing Australia by seven wickets in a Twenty20 match in Perth last Sunday.
The wicketkeeper-batsman warned that Sri Lanka must keep applying the pressure to the world's number one-ranked one-day team.
"A player of Ricky's calibre not being in the side, he's a huge blow to anyone," Sangakkara told reporters.
"He's one of the best batsmen probably in the last two decades or so.
"I'm not sure how it will affect the Australians, but for us again it's a case of thinking more about us and trying to keep a focus on the processes that we try and do setting the tone for the innings and getting our combinations right."
Although Sri Lanka are using the Australian tour as a buildup to next year's World Cup on the sub-continent, Sangakkara said his focus would be on trying to beat the home side.
"The World Cup is there, everyone knows when it is and this is a build-up for it," he said.
"But for us, this tour is very important, so we take this series in that context, as a series on its own.
"Of course, the combinations we play will probably allow us to make some decisions about certain players, it will also give players opportunities to grab those elusive places in a final World Cup squad.
"But we have to play this, we have to play the West Indies and then think about the World Cup."
Like Australia, Sri Lanka are yet to decide their line-up for Wednesday's game, but Sangakkara confirmed Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan would open the batting.
ICC not against Pakistan, says former president
"ICC is not against Pakistan, it's Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) which is against their cricket and has not sorted out their problems, forcing the ICC to take the matters in its hands," Pakistani Ehsan Mani told AFP.
"The way PCB is being run, it is only to protect the position of one person," said Mani, ICC president 2003-2006, without specifically naming under fire PCB chairman Ijaz Butt.
Pakistan's recent tour of England was marred by newspaper allegations of spot-fixing during a Test at Lord's in August, leading to the ICC suspending three key players.
The ICC on Sunday turned down an appeal from Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt and bowler Mohammad Aamer against the suspension. The third accused, Mohammad Asif, had withdrawn his appeal.
The ICC has ordered Pakistan to implement measures to curb alleged corruption and other problems, warning failure to clean up its act could result in sanctions.
No international teams have toured Pakistan since a militant attack on the Sri Lankan team's bus in March last year, meaning huge financial losses and fears that interest in the sport will start to wane among the youth.
"The PCB should have taken the lead and sorted those things out," Mani told AFP late Monday.
"It is because we are not capable of doing it that the ICC has said we will step in. I know some of the people on the (ICC) committee and they seriously have Pakistan?s cricket at heart, I?ve got no doubt about that," said Mani.
Mani said the PCB had plenty on its plate.
"Domestic cricket, schools' cricket, clubs' cricket -- I hear there are quite a lot of issues in domestic cricket in Pakistan which needed to be addressed," he said.
"You will always find that the boards with the best systems, like Australia and India, their teams will always do better because the team selection, the selection of the selectors, is a whole process.
"At the moment our system... it is only at the whim of one person. You will only get a board as good or bad as its chairman."