Indian left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who was previously with the Deccan Chargers, has joined Mumbai Indians for the fifth season of the Indian Premier League, which starts on the 4th of April.

In the process, he became the sixth player to have swapped teams in the current trading window of the IPL. At the present time, he is touring Australia with the rest of the Indian cricket team and was not available for comment. Ojha has been a successful bowler in the IPL and it was thanks to his performances in this competition that he was picked for the national team, where he has performed extremely well so far. Pragyan Ojha was the proud owner of the Purple Cap in the IPL 2010 for being the highest wicket taker in the competition.

Owner of the Mumbai Indians franchise, Nita Ambani said that his addition to the already strong Mumbai Indians team would make them an even stronger unit overall and that she was extremely happy about her latest acquisition.

“With a spinner of Pragyan Ojha’s competence, we fortify our bowling department that has won us many matches in the past seasons. Pragyan Ojha is a player of great international repute, and we welcome him with much excitement.” said Nita Ambani, Team Owner Mumbai Indians.

Indeed from the spectators point of view, Pragyan’s addition to what is already a strong bowling attack with Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh in the team can be seen as value addition, or, importantly, it could be a sign that the Mumbai Indians have been ruffled by Harbhajan “Turbanator” Singh’s lack of form with the ball. This can prove to be a very shrewd signing in the scheme of things.

E Venkat Reddy, chief of the Deccan Chargers, remarked that Ojha had a huge role in their IPL winning season in 2009 and wished him all the best for the future.

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Sach, Zak, back in ODI squad

Sachin Tendulkar will be playing in his first ODI series since last summer’s successful outing at the World Cup in the upcoming tri series involving Australia, India, and Sri Lanka to be played in Australia.

Praveen Kumar is one of the other players who will be making a comeback into the Indian team after missing the Test matches thanks to a fractured rib. He is part of a 17 man Indian outfit that will be in contention for the couple of Twenty 20 internationals followed by the ODI tri-series which will be played from February 5th to March 8th.

The squad is quite familiar to the one that was picked for the last two ODI’s at home against the West Indies in December. Irfan Pathan, who made a comeback to the team during that series, has also been picked. Seeing his track record in these parts in the past, the younger of the two Pathans will relish this opportunity to make a mark. Zaheer Khan will also stay on for the ODI series, and like Tendulkar, he will be playing in his first limited overs competition after the World Cup last year. Umesh Yadav and R Vinay Kumar have also been picked for the series.

R Ashwin continues to keep out senior pro Harbhajan Singh, who, to be fair has not had any impact in the domestic circuit after the axe fell on him. Ashwin will be supported by Rahul Sharma, who has been picked as the second spinner.

Manoj Tiwary’s hundred against the West Indies appears to have helped him clinch a berth while Parthiv Patel has been picked as the reserve wicket-keeper. Ravindra Jadeja’s excellent form in the shorter version of the game ensured that he was picked as Yuvraj Singh continues to be out of the reckoning as he is yet to recover from the non-malignant tumor that has been troubling him since the World Cup.

Squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Manoj Tiwary, Parthiv Patel (wk), Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Irfan Pathan, R Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Rahul Sharma, R Ashwin

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It was revealed at the workshop for the IPL franchise owners in Goa that more than 230 players will go under the hammer in the IPL 5 mega auction. It is understood that 207 players from around the world have expressed an interest to be a part of the auction while the 27 players from the disbanded Kochi Tuskers IPL franchise will also be up for grabs at the auction.

The IPL committee will now take the step of corresponding with the players by mail so that the parties can arrive at a base price for each player. The final list of players who will be available for auction will be made available by the BCCI’s IPL committee on the third week of January. Analysts have calculated that a maximum of 29 players can be auctioned off if all available slots have to be filled. The auction is set to be held on February 4th as each franchise have a purse of US2 million dollars.

Some of the franchises had asked the board to organize the auction in Australia, where the national team is in action at the present time. One of the owners have made this suggestion at the owner’s meeting in Goa. However, most of the owners were against the idea and wanted it to be held as planned in India. BCCI and IPL officials have made it clear that the auction will be held in India.

The venue of the auction, however, has not been disclosed as of yet. IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla is understood to be in favor of conducting the auctions in New Delhi, but some of the board officials would rather have it at Bangalore. A final decision will be made in a few days time.

Addition of TV sets in the players dug-outs were also discussed as Nita Ambani, Vijay Mallya, Mohit Burman, Jay Mehta, Gayatri Reddy and Raj Kundra met at the owner’s meeting.

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Australian all-rounder Andrew McDonald moved from Delhi Daredevils to Royal Challengers Bangalore on Wednesday, making it the fifth transfer since the trading window opened earlier this month.

The BCCI announced in a statement that McDonald has been transferred from the Delhi Franchise to Vijay Mallya owned Royal Challengers Bangalore – the losing finalists in last year’s tournament. At the present time, McDonald is leading the Melbourne Renegades in the Australian Big Bash League that is in full swing at the moment.

Avinash Vaidya, who is the team manager of the Royal Challengers, said that they were glad to be adding an all-rounder to their roster. He noted that McDonald has been impressive with both bat and ball this season and that he should be able to make a difference in their fortunes this season.

This is an exciting time for the IPL as Rajeev Shukla, chairman of the IPL, noted that many more transfers are in the pipeline and that there is a big one coming up later in the trade window.

In the meanwhile, Australian discard Mitchell Johnson, who was ridiculed for his performances before getting injured in South Africa, is looking to impress in the IPL as he looks to make a comeback in Australia’s Test team.

Johnson had previously turned down opportunities to play in the cash rich league as early as 2008 to concentrate on his international career with Australia. However, now that he is out of the reckoning with promising youngsters leading the Australian pace attack, Johnson feels that some good performances in the IPL could serve as his ticket to make a return to the Australian national side.

The 30 year old is currently recuperating from a toe injury and is out of contention from a berth in Australia’s tour of the Caribbean in March-April. He is certain of playing in the IPL though as he thinks that it is the best way forward for him at the moment.

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The transfer window has only just opened, but that has not stopped a couple of teams in the IPL to spend a whole lot of cash on quality players. Three transfers have already been registered so far and two of them have been high profile.

The first transfer in this season of the IPL has been former India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, who moved from Kings XI Punjab to last season’s runners-up Mumbai Indians. The former Delhi Daredevils player has a lot of experience behind the stumps. However, with Adam Gilchrist featuring in that role for the Punjab based outfit, opportunities were limited for Karthik, who could not do much.

As we look to the future though, this transfer does look to be an especially good one for the Mumbai Indians. They have struggled with the wicket-keeping spot which has often been taken by Ambati Rayudu or else some sub-standard foreigner. Karthik’s skill behind the wicket is quite good and he can be a good solution for Mumbai Indians.

The second transfer of the trading window however, was by far the biggest in IPL history. Kevin Pietersen moved from the Deccan Chargers to the Delhi Daredevils for a whopping $2.3 million. Pietersen will now take the field for Delhi alongside the likes of Virender Sehwag and David Warner. This team will be a package to look forward to seeing the top three players in the lineup.

Pietersen’s is probably at par with the best in the world as far as batting is concerned. It is a treat to watch him bat out in the middle and his natural intent is to attack – and he does so merrily most of the time. His fielding is also exemplary and can also contribute with the ball with his off-spinners.

“I am looking forward to a wonderful time with the Delhi Daredevils. It will be a great experience to be playing in the same squad as Sehwag.” said Pietersen.

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Whatmore Steps Down as KKR coach

Dav Whatmore has resigned as the head coach of the IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders earlier this morning. Whatmore happens to be the favorite to land the job of the head coach of Pakistan. In his resignation letter to the CEO of the Kolkata based IPL franchise, Whatmore mentioned that he could not carry on with being coach of KKR as he wants to be with an international side.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has invited the former Sri Lanka and Bangladesh coach to the country in the second week of January to discuss the terms for his possible appointment and the Kolkata Knight Riders came out in support of Whatmore’s desire to go international once again.

The CEO of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Venky Mysore, confirmed that the franchise were supportive of Dav Whatmore’s desire to pursue an international coaching role and he added that the coach’s decision to resign at this time augers well for the transition period. He also thanked Whatmore for his contribution to the Knight Riders in his two years in charge of the team.

In Whatmore’s first year in charge of KKR, the team finished sixth out of the eight teams, however, the second year saw a reversal in fortunes as a brand new team led by Gautam Gambhir finished fourth in 2011 as they went out to Mumbai Indians in the eliminator.

The Knight Riders, in the meanwhile have started the search for their next coach and it is believed that a replacement will be announced before the IPL auctions take place on the 4th of February 2012.

In his parting shot, Whatmore said,” The team has progressed in the right direction and as always, I wish the team continued success and look forward to them progressing to silverware in 2012. Many thanks to those who have supported and believed in me.”

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The nine franchises of the Indian Premier League have been unable to come to a solution as far as the next IPL auctions to be held in January 2012 are concerned.

The team owners met in Mumbai in the last fortnight, however, it is understood that a consensus was not reached. While all the members agreed that the players from the banned Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise shall be included in the auction, a consensus was not reached as far as spending limits, tie-break rules, as well as the overall personnel limit in a squad are concerned.

In the meeting of all franchise CEOs that was held recently, it is thought that there were some internal disagreements between the parties regarding the amount of money that should be allowed for spending in the upcoming auction. Team owners have also failed to reach a consensus on whether there should be silent/open/unlimited bidding in case of a tie break. Disagreements also aroused regarding the upper limit on foreign players in each squad. At the present time, it is capped at ten players from overseas with 4 players allowed in the lineup for IPL T20 as well as Champions League T20 matches.

While there is a majority support for no change to the current format, some of the franchises want the cap to be raised to 13 overseas players in a squad along with an increase in the number of foreign players in a lineup.

As far as the value of added purse is concerned – the opinion stands divided at the moment with different franchises quoting different figures. However, most of the franchises are comfortable with an added purse of a million dollars.

An area where all the franchises are in agreement is the replacement of players. The replacement of a player will result in the franchise losing the contract value with the player in question from their purse.

The IPL governing council is expected to meet this weekend.

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Indian cricketers Parthiv Patel and Siddharth Trivedi have been served show-cause notices by the Central Excise Department, who have deemed the two players to have avoided paying service tax to the tune of fifty lakh Rupees.

While it is assumed that the cricketers were in the dark about the charges, it is being reported that the duo had agreed to put on the logo of a particular concern on their Indian Premier League (IPL) shirts in exchange for cash. The Central Excise Department has deemed their action as providing service to the particular company in question and has asked the duo to pay the tax in the coming days.

Parthiv Patel and Siddharth Trivedi, who played for Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the last edition of the IPL have been asked to pay the sum of Rupees 42.84 lakh and Rupees 6.59 lakh as service tax by the authority. The sum has been calculated on the money that they received from their respective franchises at the time.

Players coming out to play in the cash rich IPL had been asked by the authorities to come up with their total payment with separate mention of money received as match fees
and money received as sponsorships. It is assumed that the dup did not do as directed and are now in the dock.

Similar show-cause notices were also sent previously to several members of the Kings XI Punjab team that included among them a certain Yuvraj Singh. The period under question is the 2008-09 season.

At the time, Parthiv Patel used to be part of Chennai Super Kings, who bought the Gujarat wicket-keeper batsman for 1.3 crore Rupees while Siddharth played for Rajasthan Royals, who paid 20 lakh for his services.

In the period under question Trivedi also earned a sum of Rupees 12 lakh as performance bonuses from the Royals.

“Despite intimations and initial notices served to them, none of the two players declared their earnings from endorsements and money received as fees for playing matches. We later decided to serve show-cause notices and levied tax on the total income from all the seasons of IPL.” said an official.

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Rajasthan Royals announced last evening that Rahul Dravid will take over the captaincy of the team after the departure of talismanic Australian bowler Shane Warne from the franchise.

Warne has chosen to bid goodbye to the Indian Premier League after a successful stint with the Rajasthan Royals, whom he led to victory in the first edition of the IPL. The 38 year old was bought by the Royals for half a million dollars in the last IPL player auction after turning out for home team Royal Challengers Bangalore for the first three seasons.

Dravid, who has recently been awarded with the Poly Umrigar Award for India’s best cricketer 2010-11 by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has had a fantastic season as a Test cricketer this calendar year with more than Twelve-Hundred runs under his belt which includes six centuries.

“I am honored to lead the Rajsthan Royals. I hope to live up to the confidence shown in me by the franchise and giving our fans an exciting season of cricket. I look forward to the valuable inputs from my teammates who are already leading their national sides and clubs. My aim will be to get the best out of a very talented squad and invoke the same team spirit that won the franchise the first IPL and has been a hallmark of the Rajasthan Royals ever since. I am confident that by doing so we will have a great chance of doing well in the tournament.” said Dravid.

The outgoing skipper Shane Warne, congratulated the Wall on his appointment as skipper as he lauded Dravid as one of the best batsmen in world cricket before describing him as a “leader par excellence”.

Rajasthan Royals co-owner and Bollywood actress Shila Shetty confirmed Dravid’s appointment as skipper of the Rajasthan Royals franchise on her Twitter account.

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When the Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise was axed from the IPL on account of not paying the required fees to the BCCI, the one issue which hogged the limelight was the future of the cricketers who turned out for this franchise. When the IPL governing council meet sometime in the next fortnight, the issue is set to dominate the agenda with BCCI insiders claiming that the players will be put up for sale to the other franchises in the next IPL player auctions.

While the player auction is set to happen sometime next year, probably mid-January as far as board directives go, the IPL governing council is thought to be considering raising the spending limit on players for the franchises, who can then go ahead and spend on the players that they want.

There were quite a few international players on the banished Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise such as Mahela Jayawardena, Muttiah Muralitharan, S Sreesanth, Ravindra Jadeja, Parthiv Patel, and Vinay Kumar who are set to command considerable fees when the auction happens next month.

These players are yet to receive a portion of their payments from the sacked Kochi franchise, although most of the payments had been cleared prior to the BCCI’s decision to expel the franchise from the IPL.

While there will be no further remuneration for these players from the franchise, the BCCI has given them a chance to earn their worth with a chance to make it big in the auctions. The players who go unsold in the auctions will be compensated by the BCCI from the money received from Team Kochi’s bank guarantee.

While the amount for the added purse has not been fixed so far, it is assumed that when the step is taken, the cap will be increased by anywhere between 750,000 dollars to 1 million dollars. The exact amount will be fixed once the IPL governing council meets sometime next week.

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