The first side-effect of Indian Premier League “Harbhajan is obnoxious” – Hayden

The Australia batsman claimed his side are fed up with the complaints about their on-field behaviour from India during the tourists’ trip down under.
On a Brisbane radio show, Hayden called Harbhajan an “obnoxious weed”.
And he also stated he liked the idea of challenging 19-year-old bowler Sharma to “get in the ring” for a fight.
Three India players, including Harbhajan and Sharma, have been found guilty of breaching the player’s code of conduct during a tempestuous tour.

“It’s been a bit of a long battle with Harbhajan. The first time I ever met him he was the same little obnoxious weed that he is now,” stated Hayden.

The BCCI were less than impressed with Hayden’s remarks and immediately protested to Cricket Australia.
“We condemn such comments by the Australian players,” said chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty.
“Our secretary has already communicated our feelings to Cricket Australia.
“We’ve advised our players to show restraint but, despite that, if such comments are being made it is really unfair.”

After a lot of drama that took place during the test series, the players are till not ready to accept that leaving peacfully is the best way.
Aggeression is good for the game, but if goes in excess, it spoils the spirit of the game.

Speak India says

This also could be a move by Mathew Hayden to get into the limelight, the way andrew symonds came and fetch a hefty sum of money.
Moreover, IPL has made people like Hayden into Rakhi sawant type character, who can go to any extent for publicity.
This recent comment by Hayden and that by ponting to Ishant sharma is just the first side effect of the IPL show.

Also read:Indian Premier League : Facts and Figures

Indian Premier League : Facts and Figures

What is IPL ?

The Indian Premier League, created by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and sanctioned by the International Cricket Council, is a Twenty20 cricket competition.

When will it begin ?

The league is scheduled to start in April 2008 and will last for 44 days, involving 59 matches.

Prize money
The prize money for the league will be around Rs 13 crore (US $3million).

Team Composition
Each team will have a pool of 16 players, with a maximum of eight foreign players and a minimum of four under-22 players. Additionally, at least four players must be from the catchment area where the team is based.

Management
The governing council consists of Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi, Sunil Gavaskar, MAK Pataudi and Ravi Shastri, Rajiv Shukla, Chirayu Amin, Inderjit Singh Bindra and Arun Jaitley.
Television rights

On January 14th, 2008, it was announced that a consortium consisting of India’s Sony Television network and Singapore-based World Sports Group secured the rights of the Indian Premier League.The record deal has a duration of ten years at a cost of US$1.026 billion. As part of the deal, the consortium will pay the BCCI US$918 million for the telecast rights and US$108 million for the promotion of the tournament.

Franchises, owners and price

• Bangalore Royal Challengers Vijay Mallya / UB group $111.6 million
• Chennai Super Kings India Cements $91 million
• Delhi DareDevils GMR group $84 million
• Hyderabad Deccan Chronicle $107 million
• Jaipur Emerging Media (Manoj Badale, Lachlan Murdoch, Suresh Chellaram and investors) $67 million
• Kolkata Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment in partnership with Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta $75.09 million
• Mohali Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia (Bombay Dyeing), Karan Paul (Apeejay Surendera Group) and Dabur’s Mohit Burman $76 million
• Mumbai Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited $111.9 million

Vote

Will the Indian Premier League be Successful ?1) Yes 2) No 3) can’t sayView Results

Also read:Top player purchase at the Great IPL auction

Source:Wikipedia

Top player purchase at the Great IPL auction

The Top 17 players who got the highest amount at the GREAT IPL auction

1. Mahendra Dhoni (India) $1.5m to Chennai

2. Andrew Symonds (Australia) $1.35m to Hyderabad

3. Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) $975,000 to Mumbai

4. Ishant Sharma (India) $950,000 to Kolkata

5. Irfan Pathan (India) $925,000 to Mohali

6. Brett Lee (Australia) $900,000 to Mohali

6. Jacques Kallis (South Africa) $900,000 to Bangalore

8. RP Singh (India) $875,000 to Hyderabad

9. Harbhajan Singh (India) $850,000 to Mumbai

10. Chris Gayle (West Indies) $800,000 to Kolkata

10. Robin Uthappa (India) $800,000 to Mumbai

12. Rohit Sharma (India) $750,000 to Hyderabad

13. Gautam Gambhir (India) $725,000 to Delhi

14. Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) $700,000 to Kolkata

14. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) $700,000 to Mohali

14. Adam Gilchrist (Australia) $700,000 to Hyderabad

17. Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) $675,000 to Hyderabad

17. Jacob Oram (New Zealand) $675,000 to Chennai

17. Albie Morkel (South Africa) $675,000 to Chennai

17. Mohammad Kaif (India) $675,000 to Jaipur

17. Manoj Tiwary (India) $675,000 to Delhi

Do you think the players have been overpriced? 1) Yes 2) No 3) can’t say View Results

Sachin more popular than Yuvraj and Dhoni

Statistics for the last two months show that Sachin Tendulkar has been written about more number of times than Yuvraj singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whereas MSD(Mahendra Singh Dhoni) has been the least popular.

Charges Dropped Against HOGG

Cricket has become a circus. But, the hard news first. Probably, in an effort to ease the tension between the two teams, India has decided to drop charges against Australian left-arm spinner Brad Hogg.A posse of paparazzi waited on the steps of the main entrance to the hotel where the hearing of charges against Hogg was to be held. Hogg had allegedly called Indian captain Anil Kumble and vice-captain Mahendra Dhoni “bastards” on the field during the last test match at Sydney.

see also

• Racism issue has been sidelined
• ICC gives in, Bucknor removed
• India-Australia controversy :Your opinion?
• India-Australia controversy :What actually happened
• “Scandals—whether in politics, academia, or other areas—can be useful. They focus our attention on problems in ways that no speaker or reformer ever could.”

Match referee Mike Proctor, who had delivered the controversial verdict against Harbhajan on January 6, was to preside.

The accused, a local player and former postman, was the first to arrive. Cameramen jostled with each other to capture a few frames of him; their colleagues enthusiastically hurled questions at him – to no avail. He quickly retired to the establishment’s bar, where he awaited being summoned, which he duly was.

Australian jingoists

Here is what the Australian jingoist media had to say on the Ind-Aus cricket controversy

International Cricket Council has wilted under BCCI’s financial clout in removing Steve Bucknor from the next Test in Perth, the Australian media wrote on Tuesday.

India has won a power struggle and the peace that has been brokered by the cricketing powers will not appease everybody, they said.

However, some papers felt the removal of Bucknor was the right outcome.

“India has won an unprecedented power struggle with the International Cricket Council, forcing cricket’s bosses into a number of major concessions to save the strife-torn series against Australia,” The Sydney Morning Herald said.

Speak India says

If the BCCI had not intervened the Australian untamed bunch of brats would have gone scot free. The decision of banning Steve Bucknor has not solved the main issue. The main issue was of racist allegations.The main issue was of the racist allegation made by Andrew Symonds. Harbhajan Singh was banned for 3 tests after a few not so honest australian cricketers (as proved on the field) testified against him.

Racism issue has been sidelined

Bad umpiring had a drastic effect on the outcome on the test match. I believe we could have won the test match, had all the decisions been in our favor. But the loss was certainly our fault. We seem to be too fragile and we crumble easily and quickly. We could have saved the test match.
Even banning steve buckner from the third test has not solved the main issue.The main issue was of the racist allegation made by Symonds. Harbhajan was banned after a few not so honest australian cricketers (as proved on the field) testified against him.This racism allegation is the main issue and just banning steve buckner dosen’t solve the problem.We need a formal apology as the self respect of all Indians is at stake. Cricket is just a game and winning, losing and cheating is a part of it.But the false allegation of racism is wrong and it should be sorted out and unfortunately the outcome has had a major impact rather than core issue of racism.

ICC gives in, Bucknor removed

ICC chief Malcolm Speed holds a press conference to announce that Steve Bucknor will not officiate in the remaining matches of the India-Australia series.

Lack of belief costing Yuvraj dearly

Canberra: With all the goings-on over the last five days, it seems inconceivable that a Test match of considerable calibre should have taken place.Autopsies of most Test matches are difficult affairs. Some, the cricket-intelligent Shane Warne among them, see little merit in elaborate analysis, preferring “a bit of a chat and moving on”; others choose to dissect rigorously.The autopsy of the second Test, played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, is substantially harder because the battle wasn’t confined to bat and ball. Incompetent umpiring intervened too often for that.

Nevertheless, the contrast in the performances of each side’s number six is striking. Andrew Symonds made a rearguard unbeaten 162 and 61, Yuvraj Singh 12 and 0.

BCCI wants Bhajji ban revoked

Press Trust of India / New Delhi January 08, 2008
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today welcomed the removal of umpire Steve Bucknor from India’s third Test against Australia in Perth and vowed to fight the racism slur on Harbhajan Singh.

“We are happy to hear that ICC has removed Bucknor from the third Test. It is a victory for us,” Rajiv Shukla, vice president, BCCI, said today.