The world's top cricket players are up for grabs yet again. The unfolding of the fourth season of the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) through the much-awaited auctions scheduled to be held on January 8 and 9 in Bangalore are set for the high drama IPL has always promised its viewers. With 350 leading sportsmen vying to be caught and bowled, the "drama" is expected to reach a new high this year.
While eight teams have around $9 million each at their disposal for the auction. Chennai Superkings and Mumbai Indians, who have retained four players each, are to go into the auction with $4.5 million. Though there were some 421 cricketers who had expressed interest to participate in the auction, only 350 players have been shortlisted.
A senior official with the Kolkata Knight Riders team who did not want to be identified as he was not authorised to speak to the media said, "Only two teams have retained some players. This IPL will have brand new teams with all 10 teams sporting brand new players."
He added that in the earlier list, 21 players including former West Indies batsman Brian Lara were bracketed for a prize money of $400,000. "There was some talk that VVS Laxman, who had a good season last year, has also had his base price placed near the $300,000 mark. Around 80 players named in the top three price bands of the preliminary list have retained their place in the final list," he said.
Sources indicated that the defending champions Chennai Superkings have retained MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina, while the Mumbai Indians has decided to hold on to Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh among its Indian players. Rajasthan Royals has also held on to Shane Warne and Shane Watson, but this could not be ascertained.
The new list of participants has been given to all the 10 IPL franchise. An official from the Royal Challengers Bangalore added that the board had not yet taken a call on the participation of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab after being in a long legal battle regarding their franchises "but would adhere to the court order on the same."
Sources indicate that it was most likely that the fate of the two teams would be known by January 12, when the governing council of the IPL meets in Mumbai.
Despite the controversy regarding Anil Kumble's resignation, several established Indian IPL performers including Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Yuvraj Singh are set to go under the hammer.
Source: www.tehelka.com
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NEW DELHI: Figuratively, he may have "touched the sky with glory" innumerable times. This time, he will literally do it in the most potent supersonic fighter jet in the country's air combat fleet.
From a ma
ster-blaster on the cricketing field, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar smoothly made the transition to an "air warrior" on Friday when he was conferred with the honorary rank of Group Captain by Air Chief Marshal P V Naik in the presence of the over 90-year-old Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh.
And the next thing on the agenda of Group Captain Tendulkar, who as a teenager was fascinated by the Tom Cruise-starrer 'Top Gun', is a spin on the twin-seater Sukhoi-30MKI "air dominance" fighter.
"We all want, at some stage, to 'touch the sky with glory'," said Tendulkar, referring to the IAF motto, which epitomises his own life as an iconic cricketer. Tendulkar got his rank, with epaulettes and all on his smart new blue uniform, equivalent to a colonel in the Army, on Friday. After the Sukhoi sortie, "We will also pin the 'wings' on him," said ACM Naik.
Amid all the talk of integrity, dedication and discipline of armed forces, the match-fixing scandal currently rocking the cricketing world was bound to come up. "Integrity is extremely important... we need a clean image. I am sure the ICC will take all the correct steps to ensure this. My job is to stick to cricket and worry about scoring more runs," said Tendulkar.
Asked if mind-boggling sums being offered in T-20 leagues like IPL were making young cricketers more vulnerable to the lure of lucre, Tendulkar said, "The priorities have to
be right. The priority is to play cricket in the cleanest way and in the right spirit. When I started playing cricket, it was not about money... If I make more money and less runs, I won't be able to sleep at night." What next for the batting maestro? A Bharat Ratna? "It's the biggest honour. It's the dream of every Indian. Who will not like to get Bharat Ratna," replied Tendulkar.
But that is something for the future. As of now, Tendulkar is thrilled with his new Group Captain rank. "This is a special day. I am extremely proud to be a member of the IAF family," he said. He is also looking forward to the Sukhoi sortie, even though the joyride he had undertaken in an Impala jet trainer of the South African Air Force in 1996 had proved to be "a frightening experience".
"There was restricted space (in the cockpit)... Then, there were instructions about how to eject," he joked.
But he can rest assured that IAF will take all care to ensure he is comfortable in the fourth-generation Sukhoi, with the pilot eschewing hair-raising combat manoeuvres and sticking to a simple cruising flight of just around 1,000-kmph or Mach 1.
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Read more: Timesofindia.indiatimes.com
The vivid world of sports presents a unique charm of its own. Each game is controlled under certain rules which is meant to characterize the sports, these regulations are the determining factor on who wins the game. A view of the world of sports takes you through a universe of fascinating adventures, controversy and an in-depth analysis of the biographies of sports legend who took each sport they played to a new height.
If we talk of the cricket world, mention needs to be made of famous cricketers like Sir Don Bradman, Allan Border, Mike Denness, Sachin Tendulkar, Garry Sobers, Malcolm Marshall, Sir Vivian Richards, Lala Amarnath, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Imran Khan who have set some unprecedented records in the World of sports. Since cricket has always been known as “Gentlemen's Game” efforts are made now-a days to give a fresh exciting look to the game as the new format of T-20 cricket has been introduced of late.
Also those who are inclined towards adventurous sports like Formula One racing car competition for them its a good news that the organizers are pumping huge investments to make the game as popular as football and cricket. The number of Grand Prix played under Formula One has gone up and are organized all through the seasons in different parts of the world. But for sports freak, getting a single Formula One ticket is quite difficult.
European Grand Prix is the most awaited event of the year and tickets are sold months ahead of the actual D-day. The major chunk of investment in the world of sports actually comes from media houses, on the other hand the huge media coverage of the sports contributes in the growing popularity of the game. Formula One 2009 Schedule too promises wide media coverage.
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