IPL Cricket 2008 Thread


Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians, IPL, Mohali

Harbhajan and Sreesanth in row

Ajay S Shankar

April 25, 2008

The Indian Premier League faced its first on-field controversy with allegations that Harbhajan Singh hit Sreesanth, his India team-mate and IPL rival, after Friday's match between the Kings XI Punjab and the Mumbai Indians in Mohali. While Yuvraj Singh, Sreesanth's captain, said Harbhajan had apologised after the incident, it remains to be seen how the IPL will handle it as a disciplinary issue.

Sreesanth, who took two wickets for Punjab, was spotted in tears after the match - which his side won - and later confirmed the incident to Cricinfo.

Sources close to him said that after the match a smiling Sreesanth walked up to Harbhajan - the captain of the losing Mumbai Indians - and said "Hard luck". "That was when Harbhajan lost his cool and hit Sreesanth under the eye," said sources close to the fast bowler.

Apparently, there was a verbal exchange earlier between Sreesanth and Robin Uthappa, who was leading Mumbai's chase, and the fast bowler's celebrations after dismissing Shaun Pollock didn't go down well in the rival dugout, either. However, Sreesanth, who admitted that he was "shocked" by the incident, denied that words were exchanged between the players on the field.

Harbhajan refused to answer questions on the incident at the post-match press conference. "Can we have questions on just cricket," he said in response to questions relating to the incident. His opposing captain, however, was clear in his view. "This is really an ugly incident," Yuvraj said, "this is totally unacceptable." He added, though, that Harbhajan had visited the dressing-room after the match and apologised to Sreesanth.

"At the end of the day, players shake hands. But today we saw more that from Harbhajan and Sreesanth," said Tom Moody, the Punjab coach. "The positive thing is that Harbhajan had a long chat with Sreesanth. But I am not sure what ramifications this incident will have." Cricinfo has learnt that Sreesanth complained about the incident to officials of the Mohali franchise, including co-owners Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia.

However, IS Bindra, the president of the Punjab Cricket Association, denied an official complaint has been lodged. "Some media people have asked me about this incident. No official complaint has reached me yet. I believe what happens on the field should be sorted out by the players on the field itself," Bindra told Cricinfo. Later Sreesanth told reporters at the stadium that "nothing serious happened" and that he and Harbhajan were "still part of the national team".

"It looks like a serious matter the way it's being shown on television channels but I can't say anything now. In any tournament it should not happen, it's unfortunate what happened yesterday," Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, told PTI. "The incident in itself is sketchy. There is no clear evidence at this moment, there are different versions about what may have happened. But at the end of the day we have to take cognizance of the fact that happened on the field.

"[So] we are waiting for the match referee and umpire's report only after which our committee will take a decision. The tournament is being played under the ICC guidelines, besides there are also tournament guidelines for the players."

On-field relations between Harbhajan and Sreesanth appeared strained during the India-South Africa Test series as well. Sreesanth had dropped Hashim Amla off Harbhajan during the Chennai Test to which Harbhajan reacted with displeasure after which he was seen motioning towards Sreesanth after making a diving save at point.

This is the second time in the last six months that Harbhajan has been at the centre of controversy. Earlier this year the Australians accused him of racially abusing Andrew Symonds during the Test series Down Under.

Ajay Shankar is deputy editor of Cricinfo in Bangalore
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Harbhajan shows his true character yet again:rolleyes:.
 
I'd kill to watch those matches!!! :(
It's so exciting, but I'd love to see how 'big' those fields are because OMG, they only MOER the ball and its like... I dunno, I'm sure those fields are 'smaller'
 
I hate to say it, but watching Hayden in the IPL he's starting to grow on me. He said some interesting things about Dhoni, and seems to be a bit more reasonable than I'd thought. Actually, most of the Aussies I can manage in small groups - its just when there's 11 of them they seem to become complete pricks. Even Shane Warne seems alright in the IPL.

Just glad Michael "One hand one bounce" Clarke isn't there - got no respect for that guy.
 
chiskop said:
I hate to say it, but watching Hayden in the IPL he's starting to grow on me. He said some interesting things about Dhoni, and seems to be a bit more reasonable than I'd thought. Actually, most of the Aussies I can manage in small groups - its just when there's 11 of them they seem to become complete pricks. Even Shane Warne seems alright in the IPL.

Just glad Michael "One hand one bounce" Clarke isn't there - got no respect for that guy.
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Brett Lee and Mike Hussey are the only ones I think r ok.
 
I love how they mixed the teams up... this whole IPL thing is really pretty awesome! :)

Just wish I could watch more of the games :(
 
Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, Jaipur

Ganguly and Warne fined 10% of match fees

Cricinfo staff

May 2, 2008



Sourav Ganguly and Shane Warne have been fined 10% of their match fees, while Pratap Kumar, the on-field umpire, has been suspended for a game following the controversy during Thursday's IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals.

Ganguly asked Kumar to refer a decision to the third umpire after he wasn't convinced about a catch taken by Rajasthan's Grame Smith at the deep midwicket boundary. Asad Rauf, the third umpire, ruled in favour of the batsman after replays weren't entirely conclusive. In his post-match comments, Shane Warne, the Rajasthan captain, hit out at Ganguly's behaviour and condemned his attitude towards the IPL's Spirit of Cricket agreement.

Farrokh Engineer, the match referee, ruled that Ganguly's act of asking the umpire to refer a decision constituted a Level I offence according to the ICC's Code of Conduct. Warne wasn't spared either, though - he was found guilty of violating Section 1.7 of the ICC's Code of Conduct, which deals with 'public criticism of, or inappropriate comment on, a match-related incident or official.' The referee also ruled that there was no reason for Kumar to accede to the plea to refer the decision, and hence suspended him for a game.

Kumar is the second umpire to be suspended in the IPL. Amiesh Saheba was suspended for two matches following his comments about Sreesanth's behaviour to Mumbai Mirror, a tabloid.
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So the umpire was suspended for having no balls:p.
 
Rajasthan Royals v Chennai Super Kings, IPL, Jaipur

Tanvir bowls Rajasthan to first place

The Bulletin by Siddarth Ravindran

May 4, 2008

Rajasthan Royals 110 for 2 (Smith 35*, Asnodkar 32) beat Chennai Super Kings 109 (Morkel 42, Tanvir 6-14) by eight wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A red-hot spell from Sohail Tanvir during which he took 6 for 14 - the best figures in Twenty20 cricket - decimated the Chennai Super Kings for 109 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. That reduced what was a clash for top spot in the Indian Premier League into a one-sided rout as the Rajasthan Royals chased down the smallest target of the tournament to win their fifth consecutive game, with eight wickets in hand.

Tanvir exploited the seamer-friendly conditions, there was swing and bounce, and gave Rajasthan a perfect start, nailing both openers for ducks in the first over. Parthiv Patel played across the line and missed an incutter first ball and Stephen Fleming fell in similar fashion four deliveries later. Both those wickets were to balls that came into the left-hander but Tanvir picked up his third with the one that went away and induced an outside edge from S Vidyut in his second over. Chennai were reeling at 11 for 3 and Rajasthan's dominance was emphasised by a rare sight in Twenty20 cricket - a slip cordon populated by three fielders.

Fourteen runs came off the fifth over, bowled by Siddarth Trivedi, and when S Badrinath played an orthodox square-drive and a flick to get take boundaries off the sixth, Chennai seemed to be recovering. However Watson, who used the bouncer effectively, took a simple return catch after Badrinath top-edged a miscued pull. Chennai had been pushed further back just when they were taking half a step forward.

With Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the two highest run-getters in Chennai's line-up, batting together a competitive total was gettable. However, Rajasthan captain Shane Warne further dented Chennai's hopes when he won the battle against his opposite number Dhoni: his first ball pitched outside leg and spun right across Dhoni's off stump and two deliveries later, a flighted leg break took the outside edge to Graeme Smith at slip.

Rania and Albie Morkel staged a recovery of sorts after Chennai were reduced to 44 for 5. After played out a few economical overs, Morkel slog-swept Warne for two fours through square-leg and swatted a straight six in an over that cost 17. Yusuf Pathan even dropped a sitter at long-on to give Raina a reprieve but the batsman didn't capitalise, holing out to Tanvir at long-off soon after.

Just as in his first spell, Tanvir struck with the first delivery of his second as well, this time Morkel was bowled as he slogged across the line. The tail found Tanvir's skiddy pace and immaculate line to hard to negotiate and Chennai were dismissed in the 19th over, a drastic fall in batting fortunes after the departure of Australians Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey.

If Chennai were to make a match of it, they needed to take every chance coming their way. Joginder Sharma, though, spilled a simple chance at mid-off when Makhaya Ntini, after starting off with a maiden, had Smith miscuing a pull. Twenty one extras, the second highest conceded in the tournament, didn't help their cause either.

Swapnil Asnodkar, full of confidence after his Man-of-the-Match performance on his IPL debut in the previous game, pummelled his first ball straight back down the ground for four and slammed Manpreet Gony for consecutive boundaries in the fourth over during a fluent 32.

At the other end, Smith was skipping down the track and muscling boundaries square of the wicket, and when a wayward seventh over from Morkel cost 14 runs, Rajasthan had raced to 58 for no loss. It wasn't until this stage, after the horse had bolted, that Chennai brought on their best bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan, but the task of bringing Chennai back into the contest was beyond him. Rajasthan lost a couple of wickets but, with the help of some lusty blows from Pathan and Watson, the target was overhauled with 5.4 overs to spare.

After winning their first four matches, this was Chennai's second consecutive loss and the huge margin of defeat meant that they slipped to fourth place in the space of two days.
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:eek::eek::eek:
 
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