No IPL matches in Sri Lanka

CHENNAI: The Indian Premier League released its 2012 tournament schedule on Friday, confirming that no matches will be played in Sri Lanka despite a request from the island's cricket authorities.

Upali Dharmadasa, the new president of Sri Lanka Cricket, said earlier this week that he had asked the Indian board to hold some IPL matches on the island to raise money for his financially strapped organisation.

But no Sri Lankan city features in the 76-match schedule of this year's Twenty20 event, which will run from April 4 to May 27 at 11 venues.

The venues for 72 league matches will be Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Jaipur, Bangalore, Vishakapatnam, Pune, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Mohali and Dharamshala.

Cuttack has been named a stand-by ground.

The league phase will be followed by play-offs among the top four sides in Bangalore and Chennai, with the final in Chennai on May 27.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India, which owns the IPL, did not say why Sri Lanka's request was rejected.

Sri Lanka Cricket has debts of around $70 million after building two new stadiums in Pallekele and Hambantota and renovating the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo for the World Cup last year.

Majola, McIntosh pocketed more than two thirds of IPL bonus

JOHANNESBURG: Former Cricket South Africa official Colin Beggs has alleged that CEO Gerald Majola and former COO Don McIntosh pocketed more than two thirds of the controversial IPL bonuses while staffers down the hierarchy, such as grounds men, got nothing.

Beggs, a former board member, in his deposition to the inquiry committee on the financial affairs of CSA, instituted at the behest of sports minister Fikile Mbalula, said, "I don't know who had the authority to decide that was an appropriate split for these two executives to get the majority (of the IPL bonus)."

The IPL 2 was played in South Africa because of security concerns around elections in India at the time.

Beggs was the first person to have raised the flag about Majola not having declared the IPL bonus to the CSA board.

He was subsequently ousted after a call for an independent inquiry, as was CSA president Mtutuzeli Nyoka, who did the same.

After being reinstated following court action, Nyoka got auditors KPMG to conduct an independent inquiry, which found Majola to be in breach of his fiduciary duties.

Beggs said it was incumbent on Majola to have declared the bonuses.

"It is virtually the first item, after apologies (at any meeting) to declare any interests one has," Beggs said, adding that Majola had many opportunities to do that, but he did not.

I didn't disclose IPL bonus according to Companies Act: Majola

PRETORIA: Cricket South Africa (CSA) chief executive Gerald Majola has admitted to the Nicholson inquiry looking into the financial affairs of the board that he did not disclose a huge bonus paid to him by the organisers of the IPL according to the requirements of the Companies Act.

An independent inquiry by auditors KPMG, established by sports minister Fikile Mbalula, cited Majola as being in breach of the Companies Act, but this is the first time that he has made the disclosure.

The IPL 2 was played in South Africa in 2009 because of security concerns around elections in India at that time.

Majola said that he had disclosed the bonuses to a members' forum meeting and advised the CSA board, even though former board members, including some who served on the remunerations committee, earlier testified to the inquiry that Majola had not advised them of the bonuses.

"I was totally convinced at that time, as it was common practice to do it this way, that I had disclosed properly when I did," Majola said as he candidly explained he was only later advised that detailed disclosure was a requirement of the Companies Act.

"I had absolutely no idea of the format set out in that Act and I am the first one to admit that I did not disclose this as the Act required me to," he said.

Majola informed the inquiry that he had disclosed at a members' meeting and also at a board meeting that he was going to receive a bonus and this was documented.

He also said that former chief operating officer Don McIntosh determined all bonuses that were paid to CSA staff.

IPL 5 to get underway from April 4

MUMBAI: Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will take on Mumbai Indians in the inaugural match of the fifth edition of Indian Premier League at Chennai's MA Chidambaram stadium on April 4, the BCCI announced on Friday. 

The tournament is scheduled to feature nine franchisee teams and a total of 76 matches will be played across the 12 venues in the run to the finals on May 27. 

The league stage of the 54-day-long event will comprise of 72 matches with each team playing the other eight in a home-and-away format. 

The play offs would be hosted by Bangalore and Chennai, the two finalists from the previous edition. 

While Bangalore will host Qualifier 1 - the table toppers from the league stage versus the second team on that list (1 vs 2) - and the Eliminator - the contest between the third and fourth placed teams (3 vs 4) - on May 22 and 23 respectively, Chennai will be the venue for Qualifier 2 to be played on May 25. 

The city will also host the final on May 27. The new stadium in Pune, subject to the final completion, will make its debut as an IPL venue, by staging all eight 'home' games of the Pune Warriors India. Dharamsala, Cuttack and Vizag will host two games each. 

Kochi Tuskers Kerala, which made its debut in 2011, will not figure in the fifth season as the franchise was terminated by the BCCI last September for breaching its terms of agreement. 

Does India's selection policy need urgent upgrade?

Is former Australia captain Ian Chappell right in saying that "India's selectors are now getting their due"?

Chappell said: "The selection committee should be sacked first. They (the selectors) have taken a very short-sighted policy for a few years now." Does Indian cricket indeed need a revamp of the scope and powers of its national selection committee, much like Cricket Australia did recently?

The Argus report which followed Australia's 2010-11 Ashes debacle recommended a total overhaul of the selection committee and advised "immediate changes" in the structure of Australian cricket.

Citing "confusing selections" as the main reason for Australia's decline following the retirement of some once-in-a-generation players, the report argued that the captain and coach form part of a five-man committee headed by a full-time chairman. India's seventh successive away Test disaster and the obvious decline of its batting giants means the country's cricket now finds itself at a similar crossroads.

The consensus is that the problems have been festering for long but were being glossed over due to victories at home. Though India's five-member selection committee is now a professional unit and the members have credibility, did a lack of will to enforce their presence at critical times - as Chappell has suggested - play a part in the team's travails?

Is it time for the Indian board (BCCI) to widen the powers of the selectors or make them more accountable? TOI looks at possible areas where selectors may have slipped up...

1. THE TENDENCY TO PROCRASTINATE:

India's 0-4 drubbing in England should have sent alarm bells ringing in the selection committee. Yet nothing was done to prevent impending disaster in Australia and nearly the same batting unit was selected again. Did the selectors fail to read the writing on the wall? Perhaps because it was so much easier to treat the failure in England as an aberration brought on by injuries? Or did they think the return of a regular opening pair would smoothen the bumps?

The dismal show Down Under means what began as a blip became a full-blown disaster. There was no plan in place, and now Indian cricket might have to deal with all senior players departing in rapid succession. Chairman Srikkanth's recent comment - "We picked the best team. We picked players who have scored 8000-10,000 runs in Test cricket and all of a sudden the top six are failing together" - reflects this confusion. Was it really "all of a sudden"?

2. WEAK TRANSITION PLAN:

Questions about a transition plan - following the impending retirement of some great players - have been doing the rounds since 2008-09, when the likes of Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble called it quits. Yet, every time a selector or any BCCI official was asked about the issue, the quick answer was that India had its replacements ready, and there were a lot of promising youngsters just waiting to shine at the Test level. As it turned out, the opposite was true: No special care was taken to groom Test specialists. The new breed of replacement batsmen remains largely untested against quality opposition away from home. There seems to be no urgency or concern to rehabilitate the injured Cheteshwar Pujara and bring him back at the earliest. The Saurashtra batsman is the frontline replacement for Rahul Dravid at No. 3. Uncertainty looms at every corner on the pace front too, with only Umesh Yadav offering a glimmer of hope.

3. QUESTIONABLE PICKS:

Some selections for the Australia series, both Tests and ODIs, have raised debate...

(a) The pace department:

Why was swing bowler Vinay Kumar, who has 14 wickets from his last 13 ODIs at 32.78 and an economy rate of 5.47, picked over the speedier Ashok Dinda in Tests? Vinay didn't look like he was Test material in Perth. Dinda, in contrast, hits the deck hard and picked up 37 wickets from 6 Ranji Trophy matches this season, with two 10-wicket hauls. Dinda's performance even led former captain Sourav Ganguly to declare that "Dinda is the best pacer in the country". Seeing how Kumar bowled at speeds almost matched by Michael Hussey, wouldn't Dinda have been a better bet? Similarly some are inclined to feel comeback man Irfan Pathan - 21 wickets from 5 Ranji games with three 5-wicket hauls, and man of the match in India's Perth Test win in 2008 - would have been a better bet than passenger Abhimanyu Mithun.

(b) Persisting with Parthiv Patel:

Why is Parthiv, who averages 24.55 from his last 21 ODIs, in the ODI squad despite his poor batting form?

(c) No Plan B for Sehwag:

The selectors, and the team, became so reliant on Sehwag for success they couldn't get past the problem of the opener not firing. Sehwag averages 29.53 from his last 7 Tests. Since December 2010, India's opening pair has averaged just 17.79 from 24 innings. This is also a reflection of the famed middle order's waning powers: they have been unable to pick up the slack.

4. STRUCTURAL ISSUES:

Rajasthan, who have made the Ranji Trophy final twice in a row, have no representatives in the national squad. It seems domestic performances of proven but out-of-form players on the comeback trail are okay with the selectors. But they don't acknowledge fresh talent until they have seen the player themselves. Is this an acknowledgment that the gulf between India's domestic cricket and the international arena is too vast to merit new selection? If so, how do the selectors and BCCI hope to solve this problem?

5. SIDESTEPPING IPL PROBLEMS:

Why do the selectors have no say when it comes to India's injured stars representing their clubs in the IPL? Case in point: Virender Sehwag, who played 11 games for Delhi Daredevils even though he needed surgery on his shoulder immediately after the World Cup. The result? He missed the start of the England series, was brought back as emergency replacement when clearly still in recovery, and subsequently lost his form. Sehwag's was probably the worst case of injury management in international cricket in 2011. Why did the selectors, in the interests of the national team, not have the mandate to prevent Sehwag playing in the IPL?

Schedule of IPL matches

April 4 Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians 

April 5 Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils 

April 6 Mumbai Indians vs Pune Warriors India, Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab 

April 7 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Daredevils, Deccan Chargers vs Chennai Super Kings 

April 8 Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Pune Warriors India vs Kings XI Punjab 

April 9 Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai Indians 

April 10 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Daredevils Chennai Super Kings 

April 11 Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals 

April 12 Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab vs Pune Warriors India 

April 13 Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals 

April 14 Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers, Pune Warriors India vs Chennai Super Kings 

April 15 Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Rajasthan Royals 

April 16 Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils 

April 17 Rajasthan Royals vs Deccan Chargers, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Pune Warriors India 

April 18 Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders 

April 19 Deccan Chargers vs Delhi Daredevils, Chennai Super Kings vs Pune Warriors India 

April 20 Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore 

April 21 Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Daredevils vs Pune Warriors India. 

April 22 Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab, Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders 

April 23 Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore 

April 24 Pune Warriors India vs Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers 

April 25 Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super Kings 

April 26 Pune Warriors vs India Deccan Chargers 

April 27 Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians 

April 28 Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore 

April 29 Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians vs Deccan Chargers 

April 30 Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders 

May 1 Deccan Chargers vs Pune Warriors India, Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils 

May 2 Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab 

May 3 Pune Warriors vs India Mumbai Indians 

May 4 Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers 

May 5 Kolkata Knight Riders vs Pune Warriors India, Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals 

May 6 Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Deccan Chargers 

May 7 Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders 

May 8 Pune Warriors India vs Rajasthan Royals, Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI Punjab 

May 9 Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore 

May 10 Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings 

May 11 Pune Warriors India vs Royal Challengers Bangalore 

May 12 Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils 

May 13 Rajasthan Royals vs Pune Warriors India, Kings XI Punjab vs Deccan Chargers 

May 14 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings 

May 15 Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab 

May 16 Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders 

May 17 Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils vs Royal Challengers Bangalore 

May 18 Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals 

May 19 Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils, Pune Warriors India vs Kolkata Knight Riders 

May 20 Deccan Chargers vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians

Play offs: 

May 22 Qualifier 1: First Placed Team vs Second Placed Team 

May 23 Eliminator: Third Placed Team vs Fourth Placed Team 

May 25 Qualifier 2: Winner of Eliminator vs Loser of Qualifier1 

May 27 Final: Winner of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of Qualifier 2.

Waugh warns Cummins about IPL lure

MELBOURNE: Former Australian captain Steve Waugh on Wednesday warned teen pace sensation Pat Cummins against falling for the lure of IPL cash, saying playing for Australia should be his top priority.

"The priority has got to be playing for Australia, the baggy green is number one and everything else slots in underneath that," said Waugh.

"Obviously there's money to be made from the IPL, but I think as a young guy with his potential and his star quality, he's going to make a lot of money out of the game of cricket.

"And if his body is a little bit susceptible to injury at the moment his commitment has got to be playing for Australia first."

Cummins has announced that he would give his name for the IPL players' auction next season but Waugh said he should be cautioned about such a move by senior figures of the Australian team.

"The senior players, people in like Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer as the batting coach, these guys know the value and what it means to play for Australia and I'm sure they'll be in his ear," he said.

Cummins is currently nursing a heel injury which has forced him out of a large part of the upcoming four-match Test series against India starting December 26.