Indian Premier League Updates

India news: Punjab bars Under-21 players from Twenty20 | India Cricket News | ESPN Cricinfo
The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) has barred its Under-21 players from taking part in Twenty20 cricket, including the lucrative IPL. The decision was taken at the state association's Administrative Committee meeting in Mohali on Sunday and will need to be ratified at the next Executive Committee meeting.


The move comes at a time when the IPL has been cited as one of the reasons for India's abject surrender of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, where the visitors have lost the first three Tests, the last two by an innings. "The idea was being discussed among PCA members for some time now," Sushil Kapoor, the PCA spokesperson, told the Mumbai Mirror. "It was felt that youngsters were losing their focus and were not ready to grind it out during the two, three or four day games."


Punjab is the first state association to restrict its players from the shortest version of the game, and their stand is counter to other associations such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Orissa and Jharkhand that have started their own T20 leagues. The board is aware that some players may not be happy about the decision, but association secretary MP Pandove said it was done in the larger interest of cricket.


"Look, we are the first Association to take this step in the interest of players, many of whom I know will not like it," Pandove told PTI. "We strongly felt that 17 to 21 years are formative years for any player and there should be no distraction. The step which we have taken is in the larger interest of players and the country's cricket as a whole."


BUT...
Punjab has allowed one exception to their ban. Players who are contracted by BCCI will be allowed to play Twenty20 cricket even if they are under the age of 21.
 
Ban the IPL altogether. The best thing for Indian Cricket. Does not do anything to help cricketers ( apart from monetary benefits ). All complain of fatigue which affects their performance in International Tests and ODI's.
 
Where will Chris Gayle go?

Source: ESPNCricinfo
Four days before the first trading window of the IPL shuts, the biggest question surrounds the future of Chris Gayle, the West Indies opener. Gayle turned out for the Royal Challengers Bangalore last season, and topped the run-charts while taking them to the IPL final. However, Gayle joined the Royal Challengers as a replacement player midway through the season and was hence on a one-year contract. This year the Royal Challengers have first rights to his services, but it is up to Gayle whether to accept their offer or make himself available for the February 4 auction.

Either way, Gayle stands to cash in on the Twenty20 reputation he has built after hitting two centuries and five half-centuries for the Royal Challengers over last year's IPL and Champions League T20. Last season, he went unsold in the original auction and when he replaced an injured Dirk Nannes the maximum the Royal Challengers could pay him was $650,000, the price Nannes was bought for. This year, Gayle can be bought for up to $2 million, the purse each franchise is allowed.

The Royal Challengers are looking at breaking the bank to retain him before January 20, and if they cannot come to an agreement with him other franchises can bid for him in next month's auction.

"You will have to wait. We will make an announcement soon," Siddharth Mallya, the owner of the Bangalore franchise, told ESPNcricinfo, without revealing any further details. But the Royal Challengers are hot on the heels of Gayle, who is currently playing in the Big Bash League in Australia for the Sydney Thunder. Should the Royal Challengers manage to sign Gayle before the auction, they will have to disclose the fee they have agreed with him to the IPL authorities, and that amount will be deducted from the franchise's $2 million purse at the auction.

A BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo that the Royal Challengers wanted to sign Gayle but they would have to shell out a large portion of their purse to convince him. "Bangalore want Gayle because they see the cricketing merit in the decision as he helped them to the final last year," the official said. "But if they decide to sign a deal with him, they will have to pay big money and if they do that they will be left with nothing much at the auction."

As far as Gayle is concerned, he is spoilt for choice. Reportedly the Mumbai Indians, who have already signed Dinesh Karthik (for $2.35 million) and Pragyan Ojha during the transfer window, have expressed their interest in buying Gayle. "Every franchise would like to have Gayle. He turned one IPL on his own," one of the franchise officials said. According to him Gayle would easily get the maximum $2 million purse available to each franchise. If more than one franchise bids $2 million for Gayle, it will go to a secret tie-breaker in which the competing franchises will submit closed bids.

At the moment, it seems, Gayle holds all the aces.

Will be awesome if he goes in the auction and Delhi gets him! 😀

----------

Sehwag, Warner, Gayle and KP! A dream top 4.
 
Well , for Delhi's sake . I dont hope so. Coz thats a lineup capable of being 10/4 as well 250/2 on different days.
 
Gayle was not permanent for RCB?
 

Gayle was not bid for in IPL4 Auction. He was taken as a 1 year replacement for Dirk Nannes, who will be back in IPL5. Hence he needs to go back to the bidding pool. But RBC have the right to offer him before others and he can choose to accept or refuse and enter the auction again.. where he is likely to "easily" purse 2 million or more 😀
 

Top