Spot-fixing scandal: Raj Kundra quizzed

New Delhi: Rajasthan Royals owner Raj Kundra and his business partner-friend Umesh Goenka were questioned for several hours on Wednesday in connection with the IPL spot-fixing scandal and allegations that Kundra was into betting.

The questioning also came following the claims made by a cricketer Sidharth Tiwari and to know about the ownership pattern of the team.

A senior Delhi Police official refused to clear the air on Kundra, who said he owns 11.7 per cent stake in Rajasthan Royals, whether he is a "suspect or complainant", stating he was an "important person" needed for questioning.

Police sources claimed that Kundra was into betting but not into fixing. Their questioning was basicly into betting, police sources said.

The questioning of both Kundra and Goenka began around 10 am and continued till late in the evening.

Sources said the name of Goenka, with whom Kundra owns a company dealing in steel business, came during the recording of statement of Rajasthan Royal player Sidharth Trivedi, a prosecution witness in the case.

In his statement recorded before a magistrate, sources said, Trivedi claimed that Goenka approached him and sought details about the cricket pitch in Ahmedabad and details about team formations.

According to police sources, Kundra was called over phone to appear before investigators who wanted to ask about the ownership details of Rajasthan Royals.

"Kundra told police that he owned 11.7 per cent while Suresh Chelaram, co-brother of Lalit Modi owned 43 per cent and Manoj Badale has 34 per cent. Rupert Murdoch`s son Lalchan Murdoch also has stake in the team," a senior police official said.

Kundra, a British national, has 42 per cent stake in the steel business with Goenka who has 16 per cent shares in the firm, they said.

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Dhoni silent on conflict of interest controversy

New Delhi: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has maintained his silence on the issue of conflict of interest controversy.

He was addressing a press conference today before India take on South Africa in the opening match of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy on Thursday

Dhoni said that the team is focused on the game.

In a startling revelation on Monday, a leading Indian business daily reported that Mahendra Singh Dhoni has 15 percent stake in a sports marketing firm that manages him and three other Indian cricketers.

Rhiti Sports is owned by Arun Pandey, a close friend of Dhoni. In 2010, Dhoni signed up with Rhiti reportedly for Rs 210 crore, an average of Rs 70 crore a year, the costliest deal in Indian cricket.

Even last week the Indian skipper had refused to answer questions related to the IPL spot-fixing scandal saying he’ll talk when the right time comes.

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Champions Trophy: India vs South Africa live

Cardiff: Drawn in what is being dubbed as the Group of Death, India will look to carry forward the form they exhibited in the tournament`s warm-up games as they lock horns with South Africa in the Champions Trophy opener, which will be their first match outside the sub-continent in 15 months.

With every game a virtual shootout, both the former winners will be eager to make a head start in the tournament which is being held for the last time.

As World Cup champions, India will have more than reputation to defend in the 50-over format contest. They have not played a limited over international outside the sub-continent in the last 15 months but the two big wins in their practice matches against Sri Lanka in Birmingham and Australia in Cardiff will give the Indian team management a fair idea of the conditions to confront.

India will also look to put behind them the recent spot-fixing scandal surrounding the IPL.

Although history never counts in international cricket, India have a good record against South Africa in the Champions Trophy. India lead 2-0 in head-to-head having won by 95 runs at Nairobi`s Gymkhana ground on October 13, 2000 and by 10 runs at Colombo`s Premadasa Stadium on September 25, 2002.

With two out of the four battle-hardened teams qualifying for the semifinals, all matches in group B are expected to be closely-fought affairs.

Except Pakistan, India, South Africa and the West Indies have won the Champions Trophy at least once each and hence more than just pride will be at stake in the last edition of the tournament that began as the Mini World Cup in Dhaka in 1998.

South Africa also arrive with a lot of reputation to protect. They are the world`s No. 1 Test team but their ODI fortunes have been scratchy and it showed during the one-off warm-up game they played against a talented Pakistani attack on Monday.

At The Oval, South Africa lost by six wickets and the defeat exposed the chinks in a batting line-up without two solid customers, Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith.

Most captains have pooh-poohed their defeats in the practice games. The 15-a-side, bat and field 11 hybrid concept may be good for practice but considerably waters down the competitive edge of a real contest.

South African skipper AB De Villiers dismissed the Oval defeat saying: "It`s not about the result, it`s about what you get out of it. I am sure each guy will stand up when the time is right."

That time will come tomorrow and India will be the first big hurdle. Fresh from the T20 Indian Premier League, most Indian players are quickly trying to adjust to the 50-over variety. It`s been a test for application and temperament and if the results in the two warm-up games are anything to go by, the feedback is mixed.

When Mahendra Singh Dhoni stepped out of Indian shores he said this Champions Trophy will be a test for the team`s junior boys. While a few players automatically select themselves, Dhoni indicated there were berths up for grabs. So far, one man has guaranteed himself a slot in the playing XI and that is Dinesh Karthik.

With back-to-back hundreds under pressure against Lanka and Australia, Karthik is a virtual certainty but his batting position is a matter of conjecture. Dhoni is reluctant to play him as an opener, but it is almost certain that Karthik will gain a small promotion from his customary No. 6 position.

"I am happy to bat at any position. It`s up to the team to decide where I fit in," he had said after his unbeaten 106 against Lanka at Birmingham on Saturday. On Tuesday, Karthik scored a 140-ball 146 not out against a quality Australian pace attack after coming in at a time when the Indian top order was back in the pavilion for as less as 55 for five.

Dhoni was full of praise for Karthik, who paced his innings very well in both practice games. "I think he has earned his place in the side and we`ll just have to see who misses out when we play against South Africa. I`d like him to play at the top of the order but we`ll see," Dhoni said, probably hinting Rohit Sharma may not be able to hold on to his No. 4 position after scores of 5 and 10.

It is unlikely that India will disturb the opening combination of Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan. Dhoni has been insisting on this right-left duo ever since he flew out of India because both have `Test` experience and thus the capability of playing long innings, a must to give the middle-order the bandwidth to free their arms in the middle and closing stages of the innings. Holding wickets at the top will be vital.

Given the conditions at the Swalec Stadium here, India will surely opt for five specialist bowlers. That`s been Dhoni`s time-tested formula and with Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma both making an impression against Australia, the pair should make the cut. Bhuvneshwar Kumar`s ability to bat and also move the new ball both ways should complete the three-man pace attack. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja should be the two spinners.

South Africa are sweating over Dale Steyn`s fitness. Against Pakistan at the Oval warm-up, the world`s leading pacer sent down five lacklustre overs before leaving the field holding his left side.

Although the regulations of the warm-up games allow for players to leave the field and return at a later stage, Steyn was not seen in action again.

Proteas media liaison Lerato Malekutu said: "Steyn experienced some tightness in his back, and is currently receiving treatment from the physio. He did not bowl any further in the match as a precautionary measure."

South Africa have to wake up to life with a Kallis and Smith. This pair have been such rock-like figures within the Proteas batting unit for such a long time that there are always fears that it could all come crumbling down in their absence.

Much will depend on a Hashim Amla and J P Duminy and of course, their young and inspirational captain, A B De Villiers.

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Sachin is on fixing

New Delhi: Breaking his silence on the raging spot-fixing scandal, Sachin Tendulkar on Friday said that the developments of the last two weeks were "shocking and disappointing" and the faith reposed by the millions of fans in the game should be justified.

Tendulkar said the authorities must take sincere steps to get to the root of the issue and ensure that credibility of the game is restored.

The champion batsman, who retired from IPL after his side Mumbai Indians won the title recently, said as a cricketer he has always learnt to play in the true spirit of the game.

"It has always hurt me when the game of cricket is in the news for the wrong reasons. The developments in the last two weeks have been shocking and disappointing. As cricketers we are always taught to go out, fight hard, give our very best and play in the true spirit of the game," Tendulkar said in a statement.

The milestone man of Indian cricket said it was important that the authorities get to the root of the problem.

"During this difficult phase, I join every cricketer, from the boys in the maidans across the country to those who represent clubs, states and the country, who trust the authorities to take sincere steps to get to the root of the issue.

"The faith reposed by the millions of fans should be justified and we owe it to them to ensure that Indian cricket is all about pride and joy," the statement added.

Tendulkar's statement on the spot-fixing scandal assumes great importance since none of the current Indian cricketers have spoken on the issue, since it broke out about two weeks ago.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has steadfastly refused to speak on the scandal, apparently under a gag order from the BCCI.

Dhoni evaded questions on spot-fixing at the pre-departure press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday and also did the same at the media interaction in Birmingham yesterday ahead of Champions Trophy.

The only thing Dhoni said at the press conference in Birmingham was that Indian cricket's reputation was not "gone" and that some people were "slightly mentally weak" compared to others. He said that he will speak when the time was right.

With more and more cricket boards and state unit officials coming out in the open against BCCI President N Srinivasan's continuance over the last few days, it will be interesting to see whether more cricketers also start giving their views, taking a cue from Tendulkar.

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We still have a fair chance, says Gambhir

Ranchi: His team is virtually out of the play-offs race having lost eight of their 13 matches, but an optimistic Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir on Saturday said they still have a "fair chance" of making the cut in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

"At the moment, the competition is pretty open. We still have a fair chance of reaching the play-offs. For me what matters is the remaining three games and we face RCB on Sunday, which is a must-win game for us. Hopefully, we can try and deliver," Gambhir told reporters on the eve of the match.

The Virat Kohli-led RCB are coming off a win against Delhi Daredevils and asked how KKR plan to counter the likes of Chris Gayle, Kohli and AB de Villiers, Gambhir said, "We do not strategise against individuals.

"We do not discuss individuals; we will only look to do what we do best and stick to our strength."

The KKR captain is also pinning his hopes on Sunil Narine to counter the strong RCB.

"We have played on this track, a spinning one and can benefit Sunil Narine," he said.

Talking about his side`s bowling attack, he said, "KKR is not dependent only on its spin bowlers. If you see in the tournament, Jacques Kallis and L Balaji too have done well for us, which are great signs for us.

"Spinners have been successful for us, they have been different, and they have not been conventional spinners. Our bowling unit on the whole has been good."

Gambhir said his team would look to win its remaining three matches. Kolkata have to their credit 10 points from thirteen games.

"We are looking forward to win all the three matches. Be it any situation, we as a team enter the ground thinking about a victory. We do not play to participate. We will look to play some good cricket and get a win."

The city will also host the KKR versus Pune Warriors match on May 15.

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IPL 2013: RCB face KKR in Ranchi`s IPL debut

Ranchi: Inching closer to a playoff berth, Royal Challengers Bangalore will face an inconsistent Kolkata Knight Riders, who would be eyeing revenge, when the two sides clash in the city`s first Pepsi IPL game at the Jharkhand Cricket Association`s International stadium on Sunday.

It is exactly a month since the two teams clashed in Bangalore where Chris Gayle blew away KKR with a 50-ball 85 that was laced with nine sixes.

Riding on Gayle`s brilliance and some other notable performers, RCB are among the top-four in the points table while KKR are languishing in the bottom half.


Both teams will go into the match high on confidence winning their last games. While KKR comprehensively beat a hapless Pune Warriors, RCB pulled off a thriller against the Delhi Daredevils on Friday.

For RCB, Gayle`s rather quiet outings in the past few matches would be a concern. But that has more or less been compensated by the likes of skipper Virat Kohli, who was quite impressive during his 58-ball 99 in the previous match.

Also finding his feet is the fit-again Cheteshwar Pujara, who would be expected to play the sheet-anchor role given that he is not exactly a big-hitter.

In fact, batting is hardly a concern for RCB with pinch-hitters like Moises Henriques and A B de Villiers making up the lower half of their line-up.

KKR, in contrast, have been throughly exposed as a brittle batting unit. Though skipper Gautam Gambhir found some of his lost touch with a half-century against Pune but that would hardly make up for the failure of others against a team like RCB.

Veteran all-rounder Jacques Kallis has been struggling and similar is the case with expensive-buy Yusuf Pathan, who has not been able to justify the captain`s continuing faith in him.

On the bowling front, RCB came in for some thrashing on Friday night even though medium-pacer Jaydev Unadkat stood out with a fiver in four economical overs conceding just 25 runs.

But the likes of Vinay Kumar and Henriques leaked runs at 10 per over and that would certainly be a cause of concern for the team.

KKR`s bowling, on the other hand, delivered against Pune but that can hardly be a measure of how good they are given that the Warriors are a team in doldrums.

Given their current form, RCB would start outright favourites and it would be interesting to see if KKR manage to get the better off their mighty opponent.

Teams (from):

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (C), Manvinder Bisla, Yusuf Pathan, Jacques Kallis, Rajat Bhatia, Laxmipathy Balaji, Sarabjit Ladda, Brad Haddin, Debabrata Das, Iqbal Abdulla, Brett Lee, Ryan McLaren, Eoin Morgan, Sunil Narine, Sumit Narwal, Suchitra Senanayake, Pradeep Sangwan, Shami Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Ryan ten Doeschate, Manoj Tiwary, James Pattinson.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (C), A B de Villiers, Abhimanyu Mithun, Abhinav Mukund, Andrew McDonald, Arun Karthik, Cheteshwar Pujara, Chris Gayle, Christopher Barnwell, Daniel Christian, Daniel Vettori, Harshal Patel, Jaidev Unadkat, K P Appanna, Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal, Moises Henriques, Murali Kartik, Muttiah Muralitharan, Pankaj Singh, Prasanth Parameswaran, R Vinay Kumar, Ravi Rampaul, Rudra Pratap Singh, S Aravind, Sandeep Warrier, Saurabh Tiwary, Sheldon Jackson, Sunny Sohal, Syed Mohammad, Tilakaratne Dilshan, Vijay Zol, Zaheer Khan.

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IPL 2013: Rajasthan Royals remain invincible at home; beat DD by 9 wkts

Jaipur: Jaipur: Rahul Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane struck fluent half-centuries as Rajasthan Royals inched closer towards securing a play-off berth with a comprehensive nine-wicket victory against Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League match, here on Tuesday.


Dravid led from the front with a classy 48-ball-53, his fourth half-century in this IPL edition, while Rahane played an equally impressive unbeaten knock of 63 as Royals maintained their impeccable record at home. They now have 16 points with eight wins and look like firm contenders for a berth in knock-out round.

Delhi Daredevils, whose season has gone from bad to worse stay put on eight position with six points.

Royals registered their seventh win at home with 13 balls to spare, scoring 155 for one. Shane Watson remained unbeaten on 14-ball 28, laced with three fours and one six.

Dravid and Rahane added 108 runs for the opening-wicket partnership in just 13.4 overs with the former India captain playing the more aggressive knock of the two.

In the process, Royals also registered their highest opening-wicket partnership in this edition of the IPL, surpassing 98 runs against Pune Warriors last week.


For Daredevils, Rohrer hit a fine 39-ball 63 under trying conditions while Mahela Jayawardene (34) and Kedar Jadhav (23 no) also chipped in with useful contributions to help their side post a competitive 154 for four but, in the end, the total did not prove to be enough.

Royals made a confident start to their run-chase with the trusted opening pair of Dravid and Rahane once again providing their team a good start.

Both made short work of Delhi bowlers and enthralled a near sell-out crowd with their vast repertoire of stroke-play.

Delhi's misery was further compounded by their butter-finger fielders when Rahane was dropped by Pawan Negi at extra-cover off Morne Morkel when the batsman was at an individual score of 4.

Rahane made full use of the reprieve and raised a century-plus partnership with Dravid. It was a treat to watch vintage Dravid show as he cut and drove Delhi bowlers to reach his second successive fifty in the tournament in just 45 balls.

The fact that Daredevils made as many as four changes in their bowling department for this game did not come to any help to them as the duo of Dravid and Rahane played them with utmost ease.

Dravid was finally out in the innings' 14th over when he was caught by Ajit Agarkar off Siddharth Kaul at long-on while going for an expensive pull. However, Rahane and Watson ensured that Royals remained invincible at home with an unconquered 47-run partnership for the second wicket.

Earlier, Rohrer put on display some innovative shots to single-handedly guide Daredevils past 150 runs, which looked unlikely at one stage with the visitors struggling at 78 for four.

He found an able ally in Kedar Jadhav (23 no, 21 balls, 2x4) and together in his company added an unbeaten 76-run partnership for the fifth wicket. The last five overs yielded 53 runs for the Daredevils.

Electing to bat under scorching heat, Delhi were off to a poor start as Virender Sehwag (11) and CM Gautam (2) were sent back to pavilion in quick succession with scorecard reading 22 for two.

Sehwag looked in good touch, hitting James Faulkner for two consecutive fours, before the lanky Australian pacer flummoxed him with a slower ball which swung in uprooting the off-stump.

Sehwag, as usual, committed himself to the shot a tad too early playing across the line.

Gautham, playing his first IPL match, departed in the very next over as he chased a wide delivery outside his off stump to give a simple catch to wicket-keeper Sanju Samson off Shane Watson.

Skipper Jayawardene held one end strongly and, in the company of David Warner (13), tried to resurrect the innings while picking up a few occasional boundaries. That included four hits to the fence off Shaun Tait's second over.

However, Warner failed to contribute much to the team's cause and was caught by Sachin Baby off Stuart Binny at extra cover just before the first strategic time-out.

Rohrer tried to break the shackles with two successive fours off Mumbai leg-spinner Pravin Tambe, who became the oldest IPL debutant at 41 years and 212 days.

Jayawardene too tried to free his arm and hit Siddharth Trivedi for a six over mid?off before he ran out of patience and gifted his wicket at a crucial juncture.

Jayawardene failed to read the line of the ball and landed Dravid an easy catch at mid-wicket off Trivedi. At 78 for four, Rohrer took the onus on himself and mixed caution with aggression to take the team’s total past 150-run mark.

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IPL 2013: Hyderabad beat Mumbai by 7 wkts

Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by seven wickets in a Pepsi Indian Premier League match played at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal here on Wednesday.

Mumbai Indians: 129 for 4 in 20 overs (Dwayne Smith 38, Ambati Rayudu 34 not out; Ishant Sharma 2/15, Amit Mishra 2/24).

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 130 for 3 in 18 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 73 not out, Hanuma Vihari 25; Mitchell Johnson 1/21, Dhawal Kulkarni 1/13).

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Disciplinary committee has made mockery of proceedings: Modi

New Delhi: Former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi on Tuesday came down heavily on the three-member Disciplinary Committee, probing alleged irregularities against him, saying the panel has made a "mockery of the proceedings".

The committee, after recording versions of lawyers representing Modi and the BCCI, said it is likely to give its recommendations to the BCCI by the end of May.

"In hurry to conclude, committee has made mockery of the proceedings. My lawyers wanted one session each to deal with 12 issues," Modi tweeted.

"They have made this enquiry - A SHAM EXERCISE A whole New ways to do Judicial inquiry," he wrote on his twitter handle.

A legal team representing Modi has objected to "undue haste" by the Committee, and he sought to bring it to light.

"Looks like everything is predetermined. What is the undue haste for. Why this hurry. What are they afraid of. Possibly the truth," Modi said.

Directing his ire at the Cricket Board, Modi said, "Even if BCCI were to read headings of documents it would have taken 2 full days to only read heading of those documents.

"Three show cause notices running in 150 pages, my reply running in 15000 pages, live evidence record running into 2000 pages.

"Amazing how BCCI lawyers yesterday took only 40 minutes to argue its full case against me."

Commenting further against the board, Modi said, "BCCI dictates that no member or administrator gives evidence to bring out the truth.

"The persons who wish to appear on my behalf are stopped by BCCI acting under instruction of its President - Srinivasan.

"My application to examine witnesses in defence is not allowed by the committee."

Modi also took potshots at Arun Jaitley Arun Jaitley, one of the three members in the Disciplinary Committee.

"While suit against bias of Arun Jaitley is pending in court, he shows undue haste 2 close proceedings so that I cannot have legal remedy," he wrote.

"Let me tell the truth of these proceedings. The fact that Arun Jaitley was the original complainant in the BCCI was suppressed from me," Modi said.

He said the committee was scared to face him.

"I am not afraid to face the committee, but looks like committee is afraid to face me. And from my legal team.

"The inquiry was instituted against me but looks like the committee does not wish to hear my version," Modi said.

Modi`s legal team had earlier accused the Disciplinary Committee of ignoring its request to present its defence in the case.

"I am constrained to note the working of the committee. It declined to give Modi a chance to present his case via video link. The committee has already refused to take Modi`s response to show-cause notices issued to him saying it was 32 hours late," said Mehmood M Abdi, General Counsel and Constituted Attorney of Modi.

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BCCI recommends Kohli, Gavaskar for government awards

Mumbai: The Cricket Board (BCCI) has recommended the names of young batsman Virat Kohli for the prestigious Arjuna award and former captain Sunil Gavaskar for the Dhyanchand lifetime achievement honour to the sports ministry.

Confirming this, BCCI sources said that on Tuesday was the last date for recommending the awards to the sports ministry.

"We have recommended only these two names," the sources informed making it clear that no cricketer`s name has been recommended for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award this year.

Gavaskar, the only Indian cricketer recently named by former England umpire Dickie Bird in his select World Test XI, retired from the game in 1987 after a glorious 16-year-long career during which he became the first in the world to score 10,000 Test runs.

In all, he played in 125 Tests and was a member of the victorious Indian World Cup winning team led by Kapil Dev in 1983 and then led the country to another major one-day title, the World Championship of Cricket in Australia two years later.

Gavaskar, who will turn 64 on July 10, is currently a television commentator and a columnist.

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