Karachi: Pakistan batsman Younis Khan, who played for Rajasthan Royals in the lucrative Indian Premier League, has confirmed he has received full payment from the IPL.
“Yes the IPL has cleared all my dues including the bonus amount from the winning purse for the tournament,” said Younis, who played only one match for the eventual champions of the tournament.
Younis said that to his knowledge, his compatriot Umar Gul had also got his payments cleared by the IPL. The pacer, who hails from the North West Frontier Province appeared in a number of matches for Kolkata Knight Riders.
Younis, who joined the Royals side one month late, insisted that the team management cleared his decision under a understanding with the Royals team management.
“I was in touch with them after they had allowed me initially a week off to join them late. But later they said since everything was going well I could join them late. I joined them after getting clearance,” Younis said.
The senior player said he was happy that despite his limited appearance for the Rajasthan Royals side they had upheld his contractual obligations.
Sources say all the other Pakistani players, who participated in the tournament including captain Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Hafeez, Salman Butt, Shoaib Akhtar, Misbah-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal have also had their payments cleared from the IPL.
Darren Gough might appear in the second season of the Indian Premier League after being approached by officials from the money-spinning tournament.The former England star retired this summer as a full-time pro, but has a meeting booked to talk to the IPL.
Gough, 38, told BBC Sport: “The IPL has always been an interest for me.
“I can still bowl, I’ve proved that this season, I still get a buzz from cricket and it would be nice to test myself at that level again.”Gough – still the only man to take 200 wickets for England in one-day internationals – was only fit enough to appear in half of Yorkshire’s Championship matches this summer.
Earlier this year he said he would only consider a short-term tilt at Twenty20 cricket in 2009 if he knew his body could cope with the stress.He also said he was likeliest to make that return with Yorkshire rather than with one of the IPL sides.But in an apparent change of heart, he told BBC Sport: “The IPL would be a great buzz for me and I need cricket to be a buzz. It’s something I know I could do.
“I would do the [full IPL programme of] six weeks but realistically it might be a short-term deal as a replacement for someone else.”Every single cricketer wants to play in the IPL and there’s not so many places available this year.”
Gough said he would be steering clear of the IPL’s rival – the “rebel” Indian Cricket League – having committed to a family holiday this October, when the ICL’s second season starts.He went on: “A guy from the IPL rang me and we had a conference call, but I’ve not met them personally. There’s a meeting next week.
“It’s not something I need to do, and I’m not sitting here waiting to get on a plane – a couple of cricketers have retired for that reason.”I could have gone last year on a short-term deal. Now I’m retired it would be an ideal thing.”Though the IPL was a success in its first season, only one English player – Hampshire’s Dimitri Mascarenhas – played any part in it.
There remains some uncertainty about whether England’s centrally-contracted players like Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff will feature in season two, although IPL chairman Lalit Modi is adamant they will.Each franchise in the IPL is allowed to spend $5m (£2.78m) on players’ salaries, though the salary cap could be removed in 2011.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk
Mumbai: Aussie seamer Mitchell Johnson and vice-captain Michael Clarke have been approached by the Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi to take part in the League next year.
Modi spoke to Clarke, who is in India currently with the Australian team, during the Australians stay at Jaipur.”He told me the other night he wants me to play in next season’s IPL. Lalit said there was another auction coming up,” Clarke has been quoted as saying in The Herald Sun.
“I am very much interested and definitely want to be part of the IPL. It’s just about timing for me. I think we have some One-Dayers in Pakistan, but the following year we are available for the whole time,” he added.Meanwhile, Modi himself was reported as saying he expected Clarke and Johnson to appear in the league in the second season.
“A few new players would be joining the IPL, from Australia, too. We hope Clarke and Johnson will join,” he said.
Source:cricketnext.com
ANDREW Flintoff will play in the Indian Premier League next season, according to the tournament’s chairman Lalit Modi.
The Lancashire all-rounder is top of the megabucks Twenty20 league’s wish-list alongside England captain Kevin Pietersen.
However, as with all England players, Freddie must wait to see if the terms of his next ECB central contract allows him to play in the IPL.If the 30-year-old star does sign up, he can expect to earn a six-figure fee for a couple of weeks’ work. But he would probably miss the start of Lancashire’s 2009 campaign.
While most of cricket’s biggest names cashed in on this year’s inaugural event, English players were conspicuous by their absence with only Hampshire all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas taking a bit-role with eventual winners Rajasthan.Players have been able to double or even triple their annual incomes in a few weeks with the IPL, with India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni the top earner on $4.5m for three seasons with the Chennai Super Kings.
“As for the influx of English players I am certain that the Indian Premier League will definitely see the likes of Flintoff and Pietersen playing next year,” said Modi, who is now one of the leading figures in world cricket.
Having proven he is finally over his ankle woes with some outstanding displays for England this summer, Freddie will join England in Antigua at the end of next month for the multi-million dollar Stanford Super Series, which sees the national side take on a West Indies All-Star XI, with the winning players walking away with £570,000 each.
That has been seen as the ECB’s way of stopping their top stars being lured by the IPL in what will be a busy year for England, which starts with a tour of the West Indies followed by the World Twenty20 tournament, a visit by Sri Lanka and then the Ashes.
Following the trip to Antigua, Flintoff and Lancashire team-mate Jimmy Anderson will travel to India in December for the start of a tour which includes two Tests and seven one-day internationals. LANCASHIRE suffered last-ball heartbreak in the final of the Over-50s County Championship.
Needing four to beat Oxfordshire on the Nursery Ground at Lord’s, Lancashire instead lost their final wicket to lose by three runs.Middleton captain John Punchard was man of the match, scoring 76 and finishing with figures of 2-14 from his nine overs.
At one point Lancashire had reduced Oxfordshire to 53-6, but 75 from Adrian Manger helped them to 186-8 from their 45 overs.And although they got off to a solid start, Lancashire fell just short of their target as they were bowled out for 183.
Source: manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A fragile all-rounder whose progress has been hampered by umpteen injury breakdowns, Shane Watson believes he has put behind the nightmares and profusely thanks the Indian Premier League (IPL) for resurrecting his stop-start career.
Back in the mix again, Watson believes he is through with his quota of slings and arrows and his career is finally back on track largely because of IPL.
“It came at the right time for me, no doubt about that,” the strapping blond, standing at a towering 1.83m, said.
“It was of international level. Playing for the Rajasthan Royals was a great opportunity for me and that too under the great Shane Warne. It was a true testament of your calibre and I was simply privileged to be part of IPL,” gushed the all-rounder, who missed the warm-up match against Board President’s XI because of viral fever.
Watson also took the opportunity to thank his charismatic captain-cum-coach at Rajasthan Royals.
“Shane was amazing. He provided me the right opportunity and instilled confidence in all the members. He was simply superb as a captain,” said Watson, who was judged the Most Valuable Player in IPL.
Watson doesn’t hesitate to admit that he also benefited from all-rounder Andrew Symonds’ absence, which paved the way for his Test recall.
“No doubt about that. At number six, Symonds was doing a great job. I don’t know what would have happened had he been part of the squad. But this is an opportunity for me and I have to make the most of it,” he said with a palpable sense of urgency.
Despite being around for six years, Watson has played just three Test matches so far, in contrast to his 72 ODI appearances and the swashbuckler reckons he faces a new challenge in the longer version of the game.
“Test matches are different ball game altogether. When the ball starts turning from day four, you know it’s a different challenge for you. But I’m here to put my best foot forward and help Australia win the series,” he said.
Former Australia skipper Steve Waugh tipped Watson to be Australia’s first genuine all-rounder since Keith Miller but umpteen stress fractures, back niggles, hamstring and calf injuries saw the youngster rehabilitating more than playing.
Watson, however, believes he had never been in better shape and hopes his career is finally ready to take off.
“My body often let me down, especially whenever I thought I had an opportunity. It was really frustrating to spend time in rehabs when you should have gone out to play. In fact it was my injury that allowed Symonds to cement his place in the side.
“But I believe I have come out of that phase. I know the conditions here and I’m in great shape. I believe I’m giving myself the best chance to finally live up to the expectation here,” added the all-rounder.
Source: beta.cricket.yahoo.com
