Monthly Archives: February 2012

Kingfisher woes mount as govt rules out help

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India‘s aviation regulator has summoned top executives of Kingfisher Airlines to explain large number of flight cancellations since Saturday, even as the aviation minister ruled out providing any aid to the loss-making carrier.

On Saturday, 32 out of the 240 flights that Kingfisher operates each day were cancelled and the situation was likely to continue for four days, the airline said in a statement.

“It is a very serious matter, we recognize it and DGCA has called Kingfisher to find out what’s going on, what are their plans and why did not they anticipate the problems and inform DGCA before,” Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told reporters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is the sector regulator in India.

Kingfisher has so far failed in efforts to get fresh equity capital. Banks own about a quarter of its shares after the company‘s debt was restructured early last year.

State-run State Bank of India, the lead bank, has refused to lend further if the airline did not infuse fresh equity.

Singh said it was the government’s responsibility to help national carrier Air India, but in case of private airlines such as Kingfisher, it was for the bank to take a call on providing fresh loans.

Kingfisher, named after the country’s most famous beer, lost 4.4 billion rupees in fiscal third quarter that ended in December, and its bank accounts had been frozen by the tax authorities over outstanding dues.

“As far as private airlines are concerned, they are talking to banks, and banks will lend them money only if they are confident that their business plans will succeed, only if it is within RBI guidelines,” Singh said.

When contacted by Reuters, DGCA chief E.K. Bharat Bhushan declined to comment.

Meanwhile, passengers have been venting their anger at the airline on social networking websites, blaming the company’s inability to provide on time information about cancelled flights.

India’s airline companies, on course to lose $3 billion for the year ending in March, have struggled with low fares, high jet fuel prices and massive competition. Five out of six major carriers in India are loss-making.

Shares of Kingfisher have gained 1.5 percent since mid-September, when its auditors first cautioned the company needs equity infusion to function as a going concern. The benchmark index gained 9.5 percent in the same period. (Reporting by Anurag Kotoky; Editing by Rajesh Pandathil)

-REUTERS

Indians Donate Millions to U.S. Universities, Forget India

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Top Indian industrialists are funding alumni base of Harvard University, reveals a recent survey by the U.S. News Short List. Meanwhile, the Indian universities are suffering from lack of contemporary IT infrastructure, absence of best practices and low student gross enrollment ratios (GER).  Yet, the top industrialists choose to invest westward instead of directing their funds towards Indian universities.

As per the news survey conducted annually among 1,800 schools and reports of two-year alumni, Princeton University was rated on the top, making it the most loved university for donations. It is also to be noted that unlike Indian universities, which are largely funded by tuition fees, western universities are mostly funded by donation. For example, only about 20 percent of Harvard expenditures are met by tuition fee collections while nearly 50 percent comes from donation. A significant amount of the donation comes from its alumni base.

A number of studies that are conducted to study alumni donation patterns reveal some relevant questions being asked like the age of the donor, what affiliation the donor has and what is the motivation of the giver. A few studies seem to suggest that some alumni donate with the hope that their children would get an easy passage into the same Ivy League institutions. Even when Anand Mahindra joined the ranks by giving the highest donation to any humanities discipline at Harvard, questions were raised whether the donation was timed with his two sons seeking college admissions.

Indian businessman Siddharth Yog gifted $11 million to his alma mater Harvard Business School and it made front page news since he made it to the rare category of single largest personal gifts made by any Indian to Harvard. Prior to him donations given to Harvard were by Anand Mahindra who donated $10 million, Ratan Tata donated $50 million to fund a campus building and Narayana Murthy donated $5.2 million to publish ‘The Murthy Classical Library of India’.

This has been an ongoing debate and every time an Indian donates to a university abroad, the question gains momentum again. When Ratan Tata became ‘the largest international donation in the Ivy League university’s 102-year history’, the apparent question asked was how Indian universities can compete globally, if Indians continue to fund western universities. Among other philanthropic contribution to American Universities are Rohini and Nandan Nilekani who had gifted $5 million to Yale University.

It isn’t that the donation to Indian universities is completely non-existent, but it is quite bleak compared to the amounts donated to universities abroad. Nandan Nilekani’s donation of $2.6 million to his alma mater, IIT to build a new hostel wing is often talked about.

At the same time there have been a few thoughtful Indian philanthropists who have contributed to the Indian education system. Azim Premji who is the chairman of Wipro and the third richest Indian, donated $2 billion to the Azim Pemji Foundation that works towards educating children in rural India. This has by far been the biggest act of philanthropy by an Indian. HCL founder Shiv Nadar donated 580 crore towards the Shiv Nadar Foundation which will be used to fund educational causes in India. Vineet Nayyar, MD of IT services company, Tech Mahindra, donated one third of his shares in the company to the Essel Social Welfare Foundation, a Delhi-based organization. The organization supports education of the girl child and the handicapped. Asit Kotecha, who owns Pashmina Realty and is founder of ASK Group, donated 30 crore to the Mumbai University for building an international convention centre (ICC).

On the other hand various reasons are citied for funds not flowing in for Indian universities by the Indian entrepreneurs. The reason why they contribute to endowment funds abroad rather than invest in Indian education as per Pramod Bhasin, Genpact President and Chief Executive Officer is “I think one of issues that people face, particularly NRIs, is that charitable donations made in India, may not be tax deductable as in the U.S., depending on factors such as how is a trust registered, whether it is recognized internationally or not…That could be an issue,” as reported to Business Line.

Another reason for the donations to universities abroad is that the Indian entrepreneurs feel that Indian universities do not have the ability to utilize the funds well.

Raising funds for building infrastructure, apart from day to day operations is a constant need of Indian universities as well as universities abroad. Many reports in fact throw up facts on how Indian universities do not rank in any of the International quality surveys. Further statistics also stress on the immediate need to build hundreds of new universities and to increase gross enrollment ratios at Indian colleges.

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Delhi, Mumbai among World’s Best 5 Airports

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The international airports in Mumbai and New Delhi have secured global rankings at the Airport Council International‘s (ACI’s) airport service quality awards.

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), Mumbai, has been adjudged among the top three performing airports of last year in the airport service quality survey, by the Airport Council International (ACI), an official said here Thursday.

airport

 

While the Indira Gandhi International Airport at New Delhi has been ranked the first in India and the second best globally, Mumbai’s CSIA ranks the third best airport globally, and has emerged the second best in India in the 25-40 million passengers per annum (MPPA) category of ACI.

The survey was conducted at 180 airports worldwide for the ACI Airport Service Quality Awards(ASQ), 2011, the CSIA official said.

Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd (MIAL) managing director G. V. Sanjay Reddy, commenting on the CSIA securing the top honours, said, it is “a reaffirmation of our vision to transform the CSIA into one of the best airports in the world.”

“Last year, we received this award in the 15-25 MPPA category and again this year in the 25-40 MPPA category. This further reinforces MIAL’s efforts in improving the service quality at CSIA, which has been widely recognized by passengers, on an ongoing basis over the years,” Reddy said.

ACI, an autonomous and independent body, carried out the ASQ passenger survey by measuring customer feedback on a range of service delivery parameters, that track the customer experience at an airport from the moment of arrival to the departure gate.

Analysis of this “real-time” data, recorded on the day of travel, serves as a guide for better aligning service provision with customer expectations.

By benchmarking an airport with other similar airports, ASQ enables airports to see where they stand in competition with their peers, and in turn, helps them prioritize improvement projects and validate their investments in new facilities and services.

CSIA catered to 29.10 million passengers between April 2010-March 2011, compared to 25.6 million passengers during the same period the previous year, a healthy growth of around four million passengers in one year.

MIAL is a joint venture between the GVK-led consortium and Airports Authority of India, with a mandate to modernize, upgrade and expand the existing CSIA.
Source: IANS

 

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The all-important heart is constantly at work, pumping blood (about 2,000 gallons a day) filled with essential oxygen and nutrients to your body’s organs 24/7. Everything about the heart and how it works is interesting, but here are some nuggets of information we found particularly fascinating.

The Heart Sits in the Center of the Chest, Not On the Left Side

Does this blow your mind because you’ve always been told it’s on the left? When we place our hands over our hearts to pledge allegiance, we actually go a tad too far to the left. The heart is located in the middle of the chest, snuggled between the lungs.

A small percentage of people are born with dextrocardia, a condition in which the heart points more toward the right side of the chest than the left. According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders, people who have dextrocardia with situs inversus (when visceral organs like the liver and spleen are reversed too) can live normal lives without any disability.

In many cases, though, dextrocardia is associated with other heart defects or other misplaced, and even missing, organs that might require surgery to correct.

The Human Heart Beats Around 70 Times per Minute

This is a ballpark figure. According to Mayo Clinic, a healthy adult heart should beat anywhere from 60 to 100 times a minute while at rest. Do the math, and it adds up to around 100,000 beats a day and 2.5 billion beats in the average lifetime. That’s a lot of pumping.

Newborns have the fastest heartbeats, at 70 to 190 beats per minute, and the hearts of well-trained athletes tend to beat slower, at a rate of 40 to 60 beats per minute.

Faster-than-normal resting heart rate (called tachycardia) or a below-normal heart rate (bradycardia) could be signs of heart problems.

It’s important to watch your normal heart rate over time, too. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found people whose resting heart rates increased from under 70 beats per minute to more than 85 beats per minute over 10 years had a 90 percent increased risk of dying from heart disease compared to those whose heart rates stayed around 70 beats per minute.

Having a Big Heart Isn’t Necessarily a Good Thing

In the literal sense, an enlarged heart is a symptom of heart disease. For an adult, a normal heart is about the size of your fist.

An enlarged heart, termed cardiomegaly, can occur for a number of reasons, some temporary (stress on the body or pregnancy) and some tied to heart condition (weak heart muscle, coronary artery disease, heart valve problems, or abnormal heart rhythms).

Complications of cardiomegaly include cardiac arrest and sudden death (commonly seen in athletes), heart failure, heart murmurs, and blood clots, depending on the part of the heart enlarged.

And a Cold Heart Isn’t Always a Bad Thing

Therapeutic hypothermia is actually a form of treatment for cardiac arrest. According to American Heart Association guidelines for inducing hypothermia, doctors cool a patient’s body to 91 degrees F, 7 degrees below average, in order to slow damage to brain and other organs that begin when the heart stops and restarts.

Research published in the Annals of Neurology in late 2010 found that two-thirds of patients who received the therapy after revival from cardiac arrest recovered and went home with good heart function.

Monday is the Most Common Day of the Week for Heart Attacks

Mondays get a bad rap — Manic Mondays, Monday blues, case of the Mondays — but where heart health is concerned, maybe it’s deserved. Research has shown that more heart attacks occur on Mondays than any other day of the week. One 2005 study published in the European Journal of Epidemiology found that the incidence of heart attack was 20 percent higher in men and 15 percent higher in women on Mondays.

Some experts theorize that the spike has to do with the stress of returning to work after a relaxing weekend, while others correlate Monday heart attacks with the effects of boozy Saturday nights.

Other popular heart attack days: Christmas, the day after Christmas, and New Year’s.

Male-Pattern Baldness is a Sign of Heart Disease

This one may seem strange, but studies have shown that, compared to men with full heads of hair, men with crown hair loss have an increased risk of heart disease, about 23 percent higher, and complete hair loss on top of the head brings that number up to 36 percent. If you’re a guy who also has high blood pressure or high cholesterol, your risk is even higher.

Scientists can’t be sure what causes the link, but it might have something to do with testosterone. Too much of it interferes with hair growth on the head and also causes hardened arteries. The hair-loss link to heart disease could also be genetic.

The Body’s System of Blood Vessels is More Than 60,000 Miles Long

There are three different kinds of blood vessels: Arteries carry blood from heart to organs, veins carry blood from organs and limbs back to the heart, and capillaries connect the two. Together, all of the arteries, veins, and capillaries in the body are long enough to go around the world more than twice.

How tall are you? Think about it.

Hardening of those arteries, called atherosclerosis, is the result of cholesterol and fat buildup in the vessels, which causes plaque. It can lead to coronary artery disease, heart attack, and stroke.

Women’s Hearts Beat Faster Than Men’s

A female human heart pumps about six beats faster per minute than a male heart, which can be explained by the gender difference in heart size. A male heart is bigger (by about 25 percent), so it can pump more blood in a single beat.

But having a quicker heart beat doesn’t equal quicker finishing times for runners. Because men’s hearts can pump more blood, on average, they tend to run faster than women.

Your Heart Doesn’t Stop When You Sneeze

The increased pressure in your chest can affect blood flow to the heart, briefly changing its rhythm, but contrary to common belief, your heart doesn’t skip a beat when you sneeze. That doesn’t mean you should stop saying “bless you” or “gesundheit” after a sneeze, though. It’s only polite!

Despite the name, your heart doesn’t stop during heart failure either. It just can’t pump blood as well as it should. The only time the heart stops is during cardiac arrest.

The Aorta Is Nearly the Diameter of a Garden Hose

Sure it’s the largest artery in the body, running from the heart to the abdomen, but the thickness of a garden hose? That’s pretty big, and a weird thing to visualize.

But its size isn’t the only thing that makes the aorta a big deal: Most aneurysms, or bulges in the wall of an artery, will happen there.

Narrowing, or coarctation, of the aorta is a birth defect (doctors normally notice when a baby is a newborn) that can make it difficult for blood to pass through. Doctors have to perform surgery to remove the narrowed part or open it to correct the problem.

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When American Babus Go the Indian Way

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Chances of getting a work-related visa to the United States becomes harder day by day and the row over the visa policies gets deeper every time. Indians are unfairly treated when it comes to work visas to the U.S. and according to the findings of an American think tank, India-born professionals are denied visas at higher rates than nationals of other countries, an action often done quite arbitrarily.

Indians are the new Mexicans, writes Seema Sirohi, a Washington-based journalist in Firstpost, who feels that denial rates of professionals from both the countries match. She makes an interesting comparison of American babus with their Indian counterparts and says both make a formidable match in exercise of discretionary power. Proving her point, she says the law has not changed at all but the interpretation of which has seen various versions since the recession. And this is the only way one can explain the dramatic increase in denial rates of H-1B and L-1 visas to Indian professionals.

While no apparent reason can be given for this deliberate discrimination, the only possible triggering point is the heated political climate in the country that laments over the jobs offshored and promises greater measures of protectionism.

The immigration and consular officers play a vital role in the increasing denial of H-1B and L-1B visas to Indian. The study by a non-partisan public policy organization, the National Foundation for American Policy, revealed that 2.8 percent of Indians seeking L-1B visas were denied in 2008. They came under the category of “transfer of those with specialized knowledge” within the same company. This rate went up drastically to 22.5 percent in 2009 and the study found that more Indian L-1B petitions (1640) were denied in 2009 alone than in the last 9 years combined (1341). Comparing to other countries, the denial rate remained same, at a very low range, for countries such as Britain, France, Germany and Japan. For Canadians, the Canadians rose marginally from 2 percent to 2.9 percent and for Chinese, it jumped from 2 percent in 2008 to 5.9 percent in 2009.

The most obvious reason cited is U.S. President Barack Obama’s style of governance and the ongoing campaign where he often stirs up the issue of outsourcing to gather the supper of certain unions and lobbies.

Many firms in the U.S. strongly believe that certain newly-made unwritten arbitrary standards that go beyond the statute and regulations are now applied since there is no change in the existing law, writes Sirohi. The officers, in many cases, make the process much harder, unpredictable and lengthy by demanding the applicants and their sponsoring companies to provide extra evidence and in a certain cases, they even demand the applicants to prove their ‘extraordinary ability’ for L-1B by producing a patent, says the article. Many who own patents are also denied visas.

Since 2009, the companies are not applying in as large numbers as before because of the known displeasure of the consular and immigration officers. The unpredictability of getting a visas have cause many a bad business scenarios for many Indian IT companies as their projects often get delayed due to the inability to sent qualified personnel to the U.S. The rising denials add more pain to the already hiked visa fees, which went up by $2,000 for H-1B and the law is framed in such a manner that basically hurt India IT firms, the article says.

This is a matter of real concern for India and so the issue was on the top list of Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai’s agenda when he visited the United States last week. During his address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Mathai has categorically stated that it is a “non-tariff barrier” and it has become quite easy to shoot down the spirits of aspirting Indians for heavy visa fees and eventually turn them down. Over the last five years, a whooping amount of $200 million has been spend on visa fees by Indians and an estimated $30-50 million worth of visas were rejected. “According to a back of envelope calculation – Indians paid over $200 million in visa fees. Perhaps $30-50 million has been taken from young aspiring Indians working in businesses whose U.S. visas were rejected. The pink slip has become a greenback!” Mathai said. “It needs reiteration that the targets of these discriminatory actions are precisely those who have contributed intellectually to the climate of reform in India, and who have been votaries of strong India-U.S. relations,” foreign secretary was quoted as saying in PTI.

Stressing on the need to eradicate discriminatory actions, Mathai said that the Indian IT industry in the U.S. has contributed $15 billion in taxes alone in the last five years. He also quoted a NASSCOM report saying that Indian industry employs over 100,000 in the U.S. up from 20,000 six years ago, which supports 200,000 other jobs, including indirect ones, apart from enhancing the competitiveness of some the U.S. industries. On top of all these, Indian workers in U.S. pay an estimated $1 billion in social security when they are there and none of these would help then when they retire. The author also mentions that the U.S. government has time and again refused to even discuss about an agreement and dreaming about a deal to pay back social security is not worth hoping for.

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Delhi, Mumbai among Least Expensive Cities in the World

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Delhi and Mumbai are one of the least expensive cities in the world suggests the latest World Cost of Living 2012 Survey. It was noted that Arab city Muscat in Oman led the list of the least expensive cities also including Dhaka, Katmandu and Karachi.

The Economist Intelligence Unit survey is conducted twice annually and compares more than 400 prices across 160 products and services and it includes food, drink, clothing, household supplies and personal care items, home rents, transport, utility bills, private schools, domestic help and recreational costs. The survey compared living costs in 130 cities and crowned Zurich as the world’s most expensive city for the first time in more than 20 years.  It is also noted that Western Europe still accounts for 24 of the most expensive cities in the top 50, with 14 hailing from Asia.

It was noted that although Asian hubs are making their presence felt at the top of the cost of living stakes, another kind is also making its presence felt at the bottom. Three of the four cheapest locations hail from the Indian subcontinent, stressing why India has been such a target of labor outsourcing, relocation and FDI over the last decade. There seems to be more structural basis, with cheap labor and land costs making India and Pakistan very attractive to those bargain hungry visitors or investors willing to be daring some of the security risks that accompany such low prices, especially in Pakistan.

The ten most expensive cities were Zurich at position one, followed by Tokyo. Geneva and Osaka Kobe followed next. Oslo and Paris ranked fifth and sixth respectively. Sydney and Melbourne were on the seventh and eighth position respectively while Singapore was on the ninth. Frankfort took the tenth position.

The survey recorded that an index swing of 34 percentage points pushed the Swiss city up 4 places compared to last year to overtake Tokyo which remains in second place. Geneva, the other Swiss city surveyed with a 30 percentage point rise in the cost of living to move up six places into joint third alongside Osaka. Japan and Switzerland both have seen strong currency movements over the last few years which have made them relatively more expensive. Especially Switzerland in the last year has seen this change where investors looking for a haven currency outside the stressed Eurozone have invested heavily in the Swiss Franc, prompting an unprecedented move by the Swiss government to peg the Swiss Franc to the Euro to keep the currency competitive.

The ten least expensive cities consisted of Muscat, Dhaka, Algiers, Kathmandu, Panama City, Jeddah, New Delhi, Tehran, Mumbai and Karachi. 

The content in the survey reports is derived from the extensive economic, financial, political and business risk analysis of over 203 countries worldwide. The cost of petrol prices in New Delhi is noted to have more than doubled in the past decade in U.S. dollar terms, while rice prices have increased almost threefold and a marginal increase is seen in the cost of a loaf of bread.

It was also recorded that the cheapest cities in the ranking are dominated by Asian and Middle Eastern cities. The latter owes, in part, to the use of price controls and the pegging of currencies to the U.S. dollar.

In India the GDP spilt in agriculture is noted to be 3.5 percent in 2012 and is expected to decrease to 3.0 percent in 2013. In the industry sector a percentage change of 4 percent is noted in 2012 and is expected to be 8 percent in 2013. In the service sector 8.8 percent in 2012 is noted and is expected to increase to 9.2 in 2013.

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India’s Most Wanted: Pak’s Political Hero

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If reports are to be believed, India’s most wanted terrorist and the master brain behind the Mumbai terror attack, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed might soon flex his muscles in the political arena of Pakistan, quite freely and openly. Chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawah and the founder of the banned terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, Saeed has once again kept the guessing game alive by neither accepting nor denying rumors of his political ambitions.

Addressing a press conference in Karachi, Hafiz Saeed parried questions on his political future and declined to directly acknowledge if JuD would declare itself a political party and contest in the coming elections. Speculations are doing the rounds in Pakistan’s political pitch that the extremist leader would participate in the upcoming elections and would contest for the Punjab Assembly or the National Assembly.

The hardliner said it was a “misconception” to consider that the JuD was not a political party given the activities of the group varying from bringing together different parties to engaging in social programs and raising awareness on different issues are definitely political in nature.

Eyeing the political opportunity in the ongoing unrest in the country and in view of the forthcoming debate in the national assembly on Pakistan’s future ties with the U.S., Saeed had recently called for revenge against India, chanted the slogans of liberation of Kashmir and stepped up his anti-U.S. rhetoric once again. Hafiz Saeed addressed a rally of over 40 religious and political groups in Multan which was also addressed by Hamid Gul, former ISI chief. JuD was very instrumental in bringing together these different groups under one umbrella named Defa-e-Pakistan Council (Defence of Pakistan Council), which is a conglomerate of some 40 religious and extremist groups.

Recently Hafiz Mohammad Saeed had demanded the Pakistani government to announce a date for parting ways with the US and abandoning its war on terrorism. He warned that if the government reopened NATO supply routes which were closed in November last year, the Defa-e-Pakistan Council would ‘gherao’ the parliament in Islamabad.

Meanwhile, the troubled Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has reportedly directed the Interior Ministry to counter the political activities of banned and extremist groups in the Defa-e-Pakistan Council.

(With PTI Inputs)

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10 Players Who Will Attract High Prices at IPL Auction

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IPLT20 2012 season which will commence from April 4th has already begun the fiesta with IPL auctions. 144 players in total will go under the hammer for the place of only 25 players, in which the case would be that most players will be ill-fated and will go home empty handed. But for the fortunate or the fluky ones, there is a big sum waiting for them. Each team can spend up to $2 million in the event meant for players not picked up in last year’s auction. Nine franchises are looking for quality players. So here is the list of the top players who could be making franchises fighting for them.

1. Ravindra Jadeja:

Ravindra Jadeja

Nicknamed as ‘Rockstar’, 23-year old Ravindra Jadeja is an allrounder who is a left arm spinner, stroke making left hand batsman and an excellent fielder. He made headlines with his entry in 2008 IPL when he played for Rajasthan Royals. The all rounder played a crucial role to make the team lift the 2008 IPL cup by defeating Chennai Super Kings in the finals. In 2010 Jadeja was banned on contractual issues and was later picked up by Kochi Tuskers in 2011 for $950,000 in IPL4. Jadeja made a Jadeja proved a decent buy with 283 runs at 31.44 and eight wickets at 38.12 in IPL4. Since Kochi Tuskers no more a part of IPL, all the team members are put on auction. Teams such as Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab who have a shortage of an allrounder will be in the front line to bag the Saurashtra lad.

 2. Brendon McCullum:

brendon mccallum

Known for his scoring rate and aggressive batting, the New Zealand International cricketer will be a good gamble for the nine franchises. McCullum proved that he was apposite for 20-20 when he made an unbeaten 158 in the first match of the inaugural IPL match in 2008. For the first three consecutive seasons he played for Kolkata Knight Riders. In 2010 he was taken by the Kochi Tuskers. He scored 357 runs from 13 matches at 27.46, with just one half-century in IPL4. Given the fact, with antagonistic batting, McCullum also masters in wicket keeping, which will lure teams like Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians to bid on the Dilscoop batsman. Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians and Deccan Chargers are crippled without an experienced wicket keeper. Brendon McCullum was hammered for an amount of $475000 in IPL4 auctions.

3. Mahela Jayawardene:

Mahela

Captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team, the right hand batsman is the best batsman ever produced by Sri Lankan cricket team. The 34- year old right arm medium bowler made headlines when he was named as the best international captain of the year by International Cricket Council in 2007. In the last season of IPL, Jayawardene scored 299 runs including three half-centuries when he played for the Kochi Tuskers. What makes Jayawardene a ‘wanted player’ is his ability to move up and down the batting order. He has been the opening batsmen for Sri Lanka for long and he continued to do the same for Kochi Tuskers in the last season as well. Teams which are looking for middle order batsmen will be the front runners for Jayawardene. Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Daredevils and Deccan Chargers are the three franchises to who will likely bid on Jayawardene. Mahela Jayawardene was bought for $1.5 million in IPL4 by Kochi Tuskers.

4. Parthiv Patel:

parthiv patel

Gujju lad, Parthiv Ajay Patel specializes in wicket keeping and left hand batting. He made his debut in IPL with Chennai Super Kings and captain MS Dhoni. Since then he had become a regular in the team until Kochi Tuckers bought him for a $290000 in IPL4. He was also announced as the captain of Kochi Tuskers last year. His Twenty20 strike-rate of 108.66 is good for an opener which makes him as one of the valuable the players that any team would want. Mumbai Indians, Deccan Chargers and Rajasthan royals are vouching on Parthiv Patel in case they do not get lucky with Brendon McCullum.

5. Muttiah Muralitharan:

muthai muralithran

Seems like Kochi Tuskers wanted the best green men in their team, had bagged some of the big wigs of cricket like Muttiah Muralitharan. One of the best and successful world class bowlers in the history of cricket is known for breaking record after record in his bowling career. Muralitharan is one player that any team would love to have. Chennai Super Kings brought Muttiah Muralitharan into Twenty20 where Muralitharan took 52 wickets in 46 games across the IPL and Champions League Twenty20. However, he played only five of Kochi’s 14 games in the 2011 IPL, managing just two wickets at 70.50. having a reserve value of $200,000, Muralitharan looks like an easy bid for Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab who both desperately need a quality spinner.

6. RP Singh:

RP Singh

He is a left arm fast-medium bowler who has represented India in one day cricket, T20 and Test cricket. He came in figure during the under 19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2004. He delivered a consistent performance in the Ranji Trophy for Uttar Pradesh was able to make his place in ODI series of 2005. He is highly capable for Twenty20 cricket He played for Kochi Tuskers Kerala after signing for them in 2011 from Deccan Chargers. He was highly successful in the series and emerged as the highest wicket taker that is he took 52 wickets in the tournament. While in the Deccan Chargers team, he was the highest wicket taker of the tournament and took the purple cap and took 23 wickets in 16 matches. He was also the most successful bowler in the IPL series. His reserve price for IPL is 200,000 dollars. It is expected that Rajasthan and Punjab can opt him this season.

7. Vinay Kumar

Vinay Kumar
He is an execellent cricket player who plays One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 levels. Domestically he plays for Karnataka and is the superhead and captain for Ranji Trophy. He is also a right-arm medium fast bowler. He made his test debut for India in the theird test of the 2011-12 tour of Australia in Perth. He replaced R. Ashwin when team India chose four pace bowlers. He has played for Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Kochi Tushkers Kerala for the IPL. Presently he is the best Indian bowler and will hopefully make the auction list. Vinay has reserve price of $100,000. Mumbai, Punjab and Rajasthan can go for this medium fast bowler.
8. Kevin O’Brien:

kevin

Kevin O’Brien is an Irish Cricketer who plays for Railway Union Cricket Club and Gloucestershire. He is a very strong right-handed batsman. In 2011 England World Cup, he hit the longest six of the tournament by doing century that is he made his name in the list of fastest century done, which was a record break. He made his One Day international (ODI) debut in 2006 in Ireland’s Inaugural match. He joined the Cricket Ireland by becoming one of the full-time board member in 2010. Since January 2012, he was the Ireland’s vice-captain. Phil Simmons Remarked O’Brien by saying that, “There’s lot more thought to his batting and he has worked on different things like batting against spin. He doesn’t have the facilities of a county but he is working hard on his game at home”.

9. Tamim Iqbal:

Tamim Iqbal

Tamim Iqbal is a Bangladeshi cricketer who played in the 2006 Under 19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka. He made his One Day international (ODI) debut in 2007. He has very good record in Twenty20 with average of 20.87. He plays cricket for Chittagong Division Cricket Team. He is the only Bangladeshi player in the IPL auction who has a reserve price of $50,000. In the IPL of 2012, he is going to be available for the entire season, which is the main reason why many would like to choose him. Rajasthan and Mumbai are in need of such overseas opener to accompany the Indian opener Rahul Dravid/Shane Watson and Sachin Tendulkar.

10. Vernon Philander:

Vernon Philander

Vernon Darryl Philander is a right-handed bowler and a all rounder from South Africa. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut while playing at Belfast against Ireland. He played under 19 for his country and presently plays in Cape Cobras in South African domestic cricket. He played enormously for the Cobras, giving an average of 72 with the bat and 30 with the ball, in 2006-07. This game made him make his place in South Africa’s squad for their one day tour Ireland. He was also rewarded for a good display in the Twenty20 World Championships in 2007. He was one of the Middlesex CCC’s overseas players for the 2008 English Domestic season. For IPL he has a base price of $200,000 and is expected to get offer from Rajasthan, Deccan, Punjab and Delhi.

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