Indian cricket’s mega-rich: Djokovic, Alonso poorer than Dhoni; Sachin richer than Rooney

Forbes rich list has two Indian cricketers richer than many global sporting icons

Normally, it might be seen as something to be proud of.

A game coming of age on the global stage.

However, Indian cricketers do not want the spotlight on their wealth. Not at this time when the Indian Premier League T20’s 6th edition– one of the biggest cash cows for cricketers across the globe – is under a huge cloud of illegal betting and spot-fixing.

India’s cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is in the Top 20 of Forbes’ latest list of the world’s highest-paid athletes.

MSD is at number 16 on the list with Forbes citing his total earnings at $31.5 million, salary and winnings at $3.5 million and endorsements at $28 million.

Dhoni is currently battling questions raised by the Indian media about a conflict of interest he has by holding a stake in a sports company that manages some of the players in the Indian cricket team.

Dhoni also captains the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), a team that is in the eye of the IPL match-fixing, betting scandal, with one of its owners in a police probe over spot-fixing.

Dhoni could have done without the focus on his wealth at this point in time.

What is really impressive about the Forbes ranking is Dhoni’s position vis-à-vis other global athletes.

Consider this.

There is only one other cricketer in the top 100.

Sachin Tendulkar, despite his age and his drop in form, still pulls in the bucks.

Wayne Rooney. (AFP)

Forbes has his wealth broken down as Total Earnings: $22 million; Salary/winnings: $4 million; Endorsements: $18 million. Where is he on the list? At number 51.

Much lower than Dhoni, but, higher than Wayne Rooney who can only make it to number 61 on the list with total earnings at $21.1 million, salary/winnings at $18.1 million and endorsements at $3 million.

Dhoni sits high above these two global brand icons and leaves some other big name sportspersons way down the list.

Maria Sharapova (Getty)

Among those that cannot match the owner of cricket’s ‘helicopter shot’ are Fernando Alonso at number 19 (total earnings: $30 million), Maria Sharapova at 22 (total earnings: $29 million), Novak Djokovic at 28 (total earnings: $26.9 million), Rafael Nadal at 30 (total earnings: $26.4 million) and the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt, who can only make number 40 on Forbes’ list with total earnings of $24.2 million.

Dhoni is rich. So rich in fact that he is now in the company of boxing’s elite. Dhoni at number 16 on the list has two of the richest sportsmen in history sitting just above him. These two have more often than not been at the top of this list.

Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao both sit at number 14, just above Dhoni. Floyd’s total earnings according to Forbes is $34 million as is Filipino legend Pacquiao’s.

May be one more IPL and MSD will over-take them as well.

The World’s Top 10 Highest-Paid Athletes

#1 Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods (REUTERS)

Total Earnings: $78.1 million
Salary/winnings: $13.1 million
Endorsements: $65 million
 
#2 Roger Federer

Roger Federer (AFP)

Total Earnings: $71.5 million
Salary/winnings: $6.5 million
Endorsements: $65 million
 
#3 Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant (AP)

Total earnings: $61.9 million
Salary/winnings: $27.9 million
Endorsements: $34 million
 
#4 LeBron James

Total Earnings: $59.8 million
Salary/winnings: $17.8 million
Endorsements: $42 million
 
#5 Drew Brees

Total Earnings: $51 million
Salary/winnings: $40 million
Endorsements: $11 million
 
#6 Aaron Rodgers

Total Earnings: $49 million
Salary/winnings: $43 million
Endorsements: $6 million
 
#7 Phil Mickelson

Total Earnings: $48.7 million
Salary/winnings: $4.7 million
Endorsements: $44 million
 
#8 David Beckham

David Beckham (AFP)

Total Earnings: $47.2 million
Salary/winnings: $5.2 million
Endorsements: $42 million
 
#9 Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo (AP)

Total Earnings: $44 million
Salary/winnings: $23 million
Endorsements: $21 million
 
#10 Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi (Getty)

Total Earnings: $41.3 million
Salary/winnings: $20.3 million
Endorsements: $21 million
 
List courtesy Forbes.com
 
Boxers down, Tiger on top

Manny Pacquiao (AFP) and Floyd Mayweather (Getty/Gallo)

Tiger Woods, whose four wins this season have seen him return to the top of golf’s world rankings, is also back on top of Forbes’ list of highest-paid sports figures.

An article posted on the magazine’s website this week gives the rundown of the 2013 list, which will appear in the June 24 issue.

Woods had topped the Forbes list from 2001-2011 — staying there despite the loss of some sponsors in the wake of the sex scandal that engulfed him in November of 2009.

But he fell to third last year, behind boxers Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

Forbes calculates he is back on top, raking in $78.1 million over the 12 months from June 1, 2012 through June 1, 2013 from prize money, endorsements, appearance fees and golf course design work.

His resurgence on the course has seen him double his prize money from the previous 12 months.

According to Forbes, Woods’s victories have further boosted his income thanks to bonuses tied to wins from sponsors Nike and Rolex, while his course design business is improving after some setbacks.

Swiss tennis great Roger Federer ranks second on the list with earnings of $71.5 million, while Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant is third at 61.9 million.

Miami Heat star LeBron James, the NBA Most Valuable Player whose team is battling to repeat as champion this season, came in fourth with $59.8 million and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees completed the top five with $51 million.

Mayweather dropped from first to 14th this year — tied with Filipino fight king Pacquiao.

Mayweather had earnings of $34 million from his fight with Robert Guerrero in May, while in the period covered for the 2012 list he fought twice.

Pacquiao netted $26 million from his December fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, according to Forbes, which reckons Pacquiao also pulled in an estimated $8 million in endorsements.

Russian Maria Sharapova was the highest earning woman on the list, in 22nd place. Fellow tennis players Serena Williams of the United States and Li Na of China were the only other women in the list of 100 sports figures.

Forbes based its earnings figures on salaries, bonuses, prize money, appearance fees and licensing and endorsement income for the 12 months between June 1, 2012 and June 1, 2013.

MS Dhoni holds no shareholding in Rhiti Sports: Firm

It was reported in the media that Dhoni has a 15% stake in Rhiti Sports which also manages Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Pragyan Ojha, besides the Indian captain.

As a controversy broke out over alleged conflict of interest of Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, sports management firm Rhiti Sports on Monday said he holds no stake in the company.

It was reported in the media that Dhoni has a 15% stake in Rhiti Sports which also manages Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Pragyan Ojha, besides the Indian captain.

However, the firm said that Dhoni was a shareholder only for a brief period, and currently has no stake.

“As on date, MSD holds no shareholding in Rhiti Sports Management (P) Ltd. However, it is made clear that shareholding was allotted to MSD on 22.03.2013 only to secure certain old outstandings which were due for more than one year.

“Further, the payments were cleared in April 2013 and the shareholding was transferred back to promoter of the company on 26.04.2013,” Rhiti Sports chairman Arun Pandey said in a statement.

In 2010, Dhoni signed up with Rhiti Sports reportedly for Rs 210 crore, an average of Rs 70 crore a year, the costliest deal in Indian cricket.

“We at Rhiti Sports Management Pvt Ltd are greatly aggrieved at the widespread media reports regarding alleged conflict of interest of MSD.

“Though not obligated to but in order to put at rest these widespread speculations, we are issuing the following statement to bring in knowledge the correct factual matrix.

“It is made clear that the Management of Rhiti Sports Management (P) Ltd understands its obligations to the field of sport and the country and adheres to the laws of the land,” he added in the statement.

Interestingly, two of these players — Raina and Jadeja — are part of the same IPL franchise, the Chennai Super Kings, which is also captained by Dhoni.

Ojha had joined Rhiti Sports during Australia‘s last tour of India.

While there were no comments from Dhoni, pacer Rudra Pratap Singh, whose name was also mentioned in the report as one of the players managed by Rhiti Sports, denied having any association with the firm.

“Don’t know what exactly is running in the news but just to clarify I am not with Rhiti Sports,” tweeted

R P Singh after the report came out.

RP Singh has played 14 Tests and 58 ODIs for India. He has taken 40 wickets in the longer format and has 69 scalps in the one-dayers.

He has been out of favour for some time and has not played a Test or ODI since 2011.

PTI

Related articles

• MS Dhoni not a shareholder of the company: Rhiti Sports (ibnlive.in.com)
• Dhoni currently not a shareholder: Rhiti Sports (vancouverdesi.com)

From Sanjay Dutt to Robert Vadra and Gurunathan Meiyappan: People who got their family into trouble

Here’s a look at five celebrities whose deeds have affected their family’s image more than theirs.

1) Sanjay Dutt

This Bollywood celebrity, veteran actor Sunil Dutt‘s son, is serving his sentence in prison for his involvement in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

Mumbai Police tracked Dutt’s involvement in the case soon after the destruction. He was found possessing illegal AK-56s which had been acquired from Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Anees Ibrahim. After the blasts, he had one of them destroyed.

This revelation left his family in a state of deep shock. Dutt’s sister Priya Dutt and father Sunil Dutt could not believe that Sanjay Dutt was a part of the blasts that took so many lives.

Sunil Dutt, who was actively involved in politics, had to face defamation as he struggled to free his son from jail.

All the respect that the Dutt family had earned in so many years was lost in one go. Sunil Dutt died of a heart attack in 2005 and his daughter Priya Dutt contested the elections from his seat.

Sanjay Dutt has been recently shifted to Yerawada jail in Pune and will be in custody for 42 months.

2) Robert Vadra
Son-in law of Sonia Gandhi, Robert Vadra married her daughter Priyanka Gandhi in 1997. Uninvolved in politics, Vadra expressed his desire to enter politics only if he could ‘bring about a change’ in the existing system.

Vadra is a businessman and owns Artex, a company that specializes in jewellery and handicraft exports.

In October 2012, anti-graft activist Arvind Kejriwal accused Robert Vadra of purchasing 31 properties in New Delhi worth more than Rs.300 crore. The money for this had allegedly come from interest-free loans from DLF Limited in exchange of political favors. Soon after this allegation, the opposition party, BJP, demanded a probe into the matter.

Kejriwal called for a public debate and invited Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to participate.

Vadra also allegedly purchased more than 75 acres of land in Hasanpur, a village of Palwal district in Haryana. The land was allotted to Scheduled Caste persons in 1981 by the Haryana Government.

Vadra made a comment on Facebook that said, ‘Mango people in banana republic’. This raised many eyebrows and  soon after, his Facebook account was deleted.

These acts of his have added on to the troubles of the Gandhi family.

Both Vadra and DLF Ltd. have continuously denied the allegations.

3) M.Kanimozhi

Tamil Nadu’s former Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi‘s daughter M.Kanimozhi is remembered for her involvement in the 2G scam. She is a member of the Parliament and represents Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha.

As per the Chief Bureau of Investigation, Kanimozhi, who owns 20% stake in the family-owned Tamil television channel Kalainagar TV, was in constant touch with former telecom  minister A Raja to get the promoter of Dynamix Balwas Realty, Shahid Balwa to route Rs. 2 billion to this TV channel. Kanimozhi was also depending on A Raja for the launch of this channel.

For these charges of corruption, this politician and ‘literary heir’ of Karunanidhi has been booked for criminal conspiracy under 120-B, cheating under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471.

Kanimozhi spent 188 days in prison and was given bail on 28th November 2012.

The Joint Parliamentary Committee claimed that it could easily convict Karunanidhi’s wife and daughter, considering the evidence that they had gathered.

These revelations left Karunanidhi reportedly upset and he allegedly encouraged his political channels to ensure support from the existing government.

4) Abhijeet Mukherjee

President Pranab Mukherjee‘s son Abhijeet Mukherjee is a member of Parliament and in the 2011 elections, Mukherjee won the legislative seat of Nalhati, West Bengal.

In December 2012, when the entire nation was fighting for the Delhi gang-rape victim, Abhijeet Mukherjee made a public statement, in an interview with ABP news, calling the protestors as women who were “highly dented and painted”. He said that these were the same women who went to discotheques. According to Mukherjee, they are ‘disconnected with reality’.

This comment enraged the public and even the Mukherjee family expressed displeasure with Abhijeet’s remarks. Sharmishtha Mukherjee, Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter affirmed that the family did not share these views.
Abhijeet Mukherjee later apologized for his sexist comments.

5)Gurunath Meiyappan
The recent IPL spot-fixing scandal that has seen the arrest of three cricketers and other involved in the sport has caused havoc in the country. The followers of the sport received the biggest jolt when the name of the managing director of Chennai Superkings, Gurunathan Meiyappan, popped up in the controversy.

Meiyappan, along with being the managing director of Chennai Superkings is N. Srinivasan’s son-in law is accused of being involved in the spot-fixing scandal.

N Srinivasan, who is the chief of BCCI is being criticized for not stepping down despite his son-in law being a major accuse in the crime.

The news of Meiyappan’s involvement broke after the arrest of Vindoo Dara Singh who had made calls to a Chennai number. Singh also admitted that he was in touch with a relative of the CSK franchise owner.

Meiyappan is married to Srinivasan’s daughter Rupa and has three children with her.

Noopur Patel

Srinivasan should go — but why? [Yahoo]

The atmosphere of corruption he created opened the door for lesser mortals to be tempted.

So it is all down to numbers. Which, in other words, means open bidding for votes, promises of largesse, and which faction can make the more potent promise (or threat) to buy votes.

Just the great Indian democracy in action, and isn’t that such a heartening sight to see? Not.

Meanwhile, the news channels are all about highlighting those voices that say Srinivasan should go. And yes, he should.

Srinivasan should go because of the illicit manner in which he acquired a franchise; because of the way he manipulated the IPL to his own personal ends and institutionalized corruption on a grand scale. Remember how Mumbai Indians complained vociferously that he had ‘fixed’ the previous auction to favor his own team? Remember the complaints about him tampering with the duty roster of umpires, and even the schedule, to benefit his team? Remember the way he manipulated the salary caps so he — and MI — could retain select players while still retaining sufficient money to bid for top talent at the auction?

All of this is fixing; it is corruption on a grand scale. And once you create such an atmosphere of corruption, you open the door for lesser mortals to be tempted. After all, if the Srinivasans of this world can earn in crore, what harm in a Chandila, a Sreesanth, a Chavan earning a few lakh?

I don’t know about prosperity trickling top-down, but corruption certainly does that. And for this, Srinivasan should bear the blame, more than most.

Also, Srinivasan should go for his arrogance, for the sheer contempt he has displayed towards the public, as most recently evidenced by his blatant, repeated lies. “Gurunath Meyappan has nothing to do with CSK… Gurunath Meyappan is just an enthusiast…” Good grief!

But let us not be under the illusion that Srinivasan’s exit signals the end of corruption in Indian cricket. The malaise is way more deep-rooted than that.

Remember that it was Sharad Pawar who facilitated Srinivasan’s ownership of an IPL franchise in the first place, though it was clearly against the rules of the body of which he was then president (And to think today he has the gall to say there would have been no corruption on his watch!)

Pawar wrote to Srinivasan on January 8, 2008, permitting the latter to participate the bidding process. He said he had examined the bye-laws and there was nothing there to prevent Srini from being part of the auction. He was lying — and later, when that lie was brought home, when the relevant bye-laws were aired in the public forum, he got his tame executive committee to rewrite the rule book, and amend the relevant clause (Clause 6.2.4 of the BCCI constitution).

Originally, the clause stated that no member of the board could benefit either directly or indirectly from cricket. The amendment, authored 6 months later, exclude the IPL from the ambit of that provision. This move was so egregious as to evoke scathing comment from Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra, one of the two judges who heard the case filed by former BCCI president AC Muthaiah; Justice Mishra suggested in her opinion that Srinivasan had to chose between being a board member or owning a franchise, but he could not be both, and do both, simultaneously. That case is now before the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Remember also that when the IPL was hit by a series of scandals that cumulatively led to the ouster of Lalit Modi, Pawar was the board president; it all happened on his watch. So when he emerges as the flag-bearer of honesty and probity today, it is a truly jaw-dropping moment.

Remember, too, that the IPL has a commissioner. His name is Rajiv Shukla.

When the IPL was mired in scandal earlier, the then commissioner had to go (and Shukla was one of the first to ask for his ouster). Today, the IPL is mired in scandal again, but Shukla’s role, his responsibility, doesn’t even merit a mention. How come the buck never seems to stop at Shukla’s doorstep? What is he made of, teflon, that nothing seems to stick to him?
Sachin Tendulkar’s silence has been disappointing.
There is another point worth keeping in mind. Remember how in his letter, Pawar said that he had discussed Srinivasan’s participation in the auction with fellow board members? Who were those board members? None other than Shukla, Arun Jaitley and gang — all of whom, by Pawar’s own admission, agreed to bend the rules to breaking point and let Srinivasan dip his grubby fingers in the pie.

Isn’t it funny that today, it is the same troika of Pawar, Shukla and Jaitley waxing indignant at Srinivasan’s misdeeds?

All of this is why Srinivasan’s exit — and the way things are shaping now, it is merely a matter of hours, or at most days — will change nothing. The BCCI honchos and their supporters in government will claim that it is a sign of the board getting tough and not respecting personalities or positions; they will trumpet it as a sign of their earnestness to clean up the system.

But it will be no such thing — because those now gunning for Srinivasan are the very ones who enabled all of this in the first place. Cutting Srinivasan out therefore solves nothing, because the rot is within the system, and the rot runs deep.

What the board needs right now is a systemic clean-up; it needs men of probity and unquestioned integrity at the helm — men of character empowered to do whatever it takes to bring credibility back to the game, and restore faith to the fans.

Instead, what we will get is Pawar. And Shukla. And Jaitley.

Somewhere in London, meanwhile, Lalit Kumar Modi is laughing his head off.

PS: There have been many cricket-related disappointments in recent days — but there is nothing more disappointing than the complete, total silence of senior players past and present. Particularly the stone cold silence of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar — a man with unparalleled goodwill in this country; a man who, if he took a stance on this issue, would have the unqualified support of the fans; a man whose stature is so large that even this cabal of politicians will not be able to go against him.

If a Tendulkar will not use the goodwill he earned from this game for the good of this game, then what use is it? And what is the point of asking lesser mortals to speak out?

Source : Yahoo

Related articles

• IPL scandal: This nonsense wouldn’t have happened if I was BCCI chief, says Sharad Pawar (ndtv.com)
• IPL Spot-Fixing: Game over for BCCI chief Srinivasan? (indiavision.com)
• BCCI chief running out of steam (thehindu.com)

Tendulkar’s Aussie moment of reckoning

Sachin Tendulkar’s desire to play and the hunger to compete have not diminished, but it is the other intangibles — of sinews grappling with age, of rival bowlers sensing a tentativeness and a dressing room that is increasingly featuring an entirely new generation — that he has to shrug off, writes K.C. Vijaya Kumar. 

 

The legend of Sachin Tendulkar had its finest first exposition on a Perth pitch, always known to be the strongest ally of pace and bounce. During that February in 1992, Tendulkar’s 114 in a losing cause, proved that he had the skill to conquer all odds at an individual level though the rest of the team, hamstrung by its own drawbacks at that juncture, may not have rallied around his genius.

Most importantly, Tendulkar had truly arrived at that moment though a few cricket historians may look at his famous assault on Abdul Qadir in Pakistan in 1989, as the first steps to his becoming the ‘forever dispenser of hopes’ to the Indian Diaspora. It is an image that has lasted nearly 24 years and it looks as though the maestro’s cricketing life has come a full circle with Australia setting foot in Chennai as a prelude to a four-match Test series.

This surely would be the Lord of Batting Numbers’ final tilt against Australia, often his rousing opponent in a chequered career. He would turn 40 this April and there is only so much his body can endure. If the 1991-92 tour was all about Tendulkar proving that he was indeed the numero-uno of Indian batting then despite the presence of Dilip Vengsarkar, Mohammad Azharuddin and Sanjay Manjrekar, the current joust against Michael Clarke’s men is all about proving that his skill-sets have not dimmed.

Sachin Tendulkar with a gen-next player, Ajinkya Rahane. As one gets on in years one should guard from going out of ear-shot.

 The first flowering was relatively easy as he had age on his side while this final act would draw every physical and mental resource in his body. A familiar foe might well provide him the needed impetus, a trait that he has amply revealed over two decades. Be it countering Shane Warne’s leg-breaks with a blistering attack in India, be it the ‘Desert Storm’ knocks in Sharjah, be it eschewing the cover-drive while compiling a double-century in Sydney in 2004 or be it the ungainly sight of him sledging Glenn McGrath in an ODI, Tendulkar has revealed his multiple layers while squaring up against Australia.

Past masters like Sunil Gavaskar, G. R. Viswanath and Vengsarkar were largely judged by their runs against the West Indies but when Tendulkar reigned, it was runs against Australia that defined a batsman’s pedigree though he did script knocks of pathos (Chennai 1999) and panache (Centurion, 2003 World Cup) against Pakistan.

Yet, for a man often spoken of in the same breath as Sir Don Bradman — the latter having also referred to the Mumbaikar as the closest to his batting style — it is often Australia that has provided a peg for Tendulkar to hang his coat of greatness. More than ever, in the aftermath of Rahul Dravid and V. V. S. Laxman’s retirements, India needs Tendulkar to wear that coat again and do battle against his old rival.

 

The extreme dependence on him to provide stability to a weak middle-order despite the promise of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara and his own travails against diminishing reflexes will test Tendulkar.

In the lead-up to this series, Tendulkar has scored a 108 in the Ranji Trophy and an unbeaten 140 in the Irani Cup. It is a good augury and yet his back-story in Tests has revealed a despondent streak broken by a few incandescent outings.

Tendulkar’s last Test hundred (146) came against South Africa in Cape Town in January 2011. After that brilliant knock, he has played in 30 innings without reaching the three-figure mark. The runs have not matched up to the stratospheric standards that he himself has set. His last 10 innings read: 13, 19, 17, 27, 13, 8, 8, 76, 5 and 2. It is not that only Tendulkar struggled and the rest have prospered because with the exception of Dravid in England and the few outings of Kohli and Pujara, the others too are equally guilty of a run-drought.

It is imperative for India that Tendulkar gets back into the groove soon, for, his insight will be invaluable on the tour of South Africa later this year.

 The master’s desire to play and the hunger to compete have not diminished, but it is the other intangibles — of sinews grappling with age, of rival bowlers sensing a tentativeness and a dressing room that is increasingly featuring an entirely new generation — that he has to shrug off. A man can feel weary when most of his mates have walked into the sunset. However, playing for India is his biggest high and that coupled with the itch to make up for the losses against Australia during the last tour, will drive Tendulkar.

“As long as I believe that I can contribute to the team, I will play,” he had said last year. In the same breath, he added: “I take it series by series.” Ideally India needs Tendulkar’s guidance when the team sets foot in South Africa in November, later this year but it remains to be seen if he would will himself for another joust against Dale Steyn.

The series against Australia will throw pointers to the Tendulkar story. As ever, India needs him. Now.

PTI

2013 IPL Auctions: Players Who Made Big Bucks

Cricket is a game that not just attracts Indians but people worldwide. The Indian Premier League or IPL is a professional league for Twenty20 cricket championship in India and has been keenly followed by all. The world’s richest cricket tournament auctions this year saw team buyers picking their choices and here are players who hit jack pot this season, as listed by the Economic Times.

Glenn Maxwell:

Country: Australia
Team: Mumbai Indians
Price: $1 million (Rs 5.3 crore)
Base Price: $200,000

Glen is an all-rounder, bowling right-arm off spin and batting with an average of over 30 for Victoria in interstate one day cricket. He set the record for the fastest ever half-century in Australian interstate one day cricket in 2011, reaching 50 runs off 19 balls. He certainly got a hefty price tag at IPL’s auction.

Ajantha Mendis:

Country: Sri Lanka
Team: Pune Warriors
Price: $725,000 (Rs 3.8 crore)
Base Price: $50,000

Mendis is known for his slow-medium, bowling a mixture of deliveries, including googlies, off-breaks, top-spinners, flippers and leg-breaks, as well as the carrom ball, released with a flick of his middle finger. He hit jack pot this IPL auction with a tag of 3.8 crore.

Kane Richardson:

Country: Australia
Team: Pune Warriors
Price: $700,000 (Rs 3.7 crore)
Base Price: $100,000

Third on the list is Kane Richardson who was bought by the Pune Warriors for $700,000 in the IPL auction. He is a right arm fast bowler swings ball into right-handers and gets a good bounce. On the back of his strong performances for South Australia and the Adelaide Strikers, Kane replaced the injured Mitchell Starc in the 2nd one day international against Sri Lanka in January this year making his international debut.

Abhishek Nayar:

Country: India
Team: Pune Warriors
Price: $675,000 (Rs 3.6 crore)
Base Price:$100,000

Abhishek Nayar is an all-rounder who bats left-handed and bowls right-arm medium pace. He is the highest paid Indian in this auction. Abishek has time and again got Mumbai crucial breakthrough’s in his young unsurpassed career.

Thisara Perera:

Country: Sri Lanka
Team: Sunrisers Hyderabad
Price: $675,000 (Rs 3.6 crore)
Base Price: $ 50,000

Thisara Perera represents Sri Lanka at the Test, One Day International and Twenty20 levels. He is an aggressive left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He surfaced as a big impact player for Sri Lanka. He was bought for a whopping Rs 3.6 crore.

Chris Morris:

Country: South Africa
Team: Chennai Super Kings
Price: $ 625,000 (Rs 3.3 crore)
Base Price: $20,000

Chris Morris is bought by Chennai Super Kings for a whopping 3.3 crore. He is another great player who is already being compared with Lance Kluseer for his ability as match-finisher, both with bat and ball. His auction price surpassed his base price by more than 30 times.

S Senanayake:

Country: Sri Laka
Team: Kolkata Knight Riders
Price: $625,000 (Rs 3.3 crore)
Base Price: $ 50,000

Senanayake is an all-rounder; he bats right-handed and bowls off spin. The 27-year-old has been top bowler in Sri Lanka’s domestic ODI circuit. He made his international debut for Sri Lanka in the fourth One Day International (ODI) of the tour of South Africa in January last year. His call-up followed a domestic season where he had taken the most wickets in the Sri Lankan Premier League limited overs tournament.

Michael Clarke:

Country: Australia
Team: Pune Warriors
Base Price: $400,000 (Rs 2.1 crore)

Michael Clarke, nicknamed ‘Pup’ is a right-handed middle-order batsman, and an occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler. In November 2012, he scored a double century at the Adelaide Oval, making him the only Test batsman to ever achieve four double centuries in a calendar year. He is known for his partnerships with Mike Hussey. He went to Pune Warriors for his base price of $400,000.

Ricky Ponting:

Country: Australia
Team: Mumbai Indians
Base Price: $400,000 (Rs 2.1 crore)

Ponting is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as an extremely occasional bowler. He is widely considered by many to be the best batsman of the modern era, along with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Jacques Kallis, etc. Ponting went to Mumbai Indians fetching base price of $400,000.

Phil Huges:
Country: Australia
Team: Mumbai Indians

Nathan McCullum
Country: New Zealand
Team Sunrisers Hyderabad

Clint McKay
Country: Australia
Team: Sunrisers Hyderabad

Phil Huges, Nathan McCullum and Clint McKay went into their respective IPL teams for $100,000.
South African cricketer Ryan McLaren went into Kolkata Knight Riders for $ 50,000.
Only 37 players out of 108 found buyers and those ignored include Martin Guptill, Aaron Finch, and Vernon Philander.

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Pakistan’s Twenty20 cricket league postponed

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) postponed its franchise-based Twenty20 tournament for an indefinite period to solve management issues.

According to a PCB statement Friday night, the lucrative Pakistan Super League (PSL), scheduled between March 26 and April 7, was delayed after sponsors and other investors demanded more time to submit bids, reports Xinhua.

The delay will also help the PCB ensure the participation of international foreign players.

“Some scheduling conflicts that arose after PSL dates were announced could result in potential star players missing out on the opportunity of participating in PSL,” PCB said.

Following a long drought of the international cricket at home, the PCB officially unveiled its plan to organise PSL Jan 10 by inviting cricketers around from around the world to participate.

The league comprise five teams. Each team will have a maximum of six foreign players for the first three years. All 23 matches will be played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Pakistan is the fourth Asian cricket nation after India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka that launched cricket league involving foreign players.

The decision came after the country failed to convince any of the first grade international cricket teams for a home series in Pakistan due to security reasons.

The league management offered a handsome amount of cash for each player in five categories comprising Diamond ($100,000), Platinum ($70,000), Gold ($50,000), Silver ($25,000) and Emerging ($5,000-10,000).

To shrug off the security reservations by the players, PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf also offered foreign players insurance worth $2 million and tax free other incomes.

The PCB also said over 80 foreign players had already signed for the PSL auction but the process of getting No Objection Certificates from the relevant boards was still underway.

First things first: Get Tendulkar off Dhoni’s back

India’s decline in Test cricket began in England last year, and it has touched its nadir against the same team here at home now. This 18-month period is also when Sachin Tendulkar’s batting has gone from bad to worse. The two are connected because he occupies the No 4 slot in the batting line-up, normally reserved for the best batsman in the side. His failure in match after match, with a solitary fifty in the last 13 innings from eight Tests, and not a single triple-figure knock in 17 Tests, has put huge pressure on the Indian captain.

Others have failed too, notably the experienced opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, but not as badly as Tendulkar — they average around 35 this series compared to the former master’s 18. Besides, it’s far easier to bat at No 4 once the ball has lost its zing. Sehwag would love to change places with Tendulkar. Dhoni could also have been better served in the middle order by an Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma or Manoj Tiwary, who have been piling on runs in domestic cricket. After all, the only bright spots in India’s batting over the past couple of years have been newcomers Virat Kohli, who got centuries against Australia and New Zealand, and Cheteshwar Pujara, who got a double hundred and a century in this series.

It’s our administrators and selectors who are primarily responsible for our Test cricket having hit rock-bottom. They have been too slow to groom new talent in place of ageing stars. In Australia, the talented Rohit Sharma, picked for the series when he was in peak form, saw a regular procession of batting failures without getting to make a single appearance. Ajinkya Rahane, who came into the reckoning with 1,000-plus runs in a season, has been warming the benches for three series now while his more illustrious fellow Mumbaikar is allowed to carry on with impunity despite his flops.

MS Dhoni may well be a misfit as a Test captain, like a former selector said this week, but shouldn’t he first be allowed to lead a side without handicaps? It’s strange that Mohinder Amarnath says the selectors wanted a change of captaincy after the whitewash in Australia, but when it comes to Sachin Tendulkar they just want the great man to think whether it’s time for him to go. What if he is reluctant to let go of all the sponsorships that come his way by virtue of his place in the team?

Besides, it smacks of double standards. If Tendulkar can’t be dropped because of his past records, how can Dhoni be replaced? He has two World Cups under his belt, and a fabulous Test match record until 2011 when the Indian batting went into terminal decline in England. Amarnath may be quite right to be peeved at the board president interfering in selection and preventing him from sacking Dhoni. But the “bunch of jokers”, as Amarnath once described the selectors, have no locus standi to talk about Dhoni’s performance if they are going to continue to shy away from their responsibility to get the monkey off the Indian captain’s back.

Mohinder On Dhoni-’Joker of Jokers’

Mohinder On Dhoni-’Joker of Jokers’.

Make Sachin Tendulkar Australian PM, says sarcastic Matthew Hayden

Upset at Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar getting the Order of Australia (AM), former batsman Matthew Hayden said the honour should be “exclusive” to his countrymen.

In an Australian radio show, Hayden said Tendulkar didn’t deserve the honour. “I think it should be exclusive to Australians… There are things that are sacred amongst our country. I understand the point that he is an iconic figure. If Sachin was living in Australia – give him the Prime Minister’s gong I reckon – but the reality of it is he’s living in India,” he said.

“I kind of understand the point of the fact that he has been such an iconic figure here in Australia and there’s an enormous population of Indians that are working here and living here very happily and in harmony with Australia that have naturalised and I think that’s a great part of our country, how multi-cultural that we are,” he explained.

Hayden was one of the few Australian cricketers to have earned a similar honour, inducted in 2010 for services to cricket and the community. The list includes cricket greats like Sir Donald Bradman, Allan Border, Dennis Lillee, Max Walker, Bob Simpson, Keith Miller and Steve Waugh.

Australian cricket fans have also criticised their Prime Minister’s decision citing Tendulkar’s role in the monkeygate scandal involving the countries’ cricket teams. Tendulkar was a key witness in the Harbhajan Singh-Andrew Symonds racism controversy in 2008.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Tuesday had announced that the iconic Indian cricketer will be conferred the membership of the Order of Australia, an honour “rarely” awarded to non-Australians. He become only the second Indian after former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee to get the honour.

Sorabjee was made an Honorary Member of the Order of Australia (AM) “for service to Australia-India bilateral legal relations” in 2006.

“Cricket is of course a great bond between Australia and India. We are both cricket-mad nations. I am very pleased that we are going to confer on Sachin Tendulkar, membership of the order of Australia,” Gillard, who is on a visit to India, had told reporters.

“This is a very special honour very rarely awarded to someone who is not an Australian citizen or an Australian national. The award will be conferred on him by cabinet Minister Simon Crean when he visits India,” she said.

“So, a special honour and a very special recognition of such a great batsman. The honour is very special and Sachin is a very special cricketer.”

Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to be made an Order of Australia AM as in 2009, West Indies legend Brian Lara was also made an honorary member.

Another West Indies legend, Clive Lloyd, is an Honorary Officer in the Order of Australia, having been conferred the award way back in 1985.