ICC To Hear Out ICL Owners

International Cricket Council president David Morgan has agreed to a request to meet with the owners of the rebel Indian Cricket League.

The ICL is not officially recognised by the ICC and has been in conflict with cricket's authorities since its inception last year.

Now Morgan has agreed to meet with Subhash Chandra of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, who own the ICL.

Morgan said:

"The ICL had previously written to the ICC requesting its approval and now it has asked for this meeting, to which we have agreed.

"All members of the ICC Board have been informed of this meeting and I will report back to those directors at the Board's next meeting, in Dubai on 14 and 15 October."

The ICC refused to comment on the subject of the meeting, but it is expected Chandra will wish to discuss the matter of official sanctioning for the ICL.

Representatives from the ICL are unhappy that the league's players are being prevented from playing top-level cricket, with a report on Zee's own website in July suggesting the matter could be taken to London's High Court.

At an ICC board meeting in the same month, the body formed a committee to look at the issues of official, unofficial and unauthorised cricket.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), whose vice-president, Lalit Modi, is the chairman and commissioner of the Indian Premier League, have an understanding with other major nations that individuals who participate in the ICL will not be allowed to ply their trade in any top-level competition.

Both Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Mushtaq Ahmed faced a battle to be allowed to play in the English County Championship this season after their participation in the ICL.

Since then, English Twenty20 Cup runners-up Kent have been prevented from taking part in the upcoming inaugural Twenty20 champions League, co-organised by the BCCI, because they have players who took part in the ICL.

Former India Test batsman Mankad dies aged 61

Former India Test batsman Ashok Mankad died in his sleep here on Friday aged 61, cricket officials said.

Mankad, regarded as a shrewd thinker of the game and one of India's finest domestic captains, played 22 Tests between 1969 and 1978 and scored 991 runs at an average of 25.41.

His record in first-class cricket was more impressive as he scored 12,980 runs at an average of 50.90 before retiring in 1982-83. He scored 44 in his only one-day international, against England at The Oval.

"Indian cricket lost one of its stalwarts when Ashok Mankad passed away early on Friday,"

Indian cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah said.

"He was a gifted batsman, an outstanding captain, and a respected cricket guru. An individual who dedicated his life to the sport, he will be missed by every single follower of cricket in this country,"

he said in a statement.

Board president Sharad Pawar said the country had lost one of its sharpest cricketing brains.

"Mankad had a great cricketing brain and was regarded by one and all as a great tactician,"

he said.

"His contribution and records in domestic cricket are unmatched."

The middle-order batsman, son of legendary Test all-rounder Vinoo Mankad, is survived by his wife Nirupama, a former national tennis champion, and two tennis-playing sons Mihir and Harsh.

Mankad also served as manager of the Indian cricket team in 1982-83 and coached first-class sides like his native Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh, Railways and Baroda.

Former India left-arm spinner Bapu Nadkarni said Mankad could not fulfil his potential because he was promoted as an opener.

Former India captain Ajit Wadekar also said Mankad could have done better had he continued as a middle-order batsman.

"He could have done better had he continued to play in the middle order. He was a great reader of the wicket and opposition.

"He was a perfect team man who kept his mates in good humour in the dressing room,"

Wadekar said.

India to go ahead with Twenty20 League as scheduled

India will host the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League between September 29 and October 8, defying the game's world chiefs who want the tournament to be rescheduled.

"The event will go ahead as scheduled,"

top Indian cricket board official Lalit Modi announced here Wednesday after a meeting with representatives from the Australian and South African boards.

"The three boards have reached an agreement to stage the inaugural Champions Twenty20 later this year,"

Modi said.

"This would mark the introduction of a long awaited football-style Champions League format for cricket, which will pit the best-of-the-best clubs in domestic cricket globally against each other."

The venues for the six-million dollar league, featuring eight Twenty20 domestic sides from around the world, would be decided later, Modi said.

The tournament is sandwiched in the short 11-day gap between the Champions Trophy final in Pakistan on September 28 and the first Test between Australia and India in Bangalore from October 9.

The announcement is likely to upset the International Cricket Council (ICC) which had reminded its member countries on Tuesday that holding a tournament within seven days of an ICC event violated a playing agreement.

Modi said two teams each from South Africa, Australia and India will feature in the tournament.

"The decision on the remaining two teams will be taken shortly,"

he said.

England were originally slated to take part in the event but announced Tuesday that it wanted to stage its own version of the league in the United Arab Emirates on the same dates.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which opposes the terms and conditions laid down by the Indians, claimed that the Abu Dhabi royal family had agreed to bankroll their tournament.

Local media reports on Tuesday said India had turned down England's offer to send two teams for their event in the Gulf -- and also does not expect English sides to feature in their own tournament.

In a letter to the ECB, the Indian board wrote it "wished the ECB all the best" with its tournament but "unfortunately, we cannot accept" the invitation, reports said.

Talks between the Indian board and the ECB failed to resolve the issues of tournament rights and the availability of players who took part in the unauthorised Indian Cricket League (ICL).

India, the sport's financial powerhouse, wanted to retain a 50 percent stake in the tournament and would not allow teams that fielded ICL players from taking part.

Kent, one of the two teams set to represent England in the Champions League, has two ICL players in Pakistan's Azhar Mahmood and Justin Kemp of South Africa.

First Cricket Champions League to be held in India

The first Cricket Champions League will be played in India and one team from Pakistan is also expected to take part in the event.

Indian Cricket Board official and commissioner Indian Premier Leage Lalith Modi said that the matches of the event would be played in Jaipur, New Delhi and Mohali during the current year.

Eight teams will participate in the Cricket Champions League. The teams securing the first and the second positions in the domestic Twenty20 events of South Africa and Australia besides the winner and runner-up of the Indian Premier League will also take part in the event.

Under a proposed schedule, two teams from England had to play in the IPL but due to differences between the Indian and English boards on some administrative matters of the Champions League any team’s participation in the event from England is not looking possible.

Lalith Modi said that if no team comes from England then any team from Sri Lanka or New Zealand would fill this gap.

He said that a team from Pakistan would also take part in the event and the PCB has ensured its complete cooperation in this regard.

Test cricket returns to India's Brabourne stadium after 35 years

The vintage Brabourne stadium in Mumbai will host its first Test match in 35 years when England tour India later this year, an official said on Monday.

The Brabourne was chosen as a venue for one of England's two Tests in December because the Mumbai Cricket Association's (MCA) Wankhede stadium is being renovated for the 2011 World Cup in South Asia.

The Cricket Club of India (CCI), which owns the 35,000-seater Brabourne ground, has finalised a three-year deal with the MCA to host international matches till the Wankhede was rebuilt.

"The discussion part is over and the CCI has agreed to keep 50 per cent of the club house tickets to themselves and give the rest to us,"

MCA official P.V. Shetty told reporters.

The Brabourne stadium in leafy south Mumbai hosted the last of its 17 Tests in February, 1973 against England before the MCA built its own Wankhede stadium nearby following a dispute over ticket distribution.

The Wankhede stadium, named after former Indian cricket chief S.K.Wankhede, has been a regular Test venue since hosting its first five-day match against Clive Lloyd's West Indies in 1975.

The Brabourne stadium hosted five Champions Trophy one-day matches, including the final, in 2006 and also a Twenty20 international between India and Australia in October last year.

The Brabourne, which organised its first Test in 1948, was where current superstar Sachin Tendulkar scored his maiden double century in a first-class match against the touring Australians in 1998.

Dates and venues for England's tour from mid-November have not been formally announced by the Indian cricket board.

India's Sreesanth ruled out of Bangladesh tri-series

India paceman Shanthakumaran Sreesanth has been ruled out of the upcoming tri-series in Bangladesh due to a side strain, a cricket board official said on Saturday.

"Sreesanth has a left side strain and he will require two weeks to recover from it,"

cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah said in a statement.

The bowler will be replaced by the uncapped Manpreet Gony, who has impressed in the domestic Twenty20 league recently.

Gony's inclusion takes the number of uncapped players in the 15-member Indian squad to three with Pragyan Ojha and Yusuf Pathan the other new faces.

Pakistan is the third team involved in the Bangladesh tri-series to be played from June 8 to 14 in Dhaka.

Sreesanth, however, will be available for the Asia Cup to be played in Pakistan from June 24 to July 6.

India are already without star batsman Sachin Tendulkar who will sit out of both the tri-series and the Asia Cup due to a groin injury.

India squad for the Bangladesh tri-series:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha, Manpreet Gony, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar.
Coach: Gary Kirsten.

Indian squad announced for tri-nation series

Indian cricket board has announced a 15-member squad for the tri-nation series to be played in Bangladesh and the Asia Cup to be held in Pakistan.

Irfan Pathan’s brother Yousuf Pathan and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha have been included in the squad.

According the the board, they have been selected for their excellent performance in the Indian Premier League while Dinesh Karthik and Munaf Patel failed to get the selectors confidence.

The Indian squad consists of Mahinder Singh Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yousuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth, Ishanth Sharma, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Pyush Chawla and Pragyan Ojha.

Harbhajan out from IPL in slapping row

India spinner Harbhajan Singh was handed a 11-match ban from a domestic Twenty20 tournament on Monday after being found guilty of slapping national team-mate Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.

The bowler could also face further punishment from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which announced a separate probe into the incident that took place in Mohali on Friday night.

Harbhajan, 27, allegedly slapped Sreesanth, 25, soon after a match, leaving the young paceman weeping inconsolably in full view of television cameras.

Harbhajan, who was leading Mumbai, later apologised to Punjab's Sreesanth and the two appeared to have made up by calling each other "brothers."

But match referee Farokh Engineer held a hearing on Monday after the Punjab team management lodged a formal complaint against Harbhajan to tournament officials. Engineer, a former India Test wicket-keeper, imposed a 11-match ban on Harbhajan, which means the off-spinner can play only if Mumbai make the semi-finals.

"The referee studied video tapes of the incident and found the assault by Harbhajan was totally unprovoked," tournament organiser Lalit Modi said.

The BCCI on Monday appointed lawyer Sudhir Nanavati to probe the charges against Harbhajan, who is on its payroll as a centrally contracted player.

Nanavati will submit his findings within 15 days after which the BCCI will decide on further action against the bowler, a release from the cricket body said.

Harbhajan could be charged by the BCCI under level 4 of the International Cricket Council's Code of Conduct which deals with assaulting a fellow player.

If found guilty, he could be banned for life or five Test matches or 10 one-day internationals.

"The BCCI will not hesitate to take action against Harbhajan just because he has already been punished by the tournament organisers,"

said Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI's chief administrative officer.

"We want to show that such acts of indiscipline will not be tolerated."

Harbhajan was banned for three Tests earlier this year after being found guilty of making racist remarks against Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds, but was let off with a fine following an appeal to the ICC.

No dispute with Sreesanth, says Harbhajan

Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has said the incident between him and Sreesanth Shanthakumaran was over. "It is not such a big issue the way people are making it out to be," he told television channels.

The Indian media had reported that Harbhajan had slapped the young fast bowler.

"Harbhajan came back to the dressing room and apologised to Sreesanth,"

Mohali captain Yuvraj Singh told reporters.

Meanwhile, Sreesanth has said Harbhajan is like his elder brother.

Television pictures showed Sreesanth sobbing at the end of t

BCCI sends notice to Harbhajan Singh

BCCI has sent a notice to Harbhajan Singh for violating the code of conduct on the field. He has to reply to the notice by Monday.

Sreesanth wept on the field after Harbhajan Singh slapped him on Friday night during an IPL match.

It all happened after Kings XI Punjab won their first match of the DLF Indian Premier League beating the Mumbai Indians.

Upset over the row between Mumbai stand-in captain Harbhajan Singh and Punjab paceman S Sreesanth, Indian Premier League Chairman Lalit Modi on Saturday said it was a "serious matter" and was not good for the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament.

But Modi said the IPL committee would wait foar an official report on the matter before deciding about their next action in the issue.

"It looks like a serious matter the way it's being shown on television channels but I can't say anything now. In any tournament it should not happen, it's unfortunate what happened yesterday,"

Modi told reporters in Chandigarh.

Modi, however, said the IPL committee could take any decision only after receiving an official report on the matter as picture was still not clear about what exactly happened between the two players last night.

ICC says it will probe Kanpur Test wicket

The International Cricket Council is investigating the wicket used in the final Test between India and South Africa in Kanpur, which was criticised following the tourists' collapse, a top official said on Wednesday.

The dry, dusty pitch at the Green Park, described by South African coach Mickey Arthur as "a poor cricket wicket", saw India win the match in three days on Sunday to draw the series 1-1.

Match referee Roshan Mahanama described it as sub-standard in his post-match report, forcing the International Cricket Council (ICC) to demand an explanation from the Indian cricket board.

"I can confirm the Kanpur wicket was reported by the match referee,"

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed told reporters during a brief visit to Mumbai.

The ICC could, as a last resort, ban Kanpur as a Test venue if it does not receive a convincing reply from the Indian board.

South Africa, batting first after winning the toss, scored 265 and India replied with 325.

The tourists were shot out for 121 in 55.5 overs in their second innings, with captain Graeme Smith's 35 the top score.

India lost two wickets chasing 62 for victory, but levelled the series.

They had been behind after being thrashed inside three days in the second Test at Ahmedabad.

"There was always something happening on the wicket,"

said Arthur after the match.

"It was behaving like a fifth day pitch on the second day. It was a poor cricket wicket."

Arthur also slammed the poor cricketing and hotel facilities in Kanpur, but stressed South Africa did not lodge a complaint.

"We are a major cricketing power, so we should get good venues and facilities,"

he said.

"But Kanpur, to our disappointment, was way below par in everything.

"It was a poor cricket wicket, though I can understand the reason behind it. But the practice facilities and the accommodation left a lot to be desired for an international venue."

SA defeats India by innings and 90 runs

South Africa relied on their pacemen's disciplined performances to thrash India by an innings and 90 runs on the third day of the second Test here on Saturday.

Trailing by 418, India were bowled out for 328 in their second innings despite fighting half-centuries from former captain Sourav Ganguly (87) and wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (52).

India's humiliating defeat inside three days was their biggest at home since 2000 when they lost by an innings and 71 runs to South Africa at Bangalore.

The visitors were indebted to their fast bowlers for going 1-0 up in the three-Test series as they did not allow India's top-order batsmen to settle on a good pitch. The final match starts in Kanpur on April 11.

Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini grabbed three wickets apiece and Morne Morkel two. Jacques Kallis and left-arm spinner Paul Harris each took one wicket.

The 23-year-old Morkel, playing only his fifth Test, took two big wickets when he removed former captain Rahul Dravid (17) and Venkatsai Laxman (35), both famed for playing long innings.

India were found wanting against pace for a second successive time in the match as they lost three crucial wickets in the opening session and one in the second with just 125 runs on the board.

Ganguly and Dhoni defied the South African attack for more than a session with a 110-run stand for the fifth wicket, playing attractive shots on both sides of the wicket.

Ganguly looked set to complete his 16th Test hundred when given out caught behind off Steyn by New Zealand umpire Tony Hill. He looked a bit surprised with the decision before walking back to the pavilion. He hit eight fours.

Dhoni soon followed his partner when skipper Graeme Smith held a low catch in the slips off Ntini. He struck five fours in his 132-ball knock.

South Africa earlier declared their first innings closed at their overnight total of 494-7 in reply to India's meagre 76.

The South African pacemen, who required just 20 overs to bundle India out in the first innings, returned to haunt the hosts when they captured three wickets for 70 runs in the opening 20 overs.

India's batting woes started when Ntini trapped opener Virender Sehwag (17) leg-before with a delivery that came in sharply, ending the batsman's brief flourish.

Sehwag, who hammered the fastest recorded triple-century in Tests in the drawn opening match in Chennai, went for big shots from the beginning as he smashed paceman Steyn for two sixes in the morning's opening over.

India suffered a big setback when they lost Dravid who was undone by a rising ball from Morkel, with AB de Villiers holding the catch at third slip. Opener Wasim Jaffer edged Kallis to De Villiers in the slips, while Laxman was caught behind to leave their team reeling at 125-4.

There was respite from pace for the Indian batsmen in the afternoon when Smith pressed lone spinner Harris into the attack for the first time in the match. Harris got his first wicket when he bowled skipper Anil Kumble for five before Steyn and Ntini completed the victory in the extended last session.

India sweat over captain Kumble's fitness

India's hopes of finding a winning formula for Thursday's second Test against South Africa here suffered a setback due to fitness fears over skipper and key spinner Anil Kumble.

Kumble, with 607 wickets in 126 Tests, looks a doubtful starter after failing to recover from a groin strain suffered during the drawn opening Test in Chennai on Sunday.

"We still have not decided on the team combination because there are a couple of injury concerns. I am feeling better, but we'll wait till tomorrow morning,"

Kumble told reporters here on Wednesday.

India desperately need a fit Kumble as their bowling options are already restricted following finger and toe injuries to teenage paceman Ishant Sharma, who was the find of the recent Australia tour.

Sharma is in contention for a place here after missing the first Test, but his captain said medical staff still needed time to assess his condition before making a final decision.

The fitness problems have come at a tricky time for India, already struggling to find match-winning bowlers against South Africa. Their bowlers toiled in Chennai as the visitors racked up scores of 540 and 331-5 on a docile pitch.

The hosts are also without record-breaking batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who is ruled out of the match after aggravating a groin injury in the first Test and makes way for Mohammad Kaif.

Venkatsai Laxman, who batted at number six in the first Test, is expected to replace Tendulkar in the number-four slot.

The Indian captain said they were not worried over South Africa's plans to counter opener Virender Sehwag with short-pitched deliveries following the batsman's fastest recorded triple-century in the previous Test.

"I think he (Sehwag) is a good enough batsman to handle that. He has scored 319 in the last innings. He is capable of handling whatever comes his way,"

said Kumble.

South Africa coach Micky Arthur said Tuesday his team planned to target the Indian opener with short-pitched balls in order to curb his strokeplay. Visiting captain Graeme Smith said it was one of the options.

He said South Africa were likely to be unchanged after an impressive performance in Chennai.

The third and final Test begins in Kanpur on April 11.

Jagmohan Dalmiya takes BCCI, Sharadpawar to court

The Calcutta High Court on Friday took up a perjury case filed by former BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya against BCCI and its president Sharad Pawar for allegedly producing false documents before the court.

Justice Nadira Patheriya directed that the matter would be heard on April 18. This comes just two days after Dalmiya, charged with misappropriating Rs 2.90 crore during his tenure, was arrested and immediately released on bail at Mumbai.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police has also filed an over 5,500-page charge sheet against Dalmiya and two others after investigating the case filed by BCCI.

The perjury case was filed by Dalmiya on July 20, 2007 on the day the High Court had declared that his suspension from the Board was illegal.

Indian fast bowler Zaheer may skip South Africa series

Indian Left-arm fast bowler Zaheer Khan has virtually ruled himself out of the upcoming Test series against South Africa, saying he needs four to six weeks to be match-fit.

The first Test starts on March 26 in Chennai.

"I am not (yet) ready for international cricket. I should be okay in four-six weeks,"

said Khan, who pulled out of the first Test against Australia last year because of an ankle injury.

"I have started bowling, but doctors have advised me not to push myself. That's one thing I have learnt with experience. I will play some domestic cricket before I take a call,"

said the speedster.

"I have been advised to start with one-dayers and club games. The progress after rehabilitation has been good,"

he said.

Khan, who is part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team, lauched here last night, said he is slowly increasing the workload.

"I want to return to international arena only when I am fit, not 100 per cent but 120 per cent,"

he said.

Bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad said Khan, who returned last week from a three-week rehabilitation programme in Johannesburg, needs time to regain full fitness.

South Africa squad announced for India test tour

South Africa has dropped temperamental Andre Nel from their Test squad to tour India later this month due to compulsions of including coloured players. The fiery fast bowler has threatened to quit South African cricket.

The 14-member squad has swing bowler 33-year-old Charl Langeveldt who has 16 wickets from six Tests as against 30-year-old Andre Nel's 119 wickets in 34 Tests.

The transformation deal agreed to by the selectors makes it mandatory for them to include six coloured players in a squad of 14 and seven in a 15-member team.

Langeveldt joins J.P. Duminy, Peterson, Makhaya Ntini, Ashwell Prince and Hashim Amla as the six coloured players in the squad.

Thirty-year-old Nel was so livid at being dropped for reasons other than cricket that he initially refused to play in the Dhaka One-Dayer against Bangladesh Wednesday. Coach Mickey Arthur had to talk him into playing the game and he ended up claiming four wickets for 27 runs.

Left-arm spinner Paul Harris returns after missing the two Tests in Bangladesh because of minor surgery.

Another left-arm spinner in the squad is Robin Peterson, who in the Chittagong Test against Bangladesh, had his first five-wicket haul. Off-spinner Johan Botha has been sacrificed to accommodate two left-armers.

Nel has reportedly been offered highly lucrative offers by both the Indian Premier League and the rebel Indian Cricket League. He also has an offer to play in the English County Championship. If he accepts either ICL or the County offer, he will render himself ineligible to play for South Africa.

Veteran Herschelle Gibbs again finds himself out of Test consideration with Neil McKenzie forcing his way back with a double century in a world-record opening stand with skipper Graeme Smith.

Convenor of selectors Joubert Strydom was not available to comment on the selection.

The squad for Bangladesh had to be recast after Cricket South Africa president Norman Arendse refused to approve the squad originally chosen as it had only four black players. Finally, Peterson replaced Harris who withdrew at the last minute.

CSA chief executive Gerald Majola had to announce the squad that led to a conflict between him and Arendse. It was resolved after an extraordinary general council meeting of the CSA that worked out a strategy come up with a more racially representative national team.

South Africa will play Tests in Chennai, Ahmedabad and Kanpur on their Indian tour, starting March 26.

Squad: Graeme Smith (Captain), Ashwell Prince (Vice-Captain), Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher, A.B. de Villiers, J.P. Duminy, Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis, Charl Langeveldt, Neil McKenzie, Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn.

Speedster Sharma Will Not Compromise

India fast bowler Ishant Sharma is not prepared to compromise on his pace for more accuracy as he believes speed is his main weapon.

The 19-year-old was impressive in the Tests against Australia and was influential in the recent Commonwealth Bank Series, where he took 14 wickets from nine matches.

The Delhi-born paceman dominated the Australia batsmen, particularly skipper Ricky Ponting, with his pace, bounce and movement, and of those attributes, Ishant ranks pace as the most important.

"I want to become a complete fast bowler. I always concentrate on line and length and variations without compromising on pace. I know speed is my strength,"

he said.

Ishant was happy with his performances and admits he tried to steer clear of the "distractions" Down Under.

"I was told it would be very tough but I made a promise to myself that I would make the most of it,"

he told the Hindu.

"I had to learn on and off the field and there was no place for any distractions. I was not going to allow my cricket to be dominated."

The three-month long tour has taken its toll though and Ishant has been advised to rest for two to three weeks by India physio John Gloster.

But Ishant will certainly be in contention when selectors pick the squad for the three-match home Test series against South Africa on March 17.

The first Test will begin in Chennai on March 26.

ICC needn't get involved in Harbhajan issue: BCCI

BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah has questioned the need for the ICC to get involved in the controversy over Indian offspinner Harbhajan Singh's alleged remarks about Australian players Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist.

The Australian media have reported that the ICC is investigating Harbhajan's comments.

"I'm surprised that with the correspondence between two boards, how the ICC has interfered in this?"

Shah told the Australian.

"How is the ICC involved without knowing anything? There is nothing to investigate and we maintain that we totally support ICC on zero tolerance of abusive language or any sledging on the ground."

Shah also told the paper that he considered the issue of Harbhajan's alleged outburst closed. Cricket Australia had written a letter to the BCCI expressing its discontent after it was reported that Harbhajan had called the Australian team "arrogant", labelled Hayden a "big liar" and said that Gilchrist was "no saint".

"The whole thing has been settled and I don't want to get into it any more,"

Shah said.

"Harbhajan Singh has totally denied what he has (been alleged to have) said."

This comes a day after the Indian board gagged Harbhajan from talking to the media in a bid to avoid any more controversies after an ill-tempered series between India and Australia.

Shah also denied that the BCCI had asked CA to take action against Hayden after he called Harbhajan an "obnoxious weed". CA had reprimanded Hayden for breaching its Code of Conduct after that incident.

"I never complained about what Hayden said. I just took what appeared in the newspapers and forwarded it to James [Sutherland, Cricket Australia's CEO],"

Shah said.

"I had always maintained that it was up to CA to do anything with Hayden."

Draft system for Under-19 players

The sixteen Under-19 players will be picked by the eight Indian Premier League franchises based on the "draft system" that is in practice in the various US leagues, according to Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman.

The prices of the players have been fixed at US$30,000 for this year, ending all speculation about whether the players will be auctioned in a manner similar to the seniors. The U-19 selection will be held during the second IPL auction, which will also include 18 foreign players, on March 11 in Mumbai.

"The U-19 selection will be based on the draft system based on leagues like US NFL system,"

Modi told Cricinfo.

"This year, since, we don't have a ranking, it will be a draw of lots,"

Modi said.

"From next year the team's ranking will be based on the first year's performance."

It's a system used in American National Football League, where team with the lowest winning percentage gets the first option. However, since this is the first year of the IPL they have no previous record to go by and have chosen to implement the draft system.

Sundar Raman, the CEO of IPL, explained the process:

"The franchises will be randomly allotted numbers, from 1 to 8, on the basis of lots and the players will be ranked by the IPL governing council.

The franchise which is assigned the number 1 will get the chance to pick any player of their choice and then the second franchise can select their player and so on.

"After eight players are picked in this manner, the order of the bidding gets reversed. The eight franchise will have the first choice to pick their player, then the seventh franchise can select the player of their choice and so on. The franchises can also choose not to pick any player."

A list of 15 players has been circulated already and the franchises have been told that an extra, 16th player, will be added today.

Unlike the NFL, the National Basketball Association uses a draft lottery system where the positions are obtained by semi-random selection. This deters teams from deliberately playing poorly in the end of the season to get a higher draft position.

The US$30,000 tag has found favour with some of the franchises.

"It's a good move. There was a danger of spoiling the young kids with too much money at this stage in their career, "

TA Sekhar, Delhi's cricket operations chief said.

The IPL council was earlier considering incorporating a clause to give franchises a preference while picking players from their catchments. However, the draft system now allows a franchise to pick a player from some other region and we might see a situation where Delhi's Virat Kohli turns out for another side.

BCCI imposes media gags on Harbhajan

The Indian board has gagged Harbhajan Singh from speaking to the media, following complaints from Cricket Australia over his alleged remarks about Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist.

The BCCI confirmed receiving a letter from CA regarding the same.

"We have asked him not to speak to the media,"

Niranjan Shan, the board secretary, said.

"It's time to move on. We don't want any more controversy."

CA took objection to Harbhajan's recent outburst, when he labelled the Australian team "arrogant", called Matthew Hayden a "big liar" and said Adam Gilchrist was "not a saint" and has written to the Indian board on the issue.

There are also reports in the Australian media that the ICC has taken cognisance of Harbhajan's remarks, which he later denied saying.

Harbhajan was largely booed by the crowds after the Symonds episode in the Sydney Test. During the first final of the CB Series in Sydney, a few spectators alleged Harbhajan gestured and spat at them but Jeff Crowe, the match referee, viewed the evidence and felt there was no need to take action against him.