IPL auction: Gambhir fetches record price Ganguly, Lara unsold

OpenerGautam Gambhir on Saturday became the costliest cricketer in the IPL by fetching a whopping USD 2.4 million (approx Rs 11.04 crore) on the first day of the auctions where Indian players proved to be the biggest draw with three others going for more than USD two million.

In a high-profile auction, where Bollywood stars and corporate bigwigs were locked in a bidding war, Kolkata Knight Riders bought Gambhir for the mind-boggling sum, beating the previous high set by the English duo of Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff (USD 1.55 million) last season.

Shah Rukh Khan was not present in person but his Kolkata Knight Riders, which had been reduced to an also-ran in the

last two seasons, proved to be the big spender of the day by also buying hard-hitting all-rounders Yusuf Pathan (Rs 9.66 crore) and Jacques Kallis (Rs 5.06 crore) for the fourth edition of event to be held from April 8 to May 20.Gambhir, who was captain of the Delhi Daredevils last season, saw his price skyrocket 12 times from his base price of USD 200,000 (Rs 92 lakh) while three other Indian players -- Yusuf (USD 2.1 million), Rohit Sharma (USD 2 million) and Robin Uthappa (2.1 million) crossed the two million mark.

Yusuf's younger brother Irfan, who has not played any cricket this season, was taken by Delhi Daredevils for a surprisingly high amount of USD 1.9 (Rs 8.74 crore) million.

But there were some surprise names in the unsold list with former India and KKR captain Sourav Ganguly, West Indies batting star Chris Gayle and the legendary Brian Lara failing to find a buyer.

DAY-NIGHT FIRST-CLASS MATCH DRAWS MIXED REACTIONS

Mixed reactions from former Pakistan cricketers have been seen over Pakistan Cricket Board’s decision to arrange a day and night first-class match for the first time in its history.

PCB announced in the first week of January that the final of its ongoing Quaid-e-Azam trophy Division One starting from 13 January 2011 will be played under lights at National Stadium Karachi.

It would be an experimental first-class match played under floodlights and depending on the feedback, the Board will further decide about day and night first-class matches. But a former Test batsman, Shoaib Mohammad has questioned the PCB over their experiment considering the timing and stature of the fixture chosen for the trial purpose. Shoaib lashed the board for implementing the idea in the final match.

“This is a joke,” said Shoaib while talking to a leading Pakistan newspaper on Friday. “You cannot experiment with such a match. If the board would have implemented on this idea from the beginning then I would have appreciated and backed it,” he added.

Habib Bank Limited have already qualified for the final while Pakistan International Airlines and Rawalpindi are competing each other to be the second finalist. PIA seems to all set to make it to the final.

Shoaib, who is currently the sports head of PIA, continued his scathing remarks about the idea. He said the performance of 22 players would be at stake and attracting crowd at their expense is ridiculous.

In contrast, an HBL top official feels that it would be a positive change and start of a new era in Pakistan cricket.

“It’s good that the board is trying to change things and we should welcome the move,” said the HBL official. “Though, there are question marks that the change has been made in the final, but it may prove to be a breakthrough in the current format of the game.”

In the meantime, wicketkeeper batsman of PIA, Sarfraz Ahmed has also given his backing to the idea. The 23-year-old was excited to be a part of history by playing the first-ever day and night first-class match.

“Personally, I am looking forward to be a part of history,” said Sarfraz who captained Pakistan to victory at the Under-19 World Cup in 2006. “I’m sure playing in the five-day final in that sort of atmosphere would be amazing.”

The colour of the ball has not yet been decided by the PCB. The Board has to pick a pink or yellow colour ball keeping in view the visibility factor.

Haider urges PCB to clear his dues

Runaway wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider has urged the Pakistan Cricket Board to clear his dues amounting to Rs 1.5 million.

Zulqarnain, who attended an important hearing of the British home department in London on Thursday pertaining to his asylum application in UK, said that before leaving the team in Dubai in November last year, he had featured in two T20 and four ODIs against South Africa in UAE.

"Therefore the PCB owes around Rs 1.5 million to me which I dearly need as I have been finding it difficult to meet my expenses in the UK," Zulqarnain Haider told the News One channel.

The board released part payments of outstanding dues to suspended players, Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir despite them being under investigation for alleged spot-fixing.

Haider left the team in Dubai after allegedly receiving a threat after the fourth ODI match against South Africa. Later he applied for asylum citing fears for his life in Pakistan.

"My interview at the home office went very well, they asked about my security concerns and this is all I can share at this moment. I am hoping a verdict in my favour next week," added Haider who played only one Test match for Pakistan.

Sources close to him said that Zulqarnain had taken the plea at the hearing that when the former Prime Minister of the country, late Benazir Bhutto and more recently the Governor of Pakistan's largest province, Punjab, Salman Taseer were not

safe in Pakistan who could guarantee his security after receiving threats from bookmakers.

"Zulqarnain has taken the plea that he does not feel secure enough to go back to Pakistan and that he is under so much stress that he is not even keeping regular contact with his family in Lahore for fear of exposing them to those making threats to him," one source said.

Asked about his threats to expose corrupt elements in Pakistan cricket, Zulqarnain maintained he could not do it until he got asylum in the UK.

"I am worried about my family's security in Pakistan at the moment. Once they reach here (London) I will definitely unearth the corruption in Pakistan cricket," maintained Haider.

He also claimed to have turned down lucrative offers from the News of the World (NoTW) and others for giving them sensational stories.

"Not just the NOW, but a few Indian channels have also offered me a lot of money for their story, however I refused. let me tell you that the offers were huge, but I turned them down," he said.

Decision about central contracts postponed

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to postpone the awarding of new central contracts to national players till the outcome of ongoing Test series against New Zealand, Daily Times has learnt. “We have delayed the announcement of the central contracts for the year 2011-2012and will finalise it after observing players’ performance in the ongoing Test series against Kiwis,” a member of the national selection committee said on the condition of anonymity. He said the performance of all players was being observed closely as the selectors think that a few of the present cricketers would not be able to play international cricket during the next year. “We don’t want to award the contracts to players who will not be members of this team in next year, so we are careful about this matter,” he added.

When asked who were at the borderline among the present lot, he replied there were a couple of players who were getting older and will not play longer, so the board was observing their performance. “We will meet in a day or two to discuss an initial list of players being given contracts and then will do scrutiny after two Tests,” he said while refusing to reveal the names under threat of elimination. Regarding the fate of the trio suspended under the allegations of spot-fixing, he said their future would be determined after the outcome of the Doha hearing. “We can’t say that there cricket is over, they may come back and win the contract. But everything depends upon the Doha hearing, let us see that,” he concluded.

PAKISTAN NEARLY IDEAL TEAM FOR ODI CRICKET: SHAHID AFRIDI

Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi believes that his side is a better unit in the ODI format of cricket than in the Test and Twenty20 formats.

"I would agree that a lot of work has to be done before we start doing well in Tests consistently," said Afridi upon returning home from New Zealand, after Pakistan lost its Twenty20 series against the Kiwis 2-1. "Even our Twenty20 team needs a world of improvement. But when it comes to one-day cricket, we are close to achieving an ideal combination. Most of the players in our Twenty20 team are better suited to the one-day format."

It is because of his belief that Pakistan is better suited to ODI cricket that the flamboyant batsman is confident of his team’s ability to deliver an impressive performance in next month’s World Cup

“No matter what people say and believe, I'm confident that Pakistan will do really well in the World Cup,” he said. “I won't make any predictions but would make it clear that Pakistan will take their best shot for the World Cup title.”

The Pakistan skipper came under fire from many retired Pakistani cricketers for being the main reason behind the country’s defeat in the Twenty20 series in New Zealand. Many questioned Afridi’s decision to open the batting in the first two matches of the series which Pakistan lost. Afridi, however, admitted that his decision to open had backfired and clarified that he would not be opening anymore.

"The idea behind my decision to open was to help give the team some fast and useful starts," he said. "But it didn't work out. Now I've decided to stick to No.6 spot both for Twenty20s and ODIs in the future."

Pakistan has so far failed to finalize its squad for the World Cup, which is just 46 days away now. The obvious reason is the clearance issue of several key players. Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and Danish Kaneria are facing a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) probe into their financial assets because the International Cricket Council (ICC) has expressed concerns over the possible involvement of these individuals in match-fixing. The trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif has been suspended by the ICC from cricket because of their alleged links with bookmaker Mazhar Majeed and involvement in spot-fixing during Pakistan’s tour of England last year. The three players will be facing a formal hearing by the ICC on January 6 in Doha, Qatar.

These uncertain circumstances have forced the PCB to delay the announcement of the 30-member preliminary squad for this World Cup. According to insiders, the board wants the ICC to allow it to name the suspended players in the 30-member squad, so that they can feature in the World Cup in the event that they are cleared of the spot-fixing charges.

“It's certainly not an ideal situation,” said Afridi of Pakistan’s sticky situation. “But it's our history that we give our best under pressure."