The notices were issued to Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Rohit Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Piyush Chawla and Ravindra Jadeja.  A source in the BCCI said that the show cause notices were signed by Board secretary N. Srinivasan and had been served to the players. Of the six players, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra and Rohit Sharma will also be left out of the selection process for the team for the Asia Cup to be held in Sri Lanka next month.

The decision to serve the notices was taken by the BCCI President Shashank Manohar after the World Cup team manager Ranjib Biswal submitted his report regarding the performance of the team during the course of the tour and the reasons for their exit from the tournament in the Super Eight stage. Biswal was present in the pub called Tequila Joe during the brawl and has included the first-hand account of the entire incident in his report which was presented to the Board on Saturday. Media reports suggest that the brawl took place between the six cricketers and fans who abused the cricketers for failing to reach the semi-final stage of the tournament. The cricketers reacted to the verbal abuse, which led to the brawl.

The Board had earlier warned the players, before leaving for the tournament, about staying away from controversies. Players were also given instructions to avoid stepping out of their hotel rooms past 9.30 pm. They were also asked to obtain special permission from manager Biswal, in case they needed to leave the hotel for a meal.

The Board, however, did not take any action against captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and they appreciated his handling of the incident. Other players who were present in the pub but not were not part of the brawl were also let off with a warning.

The queries relate to the teams disastrous show at the T20 World Cup tourney and the fitness levels as  well as commitment.

The Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has declared that it was disappointed with India’s performance in the West Indies. Top rung players Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma have been asked to prove their fitness so that they are eligible to play the next major tournament – the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka next month. The poor physical condition of the team worries the board no end.

Coach Gary Kirsten has been asked to submit a report on India’s no show at the T20 platform. He has, in response, commented that he was fitter than some of the other players like Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma.

The coach has given the players one full month to be back on the fitness track. The players were given only a five-day gap between the IPL final and the start of the World Twenty20, giving them barely enough rest. MS Dhoni has commented that the constant traveling and after-match parties had the players tired.

Gary Kirsten has arranged a meeting with the senior players, including Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and the others and has demanded better fitness within the next one month.

Meanwhile, Sunil Gavaskar has commented that blaming the Indian Premier League or its post match parties for India’s embarrassing exit form the World Twenty20 is a poor excuse. Gavaskar has said that the Indian cricket team should be sent to National Cricket Academy in Bangalore to correct their errors. Gavaskar pointed out that he was disappointed with the Team India on their shortcomings against the short ball during the World Twenty20 in West Indies.

Proven players, such as pacers Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth and RP Singh form part of the group that has failed to make it to the final team. The team announced by chairman of selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth also left out players such as Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey and Amit Mishra, who are performing consistently in the IPL 3. Further still, Delhi batsman Kohli, who was in the ODI squad against South Africa last month, has also been excluded.

Kohli’s exclusion comes as a blow for the batsman as he had performed exceptionally well for India in the recent one-day series. To add to his best performances, he has been among good runs too as member of the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s quest for the IPL trophy.

Though Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth and Singh were in the provisional 30-member list, they found their names missing in the T20 squad.

Another instance is the case of all rounder Irfan Pathan. The player finds his name missing too. Irfan is currently performing well for Kings XI Punjab, but hasn’t made much of an impact when it comes to the team’s fortunes. Others notable names dropped are Sudeep Tyagi, Abhishek Nayar, Wriddhiman Saha, Naman Ojha, Abhimanyu Mithun, Manish Pandey, Munaf Patel, Murali Vijay and Ravichandran Ashwin.

Meanwhile, those who have been lucky enough include Karnataka pacer Vinay Kumar, who currently is making waves with the ball at the Indian Premier League pitches. He happens to be the only new face in the squad to be led by MS Dhoni. Uttar Pradesh leg-spinner Piyush Chawla has been recalled. Ashish Nehra, who has not played a single match in the ongoing IPL because of a rib cage injury, has been included in the squad. This comes as a surprise, though. Another injured player, Gautam Gambhir, has also found a place in the squad.

It may be recalled that Sachin Tendulkar had made it clear that he had no intentions of playing the shortest format of the game for the country.

The T20 squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain and Wicketkeeper), Virender Sehwag (Vice Captain), Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Piyush Chawla, Dinesh Karthik, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar and Rohit Sharma.

It came in a matter of a little more than four hours. First came the ban, and then the volte-face. After spelling out a life ban on former captain Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt did a U-turn saying that no such action has been taken at all.

The PCB, on Wednesday morning, almost put an end to international careers of former captains Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan, besides imposing a one-year ban on Shoaib Malik as a follow up measure to Pak squad’s disastrous tour Down Under.  The action came as a corrective measure after Pakistan were swept away by the Aussie cricketer’s drubbing of the Asian team in all three formats of the game. An enquiry into the defeats by a panel headed by Wasim Bari had mooted bans to former captain Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan. The panel also recommended that Yousuf and Younis should no longer be part of the national team. Levy of penalties were also recommended.  Strong disciplinary action also mean that Akmal brothers Kamran and Umar, as well as Afridi would be put under a six-month probation and also fined around Rs 2-3 million for indiscipline during the tour.

All these had brought forth an unprecedented stance from the part of the PCB for the first time ever in its history. So many players, most of them proven ones, were being punished at one go.

However, hours later, the PCB top boss did a volte-face, saying no action has been recommended against former skippers Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf.  What becomes clear is that the PCB has decided to opt for a softer stance against Khan and Yousuf. The blame was put on the media for having “misinterpreted” the action as a life ban. According to a statement issued to the media, PCB clarified that there was no specified term in the recommendation for Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf and that these players will be considered for selection for the national team as and when the PCB deems appropriate.

The U-turn by the PCB may be seen in the context of the upcoming World Twenty20 Championships. Team composition for the tourney is indeed a matter of concern. If the senior players were banned for life, team selection would result in disaster, it is being felt. Ijaz Butt seems to have contemplated seriously on this, and taking into account the people’s reaction that was to come if the ban was made real, the volte-face may be seen as something that was sure to have happened sooner or later.

Update: Lalit Modi denies any match-fixing. No one is under investigation, he told TV channels.

In the latest controversy to hit the team, IPL’ Season 2 Match 41 between Kolkata Knight Riders vs Bangalore Royal Challengers match has come under scanner after accusations of match fixing.

As if Kolkata Knight Riders’ woes were not enough, it now has to explain why its top scorer Brad Hodge was made to sit out, and that too in the hospitality box rather than the team dug-out during the game held on May 12, 2009. The team went on to play well despite not having Brad Hodge in the playing eleven, however.

Kolkata Knight Riders lost the match by six wickets, despite posting a competitive total of 173 runs.

IPL Chairman Lalit Modi has said that he will investigate the matter. “There is an anti-corruption unit. We will look into the TV footage and investigate about Hodge’s presence in the hospitality box,” he was quoted as saying.

In the Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Royal Challengers of Bangalore match, Kolkata Knight Riders, for the first time, posted a competitive total (their best so far) and looked like they had the game in their pocket.

In fact, it was probably critical for the Kolkata Knight Riders to win the match, at least for pride’s sake, given their dismal performance through the tournament. And, for once, the team did look like they would win the match, what with captain Brendan McCullum’s 84 and David Hussey’s 43, AD Mathews and WP Saha chipping in a bit.

So far, the Kolkata Knight Riders has only 3 points to their credit, from the 11 matches it has played so far. And while the team kissed its semi-final chances goodbye a long while ago, a win here would have ensured that they didn’t go out totally whipped.

There is no source to the allegations of match-fixing that we could figure out. Pat Buchanan is not going to be happy – it will be interesting to know wqhether it was the captain’s or the coach’s idea to make Brad Hodge sit out.

Several state governments had earlier been reluctant to spare security forces for the protection of the IPL teams and venues as the 2009 Lok Sabha election season was also on.

BCCI top brass and IPL chief Lalit Modi has been in discussions with the Home Ministry for a couple of weeks now. But the talks were deadlocked, and the government was not amenable to the schedules suggested by the IPL. Lalit Modi had assured the media yesterday that IPL would take places no matter what – and this is the end-result.

An emergency Working Committee meeting of the BCCI which was held in Mumbai decided to take a final call on the cash-rich event could not find a way to conduct the 2009 IPL season in India despite BCCI chieftain Sharad Pawar who is also the agriculture minister in the UPA cabinet. The attitude of the government that it was not ready to spare security forces for the cricket tournament is said to have forced to take the decision.

The actual venue is unclear as yet. IPL chief Lalit Modi and the franchises have said that the venues could either be in New Zealand, South AFrica or England.

Security would not be an issue in any of those countries as it would be in India. Not just that, the matches would be telecast in India at 4 PM and 8 PM IST. So the TV audiences would still be there. While the IPL franchises would lose our on revenues from local ticket sales, ticket sales in countries with a large expatriate Indian population would be high – and ticket prices would be much higher too outside India. The franchises would save on the security costs, while the TV audience in India would remain.

It is being said that the BCCI had to shift IPL out of India for this season owing to the fact tat the state governments in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra had changed their stance at the last moment. While the Andhra Pradesh government revoked its earlier permission, Maharashtra Chief Minister wrote a letter that the state can’t host matches in that state until 13 May, 2009. There are also hints that Lalit Modi is closely associated with some BJP leaders, and therefore the Congress government was not very keen on helping him out.

The BCCI is now in talks with other boards who are willing to host the event. However, the BCCI has assured fans that the event will be go on and fans can watch the event on television. The new venue is expected to be decided in the next 3 days.

Though the venues would change, IPL Commissioner and Chairman Lalit Modi has clarified that the number of matches, format and timing of the event will remain unchanged and the organisers would not tinker with the integrity of the tournament.  He added that dates and timings of the matches will remain the same.

A final schedule would be announced very soon.

For those who were concerned about the possibilty of Indian Premier League (IPL) being put off, here comes good news. IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi has said the league would go on, and brushed aside speculations on the matches not happening.

There had been rumours that IPL could be moving abroad in the wake of terror attacks on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore. However Modi has clarified that they are just speculations are untrue. This apart, he said that the IPL officials are discussing the various issues involved and will come out with a new schedule by next week.

Meanwhile, with the general elections just round the bend, has added to the IPL woes regarding dates. However, it is now being said that the IPL dates won’t be shifted but there won’t be be any matches held held on days when counting of votes takes place. It is expected that the revised schedule will be worked out in consultation with the various teams and state governments.

The second edition of the immensely popular IPL tourney will have 14 cities available currently. IPL officials will sit together and decide on eight venues among the total shortlisted 14.

The IPL organisers had already sent a revised schedule of matches to the Home Ministry, which will now decide whether security can be arranged for the tournament. Organisers had redrafted the tournament’s schedule, taking care that no matches are held on polling days in cities hosting the games. It has specially been taken care that host cities will not allotted a match two days before and after the polling day.

In case the tournament is put off for another season, chances are that it could lead to massive financial losses for the franchise owners as well the tournament itself. It is expected that this fear has now been allayed with Modi’s clarification.

Recently an International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting held at Dubai has asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the ‘owner’ of the Indian Premier League (IPL), to introduce an anti-doping code for the tournament.

The IPL has also given shape for a dope code based on the World Anti Doping (WADA) Code. It is expected that Board of Cricket Control Board of India would start a new model for players for random testing.

But it is not yet clear that how can the dope test, if implemented, be effective in the IPL tournament. There are still doubts over the move of the ICC for a dope test.  Many people have questioned the relevance of testing in the IPL.

There are also apprehensions that an international player competing in the IPL be sanctioned as per the WADA Code in case there is a ‘positive’ test and an anti-doping violation charge is proved. The BCCI does not have an anti-doping code and thus it cannot conduct tests or sanction a player.

But the IPL machinery has no teeth for taking disciplinary action against players on ground of positive dope test. They have only power to suspend players from ongoing matches. There is no hint that how BCCI could deal with the issue if an anti-doping rule violation charge was proved. The IPL code has the standard two-year suspension for a first violation and life-time ineligibility for a second offence.

Latest in this list is Kolkata Knight Riders pace bowler Ishant Sharma. He has been fined 10 percent of match fee on Sunday for kicking down stumps during the Indian Premier League match against Punjab King’s XI at Mohali. IPL match referee Clive Lloyd found that Ishant was guilty of a Level 1 offence (clause 2) as per the International Cricket Council’s Code of Conduct which has been adopted by the Twenty20 League authorities. This is related to abusing the ground equipment.

Earlier, Indian off spinner and Mumbai India’s former captain Harbhajan Singh had been banned for nine matches for slapping King’s XI bowler S Sreesanth. This had occurred at the same venue. The Harbhajan – Sreesanth slapping row had catched up the attention of global media. The match referee had also warned Sreesanth for his hostile attitude on the field.

Harbhajan, allegedly slapped Sreesanth soon after Mumbai India’s defeat against Punjab King’s XI, leaving the young paceman seeing weep inconsolably in full view of television cameras. Harbhajan had later apologised to Sreesanth. But match referee Farokh Engineer had taken up the issue seriously after the Punjab team management lodged a formal complaint against Harbhajan to tournament officials. The BCCI had also appointed lawyer Sudhir Nanavati to probe the charges against Harbhajan, who is on its payroll as a centrally contracted player.

The IPL authorities had also fined 10 percent of match fee on captain of Rajasthan Royals Shane Warne and skipper of Knight Riders Sourav Ganguly for different breaches of the Code at Jaipur on May 1 during the two teams’ contest. The Match Referee in his recommendation to the IPL said that Ganguly’s act of prevailing upon Pratap Kumar, the on-field umpire, to refer a decision to the TV umpire, constituted a Level I offence as per the ICC’s Code of Conduct. Warne was found of violating Section 1.7 of the ICC’s Code of Conduct, which deals with ‘public criticism of, or inappropriate comment on a match-related incident or official,’ which constitutes a Level I offence.

The claim was made by the Siddiqui family and said that the marriage with his daughter Aisha took place in 2002.

After the allegation erupted, Shoaib said that he never married an Indian Muslim girl. He also later accused the family of trying to cheat him by showing a fake photo of another girl.

Shoaib Malik is in Hyderabad now to play for the DLF IPL. Delhi Daredevils, the Delhi franchisee of the DLF IPL, had bought him at the IPL player auction two months back.

But it seems that the Pakistan skipper is not showing any nerves. Before leaving for India, Malik said, “If you know there are two legal notices with the Siddiqui family that I have sent them to retract their claims and apologise for trying to defame me, and they have kept quiet on the notices.”

Malik continued, “If I had anything to hide or was afraid, I would not go to Hyderabad for the IPL game.”

Delhi Daredevils will face Hyderabad Chargers at Hyderabad today. Since Delhi already boasts of eight foreign players in the side, the presence of Shaaib Malik making an appearancce in the team is doubtful and is in the hands of Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag.

Malik said, “We are professional cricketers and we have a playing life span of around 12 to 15 years. So we have to remain committed and perform to the best of our abilities. For me, the IPL is as important being a professional as playing for Pakistan.”