Niranjan Shah to plead Jadeja's case
Ravindra Jadeja, who was banned from the IPL 2010 season for allegedly trying to negotiate a contract outside of Rajasthan Royals, has received support from Niranjan Shah, the IPL vice-president. Shah, also the president of the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA), whom Jadeja represents in domestic tournaments, said he would request the IPL's governing council to consider the case.
"We are hoping that everything will be fine in the coming days and Jadeja will be able to take part in the IPL3 for his franchise," Shah was quoted as saying in the Indian Express. "We will see if his ban can be reduced to a couple of matches and not for the entire tournament."
Earlier, Jadeja had pleaded his innocence saying that he had sought prior approval from the BCCI, before deciding to negotiate with other franchises. In his letter to the BCCI, reportedly written two weeks before Saturday's ban, Jadeja said his contract with Rajasthan had expired on December 31, 2009 and that they did not give him any indications they were going to renew his contract.
"It is my understanding that my contract with Rajasthan Royals has expired and they have not at any stage offered me a renewal for Season 2010," Jadeja said in the letter. "In addition, I have never refused until this day to sign such a contract. Hence, I believe I am free to sign a contract with any franchisee."
IPL security concerns intensify
Security fears regarding the IPL have intensified after a string of statements over the past 24 hours. The 313 Brigade, Al-Qaeda's operational arm in Pakistan, issued a warning to "the international community" not to send its representatives to major sports events being staged in India, including the IPL. Following this, the firm in charge of the league's security said organisers would have to reconsider hosting the IPL should the threat supercede safety strategies.
There was good news for the IPL, though, in a retraction by the Shiv Sena of its stand barring Australian cricketers in Mumbai in response to the attacks on Indians in Australia, yet it appeared scant consolation in the face of the terror threat.
In its message, delivered to Asia Times Online, the 313 Brigade said: "We warn the international community not to send their people to the 2010 Hockey World Cup, IPL and Commonwealth Games. If they do, they will be responsible for the consequences."
The Hockey World Cup will be held in New Delhi from February 28 and the Commonwealth games are scheduled in the same city in October. Both are single-city events and will be relatively easier to secure than the multi-city IPL - it currently has 12 venues, with Cuttack being added on Tuesday.
The 313 Brigade is believed to have links with other terrorist outfits and its commander is believed to have played a role in the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.
That statement drew a gloomy response from Bob Nicholls, the head of Nicholls Steyn and Associates, which is running the security operation for the IPL. He told the Sydney Morning Herald it may force the organisers into a re-think.
"It gets to a point where you cannot go further than that which is being provided,'' Nicholls said. ''We only have control over certain aspects of it. If we get to a certain stage beyond which you can't go … our role and commitment is that we will put in the best measures there can be. What we cannot control is circumstances beyond that. There would need to be serious considerations at that point.''
Paul Marsh, the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers Association, said security consultant Reg Dickason would factor the warning into his report to the Australian players involved in the IPL.
''We were told over the years that cricketers and other sportspeople would not be targeted, that the risk was collateral damage, being in the wrong place at the wrong time,'' Marsh said. ''That changed with [the ambush of the Sri Lankan team in] Lahore last year, and news of a threat from a very well-known terrorist group is concerning. This is another issue to be concerned about. Not a lot has changed with regard to our process and it's important to note that the situation is fluid after what happened in Pune (a bomb blast) at the weekend and this development.
''Reg will give us a point-in-time report and then he will continue to keep us informed. Everyone is going to have to weigh up their own circumstances, but we have relied on Reg for a long time and the players have a high level of trust in his advice.''
Indian news channels not to cover IPL 2010
The IPL has been hit with another potential controversy with Indian news broadcasters deciding not to cover the third season in protest against what it called "arbitrary" guidelines and contentious clauses regarding tournament footage. The decision followed a meeting between the News Broadcasters' Association and officials of the IPL and Set Max, the tournament rights holder.
The NBA, which has 34 member channels, said the IPL and Set Max officials "arbitrarily" refused to abide by the 2008 norms, which had been agreed on by all.
"In view of this position, unilaterally taken by IPL/Set Max, members of the NBA are unable to offer to their viewers any coverage in relation to IPL or its proposed matches," the association said. "Inconvenience caused to our viewers by this unreasonable commercial approach of IPL/Set MAX is regretted."
The media coverage guidelines for 2010 have reduced the duration of match footage that news channels can carry -- 30 seconds per bulletin and seven minutes a day. Repeats will be allowed three times a day, as against four previously, and while match footage could earlier be telecast with a five-minute delay from the end of the live telecast, it has been expanded to a half-hour delay.
The first IPL season was boycotted by the international news agencies over certain contentious clauses in the media accreditation guidelines, including a bar on supplying photographs to cricket-specific websites such as Cricinfo.
The second season witnessed a repeat after News Media Coalition, the umbrella body that includes global news and photograph agencies Reuters, AP, AFP and Getty Images, objected over the same clause. However, the boycott was lifted after the IPL removed the clause from the terms of coverage.
The 2010 tournament has already run into controversies with Shiv Sena threatening not to allow the Australian players in Mumbai as long as attack continues on the Indians living in Australia.
