ICC T20 World Cup 2012: Sri Lanka banking on cricket to restore stained image

    

 Sri Lanka is banking on cricket to repair the damage to its blood-stained image after the brutal end to a 37-year ethnic war as it stages the biggest tournament in the nation's post-independence history.

Since declaring an end in 2009 to a conflict that claimed up to 100,000 lives, President Mahinda Rajapakse's government has had to battle accusations that its troops killed thousands of civilians as they crushed Tamil rebels in the finale.

But as hosts of the World Twenty20, which begins Tuesday in Rajapakse's hometown of Hambantota, Sri Lanka is looking to rebrand itself as an island of sun-kissed beaches and ancient Buddhist temples rather than as a hotbed of conflict.

                                

    "The T20 World Cup programme will provide an excellent platform to endorse the new Sri Lanka brand during the next three weeks," said Nivard Cabraal, the central bank governor and a key figure in promoting Sri Lanka as a sporting destination.

"I am confident that this trend will continue in the future, and those so-called international calls for (war crimes) investigation will fade away," he told AFP.

Teams from 12 nations, including those from Australia and England -- two nations which have been highly critical of Sri Lanka's government -- are taking part in the World Twenty20, which will culminate in the final in Colombo on October 7.

     

Black Caps have high hopes to T20 World Cup

    

    The Black Caps have stated their lofty aims for the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka.

  

    New Zealand face South Africa in their final warm up match in Colombo this afternoon.

    

   Black Caps all rounder Nathan McCullum says the tournament is a massive opportunity for them to win a major trophy.

   

    

   

    

     

  

  

Sangakkara bags three major ICC Awards

Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara was named the Cricketer of the Year besides getting the best Test player honour at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Awards and People’s Choice Award.

In 14 Tests, he compiled 1,444 runs at an average of 60.16, including five centuries and five half-centuries. In addition, he played 37 ODIs, hitting 1,457 runs at an average of 42.85, with three centuries and nine half-centuries. In that time he has also proven himself to be the best ODI wicket-keeper with 42 dismissals.

The voting academy selected Sangakkara ahead of South Africa duo Hashim Amla and Vernon Philander as well as Australia's Michael Clarke.
 

Sangakkara accepted the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy from ICC president Alan Isaac and was clearly thrilled to win his second accolade of the night, having won the Test Cricketer of the Year.

Sangakkara later received his third award, the Test Cricketer award from batting legend Brian Lara in front of his home crowd.

BCCI decides to expand IPL, Deccan Chargers' fate in court`s hand

 With the BCCI-Deccan Chargers stand-off now becoming a legal battle, the Cricket Board on Saturday decided to add a new team for the coming IPL season while leaving it to the court to rule on the beleaguered franchise`s participation.

The Deccan Chargers issue was discussed at length at the Working Committee meeting but the BCCI refrained from openly speaking about the issue as it is sub-judice.

After Deccan Chargers contract with IPL was terminated in dramatic fashion last night, the Deccan Chronicles Holdings Ltd. -- the owners of the franchise -- moved the Mumbai High Court seeking a stay against the BCCI`s decision.

The counsels of both the sides were in Court today but it did not pass any order staying the termination. The matter has now been placed for hearing on Monday.

"In view of the matter being sub-judice, we have not taken any decision today. We will discuss about floating a fresh tender for a new IPL team," a top BCCI official said on condition of anonymity.

He said the BCCI has made up its mind not to have Deccan Chargers in the IPL but in case a favourable verdict from the court, they could be included as the 10th team.

"We will definitely add a new team in the sixth edition of the IPL from among the waiting franchises. If DC is not there we will go ahead with nine teams but in case we are forced to include them it would be a 10-team affair," the official said.

The official said the working committee members were apprised of the developments concerning Deccan Chargers and the general impression was that the cash-strapped franchise should be kept away from the IPL.

The official said the Deccan Chargers told the BCCI that they would form a team to run the franchise for one more year till it resolves its financial problems.

"But what is the guarantee that they will be able to do it. We have never witnessed such arrangements before and will not want to take any chance whatsoever," the official said.

According to the official, for the new team, eight cities will be in fray when the bidding takes place. The winning bidder will have to accomodate the Deccan players for one year if the franchise is ultimately scrapped from the IPL.

In a late night development yesterday, the BCCI terminated the Deccan Chargers contract, ending the suspense on the fate of the beleaguered franchise. The decision was taken at an emergency Governing Council meeting of the IPL in Chennai.

After this, the BCCI received a notice invoking arbitration from the franchise stating that it had not committed any breaches and even if such breaches were committed, the Board should not terminate the franchise till Yes Bank Ltd furnishes sufficient finance to cure the breaches.

BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale said the Board made every effort to save the beleaguered franchise which also rejected the sole bid that was received at the auction.

Jagdale said the Governing Council took note of the sudden change of stance by the franchise and also the fact that any further extension of time would seriously jeopardies the interests of the players.

"The BCCI is completely justified in this action which was taken with careful deliberation and only due to the absolute inability of the franchise to effectively run the team," he said.

The termination meant that the franchise will get no money and the BCCI will be entitled to encash the bank guarantee and make the necessary payment to the players and other stake holders. A similar thing had happened when the contract of Kochi Tuskers Kerala was terminated.

The Deccan Chargers was hoping to resolve its financial problems by selling the team but it rejected the sole bid it received at the auction in Chennai on Thursday.

PVP Ventures Limited, a Hyderabad-based urban infrastructure and film production company, had offered Rs 900 cores but Deccan rejected it finding the terms of payment and the amount unacceptable.

It is said that the banks were primarily unhappy with the mode of payment which ultimately led to the deal falling through.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings purchased the Hyderabad franchise for Rs 428 crore in 2008. At the auction, the base price was said to be around Rs 750 crore.

The winning bidder had to meet BCCI`s eligibility criteria and other requirements.

This was the first time an entire IPL franchise was put on the block by its owners, although Rajasthan Royals sold a small stake in 2009 to the actress Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra.

Yuvraj Singh, The Fighter Roars Back

Six months ago, Yuvraj completed three cycles of chemotherapy in the United States for a rare germ cell cancer near his lungs.

The left-hander started to notice something was wrong with his health while he was spearheading India's World Cup triumph and, despite being named man of the tournament, a golf ball-sized tumour was eventually discovered near his lungs.

His last international appearance was last November as the 30-year-old took time out to battle against the cancer but he impressed on his return to the international arena bowling two neat overs and scoring 34 runs off 26 balls.

World T20: Dhoni, Irfan star in warm-up win over Sri Lanka

Colombo: India warmed up for the ICC World Twenty20 starting September 18 with a comfortable 26-run win over hosts Sri Lanka at the P Sara Oval on Tuesday, but the victory was overshadowed by an injury to Gautam Gambhir that sent him to a local hospital.

Batting on 5, the left-handed opener was struck on the wrist by a sharp delivery from Lasith Malinga. Wincing in pain, Gambhir was given medical attention before leaving the field.

The wicket was followed by a brief flurry from Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina, but Sri Lanka’s bowlers hit back with four wickets in the space of just 23 runs. Nuwan Kulasekara made the first inroads with the wickets of Sehwag (12) and Raina (13) in the fifth over, after which Angelo Mathews extracted Virat Kohli for 8. Yuvraj Singh, who made an emotional return to international cricket New Zealand this week, was the next to go for 11, stumped off Rangana Herath’s left-arm spin.

At 51 for 4 India were in trouble but MS Dhoni combined with Rohit Sharma (37 off 26 balls) to revive the innings with a 78-run alliance. Dhoni's unbeaten 42-ball 55, including four fours and three sixes, was the highest score of the innings and proved crucial.

Then it was over to Irfan Pathan, who made inroads at either end of the Sri Lankan innings. Dilshan Munaweera was accounted for in the first over of the chase, bowled for 3, and with the last ball of his second over Irfan had Tillakaratne Dilshan giving Dhoni the first of his three catches behind the stumps. A 30-run stand between Mathews (16) and Kumar Sangakkara (32) followed, but that was snapped before it could blossom as L Balaji struck in the sixth over to have Mathews caught behind.

Sangakkara was next to fall, bowled by comeback man Harbhajan Singh. Harbhajan’s miserly spell of 1 for 17 in four overs helped put the screws on Sri Lanka, who struggled to form partnerships. Lahiru Thirimanne (24) and Jeevan Mendis (26) got starts but failed to accelerate, as Zaheer Khan struck and Irfan returned and grabbed three wickets in a fantastic 19th over.

Thissara Perera, Mahela Jayawardene and Mendis were the men to fall in the space of four deliveries, leaving Sri Lanka at 120 for 8 and Irfan with figures of 5 for 25. Balaji finished off the innings with two wickets in three balls to finish with 3 for 28.

India’s second warm-up against on Monday against Pakistan. The 2007 World Twenty20 champions open their campaign on September 19 against Afghanistan at the Premadasa.

Kohli wins ODI Cricketer of the Year Award

During the performance period, he played 31 ODIs and compiled 1,733 runs at an average of 66.65, including eight centuries and six half-centuries.