Blogs Latest on the T20 Circuit
January 5th, 2009 by punterAs expected, the IPL selection is gaining momentum with its new season about to get underway within a few months. Some of the Pakistani players had commented that they wouldn’t prefer playing for Indian franchisees with the surmounting political tension between the two neighbours and that is exactly what is happening.
The Kolkata Knight Riders have decided to do away with their much touted acquisition — Shoaib Akhtar. This really isn’t much of a surprise though Shoaib might face further humiliation as he hasn’t been dropped. It is just that the KKR franchise have decided to put him on ‘sale’ but the question remains that whether there would be an Indian franchise willing to take him on?
In all probability, no one would and even if that does happen, it would be for a remarkably reduced fee. KKR also have Umar Gul and it would be interesting to see if he is persisted with. There are already rumours of regional political parties in West Bengal shouting for the ouster of all Pakistani players. In a similar manner, the Mumbai franchise would find it very hard, nearly impossible, to even consider a Pakistani selection. There are rumours that Mumbai might not even host IPL matches that have a Pakistani talent playing.
ICL versus IPL: ICL have been reluctantly engaged in some official dialogue with the IPL. In all probability there are a few administrators of the game who believe that an amiable and profitable mutual participation for the players of the two T20 franchises is be a possibility. At the moment, the ICL players including those from New Zealand and Pakistan, are fighting with their respective cricket boards to lift their ‘banning’ from domestic and national selection.
Double-edged Bats: T20 is witnessing another attacking option being introduced for its batsmen. Double-edged bats are about to be used in Australia’s domestic T20 tournament. Most people believe that it wouldn’t make much of a difference while the bat’s manufacturers sound confident when saying that it makes shots like the reverse sweep more powerful.
