India's top court suggests new spot-fixing probe

India's Supreme Court on Monday suggested a fresh inquiry into the spot-fixing scandal surrounding the Indian Premier League, further delaying N. Srinivasan's return as the country's cricket chief.

The court proposed a three-member panel headed by a former judge to investigate the scandal that has rocked the popular Twenty20 league run by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

"We want this committee to probe the spot-fixing and this committee will report to us," said A.K Patnaik, one of two judges hearing the case.

Patnaik also told the court that the BCCI's lawyers must reply to the proposal at the next hearing on Tuesday.

The probe will be separate from contin uing investigations by police, who have filed charges in court against a string of officials, players and bookmakers in the scandal.

Srinivasan, 68, widely regarded as the most powerful man in world cricket, has been barred by the court from taking charge since his election as the BCCI chief for a third year on September 29.

A cricket body in the eastern state of Bihar which is not affiliated to the BCCI had asked the court to prevent Srinivasan's return on moral grounds because his son-in-law had been charged in the scandal.

The son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, was the team principal of the Chennai, the IPL franchise owned by Srinivasan's India Cements company and captained by national skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Srinivasan, who has not himself been accused of any wrongdoing, stepped aside temporarily as BCCI president in June when Meiyappan was named in the scandal.

The Bihar association had argued in court that an internal BCCI probe panel had absolved Srinivasan, Meiyappan, India Cements and other IPL officials of wrongdoing even before police had filed charges in court.

Former Australian star Mike Hussey, who has played for the Chennai since the inaugural IPL season in 2008, recently dismissed Srinivasan's suggestion that Meiyappan was only a "cricket enthusiast".

Hussey asserted in his new autobiography that Meiyappan was running the team since Srinivasan was busy with BCCI affairs.

"Our owner was India Cements, headed by Mr Srinivasan," Hussey wrote, according to excerpts published on the ESPNCricinfo website.

"As he was also on the board of the BCCI, he gave control of the team to his son-in-law Mr Gurunath (Meiyappan).

"He ran the team along with Kepler Wessels, who was (then) coach."

Srinivasan's hold on world cricket stems from India's vast television audience, which enables the country to generate almost 70 percent of the game's revenues.

International news organisations, including Agence France-Presse, have suspended their on-field coverage of matches hosted by the BCCI since last year after the board imposed restrictions on picture agencies.

Timings changed for India-Australia ODI series

Dew factor has prompted the BCCI to revise the match-timings for the upcoming seven-match ODI series between India and Australia starting October 13 in Pune.

The match-timings have been advanced by an hour to ensure that dew does not hamper the side batting second even though the BCCI did not specify any particular reason for the new timings in the release issued on Sunday.

Under the revised timings, the first session will be played from 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM, followed by an interval between 5:00 PM. to 5:45 PM. The second session will be played from 5:45 PM. to 9:15 PM, BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel said in a statement.

The excessive dew factor makes the ball slippery, thus placing the side bowling second at a disadvantageous position.

India and Australia will play a one-off Twenty20 match on October 7 in Rajkot before the ODI series. The seven-match ODI series will conclude on November 7.

Teams look to give fitting farewell

Mumbai and Rajasthan will be eager to give a fitting farewell to Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, who will be playing for the last time.

Mumbai will look to lift the CLT20 trophy for the second time and will seek to avenge their loss against Rajasthan in their opening game when they face off against their IPL opponents in the final at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi. Meanwhile, the Royals, who have had a superb run in this edition of the tournament so far, registering five wins out of five games, will be hoping for a flawless finish. Both teams will also be eager to give a fitting farewell to two legends of the game, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, who will be representing their franchises for the last time.

Rajasthan:

Rajasthan are obviously the in-form team, having been unbeaten in the tournament so far. Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson have been brilliant with the bat - the former has scored three successive half-centuries and his dream run means the inaugural Indian Premier League champions have a steady top-order despite Dravid's lean form. Shane Watson showed glimpses of his class in the semi-final against Chennai and the Australian can always be a threat in a big game situation. Stuart Binny is also a crucial member in the middle-order and has also scored a few runs in this tournament while Kevon Cooper's hard-hitting abilities will also come in handy for the Royals. Rajasthan will miss Brad Hodge in the final after he sustained an injury on Friday but the side has enough players to stand up and deliver.

Bowling has been the greatest weapon for Rajasthan with Pravin Tambe rocking the oppositions with his wicket-taking spree. Tambe was Man-of-the-Match with 3/10 from four overs in the team's 14-run victory in the semi-final over Chennai and the 42-year-old would once again be a trump-card for Dravid on Sunday. Rajasthan have plenty of seam options and will be counting on the likes of James Faulkner, Vikramjeet Malik, Rahul Shukla, Watson and Cooper, who have done a good job so far, to deliver again.

Mumbai:

Dwayne Smith has been Mumbai's run-scoring machine in this tournament and it was his scores of 63 against the Lions, 48 against Perth and 59 against Trinidad and Tobago, that has helped the IPL-6 champs into the final. Rohit Sharma too has been in good touch with the bat, coming up with important contributions while the skipper will also be happy with the way Tendulkar and Dinesh Karthik batted against T&T. Both Tendulkar and Karthik looked completely out of sorts in the earlier games before they hit 35 and 33* respectively against the Caribbean side, and their current form augers well for Mumbai. With Pollard in the line-up, who is also in good touch, Mumbai's batting seems to be peaking at the right moment as suggested by the captain.

Amongst the Mumbai bowlers, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Pragyan Ojha have the most scalps, although the latter has been a touch expensive. Rishi Dhawan has bowled quite a few tight spells while Harbhajan Singh and Pollard have been decent with the ball. Mitchell Johnson seems to be Mumbai's only worry at the present time as the Australian quick has conceded quite a few and has also not picked up too many wickets.

Quotes:

What a fitting way it will be for us to send Rahul Dravid off the way he deserves. Hopefully, the fairytale does come true for us because he certainly does deserve it: Shane Watson

I would not say that we are peaking at the right time as I am a little superstitious and there is still one more game to win so looking forward to it: Sachin Tendulkar 

Dravid deserves a fairytale farewell: Watson

Ajinkya Rahane came up with a crucial 70 off 56 balls while Pravin Tambe finished with excellent bowling figures of 3/10 from his four overs to help Rajasthan enter the final of the CLT20 with a 14-run win against Chennai in the semi-final encounter at the Sawai Mansingh stadium.

With the victory against the two-time IPL champions, Rajasthan registered their 13th straight win in Jaipur which includes eight wins in IPL-6 and five in the ongoing CLT20. All-rounder Shane Watson, was delighted with his team's unbeaten streak and said beating a formidable team like Chennai twice in their home ground is special.

Speaking to CLT20.com, Watson said: "An unbeaten record here this year is just amazing. To beat the Chennai here twice over the last six months is pretty special because we know what a good team CSK is. We knew we had to beat CSK to be in the final and what better place to play them than on our home ground that we know so well."

Put in to bat in the first semi-final, Rajasthan were struggling at one stage, before a 4th wicket stand between Watson and Rahane worth 59 runs helped the team post a competitive total of 159/8. Speaking about his stand with Rahane, Watson said it was an important partnership while the Australian praised the youngster for taking the pressure off him.

"When I came out to bat, we were still going well but we knew it was important to get a partnership going. When I bat and I see that I can take someone on, and I try to score as quickly as I can. There were times when I could not get the boundaries going, but Ajinkya was able to find the boundary in that period. In the scheme of the game, it was a really important partnership that we put together."

Calling his Rajasthan colleague a highly skilled batsman, Watson said he is impressed with the youngster's intent of taking on the bowlers. "Ajinkya is a highly skilled batsman, there is no doubt about that. The intent that he is showing is just amazing. He has been batting beautifully over the last few games and has shown intent from ball one to take on the bowlers. I believe that is when he is at his absolute best. It is great to be able to see the way he is batting like that and the areas where he hits the ball."

"He has got an amazing skill to hit the ball down the ground or over cover. He plays the short ball and spin equally well. He is continuing to evolve. He has not had many opportunities with the Indian side so far, but there is no doubt that he will get another opportunity very soon," Watson added.

Watson said the first time he saw Rahane bat was during a practice game against Australia in which he "blazed his way to a century." The Australian said Rahane is as talented as Shikhar Dhawan and only needs some more time to evolve into a world-class batsman.

"The first time I saw him bat was in a tour match and he was one of the only ones who took on our quick bowlers and blazed his way to a century. He is a young guy still and he will only get better with time. Someone like a Shikhar Dhawan is maturing now and Ajinkya is as talented as Dhawan and he just needs a bit more time to evolve."

Sunday's final will probably the last time that Rahul Dravid takes the field for Rajasthan and Watson is hopeful that they can give the captain a fitting farewell.

"We would love to be able to write a script of our choice. It will be Rahul Dravid's last game and it will be such a special win if we can win the tournament for him and the franchise. Rahul has been an integral part of the Royals since the first time he came here and his legacy will always continue. But what a fitting way it will be for us to send Rahul off the way he deserves. Hopefully the fairytale does come true for us because he certainly does deserve it."

Mumbai face off against Trinidad and Tobago in the second semi-final and when asked which team he would prefer to play against in the final, Watson said the opposition will not matter as Rajasthan will be looking at producing their 'A' game.

"No matter whom we play, we have got to be at our best. Mumbai and Trinidad & Tobago are high-quality teams and honestly it doesn't really matter who our opposition is. We will just be looking to be at our best and put in another good performance and achieve success," Watson said.

Preview: T&T v Mumbai

Two sides, who play their cricket with pride, passion, power and flair, will clash for the second time in the World T20 League. In their first encounter during the 2011 edition, it was a low-scoring thriller in Bangalore. T&T were bowled out for 98 and they made Mumbai sweat for every single run. In the end, it needed a poor judgement from captain Darren Ganga and the coolness of No.11 Yuzvendra Chahal to sneak across the line by one wicket off the last ball. Now, in the semi-final, T&T will be looking for revenge while Mumbai will look to keep the momentum going after their power-packed performance against Perth.

MUMBAI

If there is one team that symbolizes power hitting in T20s, it is Mumbai. The likes of Dwayne Smith, Kieron Pollard and Rohit Sharma have played some crucial knocks in T20s and it is no surprise that it is these three batsmen who have guided Mumbai's campaign in this tournament.

Dwayne Smith is in fine form and his consistency has masked the failures of Sachin Tendulkar. The Master needs just 26 more runs to reach the aggregate of 50,000 runs in and the fans will be hoping that Tendulkar achieves this landmark in the semi-final. However, the vital cog in the line-up is Rohit Sharma. His dazzling fifty against Perth was proof that when he gets going, he is unstoppable. His ability against both pace and spin will be crucial against a team that has potent spinners and bowlers. 


KEY PLAYERS

Dwayne Smith has scored 120 runs in this tournament for Mumbai and he will once again be the key player at the top. Rohit Sharma has also looked in great touch and both these players will look to achieve a similar kind of impact in the semi-final.

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

If one has to associate the way how T&T play their cricket, it is with passion, power and flair. Right from the batsmen till the bowlers, the men from T&T put on a fabulous exhibition each time. This is the second time that T&T have reached the knock-out stages of the World T20 League and they will be looking for revenge against Mumbai, who pipped them to the post by one wicket in their previous encounter.

The revelation in the T&T batting has been Ewin Lewis. His power hitting was a sight for sore eyes in the match against Titans as he carted the bowlers everywhere for a whirlwind 70. Lendl Simmons, after been dismissed for a duck in two matches, got back to form with a dazzling 63 against Chennai. Combined with his medium pace, Simmons is turning out into a capable all-rounder for the outfit. Backed up by Darren Bravo, who has scored two fifties in this tournament, the batting line-up is top heavy. However, Denesh Ramdin has shown that he can hang in there and help chip in with some crucial runs at the end as he did against Brisbane. The untested middle order will have to make their presence felt if T&T are to put up a significant challenge. 

KEY PLAYERS

Sunil Narine, with eight wickets, will once again look to stifle the Mumbai batsmen with his variations and accuracy. Darren Bravo and Ewin Lewis will be the key once again for T&T at the top. If the middle order fires, then this T&T outfit is a complete unit.