IPL scraps Punjab and Rajasthan

It’s been shocking news to hear two IPL teams have been ruled out of the world famous IPL Twenty20 tournament for breaching ownership rules. BCCI terminated franchises of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab who were active participants in first three editions of the Twenty20 tournament, and of course Rajasthan Royals were the first to hold the IPL title. Also it has warned Kochi franchise to resolve their ownership issues soon to get out of trouble. BCCI gave no specific statements so far regarding the breaches and it is known that former IPL chairman Lalit Modi was earlier accused of having financial connections with these two teams. BCCI honorary secretary N Srinivasan told reporters that the decision to terminate the contract of Punjab and Rajasthan franchises were taken purely based on legal opinion we received and the breaches committed by these franchises. Rajasthan Royals was acquired by Manoj Badale, Lachlan Murdoch and co for $67 million. Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra paid approximately US $15.4 million for an 11.7% stake later. The big faces were Shane Warne, Shane Watson, Graeme Smith, Yusuf Pathan in Royals. Kings XI Punjab was bought by Ness Wadia, Mohit Burman and actor Preity Zinta for $ 76 million. Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Brett Lee, Shaun Marsh, Irfan Pathan and Yuvraj Singh were the big faces in it. Let’s wait and watch the future actions and auctions of IPL-4.

ICC launched 2011 World Cup with fanfare

World Cup 2011 is hosted in the sub continent. They launched here with all the fanfare by the ICC.The sound and laser show that showcased the key moments of all the previous World Cups was a breathtaking affair. Pawar the chairman of the World Cup Organising Committee said that the tickets price are at affordable prices. The Mumbai Wankhede Stadium would host the final match of the World Cup. He added, "The Indian board has decided to keep the rates of the tickets low to encourage the student community. We don`t want to make too much money out of gates. This has come after what we saw in the West Indies (during the 2007 World Cup)," He also said that Pakistan, which would not hold any matches, would continue to be part of the organizational set-up. He added, "I`m upset that a major partner Pakistan is not organising a match due to unfortunate circumstances. They will be very much part of the organising committee and would help organize the World Cup in a dignified manner,". Zakir Khan the PCB cricket operation manager also took part in the ceremony.