HYS: Should England rest Kane against Belgium?

Harry Kane put himself one goal clear of Cristiano Ronaldo – who was lucky to escape a red card in Portugal’s final group game against Iran – and Romelu Lukaku in the race for the Golden Boot with a hat-trick against Panama.

That cruise into the last 16 of the World Cup has presented Gareth Southgate with a selection dilemma ahead of England’s final Group G match against Belgium.

Does he make changes to the lineup to keep his players fresh ahead as he plans for a long run into the tournament or does he make minimal changes to attempt to maintain momentum going into the knockout rounds?

What do you think of the World Cup so far? Let us know and win any World Cup shirt of your choice.

Where Kane is concerned, that choice boils down to a choice between protecting England’s key asset from injury in what is essentially a dead rubber or playing him as often as he can to keep his goalscoring form going.

It is a tough one, because if Kane does get injured playing in a reasonably worthless match, Southgate could end up with egg on his face.

So, what would you do? Rest Kane and keep him fresh for the knockouts or keep playing him although there is the opportunity to give him over a week of rest?

Let us know by voting in the poll below and keep your eyes peeled on Thursday for the result…

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Walsh backs Gayle to inspire Windies

At Adelaide on Monday, Chris Gayle became the first captain since Mark Taylor in 1998 to carry his bat through an innings

Sahil Dutta09-Dec-2009At Adelaide on Monday, Chris Gayle became the first captain since Mark Taylor in 1998 to carry his bat through an innings, when his second-innings unbeaten 165, from 285 deliveries, restored much-needed pride in West Indian cricket and offered redemption to an embattled leader.Criticism was flung from all corners at Gayle following his pair of casual dismissals and his side’s capitulation in the first Test at the Gabba. Yet this magnificent response in Adelaide was enough to silence dissenting voices and earn the acclaim of the former West Indian captain Courtney Walsh.Walsh grew up watching a united and gifted West Indies side dominate world cricket. When he made his debut in 1984 the islands were littered with talent and had, in Clive Lloyd, a leader who epitomised the pride and self-respect needed to succeed at the highest level. “When I was younger we were a well-disciplined West Indian team,” Walsh told Cricinfo. “We have to bring the team together like that again.”There were many that doubted Gayle’s ability to do that. He had made disparaging remarks about Test cricket when West Indies toured England in May, and had overseen a strike by his players that resulted in a second-string West Indies team losing a series to Bangladesh at home.As the contract dispute was still rumbling on, Darren Ganga had unexpectedly led a young Trinidad and Tobago side to the semi-final of the Champions League Twenty20. A hallmark of his leadership was his ability to instil discipline into his players and many felt he was the credible alternative.Yet it was these precise faculties, so often missing from West Indian cricket recently, that Gayle displayed so admirably in his Adelaide knock and Walsh is confident that Gayle is now the right man to unite the team.”He has made a few mistakes in the past and I think all of us go through a similar period but I think all he wants to do is focus on his cricket now. We need someone who people will follow and someone who can pull the team together and I think he is the best man for the job.”After a Test career spanning 17 years, Walsh has a new priority for the sport. In a programme started by his charity, the Courtney Walsh Foundation, he hopes to take cricket into young-offenders institutions in Jamaica, as part of an initiative to help young people on the road to recovery.”It’s about the discipline of sport,” he said. “We want to give these guys something to do, something to get involved with and something that can take their mind away from the state that got them into trouble in the first place.”A fellow Jamaican looking to return after a difficult period is Marlon Samuels. Earlier this month, Cricinfo revealed Samuels’s plans to resurrect his international career following a two-year suspension. The sentence will be lifted next year and Walsh believes Samuels can come back stronger, perhaps even as inspiration to those he seeks to help.”He was very disappointed to get suspended and we hope that he will come back and, not necessarily walk straight back into the West Indies team, but play for Jamaica and gradually makes his way back to international cricket. He’s a very talented cricketer.”To build on the encouraging signs of the second Test, the West Indies need to rediscover the flair and passion that was once so prevalent in the Test side. They could seek inspiration from Gayle’s last innings, or even Walsh’s entire career.

Gidman hopeful of bowling again after surgery

Alex Gidman, the Gloucestershire captain, declared his ankle operation a success and says he is confident of bowling in the 2010 season.

Cricinfo staff08-Dec-2009Alex Gidman, the Gloucestershire captain, declared his ankle operation a success and says he is confident of bowling in the 2010 season.Gidman, 28, underwent surgery two weeks ago and was not certain whether he would be able to bowl again. Yet he told that he is more positive after speaking to his surgeon.”The surgeon is very happy with what he found and what he did,” said Gidman. “The early signs are that it went okay and I’m pretty hopeful it will have the desired result. I was on crutches for a couple of days and then back walking around slowly building it up. Everything is on track and I’m on the bike getting the range of movement back.”We’d pretty much tried everything from changing my bowling action to wearing tennis shoes and a brace. So this was a last resort but hopefully something that is going to work.”Though primarily a batsman, bowling is an important aspect of his game and he has taken 87 first-class wickets but feels that the limited-over matches is where he can really make an impact for the side he took over as captain at the beginning of last season.”It would be nice to bowl pain-free again and play a bigger part in the games that we play. In the first half of the season where we reached the semis of the Friends Provident I bowled in pretty much every game. It’s probably where the team missed my bowling most, not being able to contribute for the whole season.”So hopefully, personally and for the team, we should see some benefit if I’m fit and ready to go.”

Steyn sets Wednesday cut-off for Boxing Day return

Dale Steyn is not a certain starter for the Boxing Day Test in Durban and expects an early decision to be made over the state of his hamstring injury

Andrew McGlashan21-Dec-2009Dale Steyn is not a certain starter for the Boxing Day Test in Durban and expects an early decision to be made over his hamstring injury. The South African fast bowler was ruled out of the opening match at Centurion on the morning of the game, handing a debut to Friedel de Wet, who almost bowled South Africa to victory with 4 for 55 on the final day.Steyn will spend the next two days putting in further rehabilitation work and remains hopeful of rejoining the South Africa line-up. However, he doesn’t want any doubt hanging over the side as they prepare for the second Test and is targeting Wednesday – when the squad meets up in Durban – as his key time.”I’ve got until Wednesday to get it ready,” he told Cricinfo. “I think we will make an early decision this time on whether I will play, rather than wait until the morning of the game. That puts other players under stress and basically throws the guys into the ocean.”I’m hopeful. I was very keen to play in Pretoria and having a few more days off has given me extra time to get it right, so I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t be ready for Boxing Day.”I just want to make sure it’s 100% because we have a lot of cricket to play, not just against England but also a tour to India, and hamstrings can be quite a difficult area to sort out. Just when you think you’ve got it right, it hits you again and slows you down. We are hoping that everything will be right for Durban, that’s the goal, and we’ve been working really hard.”The decision not to play at Centurion was swayed by Jacques Kallis’s rib injury that prevented him from bowling until the final afternoon, when he sent down three gentle overs. With just three frontline quick bowlers it would have meant an extra workload for Steyn.”The hamstring was about 50-50 and we didn’t really know whether I would make it through a long spell of bowling,” Steyn said. “The safe thing was to pull out rather than find I wouldn’t be able to play the second and third Tests and maybe even the fourth.”Yet the man who replaced Steyn at the 11th hour almost became the matchwinner as de Wet created mayhem in the final hour with a stunning new-ball burst. He removed Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell and Matt Prior to send the England dressing room into a state of panic until Paul Collingwood and Graham Onions saved the day.”He showed what he is capable of in the second innings and hopefully he will be around for a while,” Steyn said. “He’s spent a long time in domestic cricket and has taken his chance to show he can perform at the top level. I’m very happy for him.”Steyn offered 29-year-old de Wet one simple piece of advice before he began his international career. “I told him some of the mistakes I made going into my debut and said, ‘Don’t let the occasion get to you. Treat it as another game and do the same things as you would playing for your domestic side.’ He’d done all the hard work to get to this stage.”As de Wet was tearing through England late in the afternoon, Steyn was cheering each wicket from the balcony. It was the first part of the game he’d sat down to watch properly after all the fitness work he’d been doing on his hamstring.”I thought, it was day five and anything is possible,” he said. “It would only take one spell and the new ball was still to come, so I decided to sit down and watch. When we needed one wicket to win I wanted to kick myself for not watching from lunchtime.”I never got very nervous. I think I would have been worse if it had been a one-day game. That’s when you hide behind the door and peek out to take a look. In this case we were never going to lose the game, it was just more the excitement of whether we’d win and at worse we would draw it.”As Graeme Smith said after the game, Steyn believes the way South Africa controlled the majority of the Test and finished a whisker away from winning has given them an early advantage in the series, though the scoreline remains 0-0.”We were a bowler short in Jacques and what he provides in terms of balance is something you can’t buy over the counter in the supermarket,” Steyn said. “If he’d been bowling we would have had a stronger side.”Going into day five, England were looking to only draw the game and to defend on that wicket was probably the hardest thing to do. If they’d gone for the runs, they may not have had as many problems. We are quite happy with the way things went and have been able to suss out what they are like in the longer format. We can prepare even better for the second Test in conditions we know much better than the English.”

Daljit under fire for poor Mohali pitch

Reportedly, the Maharashtra Under-19 team, who were playing Punjab in the Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy semi-final, staged a walkout on the second day after claiming the Mohali wicket was “underprepared and poor”

Cricinfo staff14-Jan-2010Close on the heels of the Feroze Shah Kotla pitch fiasco during the fifth ODI between India and Sri Lanka in Delhi, curator Daljit Singh has come under criticism for a similar incident in Mohali.Reportedly, the Maharashtra Under-19 team, who were playing Punjab in the Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy semi-final, staged a walkout on the second day after claiming the wicket tended to by him was “underprepared and poor”.The visitors protested against playing in such conditions, and complained of poor light as well as high-handedness by the match officials, after umpires sent a player off the field for disciplinary reasons. The match was eventually awarded to Punjab.Ajay Shirke, the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) president and former BCCI vice-president said the association would file a written complaint to the Indian board. “Five batsmen got seriously hurt, they were hit on their elbow, groin, stomach,” Shirke told the . “It’s documented on video. It was a poor, underprepared wicket and it’s pitiable that the semi-final of such a prestigious tournament for juniors was held in such conditions.”The wicket was not covered before the start and the match started only at 12:45 pm because of a damp wicket and poor light. It was then called off at 3:47 pm again. Within two-and-a-half hours, we lost eight wickets. Until this match, the boys have scored more than 300 runs in every innings, including 477 against this very side in the league phase.”However, GS Walia, the Punjab Cricket Association joint secretary, defended the Mohali pitch and dismissed Shirke’s claims. “The pitch was prepared according to the domestic standards with utmost professionalism,” Walia said. “It is just an excuse to get away from their irrational behaviour on the field. Neither the Maharashtra captain nor the manager during, or right after, the match complained about the pitch.”The India-Sri Lanka ODI on December 27 last year was called off after 23.3 overs, during which Sri Lankan players received body blows more than once. Daljit, who was the curator, was sacked as chairman of the BCCI’s grounds and pitches committee soon after.

Three uncapped players in New Zealand Test squad

New Zealand could field up to three Test debutants in the one-off match against Bangladesh after calling up the opener Peter Ingram, the batsman Neil Broom and the fast bowler Andy McKay

Cricinfo staff10-Feb-2010New Zealand could field up to three Test debutants in the one-off match against Bangladesh after calling up the opener Peter Ingram, the batsman Neil Broom and the fast bowler Andy McKay. The trio is part of a 13-man squad that does not feature the out-of-form Daniel Flynn, who has been dropped for the Hamilton Test that starts on Monday.Grant Elliott and Jesse Ryder were unavailable due to injuries, while Iain O’Brien was also out of contention from New Zealand’s most recent Test side having retired from international cricket. The coach and selector Mark Greatbatch said the three new faces had forced their way in thanks to strong domestic performances.”Peter Ingram has been picked based on the form he has shown in the longer versions of the game over the last three years of domestic cricket,” Greatbatch said. “We always had an eye on him for the Test matches, and this is his chance to step up. The top order is an important area where we need to improve and we want to see how Peter goes at the next level.”Neil Broom has been picked on the weight of domestic runs he has scored. We have moved Martin Guptill down the order. We feel that this is a more natural position for him and he is better suited there. He is a quality young player and he needs a chance to play longer innings.”Andy McKay has been a big improver this year with Wellington. He took his opportunities in the ODI games he played against Bangladesh and in all formats of the game for Wellington, so now he has a chance to prove himself the Test arena. Andy has some good pace and can move the ball around, which is always going to bother even the best of players.”New Zealand squad Tim McIntosh, BJ Watling, Peter Ingram, Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill, Neil Broom, Daniel Vettori (capt), Brendon McCullum (wk), Tim Southee, Daryl Tuffey, Andy McKay, Jeetan Patel, Chris Martin.

Selectors grapple with fitness concerns

Immediately before Chennai’s match, Gautam Gambhir and Ashish Nehra missed Delhi Daredevils’ game in Bangalore, leaving the selectors with an almost identical dilemma as last year

Sidharth Monga25-Mar-2010On Friday, India’s selectors will once again grapple with fitness issues just before another World Twenty20. MS Dhoni’s return to captaining Chennai Super Kings on Thursday night was only one-third of the good news they are hoping for.Immediately before Chennai’s match, Gautam Gambhir and Ashish Nehra missed Delhi Daredevils’ game in Bangalore, leaving the selectors with an almost identical dilemma as last year. Then, the selectors punted with taking still-recovering Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan to India’s title defence. Sehwag didn’t manage a single game, Zaheer was off colour, and it duly turned out to be a disastrous campaign.Déjà vu doesn’t come clearer. Only names have changed. Gautam Gambhir is as important a part of the batting line-up as Sehwag, and Nehra has been perhaps India’s best fast bowler in limited-overs cricket over the last year. Therefore, it is tempting to take them both to the West Indies, and yet a huge risk considering they burnt their fingers with a similar choice for the same tournament a year ago.If it is any consolation, Gambhir’s comeback from his hamstring injury is shaping up well, and he is expected to play Delhi’s next match, or the one after that. Nehra, who injured his rib in IPL warm-up, is uncertain. If the selectors don’t pick Nehra, Karnataka’s R Vinay Kumar, who has followed up a 46-wicket Ranji season with an impressive IPL so far, could be the surprise replacement.Vinay is not the only Karnataka player who will be following the team news in anticipation. Manish Pandey is a strong contender for a batting berth after he led run-charts in the Ranji Trophy with his aggressive batting, and has also impressed in IPL. He has put Rohit Sharma’s place in the Twenty20 side under pressure.Ravindra Jadeja and Yusuf Pathan are likely to hold on to their places, thereby making it difficult for a second spinner to be included in the touring party. Given Dhoni is just coming out of injury, Dinesh Karthik is also likely to make the trip, although he has been decent even solely as a batsman in Twenty20.Zaheer, Praveen Kumar and Harbhajan Singh are the certainties in the bowling department. If the selectors are assured that Nehra will recover in time, he will be a shoo-in too. At least two out of Vinay, Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth should be picked, if Nehra is not taken along.Robin Uthappa’s fireworks in the IPL, and Irfan Pathan’s return to fitness, do make a case for considering players out of the 30 probables named, but sources indicate the selectors are not likely to go down that route. On a slight tangent, reports suggest that the BCCI is not happy with Gambhir and Nehra’s visit to a Sri Lankan ayurvedic doctor without keeping the board in the loop. It is also likely to ask the IPL teams to go easy on the injured or recovering players, should they be picked for the World Twenty20.Likely squad: Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (capt and wk), Manish Pandey/Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, and two out of Ashish Nehra, Sreesanth, R Vinay Kumar, and Ishant Sharma

Lord's want two Tests during Olympic summer

Keith Bradshaw, the MCC chief executive, has said there won’t be any reduction in the amount of international cricket staged at Lord’s during the Olympic summer in 2012

Cricinfo staff20-Mar-2010Keith Bradshaw, the MCC chief executive, has said there won’t be any reduction in the amount of international cricket staged at Lord’s during the Olympic summer in 2012 despite the ground being used as the venue for archery during the two-week showpiece.The Olympics will be staged from July 27 to August 12 and Lord’s will be taken over for a period of about a month from early July by organisers. However, MCC are still aiming to host two Test matches during the season after Bradshaw confirmed they were bidding for a West Indies game to go alongside a Test against South Africa and three ODIs.The South Africa Test will be played after the Olympics once the ground has been returned to MCC following the Olympics. Meanwhile Middlesex will play their home matches at various outgrounds including Southgate and Uxbridge while Lord’s is unavailable.”There is no impact for us financially,” Bradshaw said. “We have an England v South Africa Test and once we have rehabilitation of the ground and turf [after the Olympics] that will be done.”At the moment we have one Test and three one-day internationals in 2012, but there are other matches that have just come out for tender which we will be bidding for such as a West Indies match. Having archery here at Lord’s will have no impact on the schedule.”However, although MCC are confident in their position the Olympics will have a significant impact on the cricket schedule for the 2012 season. No competing international events can be staged in cities hosting Games events, which means the ECB will have a limited number of venues to choose from during the period.Npower, who sponsor Test series in England, have said they may reconsider their commitment because of the impact of the Olympics on their exposure in cricket during the 2012 summer.”We’re not clear about what will actually happen in 2012 in terms of fixtures during the Olympics in London, as it is a July and August event,” said marketing director Kevin Peake. “That’s why we’re sponsoring to the end of next season, rather than until 2012.”Our understanding is that no other sporting event is allowed to happen in London during that period. Cricket is a summer sport, that’s the thing. You buy into it and the summer of 2012 is unique.”Meanwhile, plans have been revealed for what Lord’s will look like during the Games. The action will take place with the backdrop of the pavilion with the archers firing towards the nursery ground and media centre.There will be temporary seating for 5000 spectators close to the action although it has yet to be confirmed exactly what role the pavilion will play. It may be restricted for IOC officials, competitors and organisers but could yet be opened up to the public.

Alviro Petersen and Heino Kuhn give visitors control

Alviro Petersen and Heino Kuhn cracked hundreds as South Africa A put in a commanding batting display on the second day against Bangladesh A at Mirpur

Cricinfo staff24-Apr-2010
ScorecardAlviro Petersen and Heino Kuhn cracked hundreds as South Africa A put in a commanding batting display on the second day against Bangladesh A at Mirpur. The twin tons along with a number of useful contributions elsewhere led the visitors to 436 for 5, a lead of 90, and with Kuhn unbeaten on 140 alongside Thami Tsolekile on 59 the advantage could swell to commanding proportions.The innings was given a strong base in reply to Bangladesh’s 346 with Petersen and Dean Elgar added 103 for the first wicket in 19 overs. It was a scoring rate maintained throughout much of the day as runs came at a touch under five an over.When Petersen fell to Faisal Hossain for 116 the home side would have hopes of getting back into the match with South Africa A on 217 for 4, but a fifth-wicket stand of 106 between Kuhn and Jonathan Vandier (51) took the game away from them. Kuhn, who is known on the South Africa domestic scene for scoring rapid runs, took three hours over his hundred while Tsolekile ensured the momentum wasn’t lost in his 70-ball innings.There wasn’t much for the Bangladesh attack to enjoy although Faisal toiled hard for his three wickets. Noor Hossain took the other two scalps but conceded seven an over, while it was a disappointing day for Shahadat Hossain as he went wicketless through 12 overs.

Modi files reply to BCCI chargesheet

Lalit Modi, the suspended IPL chairman, has filed his reply to the BCCI’s show-cause notice in typically dramatic fashion

Nagraj Gollapudi15-May-2010Lalit Modi, the suspended IPL chairman, has filed his reply to the
BCCI’s show-cause notice in typically dramatic fashion – the reply and
supporting evidence run into approximately 15,000 pages and were wheeled into the BCCI headquarters in six large cardboard cartons. His lawyer
Mehmood Abdi, who oversaw the delivery in Modi’s absence, sounded
bullish during an impromptu press conference in Mumbai, saying he believed the response would satisfy the board and
get his client reinstated.None of the principals involved – Modi, the BCCI
president Shashank Manohar and secretary N Srinivasan – were present
at Saturday’s handover. The documents were received by Ratnakar
Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer.Modi is in Monaco for the Formula 1 Grand Prix, from where he wrote on his Twitter page that he would speak in public after giving the BCCI time to go through his reply. “All I have to say for the moment is I have replied in complete detail to all charges even though there were no complaints, but as if there were,” he wrote.Modi was earlier expected to submit his reply on May 11, but had
requested the board for a five-day extension, asking for more
documents to prepare his defence. But for the restless media the
wait continued into the early evening today as Modi’s counsel,
expected to arrive in the second half, only did so at 6 pm.After spending nearly an hour making the submission, a smiling Abdi
walked out with a victory sign, proudly holding the reply document.
The BCCI show-cause comprised 35 pages but Modi’s reply ran along 160
pages; about 15,000 pages of additional evidence was neatly
packed into two separate boxes, marked separately for the perusal of
Manohar and Srinivasan.Abdi said his triumphal gesture was just an indication of the
confidence he had in Modi’s defence and the possibility of quick justice despite an
exhaustive reply document which one smart reporter
pointed out equalled the defence of the convicted
terrorist in the Mumbai attacks, Ajmal Kasab. “I showed the sign because the BCCI president is an eminent lawyer and he shouldn’t take more than four hours to wind
it up,” Abdi said.”The documents we have filed today are voluminous but the BCCI
president is an eminent lawyer, he is in the habit of reading
thousands of pages in minutes, so we hope for an early decision,” Abdi
said. “This is in simple prose and is a direct defence of Mr Modi. I
am confident the president would be satisfied 100 percent, 1000
percent and he would be re-instated forthwith. Modi should be
reinstated as IPL chairman and BCCI vice-president.”Incidentally, Abdi contested the basic premise the BCCI used for
suspending Modi. The board had suspended Modi under Clause 32 (iv) of
the Memorandum and the Rules and Regulations of the BCCI. Under the
said rules, the secretary, in consultation with the BCCI president,
must issue a notice for the alleged misconduct. Abdi stressed that for the
board to issue a show-cause, it should have received a “written
complaint”.”The show-cause notice issued under Article 32 (iv) of the BCCI
by-laws has not been properly applied in case of Mr Lalit Modi.
Ideally there should have been a show-cause based on a written complaint.
After receiving that complaint a show-cause could have been issued and
if the president was not satisfied with the reply then he could have
referred the matter to the disciplinary committee. The day the
committee takes charge of the complaint the proceeding would have
started whereas in this case he has been put under suspension from day
one,” Abdi pointed out.According to Abdi, the very fact that the charges were based mostly on
oral allegations strengthened Modi’s case in a big way. He said that
his client had constantly requested the board to reveal the name of
the “reliable source”, who verbally alleged to Manohar that Modi was
involved in tarnishing the board’s image and the game, and also
rigging the auction for the two new franchises in March. In his email
exchanges with Srinivasan this week, Modi demanded more details about
the source and questioned why his/her name was not being revealed
by the board, which is calling the alleged verbal conversation
“private and confidential”.On May 13, Modi received a shot in the arm when the board wrote back, saying he could reply on the basis of the paperwork handed over to him by the BCCI. “All facts and documents, on which the notice has been issued, have been supplied to you,” the board said. “You may send your reply on the basis of the facts and documents which have been referred to.”Abdi said the documents submitted by the BCCI were of routine nature
and negligible consequence. “The main thing the show-cause notice says
is based on the hearsay or gossips because [it is] despite [Modi] having impressed
upon the BCCI twice or thrice to come out with names of the people who
have made allegations against Mr Modi. Mr Modi told the BCCI I reserve the
right to cross-examine these people. Two days back, the BCCI wrote back to
us that we are going to rely upon on the documents we have supplied to
you. But still Mr Modi has tried to explain even the charges made in
these oral allegations.”There have been indications since April 26, when the chargesheet was
issued, that Modi would reveal another side to the charges to indicate
that any culpability in this issue was not his alone. Abdi seemed
to back that up on Saturday. He referred to , or
games within games, and said the response would “give a new
perspective to the issue.”Abdi said Modi, despite having suffered immense “pain due to the sweeping oral
allegations”, has still managed to exercise patience. “Despite the
tone, tenor and the content of the show-cause being quite provocative,
Mr Modi has been able to maintain calm and restraint while responding
to the queries or allegations raised.”In its notice to Modi, handed over shortly after the IPL final in
Mumbai, the BCCI listed five principal charges. These include doubts
over the bids for the Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab franchises,
a “facilitation fee” for renegotiation of the IPL broadcast rights,
rigging of the franchise bids in 2010 and Modi’s “behavioural
pattern.”The next significant step in this matter is likely to take a while.
Modi’s reply will now be taken up by the BCCI; if it is not satisfied
with the reply, it will refer the case to its three-man disciplinary
committee.Lawyers Harish Salve, Ram Jethmalani, Mahesh Jethmalani, Swadeep Vohra, Abhishek Singh and Venkatesh Dhone along with Abdi’s own team drafted the reply.

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