Dhoni's message: Let's change cricket in India

"Desh badla, bhesh badlo (The nation's changed, now change your deportment)", says Indian one-day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in one of his latest advertisements. And now, he may as well add: "Ab cricket badlo (Now, let's change cricket)".

 

Instead of resorting to doublespeak, Dhoni has put his mouth where his money is. Within days of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajiv Shukla saying that tired players can inform the board and opt to rest, Dhoni has done just that.

 

Like parents need to keep a check on kids running amuck in a candy store, the board needs to take care of its players. Instead of asking them to take a decision to opt out of tours, they probably need to cut down on cricket and preserve the charm of the game.

 

I don't even remember who played whom last week, let alone last month. And the list of injured players is such that it may as well lead the board to even float a tender for an official hospital.

 

Dhoni has for some time been indicating that there is a lot of cricket with little rest and recently when he chose to articulate it in public, the BCCI - or at least its most vocal Shukla - reacted fairly strongly. Dhoni, in his typical way, has answered back in style.

 

That's something not many Indian cricketers - barring Sachin Tendulkar - have ever done in the past decade and a half. Many players have confided in private that they are scared of opting out of a series simply because of the danger of players coming in their place doing well and cementing their place in the side. Of course, there's that little matter of a few extra million rupees in the bank.

 

Sceptics might say players from here on will tend to preserve themselves for the lucrative shorter versions of the game. Remember, Dhoni was not fully fit after the strenuous Australia tour and yet he played in all three Tests against South Africa, leading the side to victory in the last Test to square the series in the absence of an injured skipper Anil Kumble.

 

Sceptics may also say Dhoni could well have opted out of the Bangladesh tri-series or the Asia Cup. But wouldn't that have looked ridiculous coming on the back of the backbreaking Indian Premier League, where Dhoni earned a whopping $1.5 million? Also remember he is a successful captain in both one-day and Twenty20 cricket.

 

Dhoni has often indicated that he is building a team for the 2011 World Cup but he also understands the importance and intrinsic value of Test cricket. His decision to skip the Sri Lanka tour is a pragmatic one, keeping in view his long career ahead.

 

The last year and a half have seen him play no less than 14 Test matches, four times that number - 56 - of one-dayers and about 25-odd Twenty20 matches. That really is an awful lot of cricket - nearly 150 days - and as many days of travelling in about 540 days.

 

Dhoni's decision may indeed be path breaking - like much else that he has done - and is a clear message to the administrators that they are indeed pushing the players beyond their physical limits. So what if they are professionals - they are human too.

 

Players are moving around like zombies; they are carrying injuries or are on the verge of breaking down. Look at the fast bowlers - all of them look tired but still want to carry on. And if their injuries are discovered, the media pans them and out they go. Who knows they may not even get back into the team.

 

Yes, Dhoni has the stature and the guts to take such a decision, but will others be able to do the same? Unlikely.

 

Source: Indo-Asian News Service

Pakistans Mohammad Asif fails IPL dope test

New Delhi, July 14 (ANI): The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today announced that Pakistani fast bowler Mohammad Asif tested positive for a banned substance during random testing at the Indian Premier League.

The Indian Cricket Board has confirmed the player who was under the drug scanner during the IPL, is Mohammad Asif.

Asif, 25, played for the Delhi Daredevils team in the IPL, a lucrative Twenty20 tournament that ran from April 18-June 1 and featured the worlds top players.

The Pakistan Cricket Board had been informed of Asifs positive test and it depended on the player if he wanted his B sample to be tested, the statement said.

If Asif takes up the offer, the case will be referred to the IPLs three-member Drugs Tribunal that includes former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, once the results of the B sample are known.

The lanky seamer faces a ban from future editions of the IPL and possible punishment from the Pakistan board if all tests go against him.

Asif was detained at Dubai airport for three weeks for possessing opium while returning from the IPL in June. But Dubai public prosecutors dropped the case citing “insignificance” and deported him to Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has put the onus of taking action against Asif on the BCCI.

The ICC is aware of an adverse analytical finding (AAF) from the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL), ICC said in a statement.

The ICC said it had been informed of the positive dope test, speculated to be of a sub-continental fast bowler, by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory where the randomly collected samples were tested. (ANI)

A IPL player tested positive: Modi

New Delhi: The IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi on Sunday night confirmed that a player has tested positive in WADA's random dope test, conducted during the inaugural Indian Premier League tournament.

 

However, Modi insisted that it was too early to say if the player failed the drug test as there are several procedures to follow to get to a conclusion.

 

A cricket website -- cricketnirvana.Com -- had earlier claimed that a player from sub-continent had failed the random dope test.

 

"Two days ago the IPL received a letter from a Swiss agency, mandated by WADA, which said one sample had tested positive. The IPL will follow set procedures from now on," Modi said.

 

Describing the procedure, Modi said, first of all the identity of the player with the sample has to be matched. Then the form, which the player filled before the tournament will be scrutinised for any pre-declared or prescribed drug. And if that matches the drug found in the sample, the matter ends there. In case that does not happen, the player is informed and a 'B' sample is sent for testing. If that, too, is positive the matter will be taken up by the IPL's drugs tribunal.

 

The tribunal will consist of a leading doctor, a former cricketer and a lawyer. The committee will study the issue and take a decision, for which there will be a separate appeals tribunal.

 

"This is just the procedure. As of now we are at the first stage where one sample has tested positive. The issue is now with the IPL's medical committee. The identity of the player will matter only after we check on the pre-declared drugs," he said.

IPL player tests positive for dope

Mumbai: The billion-dollar Indian Premier League (IPL) was hit by another controversy on Sunday with one of the random doping tests tunring out to be positive.

 

The IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi confirmed the development but refused to reveal the player’s name. "We will come to know who the player is probably on Monday," Modi told Hindustan Times over phone.

 

The dope tests during the inaugural IPL, held from April 18 to June 1, were conducted in accordance with the WADA guidelines and a minimum punishment for first time offenders under the code is two years. However, a second time offender faces a life ban.

 

"Now we are at the first stage where one sample has tested positive. The issue is now with the IPL’s medical committee. The identity of the player will matter only after we check on the pre-declared drugs," Modi said.

 

It is believed that the WADA-accredited laboratory, where the samples were analysed, had informed the IPL authorities about the postive dope test two days ago.

 

It might be recalled that the random dope tests could not take place from the beginning of the IPL following a recommendation of official doctors who felt that the less-informed players from the 'Catchment Areas' had to be briefed on banned substances before being subjected to such tests.

 

The IPL also witnessed a major controversy when Mumbai team’s stand-in skipper Harbhajan Singh was banned for 11 matches after he slapped Mohali paceman S Sreesanth at the end of a match.

IPL dope case: PCB braces itself for controversy

Karachi: The Pakistan cricket Board was sent into another vortex of tension on Sunday night as the Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi confirmed that a player has tested positive in WADA's random dope test, conducted during the inaugural Indian Premier League tournament.

 

With the Indian media indicating that the sample belonged to a fast bowler from the sub-continent, the PCB braced itself for another controversy just days after it got over the Mohammad Asif detention case in Dubai.

 

"Right now we are not in the picture at all. Because this positive test is purely an internal matter of the IPL and the Indian Cricket Board. And so far we have not been told by anyone that any of our player's might be involved," a source at the PCB said.

 

But already suspicion is being raised that the player whose sample had tested positive might be from Pakistan with Asif having undergone a test in the IPL while playing for the Delhi Daredevils.

 

"Umar Gul also had a test but Shoaib Akhtar was not picked for any test," a source close to the Pakistani player who took part in the IPL said.

 

IPL dope scandal: ICC puts onus on BCCI

Dubai: Rattled by the dope scandal that has hit the recently-concluded inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has put the onus of taking action against the guilty player on the BCCI.

 

"The ICC is aware of an adverse analytical finding (AAF) from the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL)," cricket's world governing body said in a statement here.

 

The ICC said it had been informed of the positive dope test, speculated to be of a sub-continental fast bowler, by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory where the randomly-collected samples were tested.

 

"When an AAF arises, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory that has tested the sample sends a report to the commissioning body (IPL) and copies in WADA and the International Federation, in this case the ICC." "As with any AAF that arises during a testing programme organised by one of the ICC's Members, it is the responsibility of that Member, in this case the BCCI, to deal with the process in a timely and fair manner," the ICC statement read.

 

The ICC said it would keep a close eye on the way BCCI handles the matter to ensure that the guilty player is brought to book.

 

"The ICC is proud of its status as a WADA signatory and will be closely monitoring the situation to ensure the correct action is taken by the BCCI. The ICC retains a right of appeal if any penalty that may be imposed is inconsistent with the WADA Code."

 

Speculation is rife that the erring player might be Pakistani speedster Mohammad Asif, who was last month embroiled in a drug possession case in Dubai leading to a 19-day detention for him.