Bangladesh Premier League franchises face tax issues

• The National Board of Revenue in Bangladesh has frozen the bank accounts of Shihab Trading Company, the firm that bought the ticket-selling rights for the inaugural edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and owns one of the league’s franchises, the Dhaka Gladiators.
• “We have asked our officials to attach, or freeze, all bank accounts of Shihab Trading Company after they failed to pay us any of the tax levied on the BPL’s ticket sales,” Kanon Kumar Roy, director general of Directorate of Inspection (Taxes), said. “We asked them to pay 5% of all ticket sales, which amounted to Tk 2.25 crore [$275,000 approx]. They insisted it was Tk 2.16 crore [$265,000 approx], but they haven’t paid any money as tax.”
• In response, Shihab Trading Company chairman Salim Chowdhury told Ekattor TV: “I think there has been a miscommunication. The tickets that we gave to the BCB [to distribute] are worth Tk 20-22 crore, so those tickets can’t be taxed.”
• Also, Roy said, till now, only one out of the six BPL franchises have met tax requirements. “One franchise [unnamed] has been forthcoming, but the rest haven’t followed their lead.”

 

Sources: espncricinfo.com

Kaneria Found guilty, banned life time by ECB

                              Former Pakistan and Essex leg-spinner Danish Kaneria was banned for life by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Friday after being found guilty of corruption.

“We regard Danish Kaneria as a grave danger to the game of cricket and we must take every appropriate step to protect our game from his corrupt activities,” the board said in a statement.

The sanction means the 31-year-old is suspended from any involvement in the playing, organisation or administration of any cricket under the jurisdiction of the ECB.

Kaneria was found guilty of encouraging or attempting to encourage Essex team mate Mervyn Westfieldto underperform in a match in 2009, the board said.

Westfield was asked to concede a set number of runs during his opening over in a county match againstDurham in exchange for a payment of 6,000 pounds ($9,300).

Kaneria was named in a London court in February as a go-between in a spot-fixing scandal that resulted in Westfield being jailed for four months.

The Pakistan bowler, who took 261 wickets in 61 tests, denied the charges. He was described in the ECB ruling as having “shown no remorse and sought to cast blame on other plainly innocent persons”.

“plainly betrayed the trust reposed in him in his dealings with fellow team mates and we regard his persistent efforts to recruit spot fixers as being a seriously aggravating factor in his case,” said the board.

Since the scandal came to light following his arrest in 2010, Kaneria has not played for Pakistan.

Westfield, who has been released from prison, pleaded guilty to the ECB charge of accepting money to underperform and was banned for five years backdated to Feb. 17.

However, he can participate in club cricket for the final two years of the suspension.

The ECB praised Westfield for his “courage” to testify although his record will forever be tainted as the first English county cricketer to be convicted in court for spot-fixing.

The 24-year-old, who took 11 wickets in seven first-class matches, provided core evidence that was central to finding Kaneria guilty.

It has been a turbulent time for the international cricket community with former Pakistan captain Salman Butt released from prison in Britain on Thursday after serving seven months of a two-and-a-half year term for involvement in a spot-fixing scam. ($1 = 0.6427 British pounds)

Stallions could be Part of CLt20 2012.

India on Saturday invited Pakistan to take part in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament this year, breaking new ground in the stalled cricket ties between the arch-rivals.

Pakistan welcomes India invitation

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which met in Chennai on Saturday, gave the go ahead to Pakistan’s participation in the tournament which features leading domestic Twenty20 teams from around the world.

“The BCCI has decided to invite a team from Pakistan to play in the Champions League to be held in India in October,” BCCI chief Narayanaswami Srinivasan told reporters after the meeting.

The BCCI’s recommendation will be forwarded to the governing council of the Champions League which is owned by the cricket boards of India, Australia and South Africa, Srinivasan added.

India and Pakistan met in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh in March and the World Cup semi-final in India last year, but regular tours have been frozen since the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, blamed on Pakistan-based militants.

India postponed a tour to Pakistan scheduled for January 2009 in the wake of the Mumbai carnage, which left 166 people dead and many hundreds injured.
The latest move by the BCCI comes a month after Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who was on a private visit to New Delhi, urged Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to consider reviving cricket ties.

Srinivasan, asked if this was the first step towards reviving relations with Pakistan, said: “Today, the decision is limited to the Champions League. I don’t want to say anything beyond it.”

Pakistani teams did not feature in the first three editions of the Champions League, an off-shoot of the hugely popular Indian Premier League (IPL), which began in 2009.

Pakistani players have also been left out of the IPL after taking part in the inaugural season in 2008.

PCB welcomes BCCI invitation, hopes for “revival of Indo-Pak cricketing ties”

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has welcomed the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) invitation to compete in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament this year, saying it could lead to a “revival of Indo-Pak cricketing ties.”

“We feel it is a significant and positive development. We had been in touch with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over the participation of a Pakistan team and hope that this step could lead to a revival of Indo-Pak cricketing ties,” The News quoted Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) CEO, Subhan Ahmed, as saying.

The BCCI has approved a Pakistan-based Twenty20 team’s participation in the tournament which features leading domestic Twenty20 teams from around the world.

Shoaib Malik, the captain of Pakistan Twenty20 champions Sialkot Stallions, also welcomed the news.

“It’s great news and I am happy to hear this. We eat the same food and wear same clothes and when we play cricket, people of both countries come closer,” he said.

“I think it is a small step towards reviving Indo-Pak cricket and I pray this continues at all level,” he added.

The invite to the tournament, to be held in October in India, came a month after Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari urged Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to consider reviving cricket ties, during a private visit to New Delhi.

Sohail Tanvir Joins Worcestershire’s Friends Life T20

Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Tanvir has joined Worcestershire for this season’s Friends Life T20, replacing off-spinner Saeed Ajmal who withdrew due to his international commitments.

Tanvir, 27, was recalled to the Pakistan Twenty20 side earlier this week, for next month’s series against Sri Lanka.

He has also been part of Pakistan’s run to the final in the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, and their title win in England two years later.

He helped the Lions this year to reach the final of South Africa’s domestic T20 competition, and also captained his home side Rawalpindi Rams in the Faysal Bank Super Eight T-20 Cup.

Worcestershire Director of Cricket Steve Rhodes said that he was happy with Tanvir signing up.

“Sohail is an ideal replacement for Saeed Ajmal because Saeed was a tremendous bowler at the death and this is the type of role we want Sohail to play. Added to his bowling skills, he also has the ability to hit the ball hard which is an obvious asset at the end of our innings,” the Daily Times quoted Rhodes, as saying.

Tanvir has taken 83 wickets in his Twenty20 career, and his 6 for 14 against Chennai Super Kings in the first season of the IPL is the second-best figures in the format

KP ‘tired’ of justifying IPL stints

 

Kevin Pietersen has said he is “sick and tired” of having to repeatedly defend his participation in the Indian Premier League.

Pietersen has spent the past three weeks with the Delhi Daredevils franchise in the lucrative IPL, a domestic Indian Twenty20 tournament where teams are run by wealthy businessmen who bid for some of the world’s leading players in a pre-event ‘auction’.

Pitches in India are far removed from the seaming surfaces often encountered early on in an English season and there are those who contend it would be better for England, if not the star batsman’s bank balance, if South Africa-born Pietersen spent more time in March and April in his adopted homeland.

Surrey’s First Division County Championship match against Worcestershire at New Road, which started Wednesday, is Pietersen’s lone first-class match before England face the West Indies in the first Test at Lord’s next week.

But the 31-year-old, whose innings of 151 helped England claim their only Test win of a disappointing winter tour programme when they beat Sri Lanka in Colombo last month, insisted all was well with his preparation.

“It’s plain and simple. I’m sick and tired of having to defend myself about going to the IPL every year.

“It’s something that’s there which all the best players in the world play in. There is no need to defend myself.

“I will play in the IPL, it’s the best tournament going, and that’s the way it is.”

Pietersen, restricted to fielding duties as Worcestershire made 58 without loss on a rain-marred first day, added: “I feel like I’ve never batted better.”

Although the weather in Worcester is far different from what he’s been used to lately, Pietersen said the biggest hardship in taking part in this Championship match was that it would mean he missed his son Dylan’s second birthday on Thursday.

“It is different conditions. It’s 15 degrees. I’d like to see a two in front of the five! But it’s not a case of adapting to different conditions.

“I’ve been in England for 13 years now. It’s just adjusting. When you go to Sri Lanka and its 44-45 degrees, you have to adjust then as well.

“There are no dramas. I love doing what I’m doing.

“This week makes it very tough for me because I’ve been away for two months and haven’t seen my kid for two months and it’s his birthday tomorrow.

“It’s not the best situation for me but this is my job, this is what I’ve got to do, my family realises that and it doesn’t last forever.”

Pietersen has cut short his IPL stint so as to make himself available for England and he insisted there was no doubting where his loyalties lay.

“I love playing for England. It’s the best.

“Everyone says it’s a shame missing out on the IPL for the rest of the series. Yes it is, but I’m playing the best form of cricket next week.

“I’m playing in a Test match at Lord’s. Growing up as a kid, that’s the sort of thing you dream of.”

Professor Selected as Captain of T20 Team Pakistan

 

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed Mohammad Hafeez in place of Misbah ul Haq as the captain of the T20 squad for the upcoming tour to Sri Lanka. While Misbah would continue to lead the Pakistan side in Tests and ODIs, Hafeez will also be his deputy in the two formats.

Former captains Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik were in contention for captaining the T20 side but PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf has indicated that they were looking at a long-term option.

“Misbah has rendered great service to Pakistan cricket but we felt it is time to appoint someone younger for T20 format,” Ashraf told a press conference, on Thursday.

“We have picked Hafeez keeping in mind the future but Misbah will continue to lead in Tests and ODIs. The appointments are for the coming tour to Sri Lanka,” he said.

Pakistan will tour Sri Lanka from May 29 to play three Tests, five ODIs and two T20 matches

Pakistan T20 Team

1	Khalid Latif
2	Ahmed Shahzad
3	Muhammad Hafeez (captain)
4	Shoaib Malik
5	Umer Akmal
6	Shakeel Ansar (WK)
7	Shahid Afridi
8	Yasir Arfat
9	Umer Gul
10	Sohail Tanveer
11	Saeed Ajmal
12	Raza Hassan
13	Haris Sohail
14	Mohammad Sami
15	Hammad Azam
16	Nasir Jamshed

Pakistan ODI Team

1	Muhammad Hafeez (vice-captain)
2	Nasir Jamshed
3	Younis Khan
4	Misbah ul Haq (captain)
5	Umer Akmal
6	Sarfraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper)
7	Shahid Afridi
8	Umer Gul
9	Rahat Ali
10	Saeed Ajmal
11	Abdul Rehman
12	Mohammad Sami
13	Asad Shafiq
14	Aizaz Cheema
15	Azhar Ali
16	Imran Farhat

Pakistan Test Team

1	Muhammad Hafeez (vice-captain)
2	Taufiq Umer
3	Azhar Ali
4	Misbah ul Haq (captain)
5	Younus Khan
6	Asad Shafiq
7	Adnan Akmal (wicket-keeper)
8	Umer Gul
9	Saeed Ajmal
10	Abdul Rehman
11	Mohammad Sami
12	Faisal Iqbal
13	Junaid Khan
14	Afaq Raheem
15	Muhammad Ayub Dogar
16	Aizaz Cheema

Pakistan Premier League to be finilized in this month

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is confident about finalising its Premier League Twenty20 competition in a month’s time after receiving a series of presentations from foreign and local broadcasters and sports management companies, sources said.

“Right now the presentations are hovering around the concept of the premier league for Pakistan.

The financial and other aspects of the event will be finalised later on,” the Daily Times quoted a PCB official, as saying.

He said the costs of the Premier League is likely to be financed through sponsors, broadcasting rights and other avenues.

“In fact we are hopeful that we might end up making profits from the first season of the Premier League,” he said.
The PCB official said there were suggestions that due to security concerns in Pakistan, the tournament should be held in the UAE.

“But the PCB’s point is very clear that the event will be launched from Pakistan. Our feeling is that if we start the Premier League from abroad it would be difficult to get it back to Pakistan,” he said.

“The league should get its name in a month’s time if everything goes according to plan,” the official said.
“The most positive aspect has been that parties and sponsors have shown interest to be part of PCB’s league,” he added.

A new hope for Pakistani fans

Pakistan Premier League 2012, Making something to cheer for Pakistan fans, atleast now they can think of their own league, as I believe if this will happen, a new history be created by the Pakistan Cricket Board,.

Especailly Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Mr. Zaka Ashraf will make his impact very much impressive as we think that black era of Pakistan cricket is over as Ijaz But left the PCB chief seat.

Now we can think about our own League Pakistan Premier League, Too many international players are eager to play in it, specially Sanath Jaysuriya, Andrew Symonds, Brain Lara, many in list.

 

Asia Cup Fixtures & Squads.

Follow Asia Cup 2012 in Bangladesh, we are here sharing with you all the fixtures & teams except Bangladesh, Bangladesh will have to announce their squad,

Asia Cup / Sri Lanka Squad

 

Mahela Jayawardene captain Age: 34 years 280 days Playing role: Batsman Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm medium	Angelo Mathews vice-captain Age: 24 years 274 days Playing role: Allrounder Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm fast-medium
Dinesh Chandimal wicketkeeper Age: 22 years 105 days Playing role: Wicketkeeper batsman Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm offbreak	Tillakaratne Dilshan Age: 35 years 140 days Playing role: Allrounder Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm offbreak
Nuwan Kulasekara Age: 29 years 224 days Playing role: Bowler Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm fast-medium	Suranga Lakmal Age: 24 years 358 days Playing role: Bowler Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm medium-fast
Farveez Maharoof Age: 27 years 177 days Playing role: Allrounder Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm fast-medium	Lasith Malinga Age: 28 years 187 days Playing role: Bowler Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm fast
Thisara Perera Age: 22 years 334 days Playing role: Allrounder Batting: Left-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm medium-fast	Seekkuge Prasanna Age: 26 years 249 days Playing role: Allrounder Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Legbreak
Kumar Sangakkara wicketkeeper Age: 34 years 127 days Playing role: Wicketkeeper batsman Batting: Left-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm offbreak	Sachithra Senanayake Age: 27 years 22 days Playing role: Allrounder Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm offbreak
Upul Tharanga Age: 27 years 29 days Playing role: Batsman Batting: Left-hand bat	Lahiru Thirimanne Age: 22 years 176 days Playing role: Batsman Batting: Left-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm medium-fast

Asia Cup / Pakistan Squad

Misbah-ul-Haq captain Age: 37 years 280 days Playing role: Middle-order batsman Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Legbreak	Abdur Rehman Age: 32 years 2 days Playing role: Bowler Batting: Left-hand bat Bowling: Slow left-arm orthodox
Aizaz Cheema Age: 32 years 180 days Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm medium-fast	Asad Shafiq Age: 26 years 35 days Playing role: Middle-order batsman Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Legbreak
Azhar Ali Age: 27 years 13 days Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Legbreak	Hammad Azam Age: 20 years 353 days Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm medium
Mohammad Hafeez Age: 31 years 138 days Playing role: Allrounder Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm offbreak	Nasir Jamshed Age: 22 years 88 days Batting: Left-hand bat
Saeed Ajmal Age: 34 years 141 days Playing role: Bowler Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm offbreak	Sarfraz Ahmed wicketkeeper Age: 24 years 286 days Batting: Right-hand bat
Shahid Afridi Age: 32 years 2 days Playing role: Allrounder Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Legbreak googly	Umar Akmal Age: 21 years 282 days Playing role: Middle-order batsman Batting: Right-hand bat
Umar Gul Age: 27 years 324 days Playing role: Bowler Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm fast-medium	Wahab Riaz Age: 26 years 249 days Playing role: Bowler Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Left-arm fast-medium
Younis Khan Age: 34 years 95 days Playing role: Middle-order batsman Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm medium

 

Asia Cup / India Squad

February 29, 2012

MS Dhoni captain/keeper Age: 30 years 237 days Playing role: Wicketkeeper batsman Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm medium	Virat Kohli vice-captain Age: 23 years 116 days Playing role: Middle-order batsman Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm medium
Ravichandran Ashwin Age: 25 years 165 days Playing role: Bowler Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm offbreak	Ashok Dinda Age: 27 years 341 days Playing role: Bowler Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm medium-fast
Gautam Gambhir Age: 30 years 138 days Playing role: Top-order batsman Batting: Left-hand bat Bowling: Legbreak	Ravindra Jadeja Age: 23 years 85 days Playing role: Allrounder Batting: Left-hand bat Bowling: Slow left-arm orthodox
Praveen Kumar Age: 25 years 150 days Playing role: Bowler Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm medium	Irfan Pathan Age: 27 years 125 days Playing role: Allrounder Batting: Left-hand bat Bowling: Left-arm medium-fast
Yusuf Pathan Age: 29 years 104 days Playing role: Allrounder Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm offbreak	Suresh Raina Age: 25 years 94 days Playing role: Batsman Batting: Left-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm offbreak
Rahul Sharma Age: 25 years 91 days Playing role: Bowler Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Legbreak googly	Rohit Sharma Age: 24 years 305 days Playing role: Batsman Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm offbreak
Sachin Tendulkar Age: 38 years 311 days Playing role: Top-order batsman Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm offbreak	Manoj Tiwary Age: 26 years 107 days Playing role: Batsman Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Legbreak googly
Vinay Kumar Age: 28 years 17 days Playing role: Bowler Batting: Right-hand bat Bowling: Right-arm medium

 

Asia Cup, 2011/12 / Fixtures

Date and Time	Match	Weather
Sun Mar 11 08:00 GMT | 14:00 local 13:00 PKT	1st Match – Bangladesh v Pakistan Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur	N/A
Tue Mar 13 08:00 GMT | 14:00 local 13:00 PKT	2nd Match – India v Sri Lanka Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur	N/A
Thu Mar 15 08:00 GMT | 14:00 local 13:00 PKT	3rd Match – Pakistan v Sri Lanka Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur	N/A
Fri Mar 16 08:00 GMT | 14:00 local 13:00 PKT	4th Match – Bangladesh v India Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur	N/A
Sun Mar 18 08:00 GMT | 14:00 local 13:00 PKT	5th Match – India v Pakistan Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur	N/A
Tue Mar 20 08:00 GMT | 14:00 local 13:00 PKT	6th Match – Bangladesh v Sri Lanka Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur	N/A
Thu Mar 22 08:00 GMT | 14:00 local 13:00 PKT	Final – TBC v TBC Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur	N/A