The Mudgal panel, probing into allegations of betting and spot-fixing in the IPL, submitted its damning report on Monday; but it left a bombshell at the court's discretion by pointing an accusing finger at six capped India players, including one currently in the team.
At this point, very few people are aware of these six names; but if indeed many players have taken the betting game too far, a lot more will be having anxious nights. The innocent players, though, will also be anxious but in an excited kind of way.
As we have seen in earlier editions, the auction can spring many surprises. Those on the fringes will wonder if they can somehow break into the lucrative league, while the marquee players will hope that they hit the jackpot.
Most of the Indian players here won't be too concerned as they have already been retained by their franchises: Dhoni, Kohli, Ashwin, Dhawan, Jadeja, Rahane, Rayudu, Rohit will only be watching the proceedings with vicarious interest. The others, however, will keep their fingers crossed until their names come out of the jar.
Zaheer Khan is obviously one of the biggest stars from here who will go under the hammer; it will, however, be fascinating to see if he will command lot of interest, especially given his battles with fitness. His pace too will be a matter for concern, especially among teams who have a long-term plan in mind.
Mohammed Shami might well turn out to be the man in demand, given his sterling performances recently; Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, despite being erratic, might attract attention. Ishwar Pandey might well turn out to be the surprise package among the pacers, with Umesh Yadav not too far behind.
Cheteshwar Pujara might also be in demand despite being branded as a Test batsman; M Vijay, a loyal Chennai Super Kings servant, will be hoping that the joker-card has been conceived only for him. But on the other hand, he might well be happy if he has to go elsewhere, given the state of his team.
Corey Anderson will be the man on tenterhooks in the New Zealand camp; at one point, he was seen as a 'prize catch' but there may be some doubts on his winnability as a bowler, after the Auckland Test. He will, of course, be much sought after but now certain team owners might decide not to go beyond a particular price.
Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor will be in demand, and as veterans of this game, they know that they will probably have million-dollar smiles by the end of the day. In all, 22 NZ players have put themselves up for sale. But Jesse Ryder might have kissed his chances goodbye, unless some maverick owner goes for him.
If that happens, for once, he will have a good night's sleep and not worry about how he destroyed his career.
0 comments:
Post a Comment