‘Talks for 10th team soon’
Jabalpur: IPl chairman Rajiv Shukla has said that discussions on inducting another team in the cash-rich Twenty20 league would be held soon after the end of the ongoing sixth edition of the tournament. “The issue of tenth team in the IPl would be discussed after the end of the current edition,” Shukla told reporters here last evening. He said that there would be no change in its current format, which permits only a maximum of four foreign players to play in any team. Terming the Indian Premier league as the “most popular game” in the world after football, Shukla said that it is being telecast live in 198 countries across the globe. According to him, the BCCI had given Rs50 crore to the Union Ministry for Sports for promotion of other sports, but the Income Tax Department objected to it saying it had no right to do so. This year the BCCI has paid Rs950 crore tax to the Income Tax Department, he said.
Continuous rain no threat
Dharamsala: An unprecedented rain that lashed the hill town and its surroundings might have left the organisers of the IPl worried with matches scheduled on May 16 and 18 but the ground-in-charge expressed confidence of getting the field ready even an hour after the rain stoppage. However, the ground in charge at the HPCA Cricket Stadium said that the field is totally covered and even if the rains continue till the last moment, the groudsmen could start the match within an hour of its stoppage. “The met department has predicted that the weather will improve after Tuesday and it is likely be a sunny on 16th (Thursday) and 18th (Saturday). The stadium is the “home ground” of Kings XI Punjab, who will take on Delhi Daredevils on Thursday at 8 pm, while face Mumbai Indians on Saturday at 4 pm. This is the first time the Mumbai Indians will be visiting Dharamsala and with Sachin Tendulkar in their ranks, all the tickets of match are already being sold out.
Four arrested for betting
New Delhi: With the arrest of four men, Delhi Police on Sunday claimed to have smashed a betting racket operating during the ongoing IPl series. Rajinder Kumar Ahuja (39), Ravi Bellan (30), Vinay Kumar (38) and Ajay Arora (28) were apprehended from Uttam Nagar in west Delhi on Saturday while they were allegedly receiving bets during the IPl match between Mumbai Indians and Pune Warriors. A raid was conducted and all the four were arrested from Ahuja’s residence, Ravindra Yadav, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime), said. “The accused were using two telephone lines to receive the betting rates from the bookies. They were also writing the ‘satta’ deals received from the punters and recording the conversation on other mobile phones,” he said. Ahuja told police that the other three accused are his paid workers who are given Rs1,000 each besides the commission, Yadav said. Police also claimed it had recovered ten mobile phones, stake money of Rs45,500, an lCD TV and two calculators. PNS/Agencies