Johannesburg: The Champions League Twenty20 Technical Committee has approved the changes made by Chennai Super Kings for injured Dwayne Bravo and Anirudh Srikkanth.

Both Bravo and Srikkanth have been forced out of the tournament due to injuries and will be replaced by Sri Lankan bowler Nuwan Kulasakera and Shadab Jakati.

Bravo is suffering from a thigh strain while Srikkanth sustained a fall in a domestic cricket match last week and will be out of action for six weeks following a fracture to his right clavicle.

The committee has also approved changes by Sri Lanka’s UVA Next and England’s Yorkshire squads.

For UVA Next, left-handed batsman Upul Tharanga won’t make the trip to South Africa due to a broken finger. He would be replaced by former Sri Lankan under-19 captain, Ashan Priyanjana.

England international Johnny Bairstow also won’t be a part of Yorkshire side due to a wrist injury. Ed Wilson, an 18-year old wicketkeeper batsman, has been called up as his replacement.(PTI)

A crisis appears to have been averted between the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (T&TCB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) making sure that 15 players selected for the Champions League will be turn out when the tournament starts Oct 10 in South Africa.

It is alleged that the five players who are currently in Sri Lanka representing the West Indies at the World Cup had asked WIPA to demand more money on their behalf for the trip.

The players are Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Ravi Rampaul, skipper Denesh Ramdin and leg-spinner Samuel Badree.

The players demanded that the T&TCB give them a share of the transfer fee they got for Indian Premier League (IPL) players Sunil Narine, Dwayne Bravo and Keiron Pollard. The TTCB got $150,000 for each of the three players.

The board refused the players demand and they were replaced.

But chairman of the selection panel Dudnath Ramkessoon said the situation is now under control and the five players in Sri Lanka will be joining the squad in South Africa in time for the tournament.

“The players have agreed to go to South Africa if negotiations between the board and WIPA continues” said Ramkessoon

“As a result, we are going to get the original 15-man squad across in South Africa playing for us.”

The T&T Cricket Board said each player on the 15-man squad is guaranteed a payment of more than US $20,000 for the two qualifying matches slated for Oct 10 and 11 in Johannesburg.

Should the team advance to the main draw of the competition, the T&TCB is guaranteed an additional $200,000, before taxes.

And the T&TCB has informed the squad, comprising 15 players, five technical staff and three administrators that 75 percent of the monies and any other prize money won by the team will be shared among them.

In South Africa, the T&T team will wear a kit outfitted with the logo of National Gas Company of T&T for which the players will receive more than half of the negotiated sponsorship.

The sponsorship input, plus 75 percent of the participation fee which the T&TCB will collect make up the more than $20,000 payment to each player on the squad, the T&TCB said.

“We are thankful that the players are going and we now have a job on our hands to get the players re-focused on the task ahead” said team manager Omar Khan, who left with 10 of the locally-based players Thursday evening.

“They have to put the off field problems behind them and go out there and do their best. They have to remember that they are representing not only their country but the entire Caribbean at the Champions League,” he said.

© IANS

Cricket South Africa (CSA) staff will not receive any kind of bonus for hosting the Champions League Twenty20, according to organisers.

“We don”t receive bonuses for running events,” Sports24 quoted tournament director Naasei Appiah, as saying.

When South Africa hosted the Indian Premier League in 2009 bonuses were paid to the CSA staff, which led to a huge controversy over corrupt payments during the money-spinning tournament.

Around 4.7 million South Africa rands were shared between the federation”s employees without being cleared by the board or the remuneration committee.

The Champions League T20 is a spin-off of the IPL and begins next week with six teams playing qualifying matches for two spots in the main tournament, which kicks off on October 13.

The eight competing teams, to be joined by the two qualifiers, include the Highveld Lions, the Titans, the Sydney Sixers (Australia), Perth Scorchers (Australia), Kolkata Knight Riders (India), Chennai Super Kings (India), Delhi Daredevils (India) and the Mumbai Indians (India).
© ANI

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Saturday decided to invite Pakistan’s domestic Twenty20 champions for the Champions League tournament to be hosted by India in October.

The BCCI working committee’s decision to invite a Pakistani domestic team means domestic Twenty20 champions Sialkot Stallions, led by Shoaib Malik, would be seen in action in October.

Bilateral cricket ties between India and Pakistan have been put on hold after the terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008 by Pakistani nationals.

“The Working Committee has decided to invite a team from Pakistan to play in Champions League Twenty20 to be held in October,” BCCI president N. Srinivasan told reporters after the working committee meeting.

“This is a recommendation that the BCCI will make to the Governing Council. CLT20 is owned by BCCI, Cricket Australia, and Cricket South Africa. So we will recommend to the Governing Council that the BCCI has no objection and is prepared to invite a Pakistan team in the Champions League.

“CLT20 will be played in India. As far as inviting a Pakistani team is concerned, it will be done by the Governing Council. The BCCI will make the recommendation to the Governing Council which will decide on the matter,” he added.

During the meeting, the BCCI also decided that from the surplus of IPL, the board will make a one-time benefit payment to cricketers who have retired before 2003-04 in recognition of their services to Indian cricket, in both international and domestic levels. Around Rs.70 crore will be distributed among 160 cricketers.

The BCCI also decided to set up its Anti-Corruption Unit on the lines of the one in the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The working committee also approved a limited number of friendly matches to be played by IPL teams with associate and affiliate countries of the ICC, between June and August, subject to guidelines to be framed by the BCCI.

© IANS