Shabbir Ahmed’s hat-trick seals ICL title triumph for Chennai Superstars

PANCHKULA, India: Chennai Superstars became the champions of the inaugural ICL tournament, with all-round team work helping them beat the Chandigarh Lions by 12 runs. After being put into bat, the Superstars made 155 for 8 which seemed to be short of their expectations, but Shabbir Ahmed tamed the Lions with his 4 for 23, which included the first hat-trick of the tournament.

The grand finale lived up to its reputation with a Super Bowl-like atmosphere: a fashion show, Bollywood stars, a full house, fireworks, and big hits. Panchkula, on the outskirts of Chandigarh, was alive and reverberating. Sadly, only part of the cricket matched the entertainment off the field.

Shabbir packed off the Lions’ openers quickly. Imran Farhat’s slash ended in the hands of wicketkeeper Chris Read and Hamish Marshall’s waft at a beautiful outswinger gave Read his second catch. 19 for 2 quickly became 30 for 3 when Manish Sharma’s lofted on-drive was snapped by S Saravanan just a yard from the boundary.

TP Singh along with Dinesh Mongia then did the repair work with Singh adapting well to the frequent changes in the bowling made by the Superstars’ captain, Stuart Law. But just when the Lions seemed to have turned a corner, Singh’s paddle sweep landed in the hands of Thiru Kumaran at short leg.

Mongia, who had played a crucial knock in the semi-final, seemed to be doing an encore but Law once again played his card smartly bringing back his match-winner Shabbir. The Pakistani struck twice getting Mongia and Chetan Sharma off consecutive balls. Mongia tried to defend an offcutter which took his off stump while Sharma was out lbw, rapped in line with the leg stump. It completed a hat-trick for Shabbir who had got Marshall off the last ball of his second over.

Cairns, the danger man, was done in by a beauty from Harvey; bowling wide of the crease, Harvey sneaked one past the strong defence of Cairns. Andrew Hall and Sarabjit Singh tried their best to fight back but they could not match the mounting asking-rate or Law’s shrewd thinking. In the process, the Superstars lived up to the billing of being the form team, with five victories in the seven games they played.

Batting first, the Superstars failed to capitalise on an enterprising start given by Ian Harvey, who finished as the tournament’s leading run-getter, and G Vignesh. After Vignesh holed out to cover, Read walked in and sent a fuller one from Hall to the cover boundary. Harvey punched one in the gap between cover and mid-off against Amit Uniyal, the left-arm seamer, who tried to angle one away but pitched it short. A slow ball which came out as a full toss was pushed past Cairns to mid-off for another boundary.

Mongia, who was brought on in the seventh over, soon had a smile on his face as on his second ball, Read was run out while attempting a cheeky single. Russel Arnold fell soon after, but,Harvey remained unruffled at the other end.

His immaculately-timed punch off Cairns forced mid-off to be pushed back. Cairns then had to swallow the pain first of a no-ball and then bowling Harvey on the resulting free-hit. But Harvey’s cup of luck had run dry; he pushed an innocuous Mongia delivery to the unguarded leg side, but wicketkeeper Sarabjit Singh rushed to short leg and picked and threw in one motion to run Harvey out.

Harvey’s departure slowed the scoring, as the Superstars could manage only 30 runs between overs 10 and 15. Hall lived to his death-bowler reputation giving away only four runs in the final over which saw two run-outs, including that of a desperate Law trying to finish a tight double. Even if the Superstars might have thought they fell short by at least 20 runs, in the end Shabbir’s bowling clinched the title and the US$1 million prize money.

Farhat and Razzaq to uphold ICL contracts

Imran Farhat and Abdul Razzaq have said they will play in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and accordingly leave for India on November 17 to join the other players.

Farhat and Razzaq were among the four Pakistan players, along with Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq, who joined the ICL in August. While Yousuf had cancelled his contract to make himself available for Pakistan, Inzamam is already in India for the tournament starting on November 30.

Farhat, who was served a legal notice by the Pakistan board for joining the ICL while still holding a contract with the PCB, said he had been asked by some board officials to return to Pakistan cricket.

"They told me to come back and play for Pakistan but their condition is that I must cancel my contract with ICL which I don't consider right as I have a commitment with them,"

Farhat told the News, a Pakistan daily.

Abdul Razzaq, who took back his decision to retire from international cricket in order to play for Pakistan, said he had not been approached by any board member.

"The thing is until they don't talk to me what can I say?"

he said.

Meanwhile, the ICL unveiled jerseys for its six teams - Mumbai Champs, Chandigarh Lions, Chennai Super Stars, Delhi Jets, Hyderabad Heroes and Kolkata Tigers - in Mumbai.

"We are nearing the start of the ICL competition and it's like a dream come true for us,"

said Kapil Dev, the chairman of the ICL's executive board.

Pakistan board gets tough on Farhat

The Pakistan Cricket Board has served a legal notice on batsman Imran Farhat over his decision to join the Indian Cricket League after his omission from the Twenty20 squad for the World Championship. It has asked him to explain how he joined the ICL while he was still a contracted player and to substantiate his remarks at the time about the selectors.

"I have received this notice [on Monday] and my lawyer will respond to it appropriately," Farhat told Reuters. "I am not going to back down from my stand. I maintain I have not been treated justly - I asked them to release me from the central contract before signing up for the ICL."

The notice said Farhat had violated the terms of his contract by signing up to play elsewhere without obtaining the board's consent. Farhat has seven days to respond to the notice, failing which he will be taken to court.

"Even though Imran had requested for his exclusion from the central contract, the board still considers him on the contractual list which is why the opener was served a legal notice for levelling allegations on some of the PCB officials and the national selection committee," Shafqat Naghmi, the chief operating officer of PCB, said.

Farhat was on the tour of South Africa earlier this year but overlooked for the World Cup and the subsequent series in Abu Dhabi and Scotland. Though he was handed a central contract, he said he felt humiliated after being put in a Future Players Programme and being dropped from the Twenty20 squad despite being called for the preparatory camp in Karachi.

Farhat and two others - Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq - who were also excluded from the Twenty20 event turned their backs on Pakistan and joined the ICL, a league which has not been recognised by the PCB or the ICC.

PCB serves legal notice to Farhat

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has served a legal notice on test opener Imran Farhat, who last month joined the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL).

The PCB has asked Farhat to explain how he joined the rebel Twenty20 league while he was still a contracted player with the board and to substantiate allegations of bias and unjust treatment he made against board officials.

"I have received this notice and my lawyer will now respond to it appropriately. I am not going to back down from my stand,"

Farhat told foreign news agency on Tuesday.

"I maintain I have not been treated justly and I asked them to release me from the central contract before signing up for the ICL,"

he said.

A board official said that despite being a centrally contracted player, Farhat had made serious allegations against officials and selectors, which needed to be explained.

The official added that the batsman had also violated the terms of his central contract by signing up to play elsewhere without clearance from the board.

"He has given seven days to respond to the notice,"

he said.

Farhat had accused the PCB and selectors of being biased while not selecting him for the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa. He later asked the board to release him from his contract, as he did not see a future for himself in Pakistan cricket.

Farhat slams selectors again

Imran Farhat launched another stinging attack against Pakistan's selectors, claiming that their bias towards him compelled him to opt out of a central contract and join the Indian Cricket League (ICL) instead.

Farhat last represented Pakistan during the Test series in South Africa; he has since been overlooked not only for the subsequent ODI series, but also the World Cup and the tours to Abu Dhabi and Scotland. He was also recently omitted from the squad for the Twenty20 World Championship after being handed a central contract.

"Instead of being appreciated, I was put in the list of Future Players Programme that caused me great mental torture. And as if this wasn't humiliating enough, the selectors called me for the Twenty20 camp in Karachi, only to drop me to give another shock,"

Farhat said.

"Despite being the top scorer at the Patron's Trophy one-day cup and in the Pentangular Cup, the selectors have been considering me as a Test player. They don't know I am also a record-holder of the national Twenty20 championship, having scored 115 in an innings of the second edition of the event in Karachi."

Farhat scored over 500 runs in last year's Pentangular Cup, four-day matches played on a league basis, with a top-score of 184 and 242 runs at a strike-rate of over 100 in the five Patron's Cup matches he took part in.

Farhat's ODI record, however, has never been convincing, with only six half-centuries and a solitary century to show from 33 matches. In his last 15 ODIs, he has scored 337 runs at an average of 24.07, with only two half-centuries.

Lawson arrives amid unrest

Geoff Lawson arrived in Pakistan late on Monday evening to take over as their eighth different coach (12th appointment) in the last decade amid familiar unrest in Pakistan cricket.

Lawson landed to the news that four Pakistan players had signed on for the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and face the possibility of life bans for doing so. Inzamam-ul-Haq may have been nearing the end of his career, but losing Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq and Imran Farhat, could not have the start Lawson was looking for.

Lawson, however, brushed aside the development, saying,

"I look forward to meeting the squad soon. Whatever happens, the players who turn up will count for me and not the ones who go and do something else."

Lawson is due to hold a press conference today after joining a Pakistan team training session.

Shoaib Akhtar, a "vital cog" to Pakistan according to Lawson, is also embroiled in another disciplinary battle with the board and there is speculation that another handful of Pakistan players may yet switch to the ICL.

Lawson, who took 180 wickets in a 46-Test career, was a surprise appointment last month, edging out fellow Australians Dav Whatmore and Richard Done, to replace the late Bob Woolmer.