A top BCCI source said, “The IPL Governing Council will discuss the issue. We have asked for the tapes. We will study the tapes and then take a decision.”

News channel India TV showed the sting operation conducted on IPL players and few of the players have confessed on hidden camera that they earn more than shown in auction.

Channel has claimed that not only IPL matches are fixed but the matches played at large scale are also fixed and women plays important role in match-fixing.

When BCCI chief Srinivasan was asked about sting operation, he said, “We will ensure that the integrity of the game is protected. BCCI believes in the integrity of the game. We will take the strictest possible action. We will have to have the tapes and the moment we see it, whoever is the player, we will take very very strict action.”

“If there is any truth in it… It is a fact that we will take strictest action. Even if it means suspending the player immediately. But (that has to be) based on some evidence and fact, for which I have asked the COO of IPL Sundar Raman to request for the tape,” Srinivasan said.

Kings XI Punjab player Shalabh Srivastava, is among one of the players who is shown in the sting operation. He denied the allegation and threatened to take legal action against channel.

“If they are showing all the video clips, why are they not showing that I have demanded Rs 10 lakhs from them. Whatever they are showing…it is not my voice. You know its very easy to doctor anyone’s image and put their names and run it”, Srivatsava said.

“I will definitely file a case against them (the channel)”, he said.

“I had just seven or eight meetings with them, and they introduced themselves as a sports management people. They told me they can help me to shift to some other franchisee where I can be paid better.”

“I am not the only one to meet them, I can tell you they have met at least 50 IPL players. I myself have talked to 15 such players about the issue. They all were doubtful that whether they are from a sports management company or not because they always used to talk about fixing and who is getting how much money,” Srivatsava said.

Other players who are shown in sting operation are Mohnish Mishra of Pune Warriors, T P Sudhindra of Deccan Chargers and Amit Yadav of Kings XI Punjab.

“Once he is done with chemo in March, his rehabilitation would be complete by April end and he would be perfectly fit to play in May,” Choudhary told a news agency.

Yuvraj’s family informed that the cricketer is battling a golf ball-sized non-malignant lung tumour and it affected him when he was playing the World Cup.

His mother said that he had been constantly bothered by bouts of coughing and vomiting during the World Cup tournament which was won by Indian Team.

Recently Yuvraj tweeted that he is reading Lance Armstrong’s book to get inspiration because the cyclist overcame testicular cancer. “Reading Lance Armstrong’s book it’s not about the bike! I’m sure it will motivate me and pull me throu this time! Livestrong yuvstrong!” Yuvraj wrote.

When it was reported that the cricketer had undergone surgery, he tweeted, “I’m just on medication!”

Indian Cricketer Virender Sehwag created history on Thursday by scoring the highest ODI score of 219 while playing against the West Indies.

After scoring the highest ODI score, he said, “I never expected to score a double hundred. While opening the innings, I told Gautam Gambhir that if we can show some patience on this track, we will be in for a big one as the wicket is a good one. The outfield is fantastic and the distance of the boundary is only 50 yards.”

Talking about batting Powerplay, Sehwag said, “It was only after the batting Powerplay started, I felt that I could reach double hundred. Also when Sammy dropped me (at 170), I knew that God was with me.”

Skipper Sehwag also thanked his family and fans, he stated, “I want to thank my family and fans. I know people expected me to score a double century. Today when I wanted to hit a six, I just did that.”

The Nawab of Najafgarh said that he was determined to make amends for continuously scoring poor in the first three ODIs.

Sehwag said, “I have said this earlier also that the top-order needs to contribute. It was a wicket where one could score big runs if he stayed around for 30 overs.”

He was looking tired after creating the history, when asked, he said, “Obviously, I am very tired. I am an old man now and my back gets stiff. So I need to take an ice bath.”

A police official said on Wednesday that Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s security has been increased because intelligence has given inputs on threats to him from the Maoists and terrorists.

Last week, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his wife Sakshi arrived at his home in Ranchi.

“We are not taking any chances. There are inputs of threat to Dhoni from the Maoists and terrorist groups. Based on the input we are taking appropriate measures to beef up the security of Dhoni,” a Ranchi-based police official.

“We have received directives from the police headquarters to beef up Dhoni’s security. Commandos of Jharkhand Armed Police will be deployed in his security,” the official said.

Security personnel in plain clothes will move along with Dhoni in the state and they have been deployed near his house.

During an interaction with reporters on the sidelines of the Indian premiere of James Erskine’s new film ‘From the Ashes’ Brearley said, “I find Dhoni a lot like Botham. Dhoni is also blessed with a lot of natural ability like Botham and both could single-handedly win matches for their countries. Dhoni, like Botham, couldn’t have walked alone in a team on the basis of one strength. But the overall package makes him as good an all-rounder as Botham.”

About Dhoni’s batting abilities, Brearley replied, “He is a brilliant No 7 batsman for any Test team.”

Talking about Dhoni’s captaincy, he said, “I haven’t watched his captaincy for a long period of time and it won’t be fair to comment on his leadership skills. Whatever little I have seen of him, I have found him to be very calm under pressure which is a sign of a good captain. Also, I liked the manner in which he promoted himself up the order in the World Cup final and played such a fantastic knock.”

Among the international captains Brearley talked about cricketer Graeme Smith of South Africa, he said, “It’s not easy to lead your country close to a decade. He became skipper when he was only 22 and has done a commendable job. Among the England captains, I like the way Andrew Strauss is leading the side. I expect him to be around for another three to four years. But it was Nasser Hussain who first instilled the belief that we can fight.”

Brearley believes that England cricket team have done well enough to earn the tag of No 1 Test side.

“England are doing well as they have a good bowling unit. Even a good bowler like Chris Tremlett finds it difficult to get in the playing XI. But I am interested in how well they fare against the South Africans at home next year.”

He also expressed his view about T20, “I like watching T20 and I am not against money coming in. But definitely, it should be spent properly. T20 will stay but Test cricket should remain the ultimate form. Look at Lasith Malinga. He quit Tests to prolong his career in shorter version. Now that’s something I don’t like.”

Brearley further revealed of what he feels about the spot-fixing scandal and the jail sentences to the three of Mohammed Aamer, Mohammed Asif and Salman Butt.

“I feel Aamir’s verdict was a bit harsh as he is very young. As far as the other two are concerned, absolutely correct decision.”

Talk about the historic 1981 Ashes series, Brearley says in no uncertain terms that he could handle a character like Botham better than any other England captain.

“I had the least of problems handling Botham. We got along well and had no problems unlike some of the other captains after me faced. We were dependant on each other.

“Also I had him at the best time and when he was at his peak as a player. I believe when he became less good as a bowler, the problems started,” he signed off.

Seeing the current health condition of India’s opener Gautam Gambhir, it seems he is likely to miss ODI series. He is not perfectly fit and going through extreme pain so we may also see him coming back home with his packed bag.

Few of the Indian players like Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag who joined the Indian cricket team in earlier matches but left without contributing much and now Gautam Gambhi will also be included in the list of these players.

India has lost test series from England and also lost their Number one Test rankings and now it seems Indian Cricket team is in danger position for the one-day series which is going to start on September 3 in Chester-le-Street.

During the second day of the final Test at the Oval on August 19 when Gautam Gambhir was trying to catch a pull by Kevin Pietersen then he fell on his head and also suffered from a blurred vision.

After that he did not open both innings of the Oval Test and was placed late in order and contributed by few runs only.

Though Gambhir has seen doctors and MRI scans has been done which shows clean results but he is in painful condition. So it may take 3-4 weeks for him to recover from his injuries then how can he be seen playing in such agonising condition.

“I am bit surprised with the results, but not in a negative way,” the current South

Africa coach said on the sidelines of a promotional event.

He insisted that there was no any reason to press the panic button.

“It’s always difficult to understand why teams ebb and flow and often it’s the intangibles that make the difference,” Kirsten told ESPNcricinfo.

He coached Indian cricket team and led them to win World Cup. Kirsten confessed that one cannot always continue with their stupendous run especially when things are changing.

“It’s not easy to continue a run of success. It’s difficult to reach the top and stay there. They won the World Cup, which was massive for them, but then they’ve had a tour of West Indies and a few injuries and maybe the hunger to win games goes down a little,” Kirsten explained.

Talking about the current Indian coach Duncan Fletcher, Kirsten said, “When a new coach comes in, its important that he follows on with the culture of the team.”

When Kirsten was asked about Indian team deficiencies, he said, “They are a great cricket team, with a great captain and one of the best batting line-ups in the world which is why they were No 1 but we always knew that we were bit short on the bowling side and that was something that we learnt to manage.”

Kirsten feels that veterans like Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid should play the game till they enjoy it.

“People said that with such an experienced team we should try to integrate youth but I felt that for as long as those experienced guys were there and they were enjoying it and playing good cricket, they should carry on,” he said.

He further added, “Even if it means that there is only one spot to bring in a youngster, that’s fine. We were able to, at No 6, so we covered both angles.”

Kirsten still believes that though India has lost their No 1 ranking but still five ODIs are left to play and they can prove themselves.

“It’s in the shorter format of the game that Kirsten thinks India can redeem themselves on this tour, especially after their World Cup triumph. I hope they have a good ODI series, because if they do, they can look back and say, ‘ok, we had a disappointing Test series, but as World Cup winners we’ve shown our worth in the one-day game’,” he added.

India has performed poorly in the Test series in England but former India physio John Gloster doesn’t want to blame the Indian Premier League for it. Because John feels it’s completely depends on players to play in the Twenty20 League or keep themselves fit by not playing in it.

India has lost Test series against England with huge margins. After losing this test match India has come at brink of losing their world number one ranking in Tests.

After this test series, issues of fatigue and huge workload on cricketers have come forward and IPL is the reason behind it.
But Gloster said “Everybody has the right to not play if not fit. Whether it’s the IPL, World Cup or a Test match, the players have to prepare in the same vigor.”

“IPL is as important for Indian cricketers as any other tournament they play in because of the money involved. The support staffs also approach the IPL as they would to any other tournament. At the end of the day, the player must not lose focus,” he added.

He has worked with Indian team from 2005 to 2008 and he believes that proper schedule and proper monitoring can control player’s burn out.

“I think player burn-out has been talked about for quite sometime now and can definitely be controlled. In England’s County cricket structure, you’d play a four-day game from Wednesday to Saturday, a league game on Sunday, and use Monday to travel and train on Tuesday before the next game,” Gloster told ESPNstar.com.

“This is the schedule for almost six months and a lot of players endorse these stints. Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth who’ve played a bit of County cricket would tell you that.

“The idea is to look at the schedule and monitor each and individual player’s workload so that they are not underdone and yet at the same not overdone. There is a fine balance,” he said.

Gloster is associated with the Rajasthan Royals team in IPL, and talks about the various commitments which distract cricketers.

“That (endorsements) is a big issue, but at the end of the day, it’s a livelihood for the players. It’s a unique environment in India as compared to other cricket playing nations because of the pressure,” he said.

“Prioritising time with various activities could be a major issue at times but I am sure they don’t put financial commitments ahead of the game.”

“I dare say it is a distraction perhaps, but if it did interfere with rehab and preparation they should do something about it or the BCCI should be in a position to interfere. What’s important is the game and other things are secondary.” he added.