IPL a chance to learn: Pujara

Saurashtra's prolific middle-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara feels that the Indian Premier League is a great platform for young cricketers to rub shoulders with the best in the business from across the world.

He said the IPL has its own charm and playing in the Twenty20 tournament is altogether a different experience.

"IPL is the perfect platform for young cricketers to play alongside senior players of different countries. It (IPL) gives youngsters a chance to learn a lot from experienced players," Pujara told PTI.

Pujara's journey in the IPL so far has been far from rosy because of injuries.

The scenario was no different in this year's IPL IV as after playing just seven games for Royal Challengers Bangalore, he sustained a knee injury while fielding against Kochi Tuskers Kerala to not only miss the remainder of the tournament but also India's tour of West Indies.

"It is difficult to avoid on-field injury and an injured player does not have any option except for taking rest," Pujara said.

He, however, refused to disclose the nature of his injury.

"I cannot disclose the details of my injury as per BCCI's instruction."

Pujara also expressed disappointment for missing out on a chance to tour West Indies in the absence of senior players.

"Its painful to sit out."

In the absence of senior pros, Suresh Raina lead a depleted Indian side to a 3-2 win over the West Indies in the just-concluded five-match ODI series, and Pujara said it proves India's strong bench strength.

IPL Twenty20 Cricket 2011 Play-off Schedules

Date	Match Details	Time (IST)	Place
May 24	Royal Challengers Bangalore v Chennai Super Kings, Qualifier 1 (1st v 2nd)	20:00	Mumbai
May 25	Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders, Eliminator (3rd v 4th)	20:00	Mumbai
May 27	TBC v TBC, Qualifier 2 (Winner of Eliminator v Loser of Qualifier 1)	20:00	Chennai
May 28	TBC v TBC, Final	20:00	Chennai

Shane Warne fined US$50,000

The Indian cricket board has slapped a $50,000 fine on Australian bowler Shane Warne for his part in a bust-up with a local administrator after an IPL game, a statement said on Wednesday.

Warne, skipper of the Rajasthan Royals team in the Indian Premier League, was involved in an angry exchange with Sanjay Dixit, secretary of the Rajasthan state cricket association, following his team's defeat at home last week.

The punishment casts a cloud over Warne's last game of professional cricket on Friday when his Rajasthan Royals team take on the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. Warne was furious about his team being asked to play on a different wicket than one used in previous games, but he later apologised for "any distress" his action may have caused.

After a complaint by the Rajasthan cricket association, Warne and Dixit were summoned for a hearing before a disciplinary commission comprising IPL chairman Chirayu Amin and former player Ravi Shastri.

"The commission has decided to impose a fine of US$50,000 upon Mr Warne," the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which runs Indian cricket, said in a statement.

It said the disciplinary commission "regards the public criticism of Mr Dixit as being a serious breach by Mr Warne of his IPL playing contract".

"However, at the same time, the commission also recognises that Mr Warne has apologised to Mr Dixit, and that the incident occurred just after the match.

"In addition, the commission is cognisant of the contribution to the game of cricket in general, and to the Indian Premier League, which has been made by Mr Warne."

Ganguly will play IPL4 for Pune Warriors

Former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly has been signed up by Pune Warriors India for the remaining part of the IPL Season 4. The iconic player, who was earlier ignored by all the franchises in the auctions earlier this year, will be replacing injured bowler Ashish Nehra.

He will join the squad tonight and will play under the captainship of Yuvraj Singh.

"We were waiting for Ashish Nehra's fitness report and ultimately the report came yesterday. I was already in talks with Ganguly and we decided that the amount of experience that Sourav has in cricket will no doubt help the team. So we finalised Ganguly last night," Pune Warriors Team Director Abhijit Sarkar said referring to the finger injury that Nehra has been nursing.

The 38-year-old had earlier refused a mentor's role with KKR and there had been speculation of a possible comeback through another franchise.

The left-handed batman was first sought by Kochi Tuskers Kerala but their application was rejected by the IPL's Governing Council.

However, he signed on the dotted line for Pune yesterday, giving a major fillip to the side which has lost six matches on the trot after starting promisingly with a couple of back-to-back wins.

Tendulkar was fined $20,000 for slow over rate

As if the loss to IPL debutants Kochi Tuskers Kerala was not enough, Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar was fined $20,000 for maintaining a slow over-rate during their IPL match in Mumbai.

"The IPL today advised that the Mumbai Indians have been fined for maintaining a slow over rate during last night's IPL match against Kochi Tuskers Kerala in Mumbai," said a statement which did not specify the amount that the team has been docked.

"At the end of the match, Mumbai Indians were assessed to be one over behind the required rate after allowances were taken into consideration.

"Since it was Mumbai Indians first fence of the season, under the IPL's Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate offences, the Skipper, Sachin Tendulkar, was fined $20,000," it added.

Mumbai went down by eight wickets against Kochi despite Tendulkar's maiden Twenty20 century last night.

Vettori to lead Rayal Challengers Bangalore

Daniel Vettori has been appointed the skipper of the Royal Challengers Bangalore for IPL 2011.

Vettori has been amongst the most respected players in world cricket and has led New Zealand to the semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup. Vettori is in the same mould as the man he replaces - Anil Kumble. Both were very respected as captains and amongst the leading spinners in the game and both are immensely dignified gentlemen.

Kumble had led the Royal Challengers to a second place finish in 2009 and a third place finish last year. He has now moved into the position of the Chief Mentor of the team.

RCB Chairman Dr Vijay Mallya said, "We are very excited for the upcoming season. Vettori is a highly experienced and respected leader and we hope to ride to the pinnacle of success this IPL under his leadership."

Director of Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd, Sidhartha Mallya said, "It is wonderful that we have somebody of his stature to lead our team this year. He is the ideal person to fill Anil's shoes and I wish him the very best in this endeavour. I look forward to supporting him in his efforts towards a successful season."

Kumble himself also lauded Vettori, saying: "Vettori is a hugely respected professional not only within his team but amongst his international peers as well. His unique ability to get players to perform as a unit and deliver more than just the sum of their parts, as he has done time and again with New Zealand, will be a big asset to any team."

The Royal Challengers Bangalore team: Daniel Vettori (captain), Virat Kohli, Tillakaratne Dilshan, AB De Villiers (wk), Zaheer Khan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Dirk Nannes, Saurabh Tiwary, Mohammad Kaif, Abhimanyu Mithun, Charl Langeveldt, Luke Pomersbach, Rilee Rossouw, Johan van der Wath, Jonathan Vandiar, CM Gautam (WK), S. Arvind, Mayank Agarwal, Arun Karthick, Asad Khan Pathan, Abrar Kazi, Ryan Ninan, Bhareth Narayanan, Nuwan Pradeep

Kumar Sangakkara will lead the Deccan Chargers

Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara will lead the Deccan Chargers in the 4rth edition of the Indian Premier League, it was announced in Hyderabad on Monday.

Australian cricketer Cameron White will be Sangakkara's deputy in the IPL Twenty20 tournament, beginning April 8.

Former Australia cricketer Adam Gilchrist had led Deccan Chargers to title win in 2009 in South Africa.

Gilchrist has moved to Kings XI Punjab for the 4th edition.

The appointment of Sangakkara, who led Sri Lanka to World Cup final, as Chargers' captain was made at a promotional event of the franchisee.

Deccan Chargers Teams (27): Kumar Sangakkara(C), Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, Manpreet Gony, Akash Bhandari, Anand Rajan, Ankit Nagendra, Arjun Yadav, Ashish Reddy, Bharat Chipli, DB Ravi Teja, Harmeet Singh Bansal, Ishank Jaggi, Ishan Malhotra, Jaydev Shah, Kedar Devdhar, Sunny Sohal (Foreign) Kevin Pietersen, Cameron White, JP Duminy, Dale Steyn, Daniel Christian, Chris Lynn, Juan Theron, Michael Lumb

Yuvraj to lead Pune Warriors

India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh was on Tuesday named skipper of the Pune Warriors squad for the 4th season of the Indian Premier League starting April 8 2011.

The new entrant in the hugely successful league also announced its 30-member squad that includes, among others, Graeme Smith, Nathan McCullum, Wayne Parnell, Tim Paine, Jesse Ryder and Angelo Mathews.

Besides Yuvraj, Ashish Nehra, Robin Uthappa and Murali Karthik are the other capped players from India.

Callum Ferguson, Mitchelle Marsh, Jerome Taylor and Alfonso Thomas are also part of the squad.