Naved denies tampering charges

Pakistan all-rounder Rana Naved has hit back at the Karachi City Cricket Association for accusing him of ball-tampering.

The KCCA has sent a complaint letter to the Chairman of the Pakistan cricket Board (PCB) outlining its concerns over some poor umpiring and Rana's tampering with the ball with his nails during a match between Sialkot Stallions and Karachi Zebras during the ongoing national Twenty20 championship at the National stadium.

"I don't know from where they got this notion that I was tampering with the ball. I play my cricket as fair as everyone else," Rana said.

"I think it would be better for the KCCA to concentrate on their own affairs and selection matters. They should focus on selecting their best team," he said.

Rana said he viewed the KCCA complaint as a case of sour gropes as their team had lost the match to Sialkot.

The head of domestic cricket operations, Sultan Rana also confirmed to PTI that the KCCA had sent a letter to the Chairman of the board.

"But the KCCA surprisingly didn't submit any report about their complaints on the umpiring or any other issue to the match referee which is the right procedure to follow for all teams," he said.

Sultan added if the match referee or umpires come out with any reports, the board would deal with it accordingly.

"But as far as the Chairman is concerned he has the authority to take any decision on the KCCA letter."

IPL to name two new franchises

The two new franchises for the Indian Premier League's 2011 season will be announced on Sunday.

"Everyone is speculating many things. You will know (bidders) tomorrow," IPL commissioner and chairman Lalit Modi said on Saturday while announcing the League's first-ever branded merchandise tie-up globally with 130-yer-old Swiss watchmakers Bandelier.
The base price for the two new franchises, which would take up the number of teams in the IPL to 10, has been fixed at USD 225 million.
"We expect the winning bids to be around USD 300 million," a top IPL source revealed.
The terms and conditions for the bidding process have been made stringent with each bidder having been asked to furnish a bank guarantee of USD 100 million along with their bid, the source said.
Talking about IPL's merchandise branding tie-up with Bandelier, Modi said this was the first of many such deals which are in the pipeline.
"We aim to clinch close to 70-80 licensees before the end of the year. The royalty paid by the licensees will be shared among the IPL and the teams," he said.
The branded watches would be priced at the lower range of Rs 40,000 for women and Rs 70,000 for men, it was announced at the media conference