The Kochi franchise found itself in a raging controversy following the public spat between Union Minister Shashi Tharoor and IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, who publicly disclosed the names of some of the owners the team.

Kerala Cricket Association secretary TC Mathew said they are backing Tharoor, saying if it was not for the minister the state would not have dreamt of owning an IPL team.

“All these hitches will be solved soon. In the 2011 IPL, the Kochi team is certain to figure,” Mathew said.

“Kochi would not have dreamt of owning an IPL team, but for Tharoor. So we have to support him for bringing Kerala into focus and also for bringing IPL to Kerala,” he said.

Former BCCI secretary SK Nair said the matter would be resolved in the meeting between the Indian cricket Board (BCCI) and the IPL Governing Council after April 25.

“I am sure that BCCI and the IPL Governing Council will be able to sort out all the issues within the shortest possible time so that development of the game continues,” Nair said.

Asked about the controversy surrounding, he said, “The matter has been referred to BCCI and it is looking into it.”

Nair, who was instrumental in bringing ODIs into this cricket-crazy city, said the IPL would help in the development of the game in the state.

“This (IPL) would help in the infrastructure development in Kochi. For the talented Kerala youngsters, who could not get much exposure, it would provide opportunity to come up with good performances and get recognition,” he said.

Former Kerala cricket coach P Balachandran agreed with Nair and said the controversy was the handiwork of some lobby, who were interested in thwarting Kerala’s dream of owning its own IPL team.

“Kerala will certainly benefit by having a team in IPL. It would improve the infrastructure facilities of the state. It would also help in promoting tourism,” he said.

K M Abdulla, chairman of Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it was sad to see that politics was being mixed with sports.

“With the state owning an IPL team lots of activities would have taken place in Kerala. So sports should be left free and it should not be mingled with politics,” he said.

Kerala came into the IPL’s scheme of things after Rendezvous Sports World, a consortium of five companies, won the Kochi franchise for a whopping RS 1533 crore.

Pakistan Cricket Board’s Chief Operating Officer Wasim Bari told ‘The News’ on Sunday that there appeared no possibility of a bilateral series taking place soon.

“The thing is that we can’t line up anything with India unless there is a go-ahead from the two governments,” Bari said.

“For the time being I am not too hopeful of getting that,” he said.

Bari’s statement comes as a dampener for cricket fans since PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt has sounded out optimistic notes on the possibility of reviving Indo-Pak bilateral ties at neutral venues.

During his visit to India, Butt had also spoken to BCCI officials on this possibility and talked about a time frame when the Indian team would be free from international commitments.

But Bari said although the relations between the two boards were fine, they both can’t move forward without getting clearance from their respective governments.

“There are no problems between the boards and once we get a go ahead we can quickly work on a bilateral series anywhere,” Bari said.

Due to the strained relations, India had also avoided scheduling bilateral series against Pakistan in the new Future Tours Program but after protests from PCB, they have now chalked out slots in the FTP starting 2012.

“Not playing India is a big financial setback for us because they are the most marketable team. We have already lost millions since India cancelled their Test tour to Pakistan last year,” he said.

While talking to reporters, BCCI’s media and finance committee chairman Rajiv Shukla said though it is a big loss yet all is not lost.

The team should now concentrate on the future events, Shukla said. “We must concentrate on the upcoming West Indies series,” he added.

He also referred to Sehwag injury. “Sehwag not playing was a big loss,” he said.

Shukla said that Dhoni is a great captain and that the team possessed the ability of bouncing back.

Dhoni on Monday apologised to fans after crashing out of the ICC Twenty20 championship but rejected suggestions that exhaustion from playing too many games caused the failure of his top batsmen.

“We are sorry for what happened but we can say we gave our best,” Dhoni said after losing to England by three wickets before thousands of Indian supporters at Lord’s cricket ground in London.

“We had experienced guys who can handle the pressure. It was a day when nothing much worked for us.”

The Indian media slammed Team India’s performance and said the close margin of defeat did not reflect how poorly the Indians played.

The BCCI on Tuesday said in a statement that the cricketers snapped their ICL ties to immediately become eligible for domestic cricket and would also be considered for international matches once they complete their one year cooling off period.

Among the 101 players and others who have deserted ICL, bankrolled by the Essel Group, were former internationals Rohan Gavaskar, Deep Dasgupta (Bengal), Dinesh Mongia, Reetinder Sodhi (Punjab) and Hemang Badani (Tamil Nadu).

The 11 former cricketers who have quit the ICL are ex-Test skipper Ajit Wadekar, spin legend Erapalli Prasanna and 1983 World Cup-winning Indian squad members Sandeep Patil, Madan Lal and Balwinder Singh Sandhu.

Most of them were tied up with the ICL as coaches. Significantly, India’s only World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev, who is the chairman of the ICL’s Executive Board, has not severed his relations with the league along with former Test stumper and ex-Chief Selector Kiran More.

“The BCCI, after scrutinizing their requests, has written to the concerned state associations that these players are eligible to play in the domestic tournaments for this year”, said BCCI secretary N Srinivasan.

The BCCI secretary said that guidelines with respect to participation in Indian Premier League will be intimated in due course.

The Indian Board has already decided that such persons will have to serve a one-year cooling off period before becoming eligible to play international cricket for the country.

Though the ICL has been virtually emptied out of its Indian players, the rebel league put up a brave front and said that the league is not shutting down and will recruit new talent as and when it’s needed.

“We still have 40-50 players, out of the original 140-odd, on our roster and as and when the need arises we would recruit fresh talent. The League is on. We are not closing down. The next season is in October-November and it’s still early days”, an ICL official said.

Landers said that in all there were around 85 Indian players in their roster till the second season, out of which 77 have left their fold now.

“We had already left out two of them”, he pointed out, one of them being Mongia who had been suspended in October last for allegedly under-performing along with former New Zealand all rounder Chris Cairns.

Pakistan Cricket Board officials said the ICC has also given its clearance for the noble cause with the consent of the English and the Indian Cricket Boards.

“It is decided that the revenues would be donated for the six policemen and a driver killed in the attack and to the policemen wounded by the militants,” one PCB official said.

“It is a very good gesture from the Indians because without their cooperation and that of the England and Wales Board this would not have been possible,” the official added.

The practice match, to be held on June 3 at The Oval, will also act as a curtain raiser to the mega event. The match has already evoked huge interest and will be telecast live.

The attack on the Sri Lankan team near the Gaddafi stadium on March 3 shocked the cricket world as six policemen and a van driver were killed in the tragic incident.

“No such decision has been taken (to leave out Zaheer). It’s all speculation,” sources in the Board said here.

Zaheer suffered an injury on his bowling shoulder during the early part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) while playing for the Mumbai Indians.

He suffered the injury while diving to stop a drive from Bangalore Royal Challengers batsman Robin Uthappa at the Wanderers on May 3 and underwent a scan that indicated some inflammation.

Though the team management said the injury was not as serious as was thought before the scan, the left-arm pacer did not play the remaining seven matches for his team in the IPL.

Zaheer has stayed back in South Africa at the end of Mumbai Indians campaign while his parents have joined him there, sources in Mumbai Indians team revealed.

“We are not aware if he has stayed back to receive any treatment for his injured shoulder there”, they said, adding “He should be back in a day or two.”

The Indian squad, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, is set to depart for England on May 29 to defend their title in the World T20 Championship commencing on June 5.

The tournament will feature three teams from India (two finalists and the top league finishing team), top two domestic T20 teams from South Africa, England, Australia and the domestic T20 Champions from New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka.

A total of 23 matches will be held in CLT20 carrying a prize pool of $6 million.

The teams will be divided into four groups of three each and will initially play each other on a league basis. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the second stage and four teams from the second stage would make it to the semi-finals, it was announced on Sunday.

The tournament was scheduled to be held in India last year but was postponed because of the Mumbai attacks.

The Royal Challengers, Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils will represent India, Victoria and New South Wales will represent Australia, while the Cobras and Eagles will the two South African teams.

The tournament is a joint venture by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket Australia (CA) and Cricket South Africa (CSA).

Lalit Modi, Chairman, CLT20, said, “I believe we have a concept that will inspire and motivate the future generations of club, state and county cricketers, while accelerating the development of the game globally.”

“Our South African experience has taught us that the club concept is slowly but surely being accepted by cricket fans across the world.”

James Sutherland, Chief Executive Officer of CA, and Gerald Majola, Chief Executive of CSA, were also present during the announcement.