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The forward's pending departure could lead to a rebirth for the Parisians, who have already hinted at a new team-building strategy

In a pre-season speech to the Paris Saint-Germain squad, club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi laid out his message for the new campaign. He spoke of the power of the manager, the pride of suiting up for the Parisians, and his desire for hard work in training. Notably, he also asserted: "The club is bigger than anyone here."

That was July 2023, and it seemed to be a shot at Kylian Mbappe – then in open warfare with the French champions regarding the status of his contract after infoming the club that he would not be picking up the extra year that had been placed into his deal a year earlier. Back then, it seemed unlikely that Mbappe, the last Parisian Galactico left, would be playing his football at Parc des Princes for the 2023-24 season.

But things changed. Mbappe came to an agreement with the club hierarchy, pledged his loyalty for the upcoming season, and re-joined the squad after a month in exile. Now, though, his departure is confirmed. He told the club last week that he wishes to leave Paris at the end of the season, while talk has accelerated about his desire to join Real Madrid – with a massive contract all-but agreed with Los Blancos.

Things, then, look bleak for PSG. Mbappe is a generational talent, one of the best in the world, and the face of French football. You'd struggle to spin this in an overwhelmingly positive light, and yet it does present an opportunity.

For years, the Qatar Sports Investment-run club have sought out the biggest stars in world football: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Beckham, Neymar, Lionel Messi and Mbappe himself. All of those intergalactic names were brought in not only as shirt-sellers, but also to form the foundation of a side that demanded Champions League success.

Now that they have gone, with Mbappe serving as the final departure, PSG can refocus. The Champions League can be worked towards, and approached organically. For the first time in recent memory, the Parisians finally have the chance to develop Galacticos of their own, rather than buying ready-made superstars in search of instant European glory.

GettySaga to end all sagas

Eighteen months ago, Mbappe leaving so soon seemed unlikely. At the very end of the 2021-22 campaign, he shocked the world by turning down Real Madrid's massive offer before he was paraded around Parc des Princes while holding aloft an 'Mbappe 2025' shirt to mark him becoming the best-paid footballer in the world.

Any hope of him joining Madrid over the course of the next three years was seemingly gone. Yes, Mbappe would have another chance to leave in 2025, but Madrid's ego had been bruised, and Mbappe's new salary presumably put him out of reach for any interested parties.

Things change quickly when it comes to Mbappe, though. He never stopped flirting with Madrid, keeping the possibility of a move open. and last summer, Mbappe went about sealing the deal. Refusing to pick up the extra option was the first step; announcing it to the world – or ensuring it was leaked – was the second; and declining a move to the Saudi Pro League was the third. It was all tied up – albeit six months later than he might have hoped – last week, when he officially communicated his decision to leave Paris.

Somehow, a season-and-a-half after signing the kind of deal that had the potential to keep Mbappe in Paris for life, he has now engineered an amicable exit.

AdvertisementGettyChampions League misery

Mbappe's pending departure brings the curtain down on a PSG era that promised so much, but instead saw them become an almost-annual punchline in the Champions League. Since Al-Khelaifi took charge in 2012, the club has acquired superstar after superstar, all in the hope that spending vast sums of money could bring the European Cup to Paris. It hasn't worked.

The Parisians' European failures have come in all shapes and sizes, from blowing massive leads to lifeless showings, penalty heartbreak, and an unfortunate final loss in 2020. From La Remontada to Marcus Rashford's VAR-assisted spot-kick, PSG just haven't been able to get it right on European nights.

The weight of expectation has certainly played a role. Big names are supposed to win big trophies – especially when they're coached by marketable man-managers or tactful tacticians. Parisian failures look worse because of the individuals in the line-up.

Getty ImagesSuperstars fall short

None of PSG's failures felt as catastrophic as those in 2022 and 2023. Messi has since revealed that he never really wanted to be a PSG player, but his reluctance does little to explain the fact that a team containing the Argentine maestro, Neymar and Mbappe never managed to make it past the last 16 of the competition.

There were admittedly failures around them, as first Mauricio Pochettino and then Christophe Galtier could do little to wrangle a turbulent squad into something coherent. While Messi, Neymar and Mbappe all had their moments in PSG shirts, focusing the bulk of club's finances on the forward line meant that the rest of the team wasn't up to the required standard, and thus the much-vaunted trio largely became little more than merchandise-moving commodities and sources of YouTube highlights.

A superstar-first approach seldom works; the presence of Neymar, Messi and Mbappe in Paris proved that.

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PSG.frChange of strategy

While the Mbappe saga grabbed most of the headlines around PSG last summer, the club hierarchy were simultaneously overseeing a much-needed change in strategy. Their transfer activity was lavish – the Parisians spent nearly €400 million (£340m/$430m) – but they focused on young players.

In came forwards Goncalo Ramos (22), Randal Kolo Muani (24) and Bradley Barcola (20), as well as midfielders Lee Kang-in (22) and Manuel Ugarte (22). Even their more experienced new arrivals, Ousmane Dembele (26) and Lucas Hernandez (27), were far from being over the hill, even if they both have patchy injury histories.

The managerial appointment sent a similar message. Luis Enrique is not the kind of manager a club hires in order to maintain dressing-room harmony and pander to stars. This was the coach who forced Xavi out and willingly dropped Neymar on a number of occasions at Barcelona, and he immediately told Marco Verratti that his services were no longer needed upon his arrival in France.

The potential in PSG's new-look squad couldn't be denied, but the plan seemed to be more aligned with the club's status as just below the true elite, and with one eye on the future.

Virat Kohli admitted that his painstaking hundred against England in Nagpur was a learning experience

Sidharth Monga15-Dec-2012Early this year, Virat Kohli scored a scarcely believable 133 off 86 to help India chase 321 in 36.4 overs. In his last Test innings of the year, Kohli showed the other side of his batting by scoring 103 off 295 balls. These two completely different innings have proved he is India’s player of the year and their impact has been similar.The first innings – a blazing century in Hobart which kept India alive in the CB Series only for Sri Lanka to crush their hopes two days later – showed Kolhi the power of a free mind with nothing to lose.This latest hundred has emphasised what can be achieved through patience, an innings which has kept India alive in the series, even if the state of a slow and low pitch suggests that England are likely to crush India’s hopes again.Kohli, though, is wiser after the effort. “I didn’t think about the runs, I didn’t think about the number of balls I was playing, I was just batting,” he said. “You just keep batting, you just keep watching the ball and eventually you get the right results. I was pretty pleased to bat for long hours in this game and that is something you will need to do in future in Test matches. It was a learning innings for me.”What had been going wrong earlier in the series then? “Three times I got 20,” he said. “I probably got a good ball in Ahmedabad in the first innings, and I made a few mistakes after that. Sometimes you need that bit of luck, you get beaten and then sometimes you know today is the right day and you put your foot down and concentrate for long hours.”I was waiting for this one innings, I was not doubting myself at all. I was working hard for the last one month and eventually if you keep working hard these little things happen in cricket.”Kohli said he and MS Dhoni, who scored 99, had to stay patient. “It was challenging for both of us,” he said. “It was a slowish wicket, not that easy to get the ball away. I had to show some patience and I just thought of applying myself and not think of anything else. It was all about showing patience and just watching the ball and reacting to it rather than thinking about what we are going to be at the end of the day or the end of the session.”Not thinking about where they will be at the end of the day actually put them on the path to a strong position, but a mix of slow run rate – that can’t be helped because of the slow pitch – and late wickets relinquished that position. India still see a way to win, though, said Kohli.”You get some runs’ lead and you put the opposition under pressure,” he said. “It won’t be easy to defend all day. That is not something you can do every Test match. We will just be looking for the one opening and probably get two-three wickets and you never know where the game goes from there.”India, 2-1 down in the series, still trail by 33, and will need all the help from the pitch and England to bowl the opposition out in four sessions at most, and then chase the total down. The pitch has given the bowlers nothing at all. Kohli said that can change.”The wicket hasn’t changed much,” he said, “but I think the cracks are opening up slowly so you might see a completely different wicket tomorrow. The spinners might come into play a bit more. This is kind of wicket where you need to apply yourself the whole time, you just can’t relax.”

Bangladesh Richard Pybus has said there are a few spots to be claimed in the national Twenty20 side

Mohammad Isam10-Jul-2012Following Raqibul Hasan’s 61-ball 140 for Bangladesh A in the last of the three Twenty20 practise games, Bangladesh coach Richard Pybus has said there are spots to be won in the national squad for September’s World Twenty20.The match in Mirpur, at a ground with short boundaries, was an ordeal for bowlers. Bangladesh A chased a 244-run target with five balls to spare, Raqibul smashing eleven sixes and fourteen boundaries in an out-of-character batting performance. This knock would have helped Raqibul – who last played for Bangladesh in 2011 – regain some lost ground, but he should not get too excited; Pybus’s comments about “open spots” could also have alluded to the bowling unit or even one of the batting spots in the middle-order, as both have shown a lack of Twenty20 skills.”There was good stuff that came out of [the tri-series] Zimbabwe. [But] I still have some spots that are open,” Pybus said. “It’s important for me, as a head coach, to see what depth we [have] got in the system. I have been waiting for guys to put their hand up under pressure and show what they can do.”Our bowling was obviously not as good as it should have been today. I want as much competition for the spots in senior side as possible. That’s what going to make the team stronger in future, three-four guys must be waiting for the same spot.”The series was a prelude to Bangladesh’s trip to Europe, where they will play five Twenty20s in the next two weeks, including a three-match Twenty20 series against Ireland, and a game each against Scotland and the Netherlands at the Hague.Captain Mushfiqur Rahim agreed with Pybus, about places in the squad being up for grabs. “Coach isn’t too far off the mark, because we only have four or five players who are guaranteed in the Twenty20 team. If we can raise our game at an individual level, it will help the team,” he said. “We batted well today, but the bowling didn’t go as planned.”Pybus said Bangladesh needed to play more Twenty20s to improve in the format. “To learn a format, as a team, you have to play [it] a lot. Just like the domestic sides playing competitions year after year. We need to play as much Twenty20s as possible and once that is sorted out, guys need to decide their [roles].”Then they will learn to play in combination and according to the right game plan in different environments. The thing that I was very pleased about [in] Zimbabwe was that we got out from the subcontinent and went to the southern hemisphere, where we got some bouncy wickets. We adjusted very well and played the conditions very well.”Mushfiqur and Pybus were wary of their European hosts, especially after losing to both Ireland and Netherlands in ODIs in 2010, and to Ireland in the 2009 World Twenty20. “We do have an idea about their cricket. There aren’t any big or small teams in Twenty20s; the [team] which does well on the day usually wins,” Mushfiqur said.He was, however, confident of positive performances from his side. “While we don’t have a good record playing against Ireland abroad, we are a stronger side now, since we have played together for quite a number of years. Our target will be to win the series, stay balanced and consistent ahead of the [Twenty20] World Cup, and stay confident.”Bangladesh will leave for Europe on July 11 on what is their second tour in preparation for the World Twenty20, following last’s months tri-series featuring Zimbabwe and South Africa.

On the eve of Pakistan’s final group game against Ireland, the captain Misbah-ul-Haq roused his bowlers to be more aggressive

Daniel Brettig14-Mar-2015If Pakistan are trying not to let the memories of 1992 lull them into a sense that history is about to repeat, then they have also adopted a strategy that carries heavy overtones of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and the “cornered tiger” approach.Lacking a confident or prolific batting line-up, the captain Misbah-ul-Haq and the coach Waqar Younis have instead invested much time and effort into rousing their pace bowlers to be the aggressors and ultimately the victors. After subdued displays against India and the West Indies, a far greater sense of danger has grown through encounters with UAE and Zimbabwe, before a tournament-turning effort against South Africa.On the eve of their final group encounter with Ireland, Misbah returned to this theme, espousing the virtues of searching for wickets rather than sitting back and hoping for containment. It was not quite Imran telling Wasim not to worry about wides or no balls and go for the jugular, but it was close.”I think our approach is straightforward, simple for the last three games: go out there, be positive, and especially when you are there to bowl, just try to get wickets,” Misbah said. “Try to get the other team out, and that’s what we have been doing, and that’s what our plan is even tomorrow.”A win settles down a lot of things normally, and I think now everybody knows their role, especially the pacers are really bowling well. All of them are wicket-takers, aggressive bowlers. And that’s what we need if we are not batting well. We need some really good backing by the bowling, and all the pacers are really doing their job getting wickets, putting pressure on the opposition.”Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali, Wahab Riaz and Sohail Khan have all had their moments, underlining the remarkable depth of pace bowling in Pakistan. They have encouraged a change in philosophy by Misbah and Waqar, who entered the tournament expecting to play both Shahid Afridi and Yasir Shah, but now find themselves leaning primarily towards pace in a departure from the Saeed Ajmal ascendancy of recent years.Misbah has admitted that it will be difficult to drop any of his seamers•Getty Images”At the moment all the seamers are really bowling well,” Misbah said when asked if Yasir might play against Ireland. “You could say that against South Africa they were very good against pace. These seamers bowl really well, and they’re just taking wickets. So it is difficult to drop any of them. What we have noticed playing in Australia is that it’s really difficult once you have two spinners on your side to just bowl 20 overs of spin because sometimes you lose that pressure which is built by the pacers, especially up front.”Let’s see. I mean, it’s a general perception, but what I feel is the Irish are really good against spin. Some of them struggle against the off spin, the left-handers. But I think overall we notice even when we are playing in Ireland, they are playing spin really well.”Pakistan’s building sense of momentum has been created in part by their World Cup draw. The team’s mental anguish and hesitance was palpable ahead of the opening meeting with India, and the fog did not lift in time for their second match against the West Indies. But now there is a strong sense of direction and confidence, something Ireland will have to counter in addition to the talents of individuals”It was just a matter of we were playing against two tougher oppositions up front just at the start of the tournament, and they played better cricket than us,” Misbah said. “That was the only reason I think, then after that we got a little, you could say, weaker sides, and we just get our momentum back and get our confidence back.”So this is always in these sort of tournaments when certainly you are against tougher sides at the start sometimes you just lose your confidence and momentum. But as we get back into a winning situation, the confidence and momentum is back.”Whether the momentum is comparable to that of 1992 can only be known after Sunday, and Misbah was adamant that while his men could take inspiration from history, they must not allow it to push them into complacency. “You could say you could take some positives from that,” he said. “We were in difficult situations in 1992, and Pakistan team is always capable of this from really difficult times, difficult situations, and this is a team which can really stand-up and perform very well. So that could be, you could say, a motivational factor for the team.”But what I believe is it is totally different. You can’t just sit and hold that we did it in 1992 so we are going to do it again. It’s totally a different story, and we have to perform. We have to go and deliver. Otherwise, just on based that we did it in 1992, so we are going to do it again, it’s not going to work. It’s not going to help. We have to really pull up our socks and we have to really perform well.”

Tim May’s removal from the ICC’s cricket committee following allegations of pressure by the BCCI should be the subject of an ethics committee enquiry, according to FICA

Daniel Brettig07-May-2013Tim May’s removal from the ICC cricket committee following allegations of pressure exerted by the BCCI to install their preferred candidate Laxman Sivaramakrishnan should be the subject of an ICC ethics committee enquiry, according to the Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA) of which May is the chief executive.Ian Smith, FICA’s legal advisor, has also said that the players’ body is aware the ICC warned member nations not to interfere with the voting process but then did nothing when those warnings were ignored, accusing Boards of applying “direct pressure on their captains to amend their votes.” He said there had been been a “very clear distinction” between routine “lobbying” before an election and “threatening an employee to change their vote.””In light of media reports that five ICC full member boards applied direct pressure on their captains to amend their votes in the recent elections, FICA’s official stance is that these allegations must warrant careful and independent scrutiny,” Smith said. “Especially because we understand ICC specifically instructed the Boards not to interfere in the voting process.”The actions, allegedly instigated by BCCI, are a timely and stark reminder of the very serious shortcomings in governance at ICC highlighted more than a year ago by the Woolf Report and about which ICC has done nothing in the intervening period.May wants ICC governance to be the focus

Tim May, who was ousted from the ICC Cricket Committee and replaced by former Indian spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, has said the perception that he is anti-BCCI was wrong.
“There are some aspects of BCCI that I am a strong supporter of and there are other aspects that concern me and others,” May told PTI. “Unfortunately, only the negative stuff gets publicised.”
When asked whether he felt a particular board was influencing others, May said: “This is an issue that has been identified and raised by a number of parties for a significant number of years, including Woolf Committee’s report on ICC’s governance. Indeed I am more focused on the ICC policing its own stated standards in terms of governance – this is the real issue, not whether I got voted onto this committee.”

“It is further apparent from statements made by unnamed ICC Board sources overnight that they are trying to position the involved Boards’ actions as ‘lobbying’, but there should be a very clear distinction made between a candidate lobbying for a vote and an employer threatening an employee to change their vote.”May, a staunch advocate of players’ rights for more than a decade, lost his place as one of two current players’ representatives on the cricket committee following a captains’ vote to Sivaramakrishnan, who is employed by the BCCI as a television commentator.Jimmy Adams, the former West Indies captain and FICA president, said the process by which May was ousted has raised major questions of the ICC’s ethics. He also questioned how the game’s governing body had the right to stand in judgement over the actions of the players when its own moral compass is so often found to be lacking.”How can the players of the world look to ICC for leadership in these circumstances and how does the spirit of cricket apply to the organisation itself?” Adams said. “Board members didn’t like how their captains intended to vote, so they apparently ordered them to change that vote. This type of behaviour from the game’s ruling body makes a mockery of their motives behind the procurement of the Woolf report.”FICA want ICC to use its own processes to deal with this. It has a Code of Ethics with which Directors and Members need to comply – the reported actions of some of the Member Boards and ICC directors, at the very least warrant investigation under this Code. We call on ICC to hold itself up to the high standards of moral conduct it constantly tells the players and officials it expects from them.”Ultimately, these actions are symptoms of poor governance at the top level and a blatant disregard for what most would regard as the necessary ethical standards required to run a prominent international sport – cricket deserves a lot better.”Comment has been sought from the ICC and the BCCI.

While Super Kings are all but through to the playoffs, the demands are much harder on Royal Challengers, who cannot afford any slip-ups in their four remaining matches

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran17-May-2014Match factsSunday, May 18, 2014
Start time 1600 local (1030 GMT)3:28

Hattangadi: RCB better off chasing against CSK

Big PictureChennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore are playing each other for the first time, more than 30 days into the tournament. While Super Kings are all but through to the playoffs – for them to miss out on a spot in the last four, they would have to lose four games in four, and even then they could go through on net run rate – the demands are much harder on Royal Challengers, who cannot afford any slip-ups in their four remaining matches, given their delicate mid-table standing. Super Kings, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals are primed to take three of the playoff spots, but the remaining spot is expected to be a scramble between Royal Challengers, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad.Royal Challengers avoided the embarrassment of being trampled upon for three consecutive games at home thanks to Yuvraj Singh, whose blazing fifty gave their campaign fuel. They would have to hit peak form going forward and while the batting looks in better health, the bowling hasn’t been up to the mark. In their last four games, Royal Challengers have conceded 170, 191, 198 and 187. They don’t have a bowler in the same mould as Sunil Narine, who can consistently bowl four tight overs even if he fails to pick up wickets – perhaps young legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal comes closest. Royal Challengers wouldn’t want to be forced into making changes to their bowling every game, certainly not at this stage, so they’ll be hoping to finally hit upon the right combination on Sunday.Super Kings haven’t had to make too many changes and a relatively settled unit is partly responsible for their success. David Hussey has been included in the squad but he is likely to come in only once Brendon McCullum flies home for the birth of his baby. Super Kings made heavier weather of their chase against Royals in their last game than they would have liked, but MS Dhoni – with some help from Ravindra Jadeja – calmly saw them through, again.Royal Challengers Bangalore need more out of their bowlers•BCCIForm guideRoyal Challengers Bangalore WLLLW (completed games, most recent first)
Chennai Super Kings WWLWWWhere they standChennai Super Kings – Second place, with eight wins in ten games
Royal Challengers Bangalore – Sixth place, with four wins in ten gamesPlayers to watchYuvraj Singh has made up for lost time with two consecutive fifties, but big runs continue to desert Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli. Both are yet to score fifties, though Gayle has played four fewer games. Given Royal Challengers’ bowling weaknesses, it will come down to their batsmen to win them games and a strong top order platform is essential or else the responsibility falls on Yuvraj and AB de Villiers, again.Super Kings have not got the best out of Mithun Manhas, who has a highest of 13 in five innings. A middle-order batsman, he has been batting at No. 7 and often comes in only towards the end of the innings. For now, it doesn’t make much of a difference to the team since it is doing well. But a promotion to give him more of a chance to get runs, and keep his confidence high, might be good, looking at the long-term – he will be needed should their strong top and middle order falter at any stage.Stats and trivia Super Kings have not been bowled out even once in this tournament. Their specialist bowlers Mohit Sharma and Ishwar Pandey have not been required to bat at all Royal Challengers’ Yuzvendra Chahal has picked up 12 wickets in ten games at an impressive economy rate of 6.48 – the best by an uncapped player so far in the tournament (minimum 5 overs)Quotes”I have sort of spoken to [Stephen] Fleming and he said that I will be a middle-order player, and with Brendon McCullum due to go home for the birth of his baby, I’ll definitely get an opportunity to play.”
“I’m definitely staying out of that sort of thing. It’s not in my nature to get involved in that sort of stuff. It was a heat-of-the-moment thing.”

A law against sports fraud that offers real consequences of “jail time” could well be the deterrent for athletes in the fight against corruption in sports, former India captain Rahul Dravid has said

Sharda Ugra12-Nov-2013A law against sports fraud that offers real consequences of “jail time” could well be the deterrent for athletes in the fight against corruption in sports, former India captain Rahul Dravid has said. Speaking at a conference conducted by India’s premier investigation agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation, Dravid said the four issues needing legal intervention were doping, deliberate underperformance, involvement in the betting industry and age fraud.”Criminal offences must be defined to include all forms of sports cheating, and jail time must be a genuine potential outcome where an offence is proved,” Dravid, who formed part of a panel discussion on ‘integrity in sport’, said. Modern sport was at “a crossroads”, he said, as it was “at serious risk of losing its moral compass”. “The question is no longer whether the law must intervene but it is how, to what extent and on what issues.”Being banned from a sport, he said, did not end up having the desired effect, but being punished for a crime would. “Unless people see the consequences of your action… People have to see jail at the end of the day.”Former India fast bowler Atul Wassan, who was part of the audience, asked Dravid whether cricket needed to adhere to the anti-doping clauses pertaining to players’ revealing their whereabouts to testing authorities, accept polygraph tests, and the possibility of entrapment by law-enforcement authorities. Dravid said, “I’m all for it – you need more regulation – it is what will protect the honest athlete even if it means a certain amount of loss of [personal] freedom.”One of the other speakers on the panel, Chris Eaton, director of the International Centre for Sports Security, said sports fraud needed to be tackled at a global, multi-dimensional level, involving sporting bodies, the police, governments and international co-operation. “Otherwise you are only papering over the problem, the entire gambling [world] needs to be called in to account.” A former FIFA head of security, Eaton said just banning players involved was no solution. “Stop punishing only the players – they are the victims in this, you need to tackle the people making their money through this. You punish one lot of players, the people behind the fix move on to the next lot of players. These people have to be brought to account in some way.”The fact that betting was illegal in India did not, he said, mean that the betting industry could not be regulated and called to question. Unlike Eaton, however, Ravi Sawani, the head of the BCCI’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, said he did not believe that legalising gambling would solve the problem, stating that his view was that the laws in the western world were framed more with an eye on protecting the lucrative gambling industry rather than the sport.The enactment of a special law pertaining to sports fraud would work best if combined with “a central agency” to investigate the problem, Sawani said. He suggested the creation of a special sports integrity intelligence unit under the CBI, which would bring several layers of the illegal betting industry under scrutiny. “Young players always ask us, we have to follow a code and if we break it, we get punished. But what happens to the bookies?”Sawani had been part of the CBI investigation into match-fixing in 2000. At the time, the CBI, he said, had been advised by a former Supreme Court judge, Manoj Mukherjee, that laws 415 (cheating), 417 (punishment for cheating) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) under the Indian Penal Code did fall short in the case of fixing in cricket.The IPL 2013 corruption scandal happened to be different from what happened in 2000 in one important aspect, he said: in 2013, the cricketers were under a legal obligation to their franchises by contract. Sawani said the BCCI had always “welcomed” investigation by the police agencies, and had currently passed on information to sections of the police. “It [how the information is used] depends on what the police priorities are on looking this up.”The government representative on the panel, sports secretary Ajit Sharan, said that the draft framework of a new bill pertaining to sports fraud had been prepared and was in the process of being put out on the sports ministry website to invite “stakeholder” feedback.

Kyle Jarvis, the Zimbabwe fast bowler, has retired from international cricket

Firdose Moonda18-Aug-2013Zimbabwe cricketers who quit the game early

Sean Ervine – Pulled out of the Zimbabwe squad before the 2011 WC

Tatenda Taibu – Left to focus on a career in the church at the age of 29

Henry Olonga – Quit after the black armband protest during the 2003 World Cup

Andy Flower – Was a part of the black armband protest with Olonga and quit after the 2003 World Cup

Stuart Carlisle – Did not return to play for Zimbabwe after the white-player walkout in April 2004.

Kyle Jarvis, the Zimbabwe fast bowler, has retired from international cricket. Jarvis opted out of the upcoming series against Pakistan to take up a county offer and stated he will not return to play cricket in Zimbabwe.Jarvis’ decision is the latest in a string of bad news for Zimbabwe, including Friday’s stand-off with the board over payment issues, and comes a few days before the start of the home series against Pakistan.Jarvis issued a statement which said: “I have held off a few opportunities over the last few months but my decision was made about a week ago when the pay disputes arose and I felt my time to leave had come.”I have retired from international cricket to pursue a county and global T20 career. We have had a few teams interested but me and my agents have agreed on a three-year deal at a top English county.”I really hope the fans and public can understand my reasons for leaving, as job security is the main factor. I informed my team-mates yesterday that I would be leaving and they were supportive and fully understood why I was doing this. I then sat with the managing director and explained my position and we both left on good terms.”Zimbabwe will always be my home, and I would just like to thank everyone for their continued support over the past few years. I wish my team-mates and coaching staff the best of luck for the forthcoming Pakistan series.”Reacting to Jarvis’ decision, David Coltart, Zimbabwe’s minister of education, sports, art and culture, said he was saddened but understood Jarvis’ reasons. “I wish him well. My prayer is that this is not the last we have seen of @KyleJarv89 in red. When we sort out cricket and Zimbabwe, he’ll be back,” Coltart said, through a Twitter post.*Jarvis, 24, took 30 wickets in eight Tests at an average of 31.73 and 27 wickets in 24 ODIs. He also played nine T20Is in which he picked up 10 wickets.After Zimbabwe’s tour to New Zealand in early 2012, Jarvis so impressed the Central Districts management, he was contracted to them for the remainder of the season. He took seven wickets in two Plunket Shield matches and five wickets in eight HRV Cup matches. At the time, there was talk Jarvis was considering staying in New Zealand in order to qualify to play for them, but he returned to Zimbabwe. Lancashire are current favourites to secure Jarvis’ services.Jarvis is not the only player to turn his back on Zimbabwe in recent times. Craig Ervine rejected a winter contract to take up a club cricket deal in the UK while it is understood that Charles Coventry, who has not been contracted to Zimbabwe Cricket, is also considering a career elsewhere.Jarvis’ retirement will further dent Zimbabwe’s preparations for the Pakistan series. With senior seamer Chris Mpofu still unfit, the bowling responsibility will lie with Brian Vitori, who has struggled for form recently, Tendai Chatara, who impressed in West Indies this year but is still inexperienced, and Michael Chinouya, who has played only two ODIs.*0920 GMT, August 20. The story has been updated to incorporate David Coltart’s reaction