DTVHINDIEXCLUSIVE: “Was very aware of Dhoni’s importance in world cricket” – Richard Madley said while remembering the 2008 IPL auction.
Richard Madley. (Source – Getty Images/Wales Online) Richard Madley, who is known as the first person to host an Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, recently discussed many interesting things about his experience of being the auctioneer at the mega event. He hosted the inaugural IPL auction on February 20, 2008, and continued hosting the auction until the 2018 edition. Recently Madley was asked whether he had any prior knowledge about MS Dhoni before entering the auction. The star wicketkeeper-batsman was the most expensive player at the event as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bought him for $1,500,000 (approximately Rs 6 crore) after the bidding started at $400,000 (approximately Rs 1.6 crore). Richard Madley gave a big statement regarding MS Dhoni Madley, in an exclusive chat with CricTracker, said that he was fully aware of Dhoni’s stature in the field of cricket as he was a cricket fan and the Indian captain’s unrealistic demand at the time of that auction did not surprise him. Richard Madley said, “I was very aware of Dhoni’s importance to Indian cricket, world cricket. I am a cricket fan, you know, I follow the game closely. So I knew he was potentially a player who was going to set things up. The first IPL auction, now, of course, it is random (auction set), you don’t know whose name will be the first to come out of that velvet bag that day. The former auctioneer said that, and I think Dhoni was thinking about the number five or six player. I think it was his fourth or fifth name that day and when his name came everyone went ‘aah’. And in those days, we used small cricket balls which were kept in a velvet bag. And on that came a player number, set number, which was his and there was a noise around the room you could tell there was excitement within the room.
Pant may get the biggest bid in the IPL 2025 mega auction: Former auctioneer makes big prediction during exclusive conversation with CricTracker
Before the start of the Indian Premier League 2025, Delhi Capitals has released Rishabh Pant. Richard Madley And Rishabh Pant (Pic Source-X) Before the start of the Indian Premier League 2025, Delhi Capitals has released Rishabh Pant. Let us tell you that Rishabh Pant’s performance in IPL 2024 was very good and he won the hearts of all the fans with his brilliant batting and excellent wicketkeeping. The Delhi franchise has retained Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhishek Porel and Tristan Stubbs while they have two Right to Match cards available in the auction. The base price of Rishabh Pant in the IPL 2025 auction will be Rs 2 crore. According to the report, there are many franchises who want to include Rishabh Pant in their team. This is also because the performance of this strong wicketkeeper batsman has always been tremendous in IPL. Recently, famous auctioneer Richard Madley has given a big statement regarding Rishabh Pant. According to him, the biggest bid can be made on Rishabh Pant in the mega auction of IPL 2025. Not only this, he also said that Delhi franchise will not include him in their team again. Famous auctioneer Richard Madley said in an exclusive interview with CricTracker, ‘Rishabh Pant can get the biggest bid in the mega auction of IPL 2025. I don’t think Delhi Capitals would like to include him in their team again. I think there will be a tremendous fight for them. There will be a lot to learn from these prices: Richard Madley Richard Madley further said, ‘There is a lot to be learned from these prices. Before every auction I am always asked who will get the highest bid. No one can say anything about this and the prediction can be very troublesome for you. Not only Rishabh Pant, there are many players on whom all the franchises will definitely have their eyes on in the upcoming auction. Let us tell you that the mega auction of IPL 2025 will be held in Jeddah on 24 and 25 November. IPL 2025: PBKS will target these 5 players with a purse of Rs 110.5 crore How has been Virat Kohli’s performance in BGT, know here- List of batsmen who scored the fastest T20I century for India- IPL 2025: RR can target these players in the mega auction Indian batsmen who got out on duck most number of times in T20Is- IPL 2025: These 8 players will get expensive bids in the mega auction IPL 2025: MI will target these 5 players in the mega auction Batsman who scored most centuries for India in BGT- IPL 2025: CSK will target these 5 players in the mega auction The batsman who got out on zero most number of times in BGT-
(Exclusive) India is the best team in the world right now: Ian Bell
Ian Bell was seen playing for India Capitals in the third season of LLC. Ian Bell (Image Credit- Twitter X) Ian Bell, former middle order batsman of the England cricket team, was seen commanding the India Capitals in the ongoing third season of Legends League Cricket. However, his team had to be eliminated after losing against Toyam Hyderabad in the eliminator match. So, in a special interview with Crictracker on the sidelines of the six-team tournament, Ian Bell has talked about different and big issues of cricket. In this interview, he has described the Indian team as the best team in the world at present. Let us tell you that Bell has played 118 Tests, 161 ODIs and 8 T20 matches for England, during which the cricketer scored a total of 13331 runs. Here’s CricTracker’s exclusive interview with Ian Bell. Which Indian player would you like to play in your national team? Obviously Virat Kohli and I would have no objection to Bumrah in our bowling attack. If you could swap your cricket career with any player, who would it be and why? Would I swap? I don’t know if I would do it or not, but who would I admire? I have been watching players like Virat Kohli and players like Joe Root for a long time. His long game and long skills are commendable. I think you admire the way Virat handles the pressure of expectations and continues to perform well. Which legend would you like to select in your team in this league? MS Dhoni, just to play in his team. Obviously I played a lot of cricket against him. But it would be great to share the dressing room with him for just one game. According to you, what is the biggest rivalry in cricket? Growing up in England, the Ashes is something you grow up watching and wanting to play. But when you watch India vs Pakistan, it is an amazing rivalry and there have been some amazing matches. There are excellent cricketers on both sides. Do you think the India-Australia rivalry is now getting closer to the Ashes? For me, India is the best team in the world at the moment. Australia, India and England, both at home and abroad, are the three teams that are powerhouses in Test cricket. When the series is of two or three matches, you can avoid certain things. But if there is a five-Test series, the best team will win. I am really looking forward to watching the India vs Australia series, it is going to be interesting. India has everything to win.
(Exclusive) “It would be nice to share the dressing room with him…”, Ian Bell wants to see MS Dhoni in LLC
We will have to talk to the people (LLC administration) and see if we can include him (MS Dhoni) in the team – Ian Bell Ian Bell & MS Dhoni (Photo Source: Instagram/Getty Images) Former England legend Ian Bell was seen captaining India Capitals in Legends League Cricket (LLC) 2024. India Capitals had made it to the playoffs with three wins and 8 points from 7 matches, but the team was eliminated from the tournament after losing the match by 7 wickets against TOYAM Hyderabad in the eliminator. Meanwhile, recently Ian Bell expressed his desire to see former Indian captain MS Dhoni in Legends League cricket. Bell says that it would be great to share the dressing room with Dhoni. We need to talk to (LLC administration) – Ian Bell During an exclusive chat with CricTracker, Ian Bell was asked which legend would he pick to play in the LLC? Responding to which he said, “Oh MS Dhoni, just to play in his team… obviously I have played a lot of cricket against him. He has a lot of presence, a calm nature. But sharing the dressing room for a match would be great… pretty cool. So, we have to talk to the people (LLC administration) and see if we can include him in the team.” The former English cricketer believes that Dhoni’s presence in the dressing room will help the players a lot. Talking further he said, “But just hearing their experiences and seeing their calmness under pressure would be amazing…” MS Dhoni will be retained as an uncapped player in IPL 2025 Questions are continuously being raised regarding the future of MS Dhoni in IPL 2025. Recently, Chennai Super Kings CEO Kashi Vishwanathan had given a big statement that the franchise would hardly use the uncapped player rule for Dhoni. Under the new retention policy of IPL 2025, CSK can retain Dhoni only as an uncapped player. Because he has not played any international match for the last five years. Dhoni last played for India in the semi-finals of the 2019 ODI World Cup. At the same time, he had announced his retirement from international cricket in 2020. Let us tell you that if CSK retains Dhoni as an uncapped player, then Thala will get Rs 4 crore instead of Rs 12 crore.
(Exclusive) We do not compete with IPL, but complement it: LLC CEO Raman Raheja
In the first three years the LLC has registered a growth of 300 percent. LLC CEO Raman Raheja (Image Credit- Twitter The third season of Legends League Cricket (LCC), which started in 2022, is currently being played. Apart from India, some famous cricketers from all over the world are participating in this tournament. Fans have got to see some great matches in the tournament so far. This time a total of six teams are playing in the ongoing season of the tournament, which like IPL, are owned by different people on the franchise model. Former veteran cricketers like Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan, Shikhar Dhawan, Chris Gayle, Ian Bell and T Dilshan etc. are seen playing on behalf of these teams. The league has recorded 300 percent growth in the first three years of the tournament. After this, there is a strong discussion about the fact that in the coming time, LLC can compete with IPL, the biggest T20 league in India and the world. But now, amidst the successful third season of the tournament, the league’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Raman Raheja has made a big statement. Raheja says that we do not compete with IPL, rather we complement it. Raman Raheja gave a big statement Let us tell you that recently in an interview with Crictracker, the media partner of the ongoing season of LLC, Raman Raheja said on comparison with IPL – No comparison, no comparison. See, we all consider IPL as a benchmark. Yes, we all learn from this. IPL has set such high standards and it is just the progenitor of all the leagues that have started after IPL. We are just a small player in that entire ecosystem, but I can proudly say that we are the IPL of legends. Raheja further said- Whichever player retires from IPL, we start with him. Tournament is the story of DK (Dinesh Karthik), Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammad Kaif. There are a lot of these cricketers, they finish and we start. That’s why I will never compete, I don’t even want to challenge the IPL. I just want to complement it.
(Exclusive) We will take the tournament all over the world: LLC CEO Raman Raheja
We are not thinking of competing our tournament with IPL. LLC and Raman Raheja (Image Credit- Twitter The third season of Legends League Cricket (LCC), which started in January 2022, is currently being played. Apart from India, some famous cricketers from all over the world are participating in this tournament. Fans have got to see some exciting matches in the tournament so far. A total of six teams are playing in the third season of the tournament. The names of these teams are Manipal Tigers, Toyam Hyderabad, Southern Super Stars, India Capitals and Konark Suryas Odisha and Gujarat Greats. Former veteran cricketers like Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan, Shikhar Dhawan, Chris Gayle, Ian Bell and T Dilshan etc. are seen playing on behalf of these teams. On the other hand, amid the successful third season of the tournament, the league’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Raman Raheja has given a big statement. Raheja says that now he is trying to take the tournament to the whole world. Raman Raheja gave a big statement Let us tell you that recently in an interview with Crictracker, the media partner of the ongoing season of LLC, Raman Raheja said – Yes, we have already done some work on it. We are in partnership with other countries and we started with Oman. After this we started the franchise model like it is done in India. After this we went to Qatar, this year also we wanted to take the league to Qatar, but unfortunately the weather did not allow us to do so. We will take LLC worldwide. Especially, in those countries which are desperate to watch cricket, and where there are not many international matches. Raman further said – This is a category of league cricket in the world which is vacant and we are trying to fill it. We don’t want to compete with the IPL or any international cricket, rather we want to go to smaller countries because these giants bring a lot with them that the youth and the countries adopting this game can really inspire.
(Exclusive) LLC’s target is to make this the second innings for legendary cricketers: Raman Raheja
Raman Raheja is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of LLC. Raman Raheja (Image Credit- Twitter X) Legends League Cricket (LLC) has become a new platform for former legendary cricketers to showcase their talent to the fans once again. It is noteworthy that currently the third season of the tournament is being played. On the other hand, let us tell you that in January 2022, Raman Raheja and his team had a vision to bring former cricketers back to the field, which is now emerging as a better game. So recently, the Executive Officer (CEO) of the tournament Raman has also said that the target of the tournament is to make it a second innings for the great cricketers. Raman Raheja gave a big statement Let us tell you that in a recent interview with Crictracker, the media partner of LLC for the ongoing season, Raman Raheja said – When we started two and a half years ago, the idea was that there are more than 70 crore cricket fans in our country and There are equally many outside India also. They all follow cricket very passionately, and they don’t like to lose the dream of their idol retiring. Especially in the last few years we have seen cricket become so physically competitive. Raheja said – Young players are moving forward and seniors have been sidelined, even though they have five to six years of cricket left in them. So, we saw it as an opportunity and we’ve kept it that way. If we bring together players and legends of similar fitness levels, they can represent the five-six years of cricket they have left and connect with the fans. In this way, this vision started in January 2022 and today here we found 59 cricketers who have come out of retirement to play the tournament. Today, more than 700 players have registered. From this perspective, it is to make it a second innings for the veteran cricketers. Those players who think that we are going to retire, then they should think now.
Saurabh Tiwari revealed many big secrets regarding the captaincy of Rohit and Dhoni during an exclusive interview with Crictracker.
Saurabh Tiwari has played only three ODI matches for Team India in international cricket in which he has scored 49 runs. Saurabh Tiwari. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Indian team’s veteran batsman Saurabh Tiwari has always performed very well in domestic cricket. Not only this, Saurabh Tiwari has also left his mark in the Indian Premier League. Let us tell you that Saurabh Tiwari has played only three ODI matches for Team India in international cricket in which he has scored 49 runs. His highest individual score has been 37 runs. Saurabh Tiwari is currently playing for Manipal Tigers in Legends League Cricket. He revealed many important things in an exclusive interview with Crictracker. Question: Earlier, when cricketers retired, they did not have much options other than commentary. Although you are playing in Legends League Cricket. Give your opinion about this tournament and also which Indian player would you like to see playing in this tournament in the upcoming season? Saurabh Tiwari: This is really a very good tournament and also very difficult because here it is important for the players to remain fit. Because of this tournament, there are many great players who are working hard on their fitness. I would like to see DJ Bravo playing in this league. Apart from this, whenever Mahendra Singh Dhoni Bhai retires from IPL, I want to see him also perform well in this league. Question: Took the name of your Dhoni. When you came, you were compared to him a lot because both are from Jharkhand and both have brought great fame to this state. What would you like to say about this? Saurabh Tiwari: I used to be compared with him only on the basis of hair and if you are being compared with a player who has played for India for 14 to 15 years then it is a big thing for you. He is a legend, he has played an important role in Team India winning many ICC trophies. Being compared to him is a big thing for me. Question: Do you still talk to Dhoni? Saurabh Tiwari: Whenever we go to Ranchi, I definitely meet him. Even though I don’t talk to him that much on the phone, whenever we meet on the field, no matter how long he stays there, he tells you about very important things. Question: You have participated in the Mumbai Indians team under the captaincy of Rohit and also under the captaincy of Dhoni. What would you like to say about the captaincy of both? Saurabh Tiwari: The best thing with Rohit is that he gives you complete freedom to play. The second thing that I like most about him is that he listens to everyone on the field. It is not that he will spoil the mood after listening to you. He also supports you a lot. Dhoni bhai is also exactly like Rohit but I have played most of the matches under Rohit’s captaincy and the best thing about him is that for him all the players are the same.…
I would like to become a spin bowling coach: Rahul Sharma made a big revelation during an exclusive conversation with Crictracker.
Former Indian team spinner Rahul Sharma is currently seen playing for India Capitals in Legends League Cricket. Rahul Sharma (Pic Source-Twitter) Former Indian team spinner Rahul Sharma is currently seen playing for India Capitals in Legends League Cricket. Rahul Sharma played a total of 6 matches for Team India in international cricket in which he took 9 wickets. Recently, in an exclusive interview with Crictracker, he made big revelations about many things. Question: Currently you are playing LLC. Earlier the players were not able to participate in league cricket after retiring from international cricket. What do you think is the importance of this tournament? Rahul Sharma: It is a good thing because in Team India also we have played many matches together. We also enjoy playing together and meeting each other. IPL is a big tournament and people from there are seen playing in this league after retirement. Shikhar is brother, he has also participated in this league for the first time and I am enjoying watching him play. Question: Shikhar Dhawan has recently retired from all forms of cricket. Do you think he should have been given more chances? Rahul Sharma: Players know when they should retire and when not. Like I was also playing and recently I also took this decision. This is Shikhar Bhai’s thinking and I cannot say anything about it. Question: As a leg spinner, you played for Team India. Talking about Yuzvendra Chahal, he bowled very well along with Kuldeep but now he is not getting opportunities. To make your place in Team India, should you play as an all-rounder or bring variation in your bowling? Rahul Sharma: Chahal is playing well consistently. He has also performed brilliantly in the county. But as the game is changing, batting is also becoming important. There is no doubt that Chahal is a great bowler and I admire him myself. It is necessary for him to make changes in his batting also. One thing is also that it depends on the captain and coach as to what kind of team they want. Now Gautam Bhai is also there. They will have to take decisions. Gautam Bhai also needs a match winning bowler. Question: Recently, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have retired from T20 format after winning the ICC T20 World Cup. Don’t you think they rushed? Rahul Sharma: Look at the decision of both these players. T20 format is a fast playing format. Both Rohit and Virat are among the best batsmen in the world. Rohit Sharma has participated in all the T20 World Cups and this is no small thing. According to me, whatever decision was taken, both of them took it of their own free will. Question: Virat Kohli has been seen struggling against spinners in recent times. You yourself are a leg spinner. What would you like to say about this problem of Virat Kohli? Rahul Sharma: What can I say about Virat Kohli. I have known him since childhood. He is one of the best batsmen in the world. I am no…
Will Rohit Sharma be seen playing for MI in the next season of IPL? Dhawal Kulkarni made a big revelation during an exclusive conversation with Crictracker.
Team India’s veteran fast bowler Dhawal Kulkarni is currently playing for India Capitals in Legends League Cricket. Dhawal Kulkarni (Photo Source: X/Twitter) Team India’s veteran fast bowler Dhawal Kulkarni is currently playing for India Capitals in Legends League Cricket. Let us tell you that Dhawal Kulkarni’s performance in international cricket has always been very good and his fan following is also very high all over the world. Recently, Dhawal Kulkarni revealed many important things during an exclusive conversation with Crictracker. Question: You were one of the most expensive players in Legends League cricket. How did you feel when you learned this and why is it important for retired players? Dhawal Kulkarni: This is a very good platform because all the players who are participating here have performed very well for the Indian team in domestic cricket, in international cricket and for their respective teams. We will be able to see him playing once again in this tournament also. Question: Last 1 to 2 years ago you were participating in the Indian Premier League, however you retired. What was the reason behind this because there are some players who are around your age and we can still see them playing in this important tournament? Dhawal Kulkarni: There is no such thing, I was playing cricket for the last 18 years. I have also performed very well in domestic cricket for Mumbai. The best thing is that Mumbai cricket has many talented young players who will be seen performing well in the times to come. I just wanted that other players should get a chance after me. Question: You talked about the fast bowlers of Mumbai. Who do you think are the young fast bowlers from Mumbai whom we will see playing for Team India in the future? Dhawal Kulkarni: No, there are such players. There is Mohit Awasthi who has bowled very well in domestic cricket and also there is Tushar Deshpande. Tushar Deshpande has bowled brilliantly in the Indian Premier League and has also left his mark in domestic cricket for Mumbai. He will also be seen bowling tremendously in international cricket in the coming times. Question: When you played your last home match, the wicket of your Umesh Yadav was a shock and this was also your last wicket. Do you have any memories regarding that? Dhawal Kulkarni: It was a very emotional time for me because I knew it was my last match. Also it was a very good time for me. I also had to make my team win this match. Question: You have also been a part of Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League and have also played a lot of cricket with Rohit Sharma. What has changed in him now that was not there before? Dhawal Kulkarni: There has been a lot of change in Rohit Sharma personally. He has also made a lot of changes in his captaincy and his batting has also become stronger now. He has started taking responsibility himself, which is a very good thing and if you ask…
