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Round-up of the fourth day of the sixth round of the Ranji Trophy Super League

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2010Group AManoj Tiwary’s highest first-class score of 233 gave Bengal the first-innings lead against Saurashtra•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Railways shocked Delhi at the Roshanara Club Ground, as the home side faltered in their chase of 136 to be shot out for 113. Delhi needed 88 runs on the final day with six wickets remaining. But on the seaming surface, runs were hard to come by. Gaurav Chabra and Rajat Bhatia, the last pair of specialist batsmen, were caught off edges at slip and gully as Delhi slipped to 76 for 6. Sumit Narwal, the seamer with nine wickets in the match, refused to give in, hammering five fours in his 39. But Railways chipped away at the other end, removing Puneet Bisht and Pradeep Sangwan. When Narwal was caught behind in an attempt to run the ball to third man to retain the strike, it was all but over for Delhi. Left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra was run out two deliveries later to give Railways a famous victory over their city rivals.”After the first two wickets, we started believing that if we could get one or two more, there was a chance that we could do it,” an elated Abhay Sharma, the Railways coach, told ESPNcricinfo. “We had also come close to beating Mumbai, but they somehow managed to sneak through.” Only two points separate third-placed Delhi and sixth-placed Railways now with the last round remaining. The game against defending champions Mumbai has become crucial for Delhi, while Railways have put themselves in with an outside chance to make the knockouts.Manoj Tiwary’s unbeaten double-century and offspinner Saurasish Lahiri’s maiden century took Bengal past Saurashtra in Rajkot. Bengal needed 128 runs with five wickets in hand to grab three points, with Tiwary resuming on 116. Laxmi Shukla hit an aggressive 45 before being stumped. Bengal were 67 runs short at that stage, but Tiwary and Lahiri shut Saurashtra out, batting almost throughout the day in a 209-run partnership. Tiwary was at the crease for almost ten hours, remaining unbeaten on 233, his highest first-class score. Lahiri batted for 202 deliveries at No 8, falling in what proved to be the last over of the match.Ishwar Choudhary’s maiden five-wicket haul gave Gujarat a comfortable first-innings lead against Assam in Guwahati. Seamer Amit Singh had dismissed Tarjinder Singh to give Gujarat the breakthrough in the day’s 15th over. But Assam captain Amol Muzumdar and Gokul Sharma kept Gujarat at bay, adding 93 runs in a busy fifth-wicket stand. Just when it seemed that Assam would bat out the day, Amit got the big wicket of Muzumdar, having him caught behind for 90. Chowdhary, the fast bowler, turned it on after that, picking up four of the remaining five wickets, including that of Gokul for 55. Assam had collapsed from 229 for 4 to be dismissed for 273.Stung at having conceded three points, Assam responded with a burst from their fast bowlers Abu Nechim and Ranjitkumar Mali, leaving Gujarat on 0 for 3. Gujarat were struck another blow when first-innings centurion Sunny Patel had to retire hurt on 1, but they played out the remaining overs to move to fourth position behind Delhi, with an opportunity to reach the quarterfinals.Tamil Nadu achieved their target of picking up first-innings points against Mumbai in a rain-hit draw in Chennai. K Vasudevadas and R Sathish resumed 89 runs short of Mumbai’s 238, and took their side to within seven runs of taking the lead before Sathish fell on 44. Vasudevadas took Tamil Nadu past Mumbai but missed out on his century by one run, getting bowled by 18-year old left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh. L Balaji smacked four sixes in his 41 as Tamil Nadu’s lower order carried on merrily, before they were dismissed for 347. Harmeet finished with 5 for 86, his best figures. Offspinner Suresh Kumar removed the Mumbai openers before the game was called off. Mumbai have already made it to the quarterfinals while Tamil Nadu are is second position.Group BA belated declaration came back to haunt Punjab who prised out eight Haryana wickets but ran out of overs to force an outright win in Rohtak. Rajwinder Singh, the left-arm spinner, took his best figures of 4 for 60, but Haryana finished on 220 for 8 chasing an improbable target of 378. Punjab had made a bright start with MS Gony reducing Haryana to 36 for 3, but Rahul Dewan and former India batsman Hemang Badani resisted with an 80-run partnership. Rajwinder removed both batsmen in quick succession before Sachin Rana, whose century had earlier helped Haryana avoid the follow-on, stood firm along with Pardeep Sahu for more than 20 overs. Though Rajinder struck again, Joginder Sharma played out the rest of the overs to earn a point for Haryana.Punjab were left with three points after having batted for 17 overs in the morning, despite having an overnight lead of 289. Uday Kaul made his second half-century of the game as Punjab finally declared on 232 for 6, but it came a little too late. Fourth-placed Haryana are still in with a chance to progress to the knockouts, have a game in hand against Orissa.Karnataka joined Mumbai in the knockouts, playing out a tame draw against Baroda in Mysore. The home side led by 390 runs going into the final day, but opted to bat on for 23 overs, eventually declaring on 391 for 8. Amit Verma (80) and Stuart Binny (70) failed to get to their hundreds, and fast bowler Vinay Kumar helped himself to an unbeaten half-century. Set an impossible target of 480, Baroda reached 151 for 3 in 55 overs before the match was called off.Orissa took the first-innings lead against Himachal Pradesh as another rain-marred draw ensued in Cuttack. Openers Paresh Patel’s half-century and useful contributions from Niranjan Behera and Biplab Samantray took Orissa past Himachal’s 163 and they declared on 190 for 8. Medium-pacer Rishi Dhawan finished with his best figures of 5 for 63. Himachal reached 25 for 1 in the end, and are placed last in the group.

Group A

Teams Mat Won Lost Tied Draw Aban Pts Quotient For Against

Mumbai620040211.9503278/632215/83Tamil Nadu610050141.5202246/481878/61Delhi611040131.3452553/692585/94Gujarat611040130.6402203/902447/64Bengal600060120.9362332/432782/48Railways611040110.9422230/852283/82Assam60204080.7342564/892512/64Saurashtra60105050.6692367/683071/59

Group B

Teams Mat Won Lost Tied Draw Aban Pts Quotient For Against

Karnataka530020201.4412832/782091/83Baroda521020141.2412220/692282/88Uttar Pradesh511030140.9801925/771938/76Haryana511030120.8872155/742463/75Punjab60204080.9373279/932748/73Orissa50104080.6541869/702206/54Himachal Pradesh50104060.8761536/632088/75

The Bombay High Court has granted Kings XI Punjab an interim stay on its expulsion from the IPL but said the franchise would have to satisfy certain conditions, including retaining the shareholding pattern and paying the BCCI a security for player fees

Nagraj Gollapudi08-Dec-2010The Bombay High Court has granted Kings XI Punjab an interim stay on its expulsion from the IPL but said the franchise will have to satisfy certain conditions, including retaining its shareholding pattern, fulfilling pending player payments and paying the BCCI guarantee money in case the final judgement goes against them. The court also rejected Punjab’s request to defer the date for submission of the list of players they would like to retain for the fourth edition of the league, the deadline for which expires today. Punjab have until midnight to finalise their list.After listening to both parties over the last two days, Judge SJ Vajifdar said that “prima facie” Punjab had a strong case against the expulsion and the “interim injunction” was only just. But his verdict carried many riders, the most important being that the franchise cannot change its shareholding pattern and the control should rest in the hands of the four main owners: Ness Wadia, Preity Zinta, Mohit Burman and Karan Paul. The court said that these four needed to hold not less than 51% of the shares in KPH Dream Cricket Pvt. Ltd – the rights-holding company of the franchise – until the final judgement. Punjab’s owners refrained from commenting on the issue before they received the court order in hand tomorrow.In the interim, Punjab will have to submit various guarantees to the court and the BCCI. The first is clearing the pending payments to its players over the last two years, an amount running up to Rs.35 crore ($7.77 million). And now, since the franchise is free to re-enter the IPL arena, the court has asked it to commit an amount of $18 million for the next two years (at the rate of $9 million per year) as guarantee money for player payments in case the franchise participates in the league.”When they [Punjab] sign up players, their contracts are for two years,” CA Sundaram, BCCI’s lawyer in the case explained. “And in case they lose the arbitration the players’ contract must be honoured. Hence the bank guarantee for of $18 million which is two years’ contract money for players.”The other important condition the court asked Punjab to fulfill was to pay the BCCI $3.5 million per year for a period of two years, as security towards any damage incurred by the board in case the final verdict went against Punjab later on.”For the time being they have been permitted to participate but on very stringent conditions where they have to furnish various assurances and papers,” Sundaram said. “Importantly all these are only pending the final decision in the arbitration proceedings as an ad interim measure.”When asked whether BCCI had considered challenging the verdict in a higher court, Sundaram said the decision would be made when the order is in hand.Wednesday’s news will be seen as another blow to the IPL, whose 2011 tournament has been put increasingly at risk by a succession of court cases. While the Rajasthan and Punjab franchises were embroiled in courtroom battles, a third (Kochi) barely made it over the line. As a result of the controversies, the player auction for the season has been delayed by several months.In October the BCCI had terminated Punjab, holding the franchise guilty for violating the franchise agreement on three counts, the biggest offence being that the ownership had changed twice in the first three years of the league, something that went unreported to the Indian board.The franchise moved court last month seeking redressal for the cancellation of its IPL contract. Its petition contended that the termination was a “deliberate and calculated” move to ensure a new and more lucrative re-bidding process. Both parties then decided to opt for the arbitration process, but that too got embroiled in controversy when the arbitrator, Justice BN Srikrishna, recused himself after admitting to the BCCI that he had been legal counsel for the Wadia Group, part owners of Punjab, for many years.At that point the issue seemed to be snowballing into another protracted battle, just like the one Rajasthan Royals had got involved in with the BCCI. But Punjab rushed to the High Court for help and have now found new crutches to lean on before building their case in front of the arbitrator.The confusion over the eventual number of teams that will be involved next season affects every component of the world’s most lucrative domestic league: its teams/ franchises, its players and its very structure.

A middle-order collapse, during which Canada lost four wickets for two runs, allowed Ireland to dismiss the hosts cheaply and take a sizeable first-innings lead

Cricinfo staff01-Sep-2010
ScorecardA middle-order collapse, during which Canada lost four wickets for two runs, allowed Ireland to dismiss the hosts cheaply and take a sizeable first-innings lead on the opening day of their Intercontinental Cup match in Toronto. Trent Johnston’s third five-wicket haul was instrumental in limiting Canada to 120, after which Kevin O’Brien’s half-century put Ireland ahead by 70 at stumps.Canada’s decision to bat backfired immediately as both their openers, Ruvindu Gunasekera and Nitish Kumar, were dismissed for 1 each by fast bowler Allan Eastwood. Zubin Surkari and Ashish Bagai began to stage a recovery by adding 53 for the third wicket, but their efforts were unravelled by the collapse, by the end of which Canada were 60 for 6. Johnston took three of those wickets and later dismissed Khurram Chohan and Abzal Dean to finish with 5 for 23. Ireland’s wicketkeeper Rory McCann played an important part in the performance as well, catching five Canada batsmen.Ireland’s innings had a pacy start because of Paul Stirling, who scored 45 off 42 balls. The first-wicket partnership was worth 42, out of which McCann contributed only 4 before he was caught off Chohan. Stirling went shortly after, and Ireland were 58 for 2, but the middle-order batsmen weighed in with useful contributions to cruise past Canada’s total. Andre Botha made 39, O’Brien struck 11 fours in his 57, and Andrew White remained unbeaten on 30 as Ireland ended the day on 190 for 4.

Opener Steve Marillier’s marathon, unbeaten century halted Mid West Rhinos’ charge towards an innings victory and helped Southern Rocks draw their second game of the Logan Cup in Masvingo

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Sep-2010
Scorecard
Opener Steve Marillier’s marathon, unbeaten century halted Mid West Rhinos’ charge towards an innings victory and helped Southern Rocks draw their second game of the Logan Cup in Masvingo.Following on after conceding a 322-run first-innings lead, Rocks were left with the task of batting out four sessions to save the game. But for Marillier’s effort, they would have struggled to do so. After his partner Sikandar Raza was dismissed with the score on zero, Marillier – playing only his eighth first-class game – faced 380 deliveries and remained not out on 148, his maiden century. The next highest score was Craig Ervine’s 46. The match was called off with Rocks on 282 for 5 after 119 overs.The Rhinos’ commanding position in the game was built by first-innings hundreds from Brendan Taylor, their captain Vusi Sibanda and Malcolm Waller. They piled up 609 for 7 after getting sent in by Rocks. An opening stand of 180 between Taylor and Friday Kasteni, who made 61, set the tone for the middle order to build the huge total.In reply, half-centuries from Tatenda Taibu and Raza could not help Rocks avoid the follow-on. Legspinner Graeme Cremer picked up his 12th five-wicket haul in 61 first-class games to dismiss Rocks for 287. Sibanda immediately enforced the follow-on, but Marillier’s effort meant Rhinos had to be content with earning only one point for the first-innings lead from the game.

Aston Villa have seen many players walk through the door at Villa Park over the years, either on loan or permanent deals.

However, as tends to be the case with most clubs, not all transfer deals that take place end up being particularly successful or worthwhile.

One questionable transfer that took place at the Midlands club was their 2015 move for striker Rudy Gestede.

During the 2015 summer transfer window, under the management of Tim Sherwood, the Villans secured a deal to bring the striker to Villa Park from Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £6m.

Having been described as a “menacing” figure on the pitch by Sherwood, the Benin international was anything but that for his side, finding the back of the net only five times in 32 Premier League appearances throughout the 2015/16 campaign.

Also, despite appearing in the majority of their league games, the attacker could only rack up 18 shots on target in total, which is fewer than the number of fouls (24) he committed, meaning he was more of a liability for his side than a capable attacking threat.

With fewer goals scored (27) than any other side in the top flight that season, Villa eventually found themselves at the bottom of the league table and destined for the second division.

After Villa’s relegation at the end of Gestede’s debut campaign with the Villans, things didn’t get much better for him in the Championship either.

In 18 appearances, the centre-forward only scored four goals before joining Middlesbrough in the 2017 January transfer window, bringing an end to his uninspiring time as a Villa player after just 523 days.

Even with his lack of regular goals at the Midlands club, it seemed as though they were right to let him go when they did, as the striker only managed to bag eight times in 71 appearances for Boro following his exit from Villa Park.

Taking all of this into account, it’s safe to say that Sherwood had a shocker by bringing Gestede to Villa, who ultimately wasted a total fee of £8.1m from his transfer fee and £28k-per-week wages by having him on their books for as long as they did.

In other news: Gerrard can now axe awful flop as AVFC eye bid for £50m gem with “bundles of ability”

Sunderland host Doncaster Rovers on Saturday afternoon under the temporary charge of Mike Dodds following Lee Johnson’s sacking last week.

The Englishman was dismissed after the Black Cats were thumped 6-0 at Bolton Wanderers last weekend, however, they remain third in League One going into their meeting with bottom side Doncaster.

Despite the dismissal of Johnson and a heavy defeat, there was plenty of excitement surrounding The Stadium of Light this week, as former striker Jermain Defoe re-joined the North-East club for the remainder of the season.

But will the 39-year-old make his second Sunderland debut on Saturday? Here’s how Football FanCast think the Black Cats will start against Rovers.

Although it’s the same defence that shipped six goals last week, Dodds doesn’t have a plethora of defensive options at his disposal and may be tempted to keep the back-four untouched.

It could be argued that Tom Flanagan would’ve been a suitable choice to put back into the fold, but the 30-year-old joined League One rivals Shrewsbury Town on deadline day.

The changes come in midfield as Alex Pritchard slots into a central role in the place of Dan Neil whilst we expect Jack Clarke to make his full debut for Sunderland after coming off of the bench against Bolton last week.

The 21-year-old has endured a series of unfortunate events since his move from Leeds United to Tottenham Hotspur in 2019, having been a breakout star for the Whites.

After returning to Leeds on loan for half of the 2019/20 campaign, the Englishman has also had temporary spells at QPR and Stoke City and earlier this month made the move down another division to join Sunderland.

Having been labelled as “excellent” by former Leeds striker Noel Whelan after an impressive debut as a 17-year-old, the £4.5m-rated man certainly still has potential and a strong second half of the season with Sunderland could get his career back on track.

In terms of the striking department, although Sunderland fans will want to see Defoe back in a red and white shirt as soon as possible, the Black Cats do boast the third tier’s current top-scorer in Ross Stewart, who has 18 league goals, and it would be unfair to see the Scotsman replaced for nostalgic reasons.

AND in other news, Reporter drops big Sunderland manager “appointment” update which will leave fans gutted…

A big Newcastle United transfer update has emerged as the club look to bolster their squad on deadline day…

What’s the talk?

Journalist Keith Downie has provided a tantalising claim on a mysterious target for the Magpies, with a deal for a player potentially being influenced by the move for Hugo Ekitike.

Speaking live on Sky Sports News (14:20), the reporter said:

“The decision that Ekitike has not yet made has ramifications as to another big name player and a potential arrival. We can tell you that this afternoon Newcastle are pushing to bring Jesse Lingard in from Manchester United. We know that they have been in talks with Manchester United.

“It had reached an impasse but with Ekitike hanging in the balance, Newcastle United are beginning to look elsewhere. As we understand, Newcastle very keen to bring him in and are pushing hard to do so this transfer deadline day.”

Elated

The Toon Army will surely be elated with this news for several reasons.

Firstly, the idea of another ‘big name player’ being targeted will excite the supporters. Not only does it suggest that a high-profile name could be on their way to St. James’ Park on deadline day and that could leave fans delighted as it is, but it also provides an air of mystery around it that could leave them on the edge of their seats.

 

They will be buzzing with the prospect of another major addition to the squad, as Eddie Howe’s team is in dire need of reinforcements. The Magpies are 18th in the Premier League table and have only won two matches all season, which suggests that the current crop of players are not good enough to avoid the drop. That is why bringing in a ‘big name’ player could bolster their chances of survival.

The potential arrival of Jesse Lingard would also leave fans elated as he is a proven Premier League player who could come in and make an impact.

Last season, he produced nine goals and four assists in the top-flight on loan to West Ham, which shows that he has the quality to be a match-winner with his clinical edge in the final third.

He could, therefore, be a player who is able to improve Howe’s XI and help the team to pick up more wins and points to help them avoid relegation down to the second tier, which is another reason why fans will be buzzing with this news.

AND in other news, Huge blow: Newcastle suffer major deadline day setback, Howe will be seriously gutted…

Leeds United won’t be letting Raphinha leave this January transfer window with less than 48 hours to go…

What’s the word?

That’s according to Italian journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, who delivered a promising update from Elland Road to social media this weekend.

“Leeds have no intention to sell Brazilian winger Raphinha in January. West Ham asked for him but deal looks more than complicated, as per @JacobSteinberg,” he revealed.

“Leeds are still thinking of Takumi Minamino on loan from Liverpool in case Summerville will leave the club.”

Great news

Raphinha’s form this campaign will have certainly attracted suitors, though the Irons’ interest comes as a massive surprise given David Moyes’ options.

However, Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich and Premier League rivals Liverpool have also been linked with a move for the Brazil international, who has practically carried the Yorkshire giants on his back this term.

[snack-amp-story url = “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-lufc-transfer-rumours-gossip-bielsa-orta-radrizzani-elland-road-updates” title=”Read the latest Leeds news, transfer updates and much, much more!”]

As per WhoScored, the 25-year-old winger leads the way for goals (eight), assists (two), crosses (1.2 per game), key passes (2.1 per game), dribbles (2.4 per game), and shots (3.1 per game).

He has really stepped up to the mark during the absence of last season’s top scorer Patrick Bamford.

Losing Raphinha would deal Marcelo Bielsa and the squad a big blow to their chances of remaining in the big time for a third successive season, that’s for sure.

There have also been suggestions of the former Stade Rennes star signing an extension to his £63k-per-week-deal with two-and-a-half years remaining, which would put the Yorkshire outfit in a pretty powerful position going into future transfer windows.

His value has soared to £36m, having been signed for nearly half that (£17m) back in October 2020.

Dubbed a “magician” and an “unbelievable player” by his peers, it appears as if Raphinha will see the season out, at the very least, and that’ll leave supporters around Elland Road absolutely delighted.

There won’t be anyone disappointed by Romano’s latest update.

AND in other news, Phil Hay drops worrying Leeds United transfer claim ahead of deadline day…

Plays of the Day for the 11th match, between Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings at the Feroz Shah Kotla

Jamie Alter in Delhi19-Mar-2010Sehwag scintillates
In his previous game, Muttiah Muralitharan bowled a top spell against Kolkata Knight Riders, allowing just 16 runs in his four overs while picking up the wicket of Laxmi Shukla. Today his first over went for 12, with Virender Sehwag taking a special liking for his pace and turn: a well executed late cut for four was followed by an even better shot as he gave himself room, in fact exposing all three stumps, and gently and elegantly angled the ball wide of short third man for another boundary. Nothing fazes this man.Sticking to the basics … and suffering
When bowling at the death, the gospel says “full and straight”. Poor Joginder Sharma was precisely that in the 19th over, except that Rajat Bhatia struck successive sixes off him, indicating that there really is no set method in Twenty20. The fourth ball off the over was a full toss, which Bhatia dumped over deep midwicket, and the next was pitched up on the stumps and Bhatia nonchalantly swung it over long-on for the same result. Both Joginder and Bhatia were drafted in for their first game of the season, and their contributions couldn’t have been starker: Joginder went for 43 in his four overs and Bhatia larruped a nine-ball 21 that swung the impetus back Delhi’s way after Chennai had hit back with big wickets in a clump.Suspense and suspenders
Who says the first over of a Twenty20 innings can’t be full of suspense and action even if there isn’t a single wicket or boundary? Sample the first over of Chennai’s chase, bowled by Dirk Nannes. First delivery: left alone. Second delivery: pitched and cut back sharply to nearly saw Parthiv Patel in half, Dinesh Karthik fumbled the take as he fell to his right. Third delivery: well outside off stump, Parthiv , a wide was called. Fourth delivery: length ball, tapped in front of square for a quick single. Fifth delivery: pitched on a good length, held its line, and Matthew Hayden didn’t offer a shot. You could feel the suspense building up. Sixth delivery: just as Nannes released the ball, Hayden backed out with some issues with vision down the ground. When the ball was finally bowled, he calmly opted to shoulder arms. Was the big hit around the corner, you wondered? Seventh delivery: Hayden mistimed a drive to a full ball, set off, the backward point fielder hit he stumps, the ball ricocheted, and Hayden got a second run.Ouch and out
Parthiv, into the side because of MS Dhoni’s injury, had a muted game. The first ball of the third over, bowled by Nannes, was full, straight and fast, and the yorker thudded into Parthiv’s pads. Surprised by the pace and swing, he lost balance and stooped over. Still in a daze, Parthiv set off for a non-existent single, but Hayden waved him back vehemently. It was too late, however, because de Villiers took out the stumps. It seemed Parthiv was still smarting from the yorker that thudded into his foot.Operation Mongoose
Finally we got to see what all the fuss was about. Hayden swung Pradeep Sangwan away for his fourth boundary and promptly called for Chennai’s 12th man to bring out the Mongoose bat. A single and a dot ball later, the Mongoose was on the loose as Hayden tonked three fours and a six in four deliveries. Hayden had roared back into form. The little thing worked well against spin too, as Dilshan found out when his first over went for 21 runs, including three sixes. The bullying continued until Hayden was out for an audacious 93 from 43 balls. It was an auspicious debut.

Niranjan Shah, the IPL vice-president, has said he would plead his case with the IPL governing council

Cricinfo staff16-Feb-2010Ravindra Jadeja, who was banned from the IPL 2010 season for allegedly trying to negotiate a contract outside of Rajasthan Royals, has received support from Niranjan Shah, the IPL vice-president. Shah, also the president of the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA), whom Jadeja represents in domestic tournaments, said he would request the IPL’s governing council to consider the case.”We are hoping that everything will be fine in the coming days and Jadeja will be able to take part in the IPL3 for his franchise,” Shah was quoted as saying in the . “We will see if his ban can be reduced to a couple of matches and not for the entire tournament.”Earlier, Jadeja had pleaded his innocence saying that he had sought prior approval from the BCCI, before deciding to negotiate with other franchises. In his letter to the BCCI, reportedly written two weeks before Saturday’s ban, Jadeja said his contract with Rajasthan had expired on December 31, 2009 and that they did not give him any indications they were going to renew his contract.”It is my understanding that my contract with Rajasthan Royals has expired and they have not at any stage offered me a renewal for Season 2010,” Jadeja said in the letter. “In addition, I have never refused until this day to sign such a contract. Hence, I believe I am free to sign a contract with any franchisee.”