I have no cash for top players: Shah Rukh Khan

Politics and the recession have hit Shah Rukh Khan’s plans for his Kolkata team in IPL Season 2 — his Pakistani players, Shoaib Akhtar and Salman Butt, cannot play in India; and he does not have enough extra cash to buy other top-rated players. However, SRK is always an optimist. “I hope Kolkata be the winner this time,” he said. “I also wish the Delhi team well,” he graciously added on Wednesday’s visit to the Capital to launch Tag Heuer’s Carrera Calibre 16. That’s not cricket! Later in the evening, SRK had a meeting with teammates John Buchanan and Sourav Ganguly. “We have a good set-up,” he said. “We have Ricky Ponting, Chris Gayle, Ishant Sharma. It should be a good season — as long as all these guys play.” The absence of Akhtar and Butt will be keenly felt, though, especially as the embargo is a big financial burden. “I don’t know which board took this decision. They may have thought ‘Thodasa… achha nahi lagega’. But unfortunately, they [the IPL board] won’t allow the money meant for the Pakistani players to be utilised in buying new players. This is a little unfair.” It has made things difficult. “We don’t have much money left,” he said. “We couldn’t bid for expensive players like Kevin Pietersen. Their starting salaries are, like, 1.3 million dollars. We’ve already spent that.” His cheerleader talent hunt will, however, be big, SRK tells us. It will show people that “it’s not just about dancing with pom-poms” and that the girls totally “deserve respect” for their hard work.

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England to return to India this week for Test Series

The English cricket team is set to come back to India later this week for the two-Test series starting Dec 11, the media reported here Monday.

According to a report in The Guardian, the team is expected to be back in India either Thursday or Friday to fulfil their engagement. England had cut short their visit and cancelled the two one-dayers after the Mumbai attacks.

The matches are likely to take place in Ahmedabad and Chennai, which was selected in place of Mumbai after the terror attacks in the city.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will present the players with a safety report Monday and the resumption of the tour is likely to be officially confirmed Tuesday.

The daily also reported that ECB is in touch with the Indian and British governments, consulates in Indian cities, security advisers and other risk assessment experts in order to give the cricketers a thorough dossier on safety issues.

The ECB has also spoken to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA).

But England team could be without some of their biggest names -- Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and Jimmy Anderson.

Lalit Modi, vice-president of the Indian cricket board, suggested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would not press for compensation if England remained at home.

'I really do believe that it (the tour) will happen. It's just that we need to take it to another city, which we've agreed to do. We can't allow events around the world to deter us, to be afraid to play,' Modi was quoted as saying by the media