Roy said cricket is immensely popular in India and Sahara’s pullout won’t affect the coffers of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) since there are several corporate majors willing to sponsor the cricket team.

“Ten years back sponsorship was difficult in cricket. But now cricket is very rich and there are many people who are interested to be sponsor. So I don’t think there is any problem. But I have promised them I am not going to walk out till they get a sponsor,” said Roy.

Roy said his main concern is about Pune Warriors. Sahara bought Pune Warriors for a whopping Rs.1,700 crore making it the most expensive IPL franchise.

“My first concern is that our players should not be deprived of playing in the IPL this year. It will be really bad for them. It is important that they should play. I have already requested the BCCI to get them in any organisation fast so that they can play in this IPL also. So we will sit and discuss all this. I don’t want that BCCI and our team (Pune Warriors) should be in problem in any manner. I am sure when we will sit we will come out with good solutions,” said Roy.

Roy also said that, if needed, Sahara will reconsider its decision of withdrawing from the Pune Warriors franchise.

“If really needed, I will not give a second thought. That’s the highest priority in my mind. But this is certain that players should play. Pune people are so excited for the first tournament there. Right from the beginning I have said my first concern is my team and they have to play this tournament,” Roy told CNN-IBN.

Roy said there was no level playing field in the IPL after the introduction of the two new teams.

“My complaint is 100 percent there. Last year only I had said you should open the auctions because there are two new teams and there should be level playing field. In the interest of the tournament I had told them that if all the teams are properly balanced we will enjoy each and every match. It is good for the tournament,” he said.

Roy said his team was badly affected after Pune Warriors captain Yuvraj Singh was ruled out of the fifth edition with a malignant tumour.

“Today minus Yuvraj we don’t have a top Indian player. We have to field seven Indian players. Some teams have 4-5 top Indian players. We wanted Ravindra Jadeja but nobody was listening,” said Roy.

“I told them that I will discuss this issue with my cabinet colleagues and find out what can be done,” Chandy told reporters here after a special cabinet meeting.

The IPL franchise was terminated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after it defaulted on an annual payment of Rs.156 crore as a bank guarantee.

Prasanth Mishra, a representative of Rendezvous Sports, met Chandy twice and discussed the problems.

“We have also met Sports Minister K.B.Ganesh Kumar to seek his help as well. We are also going to seek legal recourse of cancelling our franchise because in the past two franchises (Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals) were successful after they went to the court,” said Mishra told IANS.

Rendezvous won the franchisee rights for the Kochi IPL team for Rs.1,500 crore for 10 years.

Rendezvous is owned by a consortium that includes companies like Kerala-based Elite Group of Vivek Venugopal, Anchor Earth, Parani Development Pvt. Ltd., Anand Shah Developers and Film Waves.

The team had its trouble right from the start. Sashi Tharoor, a Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, lost his job as the minister for state for external affairs after it was revealed that Sunanda Pushkar, whom he later married, was given sweat equity. Tharoor reportedly did the initial spade work to bring the owners together and bid for the team.

Then came a serious difference opinion between the owners and that too was sorted out before the team finally took the field. But then it defaulted in payment to the BCCI.

AIFF secretary Kushal Das told IANS that “FIFA in principle has agreed to give the hosting rights of the tournament to India.”

Das said the AIFF is preparing to submit the bid documents by March 15. As a host India can directly qualify for what would be its maiden U-17 World Cup.

“We are preparing to submit a professionally worked out bid document. If India can convince the FIFA executive members, it will be the biggest tournament the sub-continent will be holding. It will be a big boost for the game in the country and India could be playing in the tournament as hosts,” said Das.

The AIFF will also seek help from sports minister Ajay Maken to help with infrastructure since FIFA bears the cost of the tournament.

“The government has to give a declaration to FIFA that it would support the tournament. The FIFA will also ask for tax exemptions and other relaxations in visa rules and foreign exchange,” said Das.

Sports minister Ajay Maken told IANS that the government will try to help the AIFF in its endeavour.

“In all such endeavours, the government is has always been supportive. But let us get the proposal officially and then we will take it from there,” he said.

FIFA willingness to give India one of its major tournaments here doesn’t come as a surprise as last year Thierry Regenass, the director of membership and development association of FIFA, said India would bid to host the 24-team tournament either in 2017 or in 2019.

Unlike the senior World Cup, which needs minimum 10 venues, the U-17 World Cup will require 6-8 venues. The 24-nation meet could be hosted in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Goa, Bangalore and Chennai. The Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, however, would need special permission to host the tournament since its artificial turf is not approved by FIFA.

FIFA development officer Shaji Prabhakaran told IANS that the tournament could change the landscape of Indian football.

“The tournament could be the best way to take the game forward in India. We have witnessed a huge popularity in the game and hosting the U-17 World Cup would help AIFF promote the game in a big way. It will be a win-win situation for India,” he said.

Prabhakaran said AIFF needs good infrastructure and government support to conduct a successful U-17 World cup.

“The U-17 World Cup is one of the showpiece events of FIFA to promote budding talent. It is the best stage for some of the young footballers to showcase their talent,” said Prabhakaran.

The inaugural edition of the tournament was held 1985 and is held every two years. Nigeria and Brazil are the most successful teams having won thrice while Ghana and Mexico have triumphed twice each.

The next edition slated for 2013 will be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) while Chile will host the U-17 World Cup in 2015.

It was only after some assurances from the chief curator Brad Van Dam that India coach Duncan Fletcher decided to go ahead with the match. Fletcher was seriously contemplating getting his team on the first plane out of Canberra as there was rain forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday as well.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and selected to bat – sans rested Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid and injured Ishant Sharma – but soon they were reduced to 84 for four in the first innings. Virat Kohli (55) and Rohit Sharma (38) were at the crease with their unbroken 78-run stand for the fifth wicket.

Gautam Gambhir (24), Virender Sehwag (12), Ajinkya Rahane (15) and V.V.S. Laxman (15) failed to capitalise on their starts.

Sehwag scored run-a-ball 12 before being caught by Alex Doolan off the bowling of Peter George. Gambhir was bowled by Jason Behrendorff, who was the most economical bowlers with figures of 1 for 8 in nine overs.

Reserve opener Rahane also failed for the second time in two innings, and he followed Gambhir soon in the pavilion as India were reduced to 53/3.

Laxman showed signs of repairing the innings and struck a couple of sweetly timed fours but was bowled by left-arm spinner Jon Holland while trying to work it to the leg side.

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke has told Brazilian lawmakers that the pace had to be stepped up. “We are late, we can’t lose a day.”

Blatter too expressed his concerns following a meeting of FIFA’s executive committee on the sidelines of the 2011 club World Cup being held in Tokyo.

“The executive committee is worried about that,” Blatter said at a press conference. “I will myself take up the (concerns) World Cup at a presidential level and in the first or second month of next year I will go and meet the head of state.”

The world football association suggested that the stadium construction was taking place in time but they had still not received the necessary government guarantees on the organisation of the event.

“Clearly, we are concerned that we have not received the confirmation of the general World Cup Bill,” Blatter said.

Tendulkar arrived in the 21st over, at the dismissal of Gautam Gambhir (35), with the score at 74/2. The batting maestro faced 132 balls and hit 15 fours and also shared a 132-run fourth-wicket stand with Laxman, whose elegant stroke-play frustrated the hosts.

Tendulkar was in great touch and toyed with the bowlers. Laxman was also a delight to watch, scoring on both sides of the wicket. The Hyderabadi got to his 50 in 66 balls and after 57 retired like Tendulkar.

“It is definitely encouraging as a bowling unit, our strength has always been the swing. That will be the key and that’s what we’re going to rely on here as well. Even though the wickets here offer a lot of bounce, we will still rely on swing. Hopefully we’ll be able to extract some swing in the matches to come,” said the 33-year-old Zaheer at the Manuka Oval.

“As a bowler it is all about bowling into the right areas. If a bowler is capable of hitting the right length and is able to get the ball moving, then you can trouble any batsman in the world,” he said.

Zaheer has not played international cricket since suffering a hamstring tear during the first Test against England at Lord’s in July. Subsequently he underwent ankle surgery in London and his selection for the Australian series was conditional. He tested his ankle in a first-class match in the Ranji Trophy before boarding the flight to Australia.

The left-arm pacer said he had lot of time to prepare for the Australia series.

“I’ve definitely had a lot of time to prepare for this series. I have put in a lot of hardwork since the surgery and have done everything possible to get back to shape. I am very happy with the way things are going personally for me. Happy with to get back my rhythm in the nets and a bit of match practice will help me. It was a long flight for us so it is important we get into rhythm. I got to see a bit of bowling, I am happy with the way the whole approach has been, and I’m looking forward to playing the next one myself,” he said.

Zaheer also said that Ishant Sharma decision to leave midway through his sixth over was a precautionary measure.

“It is very good to see someone bowling like that, I’ve been mentioning back in India it is good to see him bowl 140kph plus, which is really important. I’m sure the wickets here are going to suit his style of bowling because the wickets are going to provide that extra bit of bounce. It is still early days for him, and the more he plays the more he is going to learn, so it is all about exposure at this level, and I’m sure with time he’ll learn more things,” he said.

“What we have to do is find a way to ensure that Test matches fit into 21st century life, through timing, environments and the venues they are held in,” said Dravid, who was the first foreign cricketer to deliver the Bradman Oration.

Dravid said it was not possible for all the three versions of the game to be played in equal amounts, but none should be allowed to die out.

“Cricket must find a middle path. It must scale down this mad merry-go-round that teams and players find themselves in: heading off for two-Test tours and seven-match ODI series with a few Twenty20s thrown in,” he said.

Dravid described Test cricket must be preserved since it is the form most players want to play.

“Test cricket deserves to be protected, it is what the world’s best know they will be judged by,” he said. “Where I come from, nation versus nation is what got people interested in cricket in the first place. When I hear the news that a country is playing without some of its best players, I always wonder, what do their fans think?

“People may not be able to turn up to watch Test cricket but everyone follows the scores. We may not fill 65,000 capacity stadiums for Test matches, but we must actively fight to get as many as we can in, to create a Test match environment that the players and the fans feed off. Anything but the sight of Tests played on empty grounds.

“For that, we have got to play Test cricket that people can watch. I don’t think day-night Tests or a Test championship should be dismissed. In March of last year I played a day-night first-class game in Abu Dhabi for the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) – and my experience from that was that day-night Tests is an idea seriously worth exploring. There may be some challenges in places where there is dew but the visibility and durability of the pink cricket ball was not an issue,” he said.

Dravid also said that the proposed Test championship, which has been postponed by the ICC, would encourage every team and player. The ICC had plans to host the inaugural ICC Test championship in 2013 but postponed it until 2017.

“A Test championship, with every team and player driving themselves to be winners of a sought after title, seems like it would have a context to every game. Keeping Tests alive may mean different innovations in different countries – maybe taking it to smaller cities, playing it in grounds with smaller capacities like New Zealand has thought of doing, maybe reviving some old venues in the West Indies, like the old Recreation Ground in Antigua,” he said.

Warner recalled that there was much intensity during India’s last tour of Australia and does not expect the coming series to be very different.

“That some of us have played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the last four years will surely help the players understand one another better but I don’t think that this familiarity will take the edge away when we are on the field,” he said.

“Lots of things were going on when India toured Australia the last time in 2007-08 but that is what makes cricket. Everyone likes to play very seriously and that alone should ensure that none changes the attitude on the field. There are always a couple of players who like to chat up a bit and get under people’s skins,” he said.

The 25-year-old from Paddington fondly remembered the encouragement he has received from Delhi Daredevils captain and India star Virender Sehwag and other team-mates over the last three years.

“Playing for Delhi Daredevils has obviously helped me as I worked with a set of world class players like Sehwag, Daniel Vettori, Glenn McGrath and others like GG (Gautam Gambhir), Morne Morkel, Ashish Nehra and Dinesh Karthik. They have all egged me on with their comments and feedback and that has allowed me to mature as a player,” he said.

“I will not forget how when I joined Delhi Daredevils, Sehwag told me that I would be a better Test cricketer than a Twenty20 player when I had not yet played first class cricket. When I asked him how he could predict that, Sehwag shared his theory of how everyone would be in the slips and I could play my shots freely,” Warner said.