Gony doubtful, and no cheergirls for Delhi

Chennai Super Kings' fast bowler Manpreet Gony is suffering from fever and may not be able to play against the Delhi Daredevils in Chennai on Friday. Gony has been Chennai's best bowler with seven wickets in four games at an average of 19. A decision on Lakshmipathy Balaji's fitness will be taken on the eve of the match.

Shahid Afridi is yet to fire for the Deccan Chargers, having scored 12 runs in two innings, but has ruled out a shift to the top of the order. "I am not too eager to open the innings," Afridi told the Hindu. "Essentially, I am ready for any challenge. And moreover, I don't think it would be appropriate to have two hitters as openers. I am happy to play at No. 6 and confident of clicking in the coming matches with the bat too."

After the furore over the cheerleaders and their less-than-modest outfits raged across the country, most teams have got their cheerleaders to cover up but Delhi has gone a step further and stopped them from performing at matches. "At the right time of course we will be open to this," Vijay Vancheswar, vice-president of GMR group that owns the Delhi Daredevils, told local media on Wednesday, "Having said that, it is a question of priorities and the priority now is to play cricket and there will be no cheerleaders for now."

Shane Warne, the captain and coach of the Rajasthan Royals, has said that the inclusion of Hampshire allrounder Dimitri Mascarenhas has given him quality options to choose from. "Dimitri (Mascarenhas) has provided me with a good option. We have Graeme Smith as an opener and off-spinner and then Dimitri in the middle with Kaif. Watson or Tanveer as the fast medium option, so there is no worry whatsoever," Warne said. "We are a little bit ahead of the pack. Some of the teams are copying our plans. It's important to change your gameplan according to nature of the opposition."

After winning their first two matches, the Kolkata Knight Riders have lost their next two games, a turnaround in form that has disappointed the team's owner Shah Rukh Khan. "I am disappointed. But I am confident that my team will bounce back," Shah Rukh said. Sourav Ganguly, the Kolkata captain, has scored only 40 runs in four innings but Shah Rukh was not about to "ask questions to a player who has served the game with distinction for so many years". He said: "Harke jitne wale ko bazigar kehta hai (Those who can pull off wins after losing can turn things around from nowhere). In fact, I said this in the dressing room yesterday, and Chris Gayle was repeating this line today."

IS Bindra, IPL governing member and president of the Punjab Cricket Association, has warned Harbhajan Singh that another such incident could have serious ramifications. Harbhajan was banned for the remaining IPL matches this season for hitting Sreesanth after the match between Mumbai and Punjab. "There is no question for any repetition, we cannot have tolerance of any repeat actions of this nature," Bindra told the Sydney Morning Herald. "Once punished for such an offence, a player cannot make the same indiscretion again. He [Harbhajan] has disappointed all of us. I personally warned him after Australia, I told him he needed to be all the more careful because 'you are under watch, you are under probation'. He has had problems on a couple of occasions in the past. He was warned by the association that if he doesn't listen to the advice then next is a hard knock on his knuckles."