It was only yesterday that Michael Clarke made HT's list of five talents whom we wished were here, and now, our wishes have come true. Take a bow Subrata Roy, even Santa Claus doesn't work this quick.
The Australia captain inked a deal with the Sahara Pune Warriors as Yuvraj Singh's replacement on Thursday.
After resisting the lure of the IPL for four seasons, the newest member of the Test triple centurion club finally hopped aboard this gravy train.
His inclusion means the franchise will have a back-up captain in case skipper Sourav Ganguly has one of those niggles that are normally associated with soon-to-be-40 cricketers' comeback attempts.
"Clarke was exceptional in the recent Test series against India, as batsman and captain. He is a very popular cricketer in India, and followers of the sport are eagerly looking forward to his participation this season," said IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla said.
Fatigued? Not us, says Dhoni
After the drubbing in Australia, and failure to reach the CB Series and Asia Cup final, most players would find it difficult just to get out of bed. Not our boys!
"All happy. I don't think fatigue will be a real factor. We enjoy the IPL...that's one format where you are not representing your country, and the span of the tournament is longer so you play quite a few games," said MS Dhoni. That's the spirit.
{{/usCountry}}"All happy. I don't think fatigue will be a real factor. We enjoy the IPL...that's one format where you are not representing your country, and the span of the tournament is longer so you play quite a few games," said MS Dhoni. That's the spirit.
{{/usCountry}}Bisht gets there, finally
Delhi Ranji team's first choice 'keeper Punit Bisht may end up as the second choice in the Daredevils team. Bisht, who finally caught the eye of a franchise after years of toil, has his task cut out as his competitor for a place in the eleven, Naman Ojha is known for explosive batting.
Manpreet Juneja, Zafir Patel, Kuldeep Raval, Sunny Gupta and Pawan Negi too have been drafted in for Viru's army.