IPL asks teams to rein in players

	The owners of the Rajasthan Royals have spoken to Shane Warne after receiving the IPL's letter © Rajasthan Royals

The Indian Premier League's (IPL) governing council has reacted to the series of recent controversies that has dented their inaugural season by sending a letter to all the team owners, asking them to rein in their players, particularly the captains.

The letter was sent last week by Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, and asks the owners, including Bollywood actors and top Indian industrialists, to ensure that their skippers use official channels to lodge their protests during the 44-day tournament, rather than go public about them. Modi's letter also reminds them to ensure that the IPL code of conduct, which is an adaptation of the ICC's norms, is strictly adhered to, said sources.

Fraser Castellino, the CEO of the Jaipur franchise that owns the Rajasthan Royals, confirmed to Cricinfo that they have received the IPL's letter. "We understand the IPL's concerns and I have already had a chat with Shane Warne, our captain and coach, about the letter," Castellino said.

The IPL's umpires have been separately warned, too, after it emerged that Amiesh Saheba, the on-field official for the tournament's most controversial game so far, in Mohali on April 25, gave both teams 10/10 in his confidential report to the match referee, the sources said. Saheba later told a Mumbai tabloid that he had repeatedly warned Sreesanth during the heated game after which the Kings XI Punjab fast bowler was slapped by Harbhajan Singh, the rival Mumbai Indians' skipper.

Harbhajan was banned from the rest of this IPL edition, but it was yet another incident seven days later, involving Shane Warne and Sourav Ganguly, rival skippers for a match in Jaipur, which finally prompted the governing council to sound out the team owners officially, said sources.

After that encounter between the Rajasthan Royals and the Kolkata Knight Riders, Warne created a stir during the post-match press conference when he accused Ganguly of flouting the spirit of the game by forcing an on-field umpire to refer a disputed catch to the third umpire. Minutes later, Warne also criticised Ganguly of turning up late for the start.

Later, GA Pratap Kumar, the on-field umpire for that Jaipur match, was suspended for succumbing to pressure from Ganguly. Two days later, Ishant Sharma, Kolkata's fast bowler, was fined for kicking down the stumps in a fit of anger during another match against Kings XI Punjab.

However, IS Bindra, a member of the IPL council, has dismissed the series of controversial incidents as "aberrations". He said that they merely reflected the "passion and intensity" with which players have approached the tournament.

"Such incidents show the passion and intensity with which players play in the tournament," Bindra told Cricinfo. "Players have developed intense loyalties to their teams and we are surprised. We thought this would take two years, but it has happened in just two weeks. Of course, we can't let players cross the line of acceptable behaviour. But we also have to understand the passion to win that leads to such incidents."