Laxman out, Prince takes a break

Laxman out of IPL
Deccan Chargers were dealt another jolt when VVS Laxman, their captain, ruled himself out of the rest of the Indian Premier League after failing to recover from a hairline fracture just below his right wrist.

Blasts in Jaipur
Seven major blasts rocked Jaipur, the base of the Rajasthan Royals, and the death toll is on the rise. The team is away holidaying in Goa and the next match in Jaipur is in four days' time, against the Bangalore Royal Challengers, who have now offered to host Saturday's game.

Kolkata start pruning operations
The Kolkata Knight Riders have released six of their players - Ranadeb Bose, Sourashish Lahiri, Cheteshwar Pujara, Yashpal Singh, Rohan Bannerjee and Nagaland's Hokkaido - as they feel they will not be required for the rest of the season.

"To be fair to these players, we are not experimenting with our team combination at this late stage in the tournament and these players won't get a game," Joy Bhattacharya told Mid-Day, a Mumbai-based tabloid. "So it does not make sense for us to hold them back. We have spoken to all the players about it. The players are still with the Knight Riders, but it's just that they won't be needed for the remainder of this season."

Prince goes back
Ashwell Prince, South Africa's middle-order batsman, will re-join the Mumbai Indians after spending a few days with his new-born kid back in South Africa. Prince, a middle-order batsman, was was bought at US$175,000, but is yet to make his IPL debut.