Newsfile: April 28

Sangakkara fined: Deccan Chargers’ captain Kumar Sangakkara has been fined $20,000 for his team’s slow over-rate in their game against Pune Warriors on Thursday. Chargers registered their first win of the tournament in that game, successfully defending 177. Since this was Sangakkara’s first offence, he was fined as per the IPL’s code of conduct section relating to over-rate penalties, an IPL release stated.

Wright flies home: Pune Warriors are likely to be without the services of allrounder Luke Wright for the coming week, after he returned to England to attend the funeral of a relative. Wright had tweeted on Wednesday about the death of his uncle, who was suffering from cancer, and on Saturday afternoon he said:

Not sure how long I will be back, depends when the funeral is, mostly likely be back for Pune next weekend.

— Luke Wright (@lukewright204) April 28, 2012

Gibbs’ fracture still healing: Mumbai Indians’ Herschelle Gibbs is still recovering from a chipped index finger, an injury he sustained during a fielding session with coach Jonty Rhodes. He tweeted on Saturday afternoon that the finger could take another week to heal fully.

Xray results good..doc reckons another week..chomping at the bit!! #dyingformyfirstgame!!

— Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) April 28, 2012

Awana looking to hit 150kph: Kings XI Punjab bowler Parvinder Awana has said he is targeting the 150kph mark. "Somebody said that I clocked 147kph against Mumbai on Wednesday in Mohali. Now I'll be looking to touch 150,” he told the Times of India. “I bowled a few slower ones in Mumbai [last Sunday] but in Mohali, I didn't feel the need to bowl any of them.” Awana has been the most successful of the Kings XI bowlers, claiming nine wickets in four games with a best of 4 for 34. He will get his chance to meet his target today, when Kings XI take on Super Kings in Chennai.

I don’t have to prove anything – Rahane: Ajinkya Rahane, the Rajasthan Royals batsman who has arguably been the most impressive Indian youngster at this year’s IPL, has said he plays cricket purely for the love of the game. "I play cricket because it is my passion," Rahane told PTI. “I don't have to prove anything. I don't think much about [India] selection, my focus is just on the controllable. I just focus on my game and work hard to improve.” And working with Rahul Dravid has helped his bid to improve, he said. “I have learnt a lot from Dravid. Even after achieving a high in his career he has never gone [the wrong] way. I had a lot of discussion with him during the camp ahead of the IPL, he advised me not to think about the numbers and just enjoy the game and that has really worked well in my favour."

Must peak at right time - Gambhir: Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir has said his team are capable of playing better cricket, but it is important to play at their best at the right time. “It’s been up and down. We’ve not played consistently, [only] sometimes we’ve played some very good cricket,” Gambhir told IPLT20.com. “We’ve still got eight more games, and hopefully, we can peak at the right time. This is the time to peak. We can play much better cricket than what we have played until now.” Talking about his batting, he said that playing to potential in Twenty20 games was a matter of mental adjustment. “My basics remain the same. You cannot change the technical bit because you are changing formats. That remains the same. It’s only the mindset that changes. You need to be more attacking, improvise more. If you have a strong base, definitely you will do well in all three formats of the game.”