Narine opts for IPL over Windies´ Tests

ST JOHN´S, Antigua and Barbuda: West Indies´ off spinner Sunil Narine has opted to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) final and as a result will miss the forthcoming Tests against New Zealand, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said Friday.

Narine wanted to play for Kolkata Knight Riders in Sunday´s IPL 2014 final, and as a result missed the WICB´s June 1 deadline for joining the Windies´ preparatory camp.

The WICB said that the 26-year-old will now not be considered for home Tests against New Zealand on June 8 and 30.

WICB Director of Cricket Richard Pybus said that under recent guidelines players must make themselves available for team preparations in order to be considered for Tests.

"The onus of the WICB is to protect the integrity of international cricket at all times," said Pybus."International cricket, and specifically Test cricket, is priority and requires dedicated preparation which is integral to team success.

"The WICB policy requires players to commit to sufficient preparation leading in to a series as part of a culture of excellence."

Narine will however be considered for selection for two Twenty20 Internationals against New Zealand on July 5 and 6 in Dominica, the WICB said.

Training squad: Denesh Ramdin (Captain), Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo,Dwayne Bravo, Shiv Chanderpaul, Kirk Edwards, Shannon Gabriel, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Shane Shillingford, Kieran Powell, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor. (AFP)

Farhan Akhtar opts out of Shah Rukh starrer

According to India Today Bollywood actor-producer Farhan Akhtar will no longer be sharing screen space with superstar Shah Rukh Khan in his forthcoming home production ‘Raees’.

Akhtar, who was supposed to play the role of a police inspector in the film, opted out of the project due to date issues.

The 40-year-old actor had committed himself to Bejoy Nambiar’s next film, in which he will be appearing alongside Amitabh Bachchan.

Moreover, the production on ‘Raees’ has been postponed from September to October due to SRK’s recent injury on the sets of ‘Happy New Year’.

The film will be directed by Rahul Dholakia and produced by Excel Entertainment.

Aamir opts out of a film because of money issue

Aamir Khan

Seems Aamir Khan will have to wait a little longer for a sci-fi adventure. The actor was in advance talks with Excel Entertainment for an upcoming time-travel drama to be directed by debutant Nitya Mehra. However, the production house and the actor couldn't agree on his remuneration and commercial terms.

Says a source close to the development, "Aamir had several script narrations with Nitya. He was really impressed with the script. But eventually they couldn't reach a common ground on financial matters. It is an amicable separation between the two."


Mirror has learnt that the makers are eager to find a replacement and are in talks with other actors for the role, one of them being Hrithik Roshan. As far as the leading lady is concerned, Deepika Padukone was reportedly in talks to star opposite Aamir. But with him out of the project, it remains uncertain if she'll still be a part of the film.

Despite repeated attempts made by this paper, both Excel and Aamir remained unavailable for comment.