Story Indian Cricket League 1993 - Second Half of the Season is on! Who will qualify?

February 2, 1993
ICL AUCTIONS

  • This round will be for Indian batsmen as we have been informed and it may be the most important round left.


  • Ajay Jadeja was the first player up and despite his rocky start to international cricket averaging 18 he was signed by Bangalore for 19 lakhs after a fairly competitive bidding process involving four other teams.


  • Bombay reacted to missing out on Jadeja with a massive 50 lakhs bid for their local star Vinod Kambli who made his test debut yesterday. Only Delhi had the interest to follow them till the end and they weren't happy when they also missed out on Atul Bedade who was signed by Bombay again for 7 lakhs.


  • Delhi did however manage to sign veteran player Ashok Malhotra for 14 lakhs which was followed by Calcutta signing recent Ranji Trophy debutant VVS Laxman for 2 lakhs and Bangalore managing to sign their local rookie and former Indian U19 captain Rahul Dravid for 5 lakhs. Another international underachiever in Pravin Amre ended up as a Madras player for 14 lakhs.


  • The experienced duo of Krishnan Bhaskar Pillai and Amarjit Kaypee surprisingly did not receive any attention with teams hesitant to sign players who have been overlooked for higher honours till now.


  • Ranji Trophy finalist Surendra Bhave however was not neglected despite his lack of international experience with Delhi signing him for 7 lakhs. It was followed by Jacob Martin going to Tollywood for 4 lakhs and one cap wonder Gursharan Singh becoming a Bangalore player for 2 lakhs. Rajesh Puri did not attract any bids in between all of this. The final player of the round wound up being Raman Lamba whose enthusiastic approach got him plenty of bids and a final price of 22 lakhs from Delhi.


  • Bombay managed to sign a very aggressive six hitter in Bedade and an attractive stroke maker in Kambli. They can't complain about that haul. Delhi will be the winners of this round though with a solid mix of experience, talent and versatility all signed after they secured Bhave, Lamba and Malhotra. Bangalore were also active with three signings of different profiles in Jadeja, Dravid and Singh while Madras managed to sign the ever improving Amre. Only Calcutta and Tollywood look like they should have done better here, signing only two rookie cricketers in Laxman and Martin respectively who are yet to play any form of limited overs cricket at senior level.


  • The twelfth round involving domestic keepers may be a short one.


  • The veteran keeper and hero of the 83 World Cup win, Syed Kirmani has been confirmed to be a Tollywood player for 15 lakhs. The currently active international Kiran More received a successful bid of 5 lakhs from Bombay and after a couple of bids Nayan Mongia who has been making a name for himself domestically was signed by Bangalore for 3 lakhs.


  • Perhaps surprisingly VB Chandrasekhar and Vijay Yadav, both of whom have international experience did not get any bids. Neither did Sameer Dighe who has been making some noise recently.


  • Tollywood, Delhi and Bombay have only one domestic player spot left to fill and they may do so with the all-rounders round soon. Bombay also have their backup keeper should Healy leave early and More could play if Manjrekar doesn't keep. Despite not keeping regularly anymore there is no doubt that Kirmani has been signed as a backup keeper and will have to do the job if asked.


  • The thirteenth round involving overseas bowlers is also expected to be a short one.


  • The main player everyone was looking forward to was :saf:Allan Donald in the absence of international fast bowlers from West Indies and Pakistan. Despite arriving this late there was plenty of bidding for him particularly from Delhi who wanted a spearhead pacer. In the end though Tollywood would come in late and sign him for 25 lakhs, disappointing both Delhi and Calcutta owners who wanted him badly.


  • Dehli had to compensate for that with a 15 lakhs bid for the senior :aus:Terry Alderman who already confirmed that he would retire if he were to not play in this tournament. Surprisingly Madras followed it up by signing :pak:Abdul Qadir for 15 lakhs and Calcutta ended the round with 5 lakhs for :wi:Joel Garner.


  • There were plenty of names that went unsold in this round with owners playing mind games over bidding for them. Some of them are :nzf:Danny Morrison, :sri:Rumesh Ratnayake, :eng:Andy Caddick, :aus:Shane Warne, :aus:Tony Dodemaide, :eng:Angus Fraser, :eng:Paul Jarvis, :zim:Eddo Brandes, :saf:Fanie de Villiers, :saf:Chris Matthews, :pak:Iqbal Qasim, :eng:Devon Malcolm, :sri:Muttiah Muralitharan and:aus:Merv Hughes. We can only assume that many of them were unsold due to lack of experience, reputation or them being only available for a part of the tournament.


  • Dehli will have to rue this round after having done so well just a couple of rounds back. Maybe they overspent slightly in that domestic batsmen round as the main reason they couldn't bid for Donald any further was the lack of money remaining. It is also questionable as to why they signed Alderman immediately after missing out on Donald as they are different bowlers and Donald was only available for half the tournament due to his county contract which he confirmed he would honour yesterday. Did they just panic after missing out on Donald and wanted to sign the very next name that came up?


  • It was equally confusing to see Madras bid for veteran Qadir when they already had two of India's main spinners signed for close to 1 crore combined and an all-rounder in Kuiper who can also bowl spin. They were already frustrated at missing out on signing a domestic pacer earlier and have only signed one dibbly dobbler all-rounder after that to compensate. Unless they pick up some domestic pacer in the accelerated round who can somehow step up when needed their squad looks unbalanced. Were they just tempted by a player of Qadir's experience and quality remaining in the auction for base price?


  • Tollywood owners are definitely going home happy tonight with the signing of a superstar bowler like Donald. Even when he leaves they still have the wobbly Watson to replace him. All that they need to complete their squad is a spinner which they will no doubt sign via the all-rounder round or the accelerated round and some batting cover. Calcutta should also be happy that they picked up an experienced death bowler with legacy cheaply.


  • This completes the overseas player activity from Delhi and Madras as they have already filled their quota. Bombay filled theirs back in round ten and now only Tollywood, Calcutta and Bangalore have to finish theirs. Tollywood and Calcutta have one foreigner spot left while Bangalore still have two.
 
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May be Bangalore use him as a pinch hitter (top order) some time in the tournament...

It’s way too early for him to be considered more than a bits and pieces all-rounder (think he averages 45ish at over 5 rpo with the ball in ODIs as of date, low double figures across all List A cricket with the bat) so his batting ability will probably be quite low this season. If he does work in that role this season he might play there permanently. He’ll get an inevitable rating boost next year when he establishes himself further in the Lankan lineup and that’s when I assume he’ll play as an opener (and maybe inspire Ranatunga to do the same in a certain WC later on) as a yet to be announced player leaves. :spy
 
February 2, 1993
ICL AUCTIONS

  • This might be the last round where teams have a semblance of bidding competition as they look to complete their squads with domestic all-rounders.


  • Woorkeri Raman was the first to enter the fray and as the received some heavy bids that culminated in Bangalore signing him for 21 lakhs. Badruddin Khan then went unsold and was followed by Tollywood signing Utpal Chatterjee for 9 lakhs to finish their domestic quota. Delhi and Bombay also rounded off their squads with the experienced Kirti Azad for 5 lakhs and promising Robin Singh for 6 lakhs respectively. Ajay Sharma who has been a titan in domestic cricket but struggled internationally was signed by Calcutta for 9 lakhs who fended off interest from Delhi before they signed Azad. Perhaps realising that they still had three squad slots left to fill and some money to spare, Madras went on a spending spree to sign the talented youngster Sourav Ganguly for 11 lakhs and Lalchand Rajput for 9 lakhs. Calcutta also signed Sunil Joshi at the last moment for his base price of 1 lakh.


  • Bangalore seem to have taken one step towards resolving their opener problem with Raman's signing. It does however mean that they will have one less overseas player in their squad, something that no other team is likely to have. Do they trust their locals to step up in their time of need? Sharma and Joshi offer alternative spin options should Calcutta want that for better batting depth. Madras are highly likely to play Ganguly and Rajput if their senior players need to be rotated and Chatterjee should slot in as Tollywood's preferred domestic spinner despite average returns so far in the limited overs format. Finally Delhi and Bombay have good depth options with their last signings. Now on to the final round...


  • The trio of teams still left with overseas slots didn't seem too keen on buying :nzf:Kiwi keepers Adam Parore, Ian Smith and Lee Germon. :wi:West Indian keepers Jimmy Adams, Courtney Browne and Ridley Jacobs didn't have much luck either.


  • It was expected that :aus:Mark Waugh would be signing for Calcutta to fill their last overseas spot due to them still having cash for an expensive player but shockingly they opted to let him go and instead sign :eng:Graham Gooch for 15 lakhs. Do they value the experience factor more than the potential of Waugh being a first team player for years to come?


  • It did free up Bangalore to sign the experienced :wi:Gordon Greenidge as their final player for 5 lakhs in what is no doubt a coach motivated decision. Tollywood meanwhile opted to sign :saf:Peter Kirsten for 4 lakhs who was the top run scorer for the recently readmitted South African side in the last World Cup. And that concludes the overseas players auction!


  • Madras opted to sign the upcoming pacer Prashant Vaidya for 8 lakhs to finally solve their pace problem and Calcutta spent 2 lakhs for Amay Khurasiya who has been reported to be an aggressive player. And those two moves wrap up the auction! Thank you for following our coverage of it and we hope to see you watching all of these players in two months!


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(Woorkeri Raman ended up benefiting despite coming in so late to the auction)
 
Sometime in February 1993...
LEADERSHIP NEWS

We have some interesting news to share regarding the leadership decisions in each team of the ICL. The two teams that headed into the auction without a coach have now appointed people to that role. As rumoured before Tollywood Cricket Nagar has appointed former England coach :eng:Micky Stewart who led them to a World Cup final a year ago. He also confirmed that he was in talks before the auction and that he directed some of the strategy behind their decisions in the auction. In a very surprising move Madras Rubbers have appointed :ind:Mohinder Amarnath who came out of retirement to play for them. Having a player coach will be a new challenge but it is one that Amarnath is looking forward to. There has been criticism of Madras' auction strategy being aimless and this appointment only serves to add to it more.

We also have news from each team's camp on who their captains will be for the season. Bombay Tatas have appointed :aus:Geoff Marsh to lead their side. The veteran Australian cricketer with his wealth of experience and knowledge will be a big, positive influence on youngsters like Kambli and Tendulkar for sure. Hero Delhi Nationals confirmed that :ind:Kapil Dev will be their leader, a decision that should surprise no one as the legendary all-rounder led India to a shock World Cup win ten years ago. Prestige Bangalore have appointed the current Indian captain :ind:Mohammad Azharuddin as their captain, another decision that was obvious to make. Madras Rubbers and Wills Classic Calcutta continued the trend of appointing World Cup winning captains from Delhi by appointing :aus:Allan Border and :pak:Imran Khan as their respective team captains. Border's relationship with Amarnath who will be the coach for the season but also play under him will be closely observed. Tollywood Cricket Nagar have done a bit of a surprise move and appointed senior player :ind:Sandeep Patil as their captain ahead of stars Sidhu and de Silva. Sidhu for his part was supportive of the decision, calling it a great learning experience that he may not get again in the future. To sum it all up we have a table with the teams and the captains below alongside the top ten most expensive buys at the auction. Stay tuned for team previews and more news soon!

Team
Captain
Bombay Tatas
:aus: :bat: Geoff Marsh
Hero Delhi Nationals
:ind: :ar: Kapil Dev
Madras Rubbers
:aus: :ar: Allan Border
Prestige Bangalore
:ind: :bat: Mohammad Azharuddin
Tollywood Cricket Nagar
:ind: :ar: Sandeep Patil
Wills Classic Calcutta
:pak: :ar: Imran Khan
:aus: :bat: Dean Jones
Wills Classic Calcutta
1.2 Crores
:ind: :ar: Kapil Dev
Hero Delhi Nationals
1.1 Crores
:ind: :bat: Sachin Tendulkar
Bombay Tatas
1 Crore
:wi: :bat: Viv Richards
Prestige Bangalore
90 Lakhs
:ind: :bat: Mohammad Azharuddin
Prestige Bangalore
80 Lakhs
:sri: :ar: Aravinda de Silva
Tollywood Cricket Nagar
75 Lakhs
:ind: :ar: Manoj Prabhakar
Wills Classic Calcutta
70 Lakhs
:pak: :ar: Imran Khan
Wills Classic Calcutta
65 Lakhs
:wi: :ar: Franklyn Stephenson
Prestige Bangalore
65 Lakhs
:ind: :ar: Ravi Shastri
Madras Rubbers
65 Lakhs
 
Bombay Tatas

Coach : :ind: Ramakant Desai
Captain : :aus: Geoff Marsh
Media Prediction : 2nd (Batting ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Bowling ⭐⭐⭐ )

:ind: :local: :bat: Sachin Tendulkar | 1 Crore :goldo:
:ind: :local: :bat: Vinod Kambli | 50 Lakhs :slvo:
:aus: :os: :bat: Geoff Marsh | 18 Lakhs :slvo:
:eng: :os: :bat: David Gower | 10 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :bat: Atul Bedade | 7 Lakhs :bro:



:eng: :os: :wkb: Alec Stewart | 40 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :wkb: Sanjay Manjrekar | 20 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :wk: Kiran More | 5 Lakhs :bro:



:aus: :os: :ar: Simon O'Donnell | 40 Lakhs :slvo:
:sri: :os: :ar: Arjuna Ranatunga | 25 Lakhs :goldo:
:pak: :os: :ar: Shoaib Mohammad | 14 Lakhs :bro:
:ind: :local: :ar: Robin Singh | 6 Lakhs :bro:



:aus: :os: :bwl: Craig McDermott | 30 Lakhs :goldo:
:ind: :local: :bwl: Subroto Banerjee | 13 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :bwl: Narendra Hirwani | 9 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :bwl: Venkatesh Prasad | 9 Lakhs :bro:
:sri: :os: :bwl: Champaka Ramanayake | 3 Lakhs :slvo:
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Bombay have quietly assembled a very strong side with one marquee signing, one expensive buy per type of player and then a collection of good players that are all adequately compensated. The local trio of Manjrekar, Tendulkar and Kambli will be a very strong domestic core to rely on for batting alongside Ranatunga and O'Donnell offering serious power in the middle and their bowling is also capable with overseas pro McDermott being a star attraction. Even when some of their overseas players depart they will have good replacements like Ramanayake to come in. Watch out for Prasad who has been having a dream start to his career for Karnataka in List A cricket. It is a very strong team overall and we expect them to be in the hunt for a top two finish.

Predicted XI

  1. :os: Geoff Marsh :c:
  2. :os: Alec Stewart :wk:
  3. :local: Sanjay Manjrekar​
  4. :local: Sachin Tendulkar​
  5. :os: Arjuna Ranatunga​
  6. :local: Vinod Kambli​
  7. :os: Simon O'Donnell​
  8. :local: Robin Singh​
  9. :local: Subroto Banerjee​
  10. :os: Craig McDermott​
  11. :local: Narendra Hirwani
 
I've cleaned up the first post so that there's handy links for people who didn't follow from the beginning as I posted and to make it easier to access relevant information.

Would appreciate any and all sorts of feedback if anyone has anything to offer to improve on things. :)
 
Hero Delhi Nationals

Coach : :ind: Bishan Singh Bedi
Captain : :ind: Kapil Dev
Media Prediction : 5th (Batting
⭐
⭐
⭐
⭐
| Bowling
⭐
⭐
)

:nzf: :os: :bat: Martin Crowe | 50 Lakhs :goldo:
:ind: :local: :bat: Raman Lamba | 22 Lakhs :slvo:
:aus: :os: :bat: David Boon | 14 Lakhs :goldo:
:ind: :local: :bat: Ashok Malhotra | 14 Lakhs :bro:
:ind: :local: :bat: Arun Lal | 11 Lakhs :bro:
:ind: :local: :bat: Surendra Bhave | 7 Lakhs :slvo:




:nzf: :os: :wkb: Mark Greatbatch | 16 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :wk: Chandrakant Pandit | 13 Lakhs :bro:



:ind: :local: :ar: Kapil Dev | 1.1 Crores :goldo:
:eng: :os: :ar: Ian Botham | 55 Lakhs :slvo:
:aus: :os: :ar: Steve Waugh | 40 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :ar: Kirti Azad | 5 Lakhs :bro:




:aus: :os: :bwl: Terry Alderman | 15 Lakhs :bro:
:ind: :local: :bwl: Rajesh Chauhan | 9 Lakhs :bro:
:ind: :local: :bwl: Abey Kuruvilla | 6 Lakhs :bro:
:aus: :os: :bwl: Greg Matthews | 5 Lakhs :slvo:
:nzf: :os: :bwl: Gavin Larsen | 4 Lakhs :bro:
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Featuring a collection of players who had varying degrees of success in the 80s, Delhi Nationals is a team that focuses heavily on batting strength and relying on all-rounders to compensate for their weaker bowling. This is not to say that their bowling is bad, Kapil and Botham should form a formidable duo with the new ball and Matthews is a spinner who can keep things under control if he plays. There are question marks however that will haunt them such as Alderman's effectiveness in his final swansong, if recent test debutant Chauhan will be capable of handling whatever is thrown at him and Kuruvilla's ability to step up to a bigger level after being ignored for India. It also remains to be seen if their domestic batsmen who haven't succeeded in Indian colours will be able to consistently perform and if they will be able to escape injuries to a bowling attack that has almost no depth.

Predicted XI


  1. :local: Raman Lamba​
  2. :os: Mark Greatbatch​
  3. :os: David Boon​
  4. :os: Martin Crowe​
  5. :os: Steve Waugh​
  6. :local: Kapil Dev :c:
  7. :os: Ian Botham​
  8. :local: Kirti Azad​
  9. :local: Chandrakant Pandit :wk:
  10. :local: Rajesh Chauhan​
  11. :local: Abey Kuruvilla
 
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Madras Rubbers

Coach : :ind: Mohinder Amarnath
Captain : :aus: Allan Border
Media Prediction : 6th (Batting
⭐
⭐
| Bowling
⭐
⭐
⭐
)

:ind: :local: :bat: Kris Srikkanth | 45 Lakhs :bro:
:eng: :os: :bat: Allan Lamb | 15 Lakhs :goldo:
:ind: :local: :bat: Pravin Amre | 14 Lakhs :bro:




:zim: :os: :wkb: Dave Houghton | 7 Lakhs :slvo:
:eng: :os: :wk: Jack Russell | 4 Lakhs :bro:




:ind: :local: :ar: Ravi Shastri | 65 Lakhs :slvo:
:aus: :os: :ar: Allan Border | 35 Lakhs :slvo:
:nzf: :os: :ar: Chris Harris | 30 Lakhs :goldo:
:ind: :local: :ar: Mohinder Amarnath | 17 Lakhs :bro:
:ind: :local: :ar: Sourav Ganguly | 11 Lakhs :bro:
:saf: :os: :ar: Adrian Kuiper | 10 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :ar: Lalchand Rajput | 9 Lakhs :bro:




:ind: :local: :bwl: Anil Kumble | 50 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :bwl: Venkatapathy Raju | 45 Lakhs :slvo:
:eng: :os: :bwl: Phil DeFreitas | 17 Lakhs :slvo:
:pak: :os: :bwl: Abdul Qadir | 15 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :bwl: Prashant Vaidya | 8 Lakhs :bro:
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It is tough to see any position other than out of the top four for a Madras Rubbers team that has too many weaknesses. Question marks remain over how effective their probable top five will be at this age in the twilight of their playing careers and their lack of proper pace options will be a serious problem to deal with in any conditions where it is assisted. What they do have is lots of experience and mental strength to deal with any situation which can prove invaluable when pressure arrives and they also have the best spinners in the tournament who will be playing their home games in surfaces tailor made to run riot. If they can capitalise on their home advantage and use their multitude of all-rounders as a flexible way to nullify opposition threats... they have an outside chance of qualifying for a semi-final spot. They will hope to win most of the games they need before half of their overseas players depart.

Predicted XI


  1. :local: Kris Srikkanth​
  2. :local: Ravi Shastri​
  3. :local: Mohinder Amarnath​
  4. :os: Allan Lamb​
  5. :os: Allan Border :c:
  6. :local: Pravin Amre​
  7. :os: Chris Harris​
  8. :os: Jack Russell :wk:
  9. :local: Anil Kumble​
  10. :os: Abdul Qadir​
  11. :local: Venkatapathy Raju
 
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  1. :os: Geoff Marsh :c:
  2. :os: Alec Stewart :wk:
  3. :local: Sanjay Manjrekar​
  4. :local: Sachin Tendulkar​
  5. :os: Arjuna Ranatunga​
  6. :local: Vinod Kambli​
  7. :os: Simon O'Donnell​
  8. :local: Robin Singh​
  9. :local: Subroto Banerjee​
  10. :os: Craig McDermott​
  11. :local: Narendra Hirwani

There are no left-hand batsman in top 4... May be one of Arjuna or Kambli shift to top 4...
 
Prestige Bangalore

Coach : :wi: Clive Lloyd
Captain : :ind: Mohammad Azharuddin
Media Prediction : 3rd (Batting ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Bowling ⭐⭐⭐⭐)

:wi: :os: :bat: Viv Richards | 90 Lakhs :goldo:
:ind: :local: :bat: Mohammad Azharuddin | 80 Lakhs :goldo:
:ind: :local: :bat: Ajay Jadeja | 19 Lakhs :bro:
:wi: :os: :bat: Gordon Greenidge | 5 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :bat: Rahul Dravid | 5 Lakhs :bro:
:ind: :local: :bat: Gursharan Singh | 2 Lakhs :bro:




:aus: :os: :wk: Ian Healy | 6 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :wk: Nayan Mongia | 3 Lakhs :bro:




:wi: :os: :ar: Franklyn Stephenson | 65 Lakhs :goldo:
:ind: :local: :ar: Woorkeri Raman | 21 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :ar: Roger Binny | 5 Lakhs :bro:
:sri: :os: :ar: Sanath Jayasuriya | 1 Lakh :slvo:




:wi: :os: :bwl: Malcolm Marshall | 40 Lakhs :goldo:
:ind: :local: :bwl: Atul Wassan | 17 Lakhs :slvo:
:ind: :local: :bwl: Arshad Ayub | 16 Lakhs :bro:
:ind: :local: :bwl: Vivek Razdan | 15 Lakhs :bro:
:aus: :os: :bwl: Bruce Reid | 9 Lakhs :bro:
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Prestige Bangalore have spent a lot to secure star players for their side (they are one of two teams to have three players in the top ten most expensive players) as their four most expensive players alone constitute nearly 69% of their salary budget. It has given them a very powerful team to select and a decent supporting cast that still features domestic players like Raman, Jadeja, Wassan and Ayub who can do a job backed by the sharp tactical minds of the legendary Lloyd and ambitious Azharuddin. They will however be relying heavily on their big earners to win them games and when that includes the hard hitting Viv and moon ball specialist Stephenson, you know you are in safe hands. Watch out for upcoming talents like Mongia, Dravid and Jayasuriya who can all become surprise hits in this star packed side.

Predicted XI


  1. :local: Woorkeri Raman​
  2. :os: Gordon Greenidge​
  3. :os: Viv Richards​
  4. :local: Mohammad Azharuddin :c:
  5. :local: Ajay Jadeja​
  6. :os: Franklyn Stephenson​
  7. :os: Ian Healy :wk:
  8. :os: Malcolm Marshall​
  9. :local: Atul Wassan​
  10. :local: Vivek Razdan​
  11. :local: Arshad Ayub
 

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