Abu Dhabi: BWF bids farewell to Mohammed Rafeeque Krishnapur

Riyadh: Cricket Lovers are all geared up for the newly launched franchise based tournament - Kingdom Premier League (KPL) 2020 under the banner of Mangaluru Cricket Association (MCA) Riyadh.

SAQCO –SAAD AL QAHTANI CONTRACTING is the Mega Sponsor for the event and PARAMOUNT is the CO Sponsor.

The 6-team tournament is being played at MCA Grounds on Exit 18 in Riyadh beginning from 14 Feb and shall end on 20 March.

The Opening ceremony took place on AL-Mas Restaurant in Riyadh. The trophy launching as well as Jersey launching took place at the same event. Guests from various companies including SAQCO were present.

All teams will play at least one league Match against every other team. Top 4 teams in the table will qualify to play for the Qualifier 1 and Eliminator. The Winner of Qualifier 1 will be heading towards the final and the 2nd finalist will be the winner Qualifier 2 (Played between loser of Qualifier 1 and Winner of Eliminator). The Finals will be played on 20th March.

Below 6 Team names with their franchise owners and respective icon players.

BANCAA WARRIORS – RANJITH (TEAM WARRIORS RIYADH) – RAJESH AND SHAFI

YAQOOB FIGHTERS – SHAHID & YAQOOB (YAQOOB CC) – SAMEER KARNAD AND MOHSIN

GROUND STAR PHOENIX – RIZWAN & SIDDIK – AYAZ & SALEEM SHIRUR

PARAMOUNT HEROES – NASIR GM – SARFARAZ AK & MUSTAFA HASAN

AL-AMAL AFRAH PANTHERS – SHAHIM & AHNAF – DAWOOD KODI & ANIS

NAJD CHALLENGERS – AFROZ NAKWA – SHADAB KARNAD & SULTHAN

Each Team gets to pick 2 icon players of their choice on a mutual understanding whereas the remaining 13 players for each squad to be picked randomly based on their rankings and ratings in bidding style from 3 categories – A, B & C. The Franchise Ownership amount stands at Sr 2,000 for Each Team. The Winner of the Tournament gets a Cash Reward of Sr 5,000. The Runner Up Gets a Cash Reward of 3,000. Many Attractive Individual prizes will be handed over at the end of the event such as below

Winners squad 16 players - Gifts

Highest Run Getter – Orange Cap – Special Gift

Highest Wicket Taker – Purple Cap – Special Gift

Player of the Series – Special Gift

Hat-trick Wicket taker – Special Gift

KPL Kamal Catch – Special Gift

Best Wicket Keeper – Special Gift

Best over in KPL – Special Gift

Fastest 50 in KPL – Special Gift

Fair Play Award – Special Gift

Performer of the Week (Every Week) – Special Gift

Century – Special Gift

Maiden Over – Special Gift

Dammam: President of Indian Social Forum, Eastern Province Mr.Wasim Rabbani urged immediate intervention of Indian government to help Non Residential Indians who are in trouble due to corona pandemic in Saudi Arabia.

He said in a press rease that expatriate Indians are in concern  as number of corona infected people and  deaths are increasing in danger level.

Hea said, "the Saudi health minister's statement a few days ago indicates that the situation in Saudi needs to be taken more seriously with precautionary methods. There are concerns among expatriates because the number of people infected with the coronavirus and the number of deaths reported in various provinces are increasing at an alarming rate."

"Saudi Government and Health Ministry are taking excellent precautionary measures, however, in the coming days expect to see the number of cases to increase in Saudi Arabia. The Indian government needs to take diplomatic and immediate intervention to ensure the treatment of Indian expatriates considering the number of effected people increasing", He said.

He also urged that the Embassy and the Government of India should ensure qaurantiane faculty for Indian expatriates and arrange special low cost flights to bring back expatriates who would like to return home country.

" Government of India and Indian embassy need to intervene immediately to ensure that the quarantine system is in place for Indian expatriates as the facilities in the rooms where the residents are staying together are very limited. There should also be a mechanism to organize low-cost flight services for expatriates who are ready to go home. The government system should also be able to accommodate the expatriates in special quarantine areas in hometown as soon they arrive in India", he urged.

Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) Chaiman Dr Sam Pitroda held video conference with senior IOC office bearers across Middle Eastern countries on 14th April 2020 to review the impact of COVID-19 pandemic among Indians residing in the region. Almost all speakers appreciated the efforts initiated and  implemented by  respective governments to contain spread of the deadly virus as well as measures taken towards welfare of the people affected by the lockdown. 

IOC Presidents, Mohammed Mansour - Bahrain, Abdullah Manjeri - Saudi Arabia, Dr J Ratan kunar - Oman and Girish kumar - Qatar, highlighted the quality treatment of patients and finacial aid provided by governments and other authorities. Bahrain IOC president Mansour , also  apprised about the 'Food for Needy' drive in Association with KHK Heroes foundation, initiated by HH Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Khalifa and quality treatments as well as financial aid to local and expat residents.

Anura Mathai, IOC  Global Event Coordinator, spoke about certain problems of Indians in the UAE. IOC Middle East Convener, Mansoor Palloor, emphasised and requested IOC Chairman to urge Indian government to arrange immediate repatriation of indians stranded in Gulf countries. AICC Secretary, Himanshu Vyas, IOC Secretary Dr Arathi Krishna, Dr Arshi Malik (Abha), Mohiuddin Sirajudeen (Jeddah), Advocate Joseph Palathara (Dammam) Prasad Kodru, Jayati Maitra Ziyad Ahmed (Qatar) and Khursheed Alam (Gen Secretary- Bahrain) also apprised the participants about various issues relevant to the pandemic and suggested further initiatives to be undertaken. 

Dr Sam Pitroda briefed about sustained and consolidated efforts by all IOC members  during this unprecedented situation facing the world and assured that he would convey IOC  concerns to the government and try his best to ensure all possible help is made available to all needy Indians.