Bangladesh cricket board to sue captain Shakib

Agencies
October 26, 2019

Dhaka, Oct 26: Bangladesh cricket authorities said on Saturday they would take legal action against star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan for allegedly breaching his contract to sign a sponsorship deal with a top mobile phone operator.

Shakib on Tuesday inked the agreement with former national team sponsor Grameenphone for an undisclosed sum at a time when he was also leading a players' strike for better pay and benefits.

"We believe there was a contractual and procedural breach in his contract. Of course, we will take action against it," Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief executive officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury told AFP.

BCB president Nazmul Hassan said they will seek compensation from both Shakib and the phone company.

"We are going to take legal action. There is no scope to spare anyone. We will seek compensation from both the company and the player," Hassan said in an interview with Bengali newspaper Kalerkantho on Saturday.

"We thought it's a kind of 'I don't give a damn to the rules of Board' attitude. If that is the case, of course, we will take tough action," he said.

Grameenphone -- which is majority-owned by Norway's Telenor -- was the sponsor of Bangladesh Cricket Board during the period of 2009-2011.

Hassan said the Board incurred huge losses after the company signed players individually instead of bidding to become the team sponsor in 2015 when a rival operator won the deal.

"This is why we barred the players to sign any agreement with telcos... yet, he (Shakib) did this. And you see the timing? Agreement after stopping play. These are audacious behaviour," he said.

The BCB president also criticized Shakib for his on-field performance.

"We defeated England and Australia in our own ground. Now we lost to Afghanistan. If I was responsible I would not show my face let alone stage a protest," he added, referring to Bangladesh's 224-run loss in one-off Test against Afghanistan in early September when Shakib was captain.

Shakib led a players' strike on Monday which follows increasing criticism from players that the Bangladesh Cricket Board was not sharing its wealth.

The players called off the strike late on Wednesday and started training on Friday for next month's India tour as the BCB accepted most of their demands.

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News Network
February 22,2020

Sydney, Feb 22: India's demolition of a formidable Australia in the Women's T20 World Cup opener will give them a huge boost going forward, said star batswoman Mithali Raj, who also lauded leggie Poonam Yadav for her magical performance.

Poonam took four for 19 to help India complete a 17-run victory against defending champions Australia on Friday.

"Everyone has been talking about how much batting depth Australia have, yet they couldn't chase 132," Raj, a former India Test and ODI captain, said in an ICC release.

"India will take so much confidence from that victory, but this World Cup is still very open. The match between Australia and India proved how competitive the tournament will be. It proves it does not matter where you stand in the ICC rankings.

"We will be seeing more of the same drama yet. This victory proves every team has a chance," said Raj, who has retired from T20 cricket.

The 37-year-old veteran batswoman said "the opening match definitely lived up to the hype of the tournament".

"It was a whirlwind. There were so many ups and downs. It was a great start to the tournament not only because India beat the defending champions on home soil, but also because of how the game progressed altogether.

"At no point could you say it was going in one side's favour. First we saw our early wickets fall, then we recovered and Australia had to chase 132 before their middle-order collapsed. India and Australia both took the game their own way at different points which made it fascinating for spectators to watch."

Raj said Poonam's spell was the turning point.

"She's been one of the main spinners for India for quite some time now, and her style worked again. Getting their (Australia's) middle-order out really titled the match towards India, she was brilliant.

"Although we recovered our innings through Deepti Sharma and her partnership with Jemimah Rodrigues, it was Poonam's flurry of wickets against Australia's megastars, which completely changed the game," Raj said.

Raj also praised 16-year-old Shafali Verma for scoring 29 off 15 on her World Cup debut.

"Shafali Verma impressed me too on her debut. She gave India's middle order the cushioning they needed to regain momentum. Verma has stuck with stroke play that she demonstrated in the tri-series," she said.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Jul 21: The tickets sold for the now-postponed ICC T20 World Cup will remain valid if Australia hosts the edition in 2021 instead of India.

In case the event is shifted to 2022, all ticket-holders will be entitled to a full refund, the ICC stated on its website on Monday night after postponing the mega-event this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The tournament was to be held in October-November but will now be conducted later because of the pandemic.

The ICC has not yet announced which country will host which edition as there are operational issues that both the Indian and Australian cricket Boards need to sort out.

The world body had opened ticket booking through its ticketing partners and a significant number was already sold.

"Ticket holders are welcome to retain their tickets, noting, if Australia hosts in 2021, tickets will remain valid for fans who have already bought and will be automatically updated to reflect the new dates.

"If Australia hosts in 2022, for tickets already bought a full refund will be processed automatically," ICC stated in a series of FAQs.

Fans can retain their tickets until a date is confirmed for the event.

Refund requests can be made until December 15 and they will be processed within 30 days after an online submission.

The hospitality package will also remain valid for the 2021 fixtures.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

Silverstone, Aug 2: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on Sunday won his seventh British Grand Prix title after a dramatic last-lap at the Silverstone Circuit.

Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas were at the first and second spot respectively until tyre drama struck.

Second-placed man Bottas was the first to suffer as his tyre deflated on lap 50, resulting in 11th place finish. Hamilton also suffered a similar issue before the final few seconds of the race.

However, with Max Verstappen having opted to pit a few laps from the end to try and claim the fastest lap, Hamilton had enough time in hand to just cross the line first, five seconds ahead of Verstappen and the third-placed Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

McLaren's Carlos Sainz had been set to finish fourth, but his own last lap tyre issue saw him eventually come home P13, allowing Renault's Daniel Ricciardo to claim fourth, following a late pass on the sister McLaren of Lando Norris.

Renault's Esteban Ocon finished sixth, having enjoyed a race-long battle with Lance Stroll's Racing Point, with Pierre Gasly having enjoyed a fine race to finish seventh for AlphaTauri.

Alex Albon finished eighth for Red Bull, having recovered from a lap 1 tussle with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen that saw him fall to last, while Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top 10, Vettel holding off a late charge form the recovering Mercedes of Bottas.

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