BCCI rubbishes talk of rift as India brace up for Pak

June 2, 2017

Birmingham, Jun 2: As reports of the alleged rift between coach Anil Kumble and captain Virat Kohli continue to hog the headlines in India, BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary vehemently denied any issue between the two.

bcci

Speaking to reporters as Team India trained hard at the compact practice facility at Edgbaston, Choudhary, sent along with M V Sridhar (General Manager-Cricket Operations, BCCI) to apparently quell the supposed tension in the squad, rubbished all the reports back home, saying all is well within the team.

?? not aware of any (rift between Kumble and Kohli),?responded a smiling Choudhary, completely aware that would be the first question posed to him. ?t? purely in the realm of imagination,?he said, shifting the blame on the media, although all reports on the latest controversy have been attributed to sources in the Board itself.

The entire controversy erupted after the BCCI sent out a communication inviting applications for the coach? job soon after the team touched down in England. Although it had a rider saying that Kumble, who lost just one T20I series against West Indies before enjoying a phenomenal home run where they beat New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia to end the season as No 1 side in Tests, would be an automatic choice as a candidate.

While that shocked many who felt Kumble, whose tenure ends after the Champions Trophy, should have had an automatic extension, things kept going from bad to worse with various theories emerging. While some reports said a few officials in the Board were unhappy over Kumble? role in the ongoing pay negotiations, others said Kohli found Kumble ?verbearing?and the team is having a tough time working under a ?ard task master?

Choudhary defended the Board? move to send out an email just before a marquee event, blaming it on the cramped calendar. ?ou can see the full calendar and tell me at what position there was a free slot. After one tournament, there is another, then another series, home series, away series.

Something is always on throughout the year. This is a process which is well defined. The Cricket Advisory Committee is seized with the matter and will deal with it. To add, if we don? follow a process it? not supposed to be good. If you follow a process, it? not supposed to be good,?said Choudhary, sidestepping the fact that BCCI slept through the entire IPL in April-May well aware of the fact that Kumble and the support staff? reign would come to an end this month.

Training hard

Meanwhile, the Men In Blue slogged it out in an intense session attended by all. Given space in the practice area at the stadium complex as Australians used up the main ground ahead of their encounter against New Zealand on Friday, the Indians looked focused and determined.

Although there wasn't much communication between Kumble and Kohli, both were committed with the task at hand. Kumble, like he does many times during practice sessions, bowled to a few top-order batsmen while Kohli was seen giving instructions to the players as well.

All the top-order batsmen had a decent hit at the ?ets?while the bowlers too went full tilt. R Ashwin and Mohammed Shami, two key bowlers who are retuning from injuries, bowled without much discomfort while former skipper M S Dhoni was seen joking around. That? the mood one wants to see in a huge event and ahead of the mouth-watering match against Pakistan on Sunday.

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March 27,2020

New Delhi, Mar 27: India skipper Virat Kohli on Friday made a heartfelt appeal to the citizens of the country, asking them to follow social distancing as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus pandemic.
He also went on to say that over the past few days, he has seen some people still taking to the streets, and added that if people still continue to venture out, then they are not being honest with the country.
Kohli released a small video clip on Twitter, making the public appeal and captioned the post as: "Please wake up to the reality and seriousness of the situation and take responsibility. The nation needs our support and honesty"
"Today, I am talking to you as a citizen of the country. Whatever I have seen over the past few days, I have seen people not following the lockdown, it has made me feel that some people are taking the battle against COVID-19 very lightly. I request you all to please follow social distancing, whatever the government is asking you to do, please follow it," Kohli said in the video released on Twitter.
"Think about what can happen to your family members because of your negligence. Our medical experts are fighting this battle day in and day out. If you are still going out to the streets, then I don't think you are being honest to your country," he added.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to impose a 21-day lockdown in the country as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases have risen to 724 in India (including 640 active cases, 66 cured or discharged people) and 17 deaths.
The World Health Organisation had termed the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic on March 11. 

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May 28,2020

New Delhi, May 28: India is not at risk of losing hosting rights for next year's Twenty20 World Cup despite its cricket board's failure to secure a tax exemption for the event, a key BCCI official has told Reuters.

Tax exemptions for International Cricket Council (ICC) events are listed as a requirement in host agreements and the BCCI was supposed to confirm they had secured one by May 18.

ESPNcricinfo, citing correspondence between the two bodies, has reported that the ICC has threatened to shift the tournament away from India over the issue.

However, BCCI treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal told Reuters that would not happen and that negotiations were continuing.

"There is no risk to the tournament," he said by telephone.

"That is a work in progress. We are discussing it with the ICC and we'll resolve it."

The BCCI encountered a similar problem when it hosted the event in 2016 when the government refused to provide a tax exemption, and there has been no change in New Delhi's stance despite the board's appeals.

Failure to secure that exemption in 2016 saw the ICC withhold an equivalent sum from India's share of revenue from the governing body's grants and it appears to be taking an even harder line this time around.

"There are certain timelines within the agreements that we collectively work towards to ensure we can deliver successful world class events and continue to invest in the sport of cricket," an ICC spokesperson told Reuters.

"In addition to this the ICC Board agreed clear timelines for the resolution of the tax issues which we are guided by."

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June 23,2020

Karachi, Jun 23: Pakistan cricketers Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf and rookie Haider Ali on Monday tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

"The Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed three players - Haider Ali, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan - have tested positive for Covid-19," said the PCB in a statement.

"The players had shown no symptoms until they were tested in Rawalpindi on Sunday ahead of the Pakistan men's national cricket team's tour to England."

The infected players will go into self-isolation.

"The PCB medical panel is in contact with the three who have been advised to immediately go into self-isolation," the statement said.

Earlier this month, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was tested positive for the deadly virus.

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