Bindra wins individual bronze, finishes on podium twice

New Delhi, Feb 5: IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has denied any financial dealings with the controversial Rose Valley Group except for it being a sponsor of the side's official jerseys in 2012 and 2013.

KKR issued the clarification after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached Rose Valley's assets worth over Rs 70 crore on Monday. The attached assets include Rs 11.87 crore bank deposits of Knight Riders Sports Pvt Ltd, that owns KKR, in connection with a money laundering probe.

The franchise said it hopes for the matter to be resolved expeditiously.

"Rose Valley Hotels was one of KKR's IPL jersey sponsors for IPL seasons 2012 and 2013. Rose Valley had paid KKR an approx. amount of Rs 11.87 crore as sponsorship fees," KKR CEO Venky Mysore said in a statement.

"KKR had no other dealings with the Rose Valley Group including Rose Valley’s micro finance business," he added.

The statement added that in July last year, KRSPL (Knight Riders Sports Pvt Ltd), received a "witness summon" from the ED in connection with an investigation relating to the Rose Valley Group, particularly its micro finance business.

"The ED continues the investigation of Rose Valley. KKR continues to cooperate with the authorities in all respects," Mysore said.

"As part of the investigative process, sometime in October 2019, the ED placed a lien on the said amount earlier paid by Rose Valley to KKR," he asserted.

The directors of KRSPL include Shah Rukh Khan's wife Gauri Khan, actor Juhi Chawla's husband Jay Mehta, Mysore and two others.

Mysore was questioned in this case by ED's Kolkata office in October last year.

Apart from KRSPL, the ED attached properties of two other entities -- Multiple Resorts Pvt. Ltd. and Kolkata's St Xavier's College on Monday.

The ED registered an FIR against the Rose Valley group, its chairman Gautam Kundu and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in 2014.

Kundu was arrested by the agency in Kolkata in 2015 and is in judicial custody at present.

The ED has filed multiple charge sheets in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar courts in this connection and total attachments are now worth Rs 4,750 crore.

The group has been charged by the ED and the CBI with "illegally and fraudulently collecting deposits from public with the intention to cheat them by falsely promising high returns on their investment", thereby perpetrating a ponzi-like fraud.

Melbourne, Mar 6: Experienced middle-order batter Veda Krishnamurthy believes that "destiny" is in favour of first-time finalist India to win their maiden ICC Women's T20 World Cup title provided they get a grip on their nerves in the summit clash against Australia on Sunday.

India will have a psychological advantage going into the final as they had stunned the defending champions by 17 runs in the tournament opener.

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India reached the final on the basis of their unbeaten record in the tournament after their semifinal against England was washed out on Thursday.

Krishnamurthy, who was a part of the Indian team that finished runner-up to England in the 2017 Women's ODI World Cup, knows the pain of missing out on a world title.

"It's all about destiny, and I'm a big believer in destiny. I feel like this is the way it was meant to be. There is a joke going around that this World Cup is made in such a way that it's helping us, starting from the wickets to everything else," she was quoted as saying by the tournament's official website.

"Being in the final is just reward for the way we played in the group stages. There was an advantage to having won all our games with the weather not in our hands."

The team's first target of reaching the final having achieved, the 27-year-old player said the Indians now need to hold their nerves and remain focussed leading up to the big day on Sunday.

"We said the first aim was to get to the final and take it from there. We've crossed the first stage. We need to make sure we hold our nerves and we do what we need to do on the final day," she said.

India's recent rivalry with Australia has taken fascinating twists and turns, with Kaur's outfit chasing down 173 in their recent tri-series, then getting home by 17 runs in the T20 World Cup opener.

But all is not hunky-dory for Krishnamurthy on the personal front. Considered a great finisher, she has recovered from a series of single-digit scores in the tri-series to score 20 from 11 balls in a finishing role against Bangladesh.

Having amassed just 35 runs from four matches in the tournament so far, the Karnataka batter knows her role in the team.

"As an individual, the role given to me is very consistent in the last year. They've put the effort in the last year to keep me there and I've been supported by every individual, not just one or two. The entire team, with all the support staff, have shown faith in me," she said.

"I know coming into the World Cup, I would play a crucial role to finish the innings well, which I felt I was unable to do in the last World Cup in the West Indies," she added.

Krishnamurthy said specific roles have been set for every player of the squad and they all are trying to contribute as much as they can to help the team achieve its goal.

"I was very motivated to do my role and I've been working on that. It's not just me, all 15 players involved know what their role is," she said.

"I'm happy we're all putting in efforts and executing our role properly. Even if it's a smallish contribution of saving a couple of runs, it's all panned out really well."

New Delhi, Jul 21: With the T20 World Cup's postponement clearing the decks for a full-fledged IPL, the glitzy event's Governing Council will meet in a week or 10 days' time to plan its next course of action, eyeing UAE as the host this year.

An IPL between September and early November has been made possible by the ICC's decision on Monday to postpone the T20 World Cup in Australia, scheduled for October-November, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The IPL GC will meet within a week or 10 days and all decisions (including final schedule) will be taken there. As of now, the plan is to have a full fledged IPL comprising 60 games and most likely in the UAE," Patel told PTI.

Asked about the main challenges in conducting the event in current scenario, Patel added: "Just the operational side of it. Whether you do it here or outside, it doesn't matter (with no crowds)."

The franchisees had already been working on their plans for the IPL even before the ICC announcement.

With majority of the Indian players not having access to grounds amid the pandemic, teams will need at least three to four weeks to get them match ready.

Foreign players will fly in directly to the UAE from their respective countries.

"Our players will need at least three to four weeks of training, if not more. We will finalise all our plans once the BCCI announces the dates. It looks like the IPL will be in the UAE and we are ready for that," a team owner told PTI.

Since India tour Australia for a four-Test series right after the IPL, training of the Test players is also an important issue.

Test specialists like Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari, who are not part of the IPL, are likely to train for the eagerly-awaited series in a bio-secure environment at the newly-renovated Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad during the time of the IPL.

A few fringe players are expected to join them at Motera along with the Indian team's support staff, which is free during the IPL.

Work from home has become the norm amid the pandemic, therefore, there is a possibility that IPL commentary will happen from the comfort of the living room, a safer and cost effective-option considering the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, who is 71, are involved.

The viewership is expected to be a record one with people craving for live cricket, something KXIP co-owner Ness Wadia has said.

However, it remains to be seen how much the broadcasters and teams are able to attract from the sponsors in the current financial climate.

More moot points and questions ahead of the IPL GC meeting:

1) More double headers expected (original schedule had only five double headers).

2) BCCI will need to provide a Standard Operating Procedure to IPL teams even though they will have their own SOPs in place.

3) Will the BCCI compensate teams for not being able to generate gate money this year?

4) Will there be virtual commentary from Star Sports? It was seen in the recent 3TC event in South Africa with the likes of Aakash Chopra, Deep Dasgupta and Irfan Pathan commentating from home.