Coming under BCCI, the turning point for women's cricket in India: Mithali Raj

Agencies
September 5, 2019

New Delhi, Sept 5: Mithali Raj, known as the pioneer of women's cricket in India feels that coming under the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was a turning point for the women's sport in the country.

Her remarks came after she decided to retire from T20I format. Raj went on to represent India in 89 T20Is, managing to score 2,364 runs.

"Well, I think the turning point, in my opinion, has to be 2006 as in that year we came under BCCI. With that a lot of facilities were provided to us, a lot of things changed for good and better. Since then, there has been a gradual improvement in respect to the access in facilities like NCA and an increase in the support staff," Raj, in an exclusive interview, told news agency.

"Lot more matches and international series started to get scheduled for us and also contracts came into effect which gave security to the players and they were able to focus on their game," she added.

The 36-year-old chose to retire from the T20I format on Tuesday, September 3. She did not see herself playing the T20 World Cup in Australia next year, so she thought of grooming players for the upcoming tournament.

Earlier this year, she made up her mind to retire from the format and would want the 50-over World Cup I'm 2021 to be her swansong.

"This decision was taken in January itself during the New Zealand tour. I had told the coach WV Raman and chairman of selectors about my decision. The captain also knew about that. All the people who were needed to be told about my decision were informed. 2021 World Cup would definitely be my swansong. I am looking forward to preparing for the World Cup," Raj said.

"I did not see myself playing the T20 World Cup next year in Australia. I thought I should make the coach aware of my plans so that he can think of an alternative for the team and starts preparing the side likewise. I wanted to give him that time where he can try various players to get experience into the side," she added.

In 2016, the cricketer was dropped from the T20 World Cup semi-final match against England. There was a clear rift between then coach Ramesh Powar and Raj. She had also alleged that Powar of publically humiliating her.

But when asked if her fallout with the coach had an impact on her decision, Raj batted the question with a cricketer's precision.

"Well, the fallout with coach Ramesh Powar did not have any impact on my decision. I do not make decisions based on emotion, because it is my career and I would like to be more practical when it comes to career. Fallout with Powar did not have any role to play," Raj said.

Raj has had a wonderful T20 career and also became the first Indian to score 2000 T20I runs. The cricketer who made her T20I debut in 2006 said that the game has witnessed many changes since then and the introduction of various leagues across the globe has given wonderful players to the sport.

She also said that she would look to play the Women's IPL next year as the league is the country's own.

"I think it definitely has improved since 2006 because of the consistency of matches. So many players coming in with the onset of various leagues and it has helped in the growth of the sport," Raj said.

"Well, not necessarily the other leagues but yes I look forward to the Women's IPL because it is our own league and I would love to be part of it," she added.

Women's cricket continues to attract more and more admirers each passing day. But getting Test matches scheduled for the women teams still remains a challenge as the prime focus looks to be on the shorter formats. Raj said that the International Cricket Council (ICC) is promoting the women's game globally and are doing whatever is best for the sport.

"I think at some level the ICC is trying to promote the women's game globally and that requires them to focus more on ODI and T20I cricket. They are trying to revive the game. Maybe once women's game is able to find good standing among fans, then they can focus on Test cricket but as of now with T20 World Cup and ODI World Cup, I do not think boards will look into Test matches," Raj said.

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News Network
June 2,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 2: Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal has said that he was ashamed on seeing the training regime of Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

Iqbal said that the incident happened two-three years back as he thought to himself that why he cannot do the same even when he is the same age as Kohli.

"I must say this, it is not because I am talking to an Indian commentator, India is our neighbour so whatever things they do, it affects Bangladesh as well. We follow what is happening in India, when India changed its approach towards fitness, it impacted Bangladesh the most," Iqbal told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I have no shame in admitting this, when I saw Virat Kohli running around two-three years ago, I was ashamed of myself, I thought this is a guy who is probably my age, but he is training so much and I have not doing even half of it. We have a great example in our team as well, Mushfiqur Rahim manages himself well regarding fitness," he added.

During his initial days of international cricket, Kohli was fond of chicken which he has admitted several times during media interaction.

But in 2013, the 31-year-old batsman intentionally shifted his focus to fitness, diet, and training.

Now he has become punctual about his diet which has given him a different character on and off the field.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have also kept on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar managed to call time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings.

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Agencies
April 14,2020

Tokyo, Apr 14: Tokyo organizers said Tuesday they have no B Plan in the event the Olympics need to be postponed again because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Masa Takaya, the spokesman for the Tokyo Olympics, said organizers are proceeding under the assumption the Olympics will open on July 23, 2021. The Paralympics follow on Aug. 24.

Those dates were set last month by the International Olympic Committee and Japanese officials after the coronavirus pandemic made it clear the Olympics could not be held as scheduled this summer.

We are working toward the new goal, Takaya said, speaking in English on a teleconference call with journalists.

We don't have a B Plan. The severity of the pandemic and the death toll has raised questions if it will even be feasible to hold the Olympics in just over 15 months. Several Japanese journalists raised the question on the call.

All I can tell you today is that the new games' dates for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games have been just set up, Takaya said.

In that respect, Tokyo 2020 and all concerned parties now are doing their very best effort to deliver the games next year." IOC President Thomas Bach was asked about the possibility of a postponement in an interview published in the German newspaper Die Welt on Sunday.

He did not answer the question directly, but said later that Japanese organizers and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe indicated they could not manage a postponement beyond next summer at the lastest.

The Olympics draw 11,000 athletes and 4,400 Paralympic athletes and large support staffs from 206 national Olympic committees.

There are also questions about frozen travel, rebooking hotels, cramming fans into stadiums and arenas, securing venues, and the massive costs of rescheduling, which is estimated in Japan at 2 billion- 6 billion.

Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto addressed the issue in a news conference on Friday. He is likely to be asked about it again on Thursday when local organizers and the IOC hold a teleconferene with media in Japan.

The other major question is the cost of the delay; how much will it be, and who pays? Bach said in the Sunday interview that the IOC would incur several hundred million dollars in added costs. Under the so-called Host City Agreement, Japan is liable for the vast majority of the expenses.

This is impossible to say for now, Takaya, the spokesman said.

It is not very easy to estimate the exact amount of the games' additional costs, which have been impacted by the postponement."

Tokyo says it's spending 12.6 billion to organize the Olympics. But a Japanese government audit published last year says the costs are twice that much. Of the total spending, 5.6 billion in private money. The rest is from Japanese governments.

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News Network
April 30,2020

New Delhi, Apr 30: Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday mourned the demise of veteran Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor, called his death 'unreal and unbelievable' loss.

"This is unreal and unbelievable. Yesterday Irrfan Khan and today Rishi Kapoor ji. It's hard to accept this as a legend passes away today. My condolences to the family and may his soul rest in peace," Kohli tweeted.

Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan also expressed his heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.
"It's shocking to hear about the sudden demise of #RishiKapoor ji. My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. May his soul rest in peace," Dhawan tweeted.

Earlier today, actor Amitabh Bachchan confirmed the news of the demise of the 67-year-old Rishi Kapoor. Rishi Kapoor was admitted to the Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday.

In September 2019, the veteran actor returned to Mumbai after staying in New York for almost a year for cancer treatment.

He was last seen in the 2019 film 'The Body' alongside Emraan Hashmi and Shobita Sobhita Dhulipala.

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