Gambhir took `courageous decision` to miss KKR tie: Iyer

Agencies
April 28, 2018

New Delhi, Apr 28: After clinching a thrilling victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in their Indian Premier League (IPL) clash, Delhi Daredevils skipper Shreyas Iyer has revealed that it was not his decision to drop former skipper Gautam Gambhir from the Playing XI.

Iyer took over the reins of the captaincy after Gambhir stepped down from his position following Delhi's disastrous start to the ongoing 11th edition of the IPL season, which saw the side lost five of their first six games.

And Iyer made a fine start to his captaincy tenure as he struck a scorching 93-run knock to help Delhi seal only their second win of the IPL with a 55-run victory over KKR at the Feroz Shah Kotla yesterday.

Munro was roped in for Gambhir for the game against KKR and Iyer confirmed that it was not his, but Gambhir's 'courageous decision' to drop himself from the team.

"I didn't make any call, to be honest. It wasn't my decision to drop him. He himself decided to sit out, which was really courageous decision with him being the captain in the previous matches," Iyer said following the win.

Munro gave his side a perfect start as he notched a fine 18-ball 33 runs beside also stitching a crucial opening stand of 59 with Prithvi Shaw to guide Delhi to a huge total of 219-4.

"The respect for him (Gambhir) has gone really high. It's really [good to] see when a captain if he's not playing well, he backs out. Colin [Munro] came in and gave us the desired start," Iyer added.

In reply, KKR were bundled out for 164 in their stipulated 20 overs. Andre Russell (44) and Shubham Gill (37) were notable scorers for Kolkata.

Though the victory helped Delhi break its three-game losing streak, they are currently languishing down at the seventh spot.

The Iyer-led side will next lock horns with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on April 30.

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News Network
February 18,2020

New Delhi, Feb 18: Skipper Virat Kohli has become the first Indian to reach the 50M followers mark on social media platform Instagram. Kohli, who is breaking cricketing records with each passing match, has a great social media following.

The 31-year old has so far made 930 posts on the platform and his social media posts continue to enthrall fans worldwide. Overall, Instagram's official account has the most number of followers and it is followed by Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 200M followers.

In terms of Indians with most number of followers, Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra is on the second spot with 49.9 followers while Deepika Padukone is on the third place with 44.1 followers.

Last year, Kohli had become the most successful Indian Test captain, surpassing Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Currently, Kohli is in action against New Zealand and his side would take on the hosts in the two-match Test series, slated to commence from February 21.

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Agencies
March 26,2020

Karachi, Mar 26: Pakistan's centrally-contracted cricketers will contribute Rs 5 million to the national government's emergency fund to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ehsan Mani on Wednesday said apart from centrally-contracted players contributing Rs 5 million, the employees in the board, up to the senior manager level, will contribute their one day's salary.

Those employed as general managers or on higher posts will give two days' salary to the fund.

"The PCB will collect all these funds and deposit it to the government's coronavirus fund," he said.

Pakistan has recorded more than 1,000 positive cases of the deadly virus, which has claimed more than 19,000 lives all over the world.

"It is the history of the cricket board that we always stand by the government in difficult times," Mani said.

The PCB has already given its high performances centre in Karachi at the national stadium to be used by paramedical staff working at the special coronavirus hospital set up at the expo centre in the in the city.

Mani said though cricket has been disrupted by the virus outbreak but it was far more important for the nation to stand by the government and also take all precautionary steps during the pandemic.

Pakistan's centrally-contracted players are entitled to monthly salaries ranging from Rs 5 to 12 lakh besides match fee and other earnings.

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News Network
June 9,2020

Jun 9: Former West Indies skipper Darren Sammy has released a video, alleging racism within the SunRisers Hyderabad camp. Last week, Sammy had lost his cool after learning the meaning of the word "Kalu", which he alleged was directed at him during his Indian Premier League (IPL) stint with the SunRisers Hyderabad. The T20 World Cup-winning Windies skipper had said that he along with Sri Lanka player Thisara Perera were sometimes called that word when they played for SunRisers Hyderabad. However, Sammy did not specify as to who directed these slurs at him, but now the player has released a video, saying he will message all those who called him that word.

"I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all dressing rooms where I have played, so I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some of the people in his culture describe black people," Sammy said in a video posted on his Instagram account.

"This does not apply to all people, so after I found out a meaning of a certain word, I had said I was angry on finding out the meaning and it was degrading, instantly I remembered when I played for SunRisers Hyderabad, I was being called exactly the same word which is degrading to us black people," he added.

Sammy said that at the time when he was being called with the word, he didn''t know the meaning, and his team-mates used to laugh every time after calling him by that name.

"I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are, I must admit at that time when I was being called as that word I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, I did not know what it meant, every time I was called with that word, there was laughter at that moment, I thought teammates are laughing so it must be something funny," Sammy said.

"Now, I realise it was degrading, I will be texting you guys and I will ask you as to when you called me with that name, did you all mean it in any bad way or form? I have had great memories in all my dressing rooms, so all those who used to you call me with that word, think about it, let's have a conversation, if it was in a bad way then I would be really disappointed," he added.

The former Windies skipper has been a vocal supporter of the protests that are currently going on in the United States over the death of an African-American man named George Floyd.

Sammy had also made an appeal to the ICC and other cricket boards to support the fight against social injustice and racism.

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