Homecoming for Sindhu, Saina to don North East outfit for 4th season of PBL

Agencies
October 9, 2018

New Delhi, Oct 9: Carolina Marin and P V Sindhu were expectedly the most sought after Icon Players as they were picked by Pune 7 Aces and Hyderabad Hunters respectively in the Players' Auction of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) here Monday.

The fourth season of Vodafone PBL, organised by Sportzlive under the aegis of Badminton Association of India, will kick off in Mumbai on December 22 with the final being held in Bengaluru on January 13.

With no retention or Right to Match (RTM) card at disposal, the Players' Auction was always going to be a keen contest for teams to get the combination right while looking for that one Icon Player who can inspire them to bigger glory.

Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto became the highest paid non-Icon Player with the Dalmia Cement Group owned Delhi Dashers splurging INR 70 lakh for his services. The Delhi outfit won a tense battle with two other teams to acquire the World No 11, paying INR 40 lakh above his base price.

Among the Indians, rising doubles star Satwiksairaj Rankireddy was the top draw and Padmanabh Sports Pvt Ltd owned Ahmedabad Smash Masters outbid the Hyderabad Hunters to secure the youngster for INR 52 lakh, a massive jump from his base price of INR 15 lakh.

Given the strong pool of players in the auction, it was interesting to see the strategies the teams implemented to build their squad as three of these players could be retained for the next two seasons as well.

Marin and Sindhu were the obvious choice for almost all the teams. At least four teams raised the prize purse to INR 80 lakh, the maximum limit a team can bid for a player, before the players got assigned to the teams by a draw of lots.

The Spaniard, who played a major role in helping Hyderabad Hunters win the title last year, would now shift base to Pune. The new outfit were clearly gunning for the three-time world champion and were understandably delighted when the announcer pulled out a chit of their name in a draw of lot.

"I am very excited to be part of Pune team. Hyderabad has been like a second home for me. But now I am excited to be part the Pune team and explore this part of India," said Marin after learning about the bid.

Speaking post the player auctions an upbeat Taapsee Pannu, owner of Pune 7 Aces said, "We had a set game-plan and I am really ecstatic to be able to rope in some of the big names in the auction pool today. It has been a perfect implementation of the backdoor homework we had done.

"With a champion in Marin, experienced Mathias Boe in the doubles category and young Lakshya Sen, am really optimistic how balanced the team has shaped up. Can't wait for the season to start."

While the Hunters lost their star performer from last year, they would be delighted to welcome home Rio Olympics silver medallist Sindhu. The 23-year-old, who was playing for Chennai Smashers for the last two seasons, will be playing for the home city for the first time and couldn't hide her disappointment.

Two-time CWG gold winner and India's badminton queen Saina Nehwal will be seen plying her trade for the North-Eastern Warriors in the upcoming edition.

"It's a great opportunity for me to get associated with the North Eastern Warriors. The fans over here are extremely passionate and I will try and give my best for them. I always had a special admiration for the north-east and with this alliance I wish to promote badminton in this region, so that we have more people inspired to take up the sport," said the 2012 Olympic Medallist.

Among the other Icon Players, former world champion Viktor Axelsen will represent Ahmedabad Smash Masters, Kidambi Srikanth would play for Bengaluru Raptors, HS Prannoy will turn up for Delhi Dashers.

Chennai Smashers, who will have Korean Sung ji Hyun as their icon player, managed to retain the services of English mixed doubles combination of Chris and Gabby Adcock, paying them INR 54 lakh and INR 36 lakh respectively.

Korea's mixed doubles specialist Eom Hye Won also got a Rs 30 lakh jump from her base price of Rs 7 lakh as the Hyderabad Hunters secured her to build a strong doubles unit.

But it was Delhi Dashers who broke the bank to get Sugiarto in the squad after they had already paid Rs 80 lakh for Prannoy. However, their strategy clearly was to invest in men's singles and they made the most of it.

Two teams -- Awadhe Warriors and Mumbai Rockets -- exhausted their entire purse of INR 2.6 crore while Pune 7 Aces despite putting up a challenging line up managed to save INR14 lakhs and North Eastern Warriors despite building a formidable squad around Saina still saved INR 8 lakh.

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News Network
June 6,2020

Mumbai, Jun 6: Reminiscing about his 'special knock' of 208 runs from 153 balls, Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma revealed why his wife Ritika had got emotional after he smashed his third double century in ODIs.

Rohit narrated the incident during his appearance in Episode 2 of the 'Open nets with Mayank'.

The batsman, who was accompanied by Shikhar Dhawan and Mayank on the show, said his wife thought that he had twisted his hand while diving for the 196th run during the innings.

"As you can see my wife got emotional there, this day was special as it was my anniversary. Probably the best gift I could give it to her while I am on the field, it was quite emotional though," said Rohit during the candid chat.

"When I came from the ground, I just asked her why did you (Ritika) cry? So she told me that she thought I (Rohit) twisted my hand when I dived for my 196th run and that was a little worrying factor for her, she got little emotional of because of that I guess," Rohit added.

In the match, the 32-year-old scored 208 runs with 13 fours and 12 sixes against Sri Lanka at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.

This enabled India to post a score of 392/4 in the allotted fifty overs.

India then went on to win the match by 141 runs.

"To be honest I was going pretty slow, I never thought I will get to a double hundred but once you cross 125, I feel it gets easier for you because bowlers are under pressure. Unless you make a mistake I don't think you can get out," said Rohit.

Rohit has scored two double hundreds against Sri Lanka and one against Australia in ODIs. The right-handed batsman is the only cricketer to make three double hundreds in ODI history.

Rohit, Shikhar, and Mayank would have been in action for Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, and Kings XI Punjab respectively, had the Indian Premier League (IPL) commenced from March 29. However, the tournament was suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: Five centrally contracted Indian cricketers including Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul have been issued notices by National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for failing to disclose their whereabouts as the BCCI cited "password glitch" as the reason for delay.

The other players to have received the notice include women stars Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma, who are among the five cricketers in the 110 strong National Registered Testing Pool (NRTP). Speaking to PTI, NADA DG Navin Agarwal confirmed that BCCI has sent an official explanation for their five NRTP players' failure to submit whereabouts.

"There are two ways to fill up the whereabouts form in the ADAMS (Anti Doping Administration & Management Systems) software. Either athlete does it himself or association fills it up on his or her behalf," Agarwal said. "Now athletes in some discipline aren't educated enough or do not have access to internet and find themselves unable to handle the whereabouts clause of the ADAMS or upload the filled up

"They use assistance of their concerned federations. So federations have accepted responsibility of uploading their whereabouts," Agarwal said.

He said cricketers too at times find it tough to complete the process on their own. "Similarly in cricket also, although these people are well qualified and they can do it, perhaps they don't have the time for whatever reasons, so the federation concerned, the BCCI has taken upon itself the responsibility of uploading their whereabouts." So why didnt BCCI upload the the three-month whereabouts this time?

"Well they have given an explanation which appears to be reasonable but a decision will be taken. They have said that there has been a glitch with regards to password in ADAMS. Now they have said that issue has been resolved," Agarwal added. NADA DG added that "BCCI's explanation will be discussed as to whether it will be counted as one of three filing failures or not. It will be decided on the explanation given and how they (BCCI) proceed from here."

While country has been under lockdown, the rule to submit three months of whereabouts is mandatory. Three such failures to disclose leads to one Anti Doping Rule Violation (ADRV), which could lead up to two years of suspension upon hearing.

While BCCI has "officially gagged" its employees from talking to the media, it couldn't be ascertained that why as normal a glitch as a password error took days to resolve. A BCCI veteran, who has been privy to cricket operations, asked why the five cricketers were not told to upload the form themselves.

"This was lockdown period where they are not living out of suitcases. Some of the names have also engaged in multiple instagram chats and podcasts which their agents are managing," he said.

"If cricket operations team were having a glitch in fixing password, well the five cricketers could have been asked to do so and they would have done it individually with some guidance. "Probably NADA would be lenient this time but if it becomes an official warning, then who's responsible," he added.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi Jul 30: After Pakistan cricketer Umar Akmal's ban was reduced to 18 months, Danish Kaneria criticised Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) policies and said that the 'zero tolerance policy' applies only to him.

"Zero Tolerance policy only apply on Danish Kaneria not on others, can anybody answer the reason why I get life ban not others, Are policy applies only on cast, colour, and powerful background. I am Hindu and proud of it that's my background and my dharma," Kaneria tweeted.

Earlier on Wednesday, Akmal's three-year suspension was reduced to 18 months by an independent adjudicator, former Pakistan Supreme Court judge, Faqir Mohammad Khokhar.

On April 27, the Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel, Justice (retd) Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan, had banned the wicketkeeper-batsman for three years after finding him guilty of breaching the PCB's Anti-Corruption Code in two separate incidents.

Akmal, on May 19, filed an appeal against the three-year ban imposed on him, seeking a reduction in the duration of the sanction. He will remain suspended effectively from February 2020 till August 2021.

The batsman said he might appeal again to get the ban "reduced further".

"I am thankful to the judge for listening to my lawyers properly. I will decide about the remaining sentence and try to get it reduced further. For now I am not satisfied and will consult my lawyers and family how to take this ahead," ESPNcricinfo had quoted Akmal as saying.

"There are many players before me who made mistakes and just look at what they got and what I got. So all I say right now is thank you very much," he had added.

On the other hand, Kaneria was found guilty of spot-fixing while playing for English club Essex and was banned from the sport.

Earlier this month, Pakistan's cricket governing body 'advised' Kaneria to approach England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) if he wants to play domestic cricket after the cricketer had appealed to the PCB, seeking permission to play domestic cricket. 

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