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I told AB I will give you a hug if we win tonight: Kohli

Agencies
April 20, 2019

Kolkata, Apr 20: Virat Kohli has said the onus was only on him to bat through the innings in the absence of AB de Villiers and the RCB skipper lived up to the expectations with a 58-ball 100 for his first century of IPL 2019.

RCB eked out a 10-run win over KKR for only their second success of the season after Andre Russell and Nitish Rana nearly pulled off the impossible. De Villiers was under the weather before the start of the game and Kohli decided to rest him.

"It was important to bat along when AB is not here, as a senior player. AB was disappointed for not making it for the game tonight and I told him that I'll give him a hug if we win tonight," Kohli said at the post-match presentation on Friday.

RCB finally managed to defend a total after posting 213 for four at the Eden Gardens.

Needing 113 runs off the last six overs, Russell (65 off 25) and Rana (85 not out off 46) almost got KKR over the line but Moeen Ali managed to defend 24 in the final over.

"There's no point in panicking in these types of situations, you got to leave it to the bowlers to decide what he wants to do. Few good decisions by (Marcus) Stoinis and then Moeen in the end. I think the way Stoinis bowled those two-three dot balls, it was very crucial," Kohli said of Stoinis penultimate over.

"They (Moeen and Stoinis) both showed composure and that's what you expect from your teams mates. Our communication during second time-out was to get 170-175, we didn't think we could get 200-plus."

Talking about his innings, Kohli said: "It was difficult to put away the length balls away. Moeen changed the game completely and that allowed me to play my game. Moeen said I am going to go now and I asked him to go for it. He targeted the small boundaries and changed the game in those few overs," he said referring to Moeen's 66 off 28.

Kohli also praised Russell and Rana for taking the game deep.

"In the end, death overs are going to be difficult with this kind of ground, where the ground is lightning quick. Credit to Russell for setting up those kind of games.

"Having Dale (Steyn) with his kind of experience gave bowlers like (Navdeep) Saini that kind of confidence. Steyn getting those crucial overs was important for us. I think picking wickets in the powerplay is crucial as it sets the tone for the rest of the innings," he said.

Playing his first game of the season after having come in as a replacement, Steyn removed Chris Lynn and Shubman Gill to leave KKR reeling at 33 for three in five overs.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Kuala Lumpur, Jan 9: BWF World Championships defending champion PV Sindhu on Thursday cruised to the quarterfinals of the ongoing Malaysia Masters after winning a second-round match.

The 24-year-old had the upper hand in the clash and thrashed Japan's Aya Ohori in straight games 21-10, 21-15 that lasted for 34-minute. The world number six will now play in her quarterfinal match on January 10.

Earlier in the day, Saina Nehwal defeated South Korea's An Se Young 25-23, 21-12 in 38 minutes. The first game saw back and forth action between both shuttlers. In the end, Nehwal kept her cool to win the match.

On Wednesday, the 29-year-old had outclassed Belgium's Lianne Tan 21-15, 21-17 to progress to the pre-quarterfinals.

Shuttlers Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the tournament after losing their matches to Japan's Kento Momota and Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei respectively. 

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Agencies
January 26,2020

Chennai, Jan 26: Former India cricketer Kapil Dev on Saturday said that it will be a big loss for the Indian side when MS Dhoni decides to hang up his boots.

"I think he has served the country so well and nobody has done it like him. Everyone has to retire sooner or later. He is not playing matches currently. So I don't know when he will come out one day and say -- I have had enough. I think it will be our loss because he is such a fabulous cricketer," Dev told reporters here.

In the recently released BCCI contracts list, Dhoni did not find a place for himself. The former World Cup winning captain Dev said that it is unfortunate that Dhoni was not included in the contract list.

"I feel sorry that they have not included him. 

Tendulkar, Gavaskar had to witness the same. It's not my job and I am not there to give the contract to anyone. It is the job of the cricket board. So, I don't know. You can ask this question to the cricket board. They will be able to answer this question," Dev said.

The 38-year-old Dhoni is currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches in the tournament. 

Especially in the games against England and New Zealand (semi-final), he had to bear the brunt of netizens, who deemed him as the reason for the Men in Blue's loss.

BCCI released the list of central contract list of players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020.

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Agencies
August 6,2020

New Delhi, Aug 6: The BCCI on Thursday suspended the IPL title sponsorship deal with Chinese mobile phone company Vivo for the event's upcoming edition amid heightened tensions in Sino-India diplomatic ties.

The BCCI sent out a one-line statement, without giving details, saying that Vivo would not be associated with the IPL this year. "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and vivo Mobile India Pvt Ltd have decided to suspend their partnership for Indian Premier League in 2020," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Vivo released its own statement saying that the two entities "have mutually decided to pause their partnership for the 2020 season".

Vivo won the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022 for a reported sum of Rs 2,190 crore, approximately Rs 440 crore per annum.

The two parties are now working out a plan in which Vivo might come back for a fresh three-year period starting 2021 on revised terms.

However, a top BCCI official offered a different view. "Here we are talking about diplomatic tensions and you expect that after November, when IPL ends and before the next IPL starts in April 2021, there would be no anti-China sentiment? Are we serious?" a veteran BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.

The anti-China sentiment in the country peaked after the violent face-off between the Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh. India lost 20 soldiers in the clash, while China also acknowledged unspecified casualties.

The stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) caused outrage across India with several calls for boycotts of Chinese companies and products.

The BCCI is now likely to float a tender for new IPL title sponsors as mandated by its constitution. The glitzy T20 league starts on Sept. 19 in the UAE, forced out of India due to the rising COVID-19 cases.

The new development is in stark contrast to what came out of Sunday's IPL's Governing Council meeting, where it was decided that Vivo, along with all the other sponsors, will remain on board.

This was after the BCCI had announced in June that all sponsorship deals pertaining to IPL will be reviewed in the aftermath of the clash in the Galwan Valley.

However, after Sunday's meeting, there was a huge backlash on social media about the BCCI holding on to Vivo.

Both parties then began thrashing out an amicable separation plan, at least for this season.

However, the end of this deal could spell losses for the franchises as they get a substantial share from the sponsorship pool. Half of the annual Vivo sponsorship money is distributed equally among eight franchises, which comes to Rs 27.5 crore.

"As of now, it will be very difficult for the BCCI to match the sponsorship amount at such short notice. Therefore, both BCCI and the franchises should be prepared to lose out on some money -- BCCI more but each franchise from Vivo's exit will potentially lose 15 crore," the official said.

"This year will be difficult for everyone but the show must go on," the official said.

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