IPL betting: Ex-Indian women's cricket team coach held

Agencies
April 3, 2019

Vadodara, Apr 3: Former coach of Indian women's cricket team Tushar Arothe has been arrested for allegedly betting on an IPL match, police said on Tuesday.

Arothe and 18 others were arrested by the city Crime Branch on Monday night for allegedly betting on the IPL match between Delhi Capitals and Kings XI Punjab played at Mohali, they said.

Arothe, 52 and 18 others were arrested from a cafe where they were putting bets on the match, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Jaydeepsinh Jadeja of Vadodara Crime Branch.

Investigations revealed the cafe, located in the posh Alkapuri area of the city, is owned by Arothe and two others, Hemang Patel and Nishchal Shah, who too were arrested from the spot, he said.

"Arothe is a former coach of the Indian women's cricket team. He was among the 19 persons held by our team last night for placing bets during the live telecast of an IPL match between Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Capitals," said Jadeja.

All the accused, including Arothe, Patel and Shah, were booked under sections 4 and 5 of the Gambling Act, the police officer said.

"Arothe and the two other cafe co-owners had installed a large screen in their cafe for live streaming of IPL matches.

"Others had come to the cafe to place bets using three different mobile applications. The cafe owners gave them user names and passwords to bet on the live IPL match," said Jadeja.

Arothe, Patel and Shah were in contact with a person named Baba, who used to take bet money from the trio, he said.

Baba is still out of the police's reach, Jadeja added.

The police have seized cash and other articles, including vehicles and mobile phones, worth Rs 14 lakh, said Jadeja.

Arothe played for Baroda in the domestic circuit.

A left-handed batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler, Arothe played 114 First Class matches scoring 6,105 runs with 13 hundreds and 31 half-centuries.

He also took 225 wickets with 6 for 53 as his best bowling figure.

Arothe took over the reins of the women's national team in 2017 from Purnima Rao.

During Arothe's tenure, the women's team had made it to the finals of the ICC Women's World Cup in 2017, which India lost by nine runs to eventual champions England.

Arothe had resigned from the post in controversial circumstances.

His son Rishi Arothe is a left-arm pacer and plays for Baroda in the domestic circuit.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New Delhi, Aug 4: Former India women's team captain Anjum Chopra firmly believes that the BCCI has a plan for women's cricket but she wants the Board to communicate its ideas more specifically.

Speaking to news agency, Chopra, who is now a successful broadcaster, said the BCCI is thinking in earnest about the progress of women's cricket.

"It's not that the BCCI is not thinking about women's cricket. I only think they need to be more specific in communication about women's cricket," Chopra said.

"I firmly believe that they must be thinking about women's cricket but the communication all this while has been very specific to men's cricket."

The latest trigger for criticism of BCCI was India's withdrawal from a tour of England in September owing to logistical issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chopra concedes it was "not nice" but Indian players' participation in the women's IPL, in November, will still be useful preparation for next year's ODI World Cup.

"It is heartening to see women's cricket making headlines. They should have been a part of that England tour and it did not feel nice initially but the women's IPL, irrespective of the format, will be helpful for World Cup preparations. Any form of cricket is good preparation," Chopra said.

"Missing out on a tournament is not nice, but logistically there may have been issues. And you can't send an under-prepared team."

"If you see in isolation we may have missed out on an opportunity to play in England. The more the girls play the better it is, before playing a tournament of the stature of World Cup. The assurance from the president is a very good thing."

Chopra welcomed the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI's decision to hold the women's event in the UAE alongside the IPL, which will run from September 19 to November 10. The women's IPL will coincide with the business end of the men's league.

"I am definitely happy, it's always nice to be part of any cricket anywhere across the world.

"They should have been nearing the final stages of the preparation for the World Cup by now, but because of the pandemic things did not go as planned," she added.

Chopra had a successful international career spanning over 17 years, during which she represented India in a record six World Cups and became the first woman cricketer to appear in 100 One-day Internationals.

She also felt that the pandemic would not have much impact on the women's game that has gained momentum in recent times.

"...Cricket was on pause button...Once cricket resumes and players are back on the park, everything is going to get picked up. It might take some time to get started as everything starts from zero...

"The awareness the women's game has created, I hope it stays. They will just restart, not start after the pandemic."

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News Network
March 16,2020

Mar 16: With COVID-19 outbreak killing over 5,400 people globally, former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar has lashed out at those responsible for making the coronavirus infect humans and blamed China solely for the outbreak.

"I don't understand why you have to eat things like bats, drink their blood and urine and spread some virus across the globe...I'm talking about the Chinese people. They have put the world at stake. I really don't understand how you can eat bats, dogs, and cats. I'm really angry," Akhtar said in a video posted on his Youtube channel.

"The whole world is at risk now. The tourism industry has been hit, the economy is badly affected and the whole world is going towards a lockdown.

"I'm not against the people of China but I'm against the law of animals. I understand this may be your culture but this is not benefitting you now, it is killing humanity. I'm not saying you boycott the Chinese but there has to be some law. You cannot go on and eat anything and everything," he added.

Coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan city, has so far spread to more than 100 countries, infecting over 1,30,000 people.

In Pakistan, the number of positive cases reached 28 on Saturday.

Many sporting events, including the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Pakistan Super League (PSL), have been affected by the disease which has now been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

While the IPL 2020, which was originally scheduled to start from March 29, has been postponed till April 15, the playoff stage of PSL has been curtailed and will be played behind closed doors.

"The biggest reason for anger is PSL...Cricket returned to Pakistan after so many years, the PSL was happening in our country for the first time now even that is at risk. The foreign players are leaving, it will take place behind closed doors," said Akhtar.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases across India has crossed 80 while two people have lost their lives due to the deadly disease. But Akhtar did not have the information and added: "God forbid the virus doesn't reach India. There are around 130 crore people there. I've been in touch with my friends in India and wishing them well."

In PSL, there will be no playoffs and the top four teams will now play semi-finals and then the final on March 17 and 18. The final was originally scheduled to be held on March 22.

"I've also heard that IPL has been postponed till April 15. The hotel industries, travel industries, broadcasters everything will incur losses because of this," he said.

The former Pakistan pacer also called on the world authorities to come out with a new animal protection law so that such diseases don't resurface in the future.

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News Network
June 12,2020

New Delhi, Jun 12: The BCCI on Friday called off Indian cricket team's short tour of Zimbabwe in August due to the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement was on expected lines after Sri Lanka Cricket announced on Thursday that India's limited overs tour in June-July was postponed indefinitely.

"The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday announced that the Indian Cricket Team will not travel to Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe owing to the current threat of COVID-19," BCCI secetary Jay Shah said in a statement.

"Team India was originally scheduled to travel to the island nation from 24th June 2020 for three ODIs and as many T20Is and to Zimbabwe for a series comprising three ODIs starting 22nd August 2020," Shah added.

The Indian team is yet to resume training and the camp is unlikely to take place before July. The players will take around six weeks to be match-ready.

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