KXIP’s proposal to BCCI: National anthem before start of every IPL game

Agencies
November 7, 2019

Mumbai, Nov 7: Kings XI Punjab co-owner Ness Wadia has written to the BCCI, insisting that the Indian national anthem be played before the start of every IPL game, commencing with the 2020 edition.

National anthems are usually played before the start of an international game but Wadia feels it should be the norm in the world's number one cricket league. He also lauded the BCCI for scrapping a rather expensive opening ceremony of the IPL.

"It is an excellent move. It is high time that we don't have an opening ceremony. I have always wondered the value and necessity of hosting an opening ceremony. One thing which they (BCCI) should do is to have the national anthem before each game given that it is the Indian Premier League," Wadia told PTI.

"I had written to the BCCI earlier also and now I have written to Mr Sourav Ganguly (BCCI president). And I think it is still played in movie theatres." The national anthem is also played in the Indian Super League (football) and the Pro-Kabaddi League.

"It is the Indian Premier League after all. We should be proud of what we have, which is a wonderful national anthem and a wonderful league. In NBA too, national anthem is played before every game," he said.

Earlier this week, the IPL governing council discussed the proposal of multiple franchises wanting to play "friendlies abroad" but it would require a more detailed study of International Cricket Council's Futures Tours Programme (FTP).

Commenting on the matter, Wadia hoped that the BCCI will consider taking the IPL brand outside the country in the near future.

"The IPL is an Indian tournament. However, if one could look at expanding its reach, that will only be beneficial for all the stakeholders including the BCCI because it is also an international event.

"If you look at the top football leagues all around the world, you do see them playing a lot of pre-season friendlies overseas. It only improves the visibility, reach and eventually the value of the IPL. BCCI must consider it.

"It would be nice to have the world's number one cricketing league emulate what other sporting leagues have done. NBA has also come to India and China. The problem is the window (the scheduling) and that is where the BCCI comes in," he added.

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News Network
February 5,2020

Aukland, Feb 5: Striker Navneet Kaur scored a brace to guide the Indian women's hockey team to a convincing 3-0 win over New Zealand in the last game of its five-match tour here on Wednesday.

Navneet found the net in the 45th and 58th minutes, while Sharmila scored a field goal in the 54th minute as India drew curtains on the New Zealand tour on a bright note.

After a goalless opening two quarters, Navneet finally broke the deadlock for India in the 45th minute.

Sharmila then doubled the lead when she struck a powerful shot past the New Zealand goalkeeper in the 54th minute. Navneet found the net again just two minutes from the final hooter with a beautiful field strike.

India began the tour by thrashing New Zealand Development squad 4-0 before suffering close 1-2 and 0-1 defeats to the home senior team.

In penultimate game of the tour, skipper Rani's lone strike handed India a 1-0 win over Great Britain.

"...I am happy we produced three goals against New Zealand in the last match. This tour gave us a good insight about where we need to improve and one of the things is to create faster play than we do now," said India's chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.

Commenting on his side's performance during the tour, Marijne said, "Sometimes we tend to keep the ball too long on the stick and then we create pressure. We need to avoid that by passing faster.

"On the defence side, we need to be a bit more calmer and need to improve our tackling. We will have a four week camp after a short break when we return home and we will be working on these points."

The Indian team will return home on February 7.

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News Network
April 27,2020

Mumbai, Apr 27: The pressure to replace iconic Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps was "immense" due to high expectations from fans says K L Rahul, who has been doing the wicket-keeping duty for India in the limited overs format for some time now.

Dhoni quit Test cricket in 2014 and has not played for India in the limited overs format since last year's ODI World Cup in England.

Rahul kept the wickets in the limited overs series against Australia in January this year and also during the team's tour to New Zealand.

"I was nervous when I was doing it for India because of the crowd pressure. If you fumble, people feel that you cannot replace MS Dhoni. The pressure of replacing a legendary wicket-keeper like MSD was immense as it involved people accepting someone else behind the stumps," Rahul told Star Sports on its show 'Cricket Connected'.

Rahul, who has played 32 ODIs and 42 T20Is, said keeping the wickets is not alien to him since he dons the gloves during the Indian Premier League (IPL) and also when he plays for his Ranji side Karnataka.

"People who follow cricket know that I haven't been away from wicket-keeping for too long as I donned the gloves in the IPL and every time I played for Karnataka," the 28-year-old said.

"I am always in touch with wicket-keeping but am also somebody who is more than willing to take up the role if the team needs me to," he stressed.

Dhoni's career is a matter of intense speculation. Many former players feel that it won't be easy for Dhoni to make it to the national squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in Australia. 

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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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