MS Dhoni gets ?rivileges?we do not, says Harbhajan Singh

May 26, 2017

New Delhi, May 26: Harbhajan Singh sparked a controversy of sorts on Thursday when he complained about MS Dhoni getting ?rivilege?for having a say in team selection while others on the same level were being blatantly ignored.

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Even though Dhoni has given up India? captaincy in the limited-overs format and questions persist over his participation in the next ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019 in England, the former skipper was named in the Indian side for the ICC Champions Trophy that begins June 1.

Harbhajan, who was in the squad of Mumbai Indians (MI) that won the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a record third, says his case is not taken into consideration even though he can bring in similar qualities.

MSK Prasad, the Indian chairman of selectors had clarified that Dhoni? contribution was not just restricted to him being a dependable middle-order batsman and a sharp wicketkeeper: his tactical insights and experience also help the team.

On his part, Harbhajan has somewhat taken offence, as he is among cricketers vying for a comeback in the Indian national side: ?es, there is no doubt that Dhoni brings a lot to the table apart from his batting, whether he is in form or not.

Obviously we have seen that he is not hitting the ball as well as we have seen,?Harbhajan was quoted as saying.

Harbhajan added, ?e has been captain and he understands the game and having him in the middle will help lot of youngsters and people out there who are not feeling great in particular moments.

So he has that edge. But when it comes to me I do feel that we are not given that sort of privilege. We too have played for 19 years and won and lost India matches.

I have won two World Cups too. So this privilege is for some players, and for some it is not and I? one of those for whom this privilege is not there. I don? know why that is the case.?/p>

Harbhajan, who has played more than 100 Tests for India, said he wants to make a comeback. ?hat question of ?hy?needs to be asked to the selectors.

I don? want to sing my own praises, but given the amount of cricket others have played, even I understand the game as much; and what they bring to the table we also bring to the table. We too wish to play for the country as much.?/p>

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Agencies
August 3,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: The finals of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 will be played on November 20, the sources within the BCCI confirmed on Sunday.

The IPL's governing council met earlier today, and it has also been decided that the evening matches will start at 7:30 pm, half an hour earlier than usual.

Jay Shah, the secretary of BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and Arun Dhumal, treasurer of BCCI did not attend the IPL's governing council meeting.

"The tournament will run for 51 days, usually the IPL should go on for 49 days as per the constitution, however in the meeting it has been decided that we will go to Supreme Court for conducting the IPL in 51 days," sources within the BCCI said.

"As the tournament is running for 51 days, we will get the chance to play fewer doubleheaders, there would be just 10 double headers, evening matches will start at 7:30 and the afternoon matches will start at 3:30. 

The matches will be played across three venues at Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah as travelling here by road is easier and bio-secure environment can be maintained," he added.

The IPL's governing council also confirmed that Women's IPL will also go on and four teams would be participating in it.

"When it comes to women's IPL, there would be four teams and the matches would be played at the time of playoffs for men's IPL," the source said.

The source within the BCCI also said that the governing council would be meeting again to discuss the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for all the franchises that need to be followed in the IPL.

The governing council meeting discussed the quarantine measures along with the standard operating procedures (SOP), bio bubble training facilities, stay and travel of the players.

Issues related to the broadcaster, shifting, and scheduling of the tournament, and DXB app to be downloaded for players and other officials were also discussed as well.

A few days earlier, the IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel had confirmed that the 13th edition of the mega event will commence on September 19 in the UAE.

This year's IPL was slated to commence from March 29 but the tournament was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) had also confirmed receiving the official Letter of Intent from the BCCI to host the 2020 edition of the IPL.

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News Network
April 27,2020

Lahore, Apr 27: Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal has been banned from all forms of cricket for three years for failing to report spot-fixing offers, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced Monday.

Umar, who turns 30 next month, pleaded guilty to not reporting the fixing offers which led to his provisional suspension on February 20 this year.

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News Network
July 3,2020

Karachi, Jul 3: There was a sense of insecurity among Pakistan players during the 2019 World Cup, claims former chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq, who also reckons that the PCB should have given Sarfaraz Ahmed more time as captain instead of removing him abruptly.

Inzamam said captains need to be backed since they get better with time.

"Even in the last World Cup I felt the captain and players were under pressure because they were thinking if we don't do well in the tournament we will be out. That environment was created and this is not good for cricket," Inzamam said.

"Sarfaraz achieved some notable victories for Pakistan and was learning to be a good captain but unfortunately when he had learnt from experience and mistakes he was removed as captain," the former captain told a TV channel.

Inzamam remained chief selector from 2016 till the 2019 World Cup. During his tenure, most of the time Sarfaraz remained captain.

Soon after Inzamam was replaced by head coach Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan Cricket Board removed Sarfaraz as a player and captain from all three formats.

"Sarfaraz won us the Champions Trophy and also made the team number one in T20 cricket. He got us some good wins. He should have been given more time as captain by the board but it acted in haste and didn't give him confidence or patience."

The PCB has now given the Test captaincy to senior batsman, Azhar Ali while young batsman Babar Azam leads the side in the white ball formats.

Inzamam, the most capped player for Pakistan, also said that the captain's own performance can dip as he had to focus a lot on other players.

"But a captain learns all this with time. There is no shortcut to it."

He pointed out that people praise Imran Khan’s leadership qualities and captaincy but he also won the World Cup on his third attempt as captain.

"He won the 1992 World Cup because by that time he had become a seasoned captain and learnt to motivate his players and get them to fight in every match."

Inzamam said giving confidence to new players and youngsters is very important for the selectors. He gave the example of Babar Azam.

"Babar struggled initially in Test cricket but we never had any doubt about his ability so we persisted with him and see today where he is standing in all formats."

He also described Babar and pacer, Shaheen Shah Afridi as and future stars.

"Babar is always compared to Virat Kohli but the latter has played a lot more cricket and if you look at their stats and performances at the stage Babar is now, he has not done badly at all."

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