MS Dhoni's name in secret IPL inquiry statement submitted to Supreme Court: reports

February 15, 2014

MS_DhoniFeb 15: A few days after it emerged that six current Indian cricket players could be part of the Indian Premier League spot-fixing and betting scandal that hit the sport last year, Team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has reportedly been accused of being involved in 'illegal activity' in the IPL, if a police statement included in Supreme Court-instituted Justice Mukul Mudgal committee's report, which investigated the matter, is to be believed.

Former Tamil Nadu Superintendent of Police (internal security) G Sampath Kumar wrote in a signed statement that a bookie named Kitty claimed Dhoni and former Chennai Super Kings team principal Gurunath Meiyappan had taken part in a deal that pertained to illegal activity in the IPL. Dhoni's name reportedly figures in a sealed envelope submitted to the Supreme Court by the inquiry panel.

"We were investigating a fake passport case when we came across information related to betting. We interrogated a man called Kitty, who talked about Dhoni and Meiyappan," Kumar told Hindustan Times. Interestingly, Kumar was transferred soon after he questioned Kitty.

"The sealed cover contains unverified information that we wanted to share with the court only and contains statements of people who wanted to stay anonymous," Justice Mudgal said when contacted by the newspaper. When asked specifically about Kumar's statement, the former judge said, "I cannot say anything about a matter that is confidential."

Interestingly, Nilay Dutta, one of the three members of the Mudgal committee, had in his supplementary report confirmed part of Kumar's deposition but omitted Dhoni's name.

Dutta's report says: "It is in the record of the Committee, through the deposition of Mr. G Sampath Kumar... (that), one Mr Utham Jain @ Kitty had been interrogated by Q branch in his presence and the said Kitty had disclosed, in course of his interrogation on 23.05.2013, that pursuant to a plan to fix the match between IPL teams, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, scheduled on 12.05.2013, he was informed by one Mr Vikram Agarwal on 27.04.2013 at a dinner party that a deal had been worked out."

"He was also informed the same day by Mr. Gurunath Meiyappan that one senior member in the IPL team, Chennai Super Kings, had agreed to play as per plan and the team will score 140 runs. This plan was communicated to one Sanjay in Jaipur over phone by Mr Vikram Agarwal in presence of Kitty."

Meanwhile, Dhoni's agent Arun Pandey requested people to refrain from any sort of speculation since the matter was still sub-judice. "I haven't seen the report yet. The matter is sub-judice and scheduled for hearing in Supreme Court on March 7, so till then I would like to request people to refrain from speculating," said Pandey.

In Wellington on Thursday, Dhoni skipped the press conference ahead of India's second Test match against New Zealand. Dhoni, who indirectly faces charges of conflict of interest, has been silent over IPL scandals ever since the spot-fixing and betting reports broke last year.

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News Network
February 29,2020

Feb 29: India were all out for 242 in their first innings following a stunning battling collapse, triggered by paceman Kyle Jamieson on the opening day of the second cricket Test against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval, here on Saturday.

India were steady at 194 for five at tea but lost wickets in quick succession after the play resumed. Jamieson returned figures of 14-3-45-5.

Hanuma Vihari top-scored for India with his combative 55 while Prithvi Shaw (54) and Cheteshwar Pujara (54) hit contrasting half-centuries.

Virat Kohli's (3) poor run continued while his deputy Ajikya Rahane (7) also fell cheaply.

India lost last five wickets for 48 runs, of which 26 were contributed by last-wicket pair of Mohammed Shami (16) and Jasprit Bumrah (10).

Brief Scores:

India 1st innings: 242 all out in 63 overs. (H Vihari 55, P Shaw 54, C Pujara 54 batting; Kyle Jamieson 5/45, Tim Southee 2/38, ).

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Jeddah, Jan 9: Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde criticised the new Supercopa format and said that "football has become a business and as a business it looks for income".

"The bottom line is football has become a business and as a business it looks for income. That's the reason we are all here," Goal.com quoted Valverde as saying ahead of Barca's semi-final against Atletico.

"It's a completely different format to what we're used to. It was always the first title and the opener of the season and to me, that seemed fine," he added.

The Supercopa was traditionally a two-legged affair played between the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Rey at the beginning of the season, but following last term's one-off meeting between Barca and Sevilla in Tangier, Morocco, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) went ahead with a full revamp.

Instead of just two teams being involved, the Supercopa has been expanded to also include the runners-up from La Liga and the Copa - meaning Barca and Valencia are joined by Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. It is also set to be hosted in Saudi Arabia for the next three editions.

"It's been changed and let's see, it will be judged once it has happened. It's interesting, with four good teams, but from a sporting point of view, I'm not sure," Valverde said.

"We must bear in mind that the football we are involved in is an industry, sources of income are sought and in the same way that there are special connotations in this country, there are also in Morocco, where we played last year," he added.

Barcelona will face Atletico Madrid in the semifinal of the Supercopa at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah on January 10.

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News Network
January 10,2020

Srinagar, Jan 10: Real Kashmir FC made a strong comeback in the second half to play out a 1-1 draw against former champions Punjab FC in their home I-League match here on Friday.

The 'Snow Leopards' equalised in the 62nd minute through Gnohere Krizo in front of a partisan crowd of 8,500 spectators after Makan Chothe had given Punjab FC the lead in the 21st minute at the TRC ground.

After Thursday's draw, Punjab FC is placed third on the table with 10 points from seven games. Real Kashmir FC remained at eighth with six points from five matches. This was Real Kashmir's third home match on the trot.

The match was a story of two halves as the first belonged to the visitors who enjoyed a 62 per cent possession of the ball, whereas the second belonged to the home side.

Both the teams were looking to gain an early advantage and Punjab FC took the lead after 21 minutes.

Confusion inside the Real Kashmir box because of a long ball from Punjab opened up an opportunity for Chothe and he made no mistake as he smashed the ball at the back of the net.

As the fans cheered on, Real Kashmir created a flurry of chances, but none of the home side players could find the back of the net. Punjab was able to hold on to their slender lead heading into the tunnel.

The second half resumed with Real Kashmir pressing high up the field and pressurising Punjab.

In the 56th minute, Real Kashmir playmaker Kallum Higginbotham cut through two defenders on the left side of the box and the ball fell to Mason Robertson, whose shot was too weak to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper.

Soon after, it was Danish Farooq who tried a curler from a distance but his shot did not have enough bend to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper. The home team's effort finally paid off in the 62nd minute.

A miscalculated header by Danilo Augusto fell at the feet of Gnohere Krizo, who was one-on-one with the keeper. He made no mistake in striking the ball into the opponent's goal to score the equaliser.

Real Kashmir was in their groove now, and Kallum came in from the right with a beautiful low cross across the face of the goal but Mason could not get a touch as the chance went begging.

The duo of Kallum and Mason were proving difficult for Punjab to deal with. In the 82nd minute, a beautiful long ball by Kallum found the head of a towering Mason, but the effort went just over the crossbar.

Within a few moments, Punjab again had another nervous moment as Chesterpoul Lyngdoh's cross from the right side hit the arm of Thoiba Singh but the referee turned down an appeal for penalty.

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