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IPL clearly the best organised league: Afridi

August 9, 2012

afridiPakistan's flamboyant all-rounder, Shahid Afridi has described Indian Premier League as the best foreign Twenty20 league that he has ever played in.

The 32-year-old cricketer, who will be playing in the Sri Lankan Premier League from August 12, said that his experience of playing in the IPL in 2008 had been the best of his career.

Afridi was responding to a question at the Moin Khan academy about the mushrooming growth of foreign T20 leagues in which international stars are becoming a necessity.

Afridi who has been part of the T20 championships in India, Bangladesh, England and Australia said his best experience came in the IPL.

"Although I played just once in the IPL but it is easily the biggest league you can play in and I enjoyed my experience. The IPL is clearly the best organised foreign league and it was a totally different experience playing in it," Afridi said.

Pakistani players were part of the first edition of the IPL in 2008, but after the Mumbai terror attacks, the same year, franchises have not signed any Pakistani cricketer for the league.

Afridi termed the absence of Pakistani cricketers from the IPL as disappointing and hoped things would change next year.

The all-rounder, who will represent Pakistan in the coming T20 series against Australia and in the ICC World Cup, also agreed that the growing number of foreign T20 leagues posed a challenge for traditional formats of the sport.

"Obviously as time passes and these foreign leagues grow, players are bound to find themselves in a position where they will have to take decisions about their careers," he said.

Afridi said the foreign leagues presented a good opportunity for top players to earn decent money and that is why they were being attracted to these leagues.

Afridi, who retired from the longer version of the sport in 2010 after leading his country in one off Test at the Lords against Australia, meanwhile pointed out that the Sri Lankan league posed a big challenge for him.

"We really don't know much about it but it will definitely help the Pakistani players prepare themselves for the coming series against Australia and the T20 World Cup," he said.

"It should be a tough league but it will put us in the proper frame of mind for the coming assignments," he added.

The Pakistan cricket Board (PCB) has under an agreement with the Sri Lankan Board allowed its players to take part in the league.



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News Network
January 13,2020

Mumbai, Jan 13: India captain Virat Kohli indicated at dropping himself down the batting order to accommodate both Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul in the playing XI against Australia in the first ODI of the three-match series starting Tuesday.

With vice-captain Rohit Sharma an automatic pick, the team management is left with tough choice of selecting either Dhawan or Rahul in the XI. But the skipper sees no reason why both can't play together.

"Look, a guy in form is always good for the team. ...You obviously want to have the best players available and then chose from what the combination should be for the team. There might be a possibility that all three (Rohit, Shikhar and Rahul) might play. It will be interesting to see what balance we want to take in on the field," Kohli said on the eve of the match.

Asked if he would he be happy to bat lower down the order, Virat said,"Yeah, big possibility. I would be very happy to do so. Look I am not possessive about where I play. I am not insecure about where I bat," said the skipper.

For Kohli, it is more important as to what kind of leadership legacy he leaves behind rather than chase personal glory.

"Being the captain of the team, it is my job to make sure that the next lot is also ready. A lot of the other people might not look at it that way, but your job as a captain is not only to look after the team right now, but also to prepare a team that you leave behind when you eventually pass it onto someone else," he added.

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News Network
March 13,2020

Mar 13: The start of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the world's most lucrative cricket competition, has been postponed from March 29 until April 15 over the coronavirus, the Indian cricket board said Friday.

"The Board of Control for Cricket in India has decided to suspend IPL 2020 till 15th April 2020, as a precautionary measure against the ongoing Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation," the BCCI said in a statement.

The two-month Twenty20 competition is estimated to generate more than $11 billion for the Indian economy and involves cricket's top international stars.

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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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