It's passion for game not money that drives Mithali and Co.

September 23, 2012
Mithali__co
Colombo, September 23: The huge gap between the pay cheques of Indian men and women cricketers notwithstanding, the manner in which Mithali Raj and Co. go about their task gives one the impression that they are hardly perturbed by this disparity.

While the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Virat Kohli earn a whopping Rs 7 lakh per Test, their women counterparts have to be satisfied with a mere fee of Rs 1 lakh, not per match, but per international series.

"After we have come under BCCI wing, the players get Rs 1 lakh per international series," women's team manager Vidya Yadav informed.

In fact, even the Tripura Ranji team players earn a match fee of Rs 1.5 lakh per domestic first-class game and Rs 35,000 for one-day matches.

Asked about the match fee for domestic tournaments for women, Yadav said: "Players get Rs 2500 per match apart from DA."

Besides getting Rs 7 lakh for a Test match, the Indian men's team earn Rs 4 lakh per ODI and Rs 2 lakh for T20 for being in the playing XI and half if he is part of the squad.

Skipper Mithali tried to put things into perspective.

"We can't complaint as to why the men get paid more. It's simple...they earn much more revenue and thus get paid more.

"But the situation in women's cricket has improved a lot from the early 90s when lot of talented women cricketers had to leave the game due to lack of monetary assistance," said Mithali.

Manager Yadav said that any change doesn't happen overnight.

"Look, it will take a lot of time but change is happening. When my brother Shivlal Yadav played for India, he used to get Rs 5000 for a Test match and compare what cricketers of current times are getting.

"Obviously, this change hasn't happened overnight," Yadav said.

As they quietly trudged out from their dressing room at the Bloomfield Cricket Club ground, there weren't hordes of cameramen or journalists, but the Indian cricketers seemed unperturbed by the lack of attention.

While each and every movement of Dhoni and his boys is dissected keeping in mind the minutest of details, the quiet entry of the Indian eves in the island nation hasn't bothered many.

The intensity and resolve was very much there, though, during the two-hour practice session.

The Indian women's team hasn't played any longer version matches since 2006 and Mithali felt that having only played ODIs and T20 Internationals, it will be difficult to switch to the Test mode.

"Initially, we used to miss playing Test matches for a year but now it will be difficult for us to switch to longer format as we have only T20s and ODIs. If Tests are scheduled in the series, it will be difficult for us," the Indian captain said.

The Indian women's team has consistently reached the semi-final stages of the ICC but she admitted that they need to step up their game in order to beat top teams like Australia and England.

"We must admit that we don't have the physique to consistently hit big shots but we need to find the gaps and focus on our strengths," she said.




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News Network
March 2,2020

Mar 2: Indian captain Virat Kohli was left frustrated and deflated as New Zealand won the second Test inside three days in Christchurch on Monday to sweep the series.

India started the day at 90 for six and were all out for 124, before New Zealand chased down the required 132 to win for the loss of three wickets in 36 overs.

It ended a disappointing tour for India and Kohli as New Zealand, who won the first Test by 10 wickets early on day four, wrapped up the series with ease.

New Zealand are now unbeaten in their last 13 home Tests, winning nine of them, and in the past decade their record as hosts is played 39, won 20, drawn 13 and lost five.

In the latest series, on traditional New Zealand green wickets, India managed scores of 165, 191, 242 and 124, reflecting the low contributions from Kohli of 2, 19, 3 and 14.

Kohli came to New Zealand as the world's top Test batsman and oozing charm as he described New Zealand as the “nice guys” of cricket.

But during the series he lost his top ranking to Australian Steve Smith and when Kane Williamson went for three in the first innings of the second Test the pressure showed when he gave the New Zealand skipper a very animated send-off.

There was further evidence of frustration when he was caught on camera yelling an obscenity at a group of New Zealand supporters on Sunday.

The end came quickly for India on day three as Tim Southee and Trent Boult tormented the batsmen with their variety of inswing and outswing deliveries targeting both sides of the stumps.

Hanuma Vihari was the first to fall, in Southee's second over, when he turned a legside delivery too fine and was caught by BJ Watling diving to his left.

Five balls later and with no addition to the score, India's other overnight batsman Rishabh Pant was caught behind off a Boult delivery that swung away.

Mohammed Shami was caught for five by Tom Blundell at deep mid-wicket and Jasprit Bumrah was run out when trying to give the strike to Ravindra Jadeja, who was unbeaten on 16.

Boult and Southee signed for most of the dismissals with Boult taking four for 28 and Southee three for 36. The swing pair accounted for 25 of the 40 Indian wickets in the series.

There was enough seam and swing available for India to keep the New Zealand batsmen guessing but Bumrah and Umesh Yadav were unable to apply consistent pressure and Mohammed Shami was troubled by a sore shoulder.

New Zealand coasted through a century opening stand by Tom Latham and Blundell before losing three quick wickets.

Latham notched his 18th half-century and second of the Test before he was caught behind off Yadav for 52, Kane Williamson had a short stay for five, and Blundell went for 55.

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News Network
April 22,2020

Dhaka, Apr 22: Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has decided to auction the bat he used during the 2019 ODI World Cup to help raise money for the fight against deadly coronavirus pandemic.

Shakib, who is currently serving a two-year ban from all forms of cricket -- one of which is suspended -- for not reporting corrupt approaches, is the second Bangladeshi cricketer after wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim to auction a personal cricketing gear to raise money for the cause.

"I had said before that I want to put up a bat for auction. I have decided to auction the bat I used in the 2019 World Cup. It's a favourite bat of mine," Shakib said during a Facebook live session.

The 33-year-old all-rounder had a hugely successful World Cup in England last year, scoring 606 runs in eight matches at an average of 86.57, which included two centuries and five fifties.

Besides, he also picked up 11 wickets in the tournament and became the only cricketer to score 600 plus runs and scalp 10 wickets in a single edition of the World Cup.

"I had a good World cup with the bat and ball. There were some good performances especially with the bat. I had used a single bat throughout the World Cup and even used tapes on it to get through games," Shakib said.

"It's not that this bat has only been used at the World Cup. I have scored over 1500 runs with this bat and had used it prior to the tournament and after it as well.

"Although I like the bat a lot but I have decided to put it up for auction with the thought that maybe it can leave some contribution to forming a fund during the ongoing coronavirus crisis."

The money raised from the auction will go to the Shakib Al Hasan foundation.

"This is a very special bat to me, but my people are even more special to me," Shakib said.

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News Network
January 2,2020

New Delhi, Jan 2: Thrilled after getting to know about Hardik Pandya and Natasa Stankovic's engagement, skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday called it a "pleasant surprise".

Extending his best wishes to the newly-engaged couple, Kohli posted a comment on Pandya's Instagram post which read, "Congratulations H. What a pleasant surprise. Wish you guys great times ahead. God bless".

On the first day of the New Year 2020, Pandya announced his engagement with Serbian actor Natasa Stankovic.

The cricketer took to Instagram to share the photo with the actor and captioned the post: "Mai tera, Tu meri jaane, saara Hindustan. 01.01.2020 #engaged".

The couple got engaged in Dubai and were seen taking a ferry ride along with close friends.

On the work front, Stankovic was last seen in a song from the Bollywood movie The Body starring Emraan Hashmi and Rishi Kapoor. She had also made it to the finals of the TV show Nach Baliye with her ex-boyfriend Aly Goni.

Stankovic first became a household name after appearing as a contestant on famous reality show Bigg Boss 8.

In 2019, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had confirmed that Pandya had had lower-back surgery in London.

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