All set for an exciting Champions League T20

October 13, 2012

t20

After their not so memorable outing in the just-concluded ICC World T20 in Sri Lanka, it will be a test of character for the Indian players in the Champions League Twenty20 which enters the business end on Saturday.

There are four Indian Premier League teams in the fray in the cash-rich tournament, including defending champion Mumbai Indians (MI) and this season’s IPL winner Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

The other two IPL sides are former champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Delhi Daredvils (DD).

It would be interesting to watch the earnestness of the Indian cricketers, eager to erase the scars of their Super Eight elimination in the ICC World Twenty20.

While KKR and DD have been placed in Group A, the other two are in Group B, raising hopes of an all India clash in the semifinals, as the top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stage.

However, in no sense it would be an easy task for the Indian outfits as they will be up against some of the best T20 outfits of the world.


Classy line-ups

And with Titans and Highveld Lions, both from South Africa, enjoying home advantage, the task for the Indian units will be even more cut out.

Apart from the two African teams, the championship also has Australia’s Perth Scorchers, which boasts of players like Shaun Marsh and Herschelle Gibbs.

The other Aussie side in fray is Sydney Sixers. With the presence of Shane Watson, along with young pace sensation Mitchell Starc and skipper Brad Haddin in the line-up, the Sixers definitely look a side to be watched out for.

The tournament will also witness Auckland Aces and Yorkshire, both of whom made it to the main draw after topping their respective pools in the just concluded qualifiers.

The Indian challenge will start with a battle between KKR and DD. While the Gautam Gambhir-led KKR would be out there to prove that its victory in the IPL V was no fluke, DD, under Mahela Jayawardene, would like to stamp its authority on the tournament in which it has so far remained an underachiever.


Champion material

Daredevils boasts of some big names like David Warner and Kevin Pietersen in its ranks, and with Virender Sehwag being declared fit, the Delhi side definitely has what it takes to be the champion.

The tournament will also be an opportunity for Sri Lanka's Jayawardene to redeem himself after the loss in the ICC World T20 final. The 35-year-old was entrusted with the responsibility of leading the side after Sehwag opted out to concentrate on his batting.

KKR, on the other hand, possesses a healthy mix of Indian and foreign players. Jacques Kallis and Brendon McCullum have been phenomenal for a team that has done well under Gambhir.

The other Indian franchisees to look out for in the championship are the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led CSK and Harbhajan Sigh-led MI. Both the teams have tasted success in this championship, with CSK winning the 2010 edition and MI lifting the trophy a year later.

The teams:

Group A: Auckland Aces, Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders, Perth Scorchers and Titans.

Group B: Chennai Super Kings, Highveld Lions, Mumbai Indians, Sydney Sixers and Yorkshire.

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News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan deeply regrets his "silly mistake" of not reporting a corrupt approach by an Indian bookie to the ICC, leading to his one year suspension from the game.

Shakib was banned for two years, one year of it suspended, for failing to report corrupt approaches during an IPL edition by an alleged Indian bookie named Deepak Aggarwal.

"I took the approaches too casually When I met the anti-corruption guy and told them and they knew everything. Gave them all the evidence and they knew everything that happened," Shakib told Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"To be honest, that's the only reason I was banned for a year, otherwise I'd have been banned for five or 10 years," he added on the ICC's investigation.

The 33-year-old, who was in brilliant form before the ban, amassing 606 runs in the 2019 World Cup in the UK, said he regrets how he went about the situation.

"But I think that was a silly mistake I made. Because with my experience and the amount of international matches I've played and the amount of ICC's anti-corruption code of conduct classes I took, I shouldn't have made that decision, to be honest."

Lesson learnt, Shakib's advice to all young criceters is to never take any such message lightly.

"I regret that. No one should take such messages or calls (from bookies) lightly or leave it away. We must inform the ICC ACSU guy to be on the safe side and that's the lesson I learnt, and I think I learnt a big lesson," he added.

The all-rounder, whose ban ends on October 29, said he became a bit arrogant and never felt he was doing anything wrong by not reporting the bookie's approach immediately.

"Because you do most things right in your life, you tend to get arrogant with some decisions. You may not realise but you're doing wrong by the books. It never came to my mind that I am doing something wrong

"It was just a feeling of 'okay, what's going to happen, leave it' and I continued with my life. But that's the mistake I made. And that happens," Shakib said.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

Silverstone, Aug 2: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on Sunday won his seventh British Grand Prix title after a dramatic last-lap at the Silverstone Circuit.

Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas were at the first and second spot respectively until tyre drama struck.

Second-placed man Bottas was the first to suffer as his tyre deflated on lap 50, resulting in 11th place finish. Hamilton also suffered a similar issue before the final few seconds of the race.

However, with Max Verstappen having opted to pit a few laps from the end to try and claim the fastest lap, Hamilton had enough time in hand to just cross the line first, five seconds ahead of Verstappen and the third-placed Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

McLaren's Carlos Sainz had been set to finish fourth, but his own last lap tyre issue saw him eventually come home P13, allowing Renault's Daniel Ricciardo to claim fourth, following a late pass on the sister McLaren of Lando Norris.

Renault's Esteban Ocon finished sixth, having enjoyed a race-long battle with Lance Stroll's Racing Point, with Pierre Gasly having enjoyed a fine race to finish seventh for AlphaTauri.

Alex Albon finished eighth for Red Bull, having recovered from a lap 1 tussle with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen that saw him fall to last, while Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top 10, Vettel holding off a late charge form the recovering Mercedes of Bottas.

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News Network
May 8,2020

Karachi, May 8: A cricket museum based in India has bought a bat auctioned by Pakistan Test captain Azhar Ali to raise funds for the needy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Azhar had put two of his precious belongings -- the bat he used to score 302 runs against the West Indies in a Test in 2016 and the jersey he wore during the 2017 Champions Trophy final win over India -- on an online auction to raise funds for the people affected by the deadly disease.

Both the bat and jersey were signed by members of the Pakistan team.

Azhar announced on social media that he had kept a base price of one million each for the bat and jersey and they had sold for 2.2 million.

He confirmed that Blades of Glory Cricket Museum based in Pune bought the bat by making a winning offer of Rs. 1 million for the bat.

Azhar said that the auction of the shirt also generated a lot of interest and Kash Villani, a Pakistani based in California, came up with the highest bid of Rs. 1.1 million for the shirt before the conclusion of the auction.

Another Pakistani based in New Jersey, Jamal Khan also donated Rs. 100,000 for the cause.

"I put two of my closest belongings on auction with base price of 1 million PKR each to support people suffering due to ongoing crisis. Auction starts now and will close on 11:59 PM 05 May, 2020," Azhar had tweeted.

Ali became the first international player to score a test triple century in Day/Night Test when he scored an unbeaten 302 against the West Indies team in UAE in 2016.

"The shirt is from 2017 Champions Trophy which we won, it has the signature of all the players which were present in the squad," Ali said in a video posted on Twitter.

"Both these things are close to my heart but if it can be used in the difficult times for the benefit of the people I will more than happy."

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