Dhoni wants Test to end in 3 days: Eden curator

December 2, 2012
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Kolkata, December 2: After having single-handedly fought a 'pitched battle' with BCCI and CAB for five days, Eden Gardens curator Prabir Mukherjee 'retired hurt' on Saturday, but not before lashing out at skipper MS Dhoni's demand for a rank turner for the third Test between India and England starting here on Wednesday.

Mukherjee, 83, reluctant to oblige Dhoni's 'unreasonable demand', complained of uneasiness on Friday night and was advised by his doctors to take complete rest for the next few days. Bowing to family pressure, the octogenarian - who lost his wife and daughter earlier this year - requested CAB on Saturday morning to grant him leave on medical grounds. But by evening, Mukherjee was back tending the Eden Gardens pitch following a sordid day-long drama.


It started with the veteran curator's now-show at Eden on Saturday morning. Instead, he addressed the media at his home during the course of which he took pot shots at Dhoni.

"Dhoni has asked for a square turner. This is immoral because you (organisers) are selling tickets for a five-day Test. On a square turner, there's every chance of a match ending in three days. Why rob people of two days' play? It's immoral and illogical to tamper with the pitch. I've not done it in my life," Mukherjee, Eden's curator for 15 years, said.

Reminded about Dhoni's preference, an agitated Mukherjee shot back: "If he asks for the moon, is it possible to give him that? The players are contracted to the BCCI and get paid handsomely to play good cricket. Their contracts don't stipulate that they would get this (turners). Climatic conditions vary from state to state. What you get in Mumbai, you won't get in Kolkata because the conditions and soil content are different," he added.

Pointing out that tending to pitches was his passion, not profession, Mukherjee said: "I don't want to be a party to tampering with the pitch at Eden Gardens. If anything goes wrong, I don't want to be hanged."

Mukherjee felt aggrieved after the BCCI rushed East Zone curator Ashish Bhowmick to Eden to "assist" him prepare the pitch. Mukherjee made it clear that he had nothing against Bhowmick. "He is a good man. Unfortunately he can't say I won't do this because he's just starting off. On the other hand, I'm at the fag end of my life," said Mukherjee, who also took CAB to task for not backing his stand on the pitch issue.

"They're threatening to suspend me if I talk about the pitch. This is the treatment I get after more than two decades of service at CAB," Mukherjee lamented.

Sensing Mukherjee's belligerent mood, CAB rushed treasurer Biswarup Dey to Mukherjee's home in the afternoon to pacify him. Dey escorted Mukherjee to CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya's residence. It required the former BCCI chief's considerable persuasive powers to convince Mukherjee to return to the Eden Gardens later in the day and resume his supervisory role. Mukherjee was seen interacting with Bhowmick, instructing the ground staff, signalling the end of the day-long drama.


"There's no issue at all. We've sorted out the differences. Prabir Mukherjee remains the Eden Gardens curator. He will be in-charge of the Test match against England starting on December 5 and the India versus Pakistan ODI on January 3 next year," Dalmiya told newsmen.

He blamed the media for creating an "unnecessary" controversy. "I've been hearing all sorts of stories everyday created by the media. He (Prabir) couldn't come to Eden Gardens this morning because he wasn't well. I've requested him to come at least for a few hours daily to supervise preparation of the pitch," Dalmiya said.




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News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: Five centrally contracted Indian cricketers including Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul have been issued notices by National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for failing to disclose their whereabouts as the BCCI cited "password glitch" as the reason for delay.

The other players to have received the notice include women stars Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma, who are among the five cricketers in the 110 strong National Registered Testing Pool (NRTP). Speaking to PTI, NADA DG Navin Agarwal confirmed that BCCI has sent an official explanation for their five NRTP players' failure to submit whereabouts.

"There are two ways to fill up the whereabouts form in the ADAMS (Anti Doping Administration & Management Systems) software. Either athlete does it himself or association fills it up on his or her behalf," Agarwal said. "Now athletes in some discipline aren't educated enough or do not have access to internet and find themselves unable to handle the whereabouts clause of the ADAMS or upload the filled up

"They use assistance of their concerned federations. So federations have accepted responsibility of uploading their whereabouts," Agarwal said.

He said cricketers too at times find it tough to complete the process on their own. "Similarly in cricket also, although these people are well qualified and they can do it, perhaps they don't have the time for whatever reasons, so the federation concerned, the BCCI has taken upon itself the responsibility of uploading their whereabouts." So why didnt BCCI upload the the three-month whereabouts this time?

"Well they have given an explanation which appears to be reasonable but a decision will be taken. They have said that there has been a glitch with regards to password in ADAMS. Now they have said that issue has been resolved," Agarwal added. NADA DG added that "BCCI's explanation will be discussed as to whether it will be counted as one of three filing failures or not. It will be decided on the explanation given and how they (BCCI) proceed from here."

While country has been under lockdown, the rule to submit three months of whereabouts is mandatory. Three such failures to disclose leads to one Anti Doping Rule Violation (ADRV), which could lead up to two years of suspension upon hearing.

While BCCI has "officially gagged" its employees from talking to the media, it couldn't be ascertained that why as normal a glitch as a password error took days to resolve. A BCCI veteran, who has been privy to cricket operations, asked why the five cricketers were not told to upload the form themselves.

"This was lockdown period where they are not living out of suitcases. Some of the names have also engaged in multiple instagram chats and podcasts which their agents are managing," he said.

"If cricket operations team were having a glitch in fixing password, well the five cricketers could have been asked to do so and they would have done it individually with some guidance. "Probably NADA would be lenient this time but if it becomes an official warning, then who's responsible," he added.

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Agencies
April 12,2020

London, Apr 12: Former Formula 1 legendary driver Stirling Moss died at the age of 90 on Sunday.

"All at F1 send our heartfelt condolences to Lady Susie and Sir Stirling's family and friends," Formula 1 said in a statement.

Often referred to as the greatest driver never to win the world championship, Moss contested 66 Grands Prix from 1951 to 1961, driving for the likes of Vanwall, Maserati and Mercedes, where he famously formed a contented and ruthlessly effective partnership with lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

In his 10-year-long stint at the tracks, Moss took 16 wins, some of which rank among the truly iconic drives in the sport's history - his 1961 victories in Monaco and Germany in particular often held up as all-time classics.

Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia on public roads for Mercedes at an average speed of close to 100mph, while he also competed in rallies and land-speed attempts.

Following an enforced retirement from racing (barring a brief comeback in saloon cars in the 1980s) after a major crash at Goodwood in 1962, Moss maintained a presence in Formula 1 as both a sports correspondent and an interested observer, before retiring from public life in January of 2018.

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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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