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Miandad cancels trip to India

January 4, 2013

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Lahore, January 4: Javed Miandad, whose son is married to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s daughter, on Friday cancelled his visit to Delhi in the wake of a raging controversy in India over giving him visa for the trip.

Former Pakistan captain Miandad, who was to watch the third and final ODI in Delhi, cancelled his visit to avoid a controversy, a PCB official said on condition of anonymity.

The official said the PCB did not want the focus to move away from cricket to other matters.

Ever since news came out that Miandad, whose son Junaid married the fugitive Mumbai don’s daughter Mahrukh in Dubai in 2009, a controversy broke out in India over government giving him visa for the visit.

The Indian government, however, justified the decision saying Miandad was not on the ‘negative list’ of those not to be given visas.

BJP and Shiv Sena had on Thursday lashed out at the Government for granting visa to Miandad, asking how allowing a person related to Ibrahim would help improve bilateral ties.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday said there are four categories of people who have been given visas.

“People who have return ticket and want to watch the match. People who are players. People who are on (Pakistan Cricket) Board,” he said.

Mr. Khurshid had on Thursday said, “It’s a decision that has been taken by the Home Ministry. And I am sure they would have taken inputs from all concerned agencies and from our mission in Pakistan. I am sure they would have followed all procedures.”

Minister of State for Home R.P.N. Singh had said, “He is a well known cricketer. His visa application papers were in order and valid and that is why the government has decided to give him visa.”

There had been reports before a series in 2005 that a request for a visa by the batting great was turned down by the Indian government.

The former captain was also granted visa to visit India in March, 2011 to witness the World Cup semifinal match between the arch-rivals at Mohali but he cancelled it due to some personal commitments.

Interestingly, the PCB had not included Miandad’s name in a list of former captains and greats it had prepared for a felicitation in Kolkata during the second ODI on Thursday.

The list included Intikhab Alam, Imtiaz Ahmed, Hanif Muhammad, Wasim Bari and Sadiq Muhammad.

Former Pakistan captain, Imran Khan and his cousins, Majid Khan and Javed Burki had declined invitations from the PCB to go to India for the series.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday said the Women's IPL or the Challenger series, as it is better known, is "very much on", ending speculation about the parent body not having a plan for Harmanpreet Kaur and her team.

The men's IPL will be held between September 19 and November 8 or 10 (final date yet to be locked in) in the UAE due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in India. The women's IPL will also be fit in to the schedule, according to the BCCI chief.

"I can confirm to you that the women's IPL is very much on and we do have a plan in place for the national team also," Ganguly told PTI ahead of the IPL Governing Council meeting later on Sunday.

The BCCI president, who is awaiting a Supreme Court verdict on waiver of the cooling-off period to continue in the position, did not divulge details but another senior official privy to the development said that women's Challenger will be held during the last phase of IPL like last year.

"The women's Challenger series is likely to be held between November 1-10 and there could be a camp before that," the source said.

The former India captain also said that the centrally contracted women players will have a camp which has been delayed due to the prevailing situation in the country.

"We couldn't have exposed any of our cricketers -- be it male or female to health risk. It would have been dangerous," Ganguly said.

"The NCA also remained shut because of Covid-19. But we have a plan in place and we will have a camp for women, I can tell you that," he added.

The BCCI's cricket operations team is chalking up a schedule where Indian women are likely to have two full-fledged white-ball series against South Africa and the West Indies before playing the ODI World Cup in New Zealand. 

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News Network
May 8,2020

New Delhi, May 8: India skipper Virat Kohli believes cricket in empty stadiums is a real possibility in post COVID-19 world and though it is unlikely to have a bearing on the intensity of players, he feels the magic would certainly go missing.

Cricket Boards across the globe are exploring the option of resuming the sport in empty stadiums. There is speculation that fans could be kept away from stadiums in a bid to salvage the T20 World Cup in Australia, which is currently under threat due to the global health crisis.

"It's quite a possible situation, it might happen, I honestly don't know how everyone is going to take that because we all are used to playing in front of so many passionate fans," Kohli said in Star Sports' show 'Cricket Connected'.

"I know it will be played at a very good intensity but that feeling of the crowd connecting with the players and the tension of the game where everyone goes through it in the stadium, those emotions are very difficult to recreate," he added.

Kohli said the many moments which are created because of the passion brought in by fans, would be missing.

"Things will still go on, but I doubt that one will feel that magic happening inside because of the atmosphere that was created.

"We will play sports how it is supposed to be played, but those magical moments will be difficult to come by," he said.

Cricketers such as Ben Stokes, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler and Pat Cummins have backed the idea of playing behind closed doors.

However, legendary Australian Allan Border has said it would defy belief to host a World Cup without spectators.

Another Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and some other cricketers have also expressed similar sentiments.

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News Network
February 13,2020

Feb 13: Veteran India batsman Suresh Raina feels Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the best captain India ever had.

Raina and Dhoni play for the same IPL franchise -- the Chennai Super Kings --, which is also led by the latter.

"I think we have the best captain who has changed the Indian team like anything. Now we have that same aura in our dressing room," Raina said on 'The Super Kings show' on Star Sports Tamil.

The 38-year-old Dhoni has retired from Test cricket but his future in the limited overs formats is a subject of intense speculation.

The two-time World Cup-winning former captain took a break from cricket after India's exit from the 2019 World Cup in England. He is set to be back in action at the IPL, where he will captain the CSK, starting March 23.

With three restricted stands at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai finally being reopened, Raina urged the fans to fill the venue in every CSK home game.

"We have all the seats available. Hopefully, we'll have more fans now so that there is it will be more energy on the field," the 33-year-old Raina, a former India batsman, said.

Raina, who last played for India in 2018, also expressed his excitement about the prospect of playing with CSK's latest acquisitions.

"This year we have a lot of new talent in our team. Piyush (Chawla) is there, then we have Hazelwood, Sam Curran, Sai Kishore from Tamil Nadu, he has been bowling really well for them. So, I think we have a lot of mixture of youngsters and seniors."

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