Biased Indian board exposed

January 9, 2013

Dhoni-at-press-meetNew Delhi, Jan 9: After former England wicketkeeper Paul Nixon's tweets alleging match-mixing in the third One Day International between India and Pakistan and accusing the latter of losing deliberately, now the Man of the Match (MOM) award for the same game to India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has come under scanner.

Insiders have accused the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of influencing the jury of commentators to name Dhoni for the award for the match that India won by 10 runs.

Headlines Today has claimed that a senior and noted commentator received a call from a senior BCCI functionary and was clearly told to ensure Dhoni was named Man of the Match. The commentator consequently proposed Dhoni's name during the jury meeting and though there were protests, the one who proposed Dhoni's name was influential enough to ensure the decision was taken as per the BCCI's diktat, even though the announcement raised several eyebrows.

While India successfully defended a 167-run target, there were other strong contenders for the award. Despite being India's top-scorer, Dhoni had managed only 36 and was disappointing in the field, even dropping Pakistan captain Misbahul Haq and gave away a lot of extras.

The incident raises questions as to why the BCCI has been backing Dhoni unconditionally and points to a connection between persisting with Dhoni and his being captain of the IPL team Chennai Super Kings, owned by BCCI president N Srinivasan.

Times of India (TOI) also quoted the sources saying Dhoni wasn't the frontrunner for the award but pipped others to the post at the last minute. Sources said the commentators who voted for Dhoni claimed that the choice was unanimous. However, one former cricketer who voted in favour of Dhoni told TOI that Dhoni was given the award to boost his morale at a time when the time wasn't doing well.

The decision so surprised some commentators – who were not involved in the decision-making – that they questioned the rationale of giving the skipper a 'consolation prize' when others deserved it more. The contenders for Man of the Match of Sunday included Ravindra Jadeja, who had scored valuable 27 runs when Indian were struggling and then bowled his spell of 10 overs giving away just 19 runs and picking a crucial wicket of Umar Akmal and also fielded brilliantly throughout the match and took a brilliant catch in the deep.

Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal was almost unplayable as he teased and toyed with the Indian batting to claim his career best ODI haul, five for 24. He was another contender. Medium pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar was also in the running for his magical opening spell. Debutant fast bowler Shami Ahmed, who bowled three maiden overs right at the beginning and came back to bowl a wicket-maiden at death was also a strong contender.

Dhoni had managed to get the Man of the Match award in the first ODI in Chennai as well, for his unbeaten 113, despite Pakistan winning the match and opener Nasir Jamshed's scoring an unbeaten 101. According to sources, the Pakistan team unofficially complained to the commentators for not choosing opening batsman Jamshed as the MoM in the opening ODI match played in Chennai. Jamshed had scored a match-winning century but the award was given to Dhoni for his brilliant ton in a losing cause. The Pakistan team management felt the MoM should have gone to the winning team. And the commentators also failed to repeat the same in the last ODI when Ajmal’s performance was the most dominated one throughout the match.

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News Network
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Manchester United's Paul Pogba on Monday paid tribute to George Floyd, stressing that violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated and they have to stop.

Pogba took to Instagram to write: "During the past few days I have thought a lot about how to express my feelings about what happened in Minneapolis. I felt anger, pity, hatred, indignation, pain, sadness."

"Sadness for George and for all black people who suffer from racism Every day! Whether in football, at work, at school, Anywhere! This has to stop, once and for all! Not tomorrow or the next day, it has to end today! Violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated," he added.

Protests erupted in Minneapolis and other US cities on Tuesday after Floyd, an African-American man, died following his arrest by the four officers.

A viral video showed a police officer, Derek Chauvin, pinning 46-year-old Floyd to the ground with his knee on his neck for nearly eight minutes. Floyd died at a local hospital shortly thereafter.

The four police officers were fired. Chauvin was also charged with murder and manslaughter, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

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zaki ahmed
 - 
Wednesday, 3 Jun 2020

This photograph in the above mentioned article is of Floyd Mayweather Jr , the world welterweight & super heavy weight champion & wrongly menitoned as Pogba .

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Agencies
January 25,2020

Headingley, Jan 25: England have become the first team in the world to score 500,000 runs in Test cricket. They achieved the feat during the ongoing fourth and final Test against South Africa being played at The Wanderers.

On Friday - the opening day of the Test match -- England captain Joe Root's single through the covers took the Three Lions to a landmark 500,000 run-mark in the longest format of the game. They achieved the feat in their 1022nd Test match.

Australia comes second in the list, with 432,706 runs in 830 Tests. India, meanwhile, are third, with 273,518 runs in 540 Tests, followed by West Indies (270,441 runs in 545 Tests).

In the third Test played at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth, England had become the first team to play 500 Test matches on foreign soil. Australia are the second team to play the most away Test with 404 matches they have played so far.

India have played 268 Tests on foreign soil in which they have won 51, lost 113 and 104 have ended in a draw.

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News Network
May 21,2020

Mumbai, May 21: Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has chosen legendary Sachin Tendulkar over current skipper Virat Kohli as a better batsman in the ODI format, considering the changed rules of the game and the Mumbaikar's longevity of career.

Tendulkar, who retired in 2013, played 463 ODIs and amassed 18, 426 runs with 49 hundreds at an average of 44.83.

Kohli, on the other hand, has played 248 ODIs and scored 11, 867 runs with 43 tons at an average of 59.33.

"Sachin Tendulkar, because probably with one white ball and four fielders inside the circle, not five fielders outside, it will be Sachin Tendulkar for me," Gambhir said on Star Sports show 'Cricket Connected'.

Nowadays, a one-day innings is played with two white balls and with three powerplays.

In the first power play (overs 1-10), two fielders are allowed beyond the 30-yard circle, while in the second powerplay (overs 10-40) four fielders are allowed. In the last powerplay (overs 40-50), five fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle.

Gambhir, who was the star performer in 2011 ODI World Cup final which India won, feels that the change in rules has helped batsmen.

"It's difficult because Virat Kohli has done phenomenally well but I think the rules have changed as well, which has helped a lot of new batters," elaborated Gambhir, who played 58 Tests and 147 ODIs.

"The new generation, with 2 new balls, no reverse swing, nothing for the finger spin, five fielders inside for the 50 overs, probably that makes batting much easier.

He said he would also go with Tendulkar, considering his longevity and flow of the ODI cricket format at that time.

"Probably I’ll go with Sachin Tendulkar if we see the longevity and flow of the one-day cricket format.

"Look at how Sachin Tendulkar has played, different rules, that time 230 to 240, was a winning total," Gambhir signed off. 

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