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Annual IPL jamboree kicks off tomorrow amid controversies

April 1, 2013
iplKolkata, Apr 1: Dogged by myriad controversies but glamorous nonetheless, the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League will kick off tomorrow with what promises to be a glitzy opening ceremony featuring Bollywood stars and international rapper Pitbull.

Flying drummers, Chinese percussionists, fireworks, and some of the biggest film stars in the country, including Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif, will perform at the ceremony at the Salt Lake Stadium.

Never before in cricket has any private tournament been as successful as the IPL and it is expected to be a rollicking affair once again when the nine franchises lock horns for the coveted title.

The Shah Rukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight Riders, the defending champions, have earned the right to host the opening ceremony.

KKR will also host the IPL opener, on Wednesday, when they take on Delhi Daredevils at the Eden Gardens that will also witness the summit clash on May 26.

Sunrisers Hyderabad will make their debut replacing Deccan Chargers, terminated by the IPL Governing Council following a breach of contract.

Known for controversies, the upcoming IPL has already made headlines for all the wrong reasons following Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha's ban on Sri Lankan players' involvement in the Chennai leg of the tournament.

Jayalalitha, in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, refused to host the Lankans in view of the growing political tensions, stemming from the treatment of ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Bowing to the intense political pressure, the IPL GC asked the 13 Lankan players, three of them franchise captains, not to play in Chennai that will host 10 matches, including two eliminators.

Continuing the controversy trail, in a setback for KKR, the Mumbai Cricket Association affirmed that the ban on the team's principal owner, Shah Rukh, would remain.

The actor allegedly manhandled security and hurled abuses in an inebriated state after being stopped from entering the ground last year. A miffed MCA had subsequently imposed a five-year ban on the Bollywood star.

Amid the glitz and glamour, all eyes would be on the most successful IPL side, two-time champions Chennai Super Kings, who have also been two-time runners-up.

That four of their players -- skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ravichandran Ashwin, Murali Vijay and last season's recruit Ravindra Jadeja -- played a big role in India's historic 4-0 whitewash against Australia just over a week back would be a big morale-booster as they take fresh guard.

Off-spinner Ashwin and left-arm spinner Jadeja had a combined tally of 53 Aussie wickets to fall in the four-Test series, while opener Vijay was the leading run-getter (430). Dhoni's double century (224) in Chennai set the tone for India's four wins on the trot.

Add Suresh Raina, a finisher in the limited overs, to the quartet and CSK look an intimidating force this time around as well.

High on popularity quotient thanks to Shah Rukh, KKR have found their lucky charm in Gautam Gambhir following a controversy-ridden first three seasons.

Sunil Narine, the West Indies mystery spinner, foxed the big names last time while the likes of Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Bhatia, Manoj Tiwary and Laxmi Ratan Shukla also chipped in.

In the final, KKR found an unlikely hero in Manvinder Bisla. In a nutshell, it was a team that clicked as a whole in the fifth season.

With a new addition, 'One Team One Pledge', to their slogan -- Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo -- KKR will hope to do an encore.

With no Wasim Akram, the former bowling mentor, Aussie pacer Brett Lee will double up in the role.

They have new acquisitions in Lankan offie Sachithra Senanayake and South African all-rounder Ryan McLaren and KKR is hoping that the former will do a Narine in IPL Six.

Star-studded Mumbai Indians will be keen to win the title for the first time.

Mumbai will look towards their high-profile signing Ricky Ponting, who will captain the side, and it would be a treat to watch him alongside Sachin Tendulkar.

Also there would be Glenn Maxwell, the off-spinning all-rounder from Australia, who was bought for a whopping USD one million in the players' auction.

In a big setback for the Delhi Daredevils, Kevin Pietersen, who played a key role last season, has been ruled out with a knee injury, while New Zealander Jesse Ryder too will be missed after a brutal assault.

Underdogs Rajasthan Royals, champions of the first IPL, are known for their inspirational show and it would be no different this time.

Under Rahul Dravid, who will be assisted by former team India mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton, the Royals will look for a fresh start after a forgettable last season.

Alongwith talented Ajinkya Rahane, Dravid formed a perfect opening for the Royals as the duo will look to give a good start.

The good news for them is that they would get explosive Aussie all-rounder Shane Watson for the entire season.

Royal Challengers are another side who are yet to win the title despite a high profile line-up.

Bangalore's best performance has been their runners-up finish in the second edition when they lost to Deccan Chargers.

West Indian maverick Chris Gayle, who was the Orange Cap (leading scorer) holder in the last two seasons, will once again be a vital cog in the RCB wheel.

New signing Muttiah Muralitharan and R Vinay Kumar will add sting to the attack, while Zaheer Khan's fitness would be looked upon.

The senior-most India pacer had sustained a calf injury during Mumbai's Ranji Trophy game against Gujarat last December and was dropped from the Indian Test squad against England.

Kings XI Punjab have been the most under-performing side as the Preity Zinta co-owned side would look towards former Aussie wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist who will be assisted by compatriot Darren Lehman, the team coach.

In fact it's a team of veterans with Azhar Mahmood (38), Dimitri Mascarenhas (35), David Hussey (35) and Ryan Harris (33) forming the core of the side and there would be questions about Gilchrist's fitness at 41.

Three-year-old Pune Warriors India would be captained by Angelo Matthews this season with Yuvraj Singh being the cynosure of all eyes as he was missed last season because of his cancer treatment.

Pune will look to turn the tide after abysmal performances in the last two seasons.

Newcomers Sunrisers Hyderabad will miss the services of Shikhar Dhawan especially after his record-breaking 187 in the Mohali Test against Australia.

Dhawan, who is recovering from a fractured hand, will be missed in the first few games.

IPL II winners Deccan Chargers have made way for the Sunrisers owned by the Sun Group, who have retained 20 players from the last season along with skipper Kumar Sangakkara.

The Sunrisers have a fine pace attack led by Dale Steyn who would be partnered by Ishant Sharma with Amit Mishra looking after the spin department.

The team will also look to benefit from the rich experience of mentor VVS Laxman who will be assisted by former selection committee chairman Krishamachari Srikkanth.

The IPL Six offers a total prize purse of Rs 25 crore that includes Rs 10 crore for the winners and Rs 7.5 crore for the runners up.

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News Network
April 27,2020

Lahore, Apr 27: Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal has been banned from all forms of cricket for three years for failing to report spot-fixing offers, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced Monday.

Umar, who turns 30 next month, pleaded guilty to not reporting the fixing offers which led to his provisional suspension on February 20 this year.

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News Network
July 1,2020

New Delhi, Jul 1: After being named as India's 'Most Valuable Player' in Test cricket in the 21st century, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Wednesday said that he will always aim to give his best for the country.

His remark came as Jadeja achieved an MVP rating of 97.3 and as a result, he was also rated as the second most valuable player Test player worldwide, only second to Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.

"Thank you Wisden India for naming me the 'Most Valuable Player'. I would like to thank all my teammates, coaches, fans, and well-wishers for your support as I aim to give my best for our country. Jai Hind," Jadeja tweeted.

Based on CricViz's market-leading analytics, each player in world cricket was awarded an 'MVP rating' by Wisden using a statistical model to rank their 'match impact' compared to their peers.

Jadeja has played in 49 Tests from 2012, managing to score 1,869 runs and has also picked up 213 wickets.

"It might come as a surprise to see Ravindra Jadeja, India's spin-bowling all-rounder, feature as India's number one. After all, he's not even always an automatic pick in their Test team. However, when he does play he is picked as a frontline bowler and has batted as high as No.6 - contributing to a very high match involvement," the official website of Wisden quoted CricViz's Freddie Wilde as saying.

"But Jadeja's position is based on more than simply volume: it's what he does when he's involved that really counts. The 31-year-old's bowling average of 24.62 is better than Shane Warne's and his batting average of 35.26 is better than Shane Watson's. His batting and bowling average differential of 10.62 runs is the second-best of any player this century to have scored more than 1,000 runs and taken 150 wickets. He is an all-rounder of the very highest quality," he added.

With the bat in hand, Jadeja has managed to score one century and 14 fifties in the longest format of the game.

He was last seen in action during India's two-Test series against New Zealand earlier this year.

He would have been in action for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL had the tournament commenced from March 29.

However, the IPL has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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News Network
January 7,2020

Indore, Jan 7: With the first T20I being washed out, India and Sri Lanka will now hope that rain gods stay away from the Holkar Stadium when the two teams face each other in the second match of the ongoing three-game series on Tuesday.

Only toss could take place on Sunday at Guwahati`s Barsapara Cricket Ground before rain gods came in and left damp spots on the pitch thus forcing the game to be called off without a ball being bowled.

Hairdryers were used to dry the pitch after water seeped in through leaking covers at the Barsapara Stadium, a sight which is not usually seen in international cricket. And that hasn`t gone down well with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which now awaits chief curator Ashish Bhowmick`s report on the same.

The Men in Blue, who enjoyed a brief break, are coming into the series on the back of T20I series victories against Bangladesh and West Indies respectively and thus would be the more confident side out of the two.

Just like Guwahati, the team management and other Indian cricket fans would focus on comeback man Jasprit Bumrah who is making his return to international cricket. Bumrah has been out of action after India`s tour of the West Indies in July-August due to a stress fracture on his back and thus would be rearing to go and perform for the team.

Dhawan, like Bumrah, was not part of the West Indies series after he hurt his knee during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The left-handed opener was not at his absolute best in the T20I series against Bangladesh and faced criticism from several quarters.

While Bumrah will grab more eyeballs during the remaining two matches, the series is also important for left-handed opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan, making a comeback into the team post knee injury.

However, recently, he scored a century in the Ranji Trophy and showed glimpses of returning to form.

In the bowling department, the team management would be checking out how the likes Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur react to pressure situations in death overs alongside Bumrah in the absence of frontline speedsters Mohammed Shami Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Young-off spinner Washington Sundar would like to put up performances to ensure that he gets to be part of the squad travelling to Australia for the World T20 in October.

Shivam Dube would also like to perform better - both with bat and ball - till Hardik Pandya is fully fit and back in action.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant - like recent times - will once again be watched with careful eyes. Pant knows that he cannot take things lightly and need to perform as Sanju Samson as already warmed the benches for six straight T20Is.

For Sri Lanka, the remaining two matches of the series would be about giving match practice to the likes of Angelo Mathews who is returning to the national side having last played a T20I against South Africa in August 2018

In their last T20I series, Sri Lanka suffered a 0-3 rout in Australia as all their three departments failed to put in a commanding performance.

India and Sri Lanka have faced each other in 17 T20Is, out of which India have won 11 -- joint most for them against all opponents faced in shortest format.

With the three-match series now effectively turning into a two-game affair, both India and Sri Lanka would want to win in Indore to make sure they can`t lose the series. Also, Sri Lanka have never beaten India in a bilateral T20I series, a record which they would desperately like to change in the remaining two games.

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, Manish Pandey, Washington Sundar, Sanju Samson.

Sri Lanka: Lasith Malinga (c), Dhanushka Gunathilaka, Avishka Fernando, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella, Dhananjaya De Silva, Isuru Udana, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Oshada Fernando, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lahiru Kumara, Kusal Mendis, Lakshan Sandakan, Kasun Rajitha.

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