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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
May 11,2020

Mumbai, May 11: The French Open, which was postponed to September from May due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, could be held without fans, the organisers of the claycourt Grand Slam have said.

Roland Garros had been scheduled for May 24 to June 7 before the French tennis federation (FFT) pushed it back to Sept. 20-Oct 4 in a bid to save the tournament from falling victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week the FFT said all tickets purchased for this year's French Open would be cancelled and reimbursed instead of being transferred.

"Organising it without fans would allow a part of the economy to keep turning, (like) television rights and partnerships. It's not to be overlooked," FFT President Bernard Giudicelli told French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

"We're not ruling any option out."

The tennis season was suspended in early March due to the pandemic and the hiatus will continue at least until mid-July with many countries in lockdown.

Wimbledon has been cancelled while the status of the U.S. Open, scheduled to take place in late August, is still unclear.

COVID-19 Pandemic Tracker: 15 countries with the highest number of coronavirus cases, deaths

The FFT was widely criticised when they announced in mid-March that the French Open would be switched, with players bemoaning a lack of communication as the new dates clashed with the hardcourt season.

Organisers said last week they had been in talks with the sport's governing bodies to fine tune the calendar amid media reports that the Grand Slam tournament would be delayed further by a week and start on Sept. 27.

The delayed start would give players a two-week window between the end of the U.S. Open, played on the hardcourts of New York, and the Paris tournament.

"The 20th or the 27th, that does not change much," Giudicelli said.

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News Network
July 24,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 24: Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who was earlier banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching the Anti-Corruption Code, on Friday, said that people are bound to make mistakes and the important thing is that how well they make a comeback.

Shakib was banned from all forms of cricket on October 29 last year after he accepted the charges of breaching the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. He will be able to resume international cricket from October 29, 2020.

"You have to be honest. You just can't lie to the people and pretend different things. Whatever happened has happened. People are bound to make mistakes. You are not 100%. The important thing is how well you can comeback from those mistakes. You can tell other people not to make those mistakes. Tell them the path so that they never take those paths," Shakib told Deep Dasgupta in a videocast hosted by ESPNcricinfo.

The 33-year-old all-rounder said he has seen many controversies ever since he was first made captain in 2009. He had trouble with the board chief, selectors and the media, mainly about selectorial decisions and not being made permanent captain between 2009 and 2010.
He believes those experiences have changed him as a person over time.

"I think [it's] combination of both [controversy following him, and vice versa]. I got the responsibility so early in my career, I was bound to make mistakes. I was captain when I was 21. I made a lot of mistakes, and there are so many things that people think about me. Now I realise that it was my fault in some areas, and in some I was misunderstood. But I get it completely. It is part and parcel in the subcontinent," Hasan said.

"Of course I will try to minimise [my mistakes] as much as I can, but by the time I got married, and now I have two kids, I understand the game and life better. It has made me a calmer person than I was in my twenties. I have changed quite a lot. People won't see me doing a lot of mistakes now. My two daughters changed my life completely," he added.

Shakib is likely return to international cricket during Bangladesh's proposed Test series against Sri Lanka in October. 

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News Network
June 9,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 9: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has said that Virat Kohli understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come through success in the longest format of the game.

Dravid, popularly known as 'The Wall', also said that Test batsmanship has become exciting to watch now as batters play aggressive shots more often.

"I actually believe Test batsmanship has become more exciting than before, the aggressive element of Test batsmanship is going forward, players are playing shots and it is good to see, a good thing for India is Virat Kohli really values Test cricket, he understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come from his success in Test cricket," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

He also said that defensive batting in cricket is not irrelevant, but added that players can have successful careers without having a good defensive technique.

"I don't think it is becoming irrelevant, maybe the value of defensive batting is not the same as it was a generation ago, it can never become irrelevant, I think you still need to defend your wicket if you want to score suns, I feel now you can survive without a good defensive technique in cricket," Dravid said.

"Today, you do not need to have a good Test career to have a successful career, look at the best players in the world today, a lot of them have a good defensive technique and they can play out difficult periods of the game," he added.

The 47-year-old Dravid also said that all young players want to represent their country in all three formats during their initial days, but eventually, they become realistic as time passes by.

"I would say in my interaction with the younger players, everyone's hero is someone who has succeeded in all formats of the game. I think all players start off wanting to play all formats, but then guys get a little realistic about their careers, superstars of the game will still want to play to all formats of the game," Dravid said.

Dravid is the only player in the history of cricket to be involved in two 300-plus ODI partnerships.

He played 164 Tests, 344 ODIs and one T20I for India. Dravid had announced his retirement from international cricket in March 2012.

He finished his career with 48 international centuries.

He has also coached the Indian junior sides (India U-19 and India A) and he is now the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Dravid has also led the side during his playing days and under his leadership, the side had managed to register their first Test series win in England.

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