Spot-fixing scandal: Meiyappan arrested, admits to betting

May 25, 2013

Mumbai, May 25: Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of BCCI President N Srinivasan and owner of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), was arrested here on Friday night for his alleged involvement in betting on IPL matches, raising questions over the future of the franchise. meiyappan

“We have interrogated Gurunath based on information we have. We have found his involvement in the offence related to IPL betting case. We have placed him under arrest", Joint Commissioner (Crime) of Mumbai Police Himanshu Roy told reporters.

The 35-year-old Gurunath was summoned by the Mumbai Police for questioning after actor Vindoo Dara Singh alleged that he was involved in betting.

Gurunath flew to Mumbai here by a chartered aircraft from Madurai along with his lawyers and a secretary.

He was taken from the Mumbai airport to the crime branch headquarters and subjected to interrogation before being arrested.Gurunath was arrested after nearly three hours of questioning that began at 9.30 pm, Roy said adding he will be produced before a metropolitan court on Saturday.

The honcho of CSK, twice IPL champions, Gurunath, was in the eye of a huge storm after actor and TV reality show winner Vindoo admitted to having placed bets on his behalf.

Vindoo was allegedly in "frequent touch" with Gurunath during the IPL matches and was claimed to have told the crime branch that the CSK owner had lost Rs 1 crore through betting.

The crime branch, according to sources, had call data records of conversations between Vindoo and Meiyappan and they were learnt to have confronted the two with the transcripts.

Though Roy did not say during his post-arrest media briefing about whether Meiyappan was also involved in spot-fixing of IPL matches, he had earlier said strong suspicions did exist.

"We suspect Meiyappan gave inside information to arrested actor Vindoo Randhawa who passed on those to the bookies," Roy had told reporters ahead of Meiyappan's questioning.

With Meiyappan's arrest, the pressure on Srinivasan for his resignation is set to mount further as several of his rivals in the cricket establishment have already started gunning for him.

Vindoo, whose police remand was today extended by a metropolitan court till May 28 following crime branch's prayer so that he could be confronted with Meiyappan, was alleged to have placed bets through absconding bookies Jupiter, Pavan Jaipur and Sanjay Jaipur. Vindoo himself also used to accept bets from others and forwarded them to these men.

The actor, who has emerged as a key figure in the betting scandal, according to crime branch, had facilitated the escape of Pawan and Sanjay to Dubai as the bookies faced the heat following unravelling of the spot-fixing scam by Delhi Police with the arrest of three Rajasthan Royals players including India speedster S Sreesanth.

He is also alleged to have sent a parcel to controversial Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf on behalf of bookie Pawan Jaipur, which is yet to be traced by the crime branch.

In attempts to cut losses, India Cements, which owns Chennai Superkings and is run by Srinivasan, sought to distance itself from Gurunath, saying he is neither the owner nor the CEO or the Team Principal of CSK.

"Mr Gurunath is only one of the Members (Honorary) of the Management team of CSK. India Cements follows zero tolerance policy and if anyone is proved guilty, strict action will be taken immediately.

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Agencies
February 26,2020

It could be Virat Kohli versus Faf du Plessis in the Asia XI-World XI two-match T20 series that has been organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on March 18 and 21 -- subject to the India skipper confirming his availability.

The matches will be played to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The BCB is awaiting a confirmation from Kohli as well as K.L. Rahul for the March 18 game as India are set to play South Africa on the same day in the final ODI of a three-match series at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Agencies had earlier reported that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly had sent the names of Kohli, Mohammed Shami, Shikhar Dhawan and Kuldeep Yadav to the BCB for the two matches. And they all feature in the Asia XI team with the addition of wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant and Rahul.

Announcing the names, BCB President Nazmul Hassan said: "We have already received four names from India. We haven't signed contracts but Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan and Mohammed Shami are supposed to come. They have said K.L. Rahul and Virat Kohli will play one game each, but that hasn't been finalised.

"Players like Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have finalised with us, from Afghanistan. Nepal's Sandeep Lamichhane will play while from Sri Lanka, we will have Lasith Malinga and Thisara Perera. From Bangladesh, we will have Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mustafizur Rahman, Mahmudullah and Liton Das.

"I don't remember all the names, but we will have three or four players from South Africa. Definitely, there will be the same number of players from West Indies. Australia and New Zealand will be playing but we will try to find some (players). Bairstow is definitely coming. Ngidi is coming. Chris Gayle is supposed to play. Faf du Plessis. We will have some of the best players around. We are uncertain about Pakistan since the PSL is will be ongoing. We will invite some of the cricketing greats."

Squads: Asia XI: Virat Kohli*, K.L. Rahul*, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Shikhar Dhawan, Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Thisara Perera, Rashid Khan, Mustifizur Rehman, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lasith Malinga, Muzeeb ur Rehman

World XI: Alex Hales, Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis (Captain), Nicholas Pooran, Ross Taylor, Jonny Bairstow, Kieron Pollard, Adil Rashid, Sheldon Cottrell, Lungi Ngidi, Andrew Tye, Mitchell McClenaghan. (Coach: Tom Moody)

Note: (*) For one game; Kohli's selection subject to confirmation.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

London, Jan 11: Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the World Cup 2011 win has been nominated in Laureas's list for the most inspiring sporting event in the last twenty years.

The moment featuring Tendulkar has been described as "Carried on the shoulders by a nation".

On his sixth attempt at the World Cup and with India not having won the competition since 1983, Tendulkar finally became a part of the team that lifted the coveted trophy. Carried on the shoulders of the Indian team, he made a lap of honour, shedding tears of joy after the victory was sealed in his home city.

The 2011 World Cup was also the first time, in which a host nation ended up winning the trophy.

Apart from Tendulkar, England's Andrew Flintoff is the only other cricketer to feature in the list. In 2005, England managed to defeat Australia in an Ashes Test, but Flintoff chose to first shake hands with Brett Lee rather than celebrate with his side.

Matthias Steiner (weightlifting), Natalie du Toit (swimming), Sky Brown (skateboarding), Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee (triathlon), Xia Boyu (mountaineering) have been nominated in the list.

Female tennis stars also feature in the list for coming up with an equal play, equal pay campaign. After pressure from Venus Williams and others, Wimbledon announced that female tennis players would receive prize money equal to the men's.

German international footballer Miroslav Klose was playing for Lazio in Italy's Serie A in 2012 against Napoli when he rose for a ball in the early moments of the game.

The ball came spiraling off his hand and skirted into the back of the net and a goal was awarded. While most players would carry on as if nothing had happened, Klose was honest with the referee and admitted that he handled the ball.

As a result, he also finds a place on the list.

The Laureus Sporting Moment Award celebrates the moments where the sport has unified people in the most extraordinary way.

This campaign has shortlisted 20 sporting stories from the last 20 years that have left their mark on the world.

The winner will be decided on the basis of public voting. It has already started, and the final date to cast the vote is February 16.

Finally, the result will be declared on February 17.
With three knock-out rounds, the top-20 moments will be whittled down to ten then five, with the top-five moments going head-to-head.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8:  India skipper Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his cap by becoming the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in T20I cricket as a captain. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 30 during India''s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday evening.

Kohli achieved the milestone of scoring 1,000 runs as captain in his 30th T20I inning. He is the second Indian and sixth overall after MS Dhoni to have achieved the feat. Dhoni had scored 1112 runs in 62 T20I games as captain.

Faf du Plessis (1273 runs from 40 games), Kane Williamson (1083 runs in 39 games), Eoin Morgan (1013 runs in 43 games) and Ireland''s William Porterfield (1002 runs in 56 games) are other captains on the list.

During India''s emphatic victory at the Holkar Stadium, Kohli also surpassed team-mate Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the series, as the top run-getter in the T20Is. Kohli now has 2663 runs from 71 innings.

Both had finished 2019 as joint top-scorers in T20Is, with 2633 runs each.

India, already with an unassailable lead of 1-0 in the series, will now face Sri Lanka in the final T20I on Friday in Pune. The first match between the two teams was called off without a ball being bowled due to wet patches on the pitch in Guwahati last Sunday.

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