Lorgat says he's 'distressed' to have to face an ICC probe

November 9, 2013

ICC_probeAbu Dabhi, Nov 9: Faced with an ICC inquiry for his alleged role into a dispute with India, Cricket South Africa Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat today said that he was "distressed" by the turn of events.

Talking to reporters here after signing a MoU with Pakistan for a short tour to fill the gap created by the shortened Indian series, Lorgat said he was distressed on being asked to face a probe by ICC's Ethics Committee.

"It is personally very distressing. But I had offered to be investigated because there was an allegation (against me). The less I say about this matter the better because it's sub judice," Lorgat said.

"I am not aware of what happened at the ICC board meeting last month, whether (the matter) was raised or not. The CSA did what they believed was best," said Lorgat, who who served as ICC chief executive between 2008-11.

India had threatened to cancel their tour to South Africa in December-January if CSA appointed Lorgat as their CEO, but later agreed for a shortened series after an assurance that Lorgat would not be involved with matters related to BCCI.

Indian Board's uneasiness with Lorgat stemmed from the frosty relationship that the BCCI shared with him during his stint as the ICC Chief Executive. Matters, however, came to a head recently when David Becker, current CSA legal officer and ICC legal adviser when Lorgat was at the helm of affairs of the world body, accused the BCCI of flouting the FTP and its President N Srinivasan of being manipulative.

The BCCI promptly took up the matter with the ICC during the Chief Executives' Meeting in London last month and demanded an inquiry. The ICC agreed to investigate the matter, including Lorgat's reported role, even though Becker has maintained that the views expressed were completely his own.

Asked if the South Africa-India stand-off had threatened a break-up in the cricket world, Lorgat said, "I wouldn't want to comment on matters which I think should be reserved for the ICC Board, and it's not a matter on which I should comment on at this time."

Lorgat also disagreed that the Pakistan tour would anger India.

"I don't see why it should. Pakistan were available and it's a bilateral arrangement between the two nations and we are simply delighted that we can get Pakistan to South Africa," said Lorgat.

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coastaldigest.com web desk
August 3,2020

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will not end its partnership with Chinese companies. Vivo, the Chinese smartphone maker, is the main sponsor of the new IPL season as well. Apart from Vivo, PayTM and Dream 11 will also be at the helm of the 13th edition of the IPL. The IPL governing council meeting on Sunday decided to retain the old sponsors.

As soon as the IPL GC announced the decision of retaining the sponsors, a huge number of fans took to Twitter to slam the board for the same. #BoycottIPL started trending as the users urged others to boycott the tournament for the Chinese connection.

Earlier, the demand for exclusion of Chinese companies from the IPL was strong in the wake of the India-China border dispute. But the BCCI cannot abruptly end its collaboration with them. Because of the signed contract itself. And in this age of declining economy, it is difficult to find new sponsors quickly.

The current BCCI contract with Vivo is for five years. Vivo has invested Rs 2,199 crore to become the main sponsor of the IPL. The contract was signed in 2017. However, the BCCI’s move is paving the way for new discussions as calls are mounting across the country to boycott Chinese companies.

The BCCI announced other important decisions besides retaining sponsors. The IPL will be held from September 19 to November 10. The Indian government has given permission to the BCCI to hold the IPL in the UAE. With this, all obstacles in the way of organizing the tournament were removed.

The IPL matches will be played at 7.30 pm Indian time (6 pm UAE time). Most matches are about one match a day. There are a total of ten ‘double headers’ (two matches a day) in the tournament. Franchisees are allowed to appoint as many replacements as they want in the new season in view of the new health situation. At the same time, the maximum number of players a franchise can accommodate is 24. The BCCI is also planning to host a women’s IPL tournament.

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Agencies
January 19,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 19: Opening batsman Rohit Sharma on Sunday became the third-fastest batsman to register 9,000 runs in the 50-over format.

He achieved the feat in the ongoing third ODI against Australia here at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Only Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers have achieved the feat faster than Rohit.

Sharma brought up the milestone in the first over of the Indian innings as he clipped Mitchell Starc away for a single.

With this, the right-handed batsman has become just the sixth Indian to achieve the milestone.

Apart from Sharma, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Sachin Tendulkar have more than 9,000 runs in the 50-over format.

Overall, 20 batsmen have more than 9,000 ODI runs to their name.

In the match between India and Australia, the former won the toss and elected to bat first.

Steve Smith played a knock of 131 runs to propel Australia to 286/9 in the allotted fifty overs.

 

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News Network
May 8,2020

Karachi, May 8: A cricket museum based in India has bought a bat auctioned by Pakistan Test captain Azhar Ali to raise funds for the needy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Azhar had put two of his precious belongings -- the bat he used to score 302 runs against the West Indies in a Test in 2016 and the jersey he wore during the 2017 Champions Trophy final win over India -- on an online auction to raise funds for the people affected by the deadly disease.

Both the bat and jersey were signed by members of the Pakistan team.

Azhar announced on social media that he had kept a base price of one million each for the bat and jersey and they had sold for 2.2 million.

He confirmed that Blades of Glory Cricket Museum based in Pune bought the bat by making a winning offer of Rs. 1 million for the bat.

Azhar said that the auction of the shirt also generated a lot of interest and Kash Villani, a Pakistani based in California, came up with the highest bid of Rs. 1.1 million for the shirt before the conclusion of the auction.

Another Pakistani based in New Jersey, Jamal Khan also donated Rs. 100,000 for the cause.

"I put two of my closest belongings on auction with base price of 1 million PKR each to support people suffering due to ongoing crisis. Auction starts now and will close on 11:59 PM 05 May, 2020," Azhar had tweeted.

Ali became the first international player to score a test triple century in Day/Night Test when he scored an unbeaten 302 against the West Indies team in UAE in 2016.

"The shirt is from 2017 Champions Trophy which we won, it has the signature of all the players which were present in the squad," Ali said in a video posted on Twitter.

"Both these things are close to my heart but if it can be used in the difficult times for the benefit of the people I will more than happy."

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