PCB bans Khalid Latif for 5 years for spot-fixing in PSL

Agencies
September 20, 2017

Karachi, Sept 20: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has imposed a five-year ban and a fine of one million rupees on batsman Khalid Latif for his involvement in spot-fixing during the PSL.

In a short order released today, the three-member Tribunal of PCB headed by a former High Court judge Asghar Haider found Khalid guilty on all six breaches of the Cricket Board's anti-corruption code.

It said all the penalties imposed on Khalid will run concurrently with the maximum being five years and a fine of one million rupees to be recovered by the PCB. Khalid's lawyer Badr Alam, however, outrightly rejected the verdict and said the tribunal was not authorised to take such a decision.

"We don't accept this decision and we have already filed a challenge in the Supreme Court against the tribunal," he said. The same tribunal had last month imposed a five-year ban on another Pakistani batsman Sharjeel Khan for similar offences in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) played in February in Dubai. But while the tribunal has kept half of Sharjeel's five- year ban suspended, it didn't show any leniency on Khalid.

Khalid and his lawyer were involved in a continuous run- in with the tribunal since the start of the hearings in April. The player refused to appear in some of the hearings while his lawyer had challenged the formation and authority of the tribunal in the Lahore High Court, which dismissed his objections. While the tribunal accepted all five charges against Sharjeel brought up by the PCB, in Khalid's case it found the batsman guilty of an additional charge of coaxing and influencing Sharjeel to meet a bookmaker and involve in spot- fixing in the PSL.

Sharjeel and Khalid, 31, were sent back home from Dubai at the start of the PSL in February after being suspended under the PCB's anti-corruption code. Sharjeel's lawyer later said that his client will appeal the ban imposed on him with an independent adjudicator to be appointed by the Board. PCB's legal advisor Tafazzul Rizvi said the Board was not satisfied with the penalties imposed on Khalid and would contemplate appealing for a longer ban. "We stand vindicated in our fight against corruption as all six charges we had brought up against Khalid have been accepted by the tribunal.

The evidence we submitted during the hearings confirmed spot-fixing," he said. Rizvi said PCB's legal department was still considering whether to also challenge the five-year ban imposed on Sharjeel and ask for a longer ban. This is not the first time Pakistan cricket has been hit by spot-fixing and match-fixing allegations.

In 2010, three players including former Test captain Salman Butt and pace bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir were banned for a minimum of five-years by the ICC's anti-corruption tribunal for spot-fixing on the tour of England. Test leg-spinner Danish Kaneria is also serving a life ban imposed on him by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for spot-fixing in country matches in 2012.

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News Network
April 28,2020

New Delhi, Apr 28: IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore's Director of Cricket Operations Mike Hesson returned to New Zealand on Tuesday after being stranded in India for over a month amid the nationwide lockdown to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ex-New Zealand player and coach had arrived in India on March 5 for the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League but was stuck in the country after the lockdown was imposed and all flights were suspended.

"What a wonderful sight after spending over a day on a bus to get to Mumbai airport. The staff on @FlyAirNZ were simply outstanding on our return to New Zealand," Hesson tweeted.

He also thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the New Zealand Embassy in India, New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

"Special thanks to Down pointing backhand index @NZinIndia @MFATNZ @narendramodi @jacindaardern #repatriationflight #india #NZ" he added.

To stem the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, India and New Zealand had announced lockdowns in their respective countries last month, alongside travel restrictions, forcing the 45-year-old to stay in Bengaluru.

While India remains in lockdown till May 3, New Zealand eased its stringent measures on Tuesday.

The IPL, which was originally scheduled to get underway on March 29, has been suspended until further notice due to the pandemic.

The cornavirus outbreak, that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has infected over 30 lakh people across the world while killing more than two lakh.

All sporting events, including the Tokyo Olympics, have either been cancelled or postponed.

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News Network
May 30,2020

New Delhi, May 30: Former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand will be finally reaching India late on Saturday after being stuck in Germany for over three months due to the travel restrictions imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Yes.. Anand will be returning today," the chess maestro's wife Aruna told PTI on Saturday morning. Anand, who boarded an Air India flight (AI-120) from Frankfurt on Friday night will reach Bengaluru via Delhi.

He is expected to reach Bengaluru at 1.15 pm. The five-time world champion will undergo 14 days quarantine as per rules laid down by the Karnataka government.

"He will complete quarantine procedures and come to Chennai as per protocol," Aruna Anand said. The flights from Germany are only scheduled to land only in Delhi and Bengaluru.

The chess ace was in Germany to play in the Bundesliga chess league and was to return to India, but was forced to stay put after the COVID-19 outbreak disrupted sporting schedules across the globe, apart from restricting movement.

He was staying near Frankfurt and was doing online commentary for the Candidates tournament which was called off mid-way due to the pandemic and led the Indian team in the Online Nations Cup early this month.

Anand had been in touch with his family in Chennai on a regular basis via video calls and kept himself busy with chess-related work.

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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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