With Powar on way out, Indian women's team hopes for controversy-free future

Agencies
November 30, 2018

New Delhi, Nov 30: The feud between senior India woman cricketer Mithali Raj and Ramesh Powar is heading towards an end without any intervention from the administrators with the coach's three-month interim tenure ending Friday.

With the conclusion of Powar's term, fresh applications will be invited by the BCCI for the job and in all likelihood, the former India spinner will not be considered even if he applies.

"His contract is coming to an end today and there is little chance that he will be brought back," a top BCCI official told PTI.

The Indian women's team has had its fair share of controversies and the latest one was triggered after Mithali was dropped from the playing XI for the World T20 semifinal which the side lost to England by eight wickets.

Mithali alleged that Powar was "out to destroy her" while the coach countered her by questioning the "conduct" of the team's seniormost player, saying that she threatened to retire on being denied the opening slot and threw tantrums.

Powar was appointed in August after Tushar Arothe quit following differences with the senior players over training methods. 

After Powar's departure, it remains to be seen how T20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur and ODI captain Mithali bury their differences.

It will be a massive mental challenge for the 35-year-old to put the past behind.

India's next assignment is the tour of New Zealand in January and under a new coach, the team would hope to steer clear of more controversy.

"It will be interesting to see how Harman and Mithali get along after whatever happened in the West Indies. It is imperative that they get along well for the team's sake. Otherwise, there will only be more issues in the dressing room," said another BCCI official.

Harman has not yet spoken on the Powar-Mithali face-off but had defended the team management's decision of dropping Mithali for the all-important semifinal despite her senior teammate scoring fifties in the previous two innings.

Mithali has already expressed her desire to sort out the differences with the T20 captain.

"I am of the opinion that Harman and I are senior players and our issues, if any, should be sorted out by the two of us by sitting across the table.

"As India's 50-over captain, I value Harman as one of our best players and will always want to ensure that the two of us perform our best for India," Mithali had written in a detailed explanation to BCCI when the controversy first broke out.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi Jul 30: After Pakistan cricketer Umar Akmal's ban was reduced to 18 months, Danish Kaneria criticised Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) policies and said that the 'zero tolerance policy' applies only to him.

"Zero Tolerance policy only apply on Danish Kaneria not on others, can anybody answer the reason why I get life ban not others, Are policy applies only on cast, colour, and powerful background. I am Hindu and proud of it that's my background and my dharma," Kaneria tweeted.

Earlier on Wednesday, Akmal's three-year suspension was reduced to 18 months by an independent adjudicator, former Pakistan Supreme Court judge, Faqir Mohammad Khokhar.

On April 27, the Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel, Justice (retd) Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan, had banned the wicketkeeper-batsman for three years after finding him guilty of breaching the PCB's Anti-Corruption Code in two separate incidents.

Akmal, on May 19, filed an appeal against the three-year ban imposed on him, seeking a reduction in the duration of the sanction. He will remain suspended effectively from February 2020 till August 2021.

The batsman said he might appeal again to get the ban "reduced further".

"I am thankful to the judge for listening to my lawyers properly. I will decide about the remaining sentence and try to get it reduced further. For now I am not satisfied and will consult my lawyers and family how to take this ahead," ESPNcricinfo had quoted Akmal as saying.

"There are many players before me who made mistakes and just look at what they got and what I got. So all I say right now is thank you very much," he had added.

On the other hand, Kaneria was found guilty of spot-fixing while playing for English club Essex and was banned from the sport.

Earlier this month, Pakistan's cricket governing body 'advised' Kaneria to approach England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) if he wants to play domestic cricket after the cricketer had appealed to the PCB, seeking permission to play domestic cricket. 

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News Network
January 2,2020

New Delhi, Jan 2: Thrilled after getting to know about Hardik Pandya and Natasa Stankovic's engagement, skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday called it a "pleasant surprise".

Extending his best wishes to the newly-engaged couple, Kohli posted a comment on Pandya's Instagram post which read, "Congratulations H. What a pleasant surprise. Wish you guys great times ahead. God bless".

On the first day of the New Year 2020, Pandya announced his engagement with Serbian actor Natasa Stankovic.

The cricketer took to Instagram to share the photo with the actor and captioned the post: "Mai tera, Tu meri jaane, saara Hindustan. 01.01.2020 #engaged".

The couple got engaged in Dubai and were seen taking a ferry ride along with close friends.

On the work front, Stankovic was last seen in a song from the Bollywood movie The Body starring Emraan Hashmi and Rishi Kapoor. She had also made it to the finals of the TV show Nach Baliye with her ex-boyfriend Aly Goni.

Stankovic first became a household name after appearing as a contestant on famous reality show Bigg Boss 8.

In 2019, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had confirmed that Pandya had had lower-back surgery in London.

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Agencies
August 1,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 1: Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are aiming to set up their preparatory camp for the 13th edition of the tournament from early August.

This year's IPL was slated to commence from March 29 but the tournament was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Recently, the IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel had confirmed that the 13th edition of the mega event will commence on September 19 in the UAE.

As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, CSK players have been asked to report to Chennai first, following which they will leave for Dubai via a charter flight only after approval from the Indian government.

The IPL Governing Council will meet on August 2 to finalise the schedule and other key arrangements for the tournament. Also, the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) around securing eight teams for 51 days across three venues will be formally established in that meeting.

CSK, who has the oldest squad in the IPL, are looking for a month's preparation before ahead of the tournament.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the side was the first team to start their training camp in March. Senior players like Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu had begun training their training in December 2019.

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