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Send SOS to Pujara, Zaheer: Sourav Ganguly

January 20, 2014

SOS_to_PujaraKolkata, Jan 20: India need Cheteshwar Pujara and Zaheer Khan in their one-day line up, former captain Sourav Ganguly said on Sunday as India began their New Zealand tour with a defeat in Napier.

Criticising Ishant's selection, Ganguly felt India leaked too many runs even as they had the "world's best" one-day batsman in Virat Kohli.

"I feel selectors should think about two players - Cheteshwar Pujara and Zaheer Khan. Pujara is the most-needed batsman in these conditions. He has adjusted well in the Test mould and I'm sure he will do well in the ODI format," Ganguly said.

"Similarly Zaheer is must-needed in the bowling attack. If he can bowl 30 overs in Tests, why can't he do that for 10 overs?" he asked.

Questioning the selection of the lanky pacer who conceded eight runs per over in the first ODI on Sunday, Ganguly quipped "Ishant Sharma remains to be an enigma to me."

"He is the seniormost Indian bowler with experience. But he has been inconsistent under pressure as Mohammad Shami has become the backbone of Indian bowling. He's no doubt the find of Indian cricket as I've said earlier," he said.

Ganguly hoped that Bengal pacer Ashoke Dinda will make a comeback after his Ranji performance this season.

"I hope Dinda will get a chance this year. He is good in his length and line."

Ganguly also hailed Kohli who scored his 18th century to keep India in the hunt in their chase of 293 before being bundled out for 268 to trail 0-1 in the five-ODI series.

"He is no doubt the best one-day batsman in the world at the moment. He has scored runs in all parts of the world. But the target proved too much in such conditions. In India, it would have been easy," Ganguly told a Bengali news channel.

Bengal might be staring at an innings defeat against Maharashtra in their Ranji semifinals in Indore, but the city's favourite cricket icon said Laxmi Ratan Shukla should not lose heart after their commendable performance in the Ranji season.

"It's really unfortunate, the match seems to have gone out of their hand. It seems toss became crucial. But they should rejoice about their performance this season. Hope they go forward from here," he said.

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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 16,2020

New Delhi, Jan 16: Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Thursday dropped from the BCCI's list of centrally contracted players, raising fresh doubts on the future of the former India captain who has not played since the World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand last year.

The BCCI announced the central contracts for the period of October 2019 to September 2020. Dhoni was in the A category, which fetches a player Rs 5 crore, until last year.

Skipper Virat Kohli, his deputy Rohit Sharma and top pacer Jasprit Bumrah were retained in the highest A+ bracket of Rs 7 crore.

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News Network
June 18,2020

Jun 18: Sri Lanka "sold" the 2011 World Cup final to India, the country's former sports minister said on Thursday, reviving one of cricket's most explosive match-fixing controversies. Mahindananda Aluthgamage, who was sports minister at the time, is the second senior figure to allege the final was fixed, after 1996 World Cup-winning skipper Arjuna Ranatunga. "I tell you today that we sold the 2011 World Cup finals," Aluthgamage told Sirasa TV. "Even when I was sports minister I believed this."

Aluthgamage, sports minister from 2010 to 2015 and now state minister for renewable energy and power, said he "did not want to disclose" the plot at the time.

"In 2011, we were to win, but we sold the match. I feel I can talk about it now. I am not connecting players, but some sections were involved," he said.

Sri Lanka lost the match at Mumbai's Wankhede stadium by six wickets. Indian players have strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Ranatunga, who was at the stadium as a commentator, has previously called for an investigation into the defeat.

"When we lost, I was distressed and I had a doubt," he said in July 2017. "We must investigate what happened to Sri Lanka at the 2011 World Cup final."

"I cannot reveal everything now, but one day I will. There must be an inquiry," added Ranatunga, who said players could not hide the "dirt".

Sri Lanka batted first and scored 274-6 off 50 overs. They appeared in a commanding position when Indian superstar Sachin Tendulkar was out for 18.

But India turned the game dramatically, thanks partly to poor fielding and bowling by Sri Lanka, who were led by Kumar Sangakkara.

Sri Lankan cricket has regularly been involved in corruption controversies, including claims of match-fixing ahead of a 2018 Test against England.

Earlier this month, the Sri Lankan cricket board said the International Cricket Council was investigating three unnamed former players over alleged corruption.

Sri Lanka introduced tough penalties for match-fixing and tightened sports betting restrictions in November in a bid to stamp out graft.

Another former sports minister, Harin Fernando, has said Sri Lankan cricket was riddled with graft "from top to bottom", and that the ICC considered Sri Lanka one of the world's most corrupt nations.

Former Sri Lankan fast bowler Dilhara Lokuhettige was suspended in 2018 for corruption relating to a limited-overs league.

He was the third Sri Lankan charged under the ICC anti-corruption code, following former captain and ex-chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya, and former paceman Nuwan Zoysa.

Jayasuriya was found guilty of failing to cooperate with a match-fixing probe and banned for two years. Zoysa was suspended for match-fixing.

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