Without clearances, Chennai could lose IPL final

Agencies
April 9, 2019

New Delhi, Apr 9: The Indian squad for the ICC World Cup will be selected on April 15 in Mumbai, the CoA decided on Monday apart from giving a one-week deadline to TNCA to get required clearances for keeping the IPL final in Chennai.

The Committee of Administrators (CoA) along with three BCCI office bearers met in the Capital to discuss various issues related to IPL and Cricket Operations.

The last date for announcing the World Cup squads is April 23 but BCCI has decided to announce it eight days prior to the scheduled date. The World Cup will begin on May 30 in the United Kingdom.

The decision was informally taken at an earlier date but was announced on Monday.

While Indian team's World Cup preparations are on right track with only a couple of slots up for grabs, the formidable Chennai Super Kings team might feel a bit uncomfortable after BCCI zeroed in on Hyderabad as the stand-by venue for the May 12 final.

The issue of the three empty stands -- I, J and K -- at the Chepauk has been an issue since 2012 and whenever Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) has organised matches (IPL or international), the three stands have remained out of bounds for the spectators as the local municipal corporation has not provided a fit certificate.

The only exception was an ODI match in December 2012, when an exception was made as India was playing Pakistan. The issue many believe is more political between the state government and the TNCA.

"Three stands constitute 12,000 spectators. It looks really odd on TV whenever one finds completely empty stands. We don't want CSK to lose out on home advantage if they qualify for the play-offs," a senior BCCI official told PTI on condition of anonymity.

"But we have given them a week's time to get clearances. If they fail to procure the certificates, the final will be shifted to Hyderabad and play-off and eliminator will go to Bengaluru. Since Sunrisers were runners-up in 2018, they will be hosting the final," he added.

Meanwhile, the CoA also decided on the format of the mini Women's IPL which will be played with three teams. There will be four games instead of the odd-exhibition match played last year.

"The matches will be held at 8 pm which is also TV prime time for men's matches. One game will be held in Visakhapatnam and other games will be in all likelihood held in Bengaluru," said a source.

It was also learnt that CoA has asked the steering committee of Players' Association to expedite the process of formation of the body.

"The Players' Association is expected to take shape in the next two weeks. The four-member committee has been told to expedite the process," an official said.

The BCCI has also decided to invite fresh tender for title sponsorship of domestic tournaments and international games in India. "It will be a fresh process but PayTm can also bid but just like new bidders."

Even BCCI's PR company AdFactors' contract with the board has come to an end and they will have to show 'Expression of Interest' (EOI) and again apply through the proper process.

The BCCI will be getting Rs 2.09 crore from Cricket Australia after reconciliation of accounts for the past 10 years.

"There have been discussions on accounts settlements over all the past bilateral series between India and Australia. We are supposed to get Rs 2.09 crore. The discussions are still on. The office bearers will again meet the CoA on April 20," a BCCI official said.

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News Network
February 29,2020

Melbourne, Feb 29: India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur on Saturday said the team management has given Shafali Verma the freedom to play her natural game, which has set the Women's T20 World Cup ablaze.

The 16-year-old announced her emergence on the global stage by becoming the second highest run getter in the ongoing tournament. She has so far scored 161 runs, hitting 18 fours and nine sixes in four matches at an astounding strike rate of 161.

On Saturday, Shafali hit a 34-ball 47 to steer India to a seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka after spinner Radha Yadav produced a career-best 4/23.

"Shafali is someone who loves to play big shots, and we don't want to stop her. She should continue doing the same and she should continue enjoying her game," Harmanpreet said after the match.

India entered the semifinals with an all-win record as they led Group A with eight points from four games and the captain insisted it is important to continue the winning momentum.

"It's really important to keep the momentum when you are winning games. You really work hard, so you can't afford to lose that momentum. You can't bowl same pace and lengths on these wickets, so you need to keep rotating the bowlers."

"Today I tried to be positive and got a few boundaries. In the upcoming games I'll try to give my best," Harmanpreet said.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Atapattu rued the reprieves given by her side to Shafali in the form of two dropped catches.

"I think that score was not enough, we lost couple of chances, specially Shafali, it was hard to stop her," she said.

"Yeah, I got a good start but unfortunately got out in the 10th, would have wanted to stay in there till the 16th or the 17th over. I hope we can beat Bangladesh in our last game," she added.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

Sydney, Feb 7: "I received a message from Brett Lee," said former India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Friday when asked as to who recruited him to take part in the Bushfire relief fundraiser match.

Tendulkar will be coaching the Ponting XI in the upcoming Bushfire Bash on Sunday, February 9 at the Junction Oval.

"I received a message from Brett Lee. Brett said that Kevin (Roberts, Cricket Australia's chief executive) would like to be in touch with you. It was a no-brainer. From the moment I was asked, I said, 'yes I'm more than happy to come here," cricket.com.au quoted Tendulkar as saying.

Bushfire Bash was originally slated to be played at Sydney on Saturday but weather forecast prompted Cricket Australia to reschedule the game to ensure the best possible pitch and outfield conditions for the final of Big Bash League.

The match will be played to raise funds and all match profits will go to the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund.

"This is an alarming situation, it's catastrophic - that's an understatement. You see the number of lives it has affected, not only humans but also wildlife which sometimes people don't talk about. That is equally important. I'm so happy I'm here in whatever way to support the cause, to raise money," Tendulkar said.

Ponting XI: Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting (c), Elyse Villani, Brian Lara, Phoebe Litchfield, Brad Haddin (wk), Brett Lee, Wasim Akram, Dan Christian, Luke Hodge. Coach: Sachin Tendulkar

Gilchrist XI: Adam Gilchrist (c & wk), Shane Watson, Brad Hodge, Yuvraj Singh, Alex Blackwell, Andrew Symonds, Courtney Walsh, Nick Riewoldt, Peter Siddle, Fawad Ahmed (one more to be announced). Coach: Tim Paine

The Bushfire Bash exhibition match will be a 10-overs-per-side contest, with a five-over Powerplay, no bowling restrictions, and batters unable to get out from the first ball they face.

Bowlers will not have over limits, fielders can sub on and off as it suits, while captains will have the ability to sub batters in and out during an innings.

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News Network
June 6,2020

New Delhi, Jun 6: Former West Indies pacer Michael Holding has come out in support of MS Dhoni, saying that the wicket-keeper batsman indeed wanted to win the match against England in the 2019 World Cup.

India's performance in the World Cup match against England last year has once again become a matter of debate as all-rounder Ben Stokes in his book titled 'On Fire' questioned the intent of the Indian side.

Stokes also said that Dhoni's intent was questionable as he did not go for big shots when India still had a chance to win the match.

However, Holding said that nowadays people tend to write anything in their books.

"Well, people will write anything in books these days, because people are a lot more free with their opinions and when they are writing books, they need to be making headlines at times," Holding said on his official YouTube channel.

"But, to be honest, a lot of people watching that game perhaps wouldn't have arrived to the same conclusion that Ben Stokes arrived at that India were not trying to win," he added.

Holding did say that it seemed like that India did not have the same intensity as they would have had if the match was a do-or-die match.

"It was not the game that India had to win, but I don't think anyone can say that was a team tactic to lose the game. I watched that game and it appeared to me as if India weren't putting up their 100 per cent, but I realised it was not the case when the expression on MS Dhoni's face told me that he desperately wanted to win, so I do not think it was a team decision to not try to win," the former Windies pacer said.

"But I don't think they went with the same intensity of wanting to win the game, say, if it was a do-or-die situation. If it was, we would have seen a different game," he added.

On his official YouTube channel, Holding also said that no team goes in with a set pattern in terms of chasing targets.

In the round-robin stage match against England in Birmingham, India failed to chase down the massive target of 338 and fell short by 31 runs.

That was the only game that India lost in the premier tournament last year before the semifinal loss against the Kiwis.

India's chasing approach, in particular of wicket-keeper batsman Dhoni, was criticised by many, including the fans at home.

As soon as Stokes mentioned Dhoni's lack of intent in his book 'On Fire', Pakistan fans started saying that India deliberately lost the match to knock out their neighbours.

However, Stokes clarified that he never said India lost deliberately and some people were twisting his words.

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