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World Cup Cricket final leaves Kiwi fans on sticky wicket

Agencies
July 12, 2019

Wellington, Jul 12: The Black Caps' surprise runs to the Cricket World Cup final has created a dilemma for fans in New Zealand after sports bars across the country failed to anticipate their team's success.

Matches at the England-hosted tournament are being played in the middle of the night for Kiwis and most had written off the Black Caps before their upset semi-final win over India.

That includes the hospitality industry, which needs special licences for bars to operate throughout the night when there are big sporting events.

"It takes 20 working days for a late liquor licencing application to be processed, obviously no one in Wellington thought we'd get to the final because no one has asked," a Wellington City Council spokeswoman said.

New Zealand media reported similar issues around the South Pacific nation, leaving cricket fans on a sticky wicket about how to watch the Black Caps' bid for a maiden title.

The match starts at 9.30 p.m. Sunday in New Zealand and will finish around 5.30 a.m. Monday if it goes the distance, but sports bars are only licenced until 4:00 a.m.

So supporters can either watch the match at home or join fellow fans in a bar and run the risk of being turfed out at 4:00 if neither of the finalists repeats the collapse that marred New Zealand's appearance in 2015 final.

Wellington City Council's spokeswoman said the unexpected nature of New Zealand's appearance meant there would be no fan zones in the capital.

She also offered a novel suggestion to supporters if they managed to find a venue screening the match that was open all night: "You could watch it without drinking!"

New Zealand has won support from an unexpected quarter, with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation backing the Black Caps after England humiliated their team in the semi-finals.

"In the spirit of Australia's penchant for unashamedly claiming any sporting success from across the ditch as its own, the Black Caps are clearly firming as Australia's choice for Sunday's Lord's showdown," it said.

The sentiment is unlikely to be welcomed by Kiwis still smarting from their mauling by Australia in 2015 final and feeling morally superior after the 1981 underarm bowling controversy.

Regardless of the result, bleary-eyed Kiwi fans may welcome the late Australian prime minister Bob Hawke's advice after his country pulled an all-nighter in 1983 to watch a victory in America's Cup.

"Any boss who sacks anyone today for not turning up is a bum," he said.

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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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Agencies
August 6,2020

New Delhi, Aug 6: The BCCI on Thursday suspended the IPL title sponsorship deal with Chinese mobile phone company Vivo for the event's upcoming edition amid heightened tensions in Sino-India diplomatic ties.

The BCCI sent out a one-line statement, without giving details, saying that Vivo would not be associated with the IPL this year. "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and vivo Mobile India Pvt Ltd have decided to suspend their partnership for Indian Premier League in 2020," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Vivo released its own statement saying that the two entities "have mutually decided to pause their partnership for the 2020 season".

Vivo won the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022 for a reported sum of Rs 2,190 crore, approximately Rs 440 crore per annum.

The two parties are now working out a plan in which Vivo might come back for a fresh three-year period starting 2021 on revised terms.

However, a top BCCI official offered a different view. "Here we are talking about diplomatic tensions and you expect that after November, when IPL ends and before the next IPL starts in April 2021, there would be no anti-China sentiment? Are we serious?" a veteran BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.

The anti-China sentiment in the country peaked after the violent face-off between the Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh. India lost 20 soldiers in the clash, while China also acknowledged unspecified casualties.

The stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) caused outrage across India with several calls for boycotts of Chinese companies and products.

The BCCI is now likely to float a tender for new IPL title sponsors as mandated by its constitution. The glitzy T20 league starts on Sept. 19 in the UAE, forced out of India due to the rising COVID-19 cases.

The new development is in stark contrast to what came out of Sunday's IPL's Governing Council meeting, where it was decided that Vivo, along with all the other sponsors, will remain on board.

This was after the BCCI had announced in June that all sponsorship deals pertaining to IPL will be reviewed in the aftermath of the clash in the Galwan Valley.

However, after Sunday's meeting, there was a huge backlash on social media about the BCCI holding on to Vivo.

Both parties then began thrashing out an amicable separation plan, at least for this season.

However, the end of this deal could spell losses for the franchises as they get a substantial share from the sponsorship pool. Half of the annual Vivo sponsorship money is distributed equally among eight franchises, which comes to Rs 27.5 crore.

"As of now, it will be very difficult for the BCCI to match the sponsorship amount at such short notice. Therefore, both BCCI and the franchises should be prepared to lose out on some money -- BCCI more but each franchise from Vivo's exit will potentially lose 15 crore," the official said.

"This year will be difficult for everyone but the show must go on," the official said.

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News Network
May 9,2020

May 9: Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has donated an undisclosed amount to financially help 4,000 underprivileged people, including children from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) schools, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tendulkar made the donation to the Hi5 Foundation, a non-profit organisation based out of Mumbai.

“Best wishes to team Hi5 for your efforts in supporting families of daily wage earners,” Tendulkar tweeted.

The organisation, through a tweet, thanked Tendulkar for doing his bit for the needy.

“Thanks @sachin_rt for proving once again that #sports encourages compassion! Your generous donation towards our #COVID19 fund enables us to financially aid 4000 underprivileged people, including children from @mybmc schools. Our budding sportspersons thank you, Little Master!”

The legendary batsman had earlier contributed Rs 25 lakh each to Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for the country’s fight against COVID-19. Tendulkar had earlier pledged to bear the cost of feeding 5,000 people for a month in a couple of areas in Mumbai.

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