Banning West Indian players in IPL can affect the ‘Brand value’ of the event – Will BCCI take this gamble?

October 20, 2014

Oct 20: The sudden cancellation of the ongoing India tour by the West Indian players has triggered a lot of controversies. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is thinking about withdrawing all relations with The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). Some reports even suggested that Indian board might ban the Caribbean cricketers in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL). Sandipan Banerjee digs deep and finds out the possibility of this ban before the IPL Governing council meeting on October 21.

Brand value“Love it. Hate it. But you cannot ignore it.” -This much-used adage is tailor-made for the lucrative IPL. Since its commencement in 2008 IPL has managed to court success, controversy and cynicism in equal measure. But what it has always managed is to stay top-of-the-mind. IPL is not just a cricket tournament now; it has become a brand — a brand that has put Indian cricket at the top of cricketing world.

To build this brand, the West Indian cricketers had contributed a lot. Whenever people think of IPL, it reminds them of the gigantic sixes of ‘CG’ (Chris Gayle), the mystique of Sunil Narine, the calypso jigs of Dwayne Bravo, the acrobatic fielding of Kieron Pollard, the controlled aggression of Dwayne Smith, or the ubiquitous resilience of Darren Sammy. IPL, as they call, is, “Cricketainment”, and Caribbean cricketers provide tremendous value for almost every franchise as well as the tournament as a whole.

Additionally, West Indian cricketers have often been faces of different franchises when it comes to promotion. Gayle, for example, is the undisputed face of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at this moment despite the presence of giants like AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli. Will Vijay Maliya accept a sudden ban on his most influential and most productive cricketer? And while we talk of Gayle, what about other champions like Pollard, Narine, and Bravo, who have carved out respective niches in IPL when it comes to representing teams? Their ‘Brand Values’ are undeniably high; sponsors invest on these stars, which, in turn, bring revenue for the franchises and the tournament as a whole.

It will not be easy for BCCI to proceed on this sensitive issue without consulting the franchises. Having said that, , keeping the rigid nature of BCCI in mind, there is a possibility that they will still go ahead with the decision, in which case there may be a showdown between them and franchises.

According to some sources the IPL career of the Caribbean cricketers are already secured. West Indies were firm when it came to not take field in the fourth One-day International (ODI) at Dharamsala, but a few top WICB members convinced the players to play the match which in turn will secure their IPL future.

The fate of the players will be decided in the IPL governing council meeting in Hyderabad on October 21, but looking from outside it can be said risking the IPL brand value by banning the Calypso charmers will be a big gamble by BCCI. Will they take this gamble? Highly unlikely.

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News Network
February 11,2020

Dubai, Feb 11: Two Indian players-- Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi -- and three Bangladeshis have been charged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for involvement in the quarrel just after the U-19 cricket World Cup summit clash in Potchefstroom, South Africa on Sunday.

Akash and Bishnoi and three Bangladeshi players -- Md. Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan -- were found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct after a few players from both sides nearly came to blows after Bangladesh beat India by three wickets to win their maiden U-19 World Cup title.

"Five players have been found guilty of a Level 3 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Support Personnel ... (they) were charged with violating Article 2.21 of the code, whilst Bishnoi received a further charge of breaching Article 2.5," the ICC said in a statement.

"All five players have accepted the sanctions proposed by ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup Match Referee Graeme Labrooy," it added.

A near brawl broke out after Bangladesh’s historic win over India in the final. The Bangladesh players were aggressive during the Indian innings with lead pacer Shoriful Islam frequently sledging the Indian batsmen.

As soon as the match ended, Bangladeshi players rushed into the playing area.

"India's Akash accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of eight suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years," the ICC said.

Compatriot Bishnoi accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of five suspension points, which equates to five demerit points.

"Bishnoi also accepted a level 1 charge of breaching Article 2.5 for a separate incident during the match, where he used language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter following the dismissal of Avishek Das in the 23rd over," said the ICC.

"For this he received a further two demerit points meaning seven demerit points will remain on his record for the next two years."

Bangladesh's Towhid Hridoy accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of ten suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.

Shamim Hossain accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of eight suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.

Rakibul Hasan accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of four suspension points, which equates to five demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.

All charges were levelled by on-field umpires Sam Nogajski and Adrian Holdstock, third umpire Ravindra Wimalasiri as well as fourth umpire Patrick Bongni Jele. Level 3 breaches carry a minimum penalty of four suspension points and a maximum penalty of 12 suspension points.

The suspension points will be applied to the forthcoming international matches the players are most likely to participate in at either senior or U-19 level. One suspension point equals a player being ineligible for one ODI or T20I, U-19 or A team international match.

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Agencies
March 26,2020

Karachi, Mar 26: Pakistan's centrally-contracted cricketers will contribute Rs 5 million to the national government's emergency fund to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ehsan Mani on Wednesday said apart from centrally-contracted players contributing Rs 5 million, the employees in the board, up to the senior manager level, will contribute their one day's salary.

Those employed as general managers or on higher posts will give two days' salary to the fund.

"The PCB will collect all these funds and deposit it to the government's coronavirus fund," he said.

Pakistan has recorded more than 1,000 positive cases of the deadly virus, which has claimed more than 19,000 lives all over the world.

"It is the history of the cricket board that we always stand by the government in difficult times," Mani said.

The PCB has already given its high performances centre in Karachi at the national stadium to be used by paramedical staff working at the special coronavirus hospital set up at the expo centre in the in the city.

Mani said though cricket has been disrupted by the virus outbreak but it was far more important for the nation to stand by the government and also take all precautionary steps during the pandemic.

Pakistan's centrally-contracted players are entitled to monthly salaries ranging from Rs 5 to 12 lakh besides match fee and other earnings.

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News Network
June 2,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 2: Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal has said that he was ashamed on seeing the training regime of Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

Iqbal said that the incident happened two-three years back as he thought to himself that why he cannot do the same even when he is the same age as Kohli.

"I must say this, it is not because I am talking to an Indian commentator, India is our neighbour so whatever things they do, it affects Bangladesh as well. We follow what is happening in India, when India changed its approach towards fitness, it impacted Bangladesh the most," Iqbal told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I have no shame in admitting this, when I saw Virat Kohli running around two-three years ago, I was ashamed of myself, I thought this is a guy who is probably my age, but he is training so much and I have not doing even half of it. We have a great example in our team as well, Mushfiqur Rahim manages himself well regarding fitness," he added.

During his initial days of international cricket, Kohli was fond of chicken which he has admitted several times during media interaction.

But in 2013, the 31-year-old batsman intentionally shifted his focus to fitness, diet, and training.

Now he has become punctual about his diet which has given him a different character on and off the field.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have also kept on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar managed to call time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings.

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