Club vs Country: Sunil Narine in a fix over playing IPL final

May 30, 2014

Sunil NarineNew Delhi, May 30: The raging 'Club versus Country' debate today again came to the forefront as ace spinner Sunil Narine faces a possible exclusion from the Test team, if he plays the IPL final for KKR thereby failing to meet the deadline joining the West Indies camp latest by June 1.

The West Indies are scheduled to play their first Test against New Zealand at Kingston in Jamaica from June 8.

Keeping in mind players like Narine and Chris Gayle, who are integral part of their respective IPL franchises, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) had extended the deadline of joining national camp from May 22 to June 1.

With Narine playing a vital role in KKR's triumphant journey to the final scheduled on June 1, the IPL franchise will not let the 'Mystery Spinner' leave before summit"It is his decision," WICB's CEO Michael Muirhead told ESPN Cricinfo.

"The cut-off date for joining the camp was moved forward from May 22 to June 1 specifically to allow those players involved in the IPL the opportunity for more matches. Anyone who is in breach won't be considered for selection," Muirhead made WICB's position clear on the issue.

However Narine would remain in the chosen squad of 15 and be eligible for playing in the remainder of the series.

KKR CEO Venky Mysore, on his part, requested a bit of flexibility on the part of WICB which will enable Narine to play the IPL final.

"This is in no way an act of defiance by Sunil," Mysore was quoted as saying by the website."He is seeking the board's flexibility for a couple of days leeway so that he can turn out for Knight Riders on Sunday. He has told us that he came to do a job and wants to see it through to its conclusion. He also wants to represent West Indies against New Zealand. You can understand the quandary that he is in," Mysore added.

The WICB has now taken its position following its acceptance of the "West Indies First" policy proposed by director of cricket, Richard Pybus, last March.

This lists the principle of the "prioritisation of Test cricket as the pinnacle of West Indies cricket and its protection through priority team selection and strategic scheduling".

Narine is one of six players with WICB Grade A contracts for 2014, each worth US$120,000; Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy and Marlon Samuels are the others.

"For West Indies cricket to thrive and to grow, they (the players) have to make themselves available," Muirhead said at the time. "At the same time, we don't want to limit the amount or prevent their opportunities to earn."

"We are not victimizing him (Narine) in any way," Muirhead stated. "Like all the players, he was aware of the stipulation under the NOC (No Objection Clause) well in advance."

Mysore on his part said that they are ready to put Narine on the first available flight after the final and he would be in Jamaica, latest by June 3.

"He has been a vital cog in our team since he joined us in 2012," Mysore said. "He is the leading wicket-taker in IPL 2014 with 20 wickets but, just as importantly, he has been a tremendous team-man."

The NOC released West Indies players for the IPL with the stipulation that they would be available no later than one week before a Test series. The camp, currently held in Barbados, wraps up on June 3. It is, according to Muirhead, the opportunity for "meaningful practice and developing the team ethic".

As per reports, Narine has also been in touch with former West Indies opener Wavell Hinds, who is the president and chief executive of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA).

Muirhead also added that when the NOC was signed there were no scheduled matches or tours in 2014 during the period of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) or the Indian Premier League (IPL). The IPL final has thrown a spanner into the works.

Muirhead said Narine and Gayle, who travelled to Germany from his IPL stint with Royal Challengers Bangalore for treatment on his back injury, had advised the WICB on June 24 that they would be back by June 1.

That changed for Narine in the past two weeks as KKR, at one point seemingly out of contention, reeled off eight consecutive victories to qualify for the final.

The spinning options for West Indies in the first Test are left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn and off-spinner Shane Shillingford, who is making a comeback after having taken corrective measures for his suspect action.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

New Delhi, Feb 7: It was on February 7, 1999, that Anil Kumble became just the second bowler in the history of cricket to take all ten wickets in an innings of a Test match.

He achieved the feat against Pakistan at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, now known as Arun Jaitley cricket stadium in Delhi during the second Test of the two-match series.

India had set Pakistan a target of 420 runs in the match and the visitors got off to a steady start as openers Shahid Afridi and Saeed Anwar put on 101 runs for the first wicket.

It was then Kumble who came into the attack and wreaked havoc on the Pakistani batting line-up.

The spinner, also known as 'Jumbo' first dismissed Afridi (41) in the 25th over. After the right-handed batter's dismissal, India kept on taking wickets through Kumble and Pakistan was reduced to 128/6 in no time.

Kumble then kept on taking wickets at regular intervals and he got his tenth scalp in the 61st over after dismissing Wasim Akram.

This effort enabled India to register a win by 212 runs, and Kumble became the second bowler after England's Jim Laker to take all ten wickets in a single Test inning.

Kumble finished with the bowling figures of 10-74 from 26.3 overs.

Kumble announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008 and finished with 619 wickets in the longest format of the game.

He has the third-highest number of wickets in Tests, only behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia's Shane Warne (708).

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News Network
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Manchester United's Paul Pogba on Monday paid tribute to George Floyd, stressing that violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated and they have to stop.

Pogba took to Instagram to write: "During the past few days I have thought a lot about how to express my feelings about what happened in Minneapolis. I felt anger, pity, hatred, indignation, pain, sadness."

"Sadness for George and for all black people who suffer from racism Every day! Whether in football, at work, at school, Anywhere! This has to stop, once and for all! Not tomorrow or the next day, it has to end today! Violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated," he added.

Protests erupted in Minneapolis and other US cities on Tuesday after Floyd, an African-American man, died following his arrest by the four officers.

A viral video showed a police officer, Derek Chauvin, pinning 46-year-old Floyd to the ground with his knee on his neck for nearly eight minutes. Floyd died at a local hospital shortly thereafter.

The four police officers were fired. Chauvin was also charged with murder and manslaughter, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

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zaki ahmed
 - 
Wednesday, 3 Jun 2020

This photograph in the above mentioned article is of Floyd Mayweather Jr , the world welterweight & super heavy weight champion & wrongly menitoned as Pogba .

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Agencies
April 14,2020

Tokyo, Apr 14: Tokyo organizers said Tuesday they have no B Plan in the event the Olympics need to be postponed again because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Masa Takaya, the spokesman for the Tokyo Olympics, said organizers are proceeding under the assumption the Olympics will open on July 23, 2021. The Paralympics follow on Aug. 24.

Those dates were set last month by the International Olympic Committee and Japanese officials after the coronavirus pandemic made it clear the Olympics could not be held as scheduled this summer.

We are working toward the new goal, Takaya said, speaking in English on a teleconference call with journalists.

We don't have a B Plan. The severity of the pandemic and the death toll has raised questions if it will even be feasible to hold the Olympics in just over 15 months. Several Japanese journalists raised the question on the call.

All I can tell you today is that the new games' dates for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games have been just set up, Takaya said.

In that respect, Tokyo 2020 and all concerned parties now are doing their very best effort to deliver the games next year." IOC President Thomas Bach was asked about the possibility of a postponement in an interview published in the German newspaper Die Welt on Sunday.

He did not answer the question directly, but said later that Japanese organizers and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe indicated they could not manage a postponement beyond next summer at the lastest.

The Olympics draw 11,000 athletes and 4,400 Paralympic athletes and large support staffs from 206 national Olympic committees.

There are also questions about frozen travel, rebooking hotels, cramming fans into stadiums and arenas, securing venues, and the massive costs of rescheduling, which is estimated in Japan at 2 billion- 6 billion.

Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto addressed the issue in a news conference on Friday. He is likely to be asked about it again on Thursday when local organizers and the IOC hold a teleconferene with media in Japan.

The other major question is the cost of the delay; how much will it be, and who pays? Bach said in the Sunday interview that the IOC would incur several hundred million dollars in added costs. Under the so-called Host City Agreement, Japan is liable for the vast majority of the expenses.

This is impossible to say for now, Takaya, the spokesman said.

It is not very easy to estimate the exact amount of the games' additional costs, which have been impacted by the postponement."

Tokyo says it's spending 12.6 billion to organize the Olympics. But a Japanese government audit published last year says the costs are twice that much. Of the total spending, 5.6 billion in private money. The rest is from Japanese governments.

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