Dhoni's demand immoral, says Eden Gardens curator

December 1, 2012
Dhoni_immoral


Kolkata, December 1: Hitting out at MS Dhoni for demanding a ''square turner from day one'', veteran Eden Gardens' curator Prabir Mukherjee on Saturday termed the demand of Indian cricket captain as ''immoral.''

An upset Mukherjee said, ''if Dhoni asks for the moon, can we get it for him? ''

Mukhejee, who has been preparing the pitch of the stadium since 1985, shot a letter to Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) this morning and sought a "medical leave". He also hinted that he may not rejoin at all.

The development came less than 48 hours after the BCCI sidelined the 83-year-old and sent East Zone ground and pitch committee representative Ashish Bhowmick to prepare a customised wicket at the Eden.


"It was an insult for me," Mukherjee told a news agency referring to the appointment of Bhowmick.


Mukherjee is peeved at CAB's attitude and said president Jagmohan Dalmiya had even threatened to suspend him if he spoke about the pitch.


"Nowhere the president has the right to talk about pitches. But here they are threatening to suspend me if I talk about pitches. This is the treatment I get after more than two decades of my service at CAB," said Mukherjee, who is said to have differences with Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Dhoni had demanded a rank turner for the Kolkata Test and Mukhejree had said that such a demand was not logical as two pitches cannot be the same. That had apparently prompted BCCI to send Bhowmik to oversee the preparations.

"I expected some sort of protection from CAB thought that they would stand by me. Instead they are after me. My BP shot up 170/100 last night. After the check-up, the doctors have advised me a complete rest for a month. I've sent the medical report and request for a medical leave for a month to the CAB this morning," he said after sending his application to CAB.


"I don't make pitches to earn money. I had prepared pitches in Bangladesh for the U-19 World Cup (in 2004) and the ICC Cup without getting a single penny. Cricket is my passion that's why I'm associated with Eden for so long."


Mukherjee is coping with a mental trauma after loss of his 31-year-old daughter and 73-year-old wife in six days.

"My daughter died on May 25 and wife on May 31. Despite coping with terrible personal crisis, I did not take a single day's leave. The day after my wife's death, I was at the Eden Gardens. Nobody can question my commitment. But I am getting such a raw deal from the CAB," he said.

Asked whether he would like to come back to Eden after one month, Mukherjee was non-committal.

"I will see after that. You see, I'm old enough and the loss of my wife and daughter has made me really weak."


During England's last appearance here for an ODI in 2011, Dhoni had termed the Eden wicket as "ugly". However India had won that match for a 5-0 whitewash in the series.


Even after being thrashed by 10 wickets on a customised Wankhede track in the second Test, Dhoni had insisted for a similar rank turner for the Eden Test beginning December 5.

But Mukherjee had openly criticised Dhoni and said, "Two pitches can never be the same, logically. It's most unethical if the India captain makes such statements in public. He's passing such comments every now and then, which is really unfortunate."



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News Network
April 8,2020

London, Apr 8: England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has raised more than 65,000 pound (USD 80,000) to help fight the coronavirus by auctioning off his World Cup final shirt.

Buttler's shirt, which he wore when completing the last-ball run-out that saw England beat New Zealand at Lord's last year, was sold to raise money for specialist heart and lung centres provided by the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals in London.

Buttler, who earlier in the showpiece match had hit a fifty and batted in the Super Over, put his long-sleeve keeping jersey up for sale on eBay a week ago.

By the time the auction closed on Tuesday, the shirt had attracted 82 bids with the winner paying 65,100 pound.

Buttler, speaking on Monday, said: "It's a very special shirt but I think it takes on extra meaning with it being able to hopefully go to the emergency cause.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Sydney, Jan 6: Nathan Lyon captured five for 50 and 10 match wickets as Australia crushed New Zealand by 279 runs on Monday, capping a golden domestic summer as they swept the three-Test series.

The off-spinner led the powerful Australian bowling attack to dismiss the Kiwis for 136 and seal another heavy win over the Black Caps after similar victories in Perth and Melbourne.

Australia have been unbeatable this season, winning all five Tests at home -- two against Pakistan and three against New Zealand -- after retaining the Ashes by drawing the series 2-2 in England.

"It's been a great summer for the Australian Test side," Lyon said.

"It's pretty special to be part of it, we have been impressive, pretty clinical, the batters have done well and given us bowlers plenty of time."

Australia declared their second innings at 217 for two with David Warner scoring an unbeaten century, leaving the Black Caps with a revised 416-run target in the fourth innings on a wearing Sydney Cricket Ground pitch.

But the Kiwis buckled under the pressure of Australia's superior bowling attack with Mitchell Starc taking three for 25 to support the wiles of spinner Lyon.

"They were clinical in all areas and after the first match they put us under pressure session after session," said skipper Kane Williamson, who missed the Test with a virus.

New Zealand were reeling early at 27-4 and never recovered after Starc and Lyon took two wickets each in the middle session to put the skids under the tourists.

Starc removed both openers, Tom Latham and Tom Blundell, in the first five overs. Blundell fell to a stunning catch by a diving Lyon at point for two and stand-in skipper Latham lost a review for leg before wicket.

Jeet Raval was out in a review to the faintest of edges on 'Snicko' in Lyon's first over for 12.

First-innings top-scorer Glenn Phillips went for a duck after technology detected a faint outside edge to wicketkeeper Paine off Lyon.

Taylor's Kiwi record

Ross Taylor became the leading all-time Kiwi batsman, going past Stephen Fleming (7,172) before he was bowled by Pat Cummins for 22 to take his Test aggregate to 7,174.

Big-hitting Colin de Grandhomme smacked Lyon for six to bring up his fifty but went next ball hoicking to Joe Burns at deep mid-wicket for 52.

Todd Astle was out to a superb diving catch by James Pattinson in the outfield for 17.

Starc yorked William Somerville's middle stump for seven and BJ Watling was the last to fall, caught at backward square leg by Pat Cummins for 19.

Earlier, Warner completed his 24th Test century and remained unbeaten when skipper Paine declared upon the dismissal of Marnus Labuschagne.

"You know you're capable of doing so," Warner said, when asked about how he had bounced back from his disastrous Ashes campaign in England last year.

"I was in the nets hitting the ball well and had the skipper backing me. To be able to play with freedom helped me. It's all paying off."

Labuschagne, who was dropped on four in a regulation caught-and-bowled chance by leg-spinner Astle, was caught at long on off Matt Henry for 59 -- his seventh score over 50 in eight innings this domestic summer.

Labuschagne finished the home five-Test season with a stunning aggregate of 896 runs, made up of his 215 in the first innings, three other centuries and three half-centuries in eight innings.

There was drama late in the Australian innings when Warner was given an official warning by umpire Aleem Dar for running down the middle of the pitch in scampering a single.

It resulted in five penalty runs being added to New Zealand's first innings total meaning their target was revised down from 421 to 416.

The Test was played against the backdrop of one of Australia's most devastating bushfire seasons with at least 24 people losing their lives in blazes raging across the country, including on the outskirts of Sydney.

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Agencies
January 26,2020

Mumbai, Jan 26: Boxing great Mary Kom has been selected for the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian award. Olympic silver medallist and reigning badminton World Champion PV Sindhu has been named for Padma Bhushan as the names of Padma awardees were disclosed on Saturday on the eve of the 71st Republic Day.

Rated as one of the most successful amateur boxers of all time, Mary Kom won bronze at the 2012 London Olympics and has won gold at the boxing World Championships for a record six times. She has won a total of eight medals at the World Championships, the most recent of which came in October 2019 in Ulan Ude, Russia. The 36-year-old is now looking to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Sindhu became the only Indian woman to win an Olympic silver when she reached the final of the women's singles event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazi. In August last year, the 24-year-old became the first Indian to win gold at the badminton World Championships.

She has also won two silver and two bronze medals at the World's in the past, thus making her only the second woman after Chinese two-time Olympic gold medallist Zhang Ning to win five medals in the competition.

Indian women's hockey captain Rani Rampal, who has been the face of women's hockey in the country and played a pivotal role in the team qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is among those who have been nominated for the Padma Shri award.

Women's football stalwart Oinam Bembem Devi, former cricketer Zaheer Khan, shooter Jitu Rai, former hockey captain and coach M.P. Ganesh and archer Tarundeep Rai are the other sportspersons to be selected for the Padma Shri award.

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