IPL scandal: Sreesanth, 3 others sent to judicial custody

May 28, 2013
New Delhi, May 28: Arrested cricketers S Sreesanth and Ajit Chandila besides two bookies were today remanded in judicial custody till June 4 by a Delhi court which rejected the investigators' plea for two more days of custodial interrogation of the Indian pacer in connection with the IPL spot-fixing scandal case.

fixingChief Metropolitan Magistrate Lokesh Kumar Sharma turned down the plea of Special Cell of Delhi Police for the custody of Sreesanth saying he cannot be held liable for what has happened at his back.

"Admittedly, Sreesanth cannot be held liable for instances at his back. I am of the considered opinion that it would amount to injustice to the accused," the court said on the police argument that immediately after his arrest, his hotel room was cleaned up and some articles were removed.

The court also pulled up the investigators for not showing any fresh ground to take the custody of Sreesanth, saying as to why he should be handed to "your hospitality" for two days.

"How will you (investigators) establish that the removed articles belong to Sreesanth as anyone can plant to falsely implicate him," the court said. It also sent Chandila and two bookies Ashwani Aggarwal and Chandresh Patel to judicial custody after the police said they were no more required for custodial interrogation.

The court dismissed the bail plea of Rajasthan Royals player Ankeet Chavan, while the bail of Sreesanth will be heard on June 4.

During the course of arguments, Senior Public Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan informed the court that interception of various calls suggested that several big names may be involved in the episode as calls were made to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

The police said there are some missing links and they are working on it.

"We are missing the link of the whole episode which will be proved very soon," the prosecutor said, adding, "Some big names are also involved which I cannot disclose at this stage and they were in regular contact with D company."

While seeking custody of Sreesanth, the prosecutor told the court that Abhishek Shukla has joined investigation and he allegedly had cleaned the cricketer's hotel room immediately after his arrest.

He also said that Sreesanth has to be confronted with Shukla who might have removed the electronic gadgets and data kept in the cricketer's room and at pacer's instance Rs 5 lakh have to be recovered as his friend Jiju Janardhan had taken Rs 10 lakh on his behalf.

The police told the court that the bills of the parties thrown by Sreesanth were paid by Abhishek Shukla as his (Shukla's) PAN card number was mentioned on the bills.

Senior advocate Rebecca John, appearing for Sreesanth, opposed the plea for police custody saying it is completely unjustified after he being interrogated in its custody for 12 days. She said the grounds of police custody are "so completely untenable".

She also said the police theory that some articles were removed from Sreesanth's hotel room was also untenable as the room was unattended for three days and it was Mumbai Police which had later recovered a laptop from his room.

Meanwhile, the court directed the Tihar Jail authorities to produce accused Ashwini before a Mumbai court, which had issued production warrant against him. It also said that he should be brought back before June 4.

The court had earlier remanded other accused Babu Rao Yadav, a former Ranji player, cricketer Ankit Chavan and three more bookies - Jiju Janardhan, Deepak Kumar and Manan Bhat - in judicial custody till June 4.

Delhi Police has so far arrested 22 accused in connection with the spot fixing scandal case and except four bookies all others are in judicial custody.

Arrested bookie Bhupender Nagar, Sayed Durez Ahmed and Sunil Saxena are in police custody till May 30. Bookie Mohd Yahya is also in police custody.

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February 12,2020

Mount Maunganui, Feb 12: India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday berated his bowlers for their mediocre performance as he tried to explain the team's first ODI series whitewash in over three decades, saying that the visitors lacked composure all through.

The five-wicket defeat here meant that India lost the series 0-3 to an injury-plagued New Zealand that had been deflated by a 0-5 whitewash of its own in the T20 format just last week. It was India's first whitewash in 31 years in an ODI series in which all matches have been played.

"The games were not as bad as the scoreline suggests. It boils down to those chances that we didn't grab. I don't think it was not enough to win games in international cricket," Kohli said in the post-match presentation.

"With the ball, we were not able to make breakthroughs, we were not at all good on the field. We haven't played so badly but when you don't grab those chances, you don't deserve to win," he added.

"Batsmen coming back from tough situations was a positive sign for us, but the way we fielded and bowled, the composure wasn't enough to win games," he asserted.

The ineffectiveness of Indian bowlers can be gauged from the fact that the team's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah finished the series without a wicket and the attack couldn't dismiss the complete rival line-up even once.

Kohli lauded New Zealand for bouncing back after the T20 hammering.

"New Zealand played with lot more intensity. We didn't deserve to win because we did not show enough composure," he said.

The batting mainstay is looking forward to the Test series, which begins on February 21, to make amends for the disappointment.

"I think because of the Test Championship, every match has that more importance. We have a really balanced Test team and we feel we can win the series here, but we need to step on to the park with the right kind of mindset," he said.

His opposite number Kane Williamson, who missed the first two games due to injury, was lavish in his praise for the home team's grit.

"An outstanding performance, very clinical. India put us under pressure, but the way the guys fought back with the ball and kept them to a par total. The cricket in the second half was outstanding to see," he said referring to the side's effortless chase of a 297-run target.

"We know how good they (India) are at all formats but for us the clarity about the roles the guys had was the most important thing. Outstanding effort against a brilliant India side," he added.

Player of the Match Henry Nicholls, who scored 80 on Tuesday, said his team benefitted from good batting starts during the series.

"To come back and win 3-0 after the T20Is is nice. The way (Martin) Guptill played today allowed us to get ahead. We got a 100-run stand, but we were fortunate enough to get good starts this series," he said.

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January 30,2020

Hamilton, Jan 30: Caught unaware about the Super Over scenario, Rohit Sharma took five minutes to “find” his abdomen guard after the third T20 International against New Zealand had ended in a tie on Wednesday.

The India vice-captain said the team had almost given up with New Zealand going great guns at one point.

“Everything was packed. All my stuff was inside my bag. I had to get it out. It literally took me five minutes to find my abdomen guard because I didn’t know where it was,” Rohit said.

“I mean we never thought it would go to the Super Over, the way they were batting at one point. It looked like they could easily win the game,” he added.

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May 29,2020

Kolkata, May 29: Former skipper Kumar Sangakkara believes missing Angelo Mathews due to an injury hurt Sri Lanka badly in the summit clash of the 2011 World Cup, which hosts India won after a gap of 28 years.

Having played a key role in their thrilling semifinal win against New Zealand, Mathews was forced out of the final against India at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium by a quadriceps muscle injury.

Reflecting on the six-wicket loss to India, the former Sri Lankan captain said Mathews' injury forced him to opt for a 6-5 combination and was also the reason behind his decision to bat first after winning the toss.

"In that WC final, that's the biggest thing I look back and think...You can talk about drop catches and all of that happens. But the composition of the side and the fact that we were forced to make the change was to me the turning point," Sangakkara said in the latest episode of Instagram series 'Reminisce with Ash' hosted by India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

Mahela Jayawardene's unbeaten 103 went in vain as India hunted down 275 with Gautam Gambhir setting up the chase with a 97-run knock before skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni finished off in style, smashing Nuwan Kulasekara for the winning six in his unbeaten 91.

"But for 100 per cent, if Angelo (Mathews) had been fit, I know for sure we would have gone for chase... I'm not sure whether the result would have changed. That balance of team that Mathews would give at seven really was a bonus," the former wicketkeeper batsman said

"If you take our entire campaign, whatever we did Mathews' overs and his ability to bat with the tail and read situations was an incredible bonus to us. He was a young chap who came into the side and from day one he could read situations. It's just instinct, how to up the rate, how to control the bowler, when to accelerate."

During the conversation, Ashwin also asked him about the controversial toss when the coin was flipped twice amid the cacophony of the Wankhede and eventually Sangakkara elected to bat.

"The was crowd was huge. It never happens in Sri Lanka. Once I had this at Eden Gardens when I could not talk to the first slip and then of course at the Wankhede. I remember calling on the toss then Mahi wasn't sure and said did you call tail and I said no I called head.

"The match referee actually said I won the toss, Mahi said he did not. There was a little bit of confusion there and Mahi said let's have another toss of the coin and heads went up again," he said.

"I am not sure whether it was luck that I won. I believe probably India might have batted if I had lost."

The loss prolonged Sri Lanka's wait for another world title as yet again the 1996 champions failed in the final hurdle.

"Whether we win or lose, we have this equilibrium on how to take a win or loss. The smile hides a huge amount of sadness, of disappointment, of thinking of 20 million people back in Sri Lanka who had been waiting for this for so long, since 1996.

"We had an opportunity in 2011, opportunity in 2007, then T20 opportunities in 2009 and 2012," Sangakkara said.

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