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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Agencies
July 21,2020

New Delhi, Jul 21: With the T20 World Cup's postponement clearing the decks for a full-fledged IPL, the glitzy event's Governing Council will meet in a week or 10 days' time to plan its next course of action, eyeing UAE as the host this year.

An IPL between September and early November has been made possible by the ICC's decision on Monday to postpone the T20 World Cup in Australia, scheduled for October-November, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The IPL GC will meet within a week or 10 days and all decisions (including final schedule) will be taken there. As of now, the plan is to have a full fledged IPL comprising 60 games and most likely in the UAE," Patel told PTI.

Asked about the main challenges in conducting the event in current scenario, Patel added: "Just the operational side of it. Whether you do it here or outside, it doesn't matter (with no crowds)."

The franchisees had already been working on their plans for the IPL even before the ICC announcement.

With majority of the Indian players not having access to grounds amid the pandemic, teams will need at least three to four weeks to get them match ready.

Foreign players will fly in directly to the UAE from their respective countries.

"Our players will need at least three to four weeks of training, if not more. We will finalise all our plans once the BCCI announces the dates. It looks like the IPL will be in the UAE and we are ready for that," a team owner told PTI.

Since India tour Australia for a four-Test series right after the IPL, training of the Test players is also an important issue.

Test specialists like Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari, who are not part of the IPL, are likely to train for the eagerly-awaited series in a bio-secure environment at the newly-renovated Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad during the time of the IPL.

A few fringe players are expected to join them at Motera along with the Indian team's support staff, which is free during the IPL.

Work from home has become the norm amid the pandemic, therefore, there is a possibility that IPL commentary will happen from the comfort of the living room, a safer and cost effective-option considering the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, who is 71, are involved.

The viewership is expected to be a record one with people craving for live cricket, something KXIP co-owner Ness Wadia has said.

However, it remains to be seen how much the broadcasters and teams are able to attract from the sponsors in the current financial climate.

More moot points and questions ahead of the IPL GC meeting:

1) More double headers expected (original schedule had only five double headers).

2) BCCI will need to provide a Standard Operating Procedure to IPL teams even though they will have their own SOPs in place.

3) Will the BCCI compensate teams for not being able to generate gate money this year?

4) Will there be virtual commentary from Star Sports? It was seen in the recent 3TC event in South Africa with the likes of Aakash Chopra, Deep Dasgupta and Irfan Pathan commentating from home.

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News Network
May 30,2020

New Delhi, May 30: Former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand will be finally reaching India late on Saturday after being stuck in Germany for over three months due to the travel restrictions imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Yes.. Anand will be returning today," the chess maestro's wife Aruna told PTI on Saturday morning. Anand, who boarded an Air India flight (AI-120) from Frankfurt on Friday night will reach Bengaluru via Delhi.

He is expected to reach Bengaluru at 1.15 pm. The five-time world champion will undergo 14 days quarantine as per rules laid down by the Karnataka government.

"He will complete quarantine procedures and come to Chennai as per protocol," Aruna Anand said. The flights from Germany are only scheduled to land only in Delhi and Bengaluru.

The chess ace was in Germany to play in the Bundesliga chess league and was to return to India, but was forced to stay put after the COVID-19 outbreak disrupted sporting schedules across the globe, apart from restricting movement.

He was staying near Frankfurt and was doing online commentary for the Candidates tournament which was called off mid-way due to the pandemic and led the Indian team in the Online Nations Cup early this month.

Anand had been in touch with his family in Chennai on a regular basis via video calls and kept himself busy with chess-related work.

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News Network
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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