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Fearing termination, RR distances from Kundra

June 8, 2013

KundraBangalore/New Delhi, Jun 8: Facing termination prospects, an embattled Rajasthan Royals distanced itself from?co-owner Raj Kundra, saying he has no role in the running of the franchise, and would be suspended if found guilty.

The Jaipur-based IPL franchise slipped into deep trouble after Kundra reportedly confessed to betting on his team before the Delhi Police on Thursday. According to IPL rule 11.3 (C), a franchise can be terminated if the owner or owners bring disrepute to the team or the league.

Royals, however, made it clear in a statement that Kundra had no involvement in the functioning of the team. Kundra would have to forfeit his shares in the franchise if he indeed breached any regulation.

“As a franchise, we have always been clear that the same rules apply to the players, management or the owners. As such, our actions will be consistent as in the case of the spot-fixing allegations with respect to our players,” said Rajasthan Royals chairman Ranjit Barthakur and CEO Raghu Iyer in a statement.

“Raj Kundra is a minority shareholder and he has no involvement in the running of the franchise. We believe that Kundra is a law-abiding citizen and would not act contrary to law.

“If however, he is proven guilty, or has breached any regulations, he will be suspended. He will also forfeit his shares. This is a strict governance procedure agreed to by all Rajasthan Royals shareholders and it is consistent with our zero tolerance approach,” the statement said.

Apart from Kundra, who holds 11.7 per cent shares in the franchise along with his wife Shilpa Shetty through Kuki Investment. Manoj Badale (Emerging Media, 32.4 per cent), Suresh Chellaram & family (44.2 per cent) and Lachlan Murdoch (Blue Water Estate Limited, 11.7 per cent) are the other shareholders.

The statement was issued after the Board of Control for Cricket in India convened an Emergent Working Committee meeting in Delhi on Monday to discuss issues related to the spot-fixing scandal, including the Kundra episode. The BCCI meeting will also discuss the report submitted by Ravi Sawani, chief of the

Board’s ACSU, on the fixing charges against three Royals players, S?Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan.

In another development, Kundra has hired noted criminal lawyer Majeed Memon to defend him. “I was called by the Delhi Police since I am a minority shareholder of Rajasthan Royals and a few questions were put to me to which I have satisfactorily answered,” Kundra said in a statement issued through Memon.

“I would like to reiterate that I am innocent and equally anxious to know as to what went wrong within Rajasthan Royals. In case anything is established against me, I shall be willing to forfeit my shares in Rajasthan Royals,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police have claimed that Shetty placed a bet of Rs 1 lakh during this IPL?season and they are planning to question Kundra again.

The police said Shetty placed a bet once during a match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils in the national capital. However, investigators have to verify the claims.

“Kundra will be questioned again very soon and if need be, Shetty too,” said a senior police officer.

The officer said Kundra, in his statement, claimed to have lost Rs 12.5 lakh in betting during this IPL season, Rs 40 lakh the previous year and Rs 50 lakh in 2011.

The officer, however, declined to “buy this argument.” “He had told us that he placed bets on matches played by Rajasthan Royals. In this season, his team won 11 out of the 16 matches it played and it is hard to believe that he lost money,” said a senior police officer.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

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

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

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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News Network
January 23,2020

Jan 23: Quinton de Kock has been named as the new captain of the South Africa One-Day International side, taking over from Faf du Plessis, who is dropped altogether from the three-match series against England next month.

Du Plessis led South Africa in their disastrous 2019 World Cup campaign and has hinted at international retirement from all formats following the Twenty20 global finals in Australia later this year.

"We all know the quality of the player that Quinton de Kock has grown to become," CSA director of cricket Graeme Smith said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Over the years we have watched him grow in confidence and become one of the top ODI wicket-keeper batsmen in the world. He has a unique outlook and manner in which he goes about his business and is tactically very street smart."

De Kock leads a 15-man squad with five uncapped players in seamers Lutho Sipamla and Sisanda Magala, left-arm orthodox spinner all-rounder Bjorn Fortuin, opening batsman Janneman Malan and wicketkeeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne.

Magala, leg-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, seamer Lungi Ngidi and hard-hitting opening batsman Jon Jon Smuts must pass fitness tests before they can join the squad.

Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada will be rested for the series, while allrounders Chris Morris and Dwaine Pretorius have also not been able to force their way in.

"The road towards the 2023 Cricket World Cup starts now and we want players doing well in our domestic structures to see the rewards of the hard work that they have put in," CSA Independent Selector Linda Zondi added.

The first ODI will be staged in Cape Town on Feb.4th, with the second in Durban three days later and the final match of the series to be held in Johannesburg on Feb.9th.

Squad: Quinton de Kock (captain), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Jon Jon Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lutho Sipamla, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Sisanda Magala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Janneman Malan, Kyle Verreynne.

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News Network
January 10,2020

Karachi, Jan 10: Former Pakistan batsman and current U-19 head coach Ejaz Ahmed feels that his side can beat defending champions and arch-rivals India in the forthcoming ICC Youth World Cup beginning in South Africa on January 17.

"India has a very good cricket system and it is organized but I know that we have more passion than them when we play against each other and that is how we also beat them in the semi-finals of the recent Asian Emerging Nations Cup," Ejaz said.

Ejaz, who has played 60 Test and 250 ODIs, was head coach of the Pakistan Emerging side which beat India before eventually winning the title in Bangladesh last year.

"Even in the past, we beat India because of our greater passion and this time also I know the passion of our players will prevail over them although they have a very strong outfit," he added.

The 51-year-old Ejaz, however, said at the end of the day it would be all about how a team plays on that particular day.

"It is the same in the World Cup it does not matter which team is number one or defending champions what will matter is how a team plays on a given day. I personally feel our team is well balanced," he said.

Ejaz did not believe that India would get advantage of having played a four-nation tournament with South Africa, New Zealand and Zimbabwe in South Africa before the World Cup.

"Our players have also trained hard in Lahore and we have played around 11 matches. We will also reach South Africa nine days before the World Cup and we have some practice games and I think our preparations are also very good for the tournament," he said.

The former batsman also said the absence of fast bowler Naseem Shah will not impact much on the team's performance. Naseem was withdrawn from the Pakistan U-19 squad after he played for the senior team in three Test matches against Australia and Sri Lanka.

"Look there was no controversy at all. The way we now see things is that you can't expect a MBA to go and take BA exams. That is how we look at Naseem Shah, he has made the grade for Pakistan and now he should be performing for the senior team," said the head coach.

"We have a couple of exciting young talent in the ranks. I expect Rohail and Haider to play for the senior team in two to three year's time, they are that good."

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