SC allows Srinivasan to take charge as BCCI chief

October 8, 2013

BCCI_chiefNew Delhi, Oct 8: India's Supreme Court on Tuesday reinstated N. Srinivasan as the country's cricket chief, but ordered him to stay away from a fresh spot-fixing probe to be monitored by it.

"Srinivasan can take over as BCCI president, but we have also formed a new probe panel to investigate the case," ruled A.K. Patnaik, one of the two judges who heard the case.

The court appointed a three-member panel headed by a former judge to investigate the scandal that has rocked the popular Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament run by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Srinivasan, 68, widely regarded as the most powerful man in world cricket, had been barred by the court from taking charge since his election as the BCCI chief for a third year on September 29.

Earlier, rejecting the BCCI's suggestion for a probe by a special committee into the scandal, the court on Monday had said it wanted an independent panel that will not only investigate the scam but also give recommendations to the Indian cricket board.

Senior BCCI office-bearers welcome Supreme Court order

The committee will be headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court chief justice Mukul Mudgal, with its other two proposed members being additional solicitor-general N. Nageshwar Rao and senior advocate Nilay Dutta, who is also vice president of the Assam Cricket Association.

The bench said the new panel will hold an independent inquiry into the spotfixing issue and submit its report to the apex court.

Top court says no to Arun Jaitley on panel

It may be recalled that earlier a probe panel comprising two former judges of the Madras High Court had been formed by the BCCI and IPL governing council, which gave a clean chit to BCCI president N. Srinivasan, his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and Mr Srinivasan's company India Cements, which is the owner of IPL team Chennai Super Kings.

This report, which had raised eyebrows, was quashed by the Bombay High Court. The SC had later upheld the HC's order. In their quest to paint a rosy picture about the health of Indian cricket, BCCI president N. Srinivasan and former treasurer Ravi Savant’s note in the Board’s Annual Report doesn’t have a single mention of IPL-VI spot-fixing scandal that rocked Indian cricket.

Secretary Sanjay Patel’s two-page note has a passing mention of the spot-fixing and betting scandal involving big names and the BCCI president’s tainted son-in law Gurunath Meiyappan.

The Annual Report that has a dedicated page on Anti-Doping Methods and Age-Verification Process, also doesn’t mention IPL’s first Indian dope cheat Pradeep Sangwan’s name while it stated that “364 U16 cricketers failed age verification tests.” Former treasurer Savant’s note in the report also has ample indications that IPL-6’s sponsorships as well as ticket receipts have seen a drop from last year.

The 128-page Annual Report of BCCI has the controversial Tamil Nadu strongman terming the year as “memorable and eventful for Indian cricket”.

However, Page-3 of the report that carries the president’s note, only waxed eloquent about the achievements of the various cricket teams including the senior, ‘ A’ team, U-19 and U-23.

Srinivasan concluded his note stating, “IPL, in its sixth year, was a great success in terms of cricket content and attendance at all matches”.

Patel, in his secretary’s report (on Pages 5 and 6), never used the word “spot fixing” anywhere.

Instead, Patel wrote, “The BCCI responded strongly to crisis arising out of IPL-VI. The concerns have been addressed and continue to be dealt with and BCCI will do whatever is necessary to protect the game.” Only in Page 17 of the report, which contains the decisions of the Working Committee during the whole year there is a mention of a probe panel being formed to investigate into charges against Meiyappan.

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News Network
June 6,2020

Mumbai, Jun 6: Reminiscing about his 'special knock' of 208 runs from 153 balls, Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma revealed why his wife Ritika had got emotional after he smashed his third double century in ODIs.

Rohit narrated the incident during his appearance in Episode 2 of the 'Open nets with Mayank'.

The batsman, who was accompanied by Shikhar Dhawan and Mayank on the show, said his wife thought that he had twisted his hand while diving for the 196th run during the innings.

"As you can see my wife got emotional there, this day was special as it was my anniversary. Probably the best gift I could give it to her while I am on the field, it was quite emotional though," said Rohit during the candid chat.

"When I came from the ground, I just asked her why did you (Ritika) cry? So she told me that she thought I (Rohit) twisted my hand when I dived for my 196th run and that was a little worrying factor for her, she got little emotional of because of that I guess," Rohit added.

In the match, the 32-year-old scored 208 runs with 13 fours and 12 sixes against Sri Lanka at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.

This enabled India to post a score of 392/4 in the allotted fifty overs.

India then went on to win the match by 141 runs.

"To be honest I was going pretty slow, I never thought I will get to a double hundred but once you cross 125, I feel it gets easier for you because bowlers are under pressure. Unless you make a mistake I don't think you can get out," said Rohit.

Rohit has scored two double hundreds against Sri Lanka and one against Australia in ODIs. The right-handed batsman is the only cricketer to make three double hundreds in ODI history.

Rohit, Shikhar, and Mayank would have been in action for Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, and Kings XI Punjab respectively, had the Indian Premier League (IPL) commenced from March 29. However, the tournament was suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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May 14,2020

May 14: Veteran South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis has proposed a two-week isolation period for players before and after the T20 World Cup as a way to stage the event as per schedule later this year.

Like other sports, cricketing action too has come to a complete halt due to the coronavirus pandemic. The fate of the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia in October-November is shrouded in uncertainty.

Talking to Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal, du Plessis said travel was going to be an issue despite Australia being less affected by the deadly contagion.

"I am not sure... reading that travelling is going to be an issue for lot of countries and they are talking about December or January. Even if Australia is not affected like other countries, to get people from Bangladesh, South Africa or India where there is more danger, obviously it's a health risk to them," du Plessis said.

"But you can go in before the tournament (for) two weeks isolation and then play the tournament and afterwards two weeks isolation," said the former captain.

Several countries across the globe, including South Africa, Australia and India, have travel restrictions in place and the veteran Proteas batsman joked travelling by boat is not an option.

"But I don't know when South Africa will open their travel ban because we can't go there like old days on boats," du Plessis said.

In March, South Africa's ODI series against India was called off after the first match in view of the pandemic.

The coronavirus outbreak, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has infected more than 44 lakh people worldwide while causing close to 3 lakh deaths.

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January 13,2020

Mumbai, Jan 13: India captain Virat Kohli indicated at dropping himself down the batting order to accommodate both Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul in the playing XI against Australia in the first ODI of the three-match series starting Tuesday.

With vice-captain Rohit Sharma an automatic pick, the team management is left with tough choice of selecting either Dhawan or Rahul in the XI. But the skipper sees no reason why both can't play together.

"Look, a guy in form is always good for the team. ...You obviously want to have the best players available and then chose from what the combination should be for the team. There might be a possibility that all three (Rohit, Shikhar and Rahul) might play. It will be interesting to see what balance we want to take in on the field," Kohli said on the eve of the match.

Asked if he would he be happy to bat lower down the order, Virat said,"Yeah, big possibility. I would be very happy to do so. Look I am not possessive about where I play. I am not insecure about where I bat," said the skipper.

For Kohli, it is more important as to what kind of leadership legacy he leaves behind rather than chase personal glory.

"Being the captain of the team, it is my job to make sure that the next lot is also ready. A lot of the other people might not look at it that way, but your job as a captain is not only to look after the team right now, but also to prepare a team that you leave behind when you eventually pass it onto someone else," he added.

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