Rashid Khan to spin a web for Maratha Arabians

Media Release
July 24, 2018

Dubai, Jul 24: Afghanistan’s star leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who has spun his way into the hearts and minds of cricket fans all over the world, is all set to don a new role later this year in the United Arab Emirates (UAE),

Rashid joins forces with Maratha Arabians in the second edition of the T10 Cricket League, to be played over 10-overs-a-side, alongside some of the world’s best known cricketers. The 19-year-old was one of the key picks for Maratha Arabians at the mini-draft held as a precursor to the second season in Dubai on Monday.

The other new pick of the day for Maratha Arabians was Australia’s left-handed all-rounder James Faulkner. The franchise was able to retain from the previous season England limited-overs star Alex Hales, West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and Kamran Akmal, Pakistan wicket-keeper.

Maratha Arabians is co-owned by Parvez Khan of Pacific Ventures, Bollywood Actor/Producer/Director Sohail Khan and Ali Tumbi of Aqua Properties. Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram continues to be the head coach of the franchise. The entire operations of the Maratha Arabians franchise is being managed by Dubai-based Petromann Events, much like in the first season.

The tournament is being staged under the aegis of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), with official approval of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Speaking about his inclusion, Rashid said: “I am extremely excited to be playing for Maratha Arabians in the second season of the T10 League.  After having played Twenty20 cricket all over the world, I was looking forward to a challenge. Playing the T10 format is the perfect step up for me. I am looking forward to playing the world’s shortest format alongside some iconic players.”

Maratha Arabians Co-owner Parvez Khan said: “It is with great joy that we welcome Rashid Khan and James Faulkner to Maratha Arabians. Rashid is the youngest player to top the ICC Player Rankings for Bowlers in ODIs. I believe that Rashid will be a great asset to the team and we will have an extremely strong bowling attack.”

Maratha Arabians Co-owner Sohail Khan said: “The new season promises a lot for us. We are taking a fresh guard and have gone about picking the squad after a lot of deliberations. We are extremely thrilled to bring on board Rashid and James Faulkner.”

Maratha Arabians Co-owner Ali Tumbi said: “Maratha Arabians is an excellent marriage of two different regions and cultures. The franchise represents the warriors of two historic regions and will fight for every inch on the cricket field during the tournament.”

***

About Pacific Sports Limited

Pacific Sports Club (PSC) is a complete platform for both current and upcoming sports leaders and enthusiasts. PSC offers an array of sports activities which are mandatory to shape and prepare athletes in their respective sport.

Keeping up with international and local standards of cricket, football, swimming and other sports; PSC offers you premium professional coaching that identifies each individual’s potential using both physical and mental activities. Focusing on upcoming talent, PSC thoroughly prepare students and other young potential athletes for both national and international tours so they can first hand experience the varying conditions of different countries in terms of sports.

PSC offers nothing but utmost premium facilities, hence having turf, matted and cemented pitches to suite the different playing condition, entirely different areas for field training and physical fitness, trained and certified Level 2 coaches, modern coaching equipment, swing bowling machine, video analysis, field training spin and a complete 360 holistic training and development program for every student.

About Emirates Cricket Board (ECB)

Cricket in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is governed by the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), overseeing all cricket activities in the Emirates including the 4 major councils; Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai and Sharjah. In 1990 Emirates Cricket became an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

An emerging One Day International (ODI) country, UAE Senior Men’s team won the ACC Trophy on four consecutive occasions between 2000 and 2006, they were runners-up in the other three times the tournament was played; 1996, 1998 and 2008. UAE Men’s won the ICC Trophy in 1994, playing their first ODIs that year, they qualified for the 1996 and 2014 Cricket World Cups.

Other ODI matches were played in the 2004 and 2008 Asia Cup tournaments. In 2014 the UAE gained ODI status through to 2018. UAE’s U19s played their first ICC World Cup in 2014, when the UAE hosted the international tournament. UAE’s U19s recently competed in 2015’s ACC Premier Tournament. UAE’s women's team competed in the 2007 ACC Women's Tournament and has subsequently continued to promote women's participation in the game.

The Women’s team is currently champion of the recently introduced GCC T20 Women’s Championship. Over a million Emiratis live in UAE, and the Emirati Development Programme forms an important part of Emirates Cricket’s strategic plan in growing the game. The UAE National squad currently comprises of three Emirati Nationals and it’s the aim of the Emirati Development Programme to ensure that there will be a steady integration of National players available for selection, in all forms of the game, in the future.

The ECB now has the resources to take professional coaching into local schools and provide playing opportunities that have been limited before. A resource book of cricket in Arabic has been created and playing equipment provided to encourage and support this learning and development. In addition, the Programme has been bolstered by the employment of a dedicated Arabic speaking Development Officer who will be able to take the game forward.

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Agencies
August 6,2020

New Delhi, Aug 6: The BCCI on Thursday suspended the IPL title sponsorship deal with Chinese mobile phone company Vivo for the event's upcoming edition amid heightened tensions in Sino-India diplomatic ties.

The BCCI sent out a one-line statement, without giving details, saying that Vivo would not be associated with the IPL this year. "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and vivo Mobile India Pvt Ltd have decided to suspend their partnership for Indian Premier League in 2020," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Vivo released its own statement saying that the two entities "have mutually decided to pause their partnership for the 2020 season".

Vivo won the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022 for a reported sum of Rs 2,190 crore, approximately Rs 440 crore per annum.

The two parties are now working out a plan in which Vivo might come back for a fresh three-year period starting 2021 on revised terms.

However, a top BCCI official offered a different view. "Here we are talking about diplomatic tensions and you expect that after November, when IPL ends and before the next IPL starts in April 2021, there would be no anti-China sentiment? Are we serious?" a veteran BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.

The anti-China sentiment in the country peaked after the violent face-off between the Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh. India lost 20 soldiers in the clash, while China also acknowledged unspecified casualties.

The stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) caused outrage across India with several calls for boycotts of Chinese companies and products.

The BCCI is now likely to float a tender for new IPL title sponsors as mandated by its constitution. The glitzy T20 league starts on Sept. 19 in the UAE, forced out of India due to the rising COVID-19 cases.

The new development is in stark contrast to what came out of Sunday's IPL's Governing Council meeting, where it was decided that Vivo, along with all the other sponsors, will remain on board.

This was after the BCCI had announced in June that all sponsorship deals pertaining to IPL will be reviewed in the aftermath of the clash in the Galwan Valley.

However, after Sunday's meeting, there was a huge backlash on social media about the BCCI holding on to Vivo.

Both parties then began thrashing out an amicable separation plan, at least for this season.

However, the end of this deal could spell losses for the franchises as they get a substantial share from the sponsorship pool. Half of the annual Vivo sponsorship money is distributed equally among eight franchises, which comes to Rs 27.5 crore.

"As of now, it will be very difficult for the BCCI to match the sponsorship amount at such short notice. Therefore, both BCCI and the franchises should be prepared to lose out on some money -- BCCI more but each franchise from Vivo's exit will potentially lose 15 crore," the official said.

"This year will be difficult for everyone but the show must go on," the official said.

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News Network
February 9,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 9: Defending champions India are overwhelming favourites to win a record fifth U19 World Cup title on Sunday but a tough fight is expected from first-timers Bangladesh in an all-Asian final.

If the India squad for the 2018 edition had the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill, who have expectedly gone on to play for the senior team, the exploits of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, spinner Ravi Bishnoi and pacer Kartik Tyagi in the current edition have made them overnight stars.

Irrespective of what happens in the final, India have reinforced the fact that they are undisputed leaders at the under-19 level and the cricketing structure the BCCI has developed is working better than any other board in the world.

India, who walloped arch-rivals Pakistan by 10 wickets in the semifinal Tuesday, will be playing their seventh final since 2000 when they lifted the trophy for the first time.

Having said that, success at the U-19 level doesn’t guarantee success at the highest level as not all players have the ability to go on and play for India. Some also lose their way like Unmukt Chand did after leading India to the title in 2012.

His career promised so much back then but now it has come to a stage where he is struggling to make the eleven in Uttarakhand’s Ranji Trophy team, having shifted base from Delhi last year.

Only the exceptionally talented like Shaw and Gill get to realise their dream as the competition is only getting tougher in the ever-improving Indian cricket.

India probably is the only side which fields a fresh squad in every U-19 World Cup edition and since there is no dearth of talent and a proper structure is in place, the talent keeps coming up.

“The fact that we allow a cricketer to play the U-19 World Cup only once is a big reason behind the team’s success. While most teams have cricketers who have played in the previous edition,” India U-19 fielding coach Abhay Sharma said from Potchefstroom.

“It just goes to show that the system under the visionary leadership of Rahul Dravid (NCA head) is flourishing. Credit to BCCI as well that other teams want to follow our structure.”

Heading to the mega event, India colts played about 30-odd games in different part of the world. To get used to the South African conditions, they played a quadrangular series before they played their World Cup opener against Sri Lanka.

In the final, India run into Bangladesh, a team which too has reaped the benefits of meticulous planning since their quarterfinal loss at the 2018 edition.

Though the Priyam Garg-led Indian side got the better of them in the tri-series in England and Asia Cup last year, Bangladesh has always come up with a fight and fielding coach Sharma expects it would be no different Sunday.

They are a very good side. There is a lot of mutual respect. I can tell you that,” he said.

Considering it is their maiden final, it is a bigger game for Bangladesh. If they win, it will be sweet revenge against the sub-continental giants, who have found a way to tame Bangladesh at the senior level in close finals including the 2018 Nidahas Trophy and 2016 World T20.

“We don’t want to take unwanted pressure. India is a very good side. We have to play our ‘A’ game and do well in all three departments. Our fans are very passionate about their cricket. I would want to tell them, keep supporting us,” said Bangladesh skipper Akbar Ali after their semifinal win over New Zealand.

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News Network
July 14,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: Indian bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who features in the list of A category players released by BCCI, has revealed his first-ever paycheck.

Bhuvneshwar was participating in a question and answer session on Twitter where he gave his take on fans' queries.

The 30-year-old bowler was asked about his first paycheck by a fan and Bhuvneshwar responded by saying, "It was for Rs 3000. I shopped and still managed to saved some."

During the question and answer session Bhuvneshwar picked Barcelona striker Lionel Messi over Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The right-arm bowler also revealed that football and badminton are his favourite sports other than cricket.

Earlier this year, Bhuvneshwar was named in the list A category of players. BCCI had released the list of centrally contracted players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020. Annually, A category players get Rs 5 crore.

The right-arm bowler would have been in action for Sunrisers Hyderabad if the Indian Premier League (IPL) had commenced from March 29. However, the tournament was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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