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Supreme Court refuses to grant BCCI access to audio recordings of Srini and Dhoni's depositions before Mudgal committee

April 12, 2014

Supreme_BCCINew Delhi, Apr 12: The BCCI on Friday suffered a major blow ahead of the crucial hearing in the IPL betting-fixing case on April 16, with Supreme Court refusing to direct justice Mukul Mudgal committee to hand over to it audio tapes of depositions of India captain MS Dhoni and Board president N Srinivasan.

BCCI lawyer Aryama Sundaram vehemently argued before a bench of justice AK Patnaik and JS Khehar that they desperately needed the tapes before the hearing on April 16 when the court will continue hearing on plea for action against Srinivasan and Dhoni for their alleged involvement in the bettingfixing and further scrutinise their roles.

"We needed the audio recordings to prepare ourselves before the hearing on April 16. Only then we can satisfy your lordships regarding various aspects raised by opposite parties in the court and also to answer the questions which will be asked by the bench," Sundaram told the bench.

But Justice Patnaik retorted: "We will take up the plea on April 16 and if we feel that you need the tapes for your defence we shall adjourn the hearing by a day or two. At present we are not inclined to entertain the plea."

When BCCI sought the tapes, the lawyer of Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) secretary Aditya Verma submitted that the Board cannot seek copies of the transcripts on behalf of Srinivasan and Dhoni.

"How does the BCCI have the locus standi to ask for the tapes on the behalf of Srinivasan and Dhoni," Verma's lawyer Ajeet Sinha told the court.

He submitted that if the transcripts are supplied to BCCI then those should also be given to the CAB. BCCI had also sought the transcripts of statements by Sundar Raman, the Chief Operating Officer of IPL.

The bench had on the previous date of hearing on March 27 directed Srinivasan to keep away from the affairs of the BCCI till investigations against him was over and appointed former captain Sunil Gavaskar as the working president for IPL.

Former Test player Shivlal Yadav has been asked to look after the other affairs of the Board. It is to be noted that the Mudgal panel which probed into the spot fixing and betting in last year's edition of IPL stated: "MS Dhoni, N Srinivasan and officials of India Cements took the stand that Mr. Meiyappan [son in law of Srinivasan] had nothing to do with the cricketing affairs of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and was a mere "cricket enthusiast" supporting CSK."

It is these very comments that the BCCI wanted to verify from the tapes.

The panel which went deep into the malice of fixing and betting issues found that Meiyappan had placed bets, which was an offence as a team official had shared confidential information.

The court had said the panel was right in terming as "serious" the questions being raised on conflict of interest in Srinivasan being the BCCI president and CEO of India Cements when his son-inlaw Meiyappan is under a cloud.

Dhoni's name had cropped up for the first time on March 27.

Senior lawyer Harish Salve who represented petitioner Verma, the petitioner in the case who demanded a probe into the scandal argued that Dhoni was "corrupt" as he indulged in "cover up" and "gave false statement" before the Mudgal committee regarding the role of Meiyappan with the CSK.

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News Network
February 14,2020

Los Angeles, Feb 14: Tributes to the late Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers legend who died last month in a helicopter crash, will play a major role in Sunday's 69th NBA All-Star Game.

This year's annual showcase of league talent will be played in Chicago and feature numerous nods to Bryant, a five-time NBA champion who also matched a league record with four NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player awards.

Bryant, an 18-time NBA All-Star, died at age 41 on January 26 in a crash near Los Angeles that also took the life of his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.

All-Star teams guided by LeBron James of the Lakers and Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks will compete to win each of the first three quarters, which will all start 0-0 and last 12 minutes.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the clock will be turned off and a final target score will be established by taking the leading club's cumulative score through the first three quarters and adding 24 points -- the number representing the jersey number worn by Bryant for the final 10 seasons of his NBA career.

The first team to reach the cumulative target score will win the NBA All-Star Game.

All-Star Game jerseys will also honor Bryant and his daughter.

Team Giannis players will wear jersey number 24 in tribute to Kobe while Team LeBron players will wear jersey number two, the number his daughter wore when playing youth basketball.

Both teams will wear jersey patches displaying nine stars, representing the nine people who were killed in the crash.

Academy Award-winning actress and Grammy Award-winning singer Jennifer Hudson, a Chicago native, will perform a special tribute to Bryant, his daughter and the others who were killed in the crash. Her performance will begin the night ahead of the player introductions.

James and Antetokounmpo each chose their squads from available starters and reserves voted and selected to the All-Star contest.

Team LeBron starters will include James, his Lakers teammate Anthony Davis, NBA scoring leader James Harden of Houston, Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers and Slovenian guard Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks.

Team Giannis starters include the Greek big man, Cameroon stars Joel Embiid of Philadelphia and Pascal Siakam of Toronto and guards Kemba Walker of Boston and Trae Young of Atlanta.

A record eight All-Star Game players from outside the United States also include Frenchman Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz on Team Giannis and Team LeBron reserves Ben Simmons of Australia and the Philadelphia 76ers, Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis of Indiana and Serbian Nikola Jokic of Denver.

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Agencies
January 5,2020

Mumbai, Jan 5: All-rounder Irfan Pathan on Saturday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, ending an injury-ridden career that prevented him from realising his true potential.

The 35-year-old's retirement was on expected lines, considering he last played a competitive game in February 2019 during the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy for Jammu and Kashmir.

He did not even put himself in the IPL auction pool, last month.

The left-arm seamer's bowling was like a breath of fresh air when he made his India debut against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in 2003.

He never had express pace but his natural ability to swing the ball into the right-handers got him instant success, also drawing comparisons with the great Kapil Dev.

It seemed India had found the all-rounder they were looking for since Kapil left the scene. Pathan, who last played for India in October 2012, featured in 29 Tests (1105 runs and 100 wickets), 120 ODIs (1544 runs and 173 wickets) and 24 T20 Internationals (172 runs and 28 wickets).

He was part of the victorious Indian team at the 2007 World Twenty20 and was the man-of-the-match in the final against Pakistan.

One of his best performances came on the tour of Pakistan in 2006 when he became the second Indian after Harbhajan Singh to take a Test hat-trick, removing Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yusuf during the Karachi game.

He also played a big role in India winning a Test match against Australia on a tough Perth wicket, which offered steep bounce.

Injuries and lack of form troubled him thereafter and his ability to swing the ball deteriorated.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New Delhi, Aug 4: Former India women's team captain Anjum Chopra firmly believes that the BCCI has a plan for women's cricket but she wants the Board to communicate its ideas more specifically.

Speaking to news agency, Chopra, who is now a successful broadcaster, said the BCCI is thinking in earnest about the progress of women's cricket.

"It's not that the BCCI is not thinking about women's cricket. I only think they need to be more specific in communication about women's cricket," Chopra said.

"I firmly believe that they must be thinking about women's cricket but the communication all this while has been very specific to men's cricket."

The latest trigger for criticism of BCCI was India's withdrawal from a tour of England in September owing to logistical issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chopra concedes it was "not nice" but Indian players' participation in the women's IPL, in November, will still be useful preparation for next year's ODI World Cup.

"It is heartening to see women's cricket making headlines. They should have been a part of that England tour and it did not feel nice initially but the women's IPL, irrespective of the format, will be helpful for World Cup preparations. Any form of cricket is good preparation," Chopra said.

"Missing out on a tournament is not nice, but logistically there may have been issues. And you can't send an under-prepared team."

"If you see in isolation we may have missed out on an opportunity to play in England. The more the girls play the better it is, before playing a tournament of the stature of World Cup. The assurance from the president is a very good thing."

Chopra welcomed the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI's decision to hold the women's event in the UAE alongside the IPL, which will run from September 19 to November 10. The women's IPL will coincide with the business end of the men's league.

"I am definitely happy, it's always nice to be part of any cricket anywhere across the world.

"They should have been nearing the final stages of the preparation for the World Cup by now, but because of the pandemic things did not go as planned," she added.

Chopra had a successful international career spanning over 17 years, during which she represented India in a record six World Cups and became the first woman cricketer to appear in 100 One-day Internationals.

She also felt that the pandemic would not have much impact on the women's game that has gained momentum in recent times.

"...Cricket was on pause button...Once cricket resumes and players are back on the park, everything is going to get picked up. It might take some time to get started as everything starts from zero...

"The awareness the women's game has created, I hope it stays. They will just restart, not start after the pandemic."

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