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
March 12,2020

Miami, Mar 12: The NBA has suspended its season "until further notice" after a Utah Jazz player tested positive Wednesday for the coronavirus, a move that came only hours after the majority of the league's owners were leaning toward playing games without fans in arenas.

Now there will be no games at all, at least for the time being. A person with knowledge of the situation said the Jazz player who tested positive was center Rudy Gobert. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the league nor the team confirmed the test.

"The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight's schedule of games until further notice,'' the league said in a statement sent shortly after 9:30 p.m. EDT. "The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.''

The test result, the NBA said, was reported shortly before the scheduled tip-off time for the Utah at Oklahoma City game on Wednesday night was called off. Players were on the floor for warmups and tip-off was moments away when they were told to return to their locker rooms. About 30 minutes later, fans were told the game was postponed ``due to unforeseen circumstances."

Shutdown for two weeks?

Those circumstances were the league's worst-case scenario for now -- a player testing positive. A second person who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity said the league expects the shutdown to last a minimum of two weeks, but cautioned that time-frame is very fluid.

"It's a very serious time right now," Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I think the league moved appropriately and prudently and we'll all just have to monitor the situation and see where it goes from here."

The Jazz released a statement saying a player -- they did not identify Gobert -- tested negative earlier Wednesday for flu, strep throat and an upper respiratory infection. That player's symptoms diminished as the day went along, but the decision was made to test for COVID-19 anyway. That test came back with a preliminary positive result.

"The individual is currently in the care of health officials in Oklahoma City," the Jazz said, adding that updates would come as appropriate.

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News Network
January 20,2020

Jan 20: Both Steve Smith and Rohit Sharma made sparkling centuries in Bengaluru, but it was the Indian who finished on the winning side, leading his team to a 2-1 series win.

Smith, having run out his captain Aaron Finch early on, dug in to bring up his ninth ODI century, his 131 off 132 balls setting India a target of 287 on Sunday, 19 January. Continuing the dazzling display of batting at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, Rohit struck 119 in 128 balls, and skipper Virat Kohli chipped in with 89, as the hosts chased down the target with seven wickets to spare in 47.3 overs.

With Shikhar Dhawan hurting his shoulder in the fifth over of the day and sidelined for the rest of the match, Rohit was reunited with KL Rahul – who had a chance to open the innings after coming in at No.3 and No.5 in the first two matches, while also standing in as wicket-keeper. The vice-captain was on the ball right away, dominating the scoring as India raced to 61/0 in the first 10 overs.

The introduction of spin gave Australia a vital breakthrough: Ashton Agar trapped Rahul in front on review, and although the new pair of Rohit and Kohli weren't unduly troubled, the run-rate slowed down. Josh Hazlewood, playing his first ODI in India and his first match in the format in 14 months, was especially miserly, conceding just 10 runs in his first five overs.

But, having settled in, the duo built a useful partnership of 137 and gave themselves the chance to hit out with wickets in hand. The part-time bowling of Finch and Marnus Labuschagne was punished, Rohit lapping up the short balls and sending them soaring into the stands. His century, his eighth against Australia, came with a single to third man.

Zampa finally got the breakthrough, having him caught in the deep going for another big one. But with Kohli having loosened his arms with a couple of beautiful fours off Pat Cummins to go past his half-century, India remained on course.

The skipper missed out on a hundred, but with Shreyas Iyer too clearing the ropes, there were no hurdles as India wrapped up an entertaining series win.

Earlier, the Indian bowlers struggled to find their lines after Australia chose to bat, but Australia weren't able to fully capitalise. David Warner was thrown by the movement to nick Mohammed Shami to the wicket-keeper, while Finch was caught short after Smith pulled out of a run, to leave the hosts at 46/2.

Labuschagne and Smith, though, combined for another special partnership, going at a brisk rate and showing delectable timing against spin. They had guided their side to 173 in the 32nd over when the a sharp piece of fielding from the home captain and strong bowling pulled things back.

Kohli, at cover, plucked a drive from Labuschagne soon after the batsman had reached his maiden fifty. Ravindra Jadeja had his second of the over when the experiment to send Mitchell Starc at No.5 lasted just three balls.

Alex Carey gave Smith company as he brought up a well-earned century, having fallen just short the previous game. The former skipper stepped up the scoring once he crossed three figures, a wristy helicopter six over deep square leg the highlight of his innings. But, excellent death bowling by Shami, who finished with four wickets, ensured the tourists were kept to under 300 – a total that proved below par.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

New Delhi, Feb 7: It was on February 7, 1999, that Anil Kumble became just the second bowler in the history of cricket to take all ten wickets in an innings of a Test match.

He achieved the feat against Pakistan at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, now known as Arun Jaitley cricket stadium in Delhi during the second Test of the two-match series.

India had set Pakistan a target of 420 runs in the match and the visitors got off to a steady start as openers Shahid Afridi and Saeed Anwar put on 101 runs for the first wicket.

It was then Kumble who came into the attack and wreaked havoc on the Pakistani batting line-up.

The spinner, also known as 'Jumbo' first dismissed Afridi (41) in the 25th over. After the right-handed batter's dismissal, India kept on taking wickets through Kumble and Pakistan was reduced to 128/6 in no time.

Kumble then kept on taking wickets at regular intervals and he got his tenth scalp in the 61st over after dismissing Wasim Akram.

This effort enabled India to register a win by 212 runs, and Kumble became the second bowler after England's Jim Laker to take all ten wickets in a single Test inning.

Kumble finished with the bowling figures of 10-74 from 26.3 overs.

Kumble announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008 and finished with 619 wickets in the longest format of the game.

He has the third-highest number of wickets in Tests, only behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia's Shane Warne (708).

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