The Indian Panorama

Tag: BCCI

  • Sreesanth confesses to spot-fixing

    Sreesanth confesses to spot-fixing

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Rajasthan Royals pacer S Sreesanth on May 17 confessed to spot-fixing in the domestic T20 league. “Sreesanth has confessed to spot-fixing. He was teary eyed during interrogation,” a Delhi Police official said. Cricketer Ankit Chavan was the first to accept his role in spot-fixing during questioning by the Delhi Police which secured the five-day custody of the players and 11 bookies arrested from various locations on May 16. The third player, Ajit Chandila, is yet to accept the charges. Chandila is also learnt to have approached two more domestic T20 league players to be part of the spot fixing. At a club in Manesar, he had named two players who could be roped in for the betting deal. The bookies had asked him to bring them to a party where the deal could be discussed. And when the two cricketers refused to attend the party, he contacted Ankit Chavan who agreed to be part of the deal.

    The arrest of more players in the spot-fixing racket can’t be ruled out, joint commissioner of Mumbai Police Himanshu Roy told a news channel. He said the involvement of the Dawood Ibrahim network was possible and the investigations will be heading in that direction. Tamil Nadu police meanwhile arrested six more bookies during raids on Thursday night and Friday morning, taking the total number of arrested bookies to 17. Country’s premier cricketing body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India, suspended Gujarat pacer Amit Singh who, during his stint with Rajasthan Royals, had been allegedly used by the bookies to fix deals with cricketers. BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said its working committee will discuss the arrest of the three cricketers at an emergency meeting on Sunday.

  • I’ve Made Mistakes, Have Learnt From Them: Harbhajan Singh

    I’ve Made Mistakes, Have Learnt From Them: Harbhajan Singh

    CHENNAI (TIP): The little Sardar whohad Greg Blewett’s off bail flying high 15years ago in Bangalore with a doosra hascome a long way.Harbhajan Singh still remembers hisfirst wicket in Test cricket, as if ithappened yesterday, but there’s no time forhim to delve into nostalgia. The Turbanatoris finally playing his 100th Test match andhe knows if he is not firing straight away,he might not be playing his 101st.

    When somebody asked whether he islooking to recreate the magic of 2001, Bhajjismiled. “There’s no point thinking about itanymore. It was a once-in-a-lifetime series.But yes, I will give my best, but whether Iget 32 wickets or 23, it’s another matter,”Harbhajan said.The off-spinner has seen quite a few upsand downs in his career and is now wiserfor that. “I had made a few mistakes in lifebut I learnt a lot from this roller-coasterride that I had. I have played with so manygreat players — Sachin, Ganguly, Dravid -and they taught me never to give up,” Bhajjisaid, talking about the journey.

    Kumble, too came up for discussionand the offie, with 408 Test wickets, said:”Obviously it was great to have Kumbleon the other side. One thing about himwhich really stood out was his intensity.Even if he was bowling the 30th over, heused to come with the same gusto andthat’s what pushed me as well.”The conversation veered back to his100th Test and the feisty sardar didn’t mindsaying that he would be a bit nervous tostart with.”But once it starts, I think I will befine and look to enjoy the occasion.”He is no longer an automatic choicein the team and does that bother him?Harbhajan smiled again. “Why third? Idon’t mind being the fourth spinnereither, as long as I am playing forIndia.”

    BCCI congrats offie, wants 2001 encore

    The BCCI wants Harbhajan to regain the form of the 2001 series when he bamboozled the Aussies with a bagful of wickets. “Congratulations @harbhajan_singh on playing his 100th Test tomorrow. Let this series be an encore of 2001. Good luck!” BCCI tweeted on February 22, confirming the news of his selection in the playing XI.

  • Sahara Wants Pune Warriors India To Be Based Out Of Kanpur

    Sahara Wants Pune Warriors India To Be Based Out Of Kanpur

    CHENNAI (TIP): Sahara has expressed its desire to the Indian cricket board (BCCI) to move its Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Pune Warriors India, out of the western city due to ongoing tensions between franchise bosses and the Maharashtra Cricket Association. It is understood that members of the PWI management, who were in Chennai during the IPL auctions on Feb 3, have asked the BCCI mandarins that they want their franchise to be based out of Kanpur.

    According to Sahara sources, it is 80% certain that they “won’t play their matches in Pune”. There are, however, some logistical problems regarding Kanpur. Even though a section of the Sahara management is confident that the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur can become their new venue, the fact that it doesn’t have an airport might make things a little difficult. “The nearest airport is in Lucknow and it’s two hours away from Kanpur.

    So, it will be difficult even for the TV crew,” a source said. Therefore, a few other names like Nagpur, Rajkot, Ahmedabad and DY Patil are also being discussed. It is learnt that the name of the franchise might not be changed right away. “It’s not easy to build a brand.

    So they might go slow on the renaming of the franchise,” the source added. There has been a long-standing problem between Sahara and the MCA with the former moving Bombay HC against MCA for “wrongful termination of agreements” with regards to the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune.

    Pune sign J&K’s Rasool
    Pune have signed J&K off-spinner Parvez Rasool for the forthcoming IPL season. Rasool took 7-45 for Board President’s XI against Australia and has been snapped up by the franchise in an effort to boost its spin attack. “He is a bowling allrounder and we feel he can play an important role for us,” a Pune source said. Rasool will be the first player from J&K to play in the IPL.

  • Is Rest Doing Virat Kohli Any Good?

    Is Rest Doing Virat Kohli Any Good?

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Has the BCCI missed a trick by not including Virat Kohli in the Rest of India squad for the Irani Cup, or even the India A and Board President’s XI teams which play warm-up matches against Australia? Kohli, arguably India’s brightest new-generation batting hope, hasn’t exactly been in sparkling form this season and a stint in either of these teams could have served him well ahead of the crucial Tests against Australia. Denied match practice by the Indian cricket board, Kohli is now simulating match situations and making crucial technical adjustments ahead of the Tests by training here under long time coach Rajkumar Sharma.

    Although his ODI career so far has been spectacular – he won the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2012 – Kohli is aware that doubts remain about his ability to replicate that success in the longer format. Worryingly, his consistency has dipped across formats in recent times: since the unbeaten 128 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in July 2012, he has only two scores above 30 from nine ODIs, including the 77 not out against England in Ranchi.

    In Tests, he got a hundred against England in Nagpur but that knock came after a string of low scores. After a good series against the Kiwis last August, his sequence of scores against England read 19, 14 not out, 19, 7, 6, 20 and finally the 103 in the fourth Test. “It would have been good if he had played in some of the warm-up matches. It was BCCI’s choice. That decision had nothing to do with us,” Sharma told TOI. “Maybe the rest will do him good. Here in the academy, we are simulating Test-match situations.

    I tell Kohli about field placements, like three slips, a gully, even a forward short-leg and he has to adjust his shots accordingly. “We are also working on him leaving a lot of deliveries. Virat tends to push at the ball in ODIs but for the Tests, he has to get rid of the habit. He is a tough guy and a hard worker. He knows he needs a slight temperamentshift for Tests.

    He is focusing on staying longer at the crease, yet scoring briskly.” Former India opener Aakash Chopra, Kohli’s former teammate in the Delhi Ranji team, says the batsman must learn to deal with patches of indifferent form. “He has some technical glitches and there will be stages in his career when Kohli will go through bad form. For example, he has a short, back-andacross forward stride which makes him susceptible to balls that are pitched fuller and moving. More than the Irani Cup, where the quality of Mumbai’s bowling isn’t very good, Kohli and Gautam Gambhir both should have been played in the warmup matches.” Former India all-rounder Madan Lal agrees the BCCI didn’t give this too much thought but is hopeful Kohli will hit form against Australia. “Kohli has the right ideas. I don’t know if he needed rest.

    People groomed on the longer format find it less difficult to adjust to shorter formats. But with so much ODIs and T20 being played, younger international batsmen these days have to consciously make changes for Tests, which is not easy. So the more you play, the better it is.” Every batsman goes through bad form, but the very best can shrug it off sooner than the others. Can Kohli afford another patchy series against Australia?

  • Selection controversy: Now, Srikkanth slams Amarnath for ‘divulging secrets’

    Selection controversy: Now, Srikkanth slams Amarnath for ‘divulging secrets’

    Former chief selector of Indian cricket team Krishnamachari Srikkanth on Thursday sought to put an end to the controversy over Mahendra Singh Dhoniâ??s captaincy, claiming questions have raised after defeats but nobody gave the selectors credit when the team won the 2011 World Cup.

    Disapproving of fellow selector Mohinder Amarnath going public with details of selection committee meetings, Srikkanth said, “So many things have been happening in the last few days. I have been maintaining that whatever happens within the selection committee meeting should remain within the four walls. It’s not right to come out and talk about it.

    It’s like a company’s board meeting. “We always have detailed discussions in selection committee meetings on captaincy issues, on what to do with X player, what kind of team combination we have and we have a lot of discussion, arguments.

    But at the end of the day there is a consensus because what we are doing is for the good of the country,” he added. “Sometimes our selection clicks, sometimes it doesn’t.We are willing to take it in right spirit… It was the same selection committee which won 2011 World Cup. None of you gave credit. When we lost badly in England, Australia, I never shied away from the blame,” Srikkanth said.

    Recalling his removal as India captain after a bad show in 1989, the former opener said, “1989 was a historic series. I was thrown out of the captaincy. So many people asked me questions. I never went to the public and told anything. I just took it in the right spirit. “We should move on.

    Indian cricket is going through a tough time and I’m sure in this particular Test against England in Nagpur we will try to revive.We want India to do well,” he said, urging people to stay positive. Amarnath had stirred a major controversy saying the BCCI vetoed selectorsâ?? choices and accused the board of shielding Dhoni despite repeated failures.

  • India lacks skill to beat top teams: Rahul Drav

    India lacks skill to beat top teams: Rahul Drav

    The clamour for an overhaul in Indian cricket keeps growing. The latest to come out in scathing criticism of Team India’s lack of ability is the recently-retired Rahul Dravid, who told the BBC’s Test Match Special that MS Dhoni’s men lacked the skill to beat top teams and should be made more accountable for their on-field efforts.

    India are 1-2 down in the Test series heading into the final Test in Nagpur. “India haven’t been able to put up a fight. You can’t demand runs, but you can at least demand accountability in terms of intensity and effort,” Dravid said. “India have been poor in the field and their physical fitness is disappointing me.

    That’s not an excuse.” Dravid went on to question the ability of new Indian players. “People talk about attitude and say the players don’t care because there is too much money in the IPL… But the main thing is their lack of skill and ability, which is more worrying. It raises questions as to the talent and quality of players coming through.” Dravid, India’s second-highest run getter in Tests, raised questions about India’s cricket set-up and the feeder lines in place for the national team. He said BCCI needed to work out “how to bring through young players who have the skill, technique, temperament and desire to play Test cricket.” “One of the challenges is that our domestic cricket is not of the quality to allow players to seamlessly move into international cricket.

    England have put a mirror up to Indian cricket and shown them the challenges that they face,” he added. “Having ‘A’ tours and the academy system is becoming more and more important. I think England have been pretty good with that in the way that the academy travels every winter to different parts of the world. I think that is something India can learn from England,” Dravid said, pointing out that “lessons need to be learned from this series.” The recently-retired batsman said India had been out bowled in the spin department. “That’s a worrying sign because spin has been our strength,” Dravid said.

  • Pujara, Yuvraj lift india past 400

    Pujara, Yuvraj lift india past 400

    AHMEDABAD (TIP): For India, this was a morning of immense satisfaction. For the connoisseur, there was the sight of a stately young batsman, Cheteshwar Pujara, completing a second Test century. For the romantics, there was the uplifting sight of Yuvraj Singh, back in Test cricket after treatment for cancer, marking his return with an unbeaten half-century. For England, there was nothing at all.

    ‘Nothing’ hurt. Nothing meant a ball that refused to deviate, in the air or off the ground, for spin and seam alike, in a session in which India’s first innings moved inexorably past 400. Eighty-seven runs were added in the morning session at a rate of 2.81 runs per over, and the unbroken fifthwicket stand swelled to 127.

    This was a Test with an old-fashioned feel; it had a faster scoring rate than many of yore admittedly, but it was a Test in which India’s domination was not expressed noisily, yet seeped into England’s consciousness. There was no DRS to excite the bowlers, no replays to watch, no balltracking technology on show to update cricket by giving it a sense of a computer game. There was just Indian accumulation, enlivened by sporadic bursts of adventure from Yuvraj. Pujara had rounded off the first day by driving Jimmy Anderson crisply through mid-off for four, a satisfying end to an accomplished day. Here, it seemed, was a batsman of poise and character. For a young player to be overnight on 98 not out, however, was bound to be unsettling and England sensed an opportunity.

    Stuart Broad allowed him a comfortable leg-side single to move to 99, and hammed up a vociferous lbw appeal for a ball pitching outside leg; Graeme Swann bowled an intelligent maiden. But he picked off another single in Broad’s next over to reach his second Test hundred and celebrated with a quiet air of contentment.Stuart Broad allowed him a comfortable leg-side single to move to 99, and hammed up a vociferous lbw appeal for a ball pitching outside leg; Graeme Swann bowled an intelligent maiden. But he picked off another single in Broad’s next over to reach his second Test hundred and celebrated with a quiet air of contentment.

    It was a restrained celebration to mark a restrained innings, characterised by subtle placement and a sober mind. How England must have been cursing Anderson’s inexplicable misjudgement when Pujara was 8, dashing forward too far at mid-on as he misjudged the flight of Pujara’s leading edge against Tim Bresnan. The decline in England’s fielding has been marked for some time and, as Anderson showed again, it is afflicting both the best and the worst. If Pujara celebrated his hundred with a ringing ondrive against Swann for four, Yuvraj, seemed even more uplifted by his young partner’s success. Yuvraj’s skip down the pitch to strike Swann straight for six was the shot of the morning and was followed by a sweep that fell short of six by inches. Fifteen came from the over; if India broke Swann, England really were in trouble.

    England had called for the new ball four overs before the end of play on the opening day and, just as it had the previous evening, it passed without consequence. Swann had a lengthy bowl with it and had one half-decent lbw appeal against Pujara when he padded one away, a triple-decker appeal delivered on full, desperate crouch. Broad, who already looks irritated by the absence of DRS, and this is only the second day of the series, had a few shouts which served only to work off his frustration. The BCCI, which seems to like feeling in control of its product, does not just oppose DRS, it disallows the showing of Hawk Eye on its TV coverage. Covering the tour back in England after a payment dispute, Sky TV’s commentators were having a sneaky look at Hawk Eye at the back of the box. They muttered quietly that the umpires were having a good day. If Swann posed England’s greatest threat, Samit Patel was an inconsequential second spinner. His place at No. 6 is justified by his adroitness against spin but, in this Test, his own left-arm slows looked unthreatening, slightly round-arm. Yuvraj, as a left-hander, had an appetite for them. He struck him over midwicket to reach his fifty and soon afterwards lofted him straight for six.

  • Ashwin’s gain is Harbhajan’s pain

    Ashwin’s gain is Harbhajan’s pain

    Mumbai (TIP): Rising off-spinner R. Ashwin on Friday replaced out-of-form senior tweaker Harbhajan Singh in the top bracket of BCCI’s list of central retainership contracts, while struggling pacer Ishant Sharma was also demoted from Grade A to B.

    Harbhajan and Ishant have spent the better part of this year out of the team struggling for form in whatever chances they have been handed.

    The 26-year-old Ashwin, on the other hand, has played eight Tests since making his debut in November last year, grabbing 49 wickets. In the recent home series against New Zealand, he had taken 18 wickets in two Tests.
    In the ODIs, he has scalped 56 wickets in 40 matches. The Chennai-bowler has 12 wickets from his 15 Twenty20 International appearances.

    The elite Grade A features nine players this year, three down from the last season, according to a press release issued by the BCCI.

    With the retired duo of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman out of the equation Ashwin was only new name in the top bracket, the players in which are paid an annual retainership of Rs 1 crore.

    The likes of veteran Sachin Tendulkar, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the struggling opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan retained their Grade A contracts.

    The in-form Virat Kohli, middle-order batsman Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh completed the top category, all three retaining their contracts.

    In Grade B, the BCCI has offered contracts to eight players, three more than last season with batsman Rohit Sharma being the only one to have retained his contract.

    Pacer Irfan Pathan, who is on a comeback trail after quite some while in the wilderness, has been given a contract along with young players such as Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav, all of whom have been elevated from Grade C.

    The players in Grade B are entitled an annual retainership of Rs 50 lakh.

    In the Grade C list, a demoted Ravindra Jadeja has replaced off-colour pacer S Sreesanth. All-rounder Yousuf Pathan, pacers L Balaji and Ashok Dinda have come in replacing the likes of Jaydev Unadkat.

    In all, the BCCI has offered contracts to 37 players, which is the same as last year.

    The list of BCCI contracted players:

    Grade A: Sachin Tendulkar, M S Dhoni, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin.

    Grade B: Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Irfan Pathan, Umesh Yadav.

    Grade C: Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Vinay Kumar, Munaf Patel, Abhimanyu Mithun, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha, Parthiv Patel, Manoj Tiwary, S Badrinath, Piyush Chawla, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Sharma, Varun Aaron, Abhinav Mukund, Ashok Dinda, Yusuf Pathan, Praveen Kumar, L Balaji.

  • Amarnath dropped from selection committee, Patil new head

    Amarnath dropped from selection committee, Patil new head

    MUMBAI (TIP): Mohinder Amarnath, widely predicted to be the next chairman of selectors, has been dropped from the selection committee following its reconstitution on September 28.

    Sandeep Patil, Amarnath’s World Cup winning team-mate, is the new chairman of selectors, and Vikram Rathour is his replacement from North Zone. Roger Binny from South Zone, Saba Karim from East Zone, and Rajinder Hans from Central Zone make up the rest of the committee. The decision was taken at the BCCI’s 83rd AGM in Mumbai. Ever since Amarnath joined the committee last year, it was widely assumed that he would take over from outgoing chairman Kris Srikkanth, but there had been murmurs of a falling-out between Amarnath and the board.

    One of the reasons believed to be behind Amarnath’s ouster is his being a resident of Mumbai; state associations from North Zone were reported to be unhappy because it prevented him from spending enough time watching young cricketers in the North Zone.

    The board chief, N Srinivasan, though, refused to divulge reasons for Amarnath’s exclusion. He said that the contract of selectors is reviewed annually, and by no means was Amarnath assured a four-year term. “The term of the selector is maximum of four years, to be elected annually,” Srinivasan said. “This is BCCI’s decision, and that is not a subject of public discussion.

    The fact is, the BCCI possibly wanted a new-look selection committee, which is what they have [now].” Patil’s name was a bit of a surprise because former India quick Abey Kuruvilla was considered a certainty from the West Zone. Srinivasan said the board felt a need for a big name as the chairman. “We wanted a person of sufficient stature, a tall man. I think he fits that need.” Patil played 29 Tests and 45 ODIs for India in the 1980s, and was a middle order stalwart for Mumbai. He has also coached India, Kenya and Oman, and was most recently chairman of India’s National Cricket Academy.

    Srinivasan said Patil’s name was not picked out of a hat overnight. “There is a process of consultation,” he said. “We went through that consultation. It is not as if the process went on this morning only.

    The process has been on for some time. There has been extensive consultation among board members for some time.” For Patil this is a transfer from Bangalore, where he was the chairman of the National Cricket Academy. Also from Bangalore comes Binny, a medium- pace bowling all rounder, who was part of the 1983 World Cup-winning side.