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Rohit Sharma dazzled the senses, Harbhajan Singh sucker-punched with three wickets in an over, and Mumbai Indians hustled on the field to go around a sublime S Badrinath and clinch a well-fought win at the Wankhede Stadium

The Bulletin by Sriram Veera22-Apr-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRohit Sharma lifted Mumbai with his 87•AFP

Rohit Sharma dazzled the senses, Harbhajan Singh sucker-punched with three wickets in an over, and Mumbai Indians hustled on the field to go around a sublime S Badrinath and clinch a well-fought win at the Wankhede Stadium.Though Badrinath batted with so much serenity under pressure that he eclipsed Rohit’s knock on the elegance scale, he was left with too much to do on his own. And in the end overs, he looked a forlorn figure in the middle, hardly getting the strike as his team-mates succumbed meekly.Badrinath tried his best, though. His first scoring shot – a gorgeous off-driven boundary against Munaf Patel of the third ball he faced, set the tone for the night but it was the late cuts that really caught the eye. In the seventh over, he caressed Harbhajan Singh to third man and in the ninth over, he glided Rohit Sharma to backward point boundary. He even lofted Rohit for a pretty six – with the high front elbow and a graceful swing of the bat – over long-off in the same over. He pulled down the shutter briefly to consolidate after the fall of Michael Hussey and MS Dhoni before he opened up again in the end overs.With 59 runs required from 37 balls, Badrinath sashayed to the leg side and laced an excellent square drive off Lasith Malinga to close the gap. The situation turned grim again as S Anirudha, who had pulled Kieron Pollard for a six, swung a full toss from Harbhajan Singh to deep midwicket to leave Chennai needing 42 from 24 deliveries.It was an over later that Harbhajan, who had earlier lured Suresh Raina into hitting a return catch, killed the contest with a triple strike. He slipped one past the attempted slog-sweep to bowl Albie Morkel, lured R Ashwin to hole out to long-on, and induced Joginder Sharma to top-edge a slog. Badrinath kept up with the fight, even getting a six in the final over, but Chennai’s fight had evaporated into the Mumbai night during that Harbhajan over.Before Badrinath’s sensuous knock, Rohit Sharma owned the evening. He collected three boundaries in his first four deliveries, never looked back from then on and charged Mumbai Indians to a competitive 164. Big hitters usually pulverise the opposition with violence but Rohit seems to caress them to submission.When Sachin Tendulkar fell in the fourth over with Mumbai on 13 for 2 and with the ball jagging around, Chennai had a great chance to strangle the hosts but they were thwarted by Rohit’s belligerence and let down by their bowlers. Rohit was involved in a 61-run partnership with the enterprising Ambati Rayudu and a brutal 87-run stand in 8.1 overs with Andrew Symonds but it was his imprints that lay all over the Wankhede.Sometimes, you just need a shot or two to get going. Rohit entered the scene after Tendulkar was done for pace and bounce by a sharp lifter but got two gift-wrapped boundary deliveries from Doug Bollinger to kick start his innings. He creamed two over-pitched deliveries to the point boundary and all of a sudden, venom evaporated out of Chennai’s bowling. Even Albie Morkel, who was menacing until then, slipped a half-volley on the legs and Rohit collected his third boundary in just four deliveries.A potentially nervy settling-in period in seamer-friendly conditions had turned into an imperious start and Rohit never looked back, unfurling an array of dazzling shots. He crashed a length delivery from Joginder Sharma over long-on before he was involved in a mini-contest with Suraj Randiv. The off breaks, the doosras, and the topspinners came swirling down and Rohit started to caress and steer his way out of trouble. He glided one to backward point boundary, late cut another to third man and nonchalantly lifted another over extra cover.He brought up his fifty and Mumbai’s 100 in the 15th over with a six over long-off against Randiv and the floodgates were well and truly open. With Mumbai on 107 for 3 in 15 overs, Dhoni turned to Joginder. Mistake. Rohit flayed a length ball to point boundary and shuffled across to pull another to square-leg boundary. That was the start for more imperious innovations.He paddle-scooped a low full toss from Bollinger for a six over fine-leg before he turned brutal against Suresh Raina in the 19th over. He smote the second delivery, a gentle length ball, over wide long-on, top-edged a slog sweep for couple, and torpedoed the next delivery over cowcorner as Raina leaked 17 runs. Rohit fell in the final over, holing out to long-on, but by then he had entertained the Mumbai crowd in some style.Rohit had one more crowd-pleasing, and game-turning, moment left in the night. When Chennai needed 64 runs from 47 balls, Dhoni top-edged a swat-flick and Rohit charged in from third man and flung himself forward to pouch a stunner. It was the beginning of the end for Chennai.

It’s a contest between Ajmal Shahzad, the uncapped Yorkshire paceman, or Ryan Sidebottom to replace the injured Tim Bresnan, and the final decision will provide an insight into the selectors’ long-term planning

Andrew McGlashan at Old Trafford03-Jun-2010Assuming England don’t take everyone by surprise on Friday morning and change the balance of their side, they have just one selection poser ahead of the second Test against Bangladesh. It’s a contest between Ajmal Shahzad, the uncapped Yorkshire paceman, or Ryan Sidebottom to replace the injured Tim Bresnan, and the final decision will provide an insight into the selectors’ long-term planning.Throughout this season England are trying to increase the pool of players from which they can choose for any particular Test. It’s part of the reason behind the rotation system which has been implemented, with Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss keen to have a strong squad rather just a strong first XI. With a view to that it’s important they learn about new players, which would suggest these next five days are an ideal chance to find out about Shahzad.He has been part of the England squad since the Twenty20s against Pakistan in Dubai – where he marked his debut with two wickets in his first over before being dismantled by Abdul Razzaq at the end of the run chase – and he later made his ODI debut in Chittagong. However, he has since been overtaken on the Test scene by Steven Finn who leapfrogged him into the starting line-up for the first Test in Chittagong, only a matter of days after stepping off the plane from London.While playing Sidebottom may be a safer option – and his left-arm angle will also be tempting – the selectors won’t learn anything they don’t already know, and this may be the last chance in the near future to test Shahzad’s credentials, with Stuart Broad expected to return to face Pakistan later in the summer. Shahzad is also a like-for-like replacement for Bresnan with a first-class batting average of 32, and so would be expected to contribute usefully down the order.”With Ryan we know what we will get, he’s a very experienced campaigner, very good in English conditions, very good against left-handers and brings that different angle being a left-armer,” said England’s captain, Andrew Strauss. “Ajmal we don’t know as much about at this stage but are very excited about what we’ve seen which is why he’s been in the squad. He bowls with good pace, keeps running and can swing the ball both ways. It’s a choice between youth and experience and we have to decide what is the best way of winning this Test.”Bresnan received encouraging news after his injury was downgraded to a “stress reaction” with “no established fracture” following further scans, but his performance at Lord’s suggested he would have struggled either way to remain part of a three-man pace attack. There were occasions when England’s four-pronged unit looked light on firepower, especially with Graeme Swann having little influence on the match. Strauss is expecting more from the Old Trafford pitch, both for the quicks and the spinners, but a surface that aids the bowlers won’t do much to clear up the question of whether England need an extra option.”The balance-of-the-side issue is something we look at on a case-by-case basis but this wicket should have a bit more in it for the bowlers,” said Strauss. “Generally there’s a bit more pace and bounce and the spinner usually comes into the game a bit more so we are probably leaning towards four bowlers.”Two areas we wanted to improve were getting big hundreds, which to some extent we did with Jonathan Trott getting a double, and the second was finding ways of taking wickets when the ball isn’t doing much. I don’t think we did that as well as we could during the Test, certainly on day two and to a certain extent on day four when the sun was out and the ball wasn’t swinging. We weren’t able to apply as much pressure as we’d like and it’s an area we want to touch up on.”The pitches will be flat in Australia and the Ashes hype was notched up a few levels in Sydney on Wednesday when a selection of Australia players, including Ricky Ponting, launched the title sponsorship for the series. Strauss again admitted that the contest was never far from his mind even at the start of the English season, but that it was important not to lose focus on the present.”You have to look at a bit of both but primarily this game,” he said.
“As I said at the start of the summer it’s about winning and winning consistently then things will become clear as the summer goes on as to the personnel we need. I’d like to say we’ve half an eye on it, but the more immediate concern is this game.”

Division Two challengers wrap up win, need ten more points for return to top flight

ECB Reporters Network20-Sep-2024Yorkshire bowled Glamorgan out for 209 to win by 186 runs and put themselves on the verge of a return to Division One with one round of matches to go.A draw and a couple of bonus points in their final game at home to Northamptonshire would clinch promotion, as they lead third-placed Middlesex by 15 points, 20 behind leaders Sussex, after taking the final three Glamorgan wickets in an hour.They were relegated by a single point two years ago and were handicapped by a points deduction last season, so there is an air of determination about Yorkshire as they target a return to the top level.”We played well, we have played well for a number of weeks now,” Yorkshire head coach, Ottis Gibson, said. “This week was important for us the way Sussex keep playing, keep winning, so to lose the toss and get put in meant the way we have played in the last three-and-a-half days we fully deserved our win.”Glamorgan’s focus turns to the One-Day Cup final against Somerset at Trent Bridge on Sunday as they try to bring silverware back to Sophia Gardens this season despite their Championship form, which has seen them drop to second from bottom in the table.”That was disappointing, really gutting,” Glamorgan coach, Grant Bradburn, said. “We take the loss on the chin up against very good teams in the last couple of weeks and we have not quite been sharp enough in all aspects. We don’t want to lose, of course, but we don’t mind losing if we are putting ourselves in a position to win.”James Harris and Asa Tribe started the morning knowing they had a mountain to climb, even if the target was to survive until forecast bad weather later in the day.Yorkshire opening bowlers Ben Coad and Matthew Fisher started the day with 13 wickets between them, so it was no surprise that they continued their partnership looking for the breakthrough.They had to be patient for half an hour before Fisher was able to get one to cut away and bowl Tribe for a patient 58, a significant step forward for the 20-year-old opener as he tries to establish a place in the Glamorgan line-up.Fisher was buoyed by his success and pinned Andy Gorvin lbw a few balls later to put his team close to the finish.”I have been begging for Fish and Coad to be fit together for a period of time and to have those two taking the new ball then you know they will challenge the opposition and take wickets,” Gibson said.Harris kept plugging away at the other end as he did his best to delay the inevitable, getting more aggressive in the final wicket partnership with Ben Morris which put on 41. Inevitably the fun came to an end as Harris was clean bowled by Jordan Thompson one short of a half-century.

Bangladesh A were skittled for 96 after Vrinda Dinesh top-scored with the bat to help set a 128-run target

PTI21-Jun-2023The spin duo of Shreyanka Patil and Mannat Kashyap starred with the ball after a sedate batting effort to guide the India A team to the Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup title with a 31-run win over Bangladesh A in the final in Mong Kok.Electing to bat, India A first posted a modest 127 for 7 before the bowlers rose to the occasion with Patil (4 for 13) and Kashyap (3 for 20) sharing seven wickets between them to bundle out Bangladesh A for 96 in 19.2 overs. Off-break bowler Kanika Ahuja also chipped in with two wickets.It was complete spin-show from the Indians with off-spinner Patil and slow left-arm orthodox Kashyap ruling the roost on a slow Mission Road Ground pitch. Sobhana Mostary scored 16, while Nahida Akter remained stranded on 17 not out for Bangladesh A.Vrinda Dinesh was the top-scorer for India with 36 off just 29 balls while Ahuja remained unbeaten on 30 off 23 balls. It was a struggle for Indian batters as only four of them managed double-digit scores with Bangladesh A bowlers picking up wickets at regular intervals, not allowing India to build any substantial partnership. Besides Vrinda and Ahuja, wicketkeeper Uma Chetry (22) and skipper Shweta Sehrawat (13) were the other two Indian batters to reach double figures.For Bangladesh, slow left-arm orthodox bowler Nahida Akter (2/13) and off-spinner Sultana Khatun (2/30) picked up two wickets apiece.India progressed to the final after their semifinal against Sri Lanka was washed out without a ball being bowled on Tuesday.In a bizarre run of events, India played only one game in the run-up to the final, their opener against hosts Hong Kong, which they won by nine wickets. India’s other three matches, including the semifinal against Sri Lanka, were washed out without a ball being bowled. In fact, rain played spoilsport throughout the tournament, forcing as many as eight games to be washed out.

Australian allrounder returns for seventh season at Trent Bridge

Matt Roller15-Feb-2022Dan Christian will return to Nottinghamshire for a seventh season in 2022 after re-signing as the club’s T20 Blast captain.Christian, who will turn 39 before flying to the UK at the end of May, is among of the world’s most decorated T20 cricketers and a three-time Blast winner. He spent six consecutive seasons at Notts between 2015 and 2020, captaining them to the title in 2017 and 2020 to add to his triumph with Hampshire in 2010.He was due to play a seventh consecutive season for them in 2021 and played two second XI T20 games as a warm-up for the Blast after arriving in Nottingham, but a shock recall to Australia’s T20I set-up saw him miss the full season, instead playing on their tours against West Indies and Bangladesh.In Christian’s absence, Dane Paterson – only an occasional feature of the T20 side – was Notts’ only overseas player but they finished top of the North Group at a canter under Steven Mullaney’s captaincy. They looked set for Finals Day at 66 for 1 chasing 126 against Hampshire in the quarter-finals, but somehow collapsed to 123 all out.”It was great to see other players step up with bat and ball in Dan’s absence last season, and the team was really well led by Steven Mullaney,” Peter Moores, Notts’ head coach, said. “To now have the chance to re-add a player of Dan’s presence and quality to that group is exciting and, come the start of the Blast in late-May, we’ll be raring to go and confident of a successful campaign.”Dan’s ability, desire and passion have made him a key part of our club since his arrival in 2015, and we can’t wait to have him back with us. He’s a match-winner in his own right, and a terrific leader and example to everyone in our dressing room.”Christian said: “I’ve had great times in Nottingham over a number of years. We’ve seen some great improvements in individuals throughout that time, won a couple of comps, and Notts is a club that’s overall fantastic to be part of.”It’s really exciting to be returning to a place where I’ve made so many great memories on and off the field, and I’m looking forward to playing in front of packed houses at Trent Bridge again too. My philosophy will remain the same for 2022 – to back our ability and be positive. The ultimate aim is to get our hands back on that trophy in July.”Christian is Notts’ third overseas player registered for the 2022 season, along with Paterson and his compatriot James Pattinson. Teams are allowed to register three overseas players at any one time, with a maximum of two in their starting XI in any given competition.

Sorry Hampshire slump to fifth defeat in a row as holders keep quarter-final hopes alive

ECB Reporters Network16-Sep-2020Aron Nijjar celebrated career-best bowling figures as Vitality Blast holders Essex Eagles thrashed Hampshire by 54 runs to keep their faint quarter-final dreams alive.Left-arm spinner Nijjar ripped through a shaky Hampshire batting line-up with figures of 3 for 22, while Jack Plom celebrated his maiden professional wickets to take 2 for 18.Tom Westley had earlier clubbed his first half-century of the year, with Dan Lawrence marooned on 49, as Essex reached 168 before Hampshire could only manage 114 for 9 in response.Needing 169 to win, Hampshire’s batting was a revolving door of wickets. George Munsey attempted three reverse-sweeps off Nijjar, with the third slapped to Sam Cook at third man, who took an outrageous catch high over his head. Captain James Vince was adjudged to have tickled down leg side to fall for a golden duck, the fourth time he had departed first ball in T20s against Essex, which also handed 21-year-old fast bowler Jack Plom his first wicket on his third appearance in the format.Sam Northeast and Joe Weatherley attempted to rebuild with a stand of 16, before the former hammered straight to Matt Quinn at mid-on and Ian Holland was bowled by Sam Cook.Nijjar then dismissed Weatherley and Lewis McManus in three balls – caught and bowled and knocked back by a long hop, respectively – leaving Hampshire on 38 for 6.James Fuller pulled a rare boundary, one of 14 in the innings, but was caught by Nijjar on the midwicket boundary.Fast bowler Quinn bowled a maiden at Chris Wood in the 13th over, before Simon Harmer had the top scorer caught at cow corner for 18.Ryan Stevenson swung away to cow corner but despite Mason Crane and Shaheen Shah Afridi remaining unbeaten, the Eagles recorded back-to-back Blast wins.Having chosen to bat first, Essex used partnerships to their advantage throughout their innings on a pitch perfect for batting.Cameron Delport and Westley got them off to a solid start with 57 in the first seven overs, despite Pakistani fast bowler Afridi’s three Powerplay overs going for just 11.Delport had struck two sixes in his 31 but didn’t quite time a straight slog off Crane as Stevenson pulled off a diving catch at long-off.Westley had struck Ian Holland for three off-side boundaries before using his feet to club Stevenson over midwicket and Crane through the covers as he reached a 35-ball half-century. It was Essex’s red-ball captain’s maiden fifty of 2020, having only managed 236 runs in his previous 15 innings in all competitions.He was dropped on 50 by Afridi at deep cover, but fell having added another single, when he nicked Stevenson behind to Lewis McManus – having put on 38 with Lawrence.Michael Pepper was yorked by Wood, but Lawrence and Ryan ten Doeschate ran hard to add an unbeaten 58 in the death overs.Lawrence had thrashed an aggressive 81 against Sussex in his previous outing but was more circumspect with just one six and four boundaries in his 49 not out, while ten Doeschate contributed 29 off 20 deliveries. The score was about par, but proven much too much for the sorry hosts – who have lost five matches in a row.

‘The more I stay at the moment with the new staff coming in, when they have different ideas and I have a different idea, it’s hurting the team.’

Peter Della Penna13-Jul-2019Former USA head coach Pubudu Dassanayake has said his position as head coach became untenable after his decision-making authority was stripped back with the introduction of Kiran More as USA director of cricket at a USA T20 World Cup Qualifying squad selection camp last month in Los Angeles..”It’s basically everything. We can say it one word: freedom, to work,” Dassanayake told ESPNcricinfo when asked why he had chosen to resign immediately on Friday rather than staying on until the end of his contract in December. “It’s been cooking for awhile. Resigning is mainly a personal decision and the reason for it is in the best interests of the national team.”The more I stay at the moment with the new staff coming in, when they have different ideas and I have a different idea, it’s hurting the team. I thought me going out, the new staff will have the freedom to move forward. I hope they’ll do well and wish them well.”Dassanayake has been at the top of the totem pole in US cricket since September 2016 when he came on board as USA head coach, overseeing both the men’s and Under-19 teams at the time. As such, he had a commanding presence in squad selection and the overall direction of the national team program, helping guide USA from World Cricket League Division Four in Los Angeles in November 2016 to finally achieving ODI status earlier this year at WCL Division Two in Namibia.After achieving such a historic success, Dassanayake says he was blindsided when he showed up to June’s USA national-team camp and was introduced by Atul Rai, a USA Cricket board member and head of the cricket committee for USA Cricket, to More and Kieran Powell. Dassanayake was told by Rai that he would be reporting to More as director of cricket. Prior to that, Dassanayake had mainly worked with USA project manager Eric Parthen and officer Wade Edwards on all operational decisions while selection was done with a selection panel headed by Ricardo Powell. Instead, final selection decisions will now go through More.”I was caught a bit off guard,” Dassanayake said. “It’s hard for me to comment about them at the moment because I was outside the decision-making process in the last few weeks in the men’s team. So I don’t know how they did it. But the vision that I have and the vision that they have is two totally different roads. They can be successful. I’m not saying their visions are bad. They are good visions.”But for me, Associate cricket is different from the Full Member setup and I would like to work in an environment where trust and freedom has to be there. We have lost a bit of that part basically.”Following the selection camp in Los Angeles, Dassanayake says he had a conference call in the first week of July with More, ICC high performance manager Richard Done and ICC COO Iain Higgins, who is due to be announced as USA Cricket chief executive at the conclusion of the World Cup. But the conference call ended in a stalemate.USA coach Pubudu Dassanayake talks to the entire national squad at the end of a training session•Peter Della Penna

Dassanayake then flew with Edwards to the UK last week to have an in-person meeting with Higgins, who made one final effort to convince him to stay on as head coach. But Dassanayake says that when he left London on Thursday he had informed Higgins of his decision to step down.”I respect whatever decisions taken by the board,” Dassanayake said. “If I have to talk about myself, the success that we had in the last two and a half years is that some things we had done in a certain way to suit these tournaments to building up this team, we made it, we break it, we made it.”We did lots of experiments and shook things up a lot to get the right set up. All these things really helped and that freedom that I had was the main success. Once I see that I don’t have that freedom, it’s good for the game for USA Cricket that whoever is doing it needs to have that freedom to move forward. So that’s why I just want to move away from that and let the other group move forward.”Dassanayake also said that the recent months since USA obtained ODI status were reminiscent of his experiences while coaching Canada and Nepal. Once USA Cricket signed a licensing deal with American Cricket Enterprises, he foresaw changes coming that could possibly force him to reevaluate his position going forward.”In all three countries I have worked, as soon as you get ODI status or T20I status… when the teams are in the tough time there are not too many people around but when teams get to a certain level, so many want to get into it,” Dassanayake said. “I anticipated something is coming up, but didn’t anticipate it to come this early.”In Associate cricket sometimes, there is two different things. If you get into an already-ODI-status country, it’s a different game that you need to do. But if you enter into a low-ranked team, as soon as they come into that place, it’s a different ball game. I don’t blame anyone, but that’s how life goes. The same thing happened in all three nations that I had.”The outgoing coach hopes people will remember him for the results he helped the nation achieve on the field rather than the sudden nature of his departure.”That was the biggest challenge that I had, compared to earlier jobs,” Dassanayake said. “We didn’t have a team when I joined, basically. There were so many talented, good players. But I knew it was not easy to win with this team. At Division Four, we got through purely because of the talent. When you are at Division Four and Five, you can get through with talent. But when it comes to Three and Two, the levels have gone so high, you need everything in the right place.”I’m proud that I was able to get everyone in the right direction. They all played together and played for each other, a strong team under one flag. I never thought that I can gel the group that we had into such a close unit. You know some of the issues that we had with different players. In Namibia, they were one unit. People who never thought that we could do it was so surprised to see that unit.”

All but four of the Lodha Committee recommendations are acceptable to these associations, but some of those four are crucial

Sidharth Monga10-May-2018Twelve state associations of the BCCI have informed the Supreme Court that they are ready to implement the Lodha Committee reforms barring four exceptions, the board’s acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary said a day before a fresh Supreme Court hearing.

State associations that have sent the undertaking to the amicus curiae

• Andhra

• Assam

• Goa

• Jharkhand

• Kerala

• Mumbai

• Rajasthan

• Railways

• Tripura

• Universities

• Uttar Pradesh

• Vidarbha

The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, which is believed to be against the reforms, is not among the 12 that have agreed to implement them. Maharashtra is the 13th association to have agreed, but because it has run into legal trouble lately, Choudhary didn’t count it. According to the BCCI constitution, a three-fourths majority is required for the reforms to be implemented.The Supreme Court had asked the BCCI office bearers – who had given an undertaking they would ensure the reforms were implemented – to submit their suggestions regarding difficulties in implementing the reforms. The four points the 12 associations found difficult to implement were ‘one state, one vote’, the three year cooling-off period after a term, the constitution of the all-powerful apex council, and the distribution of power and functions between elected representatives of the board and its professional wing.The most significant suggestion put forward by these 12 states is for the board to have six representatives in the apex council as opposed to the one suggested in the Lodha reforms. “The apex council as presently contemplated has three office bearers, which will go up to five,” Choudhary said. “There will be one who represents the board, which will be 37 members, and two for players. Insofar as the board is related, the country is very, very large, therefore my submission is that each zone including a separate zone from northeast, so six representatives.”The implementation of ‘one state, one vote’ and the cooling-off period “doesn’t seem practical” to these 12 associations. The argument against ‘one state, one vote’ has been made in the past, and revolves around the role played by the traditional associations such as Mumbai, Baroda, Saurashtra in big states. They are against the cooling-off period because, according to them, if the two other restrictions – an age cap of 70 years and a total cumulative tenure of nine years – of an official’s tenure are implemented successfully, “the further restraint becomes unnecessary”.”Besides this, you have to contemplate the situation that the office bearers run for three years, then totally new faces come up,” Choudhary said. “That will mean no continuity.”Regarding the exception to the strength of the national selection committee – three now as opposed to five earlier – the 12 states are happy to comply given the team has managed with three for a while now. Given the amount of cricket played in India, though, they would still prefer five selectors.However, in its draft constitution submitted in December 2017, the court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) had effectively put aside most of the objections raised.”Each State shall be represented by a state cricket association duly recognised by the BCCI and such associations shall be Full Members,” the draft states. “No State shall have more than one Full Member at any given point of time.” In states with multiple current members, the Full Membership – and its rights and privileges – shall rotate annually among them. The basis of that rotation will be framed by the BCCI.”No office bearer – whether in the BCCI or the state association – shall have consecutive terms,” the draft says. “Further, once an office bearer has completed a term of three years he/she shall not be a member of the governing council or any committee for the next three years.”

The Supreme Court of India has said there is, on first impression, a charge of perjury that can be laid against BCCI president Anurag Thakur for lying under oath

Jonathan Selvaraj and Nagraj Golapudi15-Dec-20164:44

Ugra: BCCI at the end of the rope given by the court

The Supreme Court of India has said there is, on first impression, a charge of perjury that can be laid against BCCI president Anurag Thakur and the board’s general manager of game development Ratnakar Shetty for lying under oath.The court also reserved its order on the Lodha Committee’s suggestion to remove ineligible BCCI office bearers and appoint former civil servant GK Pillai as an observer to oversee business operations of the board. After the BCCI rejected Pillai during Thursday’s hearing, the court asked the board to submit, by December 23, the names of three people who could replace the existing office bearers and govern the BCCI.The court suggested former India allrounder Mohinder Amarnath as one of the names. It is expected to hear the matter again after the winter vacation, which ends on January 2.The issue of perjury arose because Thakur, in an affidavit, had denied that he sought a letter from the ICC stating that the Lodha Committee’s recommendation to have a member of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s office on the apex council of the BCCI amounted to government interference in the board. Thakur’s request had been revealed by ICC chief executive David Richardson in an interview to an Indian TV channel.Thakur had said he only asked ICC chairman Shashank Manohar what his stance on the matter had been when he was the BCCI president. “I pointed out to the Chairman of the ICC, Mr Shashank Manohar that, when he was President of BCCI, he had taken a view that the recommendations of the Justice Lodha committee appointing the nominee of the CAG on the Apex Council would amount to governmental interference, and might invoke an action of suspension from ICC,” Thakur had said in his affidavit. “I therefore requested him that, being the ICC Chairman, can a letter be issued clarifying the position which he had taken as BCCI President.”Shetty, in an affidavit on October 7, had denied that Thakur had sought ICC intervention at all. Observing there was a “variance’ between Thakur and Shetty’s submissions, the court said: “Mr Shetty in his response to the status report claims that the CEO of ICC had ‘falsely’ stated in his interview that the President of BCCI had requested ICC to issue a letter stating that the intervention of this Court amounted to governmental interference. The version of Mr Shetty is at variance to what is alleged to have been stated by the CEO of ICC.”On Thursday, the court said there appeared to be evidence against Thakur and Shetty of lying under oath and asked the BCCI to submit relevant documents to avoid perjury. “Prima facie it seems that Anurag Thakur has perjured and lied under oath because of the letter to Manohar. It is a case of prosecution,” Chief Justice of India TS Thakur said during the hearing. “You had no occasion to approach Manohar. Where was the occasion to raise the issue once we had pronounced on this. This amounts to perjury.”The court asked Kapil Sibal, the lawyer representing the BCCI president, to “apologise” if Thakur wanted to “escape” an adverse order against him.Anurag Thakur (left) has been put in a tight spot by the Supreme Court•Hindustan Times

Sibal explained to the court that his client’s question to Manohar was not against court intervention but whether appointment of the CAG official on the Apex Council would amount to government interference.According to Lodha Committee secretary Gopal Sankaranaryanan, there was a discrepancy in the affidavit submitted by Thakur and the letter submitted by Manohar. “In [Anurag] Thakur’s version of events it is a clarification he had sought. In Manohar’s version of events, he said as ICC chairman I was asked to give a letter, not a clarification, saying that this amounts to interference. For me this amounts to variance.”The Gopal Subramnium had in earlier hearings told the court that Thakur was playing an obstructionist role and impeding the implementation of the Lodha Committee’s recommendations. “The whole issue is that of there is a person [Anurag Thakur] obstructing and in contempt of court. Then should he head the BCCI?” Chief Justice Thakur said on Thursday. “We have given opportunities and time. Don’t do something unpleasant.”Sibal reiterated the BCCI’s point that it could not force the state associations to accept the Lodha recommendations, and that a majority vote was needed to pass them. At several board meetings, the states had voiced opposition to most of the Lodha Committee’s recommendations: in particular, the one-state-one-vote policy, the age cap for office bearers, and the limits on tenure.The court replied by saying that one option was to supercede the office bearers, as suggested by the Lodha Committee. “You supercede them,” the court said. “Who should be appointed in your place, give us recommendation in next one week.”The Lodha Committee – comprising former Chief Justice of India RM Lodha and retired Supreme Court judges Ashok Bhan and R Raveendran – was formed in January 2015 to determine appropriate punishments for some of the officials involved in the 2013 IPL corruption scandal, and also to propose changes to streamline the BCCI, reform its functioning, prevent sporting fraud and conflict of interest.In January 2016, the committee released its report, which recommended an exhaustive overhaul of the BCCI’s governance and administrative structures. On July 18, the Supreme Court approved the majority of the recommendations and directed the Lodha Committee to supervise the BCCI’s implementations of the same. However, despite the Lodha Committee laying out timelines and other directives, the board has not cooperated because its state associations objected to the recommendations.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has declared day-night Test cricket “here to stay” after the conclusion of the inaugural floodlit match at Adelaide Oval, a popular success despite its three-day running time

Daniel Brettig in Adelaide29-Nov-2015New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has declared day-night Test cricket “here to stay” after the conclusion of the inaugural floodlit match at Adelaide Oval, a popular success despite its meagre three-day running time.A crowd of 123,736 poured into the ground across those three days, and similarly strong television audiences made it a spectacle to delight broadcasters and administrators alike. But the verdict of the players was always going to be critical to the future of the concept, and in the glowing words of McCullum and his opposite number Steven Smith there was ample evidence that the game’s elite practitioners will be comfortable with doing this kind of thing more often.The only reservation raised by both McCullum and Smith was the amount of grass left on the Adelaide Oval pitch, which they agreed was the major factor in the game’s short time span. But they were equally adamant that players would be able to adapt with greater experience, with the added incentive now of having played a Test match in front of such a celebratory and voluminous gathering.”It’s a great concept,” McCullum said. “As pink ball cricket evolves as I am sure it will grow into a global game and I think we will see the pitches probably won’t have quite as much grass on it. The thing about day-night Test cricket is it is meant to allow Test match cricket to be played at night time, it is not meant to be to change how Test cricket should play.”There was a fraction too much grass on it, I think we saw under lights that the pink ball probably responded a little bit much, but I would say that because I am a batter. Overall it was a roaring success and 120,000 people over three days, people are voting with their feet and I think it’s here to stay, which is great.”In general, spectators would want see results in games. And will want to see captains start to try and force results. Sitting in changing room after hard fought Test win that’s what’s most memorable as a cricketer. Sometimes fighting draws are great and I think we’ll find captains will try and push home some advantage to get Test victories.”Smith was naturally relieved after seeing out a series victory over a fast-finishing New Zealand, and he had little hesitation in describing the contest as a “great” one. “The whole Test match was a great innovation, it was a great spectacle,” he said. “To get 120,000 people through the gates in three days is absolutely amazing. I thought it was a great spectacle and a great Test match.”It was a game that was dominated by the bowlers. New Zealand’s bowlers bowled just as well as ours. But it was one of those games – if you got yourself in you could still score runs, it just wasn’t to be this game for a lot of the batters, we got starts and couldn’t go on with it. I think the contest is there if you’re willing to have a game plan and bat some time you can certainly score runs.”Like McCullum, Smith noted the thick grass coverage presented for the pink ball, but was happy enough to live with that after finishing the match as a narrow winner. “I think the wicket here compared to the two Shield games that have been played on it and particularly the pink ball shield game we played, it looked like the grass was a bit more lively,” he said. “I think it was the same height as the grass in the Shield game but it was probably just a tad greener.”That created a little bit more movement for the bowlers and kept the ball together and swinging for a long period. But I think it was great to see something different, the first two Test matches were dominated by the bat, so it’s great to see something different and see the bowlers coming into their own.”