|
|
|
|
|
BCCI suspends Guru, says it will cooperate in probe
Sreesanth with bookie on CCTV footage
MI win as IPL-6 ends with a whimper
Mumbai Indians cricketers celebrate a wicket of Mumbai Indians batsman during IPL 6 Final Match at Eden Garden in Kolkata on Sunday. — PTI |
|
|
Finally, Bayern get into league of champs
|
|
BCCI suspends Guru, says it will cooperate in probe
Mumbai, May 26 “The BCCI has taken note of the detention by the Mumbai police of Gurunath Meiyappan, who is a member of the team management of Chennai Super Kings,” BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a statement. “Pending further investigations and any subsequent hearing by the BCCI disciplinary committee or the IPL code of behaviour committee, Meiyappan has been suspended by the BCCI from any involvement in the sport of cricket and in particular from any involvement with the Chennai Super Kings team,” the statement added. Jagdale said the BCCI officials, including chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty and IPL CEO Sundar Raman, met officers from Mumbai police Thursday evening. “BCCI officials met officers from the Mumbai police on the evening of May 23, and will continue to offer all assistance to the police and regulatory authorities,” he added. He said the board would assist the police and regulatory authorities in the investigations into the scandal, whose ramifications seem to be widening. Mumbai police officials say they are waiting for the tournament to conclude before they call in some prominent players for questioning. Former CEO of the controversy-hit Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Gurunath Meiyappan, who also happens to be the son-in-law of BCCI president N Srinivasan, is in police custody for betting and providing inside information about the team strategy to bookies. Among those under the scanner include some associates of CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It is not clear which of Dhoni’s acquaintances will be summoned for questioning. Mumbai police officials are neither confirming nor denying that they are waiting for the tournament to get over in order to summon Dhoni himself. The police also says the involvement of Bollywood personalities in betting goes much deeper. There is a talk that a prominent action hero may be called for questioning. Vindoo Dara Singh has publicly boasted of his links with the actor in the past. — (with agency inputs)
In ICC’s Code of Ethics, no law for son-in-law!
New Delhi: BCCI president N Srinivasan should thank the Almighty that Gurunath Meiyappan is not his son but son-in-law. The ICC’s constitution has a detailed documentation on the Code of Ethics for the custodians of the game in various countries and clauses which are considered as serious breach.
According to ICC’s Code of Ethics, there is a specific clause pertaining to gambling, gaming and betting where a ‘Director’ or equivalent and his family members cannot indulge in any activity pertaining to “betting business” but there is no specific mention of son-in-law in that particular clause. The clause 7.2 (d) of ICC’s Code of Ethics states: “It is not permitted and a Director shall be in breach of this Code if a member of his immediate family (being a spouse, parent, sibling, son or daughter) has a controlling interest in a betting business, a substantial relationship with a betting business or is employed in the day to day operational control of a betting business.” If one goes by the clause, Meiyappan’s arrest on charges of betting on IPL matches can’t be called a breach of ICC code on Srinivasan’s part. At a media conference in Kolkata today,
Srinivasan, when asked whether Gurunath’s arrest brings into question the violation of the clause, gave a half-hearted reply: “I’ve not yet looked into the ICC rule. We will examine it. It’s for the ICC to look into it.” — PTI |
|
Sreesanth with bookie on CCTV footage
New Delhi, May 26 The footage shows Kerala speedster and disgraced Royals player Sreesanth and Chavan meeting bookie Jiju Janardhan and exchanging some packets, and two young women can also be seen at different times with them. The Royals had played an afternoon match against KXIP at PCA stadium in Mohali on May 9. According to the footage shown by some TV channels today, which has been procured by the Delhi police investigating the spot-fixing scandal, the tainted players are seen littering around for long periods of time. From 10:15 PM on May 9 night till early morning of May 10, the players can be seen walking the corridor outside their rooms at different times and even pausing for a moment to glance at a man who crosses them on one occasion as if they were taken by surprise on seeing him. A packet is also seen being exchanged between Chavan and Sreesanth, who along with Janardhan meet a young woman. Meanwhile, sources said police was also looking at the footage of another hotel, located close to the five-star hotel, to ascertain the movements of two alleged bookies who had booked rooms there on May 9 and May 10. — PTI
|
|
MI win as IPL-6 ends with a whimper
Kolkata, May 26 Finally, the fans and public have been spared off mockery that the game of cricket was made out to be in the last 54 days. Cricketers, administrators too can heave a sigh of relief. For 54 days and 76 matches, cricketainment overwhelmed the mindspace and kept boggling it with a cocktail of excitement, intrigue, anger and frustration. Thankfully, the point of being fed up has still not arrived. A packed house in Eden Gardens vouched for it. That Mumbai Indians won the title can be called a just retribution -- or redemption, it is a matter of perception, but the fact remains that the final denouement will come only when all the machinations are unraveled. There were scandals, there were farcical moments, but, there were heart-in-mouth moments too. Ponting’s blinder, Gaylesque sixes, Steyn-gunners. Remember Sammy’s pacifier, Gilly’s half Gangnam dance! Together they brought 9-5ers a joy in their mundane chores. The after-morning post-mortems that stretched on in the office corridors too weren’t futile. Only if there were no betrayals… Betrayal it was for Chennai Super Kings who swapped the fortunes of Mumbai Indians on the D-day and did what their opposition has been doing in big matches. On a day when they were supposed to bring out their A-game, Chennai could score only 125/9 to lose the final by 23 runs and see Mumbai Indians get their names inscribed on the trophy. The contest was well but over in the seventh over of their chase when all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja holed out to Kieron Pollard off Harbhajan’s bowling. The score read 5/36 in 6.4 overs. By then, Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina and Dwayne Bravo were cursing their fate in the dugout. Usually, skipper MS Dhoni is not the one who betrays emotion, but on Sunday, his eyes twitched, and fiddled with his gloves as tension clearly got on to the Captain Cool. Though he hung on helplessly till end, he couldn’t make any difference. When he swung wildly in desperation in the final over, Mumbai Indians were already lined up near the dugout eagerly waiting for celebrations. Pacers Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Johnson had already come to party as they got into action and left Chennai grimacing 3/3 in the second over of the chase. Had it not been for Kieron Pollard (60;32b, 7x4,3x6), Mumbai had almost prepared a blueprint for an even contest. In between, Ambati Rayudu (21) and Harbhajan Singh (14) too strutted out their stuff. The other Trinidadian, Dwayne Bravo (4/42), on the Chennai side kept striking lethally till the final over when Pollard had it enough and hit him for two sixes to finish at 148/9. For the Kings from south, the bowlers kept the top order batsmen sedate, till the Mumbai lower order had it enough and went for a bashing. Dwayne Bravo bagged four wickets by giving away just 42 runs. Scorecard Mumbai Indians Smith lbw b Sharma 4 Extras: 5 Bowling: Sharma 4-0-26-1; Morkel 3-0-12-2; Morris 4-0-25-1; Ashwin 3-0-22-0; Jadeja 2-0-19-0; Bravo 4-0-42-4. Chennai Super Kings Hussey b Malinga 1 Extras: 9 Bowling: Malinga 4-0-22-2; Johnson 4-0-19-2; Ojha 4-0-28-1; Dhawan 1-0-6-1; Harbhajan 3-0-14-2; Pollard 4-0-34-1 Tendulkar bids goodbye to IPL
|
|
Leeds, May 26 Earlier, Graeme Swann took four wickets and Steven Finn three as England again exposed New Zealand’s batting frailties. One week after being skittled for 68 to lose the first Test by 170 runs at Lord’s, the tourists collapsed spectacularly again to be bowled out for 174 in replying to England’s 354 on the third day. England opted not to enforce the follow-on and will start their second innings with a lead of 180. The tourists were dismissed in little over one and a half sessions, their score bloated by a belligerent counter-attack from last pair Neil Wagner (27) and Trent Boult (24 not out) who plundered 52 runs. Swann finished with figures of four for 42 and Finn three for 36. After wrapping up England’s innings by taking three wickets in 24 minutes in the morning session, the tourists lost Peter Fulton (28) and Hamish Rutherford (27) before lunch after a half-century opening stand. Finn took the first three wickets to fall. Fulton, after a promising start, skied a simple chance back to the bowler. Finn, inconsistent at Lord’s, struck again when Rutherford, attempting one attacking shot too many, drove uppishly and was caught in the gully by Ian Bell. With his tail up, the paceman continued his spell after lunch and caught Ross Taylor on the backfoot with a ball that darted in and the batsman chopped on to his stumps to depart for six. Brendon McCullum (20) and Tim Southee (19) briefly rallied for the visitors. — Reuters Scores
England: 354 (Root 104, Bairstow 64, Boult 5-57) and 116-1(A.Cook 88 not out) New Zealand: 174/10 (Fulton 28, Rutherford 27; Swann 4/42)
|
||
|
Finally, Bayern get into league of champs
London, May 26 Ribery’s backheel allowed Dutchman Robben to break through a gap in the Dortmund defence and dance round goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller to score the 89th minute winner.
The goal sent Bayern’s fans into raptures as their team became European champions for the fifth time to match Liverpool’s haul of titles. Only Real Madrid with nine triumphs and AC Milan with seven have been crowned champions more often. Bayern soaked up almost non-stop Dortmund pressure before going ahead in the 60th minute when Ribery and Robben again combined in the build-up to set up Croatian Mario Mandzukic to hook in with his left foot from close range from a Robben cross. Dortmund, who fashioned seven scoring chances in the first half, pulled level when Bayern defender Dante clumsily kicked Marco Reus in the stomach eight minutes later with Ilkay Guendogan sending Manuel Neuer the wrong way with his penalty. But just as the match appeared destined for extra time, Robben, who missed a penalty in last season’s final, pounced to collect Ribery’s clever backheel and score the winner. The victory eased the pain of Bayern’s defeats by Inter Milan in the 2010 final and the heartbreaking defeat to Chelsea on penalties in their own stadium a year ago as they lifted the European Cup for the first time since 2001. Bayern’s success puts them in touching distance of an unprecedented treble for a German club as they have already been crowned Bundesliga champions and play VfB Stuttgart in the domestic cup final in Berlin next week. It also means Bayern’s 68-year-old coach Heynckes, who is leaving at the end of the season, becomes only the fourth manager to win the European Cup with two different clubs following his earlier success with Real Madrid in 1998. He joins an elite group of Ernst Happel, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Jose Mourinho and either his tactics or fortune stood him in good stead at Wembley where Bayern finished the stronger side after Dortmund threatened to overrun their opponents in a blistering first half exhibition of attacking football. For their part, Bayern, coming back off the ropes, attacked almost as much and between them the two sides produced 12 scoring efforts in the opening 45 minutes with Bayern creating five good chances —three of them falling to Robben. However, both goalkeepers were in superb form with Weidenfeller saving everything Bayern conjured up while Neuer was just as eye-catching at the other end in the first all-German European Cup final. Dortmund, looking to add a second European crown after their 1997 victory, played Bayern at their own game with a high intensity, penetrative attacking plan devised by their impressive young coach Juergen Klopp. Next season he will have to pit his wits against Pep Guardiola who will inherit a Champions League-winning side who just had a little too much depth and experience for the losers. — Reuters
|
|
A Keke-walk for Roseberg
Monaco, May 26 The pole-to-flag win, after two safety car deployments and a 25-minute stoppage caused by Pastor Maldonado crashing his Williams, was only the second of the German's career — as it was for his Finnish father in 1983. Red Bull's triple world champion Sebastian Vettel made it a German one-two to extend his championship lead to 21 points over Finland's Kimi Raikkonen - who finished 10th - after six of the 19 races. Rosberg's success, on the familiar streets of a town that has been home since his early years, made him the first son of a Monaco Grand Prix winner to win the most glamorous race on the calendar. "It's amazing. This is my home, I've grown up here all my life and it's really special," he said. "The whole weekend went perfectly. The car was really good, the tyres held on and that was the key to the victory. I am ecstatic." Australian Mark Webber, last year's winner and Vettel's team mate, was third ahead of 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton in the other Mercedes. Raikkonen scrambled to his 23rd successive scoring finish - one short of Michael Schumacher's all-time record - after making up three positions on the last lap just when it seemed his hopes had been dashed by a collision with McLaren's Sergio Perez. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso also fell back in the title challenge after finishing seventh, with Force India's Adrian Sutil fifth and Jenson Button sixth for McLaren. Vettel has 107 points, Raikkonen 86 and Alonso 78. The day had started with controversy, with Red Bull making an official protest after discovering that Mercedes had taken part in a secret tyre test with Pirelli in Spain last week, and uncertainty after the German team had failed to convert their previous poles into wins. Rosberg was not letting that cloud his day. Sahara Force India had a good outing as comeback man Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta finished a creditable fifth and ninth, respectively, earning the team 12 World Championship points. — Agencies
|
||
|
It’s Federer vs Somdev in Round 2
Paris, May 26
The second-seeded Swiss, who is two shy of Wayne Ferreira's record of 56 consecutive grand slam appearances, never looked in danger on Court Philippe Chatrier, wrapping it up with an exquisite backhand winner straight down the line. He will face India’s Somdev Devvarman, for a place in the third round. Somdev Devvarman beat Daniel Munoz-De La Nava of Spain 6-3 6-3 7-5. Federer, who made his grand slam debut at Roland Garros in a four-set defeat against third seed Pat Rafter in 1999, served 10 aces and managed 11 forehand winners in an 80-minute masterclass. The 21-year-old Carreno-Busta, who won seven Futures tournaments in a row earlier this year, broke once in the opening set but showed too little of his talent to make a contest of the match. Among the women, top seed Serena Williams beat Anna Tatishvili 6-0 6-1 to emphatically book her place in the second round and avoid last year's embarrassment of an opening-round exit. The American, whose only singles title at Roland Garros came in 2002, entered the tournament on a 24-match winning streak and showed no signs of taking her foot off the gas as she steamrollered the 83rd-ranked Georgian in 51 minutes. Williams, chasing a 16th grand slam title, looked ominously athletic as she wrapped up victory in an unseasonably chilly Paris, putting to bed the memory of her only first round loss at a grand slam, last year's exit to France's Virgine Razzano. After her opponent sent a forehand wide on match point, she waved to all four sides of the stadium before embarking on the greater test of conducting the courtside interview in French. "I am very happy, this year I am playing very well, but you never know," the 31-year-old said. Former champion Ana Ivanovic of Serbia survived a second-set collapse to beat Croatian Petra Martic 6-1 3-6 6-3 and reach the second round. Serbian 14th seed Ivanovic, who lifted the Suzanne Lenglen Cup in 2008, breezed through the opening set but dropped serve in the fourth game of the second on a chilly Parisian morning. Martic levelled the tie with a smash, only for the world number 107 to collapse early in the decider on Court Philippe Chatrier. — Reuters
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
The BCCI today formally suspended Meiyappan from involvement in any cricket-related activity, while the crime branch of the Mumbai police said it was poised to effect more arrests in connection with the IPL spot-fixing scandal.
Thankfully the Indian Premier League Season 6 has ended.
London, May 26
Kolkata: 
