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Sachin wants sincere steps to curb fixing
HC notice to Centre, BCCI on PIL for govt control over BCCI
CHAMPIONS TROPHY |
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BCCI chief in Chennai as support dwindles
Anurag joins chorus, says cricket has taken a beating, faith of fans needs to be restored
Inquiry commission to probe RR too
‘Srini permitting conflict of interest in legal proceedings’
Super Rafa back
Magical Federer in 4th round
Who leaked Oscar crime pictures?
Wiggins not to defend Tour title
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Sachin wants sincere steps to curb fixing
New Delhi, May 31 Tendulkar said the authorities must take sincere steps to get to the root of the issue and ensure that credibility of the game is restored. The champion batsman, who retired from IPL after his side Mumbai Indians won the title recently, said as a cricketer he has always learnt to play in the true spirit of the game. “It has always hurt me when the game of cricket is in the news for the wrong reasons. The developments in the last two weeks have been shocking and disappointing. As cricketers we are always taught to go out, fight hard, give our very best and play in the true spirit of the game,” Tendulkar said in a statement. The milestone man of Indian cricket said it was important that the authorities get to the root of the problem. “During this difficult phase, I join every cricketer, from the boys in the maidans across the country to those who represent clubs, states and the country, who trust the authorities to take sincere steps to get to the root of the issue. “The faith reposed by the millions of fans should be justified and we owe it to them to ensure that Indian cricket is all about pride and joy,” the statement added. Tendulkar’s statement on the spot-fixing scandal assumes great importance since none of the current Indian cricketers have spoken on the issue, since it broke out about two weeks ago. Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has steadfastly refused to speak on the scandal, apparently under a gag order from the BCCI. Dhoni evaded questions on spot-fixing at the pre-departure press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday and also did the same at the media interaction in Birmingham on Thursday. The only thing Dhoni said at the press conference in Birmingham was that Indian cricket’s reputation was not “gone” and that some people were “slightly mentally weak” compared to others. He said that he will speak when the time was right. With more and more cricket boards and state unit officials coming out, it will be interesting to see whether more cricketers also start giving their views, taking a cue from Tendulkar.
— PTI Netas should stay away from sports: mULAYAM
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav today said politicians should stay away from sports.Commenting on spot-fixing allegations in IPL, he termed it as “unfortunate” and said it has given bad name to sportpersons.”Politicians should do politics and sportpersons should concentrate on their game,” he told reporters.”From the beginning I have been against cricket, we should not ignore local games. We should give importance to those games and not the foreign games like cricket,” he said.
— PTI |
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HC notice to Centre, BCCI on PIL for govt control over BCCI
New Delhi, May 31 The PIL filed by NGO’s president Kuldeep Singh Bhogal has sought a direction to the Sports ministry to declare BCCI as a national sports federation and take control of the BCCI and all its cricketing activities. “Direct the respondent (Centre and others) to fix responsibility and take appropriate action against all those concerned relating to betting, match-fixing and other illegal activities,” the petition says. The petition also sought appointment of a judicial committee, comprising former judges, eminent sports persons and others for suggesting stringent laws and regulations for putting a foolproof mechanism to conduct the game of cricket in the country. It has also sought constitution of a fast track court for the trial of cricketers and others who have recently been arrested in connection with the spot-fixing and betting scandal during the IPL matches. Earlier, the court had asked the counsel for the NGO to file an amended petition as the SC was then hearing a similar kind of petition. The further hearing on August 14.
— PTI take control
The PIL filed by NGO’s president Kuldeep Singh Bhogal has sought a direction to the Sports ministry to declare BCCI as a national sports federation and take control of the BCCI and all its cricketing activities. The petition also sought appointment of a judicial committee, comprising former judges, eminent sports persons and others for suggesting laws and regulations for putting a mechanism to conduct cricket. |
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CHAMPIONS TROPHY
Birmingham, May 31 Some on-field action will help divert the attention from the scandal, which has tarnished the reputation of Indian cricket. The conditions favour India’s fast bowlers but they need to sort out their line and length. India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has already said that they will follow a five-bowler strategy. India’s success would hinge on how well the pacers exploit the conditions and there are a lot of expectations from the young Bhuvaneshwar Kumar who can swing the ball both ways. Bhuvaneshwar has impressed in the limited opportunities he has got, especially against Pakistan in a home ODI series. Conditions would be ideal for his style of bowling and he would look to cement his place in the side with some solid performances. Umesh Yadav, who has returned to the fold after recovering from an injury, could not get a better opportunity to force his way back in the side as the pitches in England will assist him. Ishant Sharma also looks in good touch after being instrumental in his IPL side Sunrisers Hyderabad’s stupendous show. Dhoni may choose to go in with Irfan Pathan as his fourth pacer given that his batting skills would lend India’s line-up more depth. It will be interesting to see how Dhoni uses Vinay Kumar, the other pacer. Ravindra Jadeja would be a strong contender to fill in the lone spinner’s spot. His batting prowess down the order makes him an automatic choice for the skipper. In that case, Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra may have to wait for a longer period to get a chance to roll their arms as the first six spots will be filled by batsman. It is a big opportunity for Shikhar Dhawan, who caught the world’s eye with his blistering hundred on debut against Australia in the home Test series last year. hawan looks confident but he has to ensure that his footwork is up to the mark in the probing conditions. Murali Vijay, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and skipper Dhoni were all in good form during the IPL. Trophy unveiled
The ICC Champions Trophy, to be handed over to the winners of the June 6-23 tournament in England, was today unveiled at gaming centre Smaaash.India and South Africa kick off the contest on June 6 at the Sophia Gardens at Cardiff, Wales in a Group B match. Also in the same group are the West Indies and Pakistan. Australia, N Zealand, SAfrica and Lanka form Group A.
— Agencies |
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BCCI chief in Chennai as support dwindles
Srinivasan arrived by a Go Air flight from Mumbai around 9.30 pm but declined to respond to questions from the large contingent of mediapersons waiting at the airport. He landed here shortly after BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale and Treasurer Ajay Shirke quit from their respective posts in a bid to put pressure on him. He made a quick exit from the airport and drove away to his home in a car. Earlier in the day, Srinivasan has convened a Working Committee meeting of the cricket board. Cricket is shaken: Anurag Thakur BCCI joint secretary Anurag Thakur has indicated that there would be no voting in the special meeting of the BCCI. Asked if Srinivasan should quit, Thakur was evasive. “Everybody wants a fair probe and that is why we have two retired judges and the BCCI secretary probing the matter. When two judges are there, you can be assured that the inquiry would be fair,” he said. “No doubt cricket is shaken because it is a question of the faith of crores,” he said. Srinivasan should be sacked: Lele Former BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele on Friday said that under-fire board president N Srinivasan should be sacked from his post if he does not step down on his own in the wake of the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal. “His (Srinivasan’s) son-in-law is involved in betting. There was no one else’s name. Why did the BCCI hide it? At that time only, the BCCI should have taken action against the Chennai Super Kings,” said Lele. “Now Mr Srinivasan has no excuse. He should be sacked if he doesn’t go now,” he added. “Mr Srinivasan along with his team, CSK should be removed. I think that the franchise is in danger. It should be removed now,” Lele said. Asked if IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla or other BCCI officials could have also been aware of Meiyappan’s involvement in the spot-fixing scandal, Lele said, “No no, they may not have been aware. If a letter comes to Srinivasan, he’s a kind of person who won’t tell anyone. He may be the only person knowing about it.” Services demand resignation BCCI President N Srinivasan should resign from his office on moral grounds, the apex sports body of armed forces which is also a member of the Board, said. The Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) is a tri-services body and has a vote in the BCCI. "As there is conflict of interest in this BCCI inquiry, BCCI President should tender his resignation on moral grounds," SSCB President Air Marshal HB Rajaram said. — PTI
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Anurag joins chorus, says cricket has taken a beating, faith of fans needs to be restored
“I have spoken to the President and the Secretary (Sanjay Jagdale) and requested both to call a meeting where every member should get a chance to present his views and discuss the punishment for those guilty,” Thakur told reporters here. “A meeting has to be called by the President and Secretary. It’s a not a numbers game. Very soon, the BCCI Secretary and the President will call a meeting, we have to wait,” he said. “If they decide to have a meeting then I don’t think there should be any problem in going ahead with it,” he added. Srinivasan is drawing flak from all quarters for not stepping down even as his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan remains behind bars for alleged involvement in betting. Asked if Srinivasan should quit, Thakur was evasive. “Everybody wants a fair probe and that is why we have two retired judges and the BCCI secretary probing the matter. When two judges are there, you can be assured that the inquiry would be fair,” he said. “No doubt cricket is shaken because it is a question of the faith of crores,” he said. Former BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele on Friday said that under-fire board president N Srinivasan should be sacked from his post if he does not step down on his own in the wake of the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal. “His (Srinivasan’s) son-in-law is involved in betting. There was no one else’s name. Why did the BCCI hide it? At that time only, the BCCI should have taken action against the Chennai Super Kings,” said Lele. “Now Mr Srinivasan has no excuse. He should be sacked if he doesn’t go now,” he added. Lele said along with Srinivasan, his franchise Chennai Super Kings should also be “removed”. “Mr Srinivasan along with his team, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) should be removed. I think that the franchise is in danger. It should be removed (from the IPL) now,” Lele said. Asked if IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla or other BCCI officials could have also been aware of Meiyappan’s involvement in the spot-fixing scandal, Lele said, “No no, they may not have been aware. If a letter comes to Srinivasan, he’s a kind of person who won’t tell anyone. He may be the only person knowing about it.”
— PTI |
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Inquiry commission to probe RR too
Bangalore, May 31 “In addition to looking into the complaints of Meiyappan, we will also look into the complaints against India Cements Limited and Jaipur Private Limited, which own Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) franchises,” Justice (retired) Jayaram Chouta, one of the panel members, said Asked about the focus of the probe, he said it depends upon the complaint which the panel has not received so far. “Once the chairman of the panel is nominated there will be correspondence between him and BCCI. The cricket body then will send (a copy of the) complaint to the chairman,” he said. He said no timeframe has been set for the inquiry to be completed as it depends upon the scope of the investigation. He said the commission will not ask the beleaguered BCCI president N Srinivasan to step down from his post. “We cannot tell him to relinquish his post. It has been left to him. The Commission cannot tell him to step down,” he said. Justice Chouta once again ruled out any interference from the BCCI chief. The BCCI had, on Tuesday, constituted a three-member inquiry commission including two retired High Court judges to go into allegations against Meiyappan, son-in-law of Srinivasan, who has been arrested on charges of betting in the IPL. Justice Chouta, Justice R Balasubramanian, former Judge of the Madras High Court, and BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale are members of the commission, which will also go into the allegations against three players of the Rajasthan Royals team and its franchise, as well as CSK.
— PTI |
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‘Srini permitting conflict of interest in legal proceedings’
New Delhi, May 31 “As such now Mr N Srinivasan is permitting conflict of interest to infect even the process of legal representation as the same set of lawyers are involved with BCCI, Gurunath Meiyappan and the India cements,” Abdi said in a statement. After ridiculing the BCCI’s three-man inquiry commission to probe the betting charges against Srinivasan’s son-in-law as a mere eyewash, Abdi called upon the Board to make public the mechanism by which the panel was selected. “Who proposed the names of the hon’ble retired Madras High Court Judges? Were any other names of hon’ble retired judges from Madras High Court of another High Court suggested or considered? Whether the names of probable ex hon’ble judges were discussed at any representative forum of BCCI? Who approached the hon’ble judges for seeking their consent for taking the assignment?” Abdi asked.
— PTI |
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We archers don’t believe in our federation: Talukdar
Mumbai, May 31 “Now we have our foreign coach, Mr Lim Chae Woong. Whether he will continue till 2016, we don’t know. We (archers) don’t believe in our federation as they might change him. They change like the weather,” said Talukdar — a two-time men’s team bronze medal winner at the Asian Games. “Today they say he will be with us till the Rio Olympics. But later on they may say we don’t want him and want a better coach — a European or American coach,” remarked the Assam-born archer wryly. Talukdar, who was today brought under its wings along with top woman archer Deepika Kumari by non-profit sports foundation Olympic Gold Quest, explained why the Korean was preferred as coach by him and most other Indian archers. “After he came to India in 2002 the performance of Indian archers has improved a lot. Earlier, the Indian team used to go out and participate but never got any medal. But he came and changed the technique, changed training plan and the performance improved, scores improved and we started getting medals,” he said. “The main thing is most of the archers believe in him, as most of us have trained under him. He comminicates with us in broken English and manages well. He was with us in the Tata Academy too. He knows us, and is able to correct any technical problem we might develop. “Whenever he suggests any changes we never hesitate to follow his advice. He knows if he changes something the changed technique will help us to improve our scores and we also know that,” he added. The 28-year-old bow and arrow exponent said one of his major aims was to gain an individual medal in next year’s Asian Games in Incheon, Korea. “This time I want to get at least an individual medal in the Asian Games in Korea. I got team medals in the last two Asian Games (in Doha, Qatar and Guangzhou, China). Then I will try to get a medal in Olympic Games also. “My plan is to correct any mistake in technique before the world championships (September 29-October 6 in Turkey). Next year we have one major competition - Asian Games,” said Talukdar about his future target. He also pointed out that the sporting discipline is not in the programme of next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, because the host country not good in it. “I am also planning for the 2016 Rio Olympics. We missed getting a medal in the last Olympics in London, but will try to rectify in the next,” said Talukdar who felt the team missed the presence of a mental trainer in the London Games last year. “From the last Olympics we learnt many things. I felt we practiced hard but were not prepared mentally. We did nothing for improving the mental side. We just practiced. We needed a psychologist and asked the federation too but we got nothing. “A proper coach was also not given. We had Mr Limba Ram who was a good archer but was not very good as a coach,” he said. Talukdar explained that apart from the recurve event, in which he and other Indian archers take part, the hi-tech compound event will make its debut in the Incheon Asiad next year. “The compound event is there in the World Championships, Asian Championships and has been included in the coming Asian Games for the first time. It is not there in the Olympics and won’t be there for another 10 to 12 years. “It’s a different game, its got trigger, its got lens, whereas recurve is totally manual,” he elaborated.
— PTI |
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Super Rafa back
Idle since Monday when he struggled past Germany’s Daniel Brands, the 26-year-old Spaniard was again far from his scintillating best as he dropped the first set, this time to Slovakia’s Martin Klizan, before winning 4-6 6-3 6-3 6-3. Women’s champion Maria Sharapova needed only 15 minutes on a cool, but mercifully dry, Chatrier Court as she polished off her second-round opponent Eugenie Bouchard having been a set and 4-2 ahead when rain stopped play on Thursday evening. Top seed Serena Williams is making rapid headway and moved into the fourth round with a 6-0 6-2 crushing of Romanian Sorana Cirstea. The formidable 31-year-old American took her current winning streak to 27 matches and has dropped six games so far. Nadal’s clash with Klizan was one of several second-round matches from the top half of the men’s draw which is lagging behind the bottom half occupied by second seed Roger Federer who remained untroubled with an easy win against Julien Benneteau. Nadal, bidding to become the first man to win a single grand slam eight times, started badly and was broken in the seventh game by fellow left-hander Klizan who for a while looked as he though might be able to finish the tattoo on his right calf. After dropping the first set, Nadal responded to win the next three although it was never comfortable and he has yet to catch fire. It was a good day for seeded men with Tommy Haas (12), John Isner (19), Jerzy Janowicz (21) and Mikhail Youzhny (29) all winning their delayed second-round matches. Isner won an all-American clash with Ryan Harrison, coming back from two sets down to win 8-6 in the fifth. Meanwhile, Sania Mirza and her Robert Lindstedt crashed out in the first round of the mixed doubles event on Friday, suffering a shocking straight-set defeat (2-6 3-6) at the hands of Cara Black and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi in Paris. in little less than an hour. Scheduling a joke: Nadal
Nadal described the French Open scheduling as "unfair" and "a joke". He was unhappy that his third-round opponent, Fabio Fognini, benefited from a day off on Friday having been scheduled earlier on Thursday and completed his match against Lukas Rosol.
— Reuters |
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Magical Federer in 4th round
There was the usual array of running aerial forehands, gravity-defying drop shots and whipped backhands from the former world number one. Benneteau, the 30th seed, broke in the first game to open a 2-0 lead but 17-times grand slam champion Federer kept his cool and turned the situation around in no time. Benneteau, who has been struggling with a groin problem, bowed out on the first match point when he could not retrieve another powerful Federer forehand. “You are so nice to me,” Federer said courtside with a smile. “I’m sorry for Julien, he looked diminished.” Benneteau started with an exquisite crosscourt forehand winner and took the first game on Federer’s serve but the Frenchman, who beat the Swiss in Rotterdam this year, could not sustain the pace. At 3-3, Federer upped the tempo, winning 14 points in a row to take the set. He started the second with some jaw-dropping shots. Federer flicked a sublime backhand into Benneteau’s feet to break decisively in the ninth game.
— Reuters |
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Who leaked Oscar crime pictures?
Sky News obtained a series of images of the crime scene in Pistorius’ luxury Pretoria home where the double amputee track star shot his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, on February 14. Pistorius was one of the stars of the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics in London and the case shocked millions across the world as he was seen as a symbol of triumph over adversity. Pistorius has admitted to shooting four times through the locked door but says he was acting in self-defence at what he thought was an intruder. Prosecutors accuse him of premeditated murder for firing into the door hitting Steenkamp, 29, in the head, hip and arm. The pictures showed a pool of blood in the bathroom, spattered walls, and a trail from dragging the body. Lawyer Brian Webber said he had sent a letter to the prosecution team demanding answers for the appearance of the pictures the week before Pistorius is due back in court. “I have requested an explanation and I am confident I will get one,” he said. A spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority said it was unclear how Sky had obtained the pictures. Police declined to say whether they were part of the formal investigation but said they would make no difference to the trial.
— Reuters |
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Wiggins not to defend Tour title
Paris, May 31 Briton Wiggins withdrew from the Giro d’Italia this month with a chest infection and he has also been struggling with a knee problem, meaning he cannot train properly to defend his title on the Tour, which starts on June 29 in Corsica. “With illness, injury and treatment Brad has gone past the point where he can be ready for the Tour. It’s a big loss but, given these circumstances, we won’t consider him for selection,” Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford said in a statement. “He hasn’t been able to train hard since the Giro and now he needs further rest.” Briton Chris Froome, runner-up last year, had already been named as the team leader in the three-week race, where he is expecting a tough challenge from Spanish twice champion Alberto Contador. “It’s a huge disappointment not to make the Tour de France,” said Wiggins.
— Reuters |
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Breaking his silence on the raging spot-fixing scandal, Sachin Tendulkar on Friday said that the developments of the last two weeks were “shocking and disappointing” and the faith reposed by the millions of fans in the game should be justified.
New Delhi, May 31
New Delhi, May 31
Paris, May 31
Paris, May 31
Johannesburg, May 31
