Lucknow Feb 23 PTI Indias new Test captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday said he has no issues in playing all games in bio-secure environments and will only take a break when he feels the need for it There were questions before Rohits appointment as Test captain on whether he will be keen on leading across formats amid a hectic international schedule but the Indian skipper set the record straight At the moment I have no issues and looking forward to playing all the games Rohit said ahead of Indias three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka The workload always depends on what happens thereafter and you take day by day and understand what you do and if a break is needed you take a break and someone else comes inYou see how the other guy who can fill in what sort of potential he has At the moment it seems to be okay the skipper said PTI KHS BS BS

New Delhi Feb 22 PTI The Indian Cricketers Association ICA on Tuesday strongly condemned the threatening message to veteran wicketkeeper-batter Wridhimann Saha by a senior Indian journalist and welcomed the BCCIs decision to probe the issue The ICA urged the board to take strictest possible action in the matter We acknowledge the fact that the media plays a very important role both in the growth of our game and the players but theres always a line that must never be crossed ICA head Ashok Malhotra said in a statement What has happened in Sahas case is totally unacceptable and we call for the respective press organisations too to take up the matter and ensure such things are not repeated At the ICA our foremost concern is the welfare of cricketers past and present and we cannot accept such behaviour from anyone let alone a journalist Malhotra wants Saha to reveal the name of the journalist who sent him that message We are fully with Saha and request him to reveal the journalists name Should the BCCI feel the need to cancel the erring journalists accreditation and access to any BCCI event we will fully support the move he added We would offer our full support to Saha at this juncture No player should be subjected to such threats from anyone in the media or elsewhere We urge the media also to come out in support of Saha and ensure that these sorts of issues dont crop up again said Hitesh Majumdar the ICA Secretary Any interaction between a player and the media has always to be voluntary PTI KHS BS BS

Chennai Dec 22 PTI Keralas Kiran George and top seed Aakarshi Kashyap of Chattisgarh clinched the mens and womens singles titles at the All India senior ranking badminton tournament here on Wednesday In the mens summit clash Kiran defeated the experienced Subhankar Dey 21-17 21-12 in 39 minutes while the womens singles final was also a one-sided affair as Kashyap dominated qualifier Tanya Hemanth of Karnataka 21-15 21-12 National champions and womens doubles top seeds Shikha Gautam and Ashwini Bhat K got the better of Uttar Pradeshs Shruti Mishra and Shailja Shukla 21-14 21-16 while the unseeded combination of Rohan Kapoor and Sanjana Santosh defeated S Sunjith and Gowrikrishna TR 21-18 21-16 to clinch the mixed doubles title In the mens doubles Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar R got the better of Ravikrishna P S and Sankarprasad Udaykumar 22-20 19-21 21-18 The overall prize money for the tournament is Rs 10 lakh PTI KHS BS BS

Kanpur Nov 27 PTI Veteran India wicket-keeper and teams oldest player Wriddhiman Saha didnt take the field at the start of day three in the first Test against New Zealand due to a stiff neck Wriddhiman Saha has stiffness in his neck The BCCI medical team is treating him and monitoring his progress KS Bharat will be keeping wickets in his absence BCCI said in a media statement Saha 37 has endured either freak on field injuries or fitness concerns over the years Playing in place of the rested Rishabh Pant Saha scored only 1 in the India innings and has not been in best of form for quite some time now Srikar Bharat took the field in Sahas absence PTI KHS BS BS

Kanpur Nov 23 PTI A row involving the BCCI erupted on Tuesday after it emerged that only halal meat has been recommended for the Indian cricketers during their stay in Kanpur for the series-opening Test against New Zealand The catering and menu document in possession of PTI also mentions categorically that no pork or beef should be part of any food in any form or variety BJP spokesperson and advocate Gaurav Goel demanded immediate withdrawal of the recommendation The players can eat whatever they want but who has given BCCI the right to introduce halal meat This is illegal and we will not allow it Goel said in a video posted from his twitter handle This decision is not right It should be withdrawn immediately None of the BCCI officials contacted by the PTI was ready to speak about the document which is believed to be prepared by the support staff and medical team keeping the dietary requirements in mind Usually Hindus and Sikhs prefer jhatka meat while Muslims largely prefer halaal In the Halal form of slaughter animals are killed with a cut to the jugular vein and are left till the blood drains out completely In the jhatka method the animal is killed instantaneously A former India cricketer said exclusion of beef and pork items is not surprising though it was never documented before During my time in the team I have never seen any beef or pork items being served on match days in the dressing room At least never in India So I dont think apart from putting pen to paper anything new has been done the cricketer told PTI on conditions of anonymity Before anyone tries to read between the lines beef with its excessive fat content just like goat meat isnt advisable for cricketers We were always advised to have lean protein which is generally grilled chicken and fish he said In the menu there are two kinds of meat items listed -- chicken and lamb The non-vegetarian items listed include roasted chicken roasted lamb lamb chops in black pepper sauce murg yakhni chicken thai curry marinated grilled chicken Goan fish curry tangri kebabs and stir fried vegetables with chicken in garlic sauce The series-opener is slated to begin in Kanpur from Thursday while the second Test will be played in Mumbai from December 3 PTI KHS AT AT

Kanpur Nov 23 PTI Senior India opener KL Rahul was on Tuesday ruled out of the first Test against New Zealand starting Thursday due to an injury Suryakumar Yadav who was a part of Indias Test squad that travelled to England has been added to the side KL Rahul is not playing the first Test a BCCI source told PTI Rahul was missing from the Indian teams customary practice session attended by almost all the players on Tuesday at the Green Park stadium The nature and extent of Rahuls injury could not be confirmed Shubman Gill was seen opening the batting along with Mayank Agarwal during the teams net session as Cheteshwar Pujara the vice captain for the series-opener also batted It is understood that one among Shreyas Iyer or Suryakumar Yadav will make his Test debut and bat in the middle order Shubhman was expected to bat in the middle order but now in the absence of Rahul the youngster will be asked to play in his usual opening slot PTI KHS AT AT

Kolkata Nov 21 PTI Rohit Sharma batted in style and led with panache to script a near perfect tale on his full-time captaincy debut as India handed T20 World Cup runners-up New Zealand the ignominy of a 3-0 series defeat after a 73-run win in the third T20 International here on Sunday The Indian skipper first made a statement scoring 56 off 31 balls in Indias 184 for 7 and then made some immaculate captaincy calls which witnessed New Zealands surrender for a paltry 111 runs in 172 overs It was a second back-to-back bilateral T20I series triumph with a clean sweep for India after beating the Black Caps 5-0 in their own den in 2020 Axar Patel 39 bowled accurately and also got one to turn as his three wickets in Powerplay literally ended New Zealands resistance and the rest was a mere formality The New Zealand team looked bone tired after a gruelling T20 World Cup campaign and the result wont be a fair reflection of the teams capabilities as they went through the motions for the better part of the three games For India who were aiming to reset the button the series win will certainly give them a few pointers going forward For Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid this series was about checking what kind of ammunition they have going forward Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravichandran Ashwins return to form in white ball cricket augurs well as there is no substitute for experience Venkatesh Iyer has shown potential and needs to be persisted with He bowled steadily and needs more game time to become a middle-order enforcer having been a top-order player Harshal Patel is a welcome addition with his sincere efforts but the middle order still remains a bit iffy as it didnt perform up to expectation in any of the games A few like Ruturaj Gaikwad and Avesh Khan went untested but the skipper will surely use all his options going forward But what he has shown like his predecessor Virat Kohli is ability to walk the talk with performances that his mates will look up to When India batted Rohits imperious form was on full display as he laid the platform for an above par score In his bid to test the teams character by batting first the skipper led the way with five fours and three sixes in his sublime knock but despite a blazing start the Indians stuttered in the middle overs before Harshal Patel 18 off 11 balls and Deepak Chahar 21 not out off 8 balls used their long handles which fetched 50 runs in last five overs Ishan Kishan 29 off 21 balls Shreyas Iyer 25 off 20 balls and Venkatesh 20 off 15 balls all got starts but couldnt convert it into a big score Having got two flashy back-to-back boundaries off the very first over by Trent Boult there was no looking back for Rohit There was no preferential treatment as all the fast bowlers were treated with equal disdain as he and Kishan made full use of the of the Powerplay overs which yielded 69 runs Rohit pulled Boult behind square for his first six and hit Adam Milne 047 in 4 overs over long-on for the second maximum and the third off Lockie Ferguson was another pull behind the square into the stand below the giant electronic scoreboard Post Powerplay stand-in captain Mitchell Santner 4-0-27-3 was able to pull things back as Kishan edged an arm ball into the keepers gloves while Suryakumar Yadav 0 played a loose shot to a tossed up delivery giving an easy catch to the cover much to the irritation of his skipper Rohits frustration was compounded when Rishabh Pant went for an ugly hoick to give Santner his third wicket in his second over But Rohit didnt allow the fall of wicket to bog him down as he got his fifty with a deliberate cut through the vacant third-man area off his opposite number His sequence of scores in last six T20 Internationals is 74 30 56 48 55 and 56 and captaincy hasnt changed his style of play one bit It took a brilliant one-handed reflex catch from Ish Sodhi to dismiss Rohit Sodhi tried to bowl wide off Rohits reach but gave enough air which enticed him to give the charge without getting to the pitch of the delivery PTI KHS BS BS

New Delhi Sep 20 PTI The BCCI on Monday announced that domestic cricketers affected by the COVID-curtailed 2020-21 season will be paid 50 per cent additional match fee as compensation for the disruption and also hiked their remuneration for the upcoming season Many Indian cricketers struggled financially after the Ranji Trophy was not held last year for the first time in its history due to the COVID-19 pandemic The BCCI compensation package for these players was awaited for a long time Cricketers who participated in 2019-20 Domestic Season will get 50 per cent additional match fee as compensation for season 2020-21 lost due to COVID-19 situation BCCI general secretary Jay Shah said in a tweet BCCI President Sourav Ganguly also said in a tweet Very happy to have the raise in match fees of domestic players men and women passed by the apex council today They are always the key to Indias success in cricket at the international level This effectively means that all players who participated in the last season and played Mushtaq Ali T20 and Vijay Hazare Trophy will get a compensation of Rs 70000 per Ranji Trophy match half of match fees of Rs 140 lakh The decision to give compensation and increase the match fee was taken during the BCCIs Apex Council meeting on Monday The per day fee for the top Ranji cricketers who have played more than 40 matches was also almost doubled to Rs 60000 which will ensure that such players earn Rs 240 lakh per first-class match Those who have played 21 to 40 matches will be paid Rs 50000 while players with experience less than that will be entitled to a remuneration of Rs 40000 per day The move will likely benefit more than 2000 male cricketers from the under-16 to the senior level On an average a senior level domestic cricketer if he plays a full season of first-class one day and T20 matches can now earn up to Rs 20 lakh even if he doesnt have an IPL contract Shah also said that domestic players will be paid an increased match fee According to the announcement the cricketers in under-23 and under-19 category will get Rs 25000 and 20000 per day respectively The U-16s will now get Rs 7000 per day instead of Rs 3500 during earlier seasonsBefore Mondays decision a first XI player in a Ranji Trophy game was entitled to Rs 35000 per day For Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy the BCCI pays Rs 17500 per game The BCCI also announced remuneration for women cricketers and the senior players will now be paid Rs 20000 per match instead of Rs 12500 from previous seasons The U-23 and U-19 girls will receive an increased match fee of Rs 10000 The recommendations to increase the payout were made by a working committee comprising former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin Yudhvir Singh Santosh Menon Jaydev Shah Avishek Dalmiya Rohan Jaitley and Devajit Saikia PTI KHS BS PDS PDS

New Delhi Sep 18 PTI Life may come to a full circle for Anil Kumble as the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI might ask him to apply for the post of head coach of the Indian team along with VVS Laxman once Ravi Shastri finishes his term after the T20 World Cup Kumble was the coach of the Indian team for a year between 2016-17 when the Cricket Advisory Committee headed by Sachin Tendulkar Laxman and Ganguly had appointed him replacing Shastri However a bitter fall-out with captain Virat Kohli led to Kumble tendering his resignation after the Champions Trophy final defeat against Pakistan Along with Kumble the board may also approach Laxman who has been a mentor of the IPL side Sunrisers Hyderabad for some years now However Kumble will be favourite even as Laxman will also remain in contention Anil Kumbles exit needs course correction The manner in which the CoA succumbed to the pressure of Kohli and removed him wasnt the best example set However it also depends on whether Kumble or Laxman are ready to apply for the job a senior BCCI source privy to development told PTI on conditions of anonymity Kohli has already announced that he will quit as T20 captain after the World Cup For the BCCI brass a reputed Indian coach is always the first choice and both Kumble and Laxman with their stature in Indian cricket with 100 plus Test matches along with coaching experience fit the bill perfectly A foreign coach is the second option The criteria for BCCIs coachs job will be such that only a select few with very good record as player as well as experience of coachingmentorship can apply for the top job the source said Asked if Vikram Rathour is in contention the official saidHe can apply if he wishes to but he doesnt have the stature to become a head coach of the Indian cricket team He is at best an assistant coach However when we select the new coach he will have a team all by himself So lets wait and watch the source concluded PTI KHS AT APA APA

New Delhi Aug 31 PTI The Indian cricket board could soon get richer by at least Rs 5000 crore with the addition of two new franchises during the 2022 edition of Indian Premier League The IPL which is currently an eight-team tournament will become a 10-team affair from the next edition and during a recent governing council meeting the modalities of the bidding process were chalked out The BCCI on Tuesday also invited bids to own an IPL franchise with Invitation to Tender available for purchase till October 5 Any company can buy the bid document paying Rs 10 lakh Earlier top brass was thinking about keeping the base price for two new teams at Rs 1700 crore but later it was decided to keep the base price at Rs 2000 crore a senior BCCI source told PTI on the condition of anonymity The source who has dealt with the financial side of IPL in the past said that the BCCI stands to gain at least Rs 5000 crore if the bids go as per plan with plenty of large business conglomerates showing active interest in bidding The BCCI is expecting anything in the range of 5000 crore if not more There will be 74 IPL games next season and its a win-win situation for everyone The BCCI statement added The Governing Council of the IPL invites bids to acquire the right to own and operate 1 one of the 2 two new teams proposed to be introduced to take part in the Indian Premier League from the IPL 2022 season through a tender process Any interested party wishing to submit a bid is required to purchase the ITT However only those satisfying the eligibility criteria set out in the ITT and subject to the other terms and conditions set out therein shall be eligible to bid It is clarified that merely purchasing this ITT does not entitle any person to bid it addedIt is learnt that only companies with an annual turnover of Rs 3000 crore will be allowed to bid for the teams In a welcome news the BCCI is planning to allow a consortium to bid for teams as it makes the bidding process more vibrant I think more than three business entities wont be allowed to form a consortium but if three business come together and wants to jointly bid for a team they are welcome to do so he said Among the venues where the teams could be based include Amedabad Lucknow and Pune The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and Ekana Stadium in Lucknow with bigger capacities could be the choice for franchises Some of the names that are doing the rounds include the Adani group RPG Sanjeev Goenka group noted pharma company Torrent and a prominent banker who has shown active interest in buying teams PTI KHS BS BS BS