Heena Sharma Blog

  The 2021 season of Indian Premier League has been suspended after some players were found Covid-19 positive , said the organizers of the marquee cricket tournament on Tuesday. "The Indian Premier League Governing Council (IPL GC) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in an emergency meeting has unanimously decided to postpone IPL 2021 season, with immediate effect," IPL said in the statement. "The BCCI does not want to compromise on the safety of the players, support staff and the other participants involved in organizing the IPL. This decision was taken keeping the safety, health and wellbeing of all the stakeholders in mind, " it further added. "These are difficult times, especially in India and while we have tried to bring in some positivity and cheer, however, it is imperative that the tournament is now suspended and everyone goes back to their families and loved ones in these trying times. The BCCI will do everything in its powers to ar...

  A total of 292 cricketers, shortlisted from the initial list of 1,114 players, have been picked to go under the hammer at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, scheduled to be held on February 18 in Chennai. The IPL 2021 mini auction will start from 3 pm IST. "Rs 2 crore is the highest reserve price and two Indian players - Harbhajan Singh and Kedar Jadhav -- and eight overseas players -- Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Shakib Al Hasan, Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Liam Plunkett, Jason Roy & Mark Wood have chosen to be slotted in the highest bracket," BCCI's statement said. There are 12 players in the auction list with a base price of Rs 1.5 crore, though no Indians in it, while in the 11-player Rs 1 crore category the only Indian players are Hanuma Vihari and Umesh Yadav. "1,114 cricketers had initially registered for the auction. The final list was then pruned after the eight franchises submitted their shortlist of players," said the statement. ...

  The BCCI will hold its Annual General Meeting on December 24 to discuss the induction of two new IPL franchises besides the appointment of India's ICC representative and three new national selectors. Also on the agenda is the election of a new vice-president. As per norm, the BCCI has sent a 23-point agenda to all affiliated units 21 days prior to the holding of the AGM. The most significant point is seeking approval for two new teams to make it a 10-team IPL. It is understood that the Adani Group and Sanjeev Goenka's RPG (owners of the Rising Pune Supergiants) are interested in owning new teams with one franchise surely from Ahmedabad. Another important point will be BCCI's representative to the ICC and the Asian Cricket Council. It is expected that secretary Jay Shah will be the BCCI representative in the global committees. Read More

  The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is planning to bring out a tender for two new franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) soon, according to a news report. According to a new report in the Times of India, the BCCI was considering two new franchises after this year's IPL but later decided to add one for the 2021 edition and the other from the 2022 season. However, it yet it to get the consensus as the board's top office bearers and IPL's governing council discusses it further. The tender is likely to come after Diwali, the report quoted a source as saying. The Adani Group, the Tatas and the RPG-Sanjiv Goenka Group are keen to own a franchise in IPL, according to the report. Read More

What do you do when you have enormous shoes to fill? For one, you steer clear of blunders. Not Rishabh Pant . Widely seen as a natural successor to MS Dhoni in the India cricket team, Pant in 2019 got a great opportunity to prove his mettle and seal his place in the squad. But, given his many misses, he has yet to give the team management enough confidence. As Dhoni made himself unavailable for selection after the ICC Cricket World Cup earlier in the year, all eyes were on the Delhi southpaw who is known for his power-hitting abilities and a decent fare behind the stumps. However, as a batsman he squandered many a good start, and as a wicket-keeper he did little to stand out. Doubtless, the youngster would have been under immense pressure of expectations. There are no two thoughts about his abilities as a young player and the backing of seniors and former players. Even the recently-appointed president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Sourav Ganguly heaped p...

Three-member Cricket Advisory Committee -- Kapil Dev , Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy, is expected to announce the new coach of the Indian men's cricket team later today. While filing this story, three of the shortlisted candidates--Robin Singh, Lal Chand Rajput and Mike Hesson had arrived for the interviews for the position of new head coach. The interview of all the shortlisted candidates will be taking place in Mumbai for the appointment of the coach and the announcement is likely at 7 in the evening. On August 12, BCCI had shortlisted six candidates for the men's team's head coach including current Indian cricket team coach Ravi Shastri. Apart from Shastri, there were two more Indians who were shortlisted for the post -- former cricketers Lalchand Rajput and Robin Singh. The other three candidates were Mike Hesson, Tom Moody, and Phil Simmons. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

Sports Secretary Radheshyam Jhulaniya on Friday said that the Indian cricket board has agreed to come under the ambit of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), ending years of defiance. Jhulaniya, who met BCCI CEO Rahul Johri here on Friday, said the Board has given in writing that it would adhere to the anti-doping policy of NADA. "All cricketers will now be tested by NADA," Jhulaniya told PTI. "The BCCI raised three issues before us about the quality of the dope testing kits, competence of pathologists and sample collection. "We assured them that whatever facilities they want, we will provide but there will be some charge for it. BCCI is no different from others," he added. The BCCI had been vehemently opposed to signing up with NADA, claiming that it is an autonomous body, not a National Sports Federation and does not rely on government funding. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

From September onwards, Team India will have a new brand name on their jerseys. Chinese mobile-maker Oppo will be replaced by Byju's, the Bangalore-based educational technology and online tutorial firm. Team India will sport Oppo logo on their jerseys till the West Indies tour which commences from August 3 and ends on September 2. Once, South Africa tour of India begins from September 15, Byju's will takeover the jersey. In March 2017, Oppo had won the Indian team sponsorship rights for a five-year period, i.e. till March 2022 for a whopping amount of Rs 1079 crores, outbidding Vivo mobiles' Rs 768 crore bid. However, according to a Times of India report, Oppo has now decided to exit the space because it finds the value at which it acquired the rights in 2017 to be "extremely high" and "unsustainable". The report further says that BCCI will continue to receive the same amount from Byju's and will be at no loss for the entire duration of ...

He was expecting an India recall after a stellar show in the A series and even though Shubman Gill is disappointed by the snub for the West Indies tour, the youngster is not ready to "spend time thinking over it." Gill, along with Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer, was tipped to make it to the limited overs squad but despite being adjudged 'Player of the Series' with 218 runs and three half-centuries, he was the one to miss out. "I was waiting for the Indian senior team to be announced on Sunday and I expected to be selected for at least one of the squads. It was disappointing not to get picked but I am not going to spend time thinking over it. I'll keep scoring runs and performing to the best of my ability to impress the selectors," Gill told 'CricketNext' website. The Punjab youngster is pretty satisfied with his performance in the just-concluded A series which India won 4-1. "It was a fantastic series for me and team as well s...

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday questioned the omission of veteran Ajinkya Rahane and young Shubman Gill from the ODI squad for the tour of West Indies, urging the selection committee to be consistent with their policies. An inconsistent Kedar Jadhav has been retained while Gill, who has been adjudged man-of-the-series in the five List A games in the West Indies, scoring 218 runs. Ganguly took to Twitter to take a dig at the selectors stating the main agenda should be picking the best possible team and not making people happy. "Time has come for Indian selectors to pick same players in all formats of the game for rhythm and confidence.. too few are playing in all formats ..great teams had consistent players ..it's not about making all happy but picking the best for the country and be consistent @bcci," Ganguly tweeted. "Here are many in the squad who can play all formats ..surprised not to see Shubman Gill. Rahane in the one day squad,...

With the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 fast approaching, an immediate worry before the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is its lookout for a new head coach for the national cricket team. The tenure of current coach Ravi Shastri and his support coaching staff is set to end right after the world cup. To this end, BCCI is likely to soon advertise the vacant position, according to cricket news website ESPNCricinfo, and the candidates should be interviewed before India's tour of West Indies, which begins is in late July. Soon after the Indian Premier League 2019 (IPL 2019), which starts from March 23, the Indian team will be heading for England to play ICC World Cup 2019, seen as the final test for the current coaching staff and the hard work put in by the team in recent months. ESPNCricinfo also said that BCCI will approach the three-man Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) to select the next Indian cricket team coach. The CAC comprises Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly ...

Acknowledging Rishabh Pant 's consistent performance, the BCCI has rewarded the young wicketkeeper-batsman with a grade A retainership while demoting senior opener Shikhar Dhawan from the elite A plus category in the latest list of Central Contracts. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the annual contracts late on Thursday night, handing retainership to 25 cricketers in four groups of A plus (Rs 7 crore), A (Rs 5 crore), B (Rs 3 crore) and C (Rs 1 crore). Last year 26 players were handed contracts. Not only Dhawan but pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has also been dropped from the highest-paying category and now only three players -- skipper Virat Kohli, limited overs deputy Rohit Sharma and premier pacer in all formats speedster Jasprit Bumrah -- figure in the elite category. While left arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed and batsman Hanuma Vihari are new entrants in the C group. Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw and Vijay Shankar, who have made impression in Tests an...

Indian broadcaster IMG Reliance has withdrawn from its contract to produce coverage of the Pakistan Twenty20 league following the deadly Kashmir attack last week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Sunday. The company was televising the Pakistan Super League , which is being played in the United Arab Emirates because of security concerns, and it was also due to televise the last knockout matches to be held in Karachi and Lahore next month. Forty-one Indian soldiers were killed in the suicide bombing which was claimed by a Pakistan-based militant group in the Himalayan region which was the deadliest attack in a 30-year-old armed conflict. The PCB said an announcement of the new live broadcasters of the tournament would be made on Monday. "The PCB always had a contingency plan in place, and we are confident we will be in a position to announce the new partner," PCB's managing director Wasim Khan said in a statement "The PCB has also noted the...

The 'World's Highest-Paid Athletes 2018' list is topped by 41-year-old Mayweather, with $285 million earnings Current Affairs News : India cricket captain   Virat Kohli   is among the world's highest-paid athletes, according to a Forbes' compilation topped by American boxing champion Floyd May weather. Kohli, the only sportsperson from India to be featured in the list, is ranked 83rd with earnings of $24 million. Surprisingly, the 'World's Highest-Paid Athletes 2018' compilation is an all-male affair with no women being featured in the list. Kohli, 29, is not just cricket-crazy India's biggest name but is also one of the most popular athletes in the world, "boasting more Twitter followers (25 million-plus) than all but three active   sports   stars",   Forbes   said. The 'World's Highest-Paid Athletes 2018' list is topped by 41-year-old Mayweather, with $285 million earnings. This year the Indian ...