by admin | May 25, 2021 | Entrepreneurship, News, Startup Basics
Panaji : Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin will offer “free expert advice” to the Goa Ranji team following the inclusion of his son Asaduddin, a Goa Cricket Association (GCA) official said on Friday.
Shadab Jakati, Goa’s highest wicket-taker, slammed the 28-year-old’s inclusion in the state team.
Asaduddin has not played a single Ranji trophy match and his inclusion has triggered a furore in the coastal state’s cricketing circles, forcing the GCA on the backfoot.
“Because Asaduddin is his son and he is now a part of our team, we will get Azharuddin’s guidance for free. The expert assistance from someone of the stature of Azharuddin, a former India captain, will work wonders for the Goa team and its young cricketers,” GCA Secretary Daya Pagi told IANS.
He, however, said that no written agreement had been signed by the association with Azharuddin over the sharing of the latter’s expertise for the benefit of the state’s young players.
“Asaduddin has been roped in as a guest player. We have not paid a single rupee to him… we are going through a cash crunch and that is why we chose this route,” Pagi said.
Earlier in the day, Jakati, who has taken 275 wickets for Goa in 92 first-class matches and played nine editions of the Indian Premier League with teams like Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Lions, slammed the GCA decision on Asaduddin.
He dubbed the decision a “joke on the cricketers of Goa”.
“Just because (he is the son of former India captain (Mohammad Azharuddin), who was a great player, does that automatically allow for his son to play for Goa?” Jakati told a press conference on Friday.
“He (Asaduddin) is aged 28 and never played a single Ranji trophy match, nor even a first-class match. Even the last match he played for a state was in 2009, that too for Hyderabad Colts team in an invitational tournament. He tried to play for Uttar Pradesh, he tried various states, but he was not given a chance,” Jakati said.
“But this is almost like ‘this is Goa, come, we welcome you’. What about our Goan players? We are also struggling, we are also training very hard, we also want to play for Goa.”
“GCA President Suraj Lotlikar is not bothered about Goan players. We are calling players from outside to make a debut for the Goa cricket team,” Jakati added.
The 38-year-old Goa cricketer alleged that despite a good performance last season, he was asked by Lotlikar to retire.
“Suraj Lotlikar told me to consider retirement and told me to make way for junior cricketers. He even went to the extent of telling me that I will never be part of any IPL team this year,” he claimed.
While Lotlikar, who is currently out of India, was unavailable for comment, Pagi said that the decision to drop senior players, including Jakati, was part of a new policy to promote young players.
“His performance has been average for the last few years. That is why we have taken a decision to drop him and other senior players. We want to promote young talent in the Goa team,” Pagi said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News
New Delhi : Beleaguered India pacer Mohammed Shami on Thursday got a major reprieve from the BCCI anti-corruption unit in the allegations of match-fixing after which the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) recommended he be included in the list of centrally contracted players.
Shami was excluded from the list of central contracts after his wife Hasin Jahan accused him of domestic violence and extra-marital affairs a day ahead of the announcement of the contarcts.
The Bengal pacer was probed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s anti-corruption officials after allegations were made by his estranged wife that he had taken money from Pakistani contacts.
But at the end of the investigations by the head of the BCCI anti-corruption unit Neeraj Kumar, the paceman was found not guilty and thus the CoA has recommended that he should be placed in Grade B of the contract lists.
“The Supreme Court of India-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) had requested Neeraj Kumar, former Police Commissioner of Delhi and head of BCCI anti-corruption unit, to investigate the allegations against Mohd Shami in so far as they pertain to the provisions of the BCCI anti-corruption code,” the BCCI said in a statement.
“Neeraj Kumar has submitted his confidential report to the CoA. Based on the conclusions in the said report, the CoA is of the view that no further actions/proceedings under the BCCI anti-corruption code are warranted in the matter.
“For this reason, the BCCI shall proceed with offering a Grade ‘B’ annual retainership contract to Mohd Shami,” the statement added.
Earlier, four officials of the Indian cricket board’s anti-corruption wing had spoken to Jahan over allegations that the player was involved in match-fixing.
However, according to sources, Jahan had handed them some documents supporting her allegation that Shami met a woman in Dubai who was supposed to give him money sent by another person from Britain. The officials also spoke to Jahan’s father and her two daughters.
She has also released an alleged recording of her telephonic conversation with the pacer during which Shami rejected the accusations of adultery and claimed that he met a woman named Alisba in Dubai who was supposed to give him money sent by a certain Mohammed Bhai from Britain.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Yusuf Pathan
Mumbai : Indian all-rounder Yusuf Pathan has been suspended for five months for doping and this period will end on January 14, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Tuesday.
The BCCI said Pathan had been serving the backdated five-month suspension from August 15.
Pathan failed a dope test conducted during a domestic T-20 tournament on March 16, 2017 and had since been provisionally suspended. After admitting to the charge, according to a BCCI statement, he was handed a five-month suspension.
“Yusuf Pathan has been suspended for a doping violation. Pathan had inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance, which can be commonly found in cough syrups,” a BCCI statement said.
“His urine sample was tested and found to contain Terbutaline, which is prohibited both In & Out of Competition in the WADA Prohibited List of Substances,” it added.
On October 27, Pathan was charged with the commission of an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) under the BCCI Anti-Doping Rules (ADR) Article 2.1 and provisionally suspended pending determination of the charge.
Pathan responded that a medication containing Terbutaline was mistakenly given to him, instead of the medication prescribed for him, which did not contain any prohibited substance.
“The BCCI is satisfied with Pathan’s explanation that he had taken Terbutaline inadvertently to treat an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI) and not as a performance-enhancing drug,” the statement said.
“Having considered all of the evidence and taken expert external advice, the BCCI has accepted Pathan’s explanation … and has agreed that a period of ineligibility of five months should apply, together with the disqualification of certain results,” it added.
—IANS
