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Suspension of IPL 2021 'unfortunate, but right decision,' says SRH mentor VVS Laxman

Former Indian batsman and now a mentor of the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, VVS Laxman has said that the decision of suspending the tournament this year was an unfortunate but right decision considering the circumstances following the breach of biosecure bubbles.

"Unfortunate as it might appear, the right decision was taken to suspend the IPL following the breach of biosecure bubbles of four franchises across two cities,” Laxman wrote in a column for Times of India.

He said the fact that carefully managed biosecure bubbles which are considered very safe and secure in nature got breached shows that the novel coronavirus does not allow people to let their guard down, even for a millisecond.

"In these unprecedented times, physical safety and mental health are of paramount importance. That even carefully structured bubbles can be breached is another lesson in our battle against the coronavirus -- to never let our guard down, even for a millisecond,” he added.

He said that the Sunirsers Hyderabad side was full of confidence that their biosecure bubble was intact while they were moving from one city to another—in their case, from Chennai to New Delhi. But, as cases of Covid-19 started surfacing in the other camps led to apprehensions in the SRH camp which was followed by one of their own Wriddhiman Shah returning a positive result for the virus.

“We had full confidence in the protocols that had been put in place even when we moved from one city to another, but once we learnt of the positive tests in the Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings camp, our apprehensions mounted,” Laxman opened up on SRH thought process.

Laxman extended best wishes to Wriddhiman Saha and at the same time wondered how did the wicketkeeper-batsman contract the virus while living in a highly secure biosecure bubble.

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There was no bio-bubble breach during IPL 2021: Sourav Ganguly

The IPL 2021 was suspended with immediate effect earlier this week after there was a rise in the COVID-19 cases within the franchise teams. In a chat with The Indian Express, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly has talked about organising the IPL at this hour, bio-bubble breach and the future plans for holding this edition of the tournament later in the year. Ganguly insisted that he doesn’t really think that having the IPL was a problem initially because when the decision was taken, the situation in the country wasn't alarming. “No. When we decided, the number was not even close to this. We did the England tour successfully,” he said. The former India captain further said that there were talks about taking the IPL 2021 to UAE. But as there wasn’t any major rise in the cases during the month of February, it was then decided to hold the cash-rich league in India itself. “It was discussed, but the (COVID-19 cases) in India in February was (virtually) nothing. It has just gone through the roof in the last three weeks. Before that it was nothing. We discussed about the UAE but then decided to do it in India,” he Ganguly said. Speaking about resuming the tournament, the BCCI president said that it would be an ‘early call’ to make. “We will see. It’s too early to say,” the former left-handed batsman said. When asked about whether there was a bio-bubble breach, Ganguly denied the claims and clearly said that the report that the board had got was that there was no breach of the bubble. “I don’t think so. The report we got is that there’s no breach of the bubble. How it happened is very difficult to say. How so many people are getting (infected) in the country is also very difficult to say,” Ganguly said. KKR’s Sandeep Warrior and Varun Chakravarthy, SRH’s Wriddhiman Saha, DC’s Amit Mishra and CSK’s bowling coach L.Balaji had tested positive for COVID-19 after which the IPL 2021 was suspended.

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IPL 2021: Anti-Corruption unit catches two people at Arun Jaitley Stadium suspected of pitch siding

The Indian Premier League might be suspended for the 2021 edition as of now, but the Board of Control for Cricket in India's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) is still very active and following two cases it has lodged with Delhi Police regarding people of questionable characters being cited in the Feroz Shah Kotla at the Arun Jaitley Stadium during the Delhi leg of the tournament. "One of my ACU officers caught a person and handed over the details to Delhi Police,” ACU chief Shabir Hussein Shekhadam Khandwawala told PTI. “While that particular offender managed to flee leaving behind his two mobile phones, ACU lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police," he added. Narrating the incidents Khandwawala said, "On two separate days, these people (suspected people working for bookmakers) managed to get access to Kotla.” The ACU chief then further detailed that one of the persons fled with his phone in the custody of the ACU. “The one who fled the scenes came in the garb of a cleaner. However, we have all his details as he was employed for the tournament. His Aadhar Card details have been handed over to Delhi Police," he said. Explaining how the ACU officer caught the fake employee, who was most probably ‘pitch siding’, Khandwawala said, "He was standing (inside Feroz Shah Kotla premises) in a secluded area all by himself and so one of our officers approached and asked him: 'What are you doing here?' He said: "Main apne girlfriend se baat kar raha hoon" [I am talking to my girlfriend]. My officer then asked him to dial the number he was talking to and then asked him to hand over the phones. Just when he was going through the contents of his phone, the guy fled from the spot.” Saying that the suspected individual might be supplying sensitive information to bookmakers, Khadwala added, “We needed to inform the Delhi Police. Delhi Police has responded positively and thus next instance two people were arrested." Pitch siding is generally used to reveal important information about the pitch which is generally used by digital bookies for bets on toss decision and runs to be scored in first innings etc.

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I just got into bad books of selectors: Junaid Khan slams Pakistan’s biased selection policy

Pakistan pacer Junaid Khan, once touted as the next big thing in Word cricket as far as left-arm pace bowling was concerned, has found it very difficult to keep his place in the side. In a recent interview, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa born said that it has been due to him falling on the wrong side of favouritism practised in Pakistan cricket. Accusing the captains and coaches of favouritism, Junaid said, "It is like if you are on good terms with the captain and team management then you will probably get a proper run in all formats to prove your worth.” "If you don't have close relations with them then you are in and out,” he told Cricket Pakistan.com Saying that he was once not even given proper rest when he demanded, there came a time when he wasn’t picked up even after performing well in domestic cricket, just because he fell out of the place from the good books. "I am regularly playing domestic cricket and I believe if the selection is done justly I should be in consideration," said the Swabi man. The fact that both Junaid and his cousin Yasur shah come from far off town Swabi, the 31-year-old feels that they don’t have the lobbying or the media pressure behind them. "If you belong to a big city, then people raise their voice for you. People like me and Yasir Shah are from Swabi. There is no TV channel or media person from Swabi, so there is no pressure on selectors regarding our selection from the media," he said. Once a Lancashire representative, Junaid still harbours hopes of representing the men in green and hence is rejecting good league offers. "I am being offered more money than what I earned while playing for Pakistan during my peak. However, I refused the offer as I still want to represent Pakistan," said the left-arm pacer, who has 189 international wickets to his credit in 22 Tests, 76 ODIs and 8 T20Is. The pacer further went on to compare the work management done by the Pakistan board for their pacers to that done by England. Junaid said that Pakistan always forgets its senior players in search of new talent. "We should learn about managing workload from England. During their recent Test series against India, they rotated James Anderson and Stuart Broad,” he said. "Broad and Anderson would rest even after taking five or six wickets in the previous match. That is because they are secure of their place in the team. They know they will play in the future matches," the fast bowler added.

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BCCI Secretary Arun Dhumal confirms loss to the tune of 2000 Cr due to IPL 2021 suspension

The Indian Premier League suspension has brought losses to the richest cricket board and the richest cricket league in the world. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Treasurer Arun Kumar Dhumal confirmed that the board is looking down the barrel at a revenue loss of approximately Rs 2000 crore, which if converted, turns out to be $270 million. "The ballpark figure for revenue loss would be to the tune of 2000 crore rupees (20 billion)," Dhumal told Reuters. "Given all our contractual obligations, we are yet to find out what would be the actual figure," the Treasurer added. It is not just the loss of money that is pinching BCCI, but it is rather the loss of Brand Value and a certain loss of face that the board is more worried about. Duff & Phelps, a financial consultancy firm said that in the last year, the IPL's brand value shrunk by 3.6% to $6.19 billion, mostly due to the pandemic. This year, the number could go high as the cricket governing board of the country, which is religiously mad about the sports is facing the ire of the people for conducting the league in the times when thousands of people are dying and more than four lakhs are testing positive because of Covid-19. More importantly, STAR Sports, which bagged the IPL's television and digital rights for 2018-2022 for a whopping 163.48 billion rupees and which would shell out about 545 million rupees per game in a 60-match season, would not be paying in full to the board as well. Many sponsors are not keen on fulfilling their 100% financial commitment either as only 29 of the proposed 60 matches have been completed.