India are second on the points table with two wins and one loss from three matches, while Bangladesh have also suffered two wins and one loss. For the time being, both the teams can qualify for the semi-finals, but the weather can play an important role in the final outcome of this group.
Wednesday, November 2, 2022
Tuesday, November 1, 2022
Thanks to IPL, American money discovers Indian cricket at last
In the decade since Redbird Capital Partners was founded, Gerry Cardinale has acquired stakes in Fenway Sports Group, the New York Yankees’ Yes Network and AC Milan. One of his colleagues, Alec Skinner, previously worked for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. Both men are well aware of what a billion dollar business looks like. However, the game in which they see the biggest turnaround these days may come as a surprise. “When we first started looking at cricket, we weren’t experts by any means,” Skinner said. “But the more we studied it, the more we realized what the NFL felt 20 years ago.”
Originally published at Pen 18
That is why in June 2021, RedBird bought a 15% stake in IPL team Rajasthan Royals for $37.5 million. The money that has been poured into the league over the past 15 months shows that the Redbirds have got the deal. Four months after that deal closed, an IPL expansion team was sold for $940 million. Eight months later, the IPL negotiated a new broadcast deal worth $6.2 billion.
With over $1 billion a year, the IPL now generates annual broadcast revenue on par with top leagues such as the NFL ($10 billion per year), England’s Premier League (about $6.9 billion) and the NBA ($2.7 billion). On a per match basis, the IPL is just behind the NFL.
And suddenly many people want to. Disney and Sony were among the bidders in the broadcast rights tender last year. CVC Capital Partners has just added an IPL team to a portfolio that already has interests in rugby and soccer. Out of them defeated it? American owner of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Manchester United.
Making money in cricket is a new phenomenon in India. As recently as in the 1990s, the BCCI had to pay Doordarshan to show the matches of the national team. The introduction of IPL in 2008 changed all that. IPL matches now attract a domestic TV audience of over 20 crores. “It ticked a lot of boxes from an investment perspective,” said Mustafa Ghous, director of Delhi Capitals, one of the founding teams of the league. “It’s a closed league with no relegation, so your revenue is protected regardless of your performance, while costs are limited by a player’s salary cap.” NYT
india: T20 World Cup: Looking to secure a semi-final berth, India face old foes Bangladesh in a crucial match
Bangladesh’s game has become very important for the Men in Blue today after India’s loss against South Africa. It is almost a virtual knockout with both the teams locked on four points after three matches. And rain threatens to spoil the game in Adelaide, with India having their backs against Bangladesh which have just won a close match against Zimbabwe.
Originally published at Pen 18
India vs Bangladesh was, at least for a period, the new big cricket rivalry with a history of its own. After losing to Bangladesh in the 2007 World Cup, India defeated Bangladesh in Dhaka in the opening match of the 2011 World Cup. The rivalry was played out again in Melbourne at the 2015 World Cup. Thanks to Rohit Sharma’s century, India won, but Bangladesh fans felt disappointed with umpire Aleem Dar, who called a waist-height full toss by Rubel Hossain, who dismissed Rohit for a no ball.
The wound had not healed when India toured Bangladesh months after the World Cup. Not only did the hosts win 3-0, media and fans were flooded with cartoons showing Bangladeshi Tigers pouncing on the Indians. Distasteful morphed pictures of the Bangladesh captain holding the severed head of Indian skipper MS Dhoni were doing the rounds. From a sociological point of view, rivalry was beginning to make deep inroads into the minds of the people.
The close matches saw India win the 2016 T20 World Cup event at home by a single run with rising intensity. This match is remembered for Dhoni’s brilliant run out. The wounds were deep. This was evident from Mushfiqur Rahim’s celebratory social media post after India’s loss to West Indies. Bangladesh came close again in Sri Lanka in March 2018, before a six off the last ball by Dinesh Karthik sealed their fortunes.
They had pushed India but could not shut things down. Bangladesh is probably the only team in the world at the moment that can match India thanks to the support of the fans. It was no surprise that Edgbaston was buzzing with slogans of ‘Joy Bangla’ during the 2017 Champions Trophy.
It came to an end with India winning easily but Bangladesh fans have another chance in Adelaide today. Though India have been in good form in the T20 format, everything that happens during the day is what happens. South Africa’s win against India will win the hearts of Bangladesh. India are a better unit despite the struggle of the openers on paper. And it will be a real question to deal with the quality of Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar from the inexperienced Bangladesh top order.
A virtual knockout, however, is not played with skill alone. It is equally played with that in mind and Bangladesh cannot be ruled out. “We are enjoying the respect we have earned over the years,” said former Bangladesh captain Aminul Islam Bulbul. “No one will call us small. Every team knows that we have the ability to beat them on our day. India knows we will be competitive and if you look at the history between India and Bangladesh, you know how tough some matches have been.
There is no arguing that if the weather is right it will be a real spectacle at the beautiful Adelaide Oval.
Monday, October 31, 2022
Aaron Finch 63 leads Australia to victory over Ireland at T20 World Cup
Australia got their Twenty20 World Cup defense back on track with a 42-run win over Ireland at the Gabba in Brisbane on Monday.
Originally published at Pen 18
Ireland, chasing Australia’s 179–5, were all out for 137 in the 19th over, leaving Australia to level five points, with leaders New Zealand, who have one game to go, in Group 1. is at the top.
England, who play New Zealand on Tuesday, are in third place, two points behind Australia but with a better net run rate, a factor that could be important in a tight group.
Ireland also had three points, with hopes of reaching the semi-finals out of the way before the match, but were blown away in the chase by Mitchell Starc’s pace and inswing and then the scoreboard pressure of the 180-run target.
They rolled 25-5 and handed the World Cup hosts a comfortable win despite Lorcan Tucker’s scintillating unbeaten 71.
Australia captain Aaron Finch, who won the man of the match award for his 63 runs, said the scoring was not straightforward.
“It wasn’t the smoothest wicket, it was a lot slower than we expected,” Finch said.
“He switched his pace really well and bowled a lot of cutters early in the innings.
It was difficult to find the rhythm and we did well scoring 179 runs.
Earlier, Finch had returned to form in his 44-ball knock with five fours and three sixes, responding to critics who had called for him to be dropped after a poor run with the bat.
Finch denied that he was influenced by all the chatter. “No, not feeling any pressure at all to be honest,” Finch said.
“The support from the change room and support staff has been incredible. T20 is a high-risk game, sometimes it stops, sometimes it doesn’t.”
He was patient, playing the anchor as Australia lost their first three wickets to tough Irish bowling.
– Ireland ‘making progress’ – His watchful approach paid off after Ireland’s attack and Finch had the advantage, faltering under pressure from Marcus Stoinis, who scored 35 off 25 balls.
Ireland started their run chase fast but suffered a major setback when captain Andy Balbirnie was hit for a six by Pat Cummins in the last ball of the second over.
He was chased almost immediately by the dangerous Paul Stirling, who was caught by Cummins for 11 off part-time spinner Glenn Maxwell.
Maxwell then caught Harry Tector at square leg with Ireland for 24 and the game was as good a run later as Starc bowled Curtis Camper for a duck.
Starc was bowling at real pace and struck again with another beautiful inswinger on George Dockrell’s account, leaving Ireland 25-5.
Tucker and Gareth Delany made a brief recovery until Delany skidded Maxwell trying to belt Stoinis for six.
Tucker, who came in at number three, played single-handedly, scoring 71 off 48 balls, until he was run out of partners.
“We are making progress to stay with these big teams – looking at the scoreboard we thought it was not against us,” said captain Balbirnie.
“Again the wicket column was a problem and who knows if someone stayed with Tucker.”
Virat Kohli fumes at ‘invasion of privacy’ after hotel room video
Superstar India cricketer Virat Kohli said on Monday that he was “crazy about his privacy” after a stranger was filmed inside his hotel room in Perth.
Originally published at Pen 18
Kohli, 33, took to social media to criticize the actions of the attacker, who took video footage of the batsman’s belongings at Crown Perth during India’s preparation for the T20 World Cup in Australia earlier this month.
Kohli wrote to his 221 million followers on Instagram, “I understand that fans are very happy and excited to see their favorite players and are excited to meet them and I have always appreciated it.”
“But this video here is horrifying and it made me feel very paranoid about my privacy.”
The hotel said it had launched an investigation and that a contractor had “stand-in”.
“If I can’t have privacy in my hotel room, where can I really expect any personal space???” Kohli said.
“I’m not okay with this kind of bigotry and complete invasion of privacy. Please respect people’s privacy and don’t treat them as an object for entertainment.”
Crown Resorts apologized for the violation and said it took immediate action.
“We are aware of an incident involving the privacy of a contractor and a guest at Crown Perth,” a Crown Resorts spokesperson told AFP.
“We apologize unconditionally to the guest involved and will continue to take necessary steps to ensure that this remains an isolated incident.
“We have zero tolerance for this behavior, and it is well below the standards we set for our team members and contractors.
“The Crown took immediate steps to rectify the issue, including launching an investigation, standing up to the individuals involved.
“The original video was also swiftly removed from the social media platform.
“We are also cooperating with the Indian cricket team and the International Cricket Council so that we apologize and will continue to work with them to advance our investigation.”
The International Cricket Council said: “The ICC is incredibly disappointed by the blatant invasion of privacy by a member of the Indian traveling team at Crown Perth during their team’s pre-event preparations ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.
“We continue to work with event hotels and security providers to ensure that this remains an isolated event and that player privacy is fully respected at all times.”
Kohli has been in fine form in the tournament with two match-winning unbeaten half-centuries, but his team’s loss to South Africa in Perth on Sunday led to a 12-run defeat.
Sunday, October 30, 2022
virat kohli: Ravichandran Ashwin in disbelief after Virat Kohli drops a dolly in Ind-SA match, video goes viral
New Delhi: Veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and cricket fanatics were in for a jolt when former India captain Virat Kohli – in South Africa’s 12th over – dropped a dolly to relieve Aiden Markram in Perth on Sunday.
Originally published at Pen 18
The ball went straight into Kohli’s hand but was let off by the former India captain. It was one of the easiest catches and Kohli’s drop surprised Ashwin. Neither skipper Rohit Sharma nor the fans could believe that Kohli was dropping the catch.
The video of this reaction of Ashwin has now gone viral on social media.
Markram was batting on 35 when Kohli dropped him. The right-handed batsman scored a half-century and scored 52 for 41 to play his part in the win. Markram’s catch could have made a difference and that missed opportunity proved to be very costly for Team India.
India now has 2 wins in 3 matches in the current ICC T20 World Cup.
wsf: Chennai to host squash World Cup in 2023, WSF chief says India “important territory”
World Squash Federation (WSF) President Jenna Wooldridge on Sunday said that Chennai will host the revised Squash World Cup in 2023. She also said that the city may host the 2025 edition of the World Cup.
Originally published at Pen 18
The World Cup, which was restarted in 2023, will be held in the city after the signing of a multi-year agreement with the Squash Rackets Federation of India.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the WSF convention and the Annual General Meeting (AGM) here, Wooldridge said the World Cup, which has not taken place since 2011, could possibly be a mixed team event.
“We’ve got support to bring a new World Cup in Chennai. We had it (WC) earlier, it hasn’t happened since 2011. It will be a facelift… There are plans to make it a mixed team event. We have not decided on the eligibility criteria,” she said.
Wooldridge said that in addition to the World Cup, the WSF wants to host a world doubles event in the city in 2024.
“India is an important region and important partner for the World Squash Federation, which has a strong track record of supporting WSF and delivering some memorable world events.
“After a three-year break in our conference due to Covid, this conference and the AGM have been critically important and extremely successful in bringing the WSF family back together individually; and we are most grateful for the hospitality and generous support.” Appreciate SRFI for hosting us in Chennai.
“We look forward to our renewed collaboration to support the transformation of our game over the next few years,” she said.
The WSF chief expressed optimism about efforts to become an Olympic sport in 2028 (at the Los Angeles Games), with previous efforts failing.
He said, “We are one of the shortlist of 9. We have a chance. We have made a good submission. Being in the shortlist of 9 is an achievement in itself.”
New board members were elected at the WSF’s three-day conference and AGM. It elected two vice-presidents, with Debendranath Sarangi, the current president of the Squash Racket Federation of India, re-elected for a second term.
He is now also on the WSF board and has been joined by new New Zealand member Susan Devoy, a former world No.
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