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Who is at the Crease?

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Ravi Shastri

By Sujit Bhar

Following a chaotic few evening hours on Tuesday (July 11), it was confirmed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Acting Secretary Amitabh Choudhary that Ravi Shastri would be the next head coach of the Indian cricket team.

The Board’s media advisory said: “The BCCI announces the appointment of Mr Ravi Shastri as the Head Coach, Mr Zaheer Khan as the Bowling Consultant and Mr Rahul Dravid who will be the Overseas Batting Consultant (Test cricket) for the Indian Cricket Team.”

The appointments will be till the World Cup of 2019.

So far so good, but there seem to be a number of attendant problems. When did the Board decide to appoint a Bowling Consultant and an overseas Overseas Batting Consultant (Test cricket)? And if it did, why was it not advertised and applications invited?

The second problem is of law. Does the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) of the BCCI, or even the Board itself, retain full powers to ask for applications for such important posts? Does it have the requisite authority of related tendering processes? The problem arises from the Supreme Court’s appointing the Committee of Administrators (CoA) with full authority to oversee every action of the Board and its sub-committees, such as the CAC.

The CoA’s ability to push decisions within the Board was visible on Tuesday (July 11) when its chief, former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai, insisted that the coach be named on Tuesday itself. That was not what the CAC had planned. The Board had given the CAC full authority to choose the coach. And with good reason, what with the CAC comprising such names such as Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman.

The CAC had done its homework and its interviews, but still wanted to interview skipper Virat Kohli, holidaying in America. Sourav had said that he had great respect for Kohli and it (talking to him for his views) would be the right thing to do, but it would not be nice to call him on his holiday.

Rai was insistent, though. So Kohli was called and the announcement was made.

The CAC did hold its own view. Sourav has been against the appointment of Shastri and Laxman has been supportive of that view, though neither had said it openly. A vote within the CAC would have yielded the expected result. It is not known if there was unanimity of opinion within the Committee.

As for the CoA, one has to remember it is fractured at the moment.

On June 1, the Supreme Court received a letter from historian and cricket buff Ramachandra Guha, stating that he was quitting from the CoA. This letter, dated March 28, contained detailed explanation on why he was quitting, and one of the main issues was the way Anil Kumble, the former India coach, was handled. It is a different matter that both Guha and Kumble hail from Bengaluru, and there is a good bit of bonhomie around. Guha’s resignation letter is pending with the apex court, which will take a call on it on July 14.

The very nature of the CoA and its powers need to be better explained to the Board. Apart from Rai and Guha, the CoA also has former international cricketer and India captain Diana Edulji and IDFC Ltd Managing Director and CEO Vikram Limaye. While the CoA’s primary function was to carry out the Lodha Commission’s recommendations in reforming the sport in the country, who carries out the day-to-day running of the sport? If that is the responsibility Board, then it was the Board’s and therefore of the CAC’s responsibility to announce the name of the coach after due process.

So who is selecting the coach of the Indian cricket team? The basis of the CoA is to delegate a certain amount of power to the BCCI till things are set in perspective when the functioning of the CoA would become redundant. At this point, it seems the CoA has the authority to decide on something that is within cricket’s deep understanding.

This complexity needs to be sorted out. Also the need of the hour is ascertaining the responsibilities and powers of the individual members of the CoA. Guha has probably not done the administration any good by sending in his resignation and by not contesting whatever he thinks are wrong from within.

The coach selection issue brings too many anomalies into the open. These are key issues that need sorting out in quick time, before another Kumble-like incident arises.

Cricket news

Happy Birthday KL Rahul: Suniel Shetty wishes son-in-law KL Rahul on his 32nd birthday

On the special occasion, his father-in-law and actor Suniel Shetty dropped a sweet birthday wish for KL Rahul. Suniel Shetty shared a photo wherein he, along with his son Ahan Shetty and son-in-law KL Rahul, can be seen lounging on a sofa.

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Suniel Shetty’s son-in-law and Indian cricketer KL Rahul celebrates his 32nd birthday on Thursday. On this special occasion the Bollywood actor took to his Instagram handle to wish the Lucknow Super Giants skipper on his special day. Suniel Shetty shared a picture with KL Rahul and his son Ahaan on Instagram.

In the picture, the veteran actor is seen relaxing on the couch with his son Ahaan and KL Rahul. Suniel Shetty captioned the picture they say its not what we have in life, but who we have in our life that matters. He said he felt blessed to have KL Rahul in his life. He said this is a connection which he could not explain.

Suniel Shetty’s daughter Athiya Shetty reacted to the post and wrote favourite men. KL Rahul replied with a black heart emoji to the post. Many Indian cricketers, social media user and fans also wished KL Rahul on his birthday.

One X user Muffadlal Vohra wrote that whichever position the Indian team asked KL Rahul to bat, he was always there to answer the call whether it is opening the batting, or batting in the middle order or the role of a finisher he was ready to do it. He said KL Rahul is truly one of the most versatile batsmen of this era and wished him Happy Birthday.

Another X user Naeem shared a video of KL Rahul and wished him Happy Birthday.

Cricketer Kuldeep Yadav shared a picture with KL Rahul and wrote Happy Birthday KL Rahul bhai.

One X user Tanuj singh shared a video of the star cricketer and recounted his hundreds in different countries.

Spinner Yuzvendra Chahal shared a picture with KL Rahul and wrote Happy Birthday my brother KL Rahul. Hope you have a good one. One X user Leisha wished the star cricketer Happy birthday.

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KKR captain Shreyas Iyer fined Rs 12 lakh for slow over rate in match against RR

KKR lost to Royals by two wickets on Tuesday at Eden Gardens.

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The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were found guilty of violating an IPL Code of Conduct while playing the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Tuesday, following their defeat in their second match at the Eden Gardens. The Knight Riders not only dropped their opening game of the IPL 2024 season, but their captain also received a fine.

KKR captain Shreyas Iyer has been fined Rs 12 lakh for maintaining a slow over-rate during an IPL match at Eden Gardens against the Rajasthan Royals.

According to the official notification, Iyer has been charged with a huge fine of Rs 12 lakhs as it was his team’ first of the season offense under IPL’s Code of Conduct and involved a minimum over-rate penalty.

In a release from the IPL, it is said, Shreyas Iyer, the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, has been fined after his team maintained a slow over rate during their TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match against Rajasthan Royals at Eden Gardens on April 17.

Meanwhile, this is not the first time in this season when a team has maintained a slow over-rate. Earlier, Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Rant was also fined twice for maintaining a slow over-rate. If his team commits this again, the he along with his will be banned for one match, as per IPL’s Code of Conduct.

In a T20I loss to the Royals on Tuesday, Sunil Narine scored his first century for the Knight Riders. Up till the 18th over, Narine (109 off 56) batted, first partnership with Angkrish Raghuvanshi (30) for 85 runs and then with Andre Russell (13), for 51 runs. For KKR, it was a one-man show. Jos Buttler blasted his way to an unbeaten 60-ball 107 as the visitors completed the chase on the game’s last ball. In response, RR were briefly in major trouble.

While KKR lost their second match in six games, it was the Royals’ sixth win in seven games.

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Cricket news

IPL 2024: Jos Buttler’s unbeaten century helps Rajasthan Royals chase down 224 against Kolkata Knight Riders

Rajasthan Royals were in trouble at one stage of the match but Jos Buttler helped the team recover with an unbeaten 60-ball 107, as the visitors completed the run chase in the last delivery of the match.

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Rajasthan Royals pulled off Indian Premier League’s biggest run chase to defeat Kolkata Knight Riders by two wickets on Tuesday. KKR were asked to bat first and rode on Sunil Narine’s 56-ball 109 to take their team to a respectable total of 223/6 in 20 overs. In response, RR were in trouble at one stage of the match but Jos Buttler helped the team recover with an unbeaten 60-ball 107, as the visitors completed the run chase in the last delivery of the match.

The England captain began the last over hitting a six off the first ball, he then had to turn down runs off the next 4 balls, thus bringing the equation down to Rajasthan Royals needing 3 runs to win off the last 2 balls. Buttler then hobbled 2 runs off the 2nd last ball of the match and took a single off the last delivery and thus took RR to a record-equalling run chase.

Earlier the Kolkata Knight Riders were asked to bat first on a fresh pitch, Narine blasted a 49-ball 100 to lead KKR’s innings in this match at Eden Gardens. It was a one-man show from KKR as Narine (109 off 56) took his team till the 18th over, forging a 85 run partnership with Angkrish Raghuvanshi (30) and then adding 51 runs along with Andre Russell (13). KKR reached a score of 223/6 in 20 overs batting first.

KKR’s bowling attack could not go unnoticed as the likes of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine both shone to help keep the home side in the fight, but the effort seemed to be in vain. It was merely a case of who wanted to win more on the match day. And Buttler showed that he wanted it the most, as he led Rajasthan Royals to a historic run-chase, the biggest successful run-chase in the history of the IPL.

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