IND vs SL | Bangalore pitch rated ‘below average’ by ICC

The International Cricket Council has rated the pitch used for the India-Sri Lanka Test match in Bangalore as ‘below average’. 

The M Chinnaswamy stadium hosted Virat Kohli’s 101st Test match starting March 12. While Indian fans cheered for Virat Kohli to make a century - one that has been long awaited from the maestro - their hopes were shattered by a track that seemed to turn square from day one.

Former Indian cricketer and match referee Javagal Srinath noted the same and stated that it was not an even contest between the bat and ball. 

“The pitch offered a lot of turn on the first day itself and though it improved with every session, in my view, it was not an even contest between bat and ball.”

India escaped a grim fate after losing four quick wickets as the duo of Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer held the innings together and counterattacked their way out of trouble. Eight wickets were taken by spinners in the first innings of the game with Lasith Embuldeniya, Praveen Jayawickrama and Dhananjaya de Silva running riot against the Indian batting. 

Once India were all out at 252 owing to a stunning 92 from Iyer, Sri Lanka found further troubles while coming into bat under the lights. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami presented an exceptional show reducing Sri Lanka to 85/6 at the end of day’s play.

16 wickets fell on day one, 9 off which came off spinners.

The M Chinnaswamy stadium has incurred one demerit point based on the valuation of the match referee and now have to avoid further sanctions in the next five years. If the stadium accumulates 5 demerit points or more, they will be banned for hosting any matches for the next 12 months from the day of sanction.

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SA vs BAN | 2nd ODI | Proteas pick three injuries in first innings

South Africa picked up three injuries in the first innings of the second ODI against Bangladesh, two of which could be potentially long term and see players miss out in their next matches. It started early in the day, with Lungi Ngidi hobbling after hitting his knee awkwardly on the ground but proceeded to continue with the game anyway. The commentators speculated that he might have an ankle injury as well, but that is not confirmed at the moment. South Africa were in deep trouble after Wayne Parnell walked off after bowling 2.5 overs, incurring a left hamstring injury. As per the latest updates from Cricket South Africa, he is currently being assessed and there are chances that he would not be taking any further part in the current game. In the absence of Parnell, captain Temba Bavuma filled up the bowling duties, and did considerably well bowling for the first time in an One Day International. He bowled 6.1 overs for just 22 runs but got injured while trying to grab a sharp chance off his own bowling. He was seen walking off the ground to get a treatment and got back after heavily bandaging his middle finger. Bavuma was further seen wincing in pain after he stopped a powerful short in the short mid wicket position. After getting hit, Bavuma chose to not continue bowling and Rassie van der Dussen picked up duties off him and to his credit got a wicket bowling the penultimate over of the game. Bangladesh could not carry their form into the second match of the series and were reduced to 34/5 inside the first 15 overs. They rebuild from their owing to a steady partnership by Afif Hossain and Mehidy Hasan Miraz. The duo were looking strong to put a respectable total on the board but lost their wickets in the 46th over of the game against two very well hidden slower deliveries from Kagiso Rabada. Rabada was the pick among the bowlers, clasping 5 wickets in the game, while Lungi Ngidi, Wayne Parnell, van der Dussen and Tabraiz Shamsi bagged one each. This was a good bowling outing for South Africa who used pace and bounce to good effect and kept their opposition to just 194 runs in their registered 50 overs.

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I will sue all in UK: Lalit Modi after historic ruling against BCCI

The Bombay High Court on Sunday, 20 March gave a clean chit to Lalit Modi, in a long running case against the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Modi, accused of misappropriation of funds after creating the Indian Premier League was banned for life from the BCCI and is currently in exile in the United Kingdom. The Bombay High Court set aside an arbitral award in favour of the BCCI and stated that the earlier judgement had not taken relevant facts into consideration. The court also provided Lalit Modi with relief stating that he had not committed financial fraud and the facilitation fee of Rs 425 crore was not illegal. The BCCI, in their original appeal, had built a case against Modi over this facilitation fee stating that they were entitled to the full amount claiming that they were not aware of it while entering the contract. Justice BP Colabawala, in his ruling stated that BCCI had no right on the money and he could not understand, how the earlier ruling was made in favour of the cricketing body. "I fail to understand how the Majority Award has come to this finding. Firstly, how BCCI is entitled to Rs.425 crores is something that is not explained in the Majority Award. From the documents on record, namely the Agreements entered into in the year 2009 as well as the Press Note issued by MSM dated 23rd April 2010, prima facie, it would appear that Rs.425 crores was to be paid to WSGM for giving up its India Rights for the period 2009-2017, and which had come to it by virtue of the DMAT read with the BCCI-WSGM MRLA dated 15th March 2009," Justice Colabawala said. The case pertains to the early days of the IPL when BCCI and Sony Network got into an ugly battle after the success of the first edition of the tournament. Both parties mutually agreed to call off the deal for the coming years, which allowed BCCI to re-auction their broadcasting rights, helping them earn an extra Rs 1791 crores. Lalit Modi wasted no time after the verdict and stated that he will be suing everyone who calls him a fugitive from now on. "Time is a factor, I single-handedly built the IPL. Not that I care but the BCCI banned me for life. Guess what I made recession (economic slowdown of 2008) Modi proof. Mark my words it will be a global showpiece from India. It will be a big entertainment property globally. And I did it free of cost for my country to watch on TV. "The sad part is the petty members, who live off my creation, are so scared of my shadow that they even refused entry to my children on a paid ticket. Only question now is what will media say - fugitive? Go ahead try. Now I will sue all in UK, then see the fun (sic)," Modi was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.