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IPL 2022 | Olympics medalists felicitated by BCCI ahead of season opener

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had earlier announced that it would honour the winners from the Tokyo Olympic Games with mementoes and cash prizes in a ceremony. But that could not happen mainly due to pandemics. So, ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, the BCCI finally felicitated three of the Olympic winners at the Wankhede Stadium before the start of the season opener.

The Olympics gold medalist Neeraj Chopra received a reward of INR 1 Crore while the boxer Lovlia Borgohain, the bronze medalist in Tokyo Olympics 2020, got a sum of INR 25 lakhs. The men’s hockey team also got INR 1 Crore for securing bronze in the global sporting event. Manpreet Singh, the captain, received the cheque from BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on behalf of the squad. 

The gold medal won by Neeraj Chopra for throwing javelin to a distance of 87.58 meters was India’s only gold at the event last year. It was also India’s second individual gold medal in history after the one won by Abhinav Bindra in shooting in 2008. It was also India’s first-ever gold in the track and field event. 

For men’s hockey, the bronze was the first in the Olympics in 41 years since 1980. Overall, the Indian Olympic contingent won a record number of seven medals in the Tokyo Olympics - one gold, two silvers, and four bronze medals.

Meanwhile, in the curtain-raiser affair, Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings met. Led by Shreyas Iyer, KKR snapped the first win of the season after restricting CSK to 131/5 and chasing the total down by six wickets and nine deliveries in hand. 

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Twitter erupts as MS Dhoni rolls back the clock with a vintage knock against KKR

Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni once again reminded us of the age-old saying 'there is no substitute to class and experience' as the 40-year-old rolled back the clock with a vintage knock. It was a typical Dhoni knock where he struggled against the spin duo of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine during the first half of his stay at the crease before unleashing an onslaught against Umesh Yadav and Andre Russell. The first half of Dhoni's knock, during which he managed just 13 runs off 21 deliveries, pretty much mirrored the first 17 overs of the CSK's innings. The men in yellow couldn't manoeuvre the ball, let alone hitting it out of the park. Even Ravindra Jadeja, at the peak of his form as a late-order finisher in the last two years, struggled for timing throughout his knock. With both batsmen striking at less than 100, it increasingly looked like the defending champions would struggle to even get to 110. But, it all changed in the 18th over bowled by Andre Russell as Dhoni took matters in his hands to hammer three boundaries, including a bottom-handed jab, a Natarajan shot, followed by a cheeky guide towards the third-man. In the penultimate over, Dhoni backed it up with a four and six off Shivam Mavi before smashing another couple of boundaries off Russell, bringing up his first IPL fifty since the 2019 season. He eventually finished at a 38-ball 50, ensuring that CSK had a competitive total of 131 to defend. As with every masterclass from Dhoni, Twitter blew up big time. Here are some of the best reactions:

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Finally! BCCI to stage six-team Women's IPL from next year onwards

After a long wait, the BCCI officials agreed to stage a six-team Women's IPL from next year onwards, prioritising the existing IPL franchises. Also, outside parties will be invited to bid for the franchises once that option has been exhausted. The board has also cleared the road for IPL Media Rights with ITT (Invitation to Tender), likely to be released on Monday. Having pressure from other boards and former and current women players, the BCCI has given the nod for a start to six-team Women's IPL. The decision to execute a six-team annual T20 tournament was taken during the Governing Council meeting of the IPL in Mumbai. However, Board President Sourav Ganguly also said that four exhibition games make a return this season after a one-year gap. The most likely venue for the women's exhibitions games is Pune. The BCCI, which has been criticised in the last few years for not having plans for the Women's IPL, will need AGM's approval to kickstart the cash-rich league next season. "The full-fledged women's IPL has to be approved by the AGM. Hopefully, we plan to start it by next year," BCCI president Sourav Ganguly told reporters after the IPL GC meeting on Friday. The Governing Council also discussed the issue of IPL media rights for the 2023-2027 cycle. "The tender will be out soon," said a Governing Council member. Adding further, IPL chairman Brijesh Patel also cleared the cloud that there will be four matches for the three women teams around men's IPL play-offs this season, most likely in Ahmedabad. It was not organised last year. According to the chairman, there would be five or six teams in the Women's IPL, but again that would need the approval of the General Body. Moreover, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also focuses on similar plans like CWI came up with. Cricket Australia's Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) Women's Hundred and New Zealand Cricket's Women's Super-Smash are some of the prominent white-ball franchise tournaments for women's cricket.\ Crucial points of the meeting: -BCCI proposes to start a six-team women's IPL in 2023. -The first choice is to be given to existing franchises post to which other parties are invited. -At least three franchises confirmed interest in buying teams. -Women's T20 challenge is set to take place in late May this year.