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Breaking news : Ahmedabad Test on schedule

Guest HariSampath

By Guest HariSampath
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Guest HariSampath

Guest HariSampath

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Ahmedabad Test on schedule : BCCI Masa Lalawani BSN Network , November 18th 2008, 1600 hrs The Board of control for cricket in India has confirmed that the first test between India and England , to be played at Ahmedabad would be held on schedule. BCCI secretary N Srinivasan announced this during the weekly press conference of the Chennai SuperKings team, for which he is the owner. It is significant that this decision has been arrived at quickly , within 24 hours of the BCCI making a request to the ECB to postpone the test match start date by a day. Apparently the ECB had communicated this request to the England team, who had some reservations against this proposal, revealed Andrew Walpole, media manager for the England team. It may be recalled that the BCCI and IPL were keen to ensure that MS Dhoni, captain of the Chennai Superkings would be available to play and lead his team in the Champions League finals, which is scheduled to be held just a day before the start of the first test. Although this was a perfectly normal request, according to the BCCI, Mr N Srinivasan expressed concerns over reports in a section of the media that the BCCI was attempting to bend rules for the sake of just one player, and insisted that the BCCI and IPL would never want to do so. Speaking to BSN by telephone, Mr Srinivasan, said " This is a very wrong notion and should be clarified immediately. Everyone knows how transparent the functioning of BCCI is and it is evident from our track record that we never pressurize ICC or other cricket boards into falling in line with BCCI demands. The Sydney test episode itself is a great example of how the BCCI conducts itself in respecting the rights of other cricket boards and the rights of other cricketers" Confirming this press release, Mr Lalit Modi , Chairman of IPL, said " It is correct. The test would start on schedule and whether Dhoni will play the Champions league finals or the test match is an issue that will be decided later, especially as we have no way of knowing who will be playing against the Chennai Superkings in the finals". When Mr Modi was questioned on how it could be taken for granted that the Superkings team would itself be in the finals, he shot back " are you suggesting that the IPL has arranged it in such a way that we wanted to ensure Dhoni and Chennai Superkings play the fiinal for the sake of sponsors , big money and TV viewership ? " With the amount of money invested in the Champions League, and the financial implications of the Finals game involved, Mr Pappu Bhutani, President of the Ahmedabad chapter of the Indian bookies association, has demanded that the BCCI makes it very clear as to what their plans are regarding Dhoni. Mr Bhutani told BSN " BCCI should have a fixed set of rules in place, and be very clear in their communications on what the plans are for important games like this. With hundreds of our customers investing millions of dollars, the IBA has a moral and legal responsibility to ensure that our sponsors interests are protected . We would like to remind the BCCI that the agreement signed in 2005 between BCCI and IBA clearly stipulates that any changes in team composition, any changes in schedules or even any changes contemplated by BCCI or IPL in deciding which teams get to the finals, would have to be officially communicated to the IBA, well in advance". Mr Bhutani also said that there was a further complication as many of the IBA sponsors were sponsoring both the Champions League finals as well as the first test, and there may be clash on interest for the BCCI in deciding which game Dhoni would play, as several shareholders of the BCCI were themselves the biggest sponsors of the IBA, as well as owning teams in the IPL. " But test cricket is most important, and the IBA would like to renew its commitment to promote test cricket, even if it means a T20 finals is affected, afterall we have been staunch supporters of test cricket since the 1990s, and we know the value our sponsors and IBA itself get over 5 match days, as opposed to just 4 hours, we are still traditional, here at IBA", added Mr Bhutani. However, on investigation , BSN found that although the BCCI has stated that the test "would be held on schedule", there was no immediate confirmation on whether the schedule itself wont be changed. Mr Sashank Manohar , President BCCI said " It is absolutely certain that the test match will be held on schedule, as the notification says. However, the schedule may be altered to give an additional day of rest to the cricketers, who are already taxed by a tough international calender. This is a matter that the BCCI is looking into, along with the ECB and we will decide soon" Cricketing experts are of the opinion that delaying the start of the first test by a day need not mean that the teams would not get enough rest between the 1st and 2nd test, scheduled to begin on December 19th, as most analysts from IBA , Ahmedabad feel the test would be over by December 14th. and the teams will have 5 days rest anyway. Mr Bhutani himself was tightlipped , when asked about this possibility pleading he could not speak to the media about specifics of the IBA-BCCI agreement of 2005, as per the contract. A new dimension to this confusion is that the England players are reported to be keen on returning home by December 24th, to celebrate Christmas, and do not want to extend their stay by even a day. It is learnt that the BCCI may be preparing a draft proposal to postpone Christmas by a day, if all other arrangements fail. It is understood that Mr Rajiv Shukla had promised to use the good offices of the Indian Govt with the Vatican, to see if this could be done, for the sake of the greater cause of test cricket. When the Vatican spokesperson was contacted by BSN on this new development , and asked if this was possible, he replied " We have received some communication from Cricket authorities in India , with a plea to save test cricket,His Holiness is of the opinion that Divine intervention can save anything, and would pray for guidance, like always" . Wire services.

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h4te Newbie

h4te

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A new dimension to this confusion is that the England players are reported to be keen on returning home by December 24th, to celebrate Christmas, and do not want to extend their stay by even a day. It is learnt that the BCCI may be preparing a draft proposal to postpone Christmas by a day, if all other arrangements fail. It is understood that Mr Rajiv Shukla had promised to use the good offices of the Indian Govt with the Vatican, to see if this could be done, for the sake of the greater cause of test cricket. When the Vatican spokesperson was contacted by BSN on this new development , and asked if this was possible, he replied " We have received some communication from Cricket authorities in India , with a plea to save test cricket,His Holiness is of the opinion that Divine intervention can save anything, and would pray for guidance, like always" . Wire services.
wtf? is this a joke article? :hmmmm2:
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Lord Grand Master

Lord

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What if CSK and Western Australia reach the finals' date=' dhoni drops out of the final to be back with Team India for the testsand CSK go on to lose to a Western Australian side? Would we not rue the loss of Dhoni?[/quote'] no we wont if we win the test against eng
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