Batting great Sunil Gavaskar was installed as interim head of the Indian Premier League (IPL) yesterday after India’s top court temporarily relieved N. Srinivasan of his duties as the country’s cricket board president.
Srinivasan’s position was deemed untenable in the wake of his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan being indicted for illegal betting on last year’s lucrative Twenty20 tournament, with the court calling on the powerful cricket administrator to step aside to ensure a fair investigation into the scandal.
Former India cricketer and board vice president Shivlal Yadav would oversee all other non-IPL affairs at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) until any further order, the Supreme Court of India added.
Photo: AFP
The court also decided to allow the seventh edition of the IPL to continue with all eight teams, including the two sides linked to the corruption scandal.
The United Arab Emirates are to host the first leg of the Twenty20 league from April 16 to April 30, as this year’s tournament clashes with India’s parliamentary elections.
Voting in India is to be held in nine stages until May 12 and results are due to be announced on May 16. With poll security being the Indian government’s priority, the UAE would host at least 16 IPL matches, the BCCI said earlier this month.
The board has approached the Indian Ministry of the Interior for permission to host the May 1 to May 12 matches in states where polling would be over, but has kept Bangladesh as a standby venue in case the government cannot provide security.
Local media claimed Meiyappan was chief executive of the Chennai Super Kings, but the company that owns the IPL franchise, India Cements, said he was merely a member of team management.
Srinivasan, set to take over as chairman of the International Cricket Council board in July, is the head of India Cements.
The scandal surfaced when former test bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and two other local cricketers, all playing for the Rajasthan Royals franchise, were arrested on suspicion of taking money to concede a fixed number of runs.
Sreesanth, who had denied any wrongdoing, was subsequently banned for life by the BCCI.
The Supreme Court has set April 16 as the next hearing date.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set