Good Bad Ugly ft. EPL return, Balbir Singh's demise and Mushtaq Ahmed's claim
Good, Bad, Ugly Edition May 31
|Sportscafe
Even though we are far away from heydays, sports is crawling back to normal, especially with the football leagues returning one by one. With more drama unfolding from all corners of the world amid the Covid-19 pandemic, we are no short of content in our latest edition of the Good, Bad and Ugly.
The Good
Cricket, football - there’s action coming your way thick and fast
Finally, the English Premier League has a return date - June 17, after almost a three-month hiatus owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. Arsenal will lock horns with second-placed Manchester City to mark the re-start, which will see the remaining 92 matches played behind closed doors. While there have been talks to stage some of the matches on neutral venues, citing social-distancing breach issues, no final decision has been taken yet.
The ICC World T20 is likely to get pushed next year, but cricket fans won’t get deprived of action completely. The itinerary of India’s tour of Australia has been announced and we are in for a treat come the month of October. Kohli and Co. are set to play three T20Is, four Tests and three ODIs which kicks-off on October 11, while the last ODI will be played on January 17. For the first time, India will feature in a Day/Night Test - finally some light at the end of the tunnel.
Indian Olympic Association hands over 2 crores to Sports Minister
At a time where sports in India has been hit by a major roadblock, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) - already soaked in its own set of problems, handed over a cheque worth INR 2 crores to Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju for the PM Cares Fund. As a matter of fact, the amount was accumulated by the contributions from various associations and athletes in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, to help out people in distress and in urgent need of help.
Kiren Rijiju, on the other hand, was happy with the response shown in difficult times by the sports fraternity. The minister lauded the fact that even when the federations operate with limited resources, they’ve managed to stockpile a lump some for the pandemic cause. While the Covid-19 casualties soaring at an exceeding rate, the Indian Sports Ministry has already eased some restrictions regarding sporting activities even though it will take some time to prevail normalcy.
The Bad
Indian sports loses yet another gem - Balbir Singh Sr. passes away
Just when the Covid-19 pandemic and cyclone ‘Amphan’ has already given us enough distress, the news of Balbir Singh Sr. passing away added salt to the wound. Arguably the most celebrated hockey player along with Major Dhyan Chand, the Punjab-born was the first Olympic hero of Independent India, guiding them to a Gold medal win in the 1948 London Olympics - having scored a couple of goals in the final against Great Britain at the iconic Wembley Stadium. It was a payback for the man who was handcuffed by the British and inducted into the police force to play for Punjab.
If the 1948 London feat was impressive, he just bettered four years later at the Helsinki edition, having scored five goals in the title clash against the Netherlands - which is still the highest number of goals scored by an individual in an Olympic final. Balbir left his mark in his managerial career too, having led India to their first and only World Cup win in Kuala Lumpur. India lost yet another of its precious gem, following the passing away of P.K.Banerjee and Chuni Goswami earlier in 2020.
2020 ICC World T20 likely to get postponed
Cricket, like most other sports, has been stalled amid the Covid-19 pandemic and there’s no clarity on when things might get back to normal. In the turn of events, 2020’s showpiece event, ICC World T20 might take a huge blow as the organisers are in doubt whether they can host the tournament as scheduled. The 16-team tournament was supposed to be played in Australia later this year, between October 18 and November 15. Kevin Roberts, Cricket Australia’s chief executive raised concerns over the hosting of the event, saying there’s "a very high risk about the prospect.”
Rumours have been making rounds that the tournament might get postponed after all, even though no dates have been announced. Kevin has hinted at a couple of potential windows during which it might be possible to stage the Cup - February-March 2021 or October-November 2021. Now, India is also supposed to host the 2021 World T20 in the last quarter of the following year, which again creates fresh confusion. To avoid a possible clash, February-March 2021 will be the ideal time to host the event.
The Ugly
ICC threatened to take away India’s hosting rights for the 2021 ICC World T20
The BCCI got a reality check from ICC as the apex body admitted that it reserves the right to take away India's hosting rights for the 2021 World T20 if they failed to secure a tax exemption for the tournament from the Indian government. The long-standing problem regarding the matter needs to be sorted out as soon as possible and the ICC has given a deadline on May 18 to provide an ‘unconditional confirmation’ regarding the matter. In response, the BCCI has urged the council to extend the deadline to June 30.
As a matter of fact, the BCCI had several months at their disposal to resolve the tax issue but their reluctance regarding the matter has forced the ICC to show urgency. While the BCCI has a valid point for the extension - with the Covid-19 pandemic situation. The flow of events dates back to the 2016 World T20 in India when there was a US$20-30 million for the ICC. The letter from the ICC to the BCCI constitutes a clause of ‘force majeure’ if the demands are not fulfilled. That’s bad news for Indian cricket indeed.
Mushtaq Ahmed claims India never wanted Pakistan to qualify for the 2019 ICC World Cup knockouts
Yes, Pakistan has managed to secure its name in the ‘Ugly’ section once again, and this time, the matter is really ugly. Former cricketer Mushtaq Ahmed, who was working with the West Indies in the last World Cup, revealed that India never wanted Pakistan to qualify for the semi-finals. As a matter of fact, Jason Holder, Chris Gayle and Andre Russell informed the Pakistani regarding same following India’s loss to England in Birmingham. Now, that’s a serious claim!
Sikander Bakht, another former Pakistani cricketer Tweeted that English cricketer Ben Stokes, in his book, has written that Kohli and Co. deliberately lost the match against England to remove Pakistan from the World Cup and they even predicted it. In response, Stokes was fumed and was quick to state that he never made such claims and said that Bakht ‘twisted’ the words to give it a controversial tone. A really unfortunate and uncalled-for incident which could have been averted.
