UPCA’s green park unfit for ipl
Kanpur: UPCA on Thursday got its wish granted after the Uttar Pradesh government gave Green Park on lease to the state cricket body at Rs1 crore per annum for 30 years but the stadium is still not ready to host an IPl match or a day/night game due to inadequate lighting facility. Though the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association is just too happy to get the ground on lease for the second time after 1995 and believes that the move will help them to host an international game, which the BCCI has been hesitating to give so far. Green Park last hosted an ODI between India and West Indies on November 27, 2013 and were also granted a warm-up match between the two teams last year only to see the Caribbean team pulling out of the tour. UPCA CEO lalit Khanna also informed that even though the stadium has floodlights in place, their light is insufficient for a day/night ODI or an IPl match to happen. But if the state government improves the lighting structure and Green Park does get a day/night or IPl game then the UPCA will have to shell out Rs25 lakh per match.
Mamata congratulates kkr
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday congratulated the Kolkata Knight Riders squad and its co-owner. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan for their emphatic victory over Mumbai Indians at the Indian Premier league opening match. “Congratulations to @iamsrk, @GautamGambhir and @KKRiders for the great win in the opening match. Very good start. Keep it up,” Banerjee posted on Twitter. Defending champions KKR, led by Gambhir, sailed to a seven-wicket win over Mumbai Indians at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday night. Banerjee, who was unable to attend the IPl inaugural ceremony, met actor Hrithik Roshan in Kolkata prior to his performance at the event. She heaped praises on the ace dancer after watching a re-run on television. “My dear @iHrithik you asked me to watch your performance at #IPl8 ceremony. I watched the repeat on TV. Excellent and full of energy,” she said.
KOTlA Gets hc nod for ipl
New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Thursday paved the way for DDCA to hold IPl matches between April 12 to May 1 at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium here by asking South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) to issue a provisional occupancy certificate (POC) to the Association to make preparations for the event. A bench of justices B D Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva, however, made it clear that SDMC will issue the POC subject to the condition that no objection certificates are obtained by DDCA from the Delhi Fire Service as well as the Assistant Electrical Inspector. The court also directed the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) to give an undertaking it “shall be held responsible for any consequences on account of non-compliance of any statutory norms” and disposed of its application.
Hazlewood pulls out of IPl
Melbourne: Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood has pulled out of the ongoing Indian Premier league after a hectic summer of cricket and a busy national schedule ahead. The World Cup-winning pacer was retained by the Mumbai franchise at $100,000 contract for the 2015 season after being bought in 2014, but Hazlewood decided to give this edition a miss. The Rohit Sharma-led side lost the IPl opener to defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday. “Josh’s workload has changed significantly since he first began attending the IPl,” Cricket Australia (CA) General Manager of Team Performance Pat Howard was quoted as saying by cricket.Com.Au. “The IPl is the players’ leave period and in Josh’s case it was deemed that not playing was the best use of that time in the lead-up to a busy winter. This was agreed to with the IPl following discussions at the end of the Test series.”
‘responsibilities a motivation’
Bengaluru: Following untimely injuries to Mitchell Starc and Adam Milne, Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer Varun Aaron is ready to step up and believes that the extra responsibility would act as motivation. Starc suffered a minor knee injury while Milne is still recovering from a heel injury. Spearheading the pace attack, Aaron does not feel any pressure before RCB’s first game against KKR on Saturday. “There is no pressure. But it’s an added responsibility which is good. So, you get on to the field knowing that a lot rests on your shoulders to do well which I feel is a good motivating factor,” he said.