Sports
Akbar Brothers Group join hands with SSC to develop cricket infrastructure
From Left -Mr.Mahela Jayawardena – Chairman SSC Cricket,Mr.Dimuth Karunaratne – National Test Cricket Captain,Mr.W.T.Ellawala – President- SSC,Mr.Dasun Shanaka – Captain-SSC Cricket,Mr.Tyeab Akbarally – Managing Director – Akbar Brothers ,Mr.Sanjeewa Jayawardena – Director Sales & Marketing – Akbar Brothers, Mr.Hussain Akbarally – Executive Director – Akbar Brothers ,Mr.Danushka Gunathilaka- Vice Captain – SSC Cricket
An ardent supporter of local sports, Akbar Brothers Group of Companies has entered into a three-year partnership with Singhalese Sports Club (SSC), as their principal sponsor from 2021-2023 across all cricket formats.
This is also a great boost to the sports in the country after a very quiet period in sports since March 2020, after the Covid-19 pandemic affected Sri Lanka.
Established in 1899, SSC is the premier cricket club in the country. Over the years they have developed some of the finest cricketers in Sri Lanka, including many Test and ODI captains. Mr. W. T. Ellawala, President of the SSC said, “We are proud to be partnered with Akbar Brothers, the leading tea company in Sri Lanka. They have come forward to support cricket during these trying times, enabling us to further develop our legacy, taking cricket to new heights.”
In addition to being Sri Lanka’s foremost exporter of high-quality Ceylon Tea, Akbar Brothers have successfully diversified into sustainable power generation, healthcare, packaging, leisure, property development and environmental services. “It is a privilege to be invited to partner with SSC, the premier cricket club in the country,” Hussain Akbarally, Executive Director of Akbar Brothers Group of Companies, said. “We share their vision and eagerly look forward to developing young, talented cricketers to pursue continued excellence.”
“We are delighted to be partnered with Akbar Brothers, a company with an enormous reputation both for the success they have gained and the socially responsible way in which they conduct themselves,’ former national captain Mahela Jawardena said, in his capacity as Chairman of SSC cricket. “This partnership will go a long way in developing cricketing skills of players, as we modernize and upgrade the cricket infrastructure at the SSC.”
Meanwhile things are starting to look more promising at SSC with former Sri Lanka skipper and Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardena being appointed chairman of SSC Cricket, after their below par performance during the 2019/2020 domestic cricket season.
Egypt forward Mohamed Salah has signed a new two-year contract with Liverpool.
The 32-year-old’s previous deal was scheduled to run out in the summer and there had been doubts he would stay with the Reds following comments from him during the season and speculation linking him with a move to Saudi Arabia.
However, he is staying and will have the chance to add to his 243 goals and 109 assists for the club in 393 appearances.
“Of course I’m very excited – we have a great team now,” said Salah.
“Before also we had a great team. But I signed because I think we have a chance to win other trophies and enjoy my football.
“I have played eight years here, hopefully it’s going to be 10. I’m enjoying my life here, enjoying my football. I have had the best years of my career here.”
Salah has scored 32 goals in all competitions this season, including 27 in the Premier League as the Reds chase a 20th top-flight title. Liverpool are 11 points clear of second-placed Arsenal with seven games remaining.
Salah, who joined Liverpool from Roma in 2017, has won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Fifa Club World Cup with the Reds.
He was one of three key Liverpool players who will be out of contract this summer, along with right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold and centre-back Virgil van Dijk.
Netherlands defender Van Dijk has said there has been progress on talks over a new deal but Alexander-Arnold has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid.
[BBC]
MS Dhoni will lead Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the remainder of IPL 2025 after Rutraj Gaikwad was ruled out of the rest of the season with an elbow injury.
CSK head coach Stephen Fleming confirmed the development on the eve of the home game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Friday. It is a significant blow to CSK, who have made a bad start to their campaign by losing four of their first five matches. They are currently ninth in the points table, above only Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Gaikwad suffered the injury during CSK’s match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Guwahati on March 30. He was struck on his unprotected elbow after stepping out to fast bowler Tushar Deshpande and missing the ball in the second over of CSK’s unsuccessful chase, but continued batting and scored 63 in that game. He played two more games after that and made 5 against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Chennai on April 5 and 1 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mullanpur on April 8. After five games, he was CSK’s second-highest run-scorer with 122 runs at a strike rate of 150.61; he was CSK’s highest run-scorer in IPL 2024.
“He [Gaikwad] got hit in Guwahati. He’s been operating with an amount of pain,” Fleming said in Chennai. “We got an X-ray, which was inconclusive, and we had an MRI, which revealed a fracture in his elbow, in the radial neck.
“So we’re disappointed, and feel for him. We appreciate the efforts that he’s gone to in terms of trying to play, but unfortunately, he’d be out of the tournament from now. We have an uncapped player, MS Dhoni, who will take over as captain for the remainder of the IPL.”
Dhoni, 43, had led CSK from 2008 until 2024, when he handed the captaincy to Gaikwad. He had also handed the captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja in 2022, but took back the leadership some way into the season after the team went through a bad run of results. Under Dhoni’s captaincy, CSK have won five IPL titles in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2023 and two Champions League trophies as well.
“He [Dhoni] had no hesitation to step up and help guide us out of this if we can,” Fleming said. “So that was never a doubt. We’ll look at replacements. We’ve got some good players in the squad that have been with us a while, so we’ll look from within first. But yeah, there is an opportunity to see how we can enhance the squad probably moving forward into subsequent years.”
After their home game against KKR on today, CSK play two away games against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 14 and Mumbai Indians (MI) on April 20.
[Cricinfo]
Both the men’s and women’s cricket events at the LA 2028 Olympics are set to be six-team competitions, as approved by the Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday (April 9). Further, a total of 90 athlete quotas have been allotted to each gender, allowing each nation to name a 15-member squad.
As reported earlier, T20 Internationals have been designated as the format of choice for the competition. The venues are yet to be confirmed although New York is in the fray to host the matches.
It is unclear how the six participating nations will be determined and the issue of representation, in the cases of Great Britain and the West Indies, is yet to be addressed as well.
Cricket was last part of the Olympic Games in 1900, when it was contested by just two teams – Great Britain and France. Great Britain went on to win the only cricket Olympics Gold Medal thus far by winning what was a 2-day game.
Cricket has recently been a part of other international multi-sport events. Both men’s and women’s cricket competitions were part of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games whereas the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games featured an eight-team women’s competition.
(Cricbuzz)
Mohamed Salah signs new two-year contract with Liverpool
MS Dhoni to lead CSK after Ruturaj Gaikwad is ruled out of IPL with injury
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