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How two World Cup tickets changed cricket’s power bases

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Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is seen with the World Cup winning Indian team. N. Salve, the President of the Indian Board and a Cabinet Minister is fourth from left.

Rex Clementine
in Delhi

Literally, nobody expected India to reach the finals of the 1983 World Cup, leave alone winning it. In the previous edition of the tournament – in 1979 – they had even lost a game to Sri Lanka, who were yet to get Test status. But suddenly when Kapil Dev’s team entered the finals, the team had not only reached a new high but a stage was set to change the power bases of cricket too, rather accidentally.

India’s Minister of Education Siddhartha Shankar Ray is on a state visit to the UK. He approaches Indian Cricket Board President N.K.P. Salve, who was also a Cabinet Minister, to ask whether he could get two tickets for the game.

Those days ICC was run by MCC with Lord’s being the headquarters of the sport and MCC President becoming the ICC President automatically.

MCC turns down Salve’s request for two tickets for the final. The Indian board chief finds out that seats at the pavilion reserved for MCC members are empty. Obviously, MCC members aren’t interested in attending a game where England aren’t playing.

Once India create an upset by beating defending champions West Indies in the final, Salve returns home a determined man. He wants to move the next World Cup out of England. But that’s going to be a gigantic task.

Back in India, he calls for a meeting involving other regional heads of cricket such as Gamini Dissanayake and Nuzki Mohammad from Sri Lanka, Air Marshall Noor Khan from Pakistan and so on.

There they agree that the next World Cup should be held in Asia. Salve approaches Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and relates his ambitious plans. He confides that he will struggle to get the finances to host such a mega event.

Mrs. Gandhi, the iron lady, promises him a blank cheque. Salve can go ahead with his plans for the World Cup. So how does she do it? She calls up business tycoon Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of Reliance Group and father of Mukesh Ambani. The blank cheque is guaranteed.

When the matter is taken to ICC, England are furious and are determined not to let go of the sport’s showpiece event. But Salve had done his homework and played his cards smartly. He had come to a deal with Australia that they would get the chance to host the next World Cup in 1992. Australia agree provided there’s a secret ballot and not an open ballot.

Having brought the World Cup to Asia, Salve’s next move is to make sure there is a fair playing field for all cricketing nations, and he works rigorously to rid founding members of the ICC their veto powers.

This he does by promising member boards equal share of revenues and very soon, England and Australia lose their veto power.

Until very recently, the Indian board worked hand in hand with regional allies. But once they had total power, they wanted to do it solo. What has happened to the Asian solidarity? This is the first World Cup being held in Asia in one country. Always it used to be a joint effort.

Easily, India could have given Sri Lanka half their games to be held in Colombo and let Pakistan and Bangladesh play some of their games in Lahore and Dhaka. You can only wish sanity prevails.

Nobody has complained openly for everyone fears the Indian board. But you can see there are murmurs.

World cricket owes much to N. Salve for breaking England’s clout in the game. A chartered accountant from Nagpur. His parents were both freedom fighters and you can sense from where he got the guts to take on the establishment.

As for Mrs. Gandhi, sadly a year after giving the greenlight for the World Cup to be brought to Asia, she is gunned down by her own security guards. ‘Operation Blue Star’ that she had authorized to take the Sikh militants down, didn’t go down too well with the Sikhs. The military operation was a success, but in the process the forces desecrated the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the Sikhs’ holiest shrine.

As for Sri Lanka, they have been India’s closest ally. Australia once tried to diminish India’s power base by getting former Prime Minister John Howard as the President of the ICC. Howard had agreed to come on board on one condition. That was to get elected uncontested.

India did not object. They just kept quiet. Instead, they used Sri Lanka as a cat’s paw to object to Howard becoming the cricket boss. Sri Lanka’s objections were flimsy. But Maitland Place doesn’t care. All what they want is India to come to Colombo once in two years and play five ODIs and their cricket is set for a few years. And that’s the way the cookie crumbles!



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Sophie Devine to miss ODIs and T20Is against Sri Lanka

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Sophie Devine skipped the WPL too  (BCCI)

New Zealand captain Sophie Devine  will not be available for their ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka as she continues to “prioritise her well-being.” She had earlier pulled out  of the Women’s Super Smash midway and also opted out of the WPL for the same reason after “receiving professional advice.”

“We are fully supportive of Sophie’s decision to not take part in the upcoming series,” Liz Green, New Zealand Cricket’s Head of Women’s High Performance, said in a statement on Monday. “Player well-being is our highest priority and it’s important Sophie feels fit and well before returning to professional cricket.”

Since winning the T20 World Cup  with New Zealand in October 2024, Devine, 35, had been part of the ODIs against India, played in the WBBL for Perth Scorchers, and also played the ODI series against Australia in late December. She was last seen in action in the Super Smash, where she picked up 5 for 13  against Canterbury on January 24. Her team, Wellington, went on to win the domestic T20 title  with Amelia Kerr putting on a stellar show with bat and ball.

New Zealand are set to play three ODIs against Sri Lanka, starting March 4 at home, followed by three T20Is that begin on March 14. A full squad is set to be announced later this month. They are also scheduled to face Australia for three T20Is in a series that starts on March 21. These are New Zealand’s first T20I assignments since their T20 World Cup triumph where Devine led them to a maiden title.

(Cricinfo)

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Yamanishi breaks world 20km race walk record in Kobe

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Toshikazu Yamanishi [World /athletics]

Japan’s Toshikazu Yamanishi clocked 1:16:10* to break the men’s world 20km race walk record at the Japanese 20km Race Walking Championships, a World Athletics Race Walking Tour Bronze event, in Kobe on Sunday (16).

With that performance the two-time world champion improved the previous world record of 1:16:36 set by his compatriot Yusuke Suzuki in Nomi in 2015 by 26 seconds.

On his own from 13km, Yamanishi – who had a previous best of 1:17:15 set in 2019 – sped up slightly over the second half of the race, with Satoshi Maruo also finishing under 1:17.

[*Subject to the usual ratification procedure]

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All-round Campher, Stirling help Ireland draw level

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Curtis Campher picked up three wickets and then went on to score a half-century [Cricinfo]

Curtis Campher produced another brilliant all-round display to lay the platform for Ireland’s series-levelling win in Harare. His three-wicket burst sucked the momentum out of Zimbabwe’s innings and restricted them to a total well below par and his 144-run stand with Paul Stirling,  who scored an excellent 89, ensured Ireland were always comfortable in the chase.

Ireland had fallen short in their chase in the first ODI, but Stirling was happy to bowl first once again on a greener pitch. Despite half-centuries from Wesley Madhevere and Sikander Raza.  Ireland never let Zimbabwe get away from them.

Mark Adair finished with a four-wicket haul, but it was Campher’s spell that broke a 74-run stand between Madhevere and Raza and pegged the hosts back significantly just as they were getting into a position of strength.

And despite an early wicket, Stirling and Campher ensured Ireland stayed above the asking rate, and by the time the two departed, it was too late for Zimbabwe to mount a comeback.

With Ireland chasing 246, Andy Balbirnie got them underway with an elegant drive through cover point in the first over. The second over saw Stirling thrash Blessing Muzarabani through the covers for a boundary first ball. Muzarabani lost his radar as he ended up bowling a ten-ball over, which cost Zimbabwe 14 runs.

However, Muzarabani came back strongly and had Balbirnie caught at slip with a well-directed short ball in the sixth over. He even beat Campher’s outside edge a couple of times.

But Campher and Stirling saw out the new ball and kept Ireland on track, with the skipper still cashing in on the fielding restrictions with a few more boundaries, including the first six of the match in the ninth over off Trevor Gwandu.

The fifty-run stand came up in just 51 balls, with the batters happy to rotate strike amid the occasional boundary. Ireland were also helped by Zimbabwe being generous with extras – 23 in all.

Stirling brought up his half-century in the 24th over, and the century stand with Campher came up soon after.

Campher’s fifty came up in the 30th over and he celebrated by pulling Gwandu into the stands in front of square leg. The stand was finally broken when a length ball from Gwandu stayed deceptively low to beat Campher’s attempted pull and pin him in front.

Harry Tector, who made a sluggish 39 off 78 in the first ODI, was more enterprising, pulling away the third ball he faced for a boundary. In the last game, it took him 77 deliveries to hit one.

But his stay was short-lived as he looked to cut a short and wide delivery only to edge it behind, with Tadiwanashe Marumani taking a good catch. Stirling, though, ensured Ireland didn’t get bogged down, launching Ngarava over long-on.

Ngarava finally got a breakthrough when Stirling went after a short ball and ended up miscuing it to cover, 11 short of a century. Lorcan Tucker then took charge and hit Gwandu for three consecutive boundaries. Ireland wiped out the rest of the target without fuss, with Tucker hitting the winning runs in the penultimate over.

Earlier, Zimbabwe’s openers got off to a watchful start before Brian Bennett got going with a flurry of boundaries off Adair and Graham Hume. Five of his six boundaries came on the off side, and he hit two of them in succession off Adair, only for the quick to snag him with a wide delivery that he edged to slip.

Ireland were able to slow things down after Bennett’s dismissal. Curran and Craig Ervine could add only nine runs off 25 balls before Josh Little got a full delivery to seam past Ervine’s inside edge and uproot his middle stump. Curran’s frustrating knock came to an end when he chopped on in Andy McBrine’s first over for 18 off 36.

Raza played out McBrine for four dots to start off with, handing the spinner a wicket maiden, before getting off the mark with a boundary off him in his next over. Madhevere, who looked positive from the get-go, and Raza ensured Zimbabwe kept ticking along with regular boundaries, with Madhevere bringing up a run-a-ball half-century in the 27th over.

However, an inspired bowling change got the momentum right back with Ireland. Campher was introduced in the 30th over and in his second over, he set Madhevere up beautifully. Bowling a series of outswingers, he had Madhevere moving across his stumps before firing in a straight one to trap him lbw.

In his next over, he bowled a length ball across Johnathan Campbell and there was a noise, prompting the umpire to give it caught behind. Replays, however, suggested that the ball had brushed the pad. There was little doubt about Campher’s next wicket when he pinged Marumani plumb in front two balls later.

Raza and Masakadza then arrested the collapse, with Raza scoring 27 off 24 in a 50-run stand, bringing up his half-century in the process. Raza holed out at deep midwicket trying to up the tempo as he miscued a pull off Adair. Tector took a good catch running in from the ropes and diving in front.

Masakadza and Ngarava tried to drag Zimbabwe past 250, but Ireland made short work of the tail, with Adair picking two of the last three wickets.

Brief scores:
Ireland 249 for 4 in 48.4 overs (Paul Stirling 89, Curtis Campher 63, Lorcan tucker 36*, George Dockrell 20*; Richard Ngarava 1-53, Blessing Muzarabani 1-51, Trevor Gwandu 2-50) beat Zimbabwe 245 in 49 overs (Brian Benett 30, Wessly Madhevere 61, Sikandar Raza 58,Wellington Masakadza 35; Mark Adair 4-54, Curtis Campher 3-13, Graham Hume 1-47, Josh Little 1-56, Andy McBrine 1-36) by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

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