THE HIMALAYAN MAIL JAMMU Q WEDNESDAY Q MARCH 03, 2021 11

There is no reason why Mohali can't host IPL; Kohli becomes first cricketer to have Capt urges BCCI to reconsider decision 100 million followers on Instagram NEW DELHI, cussion, the idea has been MARCH 2: Punjab Chief floated and is being dis- NEW DELHI, lowers, ahead of Argentina Minister cussed by the senior offi- MARCH 2: captain football captain and FC Amarinder Singh on Tues- cials of the board. has recorded Barcelona legend Lionel day said that he was sur- Earlier, speaking to ANI, a another century, albeit not Messi and Brazil’s Neymar, prised with the Board of BCCI official in the know of on the pitch this time, as he who are second and third in Control for in In- developments had said the became the first cricketer in the list with 186 million and dia's (BCCI) decision to ex- idea has indeed been dis- the world to have 100 mil- 147 million followers, re- clude Mohali as one of the cussed and while it was still lion followers on social me- spectively. venues for the upcoming early days, the 14th edition dia platform Instagram. The others in 100 million of the league could well be The 32-year-old Kohli is club are Hollywood actor (IPL). played in more than one city also the first person in the and former pro-wrestler He also asked the cricket if things go as per plan. Asia-Pacific region to Dwayne (The Rock) John- board to reconsider their Association, Mohammed venues for the upcoming Some of the cities that achieve the feat. son, American singer-song- decision as Mohali can very Azharuddin had said that edition of the league. have been discussed are “Virat Kohli - the first writer Beyonce, and Ariana well host the premier T-20 Hyderabad was capable of "Open appeal to @BCCI Mumbai, Kolkata, , cricket star to hit 100 mil- Grande. Kohli, regarded as tournament by taking all conducting the Indian Pre- and @IPL office bearers to and Hyderabad among oth- lion followers on Insta- the one of the best batsmen safety precautions. mier League (IPL) this year include Hyderabad as one ers. While the tournament gram,” the ICC tweeted. in the world, has 27 cen- "I am surprised at the ex- in a bio-secure bubble. of the venues for upcoming is still some time away, Kohli is also the fourth turies in Test matches and clusion of Mohali Cricket "I strongly support the IPL season. Our effective franchises too are open to most followed sportsperson 43 tons in ODI cricket. Stadium for the upcoming appeal by @ktrtrs. Hyder- COVID containment mea- the idea of having the on Instagram. For over two years now, IPL season. I urge and ap- abad is absolutely capable sures are reflected in our league in more than one city Portugal football star Kohli has been the most fol- peal to @BCCI & @IPL to of handling and conducting low number of cases among as that will help to stay flex- Cristiano Ronaldo tops the lowed person on Instagram reconsider their decision. @IPL as per @BCCI's direc- all metro cities in India & ible with an eye on the chart with 265 million fol- in India. There is no reason why Mo- tives and preparing a bio- we assure you of all support COVID-19 situation. hali can't host IPL and our secure bubble," Azharuddin from the Govt," Rao said in a "With multiple cities, ob- government will make all tweeted. tweet. Progressing from the viously there will be individ- necessary arrangements for His tweet came after initial idea of hosting the ual bubbles. While we want Australia right behind Ashes foes safety against #Covid19," Telangana Rashtra Samiti 2021 edition of the IPL in fans from different cities to Captain Amarinder Singh (TRS) working president one city, the BCCI is explor- enjoy the games, the safety tweeted. KT Rama Rao made an ap- ing the option of playing the of the players and those in- England ahead of final India Test Earlier, former India peal to the BCCI and IPL of- league across four to five volved in the league will be a skipper and current presi- fice bearers to include Hy- cities. While the logistical priority," a BCCI official had , squads due to the T20 dent of Hyderabad Cricket derabad as one of the part will need further dis- said. MARCH 2: Cheering on World Cup in India, which England is generally a low is slated for October and priority for Australia's November in the lead-up to Ashwin is constantly reinventing himself: Laxman cricketers but 's the Test series. team can count on warm Some of Australia's Test MUMBAI, MARCH 2: best," he said. support from their Ashes players, including Steve is a Former India opener foes during the fourth and Smith and Josh Hazlewood, thinking cricketer, who is Aakash Chopra too lavished final Test against India this missed the T20 tour of New constantly reinventing him- praise on Ashwin, saying he week. Zealand because they were self, said former India bats- is one of the biggest match An England win in picked for a Test tour of man VVS Laxman, insisting winners the country has would put Aus- that was later that preparation is key to ever produced. tralia in the final of the in- aborted due to COVID-19. the veteran off-spinner's "Seventy-eight Test augural World Test Cham- In their absence, an un- success. matches for 400 Test wick- pionship (WTC) against der-strength Australia has England's hopes of play- conducive to spin Ashwin recently became ets. Let the naysayers be! New Zealand, knocking In- fallen 2-0 behind in the five- ing the WTC final were and probably India's the fourth Indian bowler to He's been absolute phe- dia out of the running. match series in New crushed with their 10- strengths are in their ability take 400 Test . He nomenal with the craft that Australia's T20 squad in Zealand. The third match defeat inside two to play spin as well," said achieved the feat by dis- he has displayed over a pe- New Zealand will be keep- starts in Wellington on days in an extraordinary McDonald. missing Jofra Archer in the riod of time and as he's ing tabs on the action in the Wednesday. third Test in Ahmedabad. "We wish (England) well, pink ball Test at Ahmed- only about your skill, it's man cited the example of growing as a bowler, he's subcontinent while prepar- McDonald said Australia They trail the series 2-1. see what unfolds. It's out of abad, which the hosts won about your preparation. 's trouble picking a lot of wickets. So, ing for matches against the would not rest Test players Thirty wickets fell in five our hands but we'll be by 10 wickets under two Your planning and execu- against Ashwin during In- that question mark is also Black Caps. from the T20 World Cup to sessions in that match, and watching on with interest." days. tion is so critical. dia's recent tour Down Un- getting answered quite "Bit of self-interest there, keep them fresh for the isn't it, for us following Eng- McDonald said England Australia's fierce cricketing The 34-year-old also be- "So, he works out what der. nicely," said Chopra. Ashes. land for the first time in a would be up against it if pre- rivalry with England will re- came the second fastest are the weaknesses of the "We saw recently in the "I feel that he's an ab- "I'd say that if they're in ... long time," Australia coach sented with a similar pitch sume later this year when bowler to reach the land- batsman. He plans those Australia series how he solute rockstar. He's one of that best T20 squad, then Andrew McDonald told re- in the series finale starting Tim Paine's team bids to re- mark after Sri Lanka spin dismissals and that's why I (Ashwin) troubled someone the biggest match winners they'll be there and we just porters in Wellington on Thursday. tain the Ashes in the home wizard Muttiah Muralitha- think he is reinventing him- as great as Steve Smith and that India has ever pro- have to work out ways how Tuesday. "It's going to be difficult, summer. ran. self," Laxman, a veteran of that's another thing that duced, of course Anil Kum- to prepare those guys," he "We'll be hoping that they no doubt. Some of the sur- Both teams face a chal- "I think he's (Ashwin) a 134 Tests, said on Star makes Ashwin or any ble will still remain at No.1," said. Reuters very intelligent person. Sports show 'Cricket Con- champion player special, said the 43-year-old, who can do the job there." faces they've played on are lenge managing their When you're playing at the nected'. that he wants to be the best has played 10 Tests for the highest level, then it's not To prove his point, Lax- and compete against the country. 'Indo-Pak Express' to be back on Tour Money is given more importance, NEW DELHI, cited. Hopefully, we will MARCH 2: The much- play well together and hit it popular Indo-Pak pairing of off. Maybe then we can de- Rohan Bopanna and cide and talk of playing few cricket takes a back seat in IPL: Steyn Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi will more tournaments to- tance on cricket. I have only be back after six years when gether, but right now it's been here for a couple of it competes at the Acapulco one off tournament. days and I have had people ATP 500 event in Mexico "I don't know what his in and out of my room, just from March 15. plans are for 2021, if he is wanting to know about It will be first time that committed to play with where I have played and Bopanna and Aisam, someone or not. We will see how I went about it,” Steyn known as 'Indo-Pak Ex- how things go." said. press' will play together Bopanna and Aisam had “Whereas, when I go to since they last competed at begun the 'Stop War, Start something like the IPL that the ATP 250 event in Shen- Tennis' campaign to spread gets forgotten and the main zen in 2014. the peace message. topic is how much money The 2010 season turned They wore T-shirts that did you go for in this IPL? out be breakthrough for had slogan 'Stop War Start That’s just me being bru- Bopanna and Aisam as they Tennis' printed and were tally honest. I wanted to reached the US Open final acknowledged for the effort, stay away from that and re- together, losing to great winning the prestigious ally put more emphasis on Bryan brothers. getting together to play in bined ranking was not good 'Arthur Ashe Humanitarian playing and bringing good Bopanna even became Mexico. So far we have not enough. "But we got into of the Year' award. vibes to good cricket teams world No. 3 in that phase, spoken about future," Acapulco. I am super ex- and tournaments I feel are touching his career-high Aisam said. Asked if it could worth it,” he added. rank in 2010. Their pairing well be a long-term arrange- Leach eager to learn subtleties of spin Steyn has appeared at generated huge interest in ment, Aisam said, "Hope- KARACHI, MARCH 2: sis on maybe the amount of 8. But the South African’s least in six IPL seasons for both the countries given the fully, it goes well and we can bowling from Ashwin, Axar in 4th Test South Africa pace great money players earn and repeated injury break- RCB, and erstwhile Deccan rivalry between the Asian maybe play more tourna- LONDON, MARCH 2: By his own admission, Eng- Dale Steyn has claimed that everything like that, so downs didn’t help his cause Chargers which has now neighbours. ments in future as well." land’s Jack Leach is in awe of the exploits of Ravichandran cricket takes a back seat at sometimes, somewhere as he just featured in 12 IPL been re-christened Sunris- Since the 2012 was the The 40-year-old Pak- Ashwin and Axar Patel during the pink ball Test and he is ea- the Indian Premier League, down the line, cricket gets matches in the last three ers Hyderabad. Olympic year, Bopanna istani tennis icon said they ger to learn the nuances of spin bowling from the Indian insisting that money is forgotten,” said Steyn, who seasons. Steyn went for runs in his broke partnership with were actually trying to enter duo in the fourth and final match, starting here on Thursday. given more importance was part of the Royal Chal- The South African fast final over against Peshawar Aisam and chose to pair the Dubai Duty Free Cham- India won the day-night third Test by 10 wickets inside two than the game in the lucra- lengers squad in bowler, who is representing Zalmi the other day in with compatriot Mahesh pionships together but days to take a 2-1 lead in the four-match series. tive T20 tournament. the last IPL held in the UAE. in the Karachi in the PSL but said Bhupathi for that season so could not. Ashwin and Axar used the spin-friendly Motera pitch to Justifying his on-and-off In January this year, 6, he was not too bothered that they could prepare for "We spent a lot of time to- great effect and picked up 18 of the 20 English wickets in IPL career, Steyn said this Steyn announced that he is said he took the break as he about it. the London Games. gether in Australia. We the match to demolish the visitors. was one of the reasons he opting out of the IPL 2021 needed time off from the “But it would have been They rejoined forces in spoke about if we could get “When you see players having so much success, like had not featured regularly but will play other leagues game and also because he nice to get over the line 2014 before parting ways in Dubai. He was looking for Ravichandran Ashwin, who has just got to 400 Test wickets in the world’s biggest fran- around the world. found playing in other against Peshawar Zalmi. again. a partner and I am also and has a lot of experience in India, and Axar Patel, who chise-based T20 tourna- Steyn’s decision influ- leagues around the world Played three, won one Now, both 40-year-old looking for a partner for the has had a great start to , of course, you try to ment. enced RCB to release him more rewarding as a player. would have been really Bopanna and Aisam will be rest of the year. So we learn from them,” Leach wrote in a column for ‘Sky Sports’. “I think when you go to ahead of the IPL 2021 auc- “When you come to like good for us,” he said, together again, albeit the thought let's team up for “It’s important not to look at it too emotionally though the IPL, there are such big tion. Steyn has played 95 the PSL or the Sri Lankan adding: “Hopefully we can arrangement as of now is Dubai Open, unfortunately and think ‘I just want to bowl exactly like them!’ squads and so many big IPL matches, picking up 97 Premier League, for that make a comeback in the up- only for one tournament. we did not get in. Our com- Ashwin is right-arm, for a start, so I’m not going to bowl names and so much empha- wickets with a best of 3 for matter, there is an impor- coming games.” "Right now we are just like him!