Examining conflict of interest complaint against Kohli: BCCI ethics officer

Examining conflict of interest complaint against Kohli: BCCI ethics officer

New Delhi: BCCI ethics officer D K Jain on Sunday said he is examining a conflict of interest complaint against India captain Virat Kohli from Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association life member Sanjeev Gupta, who has levelled similar charges against other players in the past which were deemed “infructuous”.

In his latest complaint, Gupta has alleged that Kohli is conflicted as he occupies two posts — captain of the Indian team and director of a venture which has co-directors linked to a talent management company that has on board, several of his teammates.

Gupta has alleged that it is a violation of the BCCI constitution which bars one individual from holding multiple positions.

“I have received a complaint. I will examine it and then see if the case is made out or not. If yes, then I have to afford an opportunity to him (Kohli) to respond,” Jain told PTI.

Gupta claims that Kohli, who is one of the directors at Cornerstone Venture Partners LLP and Virat Kohli Sports LLP, is conflicted as his co-directors — Amit Arun Sajdeh (better known as Bunty Sajdeh in Indian cricket circle) and Binoy Bharat Khimji –, are also a part of the talent management company Cornerstone Sport and Entertainment Private Limited.

Kohli does not have a role in Cornerstone Sport and Entertainment Private Limited.

The company manages the commercial interests of the India skipper and his many other teammates including K L Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav and Kuldeep Yadav.

“In view of the above, Shri Virat Kohli is occupying two posts at a time in blatant violation to BCCI Rule 38 (4) approved by Supreme Court Of India. As such, he must relinquish his one post at once in compliance…,” wrote Gupta in his complaint.

It is the first high profile complaint Jain has received since he got a one-year extension last month.

In the first year of his job, Jain had dealt with the conflict of interest complaints against Indian cricketing greats Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Kapil Dev.

All of these came from Gupta and the iconic former players had to resign from one position before the complaints were rendered “infructuous”

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has already stated that the conflict of interest norms as prescribed by the Lodha Committee are unrealistic.

Why compare me with Kohli or any other Indian player? Asks Babar

Why compare me with Kohli or any other Indian player? Asks Babar

Pakistan limited-overs captain Babar Azam is tired of his constant comparisons with India skipper Virat Kohli and says he would rather be compared to the greats at home.

Babar, six years younger to Kohli, has a long way to go in getting close to Kohli’s staggering numbers across formats. The India skipper has 70 hundred to his name and averages more than 50 in all three formats.

“I would be happier if you compare to me say a Javed Miandad, Muhammad Yousuf or Younis Khan. Why compare me to Kohli or any Indian player?” asked the 25-year-old, who is in England with the national team, said in an online media interaction on Thursday.

Babar has scored 16 international hundreds and averages more than 50 in ODIs and T20s. In 26 Tests, he has scored 1850 runs at 45.12.

He also said that he is not targeting any English bowler for the series next month.

“I don’t see who the bowler is or his reputation. I just try to play each ball on merit. England no doubt has a top bowling attack and they have the advantage of playing at home but this is a challenge I want to score runs in,” he said.

Before the squad’s departure for England, Pakistan batting coach Younis Khan said that pacer Joffra Archer will be a handful for the Pakistani batsmen.

Babar said that he would try to play every English bowler on merit but conceded that after getting runs in Australia last year, he was keen to leave his footprint in the coming Test and T20 series in England.

Reminded that some former Test players had already written off Pakistan for the England series, Babar said they were entitled to their opinion.

“But we don’t have a bad team and already we have been enjoying our training. It is good to be back on the field after such a long lay-off. I think we have the bowlers to trouble them like Abbas, Naseem, Shaheen, and others while we have some experience in our batting line-up.”

Babar said that he would love to get a triple century in a Test match.

“When you score a century, you naturally want to go on and convert that into a double or a triple century. This is something I would like to do during the Test series. I like to play my natural game but my selection of shots depends on the conditions and bowlers,” he said.

Babar also ruled out any problems in the Pakistan dressing room due to the presence of former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was sacked last year.

But he said that since Muhammad Rizwan had been playing in all formats for Pakistan in recent times, he would be the starting keeper in the Test series ahead of Sarfaraz.

“I think we first have to give Rizwan a proper chance and Sarfaraz is there as back up.”

Smith comes nowhere close to Kohli; Indian skipper even better than Sachin: Pietersen

Smith comes nowhere close to Kohli; Indian skipper even better than Sachin: Pietersen

London: Steve Smith’s accomplishments pale in comparison to Virat Kohli’s “unreal numbers” and the Indian captain has outstripped even the great Sachin Tendulkar with his mastery of chases, feels former England star Kevin Pietersen.

Smith and Kohli are among the leading batsmen in the world now but for Pietersen, the Australia doesn’t even come close to the Indian superstar.

“Kohli, hands down. Freakshow. His record chasing, winning games for India with the amount of pressure he consistently lives under, Smith doesn’t even come close,” Pietersen told former Zimbabwe cricketer Pommie Mbangwa during an Instalive.

When Mbangway asked Pietersen to choose between Kohli and Tendulkar, he said: “Again Virat because of his chasing numbers. His chasing numbers are frightening. He averages 80 in chases, all his one-day hundreds come when chasing.

“He consistently wins games of cricket for India. He just keeps on turning the numbers, chasing, chasing, chasing.”

Winning games for the country is much more important than individual performances, said Pietersen.

“That’s what drives me. My Man of the Match performances. It was not the way that I played or how I played. How many Man of the Match performances and how many games that you win for England. And he (Kohli) does that for India. Unreal numbers,” added Pietersen.

Kohli, who has scored 70 international hundreds, averages more than 50 in all three formats. Smith, on the other hand, averages higher than Kohli in Tests with 7227 runs in 73 games at 62.74.

Kohli has scored 7240 runs in 86 Tests at 53.62. The Indian star averages 59.33 and 50.80 in ODIs and T20s, while Smith averages 42.46 and 29.60 respectively, in the two formats.

Imposing Virat can’t share captaincy, split captaincy won’t work for India: Hussain

Imposing Virat can’t share captaincy, split captaincy won’t work for India: Hussain

New Delhi: An “imposing character” like Virat Kohli will not be comfortable sharing power and hence split captaincy is not something that will work in Indian cricket, feels former England skipper Nasser Hussain.

However, he does feel that the Indian team management often messes up selections as they did in that World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, and split coaching might be a good idea.

Hussain’s view on selection was echoed by India’s twin World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh, who wants to know how the current Indian coaching staff headed by Ravi Shastri is dealing with players of different mindsets.

Asked if split captaincy can work in India as it did in England, Hussain didn’t sound confident.

“It depends on the character, Virat (Kohli) is such an imposing character, all-encompassing, it would be difficult for him to hand over, he wouldn’t want to hand anything over. Whereas with England, we have (Eoin) Morgan and (Joe) Root, two likeable, laidback (characters),” Hussain said during a podcast on Cricbuzz.

However, split coaching is not a bad idea, said Hussain, a respected voice in world cricket.

“Coaches have so much to do, whether you should have a split coach, they have so much on their plate. Just to give you a fresh perspective like Trevor Bayliss for example. He cracked white ball for England, we didn’t really crack Test match cricket. So maybe two different coaches would be the right way to go,” he opined.

“One thing they don’t do well is selection like they couldn’t get a number 4 despite having so many great batsmen. Unlike New Zealand, who have only that many players to choose from, India have so much of talent, that after two failures, a new player comes in and then a next,” he said.

Kohli is like Federer while Smith is more of Nadal: De Villiers

Kohli is like Federer while Smith is more of Nadal: De Villiers

New Delhi: Virat Kohli’s natural talent makes him a cricketing equivalent of Roger Federer while Steve Smith’s mental fortitude matches that of Rafael Nadal, said South African swashbuckler AB de Villiers comparing the two contemporary greats.

In an Instagram chat with former Zimbabwe seamer Pommie Mbangwa, de Villiers spoke about the two batsmen, who are easily the game’s biggest crowd-pullers right now.

“It’s a difficult one, but Virat is definitely the more natural ball-striker, there’s no doubt about that,” de Villiers said during his interaction on ‘Sports Hurricane’.

“In tennis terms, I’d say he’s more like a (Roger) Federer whereas Smith is like a (Rafael) Nadal. Smith is mentally very strong and figures out a way of the scoring run – he doesn’t look natural, but he ends up writing records and doing amazing things at the crease.

“I think mentally, Smith is one of the best I have ever seen. Virat has also scored runs all over the world and won games under pressure,” de Villiers, himself a modern-day great, said.

De Villiers also felt that when it comes to chasing, Kohli is a shade ahead of Tendulkar.

“Sachin is a role model for both of us (him and Kohli). The way he stood out in his era, the things he achieved, and with the grace, he did all that is a great example for everyone,” de Villiers said.

“And I think Virat will also say that he set the standards for us to follow. But personally, in a chase, I’d say Virat is the best I’ve seen in my life. Sachin was amazing in all formats and all situations, but Virat comes out on top while chasing,” he said.

The world knows Kohli as a prolific cricketer but for de Villiers, he is a friend, who has interests beyond cricket and is spiritual at one level.

“He’s much deeper than just a cricket player, I think most people realize after a while that there’s more to life than just cricket,” de Villiers said.

“Virat’s always been a thinker, he experiments (with) a lot of things, he loves trying new things out – gym wise, what he puts in his mouth. He thinks a lot about life after life – what’s to come, the different religions, we talk about everything.”

De Villiers said that he also shares a great bond with Indian captain’s actor wife Anushka Sharma, conversing on a lot of issues including family life.

“We go pretty deep and his missus as well, Anushka, we have very deep conversations, which is fantastic. We talk about children and family. We’re waiting for that first little Kohli to come.

“It’s a good friendship and we always find a way to talk about cricket as well, but 90 percent of the time we talk about other stuff. It’s refreshing and in the middle of a very intense IPL tournament,” he shared.

IPL, for de Villiers, is not just a tournament but also about friendships that he cherishes.

“Obviously, when it comes to the IPL in India, it’s been more than friendship,” De Villiers said when asked who his best friends in cricket are.

“Virat obviously not only during the IPL, we chat throughout the year, which means it’s different than just the IPL or cricketing friendship,” he added.

Sports without fans in stadium possible but magic will be missing, says Kohli

Sports without fans in stadium possible but magic will be missing, says Kohli

New Delhi: India skipper Virat Kohli believes cricket in empty stadiums is a real possibility in a post-COVID-19 world and though it is unlikely to have a bearing on the intensity of players, he feels the magic would certainly go missing.

Cricket Boards across the globe are exploring the option of resuming the sport in empty stadiums. There is speculation that fans could be kept away from stadiums in a bid to salvage the T20 World Cup in Australia, which is currently under threat due to the global health crisis.

“It’s quite a possible situation, it might happen, I honestly don’t know how everyone is going to take that because we all are used to playing in front of so many passionate fans,” Kohli said in Star Sports’ show ‘Cricket Connected’.

“I know it will be played at a very good intensity but that feeling of the crowd connecting with the players and the tension of the game where everyone goes through it in the stadium, those emotions are very difficult to recreate,” he added.

Kohli said that many moments that are created because of the passion brought in by fans would be missing.

“Things will still go on, but I doubt that one will feel that magic happening inside because of the atmosphere that was created. We will play sports how it is supposed to be played, but those magical moments will be difficult to come by,” he said.

Cricketers such as Ben Stokes, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, and Pat Cummins have backed the idea of playing behind closed doors.

However, legendary Australian Allan Border has said that it would defy belief to host a World Cup without spectators.

Another Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and some other cricketers have also expressed similar sentiments.