Amazon's rivalry in India with oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries looks set to head to the cricket field, where they will likely battle media heavyweights for telecast rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL) with its hundreds of millions of viewers.
In the wake of controversy over spot-fixing in IPL matches, the Sports Ministry has started holding consultations with the Law Ministry to draft a new law to deal with betting in sports.
After threatening to file a contempt petition in the Supreme Court, unrecognised Bihar Cricket Association secretary Aditya Verma wrote to ICC President Alan Isaac, pleading with him to stop sidelined BCCI chief N Srinivasan from attending the governing body's Executive Board meeting in Dubai.
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the suspended chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Narayanaswami Srinivasan, "who really owns" Indian Premier League franchise Chennai Super Kings. It also expressed his displeasure over India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni holding important position in Srinivasan's India Cements, saying the "dual role is a matter of concern."
The probe panel, headed by Justice (Retd) Mukul Mudgal, has sought the assistance of a few individuals, including former CBI Special Director M L Sharma, to carry out further investigations into the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal.
The Federation of International Cricketers' Associations wants the under-fire N Srinivasan to stand aside from all ICC functions after being forced out as BCCI President owing to the IPL betting scandal.
Much of this has been made possible by the owners's insistence on building a team, rather than banking on a collection of talented individuals not necessarily suited to play alongside one another.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly joined the Supreme Court-appointed Mudgal committee, which is probing the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal, as an expert on cricketing affairs.
A Mumbai court extended the police remand of CSK team owner Gurunath Meiyappan, actor Vindoo Randhawa and two others arrested in the IPL betting case till June 3 after prosecution sought further custody to unravel their connection with absconding bookies.
N Srinivasan may have put up a brave face by outrightly rejecting demands for his resignation but Union minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kamal Nath feels that the Tamil Nadu strongman's position has become "untenable."
Mumbai Crime Branch questioned Chennai Super Kings CEO Gurunath Meiyappan for several hours after his arrest on Friday night in IPL betting scandal, but he has been "evasive" and "non-cooperative" during interrogation, police said in Mumbai on Saturday.
Like the billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Gautam Gambhir, the tenacious former opener-turned-coach, also seems to be governed by instincts while picking unheralded players and turning them into match-winners, points out Vishal Menon.
Lashing out at N Srinivasan for 'shamelessly sticking to his chair' even after the Supreme Court's observation to step down, former BCCI president I S Bindra asked him to quit before he drags Indian cricket down the gutter along with him.
Media company Zee Media Corporation Limited on Tuesday vehemently rebutted the allegations in the defamation civil suit filed by India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the Madras high court, where he alleged Zee News of telecasting "malicious" news about him.
"Surprisingly, not as popular as men's cricket but women's cricket is going to get very popular. The game has taken giant strides in the last two-three years. Hope a lot of people come to watch the tournament,"
Sachin Tendulkar refused to comment on the findings of Justice Mudgal Committee report which probed into the spot-fixing and betting scandal in the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League in 2013, saying that it would be improper for him to say anything on the issue as Supreme Court is hearing the case.
Kolkata-based Sanjiv Goenka is famously remembered as someone who dropped Mahendra Singh Dhoni as IPL captain.
A local court rejected the Mumbai crime branch's plea to extend the custody of CSK team principal Gurunath Meiyappan, Bollywood actor Vindoo Randhawa and two others arrested in the IPL betting case and remanded them in judicial custody till June 14.
An ICC official had '"warned' CSK team owner Gurunath Meiyappan to be 'careful' about his association with bookies weeks before he was arrested in connection with the IPL betting scandal, police said on Friday.
As 'spot-fixing' charges haunt Pakistani cricketers, Indian sleuths probing alleged tax evasion in the multi-million IPL are now tracking trail of crores of rupees being pumped into betting syndicates in the country.
Punters have been given the opportunity to bet online on the semi-finals being played at Mumbai on a website owned by IPL's official digital media parter Global Cricket Ventures.
Cricket Association of Bihar secretary Aditya Verma discusses with Harish Kotian the Supreme Court's suggestion that N Srinivasan step down as BCCI chief to facilitate a fair probe into the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal.
Six prominent "Indian capped" players, including one who is part of the current team, are likely to face the heat for their alleged roles in fixing scandal with their names cropping up in the report filed on Monday before the Supreme Court by a committee probing the IPL betting and spot-fixing scam.
A SIM card given to Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf by a wanted bookie was destroyed at the insistence of Vindoo Randhawa before the actor's arrest in the IPL betting scam, the Mumbai crime branch told a court, which extended his police remand till May 31.
Aditya Verma is a pleased man. With a new probe panel being proposed by the Supreme Court to investigate the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal, petitioner and Cricket Association of Bihar secretary Verma said he would now request the apex court to monitor the committee's functioning.
Embattled IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi on Monday rubbished allegations of betting and money laundering in the event and threatened to take legal action against the newspaper which has made the accusations.
Pacer Mohammed Siraj had reported a 'corrupt approach" to BCCI's Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) from an unknown person, who wanted 'inside news' about his team before Australia arrived in India.
With the addition of two IPL teams and a mega players auction coming up ahead of the new season in 2022, star performers at the T20 World Cup could be rewarded with handsome bids.
The Bombay High Court, on Tuesday, said the Indian Premier League has made people familiar with phrases like "betting and fixing" and in view of the alleged violations of foreign exchange rules it is time to see if the tournament is in interest of the game of cricket.
Narayanswami Srinivasan told the Supreme Court on Monday that he is not at fault in the conflict of interest issue, as he had consulted former Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sharad Pawar before buying the Chennai Super Kings franchise in 2008.
The dealers operating in the space have jumped nearly three times over the past two years.
Subramanian Swamy, in his plea, has alleged that there are no allegations against either Narayanswami Srinivasan or against any members of CSK and hence the ban imposed by the Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha panel is "illegal, arbitrary and unreasonable".
IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings moved the Madras High Court challenging the order of Justice Lodha Committee suspending it from Indian Premier League over the 2013 betting scam involving its top official Gurunath Meiyappan.
'Where betting is legalised it is heavily regulated and they work in close conjunction with us, so it does assist us' 'Sometimes these corruptors are like paedophiles and what I mean by that analogy is that they are prepared to spend a long time particularly grooming young players'
The Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee on Monday recommended sweeping reforms for the controversy-ridden Board of Control for Cricket in India, suggesting a bar on ministers from occupying positions, putting a cap on the age and tenure of the office-bearers and legalising betting.
This amount includes the betting between bookies and also the money spent on spot-fixing. The average amount spent on each IPL game is between Rs 600 crores and Rs 800 crores. For the semi-finals and the final the amount could well cross Rs 1,200 crores.
The 13th edition of the IPL is being held in the UAE in a bio-secure environment, which has significantly reduced the chance for persons with dubious credentials approaching the player directly.
BCCI's anti-corruption unit will be speaking to all the eight teams separately and the sessions will be more useful for the younger players who are not exposed to international cricket and the glamour of IPL.
The mighty Mumbai Indians are looking all set to win their fifth Indian Premier League title, when they take on Delhi Capitals in the final, in Dubai on Tuesday.
Stakeholders have shown a distinct lack of seriousness in bringing a law against corruption in Indian sports, a reason why someone like tainted former pacer S Sreesanth got away despite strong evidence of spot-fixing against him in the 2013 IPL, former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar has said.
