Cricket Financial News

RAWALPINDI: Bangladesh is pinning its hopes on all-rounder and former lawmaker Shakib Al Hasan to «do something special» against pace-heavy Pakistan in the opening test of the two-match series, starting Wednesday. "(Shakib) played this game for so long, so he knows his role," Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said on the eve of the first test match at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. «He knows how to prepare himself, so I am not thinking about his political career and I hope he will do something special in this series. He's a professional cricketer and we all treat him as a cricketer, to be very honest.»

CCI) has asked Reliance Industries and Walt Disney as to why their proposed $8.5-billion merger of media assets in the country should not be probed over antitrust concerns, people aware of the development said. This could potentially delay regulatory clearance for the deal that is set to create India’s largest entertainment player, but such notices don’t mean the deal would be automatically derailed, they said. If anything, such notices give the parties a chance to address the antitrust regulator’s concerns through adequate explanations, further commitments or actions, a regulatory official told ET.

edtech firm Byju’s founder, Byju Raveendran, said in an email to his employees that their salaries will be paid promptly as soon as he regains control of the company’s accounts, even if it requires taking on more debt. “When we regain control, your salaries will be paid promptly, even if that means raising more personal debt. This isn't just a promise — it's a commitment. We have investors ready to back our turnaround story,” said Byju Raveendran. On August 14, the Supreme Court stayed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s (NCLAT) order that approved the settlement deal between Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, the parent company of Byju's, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to restrain the Interm resolution professional (IRP) of debt-ridden Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, the parent of online educational services company Byju's, from constituting a committee of creditors (CoC). A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud agreed to hear the case in detail on Thursday, including the bankrupt edtech company’s request to stall the formation of CoC. Requesting the apex court to direct IRP Pankaj Srivastava against constituting the panel before Friday, senior counsel AM Singhvi, appearing for the edutech firm, told the SC that it would be infructuous if the CoC was constituted within 48 hours.

ICC) announced on Tuesday that the Women's T20 World Cup will be moved to the United Arab Emirates due to the ongoing unrest in Bangladesh following the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The event, originally scheduled from October 3 to 20, will now be held in Dubai and Sharjah. ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice expressed his disappointment over the news, stating that Bangladesh Cricket Board would have made the event memorable.

PVR Inox’s stock has gained 5% in the past three trading sessions following the success of Stree 2 and on account of factors such as strong line-up of films in the coming months and timely expansion of capacity in the southern region. The stock of the country’s largest multiplex company is on a roll after Stree 2, released on August 15, garnered over Rs 229 crore at the box office on a budget of Rs 50 crore, making it a super hit movie of the otherwise dull monsoon season. Another major success, which has surprised the trade circuit, is the English film Deadpool & Wolverine. The film collected Rs 131 crore at the box office in India.

Gujarat Police, undertook searches in multiple states on Monday as part of a money-laundering probe linked to alleged unauthorised streaming of ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 matches by a «betting» website. The federal agency said in a statement that 20 premises in Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru (Karnataka), Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) and Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) were covered by its officials and those from the Ahmedabad cyber police department in the case against the «magicwin» web portal. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) case, filed under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from an Ahmedabad police FIR, which stated that a website — magicwin.games — had unauthorisedly hosted, streamed and broadcast matches during the world cup. The broadcast rights for the tournament were given to Star India Private Limited by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the ED said.

Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah said that the decision on pacer Mohammed Shami's participation in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy away from home later this year will be taken after the report from National Cricket Academy (NCA). India fast bowler Mohammed Shami is making significant strides in his recovery from an ankle injury that has kept him out of cricket since the ODI World Cup last November. The expectation is that he will be ready to participate in India's home season, starting with a Test series against Bangladesh in September. Shami is currently in the final stages of his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. He resumed bowling last month for the first time since his surgery and has been gradually increasing his bowling workload, reporting no pain.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) CEO Kasi Viswanathan has denied that the franchise requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to retain MS Dhoni as an uncapped player for the next IPL season. This comes amid reports that BCCI might bring back a provision allowing franchises to retain retired international players as uncapped, a rule scrapped in 2021. Recent media reports suggested that CSK had approached BCCI during a recent meeting to treat former captain MS Dhoni as an uncapped player. However, Viswanathan refuted these claims in a conversation with the Times of India. «I’ve no idea about it. We’ve not requested it. They (the BCCI) have themselves told us that the ‘uncapped player rule’ may be kept, that’s all. They (the BCCI) haven’t announced anything as yet. The rules and regulations will be announced by the BCCI,» said Viswanathan.

Josh Hazlewood, Australia's premium fast bowler, acknowledged that Australia's recent results against India have been a significant gap in their record. The first Test of the series between Australia and India will be played at the Optus Stadium, Perth from November 22. «There are quite a few players who have never beaten India in a Test series. It's quite astounding to say that,» Hazlewood was quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Cricket Council (ICC) announced the match schedule on Sunday for the upcoming ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup 2025 in Malaysia. Sixteen teams from around the world will take part in the 41-match event where the future stars of women's cricket will announce themselves over 15 days of competition from 18 January to 2 February 2025. Over and above these exciting matches will be 16 warm-up fixtures played from 13 to 16 January, in preparation for the main event, as per the ICC. The second edition of this exciting tournament comes on the back of a successful inauguration in South Africa in 2023 where India beat England by seven wickets in a thrilling final to be crowned the first-ever winners. It will also be the hosts, Malaysia's first appearance in the U19 Women's T20 World Cup as well as Samoa's first appearance in an ICC World Cup event.

Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella has been suspended indefinitely due to an alleged doping violation, the national governing body Sri Lanka Cricket said. Dickwella failed a doping test conducted by the Sri Lanka Anti-Doping Agency under World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines during the Lanka Premier League.

Ricky Ponting reckoned that Joe Root could surpass batting legend Sachin Tendulkar's tally of runs in Test cricket, provided the England batting mainstay stays 'hungry' and keeps scoring at a consistent rate for the next four years. Root became only the seventh batter in the history of the conventional format to cross the 12,000-run mark — a feat he achieved recently during the Edgbaston Test against the West Indies. With 12,027 runs in 143 Tests at 50.11 with 32 centuries and 63 fifties so far, Root is also overall the seventh highest run-scorer in Tests and could overtake Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara (12,400 runs) and his former teammate Alastair Cook (12,472) soon. Tendulkar leads the table with 15921 runs from 200 Tests.

Kartik Sharma, the Kohli lookalike featured in the video, is no stranger to attention. A software engineer by profession, Sharma has amassed a significant following on Instagram, with over 7.6 lakh followers, thanks to his uncanny resemblance to the cricketer. He regularly shares content that highlights his likeness to Kohli, sometimes even donning the Indian cricket jersey to amplify the effect. Sharma himself reacted to the viral video, commenting, «Fun to be at One8,» under Sachdeva’s post.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Wednesday visited TOI’s Mumbai office for an interaction. Apart from announcing former South Africa pacer Morne Morkel as team India’s new bowling coach, he also said that the board was not in favour of hosting pink ball tests because “they end in a couple of days.” «You buy a ticket for a five-day match, but the game ends in 2-3 days… There is no refund. I am slightly emotional about this,» Shah said on day-night Test matches.

Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Wednesday quashed charge sheets filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah and others in connection with its money laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA). A single bench order passed by Justice Sanjeev Kumar said no predicate offence was made against the individuals and hence the charge sheet and supplementary charge sheet filed by the ED are quashed. The ED had named National Conference chief Abdullah, Ahsan Ahmad Mirza (former treasurer of JKCA), Mir Manzoor Gazanffer (another ex-treasurer of the JKCA) and some others as accused in the charge sheet.

Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s (NCLAT) order, which approved the settlement between edtech firm Byju’s and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over unpaid dues of Rs 158 crore. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the BCCI, opposed the appeal against the NCLAT order. Mehta said that because of the stay, the BCCI’s settlement with Byju’s will go. The Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud asked BCCI to keep the settlement amount in a separate account till August 23 – the next date of hearing.

Pakistan-Bangladesh Test series has generated a lot of buzz. With ticket prices starting as low as PKR 50 or Rs 15, some netizens are saying that Pakistan Cricket Board should have distributed tickets for free, instead of pricing it at the rate of a samosa. This two-match Test series is a key fixture in the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25. The series kicks off with the first Test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium (RCS) from August 21-25. The second Test will be held at the National Bank Stadium (NBS) in Karachi from August 30 to September 3.

Tendulkar is set for a new innings–off the pitch. The legendary cricketer is becoming an entrepreneur by launching a new sports athleisure brand jointly with former Swiggy Instamart head Karthik Gurumurthy, people aware of the development told ET. Fromer Swiggy executive Karan Arora is also joining as the third cofounder, they said. A holding company has already been registered for the venture. Early-stage venture fund Whiteboard Capital incubated the startup along with Tendulkar, sources said. Filings show Tendulkar and Whiteboard Capital are currently on the board of directors of the holding firm named SRT10 Athleisure Pvt Ltd.

England Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Scotland opened the talks of introducing the Great Britain (GB) men's and women's teams for the next Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. Cricket is brought to the marquee event for the first time since 1900 and the decision to bring it back came last year. The details of the event are not yet confirmed but the International Cricket Council (ICC) has suggested a six-team tournament for both the categories. The tournament will be played for a week and the matches for the teams are likely to take place consecutively rather than «With the Los Angeles Olympics four years away, it's very early stages, but we're talking to Team GB and Cricket Scotland about the next steps we need to take. Once again Great Britain's Olympians have captured the national imagination with their exploits in Paris this year, and we look forward to working together to compete when cricket returns to the Olympic stage in 2028,» an ECB spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo.