Shami to be rested from Bengal’s Vijay Hazare Trophy opening match against Delhi

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

New Delhi, Dec 19 (IANS) Veteran India pacer Mohammad Shami will be rested from Bengal’s Vijay Hazare Trophy opening match, said the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) on Thursday. Bengal is scheduled to begin their Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign against Delhi at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday.

Bengal are in Group E of the 50-over competition alongside Delhi, Tripura, Baroda, Kerala, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh.

After an ankle injury needing surgery kept him out of action for nearly a year, Shami made a successful comeback to professional cricket through Bengal’s fifth-round match in the Ranji Trophy against Madhya Pradesh at Indore, where he took seven wickets in his team’s win. He also led the Bengal bowling attack in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy recently, picking up nine wickets in 11 games at an economy rate of 7.85, with a best of 3-21 against Hyderabad, before they lost to Baroda in the quarter-finals in Bengaluru.

After the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series at the Gabba in Brisbane ended in a rain-hit draw, India skipper Rohit Sharma said Shami’s fitness for joining the team on a tour of Australia depends on National Cricket Academy’s clearance, whose Sports Science head Nitin Patel has been on the ground to assess Shami’s fitness and let the team management know about his progress.

“About Shami, I think it’s high time somebody from NCA talks about him, where he is rehabbing. Those guys are the ones who need to come up and give us some kind of update. I understand he’s playing a lot of cricket back home, but there have been some complaints about his knee as well.”

“So, look, the last thing you want is the player coming here and then pulling out in the middle of the game. You know what happens when that kind of thing happens. So, there is no way we want to take that chance unless we are like, not 100%, 200% sure, we’re not going to take any risk. But like I said in the last press conference, the door is open if those guys at the NCA feel that he is okay to go and recover and play, we’ll be happy to have him.”

–IANS

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Bihar govt transfers Moin-ul-Haq Stadium to BCA on 30-year lease

Patna, Dec 12 (IANS) The Bihar government transferred the registry of the land for Moin-ul-Haq Stadium to the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) on a long-term 30-year lease. This is a major step taken by the Bihar government and the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) to host international cricket matches in Patna and to provide state cricketers with a state-of-the-art international cricket stadium.

Additionally, the government waived off the land registry fee of approximately Rs 37 crore, as previously announced.

The registry documents were signed on behalf of the Bihar government by Sports Department Director Mahendra Kumar, and on behalf of BCA by its president Rakesh Tiwari. Present during the occasion were Sports Department Deputy Director Sanjay Kumar, Patna District Sports Officer Om Prakash, BCA Secretary Jiaul Afrin, GM Admin Neeraj Rathore and several other dignitaries.

Following the completion of the land registry process, BCA president Rakesh Kumar Tiwari announced that after the end of the Kharmas period in the new year, the date for the stadium’s construction foundation-laying ceremony would be declared, and construction would commence at the earliest.

Expressing gratitude to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, Rakesh Tiwari said, “The Bihar government has fulfilled its responsibility. Now, it is up to the Bihar Cricket Association to begin its work. The BCA will expedite the construction and deliver a world-class stadium to the people of Bihar within two to three years, where they can enjoy international matches.”

It is noteworthy that on November 6, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Bihar government and the BCA to hand over the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium to the cricket body. The event was attended by Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha.

The Moin-ul-Haq Stadium will now be developed into an international-level stadium and sports complex.

The stadium will have a seating capacity of 40,000 spectators, along with 76 corporate boxes and arrangements for 250 VIPs. Additionally, the sports complex will feature a badminton court, volleyball court, swimming pool, a five-star hotel, a fully-equipped hostel for players, restaurants, a clubhouse and other modern amenities.

–IANS

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ISL 2024-25: Marquez’s unbeaten streak in threat against In-form Bengaluru FC

Bengaluru, Dec 13 (IANS) The Sree Kanteerava Stadium will witness Bengaluru FC take on FC Goa to kick off the Saturday double-header of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25. These two teams have endured positive forms this season, with Bengaluru FC collecting 23 points from 11 games and sitting second in the table, and the Gaurs placed fifth with 18 points from 10 matches.

However, their rivalry goes a long way back, as it was the then-Sergio Lobera-coached FC Goa whom Bengaluru FC had beaten at the Mumbai Football Arena in the finals in March 2019 to clinch the ISL title in 2018-19, which remains the only time the Blues have won the championship.

It was Rahul Bheke who had netted a late winner for the Blues back then, and Gerard Zaragoza was an assistant coach to Carles Cuadrat for them in that campaign. With Bheke and Zaragoza coming back to Bengaluru FC, they are playing key roles in helping them scale back to the peaks they achieved over five years ago.

Up against them will be an in-form FC Goa unit, who have notched 13 points out of a possible 15 in their last five games, with their head coach Manolo Marquez yet to lose a game in his nine contests against Bengaluru FC (W 6, D 3).

Bengaluru FC have won five times and drawn once in their six home matches this season. Their tally of five triumphs so far is already as many as the total home wins the Blues managed in the league in the entirety of the 2023-24 season. Furthermore, their 16 points from six home encounters are the most they have garnered after these many clashes on this ground in any ISL campaign.

Bengaluru FC started the season astonishingly well by keeping a clean sheet in each of their first five games. However, they have since gone on to concede strikes in each of their following six encounters, giving away 13 goals in this period. The last time they went on a longer stretch without a clean sheet was for 11 games between February and December 2021. Zaragoza will be looking forward to breaking this run as soon as possible.

FC Goa have clinched victories in each of their last three matches against Bengaluru FC, which comprised a crucial 3-0 win in the reverse fixture earlier this season. Overall, Bengaluru FC have secured a solitary point in their previous five encounters against the Blues, which came through a goalless draw in 2023-24. The Gaurs will derive significant confidence from their recent spate of terrific outcomes against the Blues.

The two teams have played 16 matches against each other in the ISL, with Bengaluru FC and FC Goa winning seven and five encounters respectively. Four games have resulted in draws with an average of 2.81 goals being netted per game.

Bengaluru FC head coach Gerard Zaragoza asked his team’s fans to show up in large numbers for the game against FC Goa. He also assured that his team isn’t dealing with any fitness concerns at the moment. “We don’t have any fitness issues. I’m sure both teams will be ready for the match. I want the supporters to turn up in large numbers like they’ve done so far and our players will make sure that they create a good environment,” Zaragoza said.

FC Goa head coach Manolo Marquez appreciated his players for overcoming unique challenges in every game to get a good string of results under their belt. “To win four consecutive games in this competition is really difficult. Each match has been really different to each other and the players have understood the tasks really well,” Marquez said.

–IANS

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