Mangalore Cricket club (MCC) celebrated its completion of second successful cricket season by organizing a grand party in Imperial Suite Hotel, Dubai.  The event was graced by the presence of Mr. Jason Gasper & Mr Vineeth Fernandes from Roamworks FZ LLC the official sponsor of the MCC club, Mr Sandeep & Sanjiev Nair from Manuport Logistics and Mr Jaikumar from Silvertech Engineering. Rakshith Nagesh of MCC was the host who kicked of the event with an inspirational speech and also entertained the guests with spot prices,games for kids and family members keeping the party alive throughout
the evening. Jethesh Arhana welcomed the guests, sponsors and well wishers fortheir participation in celebrating this day with the players.

Satish Shetty presented the gathering with a presentation on playerstatistics, the clubs vision, it's values and the outstandingperformance of players in the last two seasons. The club facilitatedits members who achieved the seasonal and career milestones by awarding mementos.

Mohamed Rafeek offered deepest condolences on behalf of the club toone of their youngest member Mohammed Mustafa who met with an roadaccident few months back and had to depart to almighty. The clubpledged to raise funds by contributing individually and also donatewhatever savings they could from the closing ceremony to the family
members of Mohammed Mustafa in their moment of grief.

 The teams new Jersey for the forthcoming season was officially unraveled by Mr Jason Gasper from Roamworks FZ LLC and MCC junior members proudly displayed the kit to the crowd. For motivating and grooming the future generation to develop their interest in the game, return gifts in the form of cricket kit was provided to all to the junior kids of the club.

MCC sponsors showered their support and wished good luck to the team.As a token of appreciation a thanksgiving momento was presented to Roamworks FZ LLC for their untainted association with the club.

MCC thanked everyone for their support and generosity in their buildup to the development of MCC and requested to follow them on their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/unitedmcc

 DJ Duos ( Wilfred Mendonca ) entrained the crowd with lovely Musicthough out  the event and event ended up with energetic dance performance. Thanks to Hadlee D’souza & Hencil Mendonca.

MCC thanked everyone for their support and generosity in their build up to the development of MCC and Robinson Rodrigues presented vote of Thanks.

New Delhi: To check the black money menace, the Supreme Court-appointed SIT today called for effective norms to curb betting in cricket and a stronger set of norms for P-Notes, while also making a case for bringing donations to educational and religious bodies under tax net.

The special investigation team (SIT) on black money also said Sebi should come up with regulations on collection beneficial ownership details of P-note holders, as also for monitoring any unusual rise in stock prices.

The SIT also flagged serious concerns over huge amounts of black money being used and generated in areas like betting as also in donations to schools, colleges and religious institutions.

In its third report, the panel flagged the issue of "involvement" of huge illegal and unaccounted money in cricket betting, especially Indian Premier League (IPL) and made a case for effective legislative steps to deal with the menace.

"...it is apparent that illegal activity of cricket betting requires to be controlled by some provisions which are deterrent to all the concerned," said the report of SIT headed by Justice M B Shah (retd).

On misuse of capital markets to launder black money, the panel said Sebi should put in place an effective mechanism to monitor any unusual rise in stock prices and inform other agencies like CBDT and Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) for necessary action.

Sebi recently barred hundreds of entities, including individuals and companies from the securities market for suspected tax evasion and laundering of black money through stock market platforms.

The SIT also suggested that the market regulator should find out beneficial ownership of Participatory Notes (PN), an instrument used by foreign investors to invest in India.

"It is clear that obtaining information on 'beneficial ownership' of P-notes is of crucial importance to prevent their misuse. Sebi needs to examine the issue... and come up with regulations where the 'final beneficial owner' of P notes/ODIs are known," the report said.

It said that about Rs 85,000 crore came in through P-from Cayman Island, which has a total population of about 54,000 (in 2010). "...it does not appear possible for the final beneficial owner of ODIs originating from Cayman Islands," it said.

On generation of black money in education sector and through donations to religious institutions and charities, it said CBDT should take expeditiously finalise assessments, and if necessary, take punitive action.

Mangaluru: As the cloud over the Indian Premier League is yet to get clear, the Karnataka Regional Cricket Academy and Mangaluru Occassionals are planning to have a second edition of Mangaluru Premier League between December 15 and 27.

The second edition of MPL is being held after a gap of five years.

Matches of MPL, which will feature as many as 10 teams and 200-odd players from Mangaluru, Udupi and Kodagu, will be held at New Mangalore Port Grounds. Talking to reporters here on Tuesday, Manohar Amin, the KSCA zonal convener, said all those playing in the matches will be told of the elaborate conditions prescribed by the Karnataka State Cricket Association that includes betting.

“If any player is caught, KSCA will take tough action,” Mr. Amin said. MPL Organiser and Chairperson of Karnataka Regional Cricket Academy Mohammed Sirajuddin said teams members will be selected from the pool of 700 players currently playing in the A, B and C divisions of KSCA Mangalore Zone.

Each franchisee can bid for a maximum of six ‘A’ grade players, out of pool of 60 such players who will command a base price of Rs. 2,000 and upper limit of Rs. 10,000. Each team can bid for three ‘A’ group players beyond the Rs. 10,000 cap, he said.

Mr. Sirajuddin said as many as 80 players, including a few uncapped ones, will be available for selection under the B and C categories. “While the base price for each player in B category will be Rs. 1,000 and will go up to Rs. 5,000, no price has been fixed for those from C category,” he said.

Mr. Amin said absence of clearance from the KSCA was the reason for the long gap between the first and the second edition of the MPL. Saudi Arabia-based Amaco group will be the title sponsor for the 2{+n}{+d}edition of the MPL.

The ten teams will be from Kundapur, Udupi/Manipal, Karkala/Moodbidri, Surthakal/Mulki, Mangaluru, Bantwal/Belthangady, Puttur/Sullia, Ullal, Madikeri and Virajpet.

Within a decade of reaching stratospheric heights in its inaugural year, the Indian Premier League has fallen from one new depth to another into what appears to be a bottomless hole.

Tuesday’s order of the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee to suspend two top teams that have won the cash-awash T20 Leagues in the past, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, for two years from the T20 competition is yet another body blow not only to the IPL’s brand name but also to its owners, the Cricket Board (BCCI).

It was in 2008, in the aftermath of India’s disastrous World Cup campaign in the West Indies followed by the floating of a rival T20 League — the Indian Cricket League — by the Essel Group, that the BCCI finally decided to start its own T20 League and appointed Lalit Modi, who conceptualised it, as its top boss.

The carte blanche given to Mr. Modi by the BCCI had its upswings as well as downswings as the suave former IPL Commissioner made it the hottest property in the game with his innovative ideas in conjunction with marketing partners — IMG.

The IPL blasted off in its first year to uncharted highs even before the start of the competition.

The sale of its eight franchise teams by the BCCI for hundreds of millions of dollars caught the fancy of the cricket world.

This was followed by the unprecedented player auction when Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the first ever million-dollar buy in world cricket with CSK, owned by India Cements, bidding successfully to buy the Ranchi-born wicket keeper batsman, increased the awe further.

The auction, held in Mumbai, saw friends-turned-foes Mr. Modi and N. Srinivasan, the then treasurer and CMD of India Cements that had bought CSK after a subtle change had been effected to the BCCI’s Memorandum of Rules and Regulations, addressing the media at the auction with beaming faces.

Trouble started from the second year of the tournament itself as it had to be held off shores, in South Africa, as its dates clashed with the country’s general elections.

The end of the 2010 edition — held in India after a one year gap — saw Mr. Modi being thrown out of not only the IPL but also from the BCCI for life for alleged financial irregularities.

Mr. Modi, accused of violating government regulations in the running of the IPL, then went to London where he is based now citing threats to his life from the underworld.

One of the original franchises — Deccan Chargers — made its exit after a few years to be replaced by the Sun Risers Hyderabad while two new franchises bought for huge amounts — Kerala Tuskers and Sahara Pune Warriors — were disbanded by the BCCI for non-compliance of IPL rules.

On the field also controversies have chased the T20 League.

The slapgate involving Harbhajan Singh and S. Sreesanth in the inaugural edition, was followed by spot-fixing allegations in 2013 when three Royals players were alleged to have indulged in corrupting the game — including Sreesanth and Mumbai left arm spinner Ankit Chavan — and were banned for life by the BCCI.

This was followed by the allegations of betting during IPL by two team owners — Gurunath Meiyappan of CSK and Raj Kundra of Royals —which has culminated in them being banned for life by the Lodha Committee and the suspension of the two IPL teams for a couple of years from the competition.

On Monday, the BCCI also suspended Mumbai Ranji Trophy player Hiken Shah from playing any form of cricket after finding him guilty of “approaching” a teammate (Pravin Tambe) to corrupt the IPL.

The IPL Governing Council is now set to meet here on July 19.

It has a huge task in hand to not only restore the image of the T20 League’s brand but also to decide on the future of the tournament which now has been left with only six teams for 2016 and 2017.

The GC will have to decide whether to call for fresh tenders for two new teams to fill in the breach or tweak the format and play with six teams.

The suspension order could not have come at a worse time for the two franchises as post 2017 none of the original franchise teams need to pay a rupee to the BCCI as participation money which would increase their profitability.

It has been more than two months since the issue cropped up, but Mumbai Cricket Association officials are still in the dark about the identities of their two Ranji Trophy players, both the whistleblower and the alleged culprit, who were involved in another IPL-related corruption attempt.

"We have not got any information from the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India, which conducts the cash-richIndian Premier League) on this issue. No, we have not asked them. They must have either investigated the thing or are still pursuing the case," MCA's joint secretary Dr P V Shetty told today.

On April 10, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur as well as theRajasthan Royals team CEO Raghu Iyer had praised the whistleblower for bringing to the BCCI's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) about an alleged approach by another individual to corrupt the game.

The names of both, described as Mumbai Ranji Trophyteammates in a news report one day earlier to the statements of Thakur and Iyer, were not revealed in the press statements.

According to the news report, a Mumbai-based Rajasthan Royals player was approached by his Ranji teammate, not part of the Royals' outfit, with an offer of money if he followed a pre-decided pattern of play.

The player declined the offer and reported the incident to the BCCI's ACSU which launched an investigation into the incident.

Today a news report has claimed that it was Royals' leg spinner Pravin Tambe, who is also a Mumbai Ranji Trophy cricketer, who was the whistleblower and had reported the approach made to him to the ACSU.

"An inappropriate approach was made to a member of the Rajasthan Royals Team that is currently participating in the Pepsi IPL 2015," Thakur had said in his April 10 press release.

"The player, who was approached, reported the matter to his Team Management immediately, who in turn have reported the incident to the Anti-Corruption Unit of the BCCI. The ACU of the BCCI is currently investigating the matter to ascertain the facts.

"We are happy to note that the prompt action of the player is an outcome of the ongoing initiative of the BCCI to educate cricketers at various levels to reject and report any such incident or approach made by individuals who intend to damage the fabric of the game," Thakur had said.

Royals, at the centre of the 2013 spot-fixing scandal as well, had also confirmed the development and promised zero tolerance.

"Over a month ago, a player from Rajasthan Royals was approached inappropriately by a player (who was not part of the IPL) in connection with the Indian Premier League 2015 matches," Royals' CEO Raghu Iyer had said in a statement.

"Maintaining high standards of integrity, the player informed the Rajasthan Royals management of this inappropriate approach. In keeping with applicable IPL Regulations, Rajasthan Royals management immediately reported the incident to the Anti-Corruption & Security Unit (ACSU) of the BCCI.

"Rajasthan Royals commends the player for having reported this incident immediately and for his honesty and uprightness. His dedication to maintain the highest standards of integrity needs to be lauded," Iyer added in April press release.

Iyer said RR, whose players were arrested during the 2013 scandal, will take a very strict view of any corruption.

"Rajasthan Royals in keeping with its zero tolerance approach immediately reported the incident further to the ACSU/BCCI for further process. Rajasthan Royals will continue to provide full support and assistance to the BCCI to ensure that the game of cricket is played in the right spirit."

"This incident does highlight that if players and other officials cooperate and disclose information or
approaches immediately, the game can be kept clean and free from undesirable elements and activities," he said.

The incident came on the heels of the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal which led to the arrests of three
Rajasthan Royals cricketers, including former India fast bowler S Sreesanth.

The spot-fixing saga also forced N Srinivasan to step down as BCCI president after his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was found guilty of betting.

Royals' co-owner Raj Kundra was also questioned during the investigation was indicted by the Supreme Court-appointed Mukul Mudgal committee.

Bengaluru, June 25: Former Test cricketers Venkatesh Prasad, Sunil Joshi and David Johnson will play for the All Stars Celebrity team (Rockstars) in this year's Karbonn Smart Karnataka Premier League (KPL) Twenty20 tournament.

KPL 2015, the 4th edition, will be played in Mysuru and Hubballi from August 26 to September 13, the organisers Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) announced today at a press conference at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Karnataka captain R Vinay Kumar along with other players pose for photographers at the launch event Prasad, Joshi and Johnson will play for All Stars which will be captained by Kannada film actor Sudeep. This side made its debut last year but failed to win a single game.

Now to bolster the film industry team, 3 former Test cricketers will be part of the Playing XI. KPL, in its 4th year now, will feature all the big names in Karnataka cricket including two-time Ranji Trophy winning captain R Vinay Kumar and his team-mates. This year, each franchise is allowed to retain 2 players. Each team will have 20 players (2 from catchment areas). The Players' Auction will take place in Bengaluru on July 25.

Vinay will be joined by Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Abhimanyu Mithun, Mayank Agarwal, J Suchith and others who were also part of the tournament last season too. There is 1 new team for the 2015 edition. Shimoga franchise - Namma Shivamogga is the new entrant along with the 7 other teams (Mysore, Hubli, Mangalore, Bijapur, Bellary, Belagavi, and All Stars) which were in action in 2014.  Mysore Warriors are the reigning champions and their home ground will be the venue for the final on September 13. KSCA has gone in with Indian Premier League (IPL) format this year by introducing Qualifier 1, 2 and Eliminator.

The top 2 finishers in the league table will contest Qualifier 1 with the winners going straight to the final. The losers face the winner of Eliminator (3rd versus 4th placed team) in Qualfier 2. Former Test batsman and KSCA Secretary Brijesh Patel said last season was a huge success and expected to be another exciting year this time. "After the grand success of the previous editions we are happy to bring an even more exciting season 4 of the KPL. Karnataka has a rich legacy of producing some of the best cricketers at the national and international level over the decades and with help of KPL we aim to unearth and develop more such promising talent from the State," Patel said.

 On Thursday, the tournament's new logo was unveiled in the presence of players, KSCA officials and sponsors. "The new KPL logo, with a tagline "It's your time to shine", represents the team jerseys of each team. Its vibrancy is a creative rendition of the stage that is set for excited cricketers and celebrities in Karnataka to come out and express themselves. An opportunity to discover themselves through the travails of victory, defeat, jubilation and frustration," the organisers said.

KSCA president Ashok Anand thanked all those involved in making the tournament a huge success in past years and hoped they would continue the same. "After receiving tremendous response in Mysore and Hubli last year with packed stadiums for all the matches, we have decided to reduce the number of complimentary passes and increase the number of tickets for sale to the public," KPL Governing Council member and KSCA's spokesperson Vinay Mruthyunjaya said. All KPL 2015 matches will be telecast Live on Sony SIX channel.

MIRPUR: The pressure is telling on Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The fearless fighter that Greg Chappell had trained to be India's 'Rambo' is beginning to feel the heat. Ten years of international cricket, the last seven as India's captain is enough to break the strongest back.

It is a miracle of sorts that Dhoni has carried on for so long, and with so much success, without succumbing to the pressures that come gift-wrapped with the Indian captaincy.

Dhoni succeeded because of his exceptional mental strength and an ice cool temperament that refused to boil over even in the most heated scenario. Nor did Dhoni ever go overboard with his success. Even two World Cup triumphs (2007 and 2011) failed to disturb Dhoni's equilibrium. He was simply happy to deliver as a player and captain.

Success, for Dhoni, was like water on a duck's back. He would not get too despondent about failure. As India's Test failures abroad piled up, the pressure on Dhoni mounted. His philosophic explanations ('it is a process') after every loss began to wear thin.

A second successive Test series loss in England last year marked the beginning of Dhoni's downfall, culminating in his retirement from Test cricket after the third match Down Under. While it is perfectly understandable that Dhoni wants to preserve himself for another World Cup by giving up Test cricket, his lack of form in the shorter formats of the game has rendered his position quite vulnerable.

The lion-hearted Dhoni, who had promoted himself in the order ahead of an in-form Yuvraj Singh in the 2011 World Cup final and made history, has struggled for a while now.

A quick look at his recent ODI record shows that his last match-winning knock came against Zimbabwe in the World Cup earlier this year. Having walked in at 92/4 with India chasing 288, Dhoni (85*) shared an unfinished stand of 196 with Suresh Raina, whose unbeaten 110 fetched him the man-of-the-match award.

Another unbeaten knock 45 off 56 balls had been enough to shepherd India to victory against the West Indies in the World Cup. The rest is a long and sorry tale of a man widely regarded as the best finisher in limited-overs cricket.

Let alone finishing games, Dhoni isn't even getting the runs. He was a pale shadow of his dominant self in IPL 8, where Chennai Super Kings were twice outclassed by the Mumbai Indians in the knockout phase. A mere 372 runs from 17 innings, with a highest score of 53, is hardly the stuff that legends are made of.

Dhoni's uncharacteristic behaviour on the field against Bangladesh on Thursday was a clear reflection of a man who has lost the mental battle with himself. Poor Mustafizur Rahman bore the full impact of Dhoni's frustrations as the game slowly slipped out of India's hands.

The shoving away of Mustafizur represented Dhoni's fight with inner demons which have been tormenting him since CSK got mired in the IPL betting and match-fixing scandal in 2013. With N Srinivasan out of the BCCI, Dhoni has lost the safety net that not only gave him immunity from selection issues but also the license to run the team the way he pleased. By refusing to back the Indian team's stand in the ugly Anderson-Jadeja spat in Nottingham last year, Srinivasan had sent out a strong signal to Dhoni that he could no longer take things for granted.

Ravi Shastri's appointment as the team director after the Test series loss in England further clipped Dhoni's wings. Retirement from Test cricket was Dhoni's way of cutting his losses.

Neither Dhoni, nor his team, had bargained for losing to Bangladesh on Thursday. The alarm bells are ringing loud and clear. Another loss could spell doom for Dhoni, whose form and credibility are both at an all-time low.

Dhaka: Indian batsman Suresh Raina has admitted that his side will be wary of the spirited Bangladesh side in the three-match ODI series beginning in Dhaka on Thursday.

Bangladesh produced a sparkling performance during the World Cup, with knocking England out of the tournament to advance to their first-ever quarter-finals before claiming a 3-0 whitewash over Pakistan at home a month later.

Although Bangladesh failed to replicate the same spirit in the lone Test match against India, the Mashrafe Mortaza-led team would certainly be looking forward to continue their new-found momentum in the series.

Raina said that they are fielding their best team despite the hectic schedule, pointing the importance India gives to this series. The middle-order batsman also said that the hosts are not easy to beat.

Bangladesh will be aiming to boost the country’s chances of reaching the 2017 Champions Trophy in England. And a series win over the visitors will help them move clear of West Indies to seventh place in the world rankings.

Host England, in addition to the seven next highest-ranked sides on the ICC ODI Team Rankings as on 30 September 2015, will progress to the tournament, which will be staged from 1 to 19 June in England and Wales.