THE HIMALAYAN MAIL 7JAMMU MONDAY JUNE 08, 2020

NEW DELHI, JUNE07: The latest round of testsfor COVID-19 in the PremierLeague produced no posi-tives, the league said on Sat-urday.

A total of 1,195 tests werecarried out on Thursday andFriday, the sixth round oftests since players from Eng-land’s 20 top-flight clubs re-

turned to training.No Premier League

matches have taken placesince March because of thecoronavirus pandemic,which has led to more than50,000 deaths according to aReuters tally this week basedon official sources, but arestart is scheduled for June17.

No new positives in Premier League COVID-19 tests

KINGSTON, JUNE 7:Former West Indies captainDarren Sammy has allegedthat he was subjected toracist comments during hisstint with Sunrisers Hyder-abad in the Indian PremierLeague.

Sammy's allegation cameafter his vociferous supportto the 'Black Lives Matter'campaign around the worldafter the killing of African-American George Floyd inthe US.

"I just learnt what that'kalu' meant when I playedfor Sunrisers in the IPL.They call me and Perera bythat name. I thought itmeant strong Stallion. Myprevious post tells mesomething different and I'mangry," Sammy wrote on hisInstagram page on Satur-day.

He did not say when ex-actly he faced these remarksand by whom.

"Oh so that's what thatmeant when they called meand @tp_perera kalu in In-dia when we played for Sun-risers. I just thought theywere calling me strongblack man… I'm more piss(sic) now.”

Sammy has urged the ICCto take serious note ofracism which exists in thegentleman's game.

"@ICC and all the otherboards are you guys not see-ing what's happening to ppllike me? Are you not gonnaspeak against the social in-justice against my kind.This is not only about

America," he had tweetedearlier.

Sammy, who played 38Tests, 126 ODIs and 68 T20Internationals, captainedthe West Indies to two T20World Cup titles.

"For too long black peoplehave suffered. I'm all theway in St Lucia and I'mfrustrated If you see me as ateammate then you see#GeorgeFloyd Can you bepart of the change by show-ing your support. #Black-LivesMatter," read his ear-lier tweet.

The 'Black Lives Matter'movement gathered steamin the US after Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American,died on May 25 in Min-neapolis after a white policeofficer, Derek Chauvin,knelt on his neck for nearlynine minutes.

West Indies' Darren Sammy says hefaced racism while playing in IPL

NEW DELHI, JUNE07: In what comes as a ma-jor development within theBoard of Control for Cricketin India (BCCI), the deci-sion-makers are divided 3-2when it comes to the venuefor the 13th edition of theIndian Premier League (IPL2020). While the matter isheavily tilted in favour ofhosting the league in thecountry, there are a coupleof voices which want to takeit outside if needed.

Speaking to news agencyIANS, a BCCI official saidthat while the generalthought is that having theleague in India will meanthat the country has comeout of the clutches of thecoronavirus pandemic,there are a few who feel thatif the situation demands,the league can be taken toplaces outside India.

"See, it is a case of the de-cision makers being divided3-2 if that is how you wishto understand the currentscenario. Without goinginto the names of who saidwhat, all I can tell you is thatthe general feeling is thathaving the league in Indiawould not only be a sign ofpositivity amongst the peo-ple of the country, but willalso help as we will not needto travel abroad and act to afresh set of guidelines.

"But then, there are a cou-ple of voices who also feelthat having the tournamentshould be the priority and ifthat means taking it out ofthe country, so be it. So,

while we are working on theoverall plan, the venue is anarea which will need furtherdeliberation. Also, at theend of the day safety of theplayers and everyone in-volved is priority," the offi-cial explained.

An official of a franchiseechoed the sentiments andsaid that priority should al-ways be having the tourna-ment in the country. "See, ifyou have the league in thecountry, it is a positive sig-nal to not just the world, but

also to the people in Indiathat we have managed toget back to normalcy. Also,the expenses go up quite abit if you go outside. So, forus and I think for most ofthe teams, India would bethe preferred choice," theofficial told IANS.

Players across the globehave been vocal about look-ing forward to playing theIPL now that it is almostcertain that Cricket Aus-tralia (as per their mail tothe ICC) is not in a positionto host the World T20 inOctober-November as perinitial schedule.

Speaking to IANS, Indiaand Chennai Super Kingspacer Deepak Chahar saidthat he was hoping to kick-start the cricketing seasonwith the T20 league.

"We will need to slowlyget back into the groove andI believe that IPL could bethe perfect vehicle for us toreturn to cricketing action.It helps that we have a lot ofgames and that gets youinto the rhythm. If youmake a player play an ODIor Test immediately afterthe break, the body mightbreak down due to the load.Like when you hit the gym,you don't do a 100kg benchpress to start with.

"Similarly, playing theIPL will help not just thebowlers, but all cricketers asthe level of competition youget here is top-class. But wedo need a proper camp be-fore the IPL starts so thatwe can get back into the

BCCI divided 3-2 in favour of hosting cash-rich league in India

NEW DELHI, JUNE07: The ICC Cricket Com-mittee recently recom-mended a ban on the use ofsaliva to shine the ball butallowed sweat as an interimmeasure to counter thecoronavirus threat.

England will make bio-secure arrangements tohost the West Indies behindclosed doors for a proposedthree-Test series and Pol-lock said such environmentwould not require banningany activity.

"I think the environmentthat'll end up being createdis almost going to be like abubble. People will gettested, they'll go into a two-week camp where they'rejust going to sit and moni-tor how the conditions oftheir bodies change," Pol-lock told the 'Following OnCricket Podcast'.

"And if there are nosymptoms, it doesn't reallymatter about shining theball then, because you're inthe bubble and no one youcome into contact with willhave coronavirus. So you

can just get on with normalproceedings."

The England and WalesCricket Board (ECB) isplanning to put up a set ofsafety measures to preventspread of the contagiousdisease. It includes limitingtravel by picking venueswith on-site hotels, manda-tory 14-day quarantine pe-riod for the visiting team,doing regular check-ups.

"I'd presume that there'd

be no crowds in place, everysingle environment they gointowould be cleaned downand sprayed, and every-thing along those lines,"said Pollock, who has hasplayed 303 ODIs and 101Tests for South Africa.

West Indies pace greatMichael Holding hasechoed similar sentiments,saying it is illogical to bansaliva when cricket will beplayed in a bio-secure envi-

ronment.The issue has left the

cricketing world dividedwith calls growing for an al-ternative to saliva from for-mer and current cricketersincluding lead India pacerJasprit Bumrah.

There are speculationsthat the T20 World Cupwhich is scheduled to beheld in Australia in Octo-ber-November this year willbe postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.

The 46-year-old, who hascaptained South Africa in allformats of the game, saidAustralia is well-placed tocreate a bio-secure environ-ment to host the big-ticketevent.

"I think Australia is prob-ably in the best scenario tocreate a little bit of a vac-uum or bubble wheremaybe things can happen,"he said.

A decision on the fate ofthe T20 World Cup and theproposed ban on saliva islikely to be taken during theICC board meeting onWednesday.

Using saliva won't pose any risk, says Pollock

NEW DELHI, JUNE07: Virat Kohli, on Sunday,posted a six-second videowhere he can be seen taking asprint. The skipper, who isone of the most-followed In-dian on Instagram, askedeverybody to caption it.

His former team-mateHarbhajan Singh compli-mented the edit job on thevideo: "Nice Edit." Mean-while, Bollywood actor Ku-nal Khemu came up with acaption of his own: "Feelinglow? Pick yourself up andRUN." Virat Kohli is activeon his social media profilesever since the cricket actioncame to a halt due to the

coronavirus pandemic. The13th edition of the IndianPremier League also re-mains suspended indefi-nitely due to crisis.

Kohli had said though heis keeping himself physicallyfit, his main focus has beenworking on the mental as-pect of the game.

He has participated in var-ious Instagram Live sessionswith players like KevinPietersen, AB de Villiers,Sunil Chhetri, Tamim Iqbaland Ravichandran Ashwin,among others. He also regu-larly posts videos from histraining sessions across hissocial media profiles.

Have you seen Kohli's 'Caption This' contest yet? LONDON, JUNE 7:Mixed martial arts super-star Conor McGregor an-nounced his retirementfrom the sport on Sunday.

The two-division Ulti-mate Fighting Champi-onship (UFC) World Cham-pion said his fighting dayswere over in a Twitter mes-sage posted on his verifiedaccount, alongside a pictureof the Irishman with hismother, Margaret.

"Hey guys I've decided toretire from fighting. Thankyou all for the amazingmemories! What a ride it'sbeen!" he wrote.

"Here is a picture of my-self and my mother in LasVegas post one of my Worldtitle wins! Pick the home ofyour dreams Mags I loveyou! Whatever you desireit's yours."

The controversial fighter,nicknamed "The Notori-ous", previously announced

his retirement from thesport in March last year afterbeing battered into submis-sion by arch-rival KhabibNurmagomedov in October2018.

In April 2016 he also saidhe was retiring with a now-famous tweet: "I have de-cided to retire young.Thanks for the cheese.Catch ya's later."

His last appearance in theoctagon was in January af-ter a 15 month-absence

when he knocked outAmerican Donald "Cow-boy" Cerrone in a ruthless40-second destruction inLas Vegas.

The 31-year-old, an iconof the UFC, is no stranger tocontroversy and hit theheadlines last year for an at-tack on an older man in aDublin bar that was cap-tured in a viral video.

McGregor, one of themost popular fighters inMMA history, has a record

of 22-4 and was the firstUFC fighter to hold twochampionship belts at thesame time.

He achieved that feat in2016 when he stopped Ed-die Alvarez in a lightweighttitle fight, adding it to hisfeatherweight title.

That triumph was fol-lowed by a loss to boxinggreat Floyd Mayweather in across-combat superfight in2017, his loss to Nur-magomedov, announce-ments of retirements andreturns to fighting.

UFC president DanaWhite paid tribute to Mc-Gregor after the conclusionof UFC 250 in Las Vegasearly Sunday morning.

"If Conor McGregor feelshe wants to retire, you knowmy feelings about retire-ment, you should absolutelydo it," White said at thepost-event press confer-ence.

UFC superstar Conor McGregorannounces retirement

LONDON, JUNE 7:Heavyweight boxing worldchampion Anthony Joshuadescribed racism as a "pan-demic" while addressingprotesters at a Black LivesMatter march in London onSaturday.

Joshua, one of Britain'shighest-profile sportsmen,joined a march through thestreets of his home town ofWatford before gathering ina park where he recited apoem written by a friend.

"The virus has been de-clared a pandemic," Joshuasaid. "This is out of control.And I'm not talking aboutCovid-19. The virus I'mtalking about is calledracism."

Marches and protestshave been held all over theworld in response to thekilling of unarmed blackman George Floyd by a po-lice officer in the US on May25. Four officers involvedhave since been charged

over the death.The 30-year-old Joshua,

whose world heavyweighttitle defence against Bulgar-ian Kubrat Pulev scheduledfor this month at Totten-ham Hotspur's stadium waspostponed because of theCOVID-19 pandemic, wasdressed in all black for theevent. "We can no longer sitback and remain silent onthese senseless, unlawfulkillings and sly racism onanother human being —based on what? Only their

skin colour," the IBF, WBAand WBO world champion,who was using crutches andwearing a knee brace, afterinjuring his knee duringtraining this week, added.

"We need to speak out inpeaceful demonstrations —just like today, so well doneWatford. We must not use ademonstration for selfishmotives and turn it into ri-oting and looting."

A spokesman for Joshuasaid his knee injury wouldbe further checked by doc-

tors, but "there is no imme-diate concern".

The Black Lives Mattersprotests went on in Londondespite Health MinisterMatt Hancock urging peo-ple not to attend large gath-erings because of the pan-demic.

The Metropolitan Policealso said on Friday that theprotests could be unlawfulbecause they would breaksocial-distancing advice.

Crystal Palace soccerplayer Andros Townsendtook to Twitter to questionwhy the authorities weretrying to stop the marches.

"I find it funny how peo-ple in power are using covid19 to try and stop the#BlackLivesMatter protestsin the UK... where was thissame energy when therewere thousands congregat-ing around parks/beaches?Don't hide behind the virus,say the real reason! #Black-LivesMatter," he said.

World champion boxer Joshua attendsmarch, says racism is a pandemic

On this day in 1975: First-ever World Cupmatch was played between India, England

NEW DELHI, JUNE 07: On this day, 45 years ago,India took on England in the first-ever men's World Cupmatch played at Lord's here. India, led by spin great Srini-vas Venkataraghavan, lost to England by a whopping 202runs.

England had scored 334/4 in 60 overs and in reply, Indiacould only manage 132/3 as batsmen like Sunil Gavaskarand Gundappa Viswanath failed to get going.

For England, Dennis Amiss played a knock of 137 off just108 balls as Syed Abid Ali took two wickets for India.

The 1975 World Cup was won by the West Indies as theydefeated Australia in the final of the tournament. The CliveLloyd-led side also won the 1979 World Cup.

The mighty Windies lost the final of the 1983 edition af-ter coming up short against India.

So far there have been 12 editions of the men's ODIWorld Cup. Australia has managed to win the tournamentmaximum number of times (five).

India won the World Cup again in 2011 on home soil. In2019, England lifted the World Cup for the first time, also athome.