Pepsi to withdraw from sponsorship of IPL because of spot fixing scandal

As a fallout of the spot-fixing scandal in the Indian Premier League IPL, the beverage giant PepsiCo has sent a notice to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). In the notice, they have expressed a desire to withdraw as the title sponsor of the tournament. The reason cited is the spot-fixing controversy that has marred the league. This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 9 October 2015.

PepsiCo has, apparently, informed IPL’s chief operating officer Sundar Raman about its intention – it had paid Rs 396 crore ($71.77 million) for the title sponsorship for the period 2013-2017. The matter has also been informed to the newly elected BCCI president Shashank Manohar. Incidentally, Pepsi had expressed a desire to withdraw once the spot-fixing case came to light but the BCCI managed to convince it to stick on for another year. PepsiCo is now firm that it will not continue its association with the IPL. This is still more so after the Lodha Committee recommended the suspension of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. These are the most important teams that draw the crowds to the venues and the IPL season is one that fans eagerly wait for. (Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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IPL8 – Mumbai Indians lose yet again, this time to Rajasthan Royals at Ahmedabad

#IPL8 #RRvMI #Ahmedabad #KeironPollard #RohitSharma Nothing seems to be going right with the Mumbai Indians since they lost their third consecutive game at the Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad while Rajasthan Royals won their third one.
The Mumbai Indians had posted a score of 164 thanks to some hard hitting by Kieron Pollard but the Rajasthan Royals chased it down in the 20th over with 5 balls to spare as reported in zeenews.india.com dated 15 April 2015.

Obviously, the decision to bat first did not pay dividends for MI as they struggled to score only 45 runs in the first 10 overs – captain Rohit Sharma went out for a zero. Subsequently, a century-plus stand between Kieron Pollard (70 off 34 balls) and Corey Anderson (50 off 38 balls) helped the team to put up a respectable 164 for five.
The score appeared to be chicken feed for the RR and Captain Steve Smith scored an unbeaten 79 from 53 balls and he had for company Ajinkya Rahane (46) as they raised a 64-run stand for the second wicket.
It is obvious that in spite of having big names of cricket associated with the team in the form of mentor and coaches, Mumbai Indians are struggling to come to terms with the reality of T20 cricket and finding the winning combination.

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IPL8 – DD suffers another last ball loss to RR at Feroz Shah Kotla grounds

#IPL8 #DDvsRR #YuvrajSingh #TimSouthee It was yet another last ball loss in IPL8 for the Delhi Daredevils in Fezoz Shah Kotla ground in Delhi when Rajasthan Royals beat them even after they had put up an impressive total of 184 on the board. This has been reported in sports.ndtv.com dated 12 April 2015.
RR chose to field after winning the toss and DD got off to a good start with Mayank Agarwal (37) and Shreyas Iyer (40) setting the tone. A cameo innings from Yuvraj Singh (27) and Angelo Mathews (27*) coupled with JP Duminy’s 44 saw a score of 184 on the board.

It was a good score but they had not reckoned with the likes of Ajinkya Rahane who played a solid hand of 45 and 19-year-old Deepak Hooda, the right-hander from Baroda, who slammed 54 from just 25 balls. He got a life when Yuvraj Singh fumbled with the ball and missed a run-out chance when Hooda was on 23.
Finally, it was Tim Southee who hit a last ball boundary to take Rajasthan home in a nail biting finish.
Previously, Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field. Delhi Daredevils got off to a flying start as Mayank Agarwal (37) and Shreyas Iyer (40) flayed the Royals bowling to all over the park. However, the Royals pegged back the Daredevils with some disciplined middle over bowling. In the end, it was cameos from Yuvraj Singh (27) and Angelo Mathews (27*) that helped the Daredevils step on to the gas and go past 180. Captain JP Duminy remained unbeaten on 44.

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IPL8 – Virendra Sehwag fails to fire, KXIP lose to RR in Pune

#IPL8 #KXIPvRR #JamesFaulkner #VirendraSehwag Kings XI Punjab were the runner up in the last edition of IPL but, this time around, they lost their first match to Rajasthan Royals by 26 runs at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 11 April 2015.

This was mainly due to the innings of James Faulkner when he piled up the runs and miseries on KXIP by smashing their bowlers to all corners of the ground in the onslaught of the last two overs. The final target of 163 was a massive one and would not have been difficult if Virendra Sehwag had not gone out for a first ball duck.
Similarly, Glenn Maxwell also did not click – he went out for only 7 runs. And, to confound problems, Murali Vijay (37) and Wriddhiman Shaha (7) ran themselves out. KXIP finally folded up for 136/8 in 20 overs, falling short by 26 runs.
Incidentally, Rajasthan managed to score 163 due to the aggressive batting of Faulkner – he came on when the score was 75 for 5 and hit 46 runs which included two fours and three sixes. He was adjudged Man of the Match.

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