Thursday, May 07
The Enforcement Directorate has seized assets worth Rs 7.93 crore in a crackdown on the illegal betting platform 1xBet. Action has been taken against several celebrities, including cricketers and actors, for promoting the platform through surrogate brands. These endorsements involved payments routed through foreign entities to conceal illegal funds derived from betting activities.
Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav confirmed at the toss that Gill was unavailable due to a "niggle". Sanju Samson was selected in place of Gill.
"Shanaka's role will be of an all-rounder. When I stopped being a selector, Shanaka was the captain. Charith (Asalanka) was in our long term plans then," Wickramasingha said.
Sunil Gavaskar challenges the narrative blaming Kolkata's Messi event on the organisers. He argues the focus should be on whether Messi himself fulfilled his commitments. Gavaskar suggests that if Messi's team failed to honour agreed-upon activities, they, not local mismanagement, were the primary culprits. He urges checking commitments on both sides before assigning blame.
