Firstpost Spodcast Episode 176: RR grab maiden win of IPL 2019 against RCB; Pullela Gopichand comments on age-fudging and more

Welcome to episode 176 of Firstpost Spodcast. As always we begin with some Indian Premier League news. Leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal bamboozled the batsmen with his googlies before Jos Buttler struck 59 as Rajasthan Royals finally won their first game of this IPL season with a seven-wicket defeat of Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday. Gopal claimed three wickets, including that of Virat Kohli (23) and AB de Villiers (13), conceding just 12 runs in his four-quota over to unsettle RCB. It was opener Parthiv Patel who resisted the Royals attack with aplomb, hitting a belligerent 67 off 41 balls with nine boundaries and six to help his side put 158 for four after being sent in to bat. Jos Buttler slammed 59 and Rahul Tripathi made not out 34 as RR chased down the target on the penultimate ball of the match. Staying with cricket, Former Indian women’s cricket team head coach Tushar Arothe was arrested in Vadadora in connection with an Indian Premier League betting racket. According to a Times of India report, Arothe was taken into custody by the crime branch along with 18 other people, which included two of his business partners Hemang Patel and Nishcha Mitha during a raid on a cafe. All the 19 arrested people were later released on bail. Moving on to some other sports news, In a big relief for India, the Hockey Series Finals, the country’s only route to next year’s Olympics, will be held as scheduled in Bhubaneswar in June, despite the International Olympic Committee’s ban on hosting global events. In the wake of the Pulwama terror attack in February, India refused to issue visas to a three-member shooting contingent from Pakistan for the World Cup in New Delhi, leading to the IOC asking all the international federations not to award global events to the country. But a top Indian Olympic Association (IOA) official on Tuesday said that the Hockey Series Finals, from 6-16 June, will go ahead as scheduled Finally, a badminton update. India’s chief national coach Pullela Gopichand believes the Badminton Association of India (BAI) should ban players who indulge in age-fudging as “examples” need to be made of wrongdoers for any tangible change. “I think you need to have firm decisions and strong examples to ensure that age fudging which is a big menace should stop, so there should be a ban on the players,” Gopichand told PTI. Former India coach Vimal Kumar, who guided Saina Nehwal to the World No 1 position and the All England Championship final in 2015, however, feels banning the players will be unfair. “Banning a player for 2-3 years is not right because suspending them will kill a talent,” he said.