
Venugopal in BCCI’s list of chuckers
Y. Venugopal Rao was one of the very few good men in Hyderabad's disastrous campaign in the inaugural Indian Premier League. While Hyderabad were about to end their forgettable stint in the tournament, Rao had a lot to ponder even beyond the IPL.
The Andhra player, who led Maharashtra's Ranji Trophy campaign as a professional last season, featured in the list compiled by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of 20 bowlers with a suspect action. As a result, the 26-year-old, whose off-spinners are useful especially in the shorter versions of the game, was asked to attend the three-week rectification camp for all the 20 bowlers that started at the fag end of the IPL.
“Since the first stint was clashing with the IPL, he (Rao) was exempted from the camp,” BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty said. “But he will have to get cleared by the NCA staff before the beginning of the next season.”
Rao, however, had “no clue” that he had to visit the academy where his skills were groomed in the early days for the clearance.
“But if I am told to be present there, I would be happy to be there anytime,” Rao told the HT on Tuesday evening. Rao was the only player in the list to have had a taste of international cricket. Interestingly though, the off-break bowler, who is primarily a middle order batsman, did not bowl a single delivery in the 16 one-dayers that he played for India. Meanwhile, the list of 20 bowlers - a copy of which is with HT - is expectedly dominated by off-spinners. It may be recalled that on February 6, HT had reported that the list of bowlers with suspect actions was being compiled and 13 bowlers had been identified till then. The bowlers, who were identified by former India captain and the head of BCCI's umpires' wing S Venkataraghavan, underwent a three-week rectification programme under the vigilant eyes of Venkataraghavan and NCA director Dav Whatmore. While some of the bowlers have been cleared, those who still needed assistance are currently stationed in Bangalore. Gujarat's Mohnish Parmar, whose bowling action resembles Muttiah Muralitharan's, was cleared before he was selected for India A's ongoing tour to Israel.
The full list: Offspiner Y Venugopal Rao (Mah), Ankit Bawne (Mah), Mohnish Parmar (Guj), Hemal Watekar (And), Aditya Angle (Goa), Shivakant Shukla (UP), Charanjit Singh (Pun), Ashish Mohanty (Oris), Shamsher Singh (Raj), Kamlesh Makvana (Sau), Saurasish Lahiri (Beng), Priyankar Mukherjee (Beng), Jayanta Debnath (Tri) Mediumpace Amit Singh (Guj), Sumit Singh (Bar), Murtaza Ali (MP), Wahid Sayyed (Mah), Sankalp Vohra (Bar, left-arm) Left-arm spiner Ankur Kakkar (Punjab), Legspiner Rajesh Banik (Tri).

'He's done better than what was expected from him': Zaheer lauds India debutant
- India vs Australia: Zaheer Khan, the former India quick, had nothing but good words about the India debutant, who bowled remarkably in the first innings of the Brisbane Test.

Brisbane Test: Opening blows leave India a touch nervy

BCCI apex body to discuss T20 World Cup tax relief
- BCCI had apprised its AGM last month that it was in talks with the government, but if no tax exemptions were given the board would have to meet the tax liability amounting to approximately ₹900 crore.

Shakib Al Hasan included in Bangladesh squad for West Indies ODIs
- Shakib Al Hasan is set to return to international cricket after serving a year-long ban.

India vs Australia: Shardul finds the right length, reins in the Aussie innings
- India vs Australia: In his first away Test, Shardul Thakur picked up 3/94, bowling 24 overs after Navdeep Saini went off injured on Day 1.

'It wasn't movement, it was his talent': Sachin appreciates India pacer's effort
- India vs Australia: The fast bowler's effort was noticed and lauded by none other that former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who feels the fast bowler has an uncanny ability to produce challenging deliveries due to the many ways he has of holding the seam.

‘There's lot to like about him’: Aus assistant coach impressed with India bowler
- Sundar, Natarajan and Thakur bowled with a lot of heart, given the big names they were replacing in the team, but one of them in particular has caught the attention of Andrew McDonald, Australia’s assistant coach.

'It didn’t go down well’: When Ponting asked McGrath not to bowl with new ball
- Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting narrated an incident where he once asked Glenn McGrath to come second change, something the former quick did not approve of.

South Africa not easy to beat but Pakistan banking on home advantage: Misbah

Joe Root returns to form with a fantastic double ton against Sri Lanka

Warne, O'Keefe take a dig at Rishabh Pant for wearing shinny sunglasses

Joe Root's heartwarming gesture after scoring double ton trends on Twitter

'Abuse is cheap, shows weakness': Chappell writes open letter to Paine
