CSK Vs DD match at Chepauk under a cloud - Rasool refuses to wear sponsor logo

History repeats itself…  I had in Oct 2011, posted about the crowds in  Chepauk during Champions League T20 match….. Chepauk has always drawn huge crowds, known for its sporting crowd.  The composition has been changing and though the prices of tickets have spiralled up, still the spectator presence has only been going up.   That the match was played to empty yellow stands in what were G, H & I on the Bells Road !! ~ that was not due to lack of support from the viewers but due to a procedural wrangle as TNCA  had not obtained the mandatory no-objection certificate from the Union environment ministry.  Read that earlier post at : chepauk half empty

Today, the news is that the fate of IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils at the MA Chidambaram cricket stadium on Tuesday remains uncertain as Public Works Department (PWD) officials have withdrawn the stability certificate for all the stands, sources said. It is stated that the Officials have withdrawn the stability certificates to all the nine stands !!!!!  Consequently,  Chennai Police on Monday issued a show cause notice to the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, as to why the match slated for Tuesday cannot be cancelled as PRL (Public Resort License) issued by the police have been withdrawn now. Police sources said the show cause notice also sought to know as to what steps TNCA has taken to refund the ticket fare, following the Supreme Court’s interim injunction favouring the Chennai Corporation, they said. Stands I, J and K at the stadium had already been sealed by the Corporation officials on Sunday.

IPL is intertwined with controversies……… not sure how many of you followed or read of the debut of Parvez Rasool  for Pune Warriros against KKR….. what is great, even a 41 year old Pravin Tambe made his debut, so did some youngsters including Sanju Viswanath Samson, from Kerala, debuted for RR and became the youngest to score a half-century.  

Parvez Rasool, the budding offie is in news for various reasons; when Rasool  replaced leg-spinner Rahul Sharma, he became the first to play from the Kashmir valley.  If you recall, Rasool shot to limelight with a seven-wicket haul playing for the Board President's XI  against Aussies at Chennai. He had a terrific Ranji season too – making 2 centuries and 33 wickets. 

Parvez Rasool Zarghav belongs to Bij Behara, a town in the Anantnag district in the south of Kashmirvalley.  In Nov 2009,

the  Champions League match between Victoria and Cape Cobras was delayed  after police detained an Under-22 cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir staying at the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) complex in the Chinnaswamy Stadium in connection with a suspected presence of explosives at the venue. He was released after questioning and, after the police gave the green signal, the match eventually began at 5.40 pm (12.10 GMT) , almost two hours behind schedule, and was reduced to 17 overs a side ~ and that was Parvez Rassol.

Now he is in news as he declined to sport the logo ‘an alcohol brand’ citing religious reasons.  Rasool said that he had informed his team management of his decision and told them that if he sports the logo of the liquor brand it would 'hurt his religious sentiments'. The Pune Warriors team management is said to have agreed with Rasool's request. "I used tape to hide the logo and people were initially wondering why I was doing this. I told them that it is because my religion prohibits alcohol consumption. I can't endorse liquor brand. For me my belief is paramount. My family is happy with the decision," Rasool told The Sunday Express after Saturday's game versus the Mumbai Indians.  It is stated that Rasool, initially  didn't realise that the logo was that of a liquor brand. "I found it on the internet. So I decided that I would hide it even during practice sessions," he added. In his first match, he claimed the prized scalp of Jaques Kallis and finished with decent bowling figures of 4-0-23-1 and scored one run. In the second match against Mumbai Indians, Rasool bowled just one over and gave away five runs and scored 4 runs coming into bat at number 10.

In life, anybody standing by his principles needs to be appreciated

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

14^th May 2013.