Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s entertainment venture JioStar has terminated its broadcast deals in Bangladesh for the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament, saying its local partner defaulted on payments, according to a document seen by Reuters.

Bangladesh in January banned IPL broadcasts after one of its teams, Kolkata Knight Riders, dropped Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman at the Indian cricket board’s instruction, just as tensions rose between the two countries following the killing of a Hindu man in Bangladesh.

Though Bangladesh is reviewing the ban and had on Saturday said any further steps will depend on the opinion of its sports ministry, the termination by JioStar means there will be no local broadcaster for the IPL season, even if the country were to change its stance.

“The agreement stands terminated with immediate effect,” JioStar said in a letter dated February 17 to Bangladesh broadcaster TSports, which had sublicensed the rights from JioStar for IPL seasons from 2023 to 2027.

The company cited its partner’s “continued failure and default in adhering to the payment timelines stipulated under the agreement”.

JioStar, a joint venture of Ambani’s Reliance and Walt Disney, did not respond to Reuters queries. TSports and Bangladesh’s sports and information ministries also did not respond to requests for comment.

IPL, the world’s richest cricket league, valued at $18.5 billion, enjoys huge popularity among the cricket-viewing public in Bangladesh, where the game is an obsession like it is in the rest of the subcontinent. Its latest season started on March 28.

India-Bangladesh relations have been strained since a political transition in Dhaka in August 2024 disrupted previously close ties under former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to New Delhi after a mass uprising.

But there are signs of a thaw in the relations after Tarique Rahman, the newly formed government’s prime minister, said in February that Bangladesh would engage on the basis of mutual respect and shared interests with its neighbours.

A separate JioStar letter, also dated February 17, showed the company has also terminated its broadcast deals in Bangladesh for the Women’s Premier League cricket tournament over similar defaults.

Source link

Lahore Qalandars batter Fakhar Zaman has been charged with ball-tampering in Sunday’s Pakistan Super League (PSL) match against Karachi Kings, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement.

The incident occurred in the final over with Karachi needing 14 runs to win. Fakhar, Lahore captain Shaheen Afridi and fast bowler Haris Rauf were involved in a brief discussion, during which Fakhar and Rauf passed the ball between them.

The umpire then approached Rauf and asked to see the ball. Following consultations with the square-leg umpire, the officials awarded five penalty runs to Karachi and ordered the ball to be changed.

The penalty proved costly as Karachi went on to chase down a target of 129 with three balls to spare, Abbas Afridi hitting a four and a six to seal a four-wicket victory.

“Fakhar denied the charge levelled against him during a disciplinary hearing led by the match referee Roshan Mahanama,” the PCB said.

“Another hearing is set to take place within the next 48 hours after which the match referee will share his verdict.”

Afridi said they would look at video footage of the incident.

“I don’t know about this, and we’ll see if it’s there in the camera and discuss it,” he said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Fakhar could face a ban of one or two matches if found guilty of ball tampering for a first offence in the PSL.

Australian trio David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft were handed lengthy bans by Cricket Australia following a 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.

Source link

MIAMI: Aryna Sabal­enka won her second strai­ght Miami Open title on Sunday beating Coco Gauff 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to complete a “Sunshine Double” Indian Wells-Miami sweep.

The world number one from Belarus, fresh off her first triumph in the California desert, became the fifth woman — and the first since Iga Swiatek in 2022 — to win both of the elite early season hardcourt WTA 1000 titles.

“It means a lot,” Saba­lenka said after joining Poland’s Swiatek, German great Steffi Graf, Belgian Kim Clijsters and fellow Belarusian Victoria Azar­e­nka on the list of women to win both titles in the same year.

“My goal always been to put my name in the history, and I just did it.”

Sabalenka underscored her WTA dominance in a season in which her only defeat to date was her Australian Open finals loss to Elena Rybakina — who she went on to beat in the Indian Wells title match and in the semi-finals here.

She handed Gauff her first career defeat in a hardcourt final.

The American had won her first nine, including a triumph over Sabalenka in the 2023 US Open championship match.

Gauff had also beaten the Belarusian for the title on the red clay of Roland Garros last year.

So Sabalenka said she wasn’t surprised to see Gau­ff dig in, even after the Belarusian pocketed the first set with a ruthless display of power and precision.

She broke Gauff to open the match and, after Gauff saved three break points in a gritty fifth game, broke the American again in the seventh before serving it out in 37 minutes without facing a break point herself.

In a tense second set, Gauff’s first break point chance — from a blistering backhand passing winner in the second game — sparked a jubilant reaction from the crowd at Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins that is just about an hour away from Gauff’s Delray Beach home.

But Gauff couldn’t convert, slamming a forehand into the net on the next point as Sabalenka held.

It needed another gutsy hold from Gauff to keep it on serve in the fifth game.

Up 40-0, she wasted three game points with a pair of errors off the gro­und and a double fault then had to save a break point before taking the game.

But Gauff was finding more depth on her returns and broke Sabalenka for the first time to take the second set.

“I knew that she’s going to try her very best to fight in this match,” Sabalenka said. “I was just trying to keep a positive mindset going into the third set. I’m super happy how well I handled my emotions how well I stayed focused from the very beginning to the very end.”

And the third set, again, was virtually all Sabalenka.

She broke to open the final frame and broke again when Gauff sailed a backhand long on Sabal­enka’s first match point.

“What a month,” said Sabalenka, who along with two prestigious titles acquired a new puppy and got engaged to boyfriend Georgios Frangulis.

Gauff was also feeling grateful after a rocky Ma­­rch that saw her withdraw from her third-round match at Indian Wells with a nerve issue that caused “scary” pain in her left arm.

She had said after a dominant semi-final win over Karolina Muchova that she was making progress with the inconsistencies in her serve and forehand, although seven double faults hurt her cause against Sabalenka.

And after considering skipping the event, the 22-year-old was thrilled to reach the final for the first time.

“I feel like I’m nowhere near my peak of my tennis, so I think it gives me comfort a little bit playing these tournaments and having great results,” she said.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2026

Source link