Motera - Sehwag scores century; Pujara a good 50

At Motera, Dhoni won the toss and Indian batsmen are making merry.  Ajinkya Rahane, Murali Vijay,Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma are sitting out and the Indian squad has 2 paers and 2 spinners – the squad is : Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Pragyan Ojha.

India at this juncture have made 220 + with Sehwag making his 23^rd century in Tests. Whenever Sehwag scores, runs comes at brisk rate.  Gambhir made 45 and  Cheteshwar Pujara has made a good 50….- his 2^nd fifty in Tests.  

Away from the cricketing field, BCCI continues to flex its muscle and is embroiled in another show of strength.  It is reported that International news agencies suspended coverage of the Test series between India and England starting on Thursday after BCCI refused to lift restrictions on photo agencies.  News outlets including Agence France-Presse said they would not be filing any text or pictures from the four-match series after the Board of Cricket Control for India (BCCI) barred photo agencies such as Getty Images and Action Images.  English media organisations such as the Daily Telegraph and the Press Association also said they would support the protest.

The BCCI is to make a limited number of its own images available during this series, which is being objected to by the International Agencies.  The News Media Coalition, which represents a group of media organisations, has been leading the discussions with the BCCI.   It said other agencies including Reuters and the Associated Press had decided to halt their coverage in text and photo before the British press added their voice to the protests.

Satellite broadcaster Sky, which holds the British rights to the series, is set to commentate from its London headquarters off a live picture feed rather than pay a reported additional 500,000 pounds ($795,000) to the BCCI. The BBC however has reached an agreement with the BCCI to broadcast live from the venues after the Indian board reportedly demanded an extra 50,000 pounds in addition to the already-agreed fee for the rights to cover broadcast costs.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar