M S Dhoni won't charge any fee for being mentor of Indian team: BCCI President Sourav Ganguly
New Delhi, Oct 12: Former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will not charge any fee for mentoring the Indian cricket team during this month's T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly told PTI on Tuesday.
The iconic former captain was brought in as mentor by the BCCI last month when it announced the squad for the mega-event, scheduled to start October 17.
"Dhoni will not charge anything to mentor the Indian team," Ganguly said.
The 40-year-old Dhoni retired from international cricket last year, his last India game being the 2019 World Cup semi-final, which the team lost to New Zealand.
It is believed that Dhoni was brought in for his experience in devising near-perfect white ball strategies. He led his franchise Chennai Super Kings into the IPL finals on Sunday.
One of the most successful captains in the history of Indian cricket, the enigmatic wicketkeeper-batter led India to two world titles -- the 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa and the 2011 ODI World Cup in India.
The reticent player's retirement, announced by him through an instagram post on August 15 last year, had taken the cricket world by surprise and he has not spoken even once about it after that.
The highly-respected player from Jharkhand played 90 Tests, 350 ODIs and 98 T20 Internationals amassing 4876, 10773 and 1617 runs respectively across formats.
He has largely kept a low profile after retiring internationally, focussing on his IPL engagements and organic farming at his home town Ranchi.
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India & Israel elevate ties to special strategic partnership, vow to soon conclude free trade deal
Jerusalem (PTI): India and Israel on Thursday elevated their "time-tested" relationship to a special strategic partnership and agreed to soon firm up a "mutually beneficial" free trade deal even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed the Gaza peace initiative, asserting that humanity must never become a victim of conflict.
Following talks between Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, the two sides inked a plethora of agreements to expand cooperation in areas of trade, agriculture, energy, cyberspace and digital payment.
India and Israel also vowed to expand their already close defence partnership by working towards joint development and joint production of military hardware under the framework of the transfer of technologies.
In his media statement, Modi said India's security interest is linked to peace and stability in the Middle East, adding that New Delhi fully supports the Gaza Peace Initiative.
"India's stance is clear: humanity must never become a victim of conflict. A path to peace has been created through the Gaza Peace Plan. India has fully supported these efforts," he said.
"In the future as well, we will continue dialogue and cooperation with all countries," he said.
PM Modi landed in Israel on Wednesday on a two-day visit. It is his second visit to Israel in nine years.
In his remarks, the prime minister said India and Israel have a united view that there is no place for terrorism in the world and both sides stand shoulder-to-shoulder in countering terrorism and its supporters.
"Our relationship is founded on the strong bedrock of deep trust, shared democratic values, and human sensitivities. Our bond has stood the test of every trial of time," he said.
"Today, we have taken the historic decision to elevate our time-tested partnership to the status of a 'Special Strategic Partnership'," he said.
The prime minister also announced the establishment of an India-Israel critical and emerging technologies partnership to impart a new momentum for cooperation in areas of artificial intelligence, quantum, and critical minerals. "I am pleased that an agreement has been reached for the use of UPI in Israel," he said.
The prime minister, referring to the threat of terrorism, said India and Israel will continue to confront the menace unitedly.
"India and Israel are completely clear that there is no place for terrorism in the world. In any form, in any expression, terrorism cannot be accepted," he said.
"We have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in opposing terrorism and its supporters, and we will continue to do so," he added.
India and Israel also discussed the implementation of the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and cooperation under the framework of I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA).
