Wrestling Federation of India office moved out of Brij Bhushan''s residence
New Delhi (PTI): The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Friday moved its office out of the residence of its former president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, after the sports ministry had recently raised serious objections to it.
"The WFI will operate from a new address in New Delhi after vacating Brij Bhushan's premises," a source told PTI on condition of anonymity.
The new WFI office is located in the Hari Nagar area of New Delhi.
The ministry, while suspending the newly-formed WFI panel under president Sanjay Singh on December 24, three days after he was elected its head, had cited the office running from Brij Bhushan's residence as one of the reasons for taking the stringent action.
"The business of the federation is being run from the premises controlled by former office bearers (Brij Bhushan) -- which is also the alleged premises wherein sexual harassment of the players have been alleged and present(ly) the court is hearing the matter," the ministry had said in its letter.
The ministry also said the new body was working under the "complete control of former (WFI) office-bearers", which was not in conformity with the National Sports Code.
Several top wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat have levelled allegations of sexual harassment against Brij Bhushan and the case is being heard in the Delhi High Court.
After Sanjay Singh, a close aide of Brij Bhushan, was elected WFI chief on December 21, Sakshi decided to retire from wrestling, while Bajrang returned his Padma Shri and Vinesh decided to give her Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award back, alleging they did not want any close associate of the BJP MP to run the federation.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has once again instituted a three-member ad-hoc committee under the chairmanship of Wushu Association of India chief Bhupender Singh Bajwa to run the affairs of the sport.
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I don''t know what happened, says baffled Axar
New Delhi (PTI): Axar Patel didn't have much to answer when Delhi Capitals failed to defend 264 against Punjab Kings on Saturday and looked even more perplexed after his team crumbled to 75 versus Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their second straight IPL surrender within a space of 48 hours.
Delhi Capitals were reduced to 9 for 6 inside Powerplay overs with Bhuveneshwar Kumar getting appreciable swing and Josh Hazlewood executing short ball tactic to perfection.
The result was season's lowest score and RCB cantered to a nine-wicket win.
"Even I don't know what happened. That's why they say you have to be on your toes in cricket. We have to move on from this match," Axar said at post match presentation ceremony.
The single that David Miller refused in a one-run defeat against Gujarat Titans did affect the tournament momentum for DC and Karun Nair dropping dollies against Punjab Kings only made matters worse.
"From today's point of view, you can say it did effect, but you can look back, if the catches were taken (Nair) or had we taken the single against GT, then momentum would have been with us. The game is such that there is no room for ifs and buts. You have to be positive, you had a bad day and take the positives from the last 5-6 games," Axar added.
However the DC skipper refused the notion that there was exaggerated swing on offer which one felt after Bhuveneshwar Kumar's banana inswing cleaned up a clueless former India U-19 Sahil Parakh.
"I wasn't surprised, they are world class bowlers, they swing it every ground, but if our openers or top order had played them out then the result might have been different."
Hazlewood, who dismissed KL Rahul and Nitish Rana with short balls said that he wasn't sure what kind of track would be on offer after close to 530 runs were scored in the previous game.
"Probably turning up here after 500-plus runs in the last game, was not sure what was going to happen," Hazlewood said, adding that he followed pace bowling colleague Bhuvneshwar Kumar's advice.
"Was just following his (Bhuvneshwar) lead. There was a bit there in the first six overs - enough there to work with, and it was skidding on quickly from a short of a length. Once the ball got soft, it got more even," Hazlewood said.
He also spoke about how he set up Rana, who looked in a tangle and out of depth while facing a short ball.
"In general, you wanted the batter to hit it down the wicket and in the V. The short ball was nice as well, just about the accuracy. When that ball was nice and hard, it was tough to bat. Would have been nice to bowl four and get off the field," said Hazlewood.
His skipper Rajat Patidar was also surprised at how things panned out.
"Even I am surprised the way wicket played," RCB skipper said.
"All credit goes to the bowlers, Bhuvi and Hazlewood. They hit the right areas. The swing was normal but the good thing was we got early wickets and that kept us in the driving seat. The way Suyash bowled, stump to stump, it was really good to see," he concluded.
