Mayank Agarwal named captain of Punjab Kings
New Delhi(PTI): Opener Mayank Agarwal was on Monday named the captain of Punjab Kings for the upcoming Indian Premier League.
A member of the Indian Test team, the 31-year-old from Bengaluru was one of the two players retained by Punjab Kings alongside young pacer Arshdeep Singh ahead of the mega auction earlier this month.
"I have been at Punjab Kings since 2018 and I take a lot of pride in representing this fantastic unit. I am delighted to be given the opportunity to lead the team," Agarwal said in a press release issued by the franchise.
"I take over this responsibility with utmost sincerity, but at the same time, I believe my job would be made easier with the talent we have at the Punjab Kings squad this season."
Agarwal has been an integral part of Punjab Kings since 2018, has served as the squad's vice-captain and has also briefly led the team last season.
"We have some vastly experienced players in our ranks, along with many talented youngsters who are keen to grab the opportunity and run with it.
"We have always taken to the field hoping to win the title and as a team we will once again work towards this goal of lifting our maiden IPL trophy. I thank the team management for entrusting me with this new role of leading the side.
"I look forward to the new season and the new challenges it brings with it."
Agarwal, who made his IPL debut in 2011, aggregated more than 400 runs in the last two seasons. He has also played 19 Tests scoring 1429 runs, including four hundreds, and five ODIs for India.
Punjab Kings head coach Anil Kumble, "Mayank has been an integral part of the side since 2018 and of the leadership group for the last two years. The new squad we selected at the recently concluded auction has exciting young talent and outstanding experienced players.
"We want to create a strong foundation for the future with Mayank at the helm. He is hardworking, enthusiastic, a team player with all the attributes required of a leader.
"I look forward to working with him as captain and believe that he will lead this team to a successful campaign."
Punjab Kings have been perennial underachievers in the league, reaching the IPL finals only once in 2014. They finished sixth out of eight teams in last three editions.
The franchise went into the recent IPL mega auction with the maximum purse and picked up some quality players and are hoping to claim their maiden title in the cash-rich tournament this time.
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BharatPe fraud case: Delhi HC quashes lookout circular against Ashneer Grover, wife
New Delhi, Nov 12: The Delhi High Court has ordered cancellation of a lookout circular (LOC) issued against Ashneer Grover, the former MD of payment app BharatPe, and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, noting that the FIR lodged against them over allegations of cheating and forgery has already been quashed.
Justice Sanjeev Narula passed the order on Monday after the court was informed that another bench of the high court quashed the FIR on the same day.
The FIR was quashed by Justice Chandra Dhari Singh after considering a plea moved by the Grovers stating that they have arrived at a settlement with the fintech company.
In his order, Justice Narula said, "Although the copy of the order (quashing the FIR) is not available as of now, the aforenoted fact is not disputed by the counsel for the parties.
"In light of the fact that the underlying FIR has been quashed, the LOC issued by respondent No. 3 (Bureau of Immigration), in the opinion of the court, will not survive."
The LOC was issued by the Bureau of Immigration at the instance of Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in view of the investigation against the Grovers in the cheating and forgery FIR.
The court was hearing a plea moved by Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover seeking quashing of the LOC issued against them in connection with the investigation into the cheating and forgery case.
"Accordingly, the present petitions are disposed of with a direction to the respondents to cancel the LOC against the petitioners in their records," the court noted.
Earlier, the Grovers claimed that they were informed about the LOC for the first time when they were detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here on November 16, 2023, while they were scheduled to travel to the US.
After being detained, they were informed that the LOC was operational from November 6, 2023.
In May last year, the EOW filed an FIR against Grover, his wife Madhuri, and others under eight sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 467 and 468 (forgery), and 471 (using forged documents as genuine) for an alleged Rs 81 crore fraud after a complaint was lodged by BhartPe, the fintech unicorn.
In its complaint, BharatPe alleged that Grover and his family caused damages to the tune of Rs 81.3 crore through illegitimate payments to bogus human resource consultants, inflated and undue payments through pass-through vendors connected to the accused, sham transactions in input tax credit and payment of penalty to GST authorities, illegal payment to travel agencies, forged invoices by Madhuri, and destruction of evidence.
Madhuri was the head of controls at BharatPe before she was fired in 2022 after a forensic audit revealed several irregularities.
Subsequently, Grover resigned as the chief executive officer of the fintech firm in March 2022.
