08:30 Chris Gayle to bid adieu to ODIs after World Cup:
Veteran West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has announced that he will retire from one-day international cricket after the World Cup slated to be held in England and Wales later this year.
“Yes, I’m looking to draw the line after the World Cup,” he said.
“Or should I say cut the string? Definitely, in 50-over cricket, the World Cup is the end for me. I’ll let the youngsters have some fun and I can sit back in the party stand and watch them have some fun,” Gayle was quoted by ESPNCricinfo as saying while speaking to reporters.
Asked whether he was satisfied with his career, the 39-year-old explosive batsman remarked, “You’re looking at a great man. I’m the greatest player in the world. Of course, I’m still the Universe Boss. That will never change. I’ll take that to the grave.”
Gayle said that if West Indies lifted the trophy in this year’s World Cup, it would be a “fairy-tale finish” for him.
“Winning the World Cup would be a fairy-tale finish. The youngsters owe it to me to win. They have to do that for me and try and get me the trophy. I’ll be looking to put my input in as well,” he added.
The World Cup is slated to be held from May 30 to July 14.
Gayle, who made his debut back in 1999, has scored 9,727 ODI runs in 284 matches and is second only to former West Indies captain Brian Lara who amassed 10,405 runs.
In his illustrious career, Gayle has hit 23 ODI centuries.
His 215 against Zimbabwe in the 2015 World Cup is the highest score and is one of only six players who have scored a double hundred in the 50-over format. — ANI
08:13 Amid Indo-Pak tension, ICJ to hold public hearings in Jadhav case from today:
Amidst fresh Indo-Pak tensions, top legal eagles of the two countries will present their arguments in the high-profile Kulbhushan Jadhav case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague from Monday during four days of public hearings.
Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017.
India moved the ICJ in May the same year against the “farcical trial” by the military court of Pakistan against 48-year-old Jadhav.
India first approached the ICJ on May 8, 2017 for the “egregious violation” of the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963 by Pakistan by repeatedly denying it consular access to Jadhav.
A 10-member bench of the ICJ, which was set up after World War II to resolve international disputes, on May 18, 2017 had restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.
The ICJ has set a timetable for the public hearing in the high-profile case from Febraury 18 to 21 in The Hague.
The hearings at the ICJ will take place four days after one of the worst terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 41 CRPF soldiers. The terror attack happened when a suicide bomber of Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad blew up an explosive-laden vehicle near a convoy of CRPF buses in Pulwama district on Thursday.
India on Friday summoned the Pakistan high commissioner to issue a very strong demarche over the terror attack. On Saturday, India hiked the customs duty to 200 per cent on all goods imported from Pakistan, following revocation of the Most Favoured Nation status following the Pulwama attack.
Former solicitor general Harish Salve is expected to represent India while Pakistan will be represented by Barrister Khawar Qureshi at the ICJ.
While India will argue first on February 18, Pakistan will get its chance to make submissions on February 19. Then India will reply on February 20 while Islamabad will make its closing submissions on February 21.
It is expected that the ICJ’s decision may be delivered by the summer of 2019. — PTI
Source: Rediff