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Zee can sue BCCI over telecast row: Madras HC

     Chennai: The Madras High Court today ruled that that the Zee company can sue the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over the row of cricket telecast rights. The court also reprimanded the cricket board for its sloppy handling of the telecast rights row. However, the court did not grant Zee's appeal that it had the right to telecast all international cricket matches to be played in India for five years. Zee had approached the High Court after the BCCI decided to abandon a 308 million dollars five-year deal which the former won in an auction last September. The court ruled that the manner in which the tender was cancelled was "improper" and that the Zee could pursue a civil suit against BCCI for reimbursement of losses incurred during the fiasco. Later, Zee counsel PS Raman said: "Now with the entirety of the order, we cannot make a comment on what is our observations and reactions. The court has passed an order to the extent that Zee can go for a civil action and Zee's demand that they should be awarded the contract and have the right to telecast all the matches for five years, has not been accepted by the court. The court has judged that after the India -Pakistan series is over, the further rights are to be granted by a process of tender. That's all I can say."

Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan bowled over by Chennai maiden (Go To Top)

     Chennai: So far it was the case of him trapping batsmen with his ace deliveries, but on Monday, Sri lanka's ace off spinner, Muthiah Muralitharan, was truly bowled over by a Chennai maiden. Muralitharan, an ethnic Tamil, tied the proverbial wedding knot with Madhimalar Ramamurthy, a doctor based in Chennai. Several dignitaries, including former Sri Lankan cricket captain turned politician Arjun Ranatunga attended the wedding. The marriage was solemnised according to Hindu rites. The controversial and unorthodox 32-year old off spinner has taken 532 test wickets in 91 tests.Muralitharan,, who broke into the big league just over a decade ago, is today regarded as the world's most illustrious wicket-taking bowler despite being dogged by a flawed bent elbow. An arm action which has however, being cleared by bio mechanic tests to be a deformity by birth and no way chucking related since he was reported by Australian umpires in 1995 for a suspect action.

     Muralitharan met Madhimalar, the daughter of the late Dr. S Ramamurthy of Malar Hospitals last year. An MBA graduate, the 24-year-old Madhimalar is a director of Malar Hospitals. She and her sister Dr Radhimalar are twins. It is an arranged match. "I feel very excited at the thought of marrying Murali. He is a very simple and down-to-earth person. My friends just can't believe that I will be marrying him,'' said an excited Madhimalar had said before her wedding. Madhimalar, however, said that she is no cricket buff. "My father used to watch a lot of cricket...I have just begun my homework and started watching cricket matches. In fact, the first match I watched Murali play was the one where he played for Asian XI against the Rest of the World in Australia for tsunami relief,'' said Madhimalar. She counts listening to Carnatic and western music and reading among her hobbies. Her mother, Dr Nithya Ramamurthy, said that prior to the wedding, the two families exchanged horoscopes through common friends.Popular Tamil actor Chanadrasekhar played a vital role in fixing the match. Shanmugam, a top executive with Sun TV network, who happens to know both Muralitharan and Chandrasekhar, later stepped in and arranged for the families to meet. Muralitharan's family traces its roots to Tiruchy and he visits Tamil Nadu often. Apart from biscuit factories in Kandy, Sri Lanka, his family also runs a hotel business in Tiruchy. Muralitharan has also been a consultant coach with the MAC Spin Foundation, run by the MA Chidambaram Group.

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