Indian Premier League Archives - Lokmarg

‘Too Much Cricket Has Taken a Toll on the Quality of the Sport’

By LokMarg 9th April 2025

Sharad Deep, a senior sports journalist, says round-the-year matches have dented the classic format and encouraged unscrupulous sponsors like betting platforms. His views:

Till about two decades ago, sports lovers in India used to wait for the winters to enjoy for the cricketing season to enjoy the Test and ODI matches. Gradually, as the number of viewers grew in leaps, the sponsors and investors saw a huge money-spinner in the game. Cricket authorities became the chessboard of power games which wielded tremendous influence.

The focus of both domestic and the International Cricket Council (ICC) shifted to one-day format which witnesses a drastic phase out of the classical form of cricket – the tests – and as the wheel rolled on, to the 20-over format. Quick results, more thrills, a lusty audience and a dash of Bollywood glamour – the recipe for a lucrative league was ready.

Though T20 games gained popularity instantly when it took the centre-stage about 18 years ago, with India winning the inaugural World Cup in 2007, the craze and madness for this format skyrocketed with the advent of IPL, the most popular cricket league in the world.

With the highest financial perks in the world, it is the dream destination of every player of all the cricket playing nations. Though many other boards have tried to replicate the IPL, none could even get even closer to the bar set by the BCCI which holds the highest grosser event of its kind in the world.

ALSO READ: ‘IPL Has Revolutionised Sports In The Country’

While many upcoming players benefitted from the advent of IPL, the short-over format has quietly buried the original Test format, and is increasingly threatening the existence of ODI cricket as well. Though the cricket bodies are making all efforts to keep classical cricket alive (by limiting the number of overs in tests drawing results), the classic format is struggling to hold ground. Test cricket used to be the real test of a sportsman’s cricketing stamina, strength and strategy. It has now been replaced by quick-fire rounds.

A similar fate stares at One Day cricket, where the interest of the audience has now shrunk to the first and the last ten overs. The updates are easily availabile in terms of score statistics, videos clips et al on mobile phones. And one can remain at work while keeping a tab on the match too; the real time viewership is no longer required.

Yet another sore point is the betting, legal or illegal, involved in the game. It is both surprising and shocking that a betting platform like Dream 11 has found place on the jersey of Team India. Worse, many current and former players have been promoting this shamelessly.

Though a huge amount of money is now involved in the shorter formats of this game, the controlling boards should also set guidelines limiting profiles of stakeholders (sponsors) as such penetration is not possible without surpassing the norms. I remember one incident when a cigarette brand had made way to the sponsors of Team India. It created such outrage that the board had to retract its decision. But there is no place for dignity and morality in the game now. When money is the sole lord, ethics are the first casualty.

As told to Rajat Rai

‘IPL Has Revolutionized Sports In A Non-sporting Country Like India’

By LokMarg 6th April 2025

Binoo John, a seasoned journalist, says success of IPL can be drawn from the fact that every league, be it football, hockey or kabaddi, has patterned itself after IPL. His views:

Is Test cricket in decline? Not really. Test cricket is not in decline. The recent India-Australia series in Australia was a sell-out. Also, most Test matches in England where India, Pakistan are involved, are sell-outs.

To play Test cricket remains a dream for many young players. I don’t think Test players and senior players should be forced to play domestic cricket since they are already proving themselves at an international level. If there is a drop in form for a sustained period, or, if they are coming back from injury, they should not be asked to play Ranji. Why should a player like Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma need to prove themselves in domestic cricket?

These guys have a gruelling and never-ending cricket season. Ranji trophy should be kept for younger players who are looking for a stage to prove themselves. That strategy has helped. So many young players have come up. Senior players, if forced to play, will also block the chance of junior and promising players.

As for IPL, making good money should be the focus. IPL has changed the nature of the sport in the country. Every game, football, hockey, kabaddi, etc, have leagues which are patterned after IPL. Even kabaddi players from Haryana and Punjab make good money. Earlier, where did they make any money?

ALSO READ: ‘Sports Other Than Cricket Lack Funds, Media Coverage’

Every other day you see stories of former Olympians living in poverty. Now that era is over, thanks to IPL, which is set to become the second or third biggest league in the world.

India is a non-sporting country. Very few kids even play any game. That has to change. IPL is a big way forward.

There is no rule that old ways should not change. There is nothing wrong in a batsman hitting more boundaries than earlier. Test cricket too has become more interesting. There is no doubt that cricket had to change and it has changed for the better, thanks to short formats.

As I said earlier, IPL has shown the way to other sport. The Indian Soccer League and the Second Division I league are both successful football leagues giving good money to poor footballers from across the country. True that Indian football does not have a good striker, and Chettri had to be recalled. But that will change. Every sport today is telecast on TV. Which means advertising money coming into the game.

Before the IPL and the ISL, which Indian footballer got any money? Maximum they got were jobs in some low paying position in the PSUs. The minimum pay for any IPL player in any team is Rs 20 lakh for a season. For an auto rickshaw driver’s son, Puthur, who was picked up for Mumbai Indians, that is big, big money.

In the football league, it is a bit less, but all that goes towards sustaining millions of dreams.

Sport in India is looking up. For one match, JIO is paying Rs 130 crore approximately to the BCCI. That is how you raise the value of sport. IPL has the maximum viewership of any sport anywhere in the world, not counting World Cup football.

Going by Jio app stats, more than 43 crore people watched the Champions Trophy, which is short format cricket. That makes it half the entire adult population of a huge country like India. Jio sports and Sports Star have merged to form a mega app called Jio Star which will bring all sport-watching to India. Now we can watch any sport in the world on TV and app. Due to all this, my view is that IPL has completely revolutionized Indian sport.

The narrator is a seasoned journalist and writer. His books include, The Curry Coast: Travels in Malabar 500 years after Vasco da Gama 1997, Under A Cloud: Life in Cherrapunji wettest place on earth (Penguin), Entry from Backside Only: Hazar Fundaas of Indian English (Penguin), The Last Song of Savio d’Souza (fiction/Harper Collins), Top Game: Winning Losing and a new understanding of Sport (Speaking Tiger) 2022, and All in a Flash: History of News Photography in India from 1947 (scheduled end 2025/Niyogi Books).

As told to Amit Sengupta

Hardik Likely To Miss Afghanistan T20I

By LokMarg 27th December 2023

Star Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya is likely be missing the T20I series against Afghanistan, but will be fit before the Indian Premier League (IPL) from his ankle injury, a source told ANI.

Pandya was part of India’s ICC Cricket World Cup squad. He played four matches, picking five wickets with the best bowling figures of 2/34 and scoring 11* against Australia in his only innings before an ankle injury sustained during a league stage game against Bangladesh on October 19 ruled him out of the tournament.

Pandya has not played any international cricket since then, having missed the five-match T20I series against Australia and the three-match T20I and ODI series during the tour to South Africa as well. Suryakumar Yadav led India in all the T20I matches while KL Rahul led the team in ODIs in the absence of Pandya and regular skipper Rohit Sharma, who requested some time off from white-ball cricket after the World Cup final against Australia.

The three-match T20I series against Afghanistan will be India’s final international assignment, taking place from January 11-17, before the ICC T20 World Cup, which will take place in June at West Indies/USA.

In November this year, Pandya moved from Gujarat Titans (GT) to his former franchise Mumbai Indians (MI) after a trade between both franchises. The all-rounder spent two momentous years with GT, spearheading their campaign with aplomb. In GT’s debut season in 2022, Hardik ensured a fairytale start, with the team lifting the coveted trophy, while they finished runners-up in their second season after a last-ball defeat in a thrilling final earlier this year.

Pandya has big shoes to fill as the new skipper of MI, as Rohit has led the franchise to five IPL title wins. He was announced as the new skipper of MI days after his trade to the franchise which put him on the map.

In 31 matches for GT from 2022-23, Pandya scored 833 runs at an average of 37.86 and a strike rate of over 133, with six half-centuries and a best score of 87*. He also had 11 wickets for the team, with the best figures of 3/17.

Pandya also played 92 matches for MI from 2015-2021, scoring 1,476 runs at an average of 27.33 at a strike rate of over 153, with four half-centuries and best score of 91. He also took 42 wickets for the team, with the best bowling figures of 3/20. Pandya has won five IPL trophies, four with MI (2015, 2017, 2019, 2020) and GT (2022). (ANI)

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Hardik To Succeed Rohit Sharma As Mumbai Indians Captain For IPL 2024

By LokMarg 15th December 2023

Mumbai Indians (MI), the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions, announced on Friday that star all-rounder Hardik Pandya will be leading the team in the 2024 edition of the league.

“Mumbai Indians today announced a significant leadership transition for the upcoming 2024 season. Renowned all-rounder Hardik Pandya is set to take the helm as the captain of the Mumbai Indians, succeeding its longest-serving, one of the most successful and loved captains the illustrious Rohit Sharma,” MI said in a statement.

Pandya has big shoes to fill as the new skipper of MI, as Rohit has led the franchise to five IPL title wins.

Pandya has won five IPL trophies, four with MI (2015, 2017, 2019, 2020) and GT (2022).

Commenting on this transition Mahela Jayawardene, Global Head of Performance, Mumbai Indians said, “It is part of legacy building and staying true to the MI philosophy of being future-ready. Mumbai Indians have always been blessed with exceptional leadership right from Sachin (Tendulkar) to Harbhajan (Singh) and Ricky (Ponting) to Rohit, who while contributing to the immediate success have always had an eye on strengthening the team for the future. It is in keeping with this philosophy that Hardik Pandya will assume captaincy of Mumbai Indians for the IPL 2024 season.”

“We express our gratitude to Rohit Sharma for his exceptional leadership; his tenure as the captain of the Mumbai Indians since 2013 has been nothing short of extraordinary. His leadership has not only brought unparalleled success to the team but has also solidified his place as one of the finest captains in the history of the IPL.”

“Under his guidance, MI became one of the most successful and loved teams ever. We will look forward to his guidance and experience on and off the field to further strengthen MI. We welcome Hardik Pandya as the new captain of MI and wish him all the very best,” concluded Mahela. (ANI)

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Check Out With Whom Dhoni Celebrated His 42nd B’day

By LokMarg 8th July 2023

Former India skipper MS Dhoni thanked everyone for the wishes that were extended to him on his 42nd birthday and shared a special video giving a glimpse of how he celebrated his special day.

Dhoni took to Instagram on Saturday and posted a video with the caption, “Thanks a lot for all your warm wishes, a glimpse of what I did on my birthday.”
The CSK skipper was seen feeding his birthday cake to his pet dogs to make his day even more special.

Dhoni turned 42 on Friday and the cricket fraternity from all over the world came forward to extend their wishes to him.

India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja sent a special wish on his Twitter handle, “My go to man since 2009 to till date and forever. Wishing you a very happy birthday mahi bhai. See you soon in yellow,” Jadeja captioned a photo of Dhoni hugging him after the IPL 2023 final triumph.”

Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar also took to Twitter and wrote “May you always fly high like your helicopter shots. Happy birthday, MS!”

Coming to his long format career, Dhoni played 90 matches, scoring 4,876 runs at an average of 38.09. He scored six centuries and 33 half-centuries, with the best score of 224. He is the 14th-highest scorer for India in Tests.

As a captain, he led India in 60 Test matches, out of which they won 27 matches, lost 18 and drew 15. With a win percentage of 45.00, he is one of India’s most successful skippers across all eras. He led Team India to the number one ranking in ICC Test Rankings. He is also the only Indian skipper to whitewash Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, doing so in the 2010-11 and 2012-13 series.

Dhoni’s strongest format was the ODIs. In 350 ODIs, he scored 10,773 runs at an average of 50.57. He scored 10 centuries and 73 fifties for India, with the best score of 183*. He is India’s fifth-highest scorer in ODIs (with Sachin Tendulkar at the top with 18,426 runs). He is also the 11th most successful ODI batter of all time. The fact that he managed to score 10,000-plus runs at an average of over 50 while coming down the order makes his statistics even more astonishing.

He led India in 200 ODI matches, winning 110, losing 74. Five matches were tied while 11 failed to produce a result, he has a win percentage of 55.

With 229 sixes, he is the fifth-highest six-hitter of all time and also has the second-highest sixes by an Indian next to Rohit Sharma (275 sixes). He is also the sixth-fastest player to reach 10,000 ODI runs, doing so in 273 innings.’Mahi’, as he is known to the fans, played 98 T20Is for India, scoring 1,617 runs at an average of 37.60, at a strike rate of 126.13. He has two half-centuries in the format, with the best score of 56.

He led India in 72 T20Is, winning 41, losing 28, one being tied and two failing to produce results. His win percentage is 56.94. (ANI)

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Watching Dhoni Play As Captain Is Wonderful: Juhi

By LokMarg 24th April 2023

Former India captain and talismanic Chennai Super Kings skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, is not just a name to his fans but also an emotion. The latest IPL match between the Chennai franchise and Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens yet again saw the crowd chanting “Dhoni Dhoni” in the stands.

With Kolkata being the KKR’s home ground, it was expected that the sea of purple in the stands would be partisan towards the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise. However, while the supporters filled the stands and strained their lungs in support of the home franchise, they also showered the same affection on MSD and his men on an electrifying evening at Eden Gardens.
While purple shirts dominated the stands at a packed Eden, fans in the trademark yellow shirts of CSK were also seen packing the stands.

The contest, however, turned into a lopsided one as Chennai defended a mammoth target to hand Kolkata a rare home defeat this season of the IPL.

CSK defeated KKR by a comfortable margin of 49 runs in match number 33 of the IPL on Sunday. Chasing 236 runs at a typically noisy Eden, KKR came up short and were eventually restricted to 186 for 8.

KKR’s co-owner Juhi Chawla was also extremely happy to see the spectators showering love on Dhoni and his team.

Speaking to ANI post the KKR-CSK clash, Juhi heaped praise on the talismanic skipper of the Chennai franchise, saying, “Chennai Super Kings played well today. Watching MS Dhoni play as a captain is wonderful. We hope we can do what CSK just did, in our next match… There were so many people supporting CSK, we thought we have reached Chennai.”

After the match, Dhoni also thanked fans for their support.

“I will just say thanks for the support, they came in big numbers. Most of these guys will come in a KKR jersey next time. They are trying to give me a farewell, so thanks a lot to the crowd,” Dhoni quipped.

Dhoni recently sent shockwaves and left fans emotional all over social media after he said “it’s the last phase of my career.”

“All said and done, it’s the last phase of my career, however long I play,” he said when asked in the post-match interaction how he tends to deal with all the roar and crowd support at Chepauk a few days ago. “After two years, the fans have had the opportunity to come here and watch, feels good to be here. The crowd has given us a lot of love and affection. Not getting enough chances to bat, but no complaints,” Dhoni said.

Dhoni retired from international cricket in August 2020 and is currently playing only the IPL. (ANI)

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IPL 2023: Suryakumar Crosses 6,000 Run Mark In T20

By LokMarg 23rd April 2023

Star India and Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Suryakumar Yadav reached the 6,000-run mark in T20 cricket on Saturday.

The 32-year-old batter accomplished this milestone during his side’s Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the home arena of Wankhede Stadium.
In the match, during a chase of 215, Suryakumar made his return to form after a few failures in international cricket and IPL, scoring 57 off 26 balls. His knock consisted of seven fours and three sixes. His runs came at a strike rate of 219.23.

With this innings, he has scored 6,021 runs in 248 matches and 226 innings at an average of 34.01. His runs have come at a strike rate of 149.55. He has three centuries and 38 half-centuries in his short format career, with the best score of 117.

Suryakumar’s international-level statistics in T20 cricket are stunning. In 46 innings across 48 matches, he has scored 1,675 runs at an average of 46.52 and a strike rate of 175.76. He has scored three centuries and 13 half-centuries for India in the format, with the best score of 117.

He was the winner of the ICC T20I Cricketer of the Year 2022 award.

In his IPL career, during which he has represented teams like Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, Suryakumar has scored 2,767 runs at an average of 29.75 and a strike rate of 137.94. He has scored 17 half-centuries in his IPL career, with the best score of 82.

His 2018 season with MI is his most successful in IPL. In 14 matches, he scored 512 runs at an average of 36.57 and a strike rate of 133.33. He scored four half-centuries that season, with the best score of 72. He was the eighth-highest run-scorer that season and the highest run-scorer for MI that season.

MI won the toss and opted to field first against PBKS. PBKS inning ended at 214/8 in their 20 overs. Sam Curran (55 in 29 balls with five fours and four sixes), Harpreet Singh (41 in 28 balls with four boundaries and two sixes) and Atharva Taide (29 off 17 balls with three fours and a six) were among the top batters for Punjab.

Piyush Chawla (2/15 in three overs) was the pick of the bowlers for MI. Cameron Green also took 2/41 in his four overs. Jofra Archer, Jason Behrendorff and Arjun Tendulkar got one scalp each.

Chasing 215, MI lost Ishan Kishan early, but a 76-run stand for the second wicket between skipper Rohit Sharma (44 off 27 balls with four boundaries and three sixes) and Green brought MI back into the game. Green, who scored 67 off 43 balls with six fours and three sixes also stitched a 75-run stand with Suryakumar Yadav (57 off 26 balls, seven fours and three sixes) for the third wicket.

But PBKS and Arshdeep (4/29) in particular delivered excellently in the death overs to win the match by 13 runs for PBKS.

Sam Curran won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his half-century.

With this win, PBKS is in the fifth position with four wins and three losses in seven matches and a total of eight points. MI is in seventh position with three wins and three losses in six games and a total of six points.

Brief scores PBKS: 214/8 (Sam Curran 55, Harpreet Singh 41, Piyush Chawla 2/15) won over MI: 201/6 (Cameron Green 67, Suryakumar Yadav 57, Arshdeep Singh 4/29). (ANI)

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Last Phase Of My Career, Important To Enjoy It: Dhoni

By LokMarg 22nd April 2023

Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni has said that it is the “last phase” of his career and it is important to enjoy the phase.

Dhoni retired from international cricket in 2020 but continued playing for the CSK. His remarks have added to speculation that this could be his last IPL. However, he has not commented on the matter.
“Whatever is said and done, the last phase of my career, important to enjoy it,” Captain Cool said in the post-match presentation after the match with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) which his team won on Friday. This was CSK’s fourth win in this IPL season

With the match at the home ground, the Yellow army came in huge numbers. Chennai’s skipper was overwhelmed with the support.

“It feels good to be here. They have given a lot of love and affection. They always stay late to listen to me. Not getting a lot of chance to bat – I am not complaining,” he said.

Dhoni lauded pacer Matheesha Pathirana.

“You need time to pick his action (Pathirana). He has got variation, he has got good pace. We have seen with Malinga – someone who has awkward action and who is very consistent with line and length – it’s difficult to score off him. Definitely, he has been a find,” CSK’s skipper said.

“I was hesitant to bat second. Had the feeling there would not be much dew. It was slightly cloudy. The spinners, once they came in, they bowled a very good length. Overall the middle overs were the setup. Fast bowlers bowled very well in the last few overs,” Dhoni added.

Dhoni also talked of the catch he took of Aiden Markram off the bowling of Matheesha Pathirana and said it was a “fantastic catch” but he did not get the award.

“I always tell them that first preference of field setting is with you…Still, they did not give me the best catch award. I was in such a wrong position. Just because we wear gloves, people think it is easy. I felt it was a fantastic catch. A long time back, I still remember one game – Rahul Dravid was keeping and he caught one like that. Once you get old, that is the only time you get experience. Unless you are Sachin paaji and start playing at 16-17. Definitely old, cannot shy away from that,” Dhoni concluded. (ANI)

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Kohli Shares Post Workout Selfie

By LokMarg 22nd April 2023

Virat Kohli is one of the fittest athletes in the world. He hardly skips a visit to the gym.

Despite a hectic IPL schedule, he manages to work out.
On Friday, Kohli took to Instagram Story and shared a post-workout selfie.

The sweat on his face clearly indicated how much he loves exercising.

“No days off (flexed biceps emoji),” he simply captioned the post.

Kohli is currently busy playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the 16th edition of IPL. He has scored the most IPL runs. In 228 matches, he has scored 6844 runs at an average of 36.60. He has 47 fifties and five centuries under his belt. His strike rate is 129.67 and his highest score in IPL is 113. The best season of IPL for Virat came in 2016 when he achieved a record of making the most runs by any individual in a season.

He scored 973 runs at an average of 81.08 and a strike rate of 152.03, which consisted of four tons and seven fifties.

Now it’s to see whether Kohli and his team will be able to lift IPL trophy or not. (ANI)

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Arjun Tendulkar Makes IPL Debut

By LokMarg 16th April 2023

Arjun Tendulkar, son of legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut for Mumbai Indian (MI) against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.

Arjun started his career with Mumbai as a fast bowler but when moved to Goa to get a better opportunity. Before making this shift, he had represented Mumbai in only two T20 matches.
Arjun’s debut was one of the most awaited debuts in IPL; considering, he is a son of world most celebrated cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. Mumbai Indians had bought him at 30 lakhs in 2022 IPL auction, however he was the part of the squad but did not play any match. MI had also retained Arjun in the mini-auction of 2023.

Arjun’s stint with Goa started off with huge promise during the 2022 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, in which he took 10 wickets in seven games at an economy rate of 5.69. He continued his good run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as well, taking seven wickets in eight matches at an economy rate of 4.98. He finished as Goa’s leading wicket-taker in the competition.

In nine T20s, Arjun has scored 20 runs in five innings with best score of 15. He has 12 wickets in the format at an average of 16.50 and an economy rate of 6.60. His best bowling figures are 4/10 in the T20.

Playing seven first-class matches, Arjun has scored 223 runs in nine innings at an average of 24.77 with a century. He has also taken 12 wickets in the format at an average of 45.58 and an economy rate of 3.42. His best bowling figures in an innings are 3/104.

Whereas, in seven List-A matches, he has scored 25 runs in three innings, with best score of 14*. Arjun also has eight wickets in the format at an average of 32.37 and an economy rate of 4.98. His best bowling figures in the format are 2/32.

Arjun had also impressed everyone with his century in Ranji Trophy debut in December against Rajasthan last year.

Coming to the match, Mumbai Indians stand-in Skipper Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to field first in the Indian Premier League against Kolkata Knight Riders at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Sunday.

In the absence of MI captain Rohit Sharma, who decided to sit out the match with a stomach bug, Suryakumar Yadav will lead the side on to the field. While Arjun Tendulkar will also makes his IPL debut for MI. KKR made no changes to their playing eleven.

Mumbai Indians would have been boosted with their win in their last fixture against Delhi Capitals. In contrast, Kolkata Knight Riders are coming into this match after losing to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 23 runs.

Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Ishan Kishan(w), Cameron Green, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Arjun Tendulkar, Hrithik Shokeen, Piyush Chawla, Duan Jansen, Riley Meredith

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Venkatesh Iyer, N Jagadeesan, Nitish Rana(c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakaravarthy. (ANI)

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