The week that was in cricket (January 19-25)

The past week in cricket was a highly significant one for multiple reasons, but unlike what’s normally expected, it were matters away from the 22 yards that hogged the headlines. Yes, New Zealand’s Luke Ronchi and Grant Elliott did break the world record for the highest 6th wicket partnership in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) courtesy of their magnificent 267-run stand against Sri Lanka, but it was a certain Supreme Court judgment in India that held greater importance to the long-term future of the game.Here are the 5 talking points of the week:

#5 Stuart Binny as an opener?

In his column for ESPNcricinfo, former Australia captain Ian Chappell provided an interesting suggestion, asking India to try out Stuart Binny as an opener in the wake of Shikhar Dhawan's persistent struggles at the top of the order. The 71-year-old opined that the all-rounder has got adequate technical skills to handle himself against the new ball and also provides captain MS Dhoni a useful option with the ball.

While Chappell’s suggestion might be too risky with such little time left for the marquee event, it is one that the Indian team management would do well considering. Especially with Dhawan having managed a paltry 11 runs from his 3 matches in the ongoing tri-series, Binny would afford the team the luxury of playing 3 specialist seamers and 2 spinners, in addition to his own medium-pace bowling during the middle overs.

#4 Mumbai suffer humiliating innings defeat after more than 60 years

Mumbai cricket supporters, over the years, have been extremely proud of their illustrious record in the Ranji Trophy andconstant supply of cricketers to the national team. Theyve won the Ranji Trophy, Indias premier domestic competition, a record 40 times, while Delhi are second on the list with a mere 7 titles, and are rightly considered one of the greatest domestic teams of all-time around the world. However, the past week hasnt been among their proudest moments, with the 40-time Ranji Trophy champions suffering a humiliating innings defeat at the hands of Tamil Nadu. This was Mumbais first such loss in more than six decades and it led to captain Suryakumar Yadav resigning from his post as Mumbai captain.

One must notalso forget that Mumbai are without Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma in the batting line-up and are also missing the services of Zaheer Khan in the bowling department, but that can't take away the fact they were comprehensively beaten by a determined Tamil Nadu outfit, who, by the sametoken, were also missing spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

#3 The Virat Kohli dilemma - No.3 or 4?

Since returning to Indiafollowing a disastrous tour of England, Virat Kohli has predominantly batted at the relatively unfamiliar No.4 position in ODI cricket. The decision has seen mixed reactions, with some saying that he provides great depth to the line-up by coming in at No.4 while some feel that he should come in at the fall of the first wicket, considering the fact that he is Indias best player and should be allowed to face the maximum overs possible.

Judging by his record, theres no reason why Kohli should not come in at first drop, irrespective of the kind of start that the openers provide.He has, after all, scored 4158 runs in 93 games at an average of 51.97 while batting No.3and a number of his outstanding knocks in ODIs over the last few years have come from that very position, including his 183 against arch-rivals Pakistan in the Asia Cup in 2012.

However, it wouldve to be said that in the relatively few innings that he has batted at No.4, most of which were when Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir were in the team,his stats aren't bad by any stretch of the imagination, having amassed 1721 runs in 38 games.

#2 Luke Ronchi and Grant Elliott combine for world record partnership

When the New Zealand duo of Luke Ronchi and Grant Elliott came together in the middle during the fifth ODI of the ongoing seven-match series against Sri Lanka, the scoreboard read a precarious 93 for 5 from 20 overs with all the accomplished batsmen back in the hut. However, the pair stepped up to the plate just when the team needed and got stuck into the Sri Lankan bowling, smashing them to all parts of the University Oval in Dunedin.

While Elliott looked to keep a steady strike-rate before unleashing into the bowlers, it was Ronchis innings of 170 not out off 99 balls that completely took the game away from the Sri Lankans. The two stitched together a record 267 runs in close to 30 overs to help their side post a massive 360 for 5 in their 50 overs. Their partnership broke the record for the highest 6^th wicket partnership in ODI history, the previous being 218 runs between Mahela Jayawardene and MS Dhoni during the Afro-Asia Cup in 2007 at Chennai.

#1 Supreme Court verdict on the IPL spot-fixing case

The Supreme Court of India delivered a decisiveverdict on Thursdaywhen it found son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra guilty of being involved in betting activities. The significant takeaway from the judgment, though, was the court indicting Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president in exile N Srinivasan ofconflict of interest. Srinivasan, however, will take relief from the fact that he has been exonerated from the charge of looking to cover up Meiyappans wrongdoings.

The court also struck down the controversial 6.2.4 rule which allowed BCCI officials to own IPL teams and also have other commercial interests. That decision of the court means that Srinivasan now has to choose betweenbeing the president of the BCCI and having ownership of Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The court also ordered the BCCI to hold fresh elections in six weeks time and barred the ICC chief from contesting the polls.

Theymade it clear thatSrinivasan can stand for BCCI elections only if he gives up his ownership share at CSK, which cannot be done before the upcoming elections. Meanwhile, a three-member panel, consisting of former judges RM Lodha, Ashok Bhan and RV Ravindran, has been constituted to decide on the type of punishment that needs to be meted out to the likes of Meiyappan and Kundra, and the fate of IPL franchises Rajasthan Royals and CSK is also set to be decided by the panel. They have been given a time span of six months to submit their report to the apex court.