Author Archives: TARIQ ABDULLAH

(PTI) GANDHINAGAR, May 22: The Rashtriya Raksha University will host the 4th National Armwrestling and Para Armwrestling Championship from May 29 to June 2 at its Lavad campus here, officials said on Friday. The championship is jointly organised by the Armwrestling Federation of Gujarat and People’s Armwrestling Federation India, they said.The event is expected to witness participation from more than 2,000 athletes representing 27 states across India, making it one of the largest armwrestling championships ever organised in the country.

(PTI) GENEVA, May 22: India’s Yuki Bhambri locked his first ATP final of the season when the Indian and his New Zealand partner Michael Venus advanced to the men’s doubles title clash of the Geneva Open with a straight-set win over Czech pair Petr Rikl and Adam Pavlasek here on Friday. The Indo-Kiwi duo, seeded third, registered a 7-5, 6-3 victory in the semifinal. They will now face the Romain Arneodo and Marc Polmans in the title clash after their 7-6(4) 6-2 win over Constantin Frantzen and Robin Hasse in the other semifinal.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 22: India’s Ashmita Chaliha produced a spirited performance before going down narrowly to world No. 23 Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark in the women’s singles quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament here on Friday.

Returning after an eight-month rehabilitation following a medial meniscus tear in her right knee, the 71st-ranked Indian squandered a hard-fought opening game advantage to lose 23-21, 18-21, 11-21 to the eighth seed in a contest lasting a little over an hour at the Axiata Arena.

Chaliha started brightly, opening up an 11-6 lead at the interval in the opening game before Line clawed her way back after the break. But the Indian held her nerve in a gruelling battle to pocket the game.

The second game followed a similar pattern as Chaliha again surged ahead 10-5 before the Dane broke away from 15-15 to force the match into a decider.

The final game, however, was largely one-way traffic as Line stamped her authority early and never allowed Chaliha a route back. (PTI)

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE

PTI

KOLKATA, May 20: Kolkata Knight Riders lived to fight another day with a crucial four-wicket win over Mumbai Indians after Sunil Narine-led bowlers once again delivered on a testing Eden Gardens surface to keep their IPL play-off hopes alive here on Wednesday.

Needing nothing less than a win to remain in conten-tion, KKR rode on a clinical bowling effort to restrict the already eliminated five-time champions to a modest 147/8 after Ajinkya Rahane won a good toss.

In reply, veteran Manish Pandey (45 off 33 balls; 6×4) finally got an opportunity to bat at No. 3 with talent-ed keeper-batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi injured and anchored a tense chase in a 33-ball 45.

He along with Rovman Powell (40; 30b, 4×4, 2×6) shared a crucial 64-run part-nership to set it up as the hosts overhauled the 148-run target in 18.5 overs.

The victory lifted KKR from eighth to sixth in the standings with 13 points and kept their slim playoff hopes alive with six wins from 13 matches.

However, their fate is no longer in their own hands as KKR will now closely fol-low Rajasthan Royals’ clash against Mumbai Indians on Sunday afternoon before they face Delhi Capitals in the evening clash.

A Royals win would seal their qualification and elimi-nate KKR, rendering Kolka-ta’s final league game against DC inconsequential.

For MI, it was their ninth defeat in 13 matches as the five-time champions re-mained second from bottom—with one game left.

Mumbai Indians’ captain Hardik Pandya gets bowled by Kolkata Knight Riders’ Sunil Narine during their IPL match, in Kolkata, on Wednesday. (PTI)

On a surface where strokeplay remained dif-ficult, KKR began shakily and lost both openers inside the powerplay.

Finn Allen started aggres-sively with two boundar-ies before Deepak Chahar cleaned him up for 8.

Ajinkya Rahane survived an lbw review via umpire’s callable but never looked com-fortable during his 17-ball 21 before edging Corbin Bosch in the final over of the powerplay.

Bosch struck again in the eighth over when Cameron Green (4) miscued a poor delivery down the leg side straight to fine leg as KKR slipped to 54/3.

Mumbai sensed an open-ing but let the game drift through sloppy fielding.

In the 10th over, Powell top-edged a pull off Hardik Pandya. Chahar at fine leg appeared set for the catch but left it for Robin Minz run-ning across from deep square leg, only for the ball to land safely between them.

Pandey however could not complete the chase and was cleaned up by Jasprit Bumrah, while in the next over Powell fell to AM Gha-zanfar. But with hardly any scoreboard pressure – KKR needed 19 from last four overs –Rinku Singh (nine not out) and Anukul Roy (four not out) sealed their seventh win in last eight matches.

Earlier, KKR’s bowlers had exploited the sticky conditions superbly as Green (2/23), left-arm pacer Sau-rabh Dubey (2/34) and Na-rine’s exceptional figures of 1/13 choked MI.

Green was exceptional on the field and with the ball, striking twice in the space of three deliveries to remove Ryan Rickelton (6) and Na-man Dhir (0).

He then pulled off a stun-ning running catch from midwicket to dismiss Rohit Sharma (15) off Dubey just when the Indian stalwart was looking to break free.

MI went on to lose three wickets for six runs in the space of eight balls.

After a one-hour rain in-terruption, KKR’s spin duo of Narine and injured Varun Chakravarthy tightened the screws further, conceding just 14 runs in their first four overs bowling in tandem.

Narine, in particular, was menacing with his turn and variable bounce, repeatedly troubling Tilak Varma, before taking the prized scalp of MI skipper Pandya (26) beat-ing him with a delivery that drifted in and stayed low to crash into the stumps. (PTI)

BRIEF SCORES

MI: 147/8 in 20 overs (Corbin Bosch 32 not out, Hardik Pandya 26, Tilak Varma 20; Saurabh Dubey 2/34, Cameron Green 2/23)

KKR: 148/6 in 18.5 overs (Manish Pandey 45, Rovman Powell 40; Corbin Bosch 3/30)

PTI

AHMEDABAD, May 20: Eyeing a top-two finish to ensure a shot at Qualifier 1, Gujarat Titans will have their tails up when they face a flagging Chennai Super Kings side seeking to regain lost ground after a rather disappointing campaign, in their IPL match here on Thursday.

A top-two placement at the end of the league stage grants the teams two opportunities to reach the final.

Currently placed second with 16 points, the Titans are in a three-way battle alongside table-toppers Royal Challengers Bengaluru (18 points) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (16 points), and victory against CSK will vastly improve their chances of a top-two finish in the group phase.

A victory over CSK by a heavy margin could even push GT past RCB’s (+1.065) net run rate, depending on other fixtures. And if SRH too win their final league stage game against RCB, the battle for the second spot will come down to net run rate.

In this scenario, GT hold slight edge with their NNR (+0.400) being better than Sunrisers’ +0.350.

On the other hand, with their playoff hopes inching closer to getting extinguished after a narrow loss to SRH, the five-time former champions Chennai Super Kings will seek to salvage pride in what could be their final outing in this edition.

Ruturaj Gaikwad’s men have been pushed to the brink of elimination and require a victory along with other results to go their way to stay in contention for the last playoffs berth.

Going into the contest on the traditionally batting friendly strip at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Titans’ captain Shubman Gill is in excellent form, and so is his opening partner Sai Sudharsan. For the opening pair, negotiating early swing and controlling the powerplay will be crucial against the CSK bowling attack.

The middle overs will likely feature a fascinating tactical battle, with GT’s star spinner Rashid Khan testing a seasoned CSK solid line-up.

Gill, Jos Buttler, and Sudharsan will continue to anchor Gujarat’s batting. However, because GT’s middle order lacks consistency, Chennai would attempt to squeeze them early via left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, who has previously dismissed Gill twice in T20s.

Sanju Samson stands out as CSK’s best option to tackle the spin of Rashid and Co. in the middle overs. Samson’s ability to counter the Afghanistan star’s wrist spin is likely going to to dictate whether CSK can put up a competitive total or chase down a target if batting second.

Historically, the rivalry is evenly poised at the moment with a head-to-head record of 4-4. However, the Titans have dominated of late, having thrashed Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets earlier in the season at Chepauk.

The man doing the bulk of the damage for GT in their previous face-off is Kagiso Rabada, who destroyed CSK’s top order with a three-wicket haul, and it is imperative from the visitors’ point of view that Gaikwad and Samson survive his opening spell to protect a vulnerable middle order.

While injuries to multiple key players didn’t help their cause this season, CSK’s bowling has also lacked penetration and consistency, even as GT’s attack often looking like a well-oiled machine.

PTI

NEW DELHI, May 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of the Italian Republic Giorgia Meloni have said the relationship between India and Italy has now reached a decisive stage, evolving from a cordial friendship into a special strategic partnership.

In an article, jointly written by the two leaders for the Indian and Italian media, Modi and Meloni said that at a time when the international system is undergoing a profound change, the partnership between the two countries is guided by regular exchanges at higher political and institutional levels.

Modi is currently in Italy as part of the final leg of his five-nation tour.

The two leaders said the bilateral relation is gaining a new and higher dimension that combines the economic dynamism, societal creativity, and millennia-old civilisational wisdom of the two countries.

“The relationship between India and Italy has now reached a decisive stage. In recent years, our ties have expanded with unprecedented momentum, evolving from a cordial friendship into a special strategic partnership grounded in the values of freedom and democracy, and a common vision for the future,” they said.

The two leaders said the cooperation between India and Italy mirrors the awareness that prosperity and security in the 21st century will be shaped by the ability of nations to innovate, manage energy transitions, and strengthen strategic sovereignty.

To this end, they said they have committed to deepen and diversify the bilateral relationship with a view to pursuing new objectives and pooling the two countries’ complementary strengths. “We aim to forge a powerful synergy between Italian design, manufacturing excellence, and world-class supercomputers – reflecting Italy’s position as an industrial powerhouse – and India’s rapid economic growth, engineering talent, scale, and innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem with over 100 unicorns and 200,000 start-ups,” they said.

The leaders said this is not a simple integration, but a co-creation of value where the respective industrial strengths amplify one another. They said the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and India paves the way for increased trade and investment in both directions.

“We want to reach and exceed the Euro 20 billion target for trade between Italy and India by 2029, with a focus on defence & aerospace, clean technologies, machinery, automotive components, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, agri-food, tourism and more,” they said.

In the article, Modi and Meloni said “Made in Italy” has always been synonymous with excellence worldwide, and today it finds a natural synergy with the high-quality goals of the “Make in India” initiative.

The growing interest of Italian businesses in the production of goods for India and the increasing presence of Indian industries in Italy, numbering over 1,000 from both sides, is a positive sign that will strengthen the integration of our supply chains, they said.

The two leaders said technological innovation lies at the very heart of the partnership and the coming decades will be shaped by a technological revolution of unmeasurable scope, marked by advances in such sectors as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced manufacturing, critical minerals, and digital infrastructure.

They said India’s dynamic innovation eco-system, coupled with a highly skilled professional talent pool, and Italy’s advanced industrial capabilities make the cooperation in the above sectors both natural and strategic.

India and Italy also see AI as a powerful instrument for inclusive development, especially for the Global South, where digital public infrastructure and accessible, multilingual technologies can bridge divides rather than deepen them, they said.

The leaders said conceiving AI as a tool created by humans for humans means firmly asserting that technology cannot replace individuals or undermine their fundamental rights, nor be used to manipulate public debate or alter democratic processes.

Modi and Meloni said India-Italy cooperation also covers the space sector and India’s impressive advancements in space exploration and satellite technology, together with Italy’s aerospace engineering excellence, offer significant opportunities for next-generation technology development.

They said Italy and India intend to further strengthen their cooperation in sectors such as defence, security and strategic technologies.

The leaders said energy is another key pillar of our partnership and the global transition towards diversified energy sources requires innovation, investment, and cooperation.

The two leaders said physical, digital and human connectivity is the thread that weaves us together and both India and Italy are located at the very heart of two crucial hubs of the global economy, the Indo-Pacific and the Mediterranean – regions that cannot be viewed as separate spheres, but as increasingly interconnected spaces.

As a matter of fact, the leaders said they are witnessing the emergence of what might be termed the Indo-Mediterranean, an important corridor for trade, technology, energy, data and ideas tying the Indian Ocean to Europe.

Within Indian culture, Modi and Meloni said, the concept of “Dharma” evokes the sense of responsibility that must guide our actions, while the principle of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” – the world is one family – resonates powerfully in the interconnected digital age.

They said such values find a natural echo in Italy’s humanist tradition, rooted in the Renaissance, which highlights the dignity of each individual and the power of culture to unite peoples and societies.

“Our shared vision, therefore, aims to lay the foundation for a strong and forward-looking India-Italy Partner-ship with our people at the centre,” the two leaders said. (PTI)

By PTI

AHMEDABAD, May 20:
Gujarat Titans may have
faced criticism for their con-
servative batting approach
but their opener B Sai Sud-
harsan said they are focused
on sealing a top-two finish
rather than obsessing over
net run-rate going into their
final IPL league match here
on Thursday.

GT have already secured
a playoff berth and are cur-
rently placed second on the
points table, but a victory
against already-eliminated
CSK would significantly
strengthen their chances of
finishing in the top two,
providing them two shots at
reaching the final.

“The first important thing
is to play good cricket and
win tomorrow,” Sudharsan
told reporters on the eve of
the game.

“We are not in a position
to think about winning by a
very big margin or getting a
very big win. It is about again
doing the right things which
we have been doing and first
getting a victory.

“If we are in that position,
yes, as every team we would
love to close it as smoothly
as possible or give ourselves
the best opportunity to be in
the top two,” the left-handed
opener added. (PTI)</

TEAMS P W L PTS NRR

RCB (Q) 13 9 4 18 +1.065

GT (Q) 13 8 5 16 +0.400

SRH (Q) 13 8 5 16 +0.350

RR 13 7 6 14 +0.083

PBKS 13 6 6 13 +0.227

KKR 13 6 6 13 +0.011

CSK 13 6 7 12 -0.016

DC 13 6 7 12 -0.871

MI (E) 13 4 9 8 -0.510

LSG (E) 13 4 9 8 -0.702

Last updated on May 20

(PTI)

NEW DELHI, May 20: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will instill the same fear in the bowlers’ minds that West Indian marauder Chris Gayle had managed to do in his prime, according to former India pacer Irfan Pathan.

Sooryavanshi, with 53 sixes in the ongoing IPL, is within touching distance of the record 59 that Gayle struck in the 2012 season.

On Wednesday night against Lucknow Super Giants, the 15-year-old Rajasthan Royals batter hammered a 38-ball 93 that was dotted with 10 maximums and seven fours. The brutal knock steered his team to a facile seven-wicket win despite being in pursuit of a steep 221.

“It is very difficult to stop him. In his first 10 balls, he was batting at a strike rate of less than 100, and by the end of the innings, he had scored 93 runs off just 38 balls,” Pathan said.

PTI

NEW DELHI, May 20: When Lucknow Super Giants assembled their support staff headed by former Australia coach Justin Langer and IPL journeyman coach Tom Moody, the expectation was that the franchise would finally graduate from being a talented but inconsistent side into a genuine title contender. Instead, what unfolded through the season was a campaign riddled with confused selections, questionable combinations and a team that never quite appeared to know what its strongest XI actually was.

For long phases of the tournament, the tournament, it seemed that head coach Langer and skipper Rishabh Pant were operating from different tactical playbooks. The body language after defeats, the chopping and changing of personnel and the indecisiveness around batting positions all pointed towards a side searching desperately for clarity.

The biggest talking point naturally remained owner Sanjiv Goenka’s decision to break the bank for Pant at Rs 27.50 crore. While Pant remains one of India’s biggest cricketing brands and among the most impactful match-winners, the move inevitably skewed the balance of the squad and perhaps left glaring holes elsewhere.

The most obvious deficiency was the absence of quality overseas fast bowlers. Save South African Anrich Nortje, who himself got only one game, LSG never truly possessed an intimidating foreign pace option.

It left the burden squarely on an inexperienced Indian bowling unit. Among domestic bowlers, only Mohsin Khan and Prince Yadav consistently showed signs of promise. After his surgery, speedster Mayank Yadav played only four games and failed to pick up a single wicket while leaking runs. Young left-arm pacer Akash Singh looked tidy in one outing but was severely punished in the next game.

Yet, through all the struggles, LSG persisted with combinations that raised more questions than answers.

Then came the most curious aspect of LSG’s campaign. Once the team was effectively out of playoff contention, there appeared little logic in not handing opportunities to fringe players. Which naturally raises the question: why did Langer and Moody never give Arjun Tendulkar even a single game? Would he really have done worse than Akash or even the burly Avesh Khan?

Ironically, the LSG social media team aggressively pushed an “Arjun Tendulkar yorker package” online, generating considerable traction and engagement. But if those yorkers were genuinely effective enough for promotional campaigns, why was he never considered good enough for an actual match situation? Or was the famous surname useful only for social media impressions and digital reach? The irony is hard to miss. In a cricket ecosystem where conversations around nepotism dominate discourse, Tendulkar junior almost appears to be a reverse case – picked by franchises repeatedly but seldom trusted enough for a first XI opportunity. (PTI)