Asia Cup: Eyeing Super 4 Berth After Washout With Pak, India Face Nepal

Coming off a washout, India would hope they only have greenhorns Nepal to tackle and not rain as the heavyweights eye a berth in the Super Four of the Asia Cup in Pallekele, Sri Lanka on Monday. From Group A, Pakistan have already qualified to the Super Four with 3 points, and India have one point from the washed-out game against their arch-rivals on Saturday. Even in the event of another rain-marred match on the morrow, India can advance to the Super Four with two points, but Rohit Sharma's men will certainly not want it that way.

India received some encouraging signals from their match against Pakistan, and they would want to build on them ahead of the business end of this tournament and much sterner assays in the waiting.

Pakistan pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf had reduced India to 66 for 4 by the 15th over. At that point, India's worries might have been accentuated by the fact that they have a jelly middle-order.

Ishan Kishan was playing the first match of his career at No. 5 in ODIs and Hardik Pandya never really fitted the bill of a firefighter.

However, both Kishan and Pandya overcame their personal predicaments to amass 138 runs for the fifth wicket, cornerstone of India's eventual 266.

Kishan was particularly impressive, as his forte is being a dashing top-order batsman.

So, there was that hint of doubt whether Kishan would be able to make the necessary adjustments to his batting and approach to suit the No. 5 slot.

He excelled on both the counts. As a top-order batter Kishan was susceptible to pacers who could move the ball around.

Instead of trusting his defence, Kishan's method to get out of the cage was being aggressive. But here he had to be defensive.

Rauf, Afridi and Naseem Shah tested his fortitude but for once Kishan showed that he can offer a scratch.

Nepal do not have the quality of Pakistan, but Kishan would like to have a go at them and add some more runs under his belt to boost his new profile.

Similarly, the management will also welcome the composure Pandya showed while playing second fiddle to Kishan, and the seamless shifting of gears the all-rounder did after the left-hander's dismissal.

The adaptability and the no-egotistical methods of Pandya would have pleased the think-tank no end.

Even though the stuttering effort of their top four – Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer – against Pakistan pacers could be treated as an aberration, the management would want them to get into ODI mode at the earliest.

Rohit and Kohli were rested for the ODIs against the West Indies, while Shreyas Iyer is making his return after an injury lay-off.

Nepal might just give the trio the perfect opposition to earn some valuable game time and runs.

However, the team top brass might be a tad disappointed because the bowlers never got a chance to test their skills against a quality opponent in Pakistan.

They would have been eager to see how Jasprit Bumrah responded to the task of bowling 10 overs and fielding the length of 50 overs.

His performance would have been be keenly monitored against Nepal but the pace spearhead is unavailable for the game due to personal reasons.

Nepal, who lost to Pakistan by 238 runs in the tournament opener, would be eager to mask their lack of cricketing pedigree with their enthusiasm.

Their biggest hope to make some impact in the match will be leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane and captain Rohit Paudel.

But in the real world, they will be more than happy to limit the damage to the minimum against a cricketing powerhouse like India.

Teams (from): India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson (travelling reserve).

Nepal: Rohit Paudel (captain), Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Bhim Sharki, Kushal Malla, Aarif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Pratish GC, Mousom Dhakal, Sundeep Jora, Kishore Mahato, Arjun Saud.

Match starts at 3 PM IST.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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BJP Names Ex Deputy Chief Minister As Rajya Sabha Candidate From UP

The BJP on Sunday named former Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma as its candidate for the September 15 by-election to a Rajya Sabha seat from the state.

The bypoll has been necessitated due to the death of incumbent MP Hardwar Dubey, who was also from the BJP. The term of the seat is till November 2026.

Speaking to PTI, Dinesh Sharma thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other senior party leaders for the opportunity to be a member of the Upper House of Parliament.

"I will work for the party to ensure that Narendra Modi ji becomes the prime minister for the third time," Sharma, who is a member of the UP legislative council, said.

Mr Sharma's election is all but certain due to the strong majority the BJP enjoys in the state assembly. Like Dubey, he is also from the Brahmin community.

In the 403-member UP legislative assembly, the BJP has 255 MLAs, while its allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) and NISHAD party have 13 MLAs and six MLAs respectively. New NDA partner SBSP has 6 MLAs in the Assembly.

The SP has 108 MLAs and its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) has nine MLAs. Congress and Jansatta Dal Loktantrik have two MLAs each, while the BSP has one MLA. One seat (Ghosi) is vacant.

Mr Sharma was one of the two deputy chief ministers in the first term of the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government between 2017-22.

He held portfolios of secondary education, higher education, science and technology and IT and electronics.

After being replaced by Brajesh Pathak following the 2022 UP Assembly polls, Sharma had said that he will continue to strengthen the party to ensure that it emerges winner in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"I will continue to work for the party and strengthen it. As a party worker, I will strive to ensure that the BJP emerges victorious in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections," Mr Sharma had earlier told PTI.

The 59-year-old leader has been a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party for long but emerged on the central stage of politics with his appointment as its National Vice President in August 2014 after the party's landslide victory in the parliamentary polls.

After he was made the in-charge of party affairs in Gujarat, his stature in the party grew immensely.

He was first elected as the Mayor of Lucknow in 2008. He stood for re-election in 2012 and defeated his nearest rival Neeraj Bora of the Congress (now a BJP MLA from Lucknow North) by over 1.71 lakh votes.

It was on his invitation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attended the Lucknow Ramlila in October 2016.

He also played a key role in the organisation (2014-15) during its membership drive when 10 crore new members were roped in.

Mr Sharma has also been a party observer to Haryana for electing its chief minister and to Rajasthan to elect the state BJP chief.

He was also the state chief of the UP Mayor Council from 2007 to March 18, 2017.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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फिन एलेन और ग्लेन फिलिप्स ने अंग्रेजों के घर में मचाई तबाही, एजबेस्टन टी20 में कीवियों का पलटवार

न्यूजीलैंड ने इंग्लैंड के खिलाफ टी20 सीरीज में जबरदस्त वापसी की है. कीवी टीम ने 4 मैचों की सीरीज के तीसरे टी20 मैच में अंग्रेजों को 74 रन से पराजित किया. इससे पहले शुरुआती दो टी20 मैचों में कीवी टीम को हार मिली थी. तीसरा टी20 गंवाने के बावजूद इंग्लैंड की टीम सीरीज में 2-1 से आगे है.

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IND vs PAK: हार्दिक ने पाक के खोले धागे, अब नेपाल को दी खुली चेतावनी, कहा- हम सोमवार को...

भारत और पाकिस्तान (India vs Pakistan) के बीच मुकाबले में बारिश विलेन बनी रही. इस मुकाबले पर पूरी तरह हावी बारिश के कारण इस मैच को रद्द कर दिया गया. इस मैच के हीरो रहे हार्दिक पंड्या ने सोमवार के लिए नेपाल को खुली चेतावनी दे दी है.

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"It's A Tough Match": Shashi Tharoor Predicts India-Pakistan Game Result

Ahead of high octane clash between India and Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2023, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said the catch between arch-rivals will be a close one but Men in Blue will come out victorious.  Men in Blue will take on Pakistan at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in their Asia Cup 2023 opener on Saturday.  "I am a great fan and I would have loved to have been watching that match tomorrow. Fortunately or unfortunately, I am going to be on a roadshow at that time when the match starts..." Shashi Tharoor told ANI. Pakistan recently rose to No.1 in the ICC Men's ODI Team Rankings and Tharoor acknowledged the opposition is a good side heading into this tournament. 

"It's a tough match because the Pakistan side is a good side. They are full strength and we are, unfortunately, still hit by injuries for some of our key players. But, nonetheless, I hope we will give a good account of ourselves, it will be a close match but we will come out on top tomorrow," Tharoor added. 

For the first time in several months, India is entering the competition with a full-strength team. They finished a camp on the outskirts of Bengaluru in Alur and will be confident in the line-up, with the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Jasprit Bumrah returning to the setup.  

Pakistan began their Asia Cup campaign with a thumping win over Nepal in the first game while India will start their tournament journey against arch-rival on Saturday in Pallekele.

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"Free To Live As They Wish": Delhi High Court Reunites Lesbian Couple

The Delhi High Court directed the family members and relatives of a 22-year-old lesbian not to threaten or put pressure on her or her partner. The court said that they are at liberty to live their lives according to their own style.

The court's order came after the woman submitted that she does not want to go back to her family and would like to stay with her partner.

The woman is an adult and cannot be forced to go to any place against her wishes, it said and made clear that if any of the parties violated its order, action would be taken against them.

"We hereby make it clear that the parents, relatives and their associates shall not extend any threat in whatsoever manner directly or indirectly or undue pressure upon the petitioner as well as the survivor. The petitioner and the survivor are at liberty to live their lives in the society as per their own style," a bench of justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena Bansal Krishna said.

The court was hearing a habeas corpus petition by the woman's partner who claimed that she was "missing" and was allegedly taken away by her family members as they were against their relationship.

On the last date of hearing, the woman was produced before the court which had then directed the police to take her to a shelter home and make necessary arrangements for her boarding and lodging there.

On August 29, the bench said, "We find that the woman is 22 years old and as per law, she cannot be forced to go to any place against her wishes". 

"We are of the considered opinion that the woman is at liberty to stay with whomsoever and wherever she wants," it had said.

The woman's father, who was also present in the court, assured the bench that all her documents and belongings would be handed over to her through a police official.

The bench also permitted the couple to live together at a place where the petitioner was staying and directed the Station House Officer (SHO) of the police station concerned to share the contact number of the woman sub-inspector and beat constable with them.

The high court had earlier directed the parents and maternal uncle of the woman to undergo counselling in order to prepare themselves to accept her "as per her wishes".

However, on August 29, the bench was informed that during the counselling session, the woman's uncle stated before the counsellor that she was brainwashed by her partner.

He said that he tried reading about homosexuality but the family found it difficult to accept it.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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UP T-20 Leauge: कानपुर सुपरस्टार्स ने मेरठ मेवरिक्स को 7 विकट से हराया, 205 रन का मिला था लक्ष्य

मेरठ मेवरिक्स ने 205 रन का लक्ष्य कानपुर सुपर स्टार्स को दिया. कानपुर सुपर स्टार्स की ओर से मैदान में उतरे समीर रिजवी ने 59 गेंद पर 122 रन की शानदार पारी खेलते हुए मेरठ मेवरिक्स को 7 विकेट हराया.

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