India vs Australia: 7 Year Old Archie Schiller Named Australia's 'Co-Captain' For Boxing Day Test
Cricket Australia announced on Sunday that seven-year-old Archie Schiller will lead the hosts in the iconic Boxing Day Test against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Schiller, who suffers from a rare heart condition, will be co-captain alongside Tim Paine in the third Test against India starting on Wednesday. The leg-spinner, who turned seven on Saturday, from Adelaide is set to partner Nathan Lyon after his ascension to the leadership role. Schiller was named in Australia's squad for the Boxing Day Test last month.
He learned of his inclusion in the extended squad for the third Test via a phone call from coach Justin Langer.
Schiller, a fan of Nathan "Gary the Goat" Lyon, confidently told Langer that he can get India skipper Virat Kohli out at the MCG.
Schiller, who aspires to be a leg-spinner, trained with the Australian players in Adelaide ahead of the first Test and was given the team jersey.
"Obviously Arch has been through a really tough period and his family," Paine said.
"When his dad asked him what he wanted to do, he said 'I want to captain Australia'.
"I think it's been picked up along the way and we're rapt to have someone like that around. He adds a bit of perspective I think.
"Sometimes we live a life, it's very good, but you can be consumed in your own life at times, so to have someone like that around is actually really inspiring for our group.
"It's great to have him around and we look forward to his debut on Boxing Day."
Australia go into the third Test of the four match series on a high after their series-levelling victory at the Optus stadium in Perth.
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Baramati plane crash: Rohit Pawar alleges attempts to shield VSR Ventures
Mumbai (PTI): NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday alleged that someone was trying to save VSR Ventures in connection with the plane crash that killed Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, and claimed that the AAIB preliminary probe vindicated the doubts earlier raised by him.
He also accused VSR company of indulging in several grave lapses in the past.
The Learjet 45 aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures, crashed near the Baramati air strip in Pune district on January 28, killing Pawar and four others.
In its 22-page preliminary report on the VSR Venture's Learjet plane crash, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said the visibility at the time of the crash was below the required level. It also flagged about fading marks on the runway and presence of loose gravels on the runway surface.
Pawar said, "I am not against VSR or the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Ajitdada was travelling in a VSR aircraft. Unless we go into the depth of every aspect, we will not know the truth. But someone is trying to save this company. The doubts we had raised have been proven correct in the inquiry report."
He also claimed that the AAIB report contained discrepancies, including mentioning Baramati as a district, and questioned how seriously the probe had been conducted.
Pawar, who has been regularly holding press conferences to raise issues concerning the Baramati plane crash, also contested the report's conclusion that the aircraft hit trees before crashing.
"The report says the aircraft struck trees and then fell. But there are no trees at that spot. There is only a small bush which the aircraft did not even touch. What is stated in the report about hitting trees is incorrect," he said.
Pawar further alleged that VSR Ventures had displayed irresponsibility on multiple occasions, citing an incident involving the then chief minister Eknath Shinde's Davos visit on January 20, 2023.
He claimed that the aircraft carrying Shinde had entered Iranian and Iraqi airspace without overflight permission, following which fighter jets from the two countries allegedly warned of action, forcing a change in route from Bahrain to Zurich.
"There have been several such grave lapses by VSR," he said.
Pawar demanded to know from where VSR Ventures derived its "audacity", and sought details about its investors and officials, though he added that he was not personally concerned with who they were.
Drawing a comparison, he said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had taken over the probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death within two days, whereas a month had passed since the Baramati crash without a similar action.
He claimed that VSR Ventures had two directors and three shareholders, and that there were eight common names across two related companies.
He further alleged that the owner of VSR was related to the Union Civil Aviation Minister and questioned why the company, though registered in Delhi, had made high-value investments in Jubilee Hills (upscale area in Hyderabad) at rates allegedly Rs 17 crore above the market price.
The MLA representing the Karjat-Jamkhed assembly constituency in Ahilyanagar district also raised concerns about the legal and institutional framework of the AAIB under the 2017 rules, claiming it was neither a statutory nor an autonomous body and remained answerable to the secretary and the minister, besides being attached to the DGCA.
"There is no independent investigative agency," he alleged.
