India beat Bangladesh in pink ball Test to record 12th successive series win at home
Kolkata: An untested pink ball was not able to reduce the glaring gulf between the two teams as India bulldozed Bangladesh by an innings and 46 runs in their first ever day-night Test to record a 12th home series win in a row.
With Bangladesh resuming their second innings at 152 for six on day three and trailing India by 89 runs, it was simply a matter of time for the home team to complete formalities.
The Virat Kohli-led side eventually completed the job for in less than 50 minutes for their four straight innings victory, becoming the first team do so. Barring Mushfiqur Rahim (74), Bangladesh batsmen were once again found wanting against high quality pace bowling, folding up for 195 in 41.1 overs. They were bowled out for 130 on day one.
With the resounding win, India also extended their lead in the World Test Championship by collecting 120 points from the two-match series. India had hammered Bangladesh by an innings and 130 runs in the series opener in Indore.
Eden Gardens played the perfect host for the historic game with packed crowds on all three days bringing back memories of the times when Test cricket was more popular. However, the lack of competition on the field was nowhere close to the hype surrounding the game.
The SG pink ball, which had not been tested in a competitive game before the big game, expectedly assisted India's lethal pace attack which took all the wickets on offer. An evidence of their menacing form was the amount of concussion subs Bangladesh had to use after the batsmen received heavy blows.
While Ishant Sharma took a five-wicket haul in the first innings, Umesh Yadav did the same in the second. The game will also be remembered for Virat Kohli's 27th Test ton, extending his overall tally to 70 international hundreds.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Trump returns from China; terms meeting with Xi as 'G-2'
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump returned from a visit to China, describing his discussions with President Xi Jinping as a meeting of leaders of "two great countries".
Trump landed at the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on the outskirts of the US capital on Friday evening, claiming to have struck important trade deals, including one for China's purchase of 200 aircraft from Boeing, with a promise for another 750, as well as agreements benefiting the American agriculture sector.
The US President reached here after a brief refuelling stop at Anchorage in Alaska.
“It’s the two great countries. I call it the G-2. This is the G-2. I think it’ll go down as a very important moment in history,” Trump told Fox News in an interview after meeting Xi on Thursday.
The Washington Post reported that Trump’s remarks put China on an equal footing with the US, exactly what Xi had aimed to achieve with the visit.
“Over two days of meetings here, the carefully choreographed pageantry and the reciprocal gestures of friendship and respect between the world’s two most powerful men displayed a geopolitical dynamic that the Chinese have long craved and Americans had resisted," the Post said.
Trump told Fox News that the relationship with Xi was important and suggested that China may not resort to any aggressive moves over Taiwan, at least till he is in office.
“It’s not a takeover. They just don’t want to see this place — we’ll call it a place because nobody knows how to define it — but they don’t want to see it go independent,” Trump said.
“I don’t think they’ll do anything when I’m here. When I’m not here. I think they might, to be honest with you,” Trump said.
"I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down," he said.
"We're not looking to have wars, and if you kept it the way it is, I think China's going to be OK with that," he added.
The US President said he had invited Xi for a visit to Washington in September.
“Xi has done something Chinese leaders have been working toward for decades — bringing an American president to Beijing as an undisputed peer,” said Julian Gewirtz, who served as China director on the National Security Council under President Joe Biden.
“Xi used the opulent optics of the visit to make clear to the world that China and the United States are the two dominant, equally matched superpowers. There is no going back.”
Trump’s friendly statements toward Xi and the Chinese people were being amplified in China’s state-controlled media, sending the message that “we’re getting along better with the Americans,” John Delury, a senior Fellow at the Asia Society, was quoted as saying by The New York Times.
It was understandable that Trump wanted to be polite to Xi, but that the American president’s gushing approach “weakens Trump and the US”, R. Nicholas Burns, the ambassador to China during the Biden administration, was quoted as saying in The New York Times.
“Xi did not hesitate to warn Trump over Taiwan. Trump should not hesitate to be frank about our concerns, too,” he said.
Trump and Xi are expected to meet at least three times this year.
The US President has invited Xi to the White House in September.
Trump may travel to Shenzhen in China for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in November. And Xi could come to the G-20 summit in December in Miami.
“This is a summit again that was heavier on symbolism than it was on substance — focus on managing problems, not on solving the problems that exist between the US and China,” said Rush Doshi, former National Security Council deputy senior director for China and Taiwan in the Biden administration.
“The way that both leaders talked about the future indicates that this is going to be part of a process that will play out this year,” said Kurt Campbell, former deputy secretary of State in the Biden administration.
