2nd T20I: Nitish Reddy, Rinku power India to 221/9 against Bangladesh
New Delhi, Oct 9: The promising Nitish Kumar Reddy played the most attractive innings of his nascent career while Rinku Singh too sizzled with a blistering fifty as India posted 221/9 in the second T20I against Bangladesh here on Wednesday.
Reddy (74 off 34 balls) and Rinku (53 off 29) put up a crucial 108-run stand for the fourth wicket to pull India out of a precarious position.
Put into bat, the Indian top-order was outfoxed by the pace trio of Tanzim Hasan, Mustafizur Rehman and Taskin Ahmed. They varied their pace to get the desired results.
Bangladesh started the inning with some spin in the form of Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Sanju Samson punished the off-spinner with back-to-back boundaries to plunder 15 runs from the first over.
But Samson bungled up his start, getting out to Taskin.
After only two runs in the second over, Abhishek Sharma slammed back-to-back boundaries and looked to slog Tanzim Hasan but the 147kmph delivery induced an inside edge, which resulted in his off-stump cartwheeling.
Shanto introduced Mustafizur into the attack in the sixth over and the experienced campaigner started off with slower deliveries, with the third one paying dividends as Suryakumar Yadav chipped a cutter straight into the hands off Shanto as India lost their third wicket in the powerplay.
But Reddy blasted the Bangladesh attack to hit seven maximums and four boundaries in only 34 balls. Playing only his second T20I, he brought up his maiden fifty in 27 balls by knocking the ball toward long-on.
At the other end Rinku, who hit five boundaries and three maximums, also showcased his big-hitting prowess as he smashed the first six of the match off leg-spinner Rishad Hossain in the eighth over.
Reddy too took a liking to Rishad, pummelling three maximums in the 10th over to take India past 100.
He first clobbered one across long on. Rishad erred in his length once again and was met with similar treatment as Reddy slogged it over wide long on. The third six came behind mid wicket.
The 21-year-old was eventually sent back by Mustafizur, who bowled a slower ball once again, but not before receiving a standing ovation.
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Andhra to be developed as knowledge, creator economy hub: CM Naidu
New Delhi/Amaravati (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the state is taking steps to transform itself into a knowledge and creator economy hub with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
He noted that Andhra Pradesh has abundant tech-driven youth and the government is formulating plans to train them in futuristic technologies with support from global technology firms.
"Our goal is to transform Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge hub by focusing on AI, quantum computing, data centres, drone cities and space cities. The youth will remain our biggest asset over the next 25 years, and we seek global partnerships to scale up the creator economy," said Naidu during his interactions at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi.
Naidu, who participated in the summit in the national capital, also held meetings with several global technology leaders and industrialists to explore collaborations in artificial intelligence, clean energy and innovation ecosystems.
He met Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Autodesk AI Head Mike Haley, Aramco India Director Abdul Rehman AiThukair, LEGO Education Vice President Tom Hall, Aadhaar Founder and CTO Srikanth Nadhamuni, Khosla Ventures Managing Partner Vinod Khosla and others at the AP Pavilion.
The chief minister also held discussions with Saudi Aramco representatives on clean energy projects, including solar initiatives, and invited the company to expand operations in Andhra Pradesh, stating that the state is highly suitable for green energy production.
He sought support from NVIDIA Vice President Callista Redmond for establishing AI Living Labs and proposed partnerships through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to promote youth innovation, including collaborations with IIT Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati under the Andhra Pradesh Future Innovation and Research for Science and Technology (AP FIRST) initiative.
Naidu urged Autodesk leadership to support the development of Global Capability Centres in design engineering and requested the establishment of an Innovation Academy in Amaravati aligned with quantum technology, besides proposing AI and robotics learning labs in partnership with LEGO Education.
He also discussed AI-driven smart governance solutions with Quantela Inc Chairman Sridhar Gadhi, while World Bank Group Digital AI Regional Director Mahesh Uttamchandani met Naidu on the sidelines of the summit.
Following the meetings, Naidu visited various exhibition stalls at the summit, including those of NVIDIA, Tata, Intel and Microsoft, and reviewed AI applications across agriculture, healthcare and industry.
