Afghanistan hires Younis Khan as team mentor for Champions Trophy
Islamabad, Jan 8: Afghanistan has hired former Pakistan captain Younis Khan as a mentor for its men's cricket team at next month's Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said in a statement on Wednesday that the 47-year-old batting great will join the team in Pakistan ahead of the Champions Trophy and will stay with Afghanistan at the tournament.
Younis, who played 118 Tests, 265 ODIs and 25 T20s for Pakistan, retired from international cricket in 2017 and briefly worked with the national team as batting coach in 2021 before quitting after differences with the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Afghanistan is in Group B with England, Australia and South Africa. It will play its first match against South Africa at Karachi on Feb. 21.
More than 160 U.K. politicians have urged England to refuse to play against Afghanistan. The politicians wrote asking the England and Wales Cricket Board to take a stand against the Taliban regime's assault on women's rights.
It will be a second stint for Younis with Afghanistan, having previously worked with the team at a training camp in Abu Dhabi in 2022.
It will be the third straight major ICC tournament where Afghanistan has utilized local expertise by appointing a mentor, after former India international Ajay Jadeja for the 2023 World Cup in India, and Dwayne Bravo as bowling consultant at the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and U.S.
“Since the Champions Trophy is being held in Pakistan, it was required to assign a talented and experienced player as mentor from the hosting country,” ACB chief executive Naseeb Khan said.
Afghanistan finished sixth at the World Cup in India after beating England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to seal its Champions Trophy place. At the T20 World Cup, Afghanistan advanced to the semifinals.
The Champions Trophy will begin Feb. 19 at Karachi.
India, which is in Group A with Pakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh, will play all its games in Dubai.
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Activist arrested for uploading fabricated audio, documents to defame KAS officer
Bengaluru (PTI): Social activist Snehamayi Krishna was arrested for allegedly creating fake documents and uploading a fabricated audio clip on social media to defame a senior KAS officer, police said on Friday.
Krishna, a resident of Mysuru, was taken into custody by the Central Crime Branch, they said.
The arrest followed an investigation into a complaint filed by D B Natesh, a senior Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) officer and former Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Commissioner.
A case was registered on February 18 at the Bengaluru City Cyber Crime Police Station.
According to police, Krishna allegedly created fake documents and an audio clip using the complainant’s photograph and uploaded them on his Facebook account, carrying out a defamatory campaign and targeting the officer.
“During the investigation, evidence was collected from the complainant and social media platforms, and the audio clip uploaded on Facebook was examined,” a statement from the office of Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said.
Following a court-issued search warrant, police conducted a search at the accused’s residence and seized relevant documents, it said.
Police added that a notice had been issued to Krishna to appear before them, and he has been secured and is being questioned in connection with the case.
