Afghanistan stun defending champions England by 69 runs in huge World Cup upset.
New Delhi (PTI): Displaying the valour that best epitomises the people of the strife-torn nation, Afghanistan caused one of the biggest upsets in the history of World Cup as they outclassed defending champions England by 69 runs here on Sunday.
The Afghans' epic triumph against the overwhelming favourites, one of the game's traditional heavyweights, was a reflection of the spirit and courage of the battle-hardened tribe from the country ravaged by years of war and internal conflicts.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz gave early impetus while Ikram Alikhil provided the final flourish to guide Afghanistan to a competitive 284 all out after being put into bat.
The Afghan bowlers then thrived under lights, dishing out a collective effort to bundle out England for 215 runs in 40.3 overs and register just their second World Cup win, eight years since their last against Scotland in Australia.
While this was Afghanistan's first win in the ongoing tournament after two losses, England slumped to their second defeat from three games.
Rashid Khan (3/37) and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (3/51) were the pick of the Afghan bowlers.
Harry Brook (66 off 61) was the only shining light in what was a dismal batting display from England.
Credit should also go to former England batter Jonathan Trott, who is the present Afghanistan coach, for having played a key role in the team's rise.
England did not have the best of starts to their chase with Fazalhaq Farooqi inflicting an early blow in the form of Jonny Bairstow, who was caught plumb in front of the wicket in the second over.
Farooqi generated pace and troubled the English batters in the beginning.
The Kotla pitch also had something for the spinners as the ball kept low and turned under lights.
The in-form Joe Root, who had scored back-to-back fifties, was done in by a Mujeeb delivery that kept low and crashed onto the stumps.
Dawis Malan played cautiously for his 32 off 39 balls before handing a simple catch to Ibrahim Zadran at short extra cover off Mohammad Nabi, as England stuttered to 68 for 3.
England completely failed to judge the pitch as their decision to bowl first backfired with the pitch offering enough assistance to the bowlers in the second session.
Skipper Jos Buttler also failed to rescue his side as he was cleaned up by Naveen-ul-Haq with a delivery that came in after pitching.
England continued to lose wickets in regular intervals as Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran and Chris Woakes also failed with the bat.
Earlier, opener Gurbaz gave the Afghans a flying start, scoring 80 off 57 balls, while number 6 batter Alikhil made a solid 58 off 66 deliveries, as Afghanistan recovered from a mid-innings collapse to post a good total.
Off-colour in the first two matches, Afghanistan openers -- Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran (28) -- rose to the occasion, scoring the team's 50 in just 6.3 overs.
The Afghan openers meant business and played copybook shots to score their runs. The duo didn't take too many risks and Gurbaz mainly ruled the roost, taking the attack to the English bowlers.
He played all around the park and his shots through the covers and flicks were a treat to watch.
With Afghanistan scoring runs thick and fast, Buttler introduced Adil Rashid (3/42) in the 11th over but Gurbaz was in a relentless mood as he swept the leg-spinner for a boundary to bring up his fifty in just 33 balls.
Gurbaz looked in ominous form as he dispatched Rashid over deep midwicket to bring up Afghanistan's 100 in just 76 deliveries.
England tasted their first success in the 17th over when an under-pressure Zadran (28 off 48 balls) gave a simple catch to Root at short mid wicket but not before adding 114 runs for the opening wicket.
England got back into the game an over later with back-to-back wickets.
First Rashid dismissed Rahmat Shah, stumped by Buttler and then in the very next ball Afghanistan suffered a big blow in the form of Gurbaz, who became a victim of an unnecessary run out.
Gurbaz decorated his innings with eight boundaries and four sixes.
Following Gurbaz's dismissal, runs started to dry up for Afghanistan as skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai looked to revive the innings.
Omarzai tried to break the shackles in the 25th over, clobbering Chris Woakes for a six and four.
But Omarzai departed in the next over, slicing a Livingstone delivery to Woakes at long off as Afghanistan lost four wickets for just 38 runs.
Shahidi too didn't last long, bowled by Root with the Afghan skipper caught in two minds.
Veteran Nabi also departed as the Afghans slumped to 190 for 6 from a commanding position.
Alikhil, then, played a fine knock and decorated his innings with three fours and two sixes to prop up his team.
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'Made in India' must become symbol of excellence, global competitiveness: PM
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called upon states to encourage manufacturing, boost 'ease of doing business' and strengthen the services sector to make India a global services giant.
Addressing the 5th National Conference of Chief Secretaries here, Modi emphasised the need for quality in governance, service delivery and manufacturing, and said the label 'Made in India' must become a symbol of excellence and global competitiveness.
He said India has the potential to become the world's food basket and the country must move towards high-value agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries to become a major food exporter.
"Called upon states to encourage manufacturing, boost 'Ease of Doing Business' and strengthen the services sector. Let us aim to make India a Global Services Giant," Modi said in a series of posts on X.
The theme of the three-day conference, which began on December 26, was 'Human Capital for Viksit Bharat'.
Modi observed that this conference marks another decisive step in strengthening the spirit of cooperative federalism and deepening Centre-State partnership to achieve the vision of a 'Viksit Bharat'.
Highlighting India's demographic advantage, he said nearly 70 per cent of the population is in the working-age group, creating a unique historical opportunity which, when combined with economic progress, can significantly accelerate the journey towards a 'Viksit Bharat', according to an official statement.
Modi said India has boarded the "Reform Express", driven primarily by the strength of its young population, and empowering this demographic remains the government's key priority.
He noted that the conference is being held at a time when the country is witnessing next-generation reforms and steadily moving towards becoming a major global economic power.
Underlining the need to strengthen 'atmanirbharta' (self-reliance), he said India must pursue self-reliance with zero defect in products and minimal environmental impact, making the label 'Made in India' synonymous with quality and strengthening the commitment to "zero effect, zero defect".
The PM urged the Centre and states to jointly identify 100 products for domestic manufacturing to reduce import dependence and strengthen economic resilience in line with the vision of 'Viksit Bharat'.
In higher education, too, he said, there is a need for academia and industry to work together to create high-quality talent.
He highlighted that India has a rich heritage and history with the potential to be among the top global tourist destinations.
Modi urged the states to prepare a roadmap for creating at least one global-level tourist destination and nourishing an entire tourist ecosystem.
He said it is important to align the national sports calendar with the global sports calendar.
"India is working to host the 2036 Olympics. India needs to prepare infrastructure and sports ecosystem at par with global standards," he said.
The prime minister said the next 10 years must be invested in the states, only then will India get the desired results in such sports events.
Every state must give this top priority and create infrastructure to attract global companies, he said.
In the services sector, Modi said, there should be greater emphasis on other areas like healthcare, education, transport, tourism, professional services and artificial intelligence, etc. to make India a global services giant.
He said India will soon be launching the National Manufacturing Mission (NMM).
States should work in tandem with the discussions and decisions emerging from the conferences of both chief secretaries and DGPs to strengthen governance and implementation.
The PM said similar conferences could be replicated at the departmental level to promote a national perspective among officers and improve governance outcomes in pursuit of a 'Viksit Bharat'.
In conclusion, he said every state must create a 10-year actionable plan based on the discussions of this conference with one, two, five and 10-year target timelines wherein technology can be utilised for regular monitoring.
The conference featured a series of special sessions that enabled focused deliberations on cross-cutting and emerging priorities.
It marks another important milestone in strengthening the Centre-State partnership through structured and sustained dialogue on national development priorities, according to the statement.
The PM's principal secretaries P K Mishra and Shaktikanta Das, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan, members of the NITI Aayog, chief secretaries of all states and Union territories, and domain experts attended the meeting.
Anchored in the prime minister's vision of cooperative federalism, this conference serves as the forum where the Centre and states collaborate, designing a unified roadmap to maximise India's human capital potential and accelerate inclusive, future-ready growth.
It has been organised annually over the past four years.
The first conference was held in Dharamshala in June 2022, followed by subsequent conferences in New Delhi in January 2023, December 2023 and December 2024.
