All-around India A defeat Pakistan A by 7 runs in ACC T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup
Al Amerat (Oman), Oct 19: India A excelled in all three departments, clinching a thrilling seven-run victory over Pakistan to kick off their ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup campaign on an exhilarating note here on Saturday.
India's top order fired in unison as it posted 183 for 8 with Tilak Verma top-scoring with a 35-ball 44 after opting to bat.
Pacers Anshul Kamboj (3/33) and Rasikh Salam (2/30) and spinner Nishant Sindhu (2/15) shared eight wickets amongst themselves to restrict Pakistan to 176/7.
Not only did India shine with the bat and ball, they also delivered an impressive performance in the field, particularly through Ramandeep Singh, who made a stunning catch and saved vital runs in the closing moments.
Openers Abhishek Sharma (35 off 22) and Prabhsimran Singh (36 off 19) unleashed an aggressive assault on the pace attack, sending the ball flying across the field.
Abhishek slapped consecutive boundaries in the first over, while Prabhsimran followed suit by dispatching Zaman Khan for a four and a six in the next over, setting a vibrant tone.
Together, they struck eight boundaries and five sixes, propelling India A to an impressive 68 without loss during the Powerplay.
However, the introduction of spin after the Powerplay slowed their momentum, leading to the loss of both Abhishek and Prabhsimran in quick succession. This brought skipper Verma (44) and Nehal Wadhera (25) to the crease.
As the pitch became increasingly sluggish, Verma took on the anchor role, while Wadhera and Ramandeep (17) found the boundaries.
After losing two wickets to the pace of all-rounder Anshul Kamboj early in the chase, Yasir Khan (33) and Qasim Akram (27) began to attack fiercely.
However, a spectacular catch by Ramandeep at deep midwicket broke their partnership, dismissing Yasir. In the same over, left-arm spinner Nishant made his mark by removing Akram.
Arafat Minhas top-scored for Pakistan with 29-ball 41 but it was Abdul Samad who blazed away to 25 off 15 balls. Samad walked in when Pakistan needed 58 more to win but the 26-year-old hit a six and two back-to-back boundaries off Vaibhav Arora in the 16th over to bring down the equation to 42 off 24 balls.
Samad continued to chip in with Pakistan needing 17 off the last over but the big-hitter was sent marching off the first ball by Anshul with India completing a memorable win.
Brief Scores:
India A 183 for 8 in 20 overs (Tilak Verma 44, Prabhsimran Singh 36; Sufiyan Muqeem 2/28).
Pakistan A 176 for 7 in 20 overs (Arafat Minhas 41, Yasir Khan 33; Anshul Kamboj 3/33).
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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.
