India ensure second WTC final berth, on verge of series win as Australia reach 158/2 at tea
Ahmedabad (PTI): India enjoyed some eventful gains on an uneventful day of cricket as they made the World Test Championship (WTC) final for the second time in a row and are on the verge of clinching the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the fourth successive time, with the final game against Australia set to end in a drab draw.
At tea, Australia were 158 for 2, leading by 67 runs with the match likely to be called off in the final session once the mandatory overs start.
India have now beaten Australia by an identical 2-1 margin in their last four series -- 2017 (home), 2018-19 (away), 2020-21 (away) and the current one (2023).
The Indian team had already booked their summit date with the Aussies at The Oval in London from June 7-11 just before the post-lunch session had begun as Kane Williamson's magnificent hundred saw New Zealand eke out one of the most thrilling wins against Sri Lanka in Christchurch.
With a featherbed of a track on offer, which former Australian opener Mark Waugh sarcastically said can host a "22-day Test match", an outcome favouring either side was almost impossible, with only two completed innings in four days.
For Australia, it was important that their batters made best use of the flat surface and lack of pressure, as they have already qualified for the WTC final. Travis Head (90 off 163 balls) will certainly put pressure on David Warner when he comes back while Marnus Labuschagne (56 batting, 174 balls), after an underwhelming series, won't mind a quality consolation knock.
The Indian team could feel chuffed after back-to-back WTC final qualification but head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma would know well that Australia will be a different proposition in the final where the track will certainly not aid the Indian spinners like it did in the first three Tests.
An Australian attack, comprising Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, skipper Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon on an early June English track, could prove to be a handful but India have won two series against this attack in Australia.
The designer tracks, meant to help Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, did serve their purpose but in cricket, ends don't always serve the means.
In England, India will have to play with a single spinner and that will be all-rounder Jadeja if he remains injury free. But not having Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant will hurt them in England way more than it would have in Indian conditions where pitches have done bulk of the job.
Kona Bharat (101 runs in 4 Test) isn't cut out for elite cricket and as a wicketkeeper isn't great shakes as he looked shaky against turning deliveries as well as when the wobbly seamers were bowling.
KL Rahul's form deserted him big time but there were two very significant gains that will boost the Indian team's confidence.
No one would have believed at the start of the series that Axar Patel (264 runs) will end up as the team's No. 2 run getter behind Virat Kohli (297 runs) with three half-centuries in four games. His batting has improved tremendously but less than five wickets in a four-Test series, where he was grossly under-bowled, doesn't do justice to his abilities.
Also, the Indian spin attack's limitations on a batting belter was once again exposed.
Ashwin had a tremendous first innings where he took six wickets and also ended up as the highest wicket-taker in the series. Ashwin, by far, looked the best spinner when the going got tough but the same couldn't be said about Jadeja and Axar, who were pedestrian and slightly out of sync the moment the surface had nothing to offer.
On the day, Head and Labuschagne hardly faced any difficulty while playing the two left-arm spinners as they moved between front-foot and back-foot at will. The only delivery from Axar that turned and bounced was the one that denied Head a well-deserved century.
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Stalin takes veiled dig at Palaniswami for doing ''politics'' by donning a farmer''s garb
Tiruvannamalai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday took a veiled dig at AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami saying some do politics by donning the garb of a farmer and yet support laws that are detrimental to ryots.
In his address after inaugurating an agriculture expo and seminar here, the chief minister said that in giving priority to agriculture and farmers, "our Dravidian model government is a pioneer."
As soon as the DMK assumed office in 2021, the Department of Agriculture was renamed as "Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department."
Taking a veiled dig at the BJP, and DMK President said "some will change names according to their whims and fancies, but they will make farmers helpless and prompt them to hit the streets to stage protest."
The reference is perceived to be aimed at the BJP and the three controversial farm laws that were repealed later by the Centre following protests by farmers.
Furthermore, apparently targeting AIADMK chief Palaniswami, Stalin said, "some others engage in politics by donning the garb of a farmer."
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"However, they support laws that affect farmers; they will trivialise the struggles of farmers."
Stalin said that unlike others, for the Dravidian model government, the welfare and growth of farmers alone is important.
"That was why we thought of raising the income of farmers by increasing production and productivity," the CM noted.
As part of steps to achieve that goal, a separate budget --encompassing a slew of welfare measures-- for agriculture was introduced.
So far, 5 agri-budgets have been presented in the Assembly and in total, Rs 1.94 lakh crore was the allocation. The last agri-budget alone had an allocation of Rs 45,661 crore and when compared to allocation made in 2021-22, it was a 33 per cent increase.
The chief minister said: "Today, technology has advanced so much. Science and technology have progressed to the extent that tasks which used to take many hours can now be completed in a few minutes, and work done by hundreds of people can now be accomplished by a few machines."
Only when such advancement reaches the hands of farmers, it would transform into true development.
"We are organising these agricultural exhibitions so that you do not have to wander in search of these technologies," the CM said told the farmers.
Wondering if it was enough to hold only an exhibition, Stalin said, in order to make farmers understand concepts and use advancements, discussions with agricultural scientists in as many as 13 topics have been arranged to benefit them.
Through such seminars, farmers could learn new cultivation methods and agricultural business opportunities, he added.
On the occasion, the CM distributed welfare assistance to farmers, marking distribution to as many as 518 farmers, worth about Rs 9.43 crore.
The 2-day exhibition (on Dec 27 and 28, 2025 at Tirukovilur Road) that was inaugurated by the chief minister here was the third such event held by the state government this year. The first expo was held in June at Perunthurai in Erode district and the second was held at Chennai Trade Centre in the month of September.
In a separate government function held at Malappambadi in the district, the chief minister inaugurated as many 314 projects which includes new buildings for state-run healthcare facilities, government offices and a new police station in Tiruvannamalai (New Temple PS) town.
He laid foundation stone for 46 initiatives including a new paddy godown to be set up at Vembakkam. Also, he distributed welfare assistance --which includes housing pattas, houses under Kalaignar Kanavu Illam Thittam and crop loans-- to beneficiaries marking commencement of distribution to as many as 2,66,194 beneficiaries.
All such initiatives (including projects inaugurated by the CM) are cumulatively worth about Rs 2095.07 crore, the government said.
