Bumrah named captain of Cricket Australia's Test team of year, Jaiswal too makes it
Sydney, Dec 31: Jasprit Bumrah was on Tuesday recognised for his splendid performances in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as Cricket Australia named the Indian pace spearhead as the captain of its Test team of the year, which also features Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Bumrah has been the best bowler in Test cricket in 2024 with 71 wickets from 13 matches at an average of 14.92 and a strike rate of 30.16.
"One of the greatest calendar years by a bowler ever; not since Dale Steyn's 74-wicket 2008 has a pace bowler been as prolific and not since Imran Khan's 1982 (62 victims at 13.29) has one taken them at a better rate," CA, the game's governing body in the country, said of Bumrah.
"Yes, he has torched Australia amid of the greatest tours by a visiting quick of all-time, but he also cleaned up England with 19 poles in four Tests on unhelpful home surfaces as every other seamer went around the park.
"As the only member of this side to have skippered their team in 2024 (leading India to victory in Perth) Bumrah also gets the captaincy reins – a job he could well see more of in future," CA added.
The peerless fast bowler has been the best bowler in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy with 30 wickets in just four Tests.
Apart from Bumrah, Jaiswal has been picked as the opener for his exploits with the bat in the year.
Jaiswal finished the year as the second-highest scorer with 1,478 runs from 15 matches (29 innings) at an average of 54.74 with nine fifties and three centuries.
For Jaiswal, CA wrote, "India's bright young batting star was only 22 for all but four days of 2024 but played with the composure and class of a veteran.
"Jaiswal's back-to-back double centuries in February ensured a home Test series win for India over England, while the left-hander's stunning 161 in Perth was also decisive.
"His runs tally is the most by an Indian opener in a calendar year and his 36 sixes is a new worldwide benchmark for a calendar year."
Meanwhile, Australia captain Pat Cummins failed to make it to the XI despite enjoying a good year with 37 wickets from nine matches at an average of 24.02 with two five-wicket hauls.
Alex Carey and Josh Hazlewood were the two Australians in the team, while the others included England's Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Harry Brook, New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra and Matt Henry, Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis and South Africa's Keshav Maharaj.
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Delhi court sentences Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia, associate to life imprisonment
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court has sentenced Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia and his associate to life imprisonment under MCOCA provisions, but refused the death penalty saying the offences did not fall under the category of 'rarest of the rare cases'.
Additional Sessions Judge Vandana Jain sentenced Gulia and Dhirpal alias Kana to rigorous imprisonment for life under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
In an order dated December 13, the judge said, "Death sentence can only be awarded in 'rarest of the rare cases' wherein the murder is committed in an extremely inhumane, barbarous, grotesque or dastardly manner as to arouse umbrage of the community at large."
The judge said that on weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, it could be concluded that the present case did not fall under the category, and so, the death penalty could not be imposed upon the convicts.
"Thus, both the convicts are sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs 3 lakh each, for committing the offence under Section 3 of MCOCA," she said.
The public prosecutor, seeking the death penalty for both the accused, submitted that they were involved in several unlawful activities while they were on bail in other cases.
He argued that the accused had shown no respect for the law and acted without any fear of legal consequences, and therefore did not deserve any leniency from the court.
The court noted that both convicts were involved in offences of murder, attempt to murder, extortion, robbery, house trespass, and criminal intimidation. Besides, they had misused the liberty of interim bail granted to them by absconding.
It said, "The terror of the convicts was such that it created fear psychosis in the mind of the general public, and they lost complete faith in the law enforcement agencies and chose to accede to the illegal demands of convicts. Despite suffering losses, they could not gather the courage to depose against them."
The court noted that Gulia was involved in at least 18 criminal cases, while Dhirpal had links to 10 serious offences.
It underlined that MCOCA had been enacted "keeping in view the fact that organised crime had come up as a serious threat to society, as it knew no territorial boundaries and is fuelled by illegal wealth generated by committing the offence of extortion, contract killings, kidnapping for ransom, collection of protection money, murder, etc."
Both accused persons had been convicted on December 10 in a case registered at Najafgarh police station. The police filed a chargesheet under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) and 4 (punishment for possessing unaccountable wealth on behalf of member of organised crime syndicate) of MCOCA.
