Kolkata (PTI): Calcutta High Court directed Indian pacer Mohammed Shami to pay his estranged wife, Hasin Jahan, and daughter a monthly alimony of Rs 4 lakh as maintenance during the ongoing legal battle with his spouse.

Jahan had moved the high court against a district sessions court's order directing the cricketer to pay Rs 50,000 to his wife and Rs 80,000 to her daughter in 2023.

"In my considered opinion, a sum of Rs 1,50,000 per month to the petitioner no.1 (wife) and Rs 2,50,000 to her daughter would be just fair and reasonable to ensure financial stability for both the petitioners, till disposal of the main application," the order passed by Justice Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee on Tuesday stated.

"However as regards petitioner's child the husband /opposite party No 2 will always be at liberty to voluntarily assist her with educational and/or other reasonable expenses, over and above the aforesaid amount," the order added.

Jahan had lodged an FIR at the Jadavpur police station against Shami and his family in March 2018, four years after their marriage in April 2014, alleging "enormous physical and mental torture" under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violation (PWDV) Act, 2005 and "sustained indifference and neglect" of her minor daughter.

Besides domestic violence, she also accused Shami of dowry harassment and match-fixing while alleging that Shami had stopped shouldering financial responsibility for running her family expenses.

She had prayed for monetary relief, including an interim monetary relief of Rs 7 lakh per month for herself and an additional Rs 3 lakh for her daughter.

The magistrate, while disposing of her application, had initially rejected her prayer for monetary relief and directed the pacer a monthly payment of Rs 80,000 towards his minor daughter.

On appeal, the order was later modified, directing Shami to a monthly payment of Rs 50,000 to his wife and Rs 80,000 to his daughter.

"In view of materials placed before me and considering the elements for the determination of the quantum of maintenance as held in the salutary judgments, I am of the view that the quantum of interim monetary relief as fixed by the court below requires revision," the high court order stated.

"The opposite party/husband's income, financial disclosure and earnings established that he is in a position to pay a higher amount. The petitioner's wife, who has remained unmarried and is living independently with the child, is entitled to a levelled maintenance that she enjoyed during her continuance of marriage and which reasonably secures her future as well as the future of the child," it went on to add.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Dharamsala (PTI): The countdown to save his place in the playing XI begins for a beleaguered Shubman Gill, who is likely to get three matches against South Africa to prove his worth before the Indian team management switches to a ‘Plan B’ ahead of the T20 World Cup, starting in six weeks.

As India gear up to play the third T20I against the Proteas on Sunday in sub-10-degree temperatures in the lap of the ice-clad Dhauladhar range, things are suddenly heating up in the Indian dressing room, with the prolonged poor form of skipper Suryakumar Yadav coming under the scanner.

ALSO READ: South Africa level series after de Kock special; Gill, SKY misfire again

Worse, his deputy Shubman Gill, who was pushed into the XI at the expense of a settled Sanju Samson, is not inspiring much confidence.

The South African pace attack featuring Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, Ottniel Baartman and Lutho Sipamla — has shown how to bowl on Indian tracks, and the HPCA Stadium strip, offering extra bounce and some movement off the surface, will certainly keep them interested.

Among all T20 sides, South Africa, in terms of personnel, appears to have the requisite balance to win the trophy in the Indian subcontinent this time. Quinton de Kock’s return, along with the likes of Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Donovan Ferreira, David Miller and all-rounder Jansen, gives their batting an intimidating look.

With only eight games, starting from the third T20I, left before the start of the T20 World Cup title defence, India's under-fire head coach Gautam Gambhir won't be able to afford, two out-of-form top-order batters in the starting line-up.

Being the skipper of the side, Surya will certainly have immunity going into the T20 World Cup despite being completely out of form for the past one year but same can't be said about Gill, who wasn't the original choice as an opener.

Gill's entry into the T20 set-up was a classic case of trying to fix something that ain't broken and things haven't looked good so far.

In this backdrop, Gill would need to bat out of his skin to prove that Ajit Agarkar-led committee wasn't wrong in throwing Samson under the bus for one bad series against England.

The stylish Indian Test and ODI skipper will have to find his T20 game and at least score in two of the three matches if he doesn't want Samson to get his rightful place back or for that matter, find Yashasvi Jaiswal, with a fabulous T20I strike-rate of 165, enter the fray during New Zealand series.

Lack of clarity

==========

While head coach Gambhir is too proud a person to admit but sending Axar Patel as a one drop batter during the second T20I was a "tactical brain fade" from the team's think-tank.

The kind misstep that was taken with Axar's promotion is unlikely to be repeated in the third game where skipper is expected to go back to No.3 where he has got a lot of success in his first few years at the international level.

Similarly, Shivam Dube being sent at number eight due to the shuffling of batting order was another poor call which would need course correction in the next game.

Is there a place for Kuldeep Yadav?

=========================

Kuldeep Yadav is one bowler who has consistently troubled the Proteas batter but in an Indian team where batting till No. 8 is non-negotiable, the left-arm wrist spinner often finds himself getting the rough end of the stick.

At Dharamsala too, he might have to sit out as Kuldeep and Varun Chakravarthy, two non-batters can't be clubbed in the same T20 playing eleven as that would lead to compromise in batting depth.

While Arshdeep hasn't had a good series so far, it will be interesting to find if team management can find a place for Kuldeep in the playing eleven with Hardik Pandya sharing the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah.

The five-match series is currently tied 1-1.

Teams:

India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, NT Tilak Verma, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar.

South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Lutho Sipamla, Ottniel Baartman, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde.

Match Starts at 7 pm.