Gambhir flies back home for "personal emergency", to rejoin in Adelaide
Perth (PTI): India head coach Gautam Gambhir has flown back to India with his family due to "personal emergency" and is unlikely to be present during the the two-day pink ball warm-up game in Canberra starting November 30.
Gambhir, however, is slated to directly link up with the squad in Adelaide before the 'Pink Ball Test' starting December 6.
It is understood that Gambhir has sought permission from BCCI brass with regards to his return.
"He left with his family on early Tuesday morning for India. It is an unavoidable personal emergency. He will be back in Adelaide before the start of the second Test match," a BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
The Indian team will leave for Canberra on Wednesday, November 27 where the entire team is expected to attend an official reception thrown in their honour by the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The two-day Pink ball match will give the Indian team a chance to get some game time under its belt.
PMXI is a squad full of youngsters but India will get some good match practice with pacer Scott Boland expected to play the game.
The rules of the game will be decided by the two teams and it is expected that everyone will bat and ball as it won't have an official status.
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Trump warns he's considering limited strikes as Iranian diplomat says proposed deal is imminent
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump warned on Friday that limited strikes against Iran are possible even as the country's top diplomat said Tehran expects to have a proposed deal ready in the next few days following nuclear talks with the United States.
In response to a reporter's question on whether the US could take limited military action as the countries negotiate, Trump said, “I guess I can say I am considering that.” Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a TV interview that his country was planning to finalise a draft deal in “the next two to three days” to then send to Washington.
“I don't think it takes long, perhaps, in a matter of a week or so, we can start real, serious negotiations on the text and come to a conclusion,” Araghchi said on MSNOW's “Morning Joe” show.
The tensions between the longtime adversaries have ramped up as the Trump administration pushes for concessions from Iran and has built up the largest US military presence in the Middle East in decades, with more warships and aircraft on the way. Both countries have signalled that they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran's nuclear programme fizzle out.
“We are prepared for war, and we are prepared for peace,” Araghchi said Friday.
Trump said a day earlier that he believes 10 to 15 days is “enough time” for Iran to reach a deal following recent rounds of indirect negotiations, including this week in Geneva, that made little visible progress. But the talks have been deadlocked for years, and Iran has refused to discuss wider US and Israeli demands that it scale back its missile program and sever ties to armed groups.
Araghchi also said Friday that his American counterparts have not asked for zero enrichment of uranium as part of the latest round of talks, which is in contradiction to what US officials have said.
"What we are now talking about is how to make sure that Iran's nuclear programme, including enrichment, is peaceful and will remain peaceful forever," he said.
He added that in return Iran will implement some confidence-building measures in exchange for relief on economic sanctions.
In response to Araghchi's claim, a White House official said Trump has been clear that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons or the capacity to build them and that it cannot enrich uranium. The official wasn't authorised to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Tehran has long insisted that any negotiations should only focus on its nuclear programme and that it hasn't been enriching uranium since US and Israeli strikes last June on Iranian nuclear sites. Trump said at the time that the strikes had “obliterated” Iran's nuclear sites, but the exact damage is unknown as Tehran has barred international inspectors.
Iran has also insisted that its nuclear programme is peaceful. The US and others suspect it is aimed at eventually developing weapons.
