Harmanpreet to play for Trent Rockets; Pakistan stars Babar Azam, Rizwan remain unsold
London (PTI): India women's team captain Harmanpreet Kaur will play for Trent Rockets while her deputy Smriti Mandhana will turn out for Southern Brave in this year's The Hundred cricket tournament. In contrast, top players in the Pakistan men’s team, captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, went unsold.
While Harmanpreet was signed by Trent Rockets at The Hundred draft held on Thursday, Mandhana was retained by Southern Brave. A total of 64 positions -- men and women -- were filled up in Thursday's The Hundred Draft.
The women's draft was held for the first time. Among big names among men, Pakistanis Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf were picked up by Welsh Fire.
Former West Indies captain Kieron Pollard and New Zealand left-arm pacer Trent Boult also were unsold.
The 2023 edition of The Hundred will begin on August 1, with Trent Rockets taking on Southern Brave in the men's and women's competition respectively.
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Suvendu Adhikari says Bangladesh should be taught a “lesson like Israel taught Gaza”
Kolkata: Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Suvendu Adhikari has sparked controversy after stating that Bangladesh should be taught a “lesson like Israel has taught Gaza.”
Adhikari made the remark while speaking to reporters outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata on Friday, December 26. “These people must be taught a lesson, just like Israel taught Gaza. Our 100 crore Hindus and the government working in the interest of Hindus must teach them a lesson just as we taught Pakistan a lesson in Operation Sindoor,” he said.
The statement came amid protests being held outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission since December 22, following the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das, a 27-year-old garment factory worker in Bangladesh. Das was killed on December 18 in the Mymensingh district, where his body was allegedly hung from a tree and set on fire in public view.
Adhikari was part of a five-member delegation that met senior officials of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission on Friday. Speaking after the meeting, he claimed that the diplomats had “no answer to most of his questions” related to the killing and the situation of minorities in Bangladesh.
Reacting to his comments, the All India Trinamool Congress accused the BJP of promoting hate and intolerance. In a post on X, the party described Adhikari’s remarks as hate speech and alleged that they amounted to a call for violence, while also questioning the absence of legal action against him.
Adhikari’s statement has added to political tensions in West Bengal and raised concerns over inflammatory rhetoric linked to sensitive international and communal issues.
The @BJP4India’s Bengal ‘face’ wants a Gaza like operation against Bangladesh. Dog whistles that the @narendramodi government is for ‘Hindus’ only. Do you concur with this @narendramodi @DrSJaishankar ? Dirty politics of Divide and Rule won’t work in Bengal, @SuvenduWB pic.twitter.com/vLWm9b3AXb
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) December 27, 2025
