In a first, captains speak to different presenters at toss after PCB insists on neutral person
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Dubai (PTI): Animosity between India and Pakistan team continued prior to the mega final of the Asia Cup with two presenters -- India's Ravi Shastri and Pakistan's Waqar Younis, conducting the snap interviews at the toss.
This is the first time in the history of international cricket that two former players will be conducting the toss interview as Pakistan didn't want to speak to Indian presenter Shastri following the bitter build-up to the title clash.
It is learnt that from among the broadcasters, Shastri, who has done the toss presentation during the earlier two Indo-Pak games in the tournament, had been assigned to speak to both Suryakumar Yadav and Salman Ali Agha after the toss.
However, a request was sent to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for a neutral presenter. When the ACC went back to BCCI with the request, they had clearly mentioned that Shastri can't be replaced.
As a middle-of-the-road solution, it was decided that Pakistan skipper Salman would speak to his country's pace legend Waqar, while Surya would interact with former India head coach Shastri.
Also, in a departure from convention, Salman did the trophy shoot alone instead of doing alongside his Indian counterpart.
As per sources in the BCCI, the ACC had never informed them about the toss photo-shoot. It must be mentioned that even during the 2024 T20 World Cup final in Barbados, there were no photoshoots involving India and South African skippers Rohit Sharma and Aiden Marrkram.
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Two girls injured in separate wolf attacks in UP's Bahraich
Bahraich (UP) (PTI): Two minor girls were injured in separate incidents of wolf attacks in the Bahraich district, forest department officials said on Saturday.
In the first incident on Friday, Anushka Nishad (5), daughter of Baliram from Mallahanpurwa village, was sleeping alone inside her house when a wolf entered and tried to carry her away, they said.
Hearing her screams, family members and villagers rushed to the spot. The wolf left the child, hearing the commotion, and ran towards the fields. The girl sustained minor injuries from the animal's teeth, the officials said.
Divisional Forest Officer Ram Singh Yadav described the attack as deliberate and cleverly planned, as it occurred precisely when Anushka's mother went out for a few moments.
On the same day, Nancy (4), daughter of Kamlesh Yadav, was playing outside her house in Baburi Tola village when a wolf suddenly attacked and dragged her away.
Villagers raised an alarm, and the wolf released the child and ran towards the sugarcane fields. The injured child was sent to the Kaiserganj Community Health Centre for treatment.
Divisional Forest Officer Ram Singh Yadav told reporters that both attacks involved wolves, adding that the entire area is plagued by the animal's activity.
Since September 9, such attacks in the Bahraich district have claimed 10 lives, including eight children and an elderly couple, and injured dozens of people, the officials said.
District Magistrate Akshay Tripathi met the families of the victims on Friday and consoled them.
