Ind vs Eng 1st test: India lead by 96 runs at stumps on day three
Leeds, Jun 22 (PTI): K L Rahul drove his way to a sublime 47 after England negated India's advantage by totalling 465 in their first innings as the visitors had another ordinary day in the field on day three of the first Test here on Sunday.
India dropped as many as five catches and barring Jasprit Bumrah, the effort from the pacers left a lot to be desired, allowing England to even out the game after the Shubman Gill-led side posted 471 in its first essay.
At stumps, India reached 90 for two with Rahul (47 batting off 75) and Shubman Gill (6 batting off 10).
Brydon Carse had Yashavi Jaiswal (4 off 11) caught behind with a ball that seamed away while Ben Stokes got rid of debutant Sai Sudharsan (30 off 48) for the second time in the game, the southpaw's flick falling into the hands of Zak Crawley at mid-wicket.Rahul was a delight to watch as he majority of his seven fours came via the cove driver off the fast bowlers. He did not look any discomfort whatsoever despite the ball doing a bit in overcast conditions.
Stumps were drawn when rain arrived at Headingley with India leading by 96 runs..
In an extended afternoon session, Harry Brook ran out of luck on 99 before Jasprit Bumrah completed a well deserved five wicket haul to ensure a slender six run first innings lead for India.
Before Bumrah castled Josh Tongue to end England innings, Chris Woakes (38 off 55) punished a predictable Indian pace attack to take his team close to India''s 471.
Hosts continued to find the boundaries at will as they collected 138 runs in 23.4 overs in the afternoon session with the loss of five wickets.
Prasidh Krishna removed Jamie Smith (40 off 52) and Brook (99 off 112) with the short ball but leaked too many runs at the same time with his one dimensional tactic, conceding 128 runs in 20 overs.
Bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur was under bowled again, raising questions over his selection. Bumrah, who has by far been the best Indian bowler on display, picked up his 14th fifer in the longest format ending with figures of 5/83 in 24.4 overs.
India's fielding have been their weakest link so far in the game and having been give two lives, Brook was dropped again, on 82, by Jaiswal off Bumrah.
The explosive England batter however could not use those chances to score a famous hundred and was dismissed on 99 in the 88th over. India had taken the new ball after 80 overs but were not able to make good use of it.
Captain Shubman Gill made questionable calls like introducing Ravindra Jadeja towards the end of the session and bringing back Bumrah for a late burst.
In the opening session, Brook went on the offensive against an inconsistent Indian pace attack, taking England to 327 for five at lunch.
Resuming at an overnight 209 for three, Brook ensured that England scored at a brisk pace, totalling 118 runs in 28 overs.
The visitors got two welcome wickets of overnight centurion Ollie Pope (106 off 137) and England captain Ben Stokes (20 off 52).
Like day two, the other Indian pacers could not match the accuracy of Bumrah.
Brook, dismissed off a Bumrah no ball at the stroke of stumps on day two, was dropped by wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant on 46 shortly before lunch. Jadeja, who was able to extract sharp turn from the rough, got one to turn away sharply but Pant could not hold on to the rising ball.
In the same over, Brook completed his 12th Test fifty, adding to the frustration of the Indians who have been sloppy with their catching thus far in the game. Led by captain Shubman Gill, the Indians were also very vocal about their issues with a worn out Dukes ball throughout the session.
The umpires relented before the 75th over while the new ball will be due after 80 overs.
The session belonged to the highly rated Brook who produced a display of audacious strokeplay from the get go.
Krishna offered two loose balls in the first over of the day and Brook duly put them for a four through point and six off over mid-wicket.
Brook's tactics against the pacers, including Bumrah, stood out as he charged down to them for aerial drives over extra cover.
Krishna, in his following over, was lucky to get Pope out as the England number three edged a short and wide ball to the keeper.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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