India 133/1 at lunch against West Indies
Rajkot, Oct 4 : Teenager Prithvi Shaw became the youngest Indian to score a half-century on Test debut, living up to the hype about his talent and steering the team to 133 for one at lunch on day one of the series-opener against the West Indies here.
He was not facing one of the best attacks but the 18-year-old Shaw gave ample evidence of his brilliance in an unbeaten 75 off 74 balls.
Cheteshwar Pujara too looked at ease at the other end and was on 56 off 74 balls as India scored at 5.32 runs per over in the morning session comprising 25 overs.
Shaw, who became the 293rd cricketer to represent India in Tests, showed supreme confidence from ball one, on which he offered a watchful leave.
The youngster punched the second ball he faced towards the cover boundary for a three, his first runs in international cricket, easing whatever nerves were left inside him.
Pacer Shanon Gabriel was clocking in the higher 140kph but that did not faze Shaw. Gabriel trapped his opening partner K L Rahul in front with a sharp incoming delivery to give the West Indies an early breakthrough.
Rahul was better off not taking the DRS as the ball was clearly crashing into the stumps.
Shaw, however, continued batting with confidence and his first boundary came in the second over bowled by Keemo Paul, another back-foot punch towards the point boundary.
He got more aggressive in Paul's following over, hitting him for three fours as the pacer was duly punished for bowling far too many loose deliveries.
The wicket wore a greenish look but the ball was not doing much after Gabriel's initial burst. After Rahul's dismissal, Shaw and Pujara gave the innings a move on and did not look in any sort of trouble.
Apart from Gabriel, the West Indies attack lacked teeth and Shaw capitalised on that.
While he punched and drove effortlessly off pacers, Shaw was equally comfortable against the spin duo of Devendra Bishoo and Roston Chase.
The teenage prodigy collected two fours off Bishoo in the 11th over and did the same to Chase in the 20th over. He also produced a delightful straight drive on way to reaching his maiden half-century which came off 56 balls.
Shaw picked up a single off Chase to bring up the milestone. It was hardly an animated celebration as looked up with his teammates applauding from the dressing room.
A little later, Pujara too got to his half century, off 67 balls, with a straight drive off debutant Sherman Lewis.
The West Indians looked listless on the field as boundaries came at will for India. The visitors were dealt a severe blow even before the start of the game with their captain Jason Holder pulling out with an ankle injury.
Kraigg Brathwaite is captaining the side in Holder's absence. Their lead pacer, Kemar Roach, is also not playing the series opener due to a bereavement.
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Post poll TN alliances divided in supporting TVK
Chennai (PTI): In a changed political atmosphere in Tamil Nadu with no single political party having a simple majority to form the government post the Assembly election, opinion is divided among the allies led by the Dravidian majors in extending external support to Vijay-led TVK in government formation.
Both the DMK and AIADMK are at unease as the Congress and also a section in the AIADMK express willingness to extend external support to Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagtam in forming the government.
Post poll, the TVK's political prospects appear to impact alliances led by both the Dravidian majors in a different manner, triggering a speculation of a split.
Leema Rose Martin, who won from Lalgudi on an AIADMK ticket, has stated that talks were underway on extending support to the TVK. Her son-in-law Aadhav Arjuna, who won from Villivakkam is TVK's general secretary.
On May 5, former AIADMK minister O S Manian, emerging from his meeting with party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, stated that AIADMK would not support TVK in forming the government.
The AIADMK, which finished third in the elections with 47 seats has cancelled its meeting of MLAs designate on Wednesday amidst a difference in extending external support to the TVK, which won 108 seats, including two seats by its founder Vijay.
As Vijay is gearing up for his swearing-in on May 7, the police have tightened security at his residence here. The party has lodged its MLA-elect at a resort in Mamallapuram and has simultaneously engaged in talks with the Congress and AIADMK, a source said.
The DMK that won 59 seats on its own, has convened a meeting of its newly elected legislators on May 7 evening and the party is likely to elect the youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin, who won from Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni as its legislature party leader.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal admitted that TVK chief Vijay requested the Congress for support to form the government.
"The INC is clear that the mandate in Tamil Nadu is for a secular government, committed to protecting the Constitution in letter and spirit. The INC is determined not to allow the BJP and its proxies to run the government of Tamil Nadu in any manner. Thiru Vijay has also spoken about drawing inspiration from Perunthalaivar Kamaraj," he said.
Accordingly, the Congress leadership has directed the TNCC to take a final decision on Vijay’s request, keeping in view the sentiments of the state as reflected in the electoral verdict, Venugopal said in a statement.
DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai slammed the Congress decision and said the move to ally with TVK, pledging the support of its five MLAs to the party, was tantamount to "backstabbing the DMK and the people of Tamil Nadu."
"They have betrayed the mandate given by the people. Even before the ink on the returning officer’s signature on the victory certificate has dried, they have chosen to go ahead with this alliance," he told PTI.
The most important question was who took this "foolhardy decision, and how is it going to backfire on the Congress?" he asked.
"I don’t think they had any serious deliberation on this. The larger issue is their opposition to the BJP, which is their ideological enemy. We have supported the Congress throughout. It was our leader M K Stalin, who named Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate when the BJP and RSS were criticising him. And now, within a day, they say they are supporting TVK. This is not the mandate of the people of Tamil Nadu,” Saravanan said.
The Congress' exit from its long-standing alliance with the DMK will be a significant moment in the political scenario of the state, commentator and political analyst Sumanth Raman said.
The Congress may be betting on the TVK as a long-term partner option, but that comes with risks, as the TVK is as yet an unknown quantity, he said.
"For the DMK, if the TVK+Congress becomes the choice of the minorities as it well could, it is an existential threat. It was the minority vote that gave the DMK alliance a 12%-15% cushion in the polls. If that goes, their chances of winning drops dramatically," Raman said on 'X.'
The Congress won 5 seats. However, DMK's other allies, the IUML, VCK, CPI and CPI (M) and DMDK have categorically stated that they would not support TVK.
As of now, the TVK requires the support of 11 MLAs to attain a simple majority of 118 to form the government.
The PMK, which won 4 seats and AMMK one - both allies of AIADMK - have not announced their decision yet.
"AIADMK’s real post-result drama may not be outside the party, but inside it. Whispers from the west and north suggest that a Coimbatore hand and a Villupuram voice may soon ask the question everyone is avoiding: Is it time to save the party from the leadership, before the cadre are forced to do it themselves? In politics, coups don’t begin with slogans. They begin with silence, phone calls and “review meetings,” Aspire Swaminathan, who is credited with founding the AIADMK IT wing in 2014, said on 'X.'
He has resigned from the AIADMK in 2021 and now acts an as independent political analyst.
