India announces 15-member squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025
New Delhi: India has announced its 15-member squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, with captain Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar revealing the details at a press conference. The squad will also play the ODI series against England as part of its preparation for the tournament.
Shubman Gill has been named the vice-captain of the team, a move that signals the management's confidence in him as a future leader. Meanwhile, the fitness status of Jasprit Bumrah remains uncertain, with Agarkar stating that clarity will emerge in February. To address potential concerns, Harshit Rana has been selected for the England ODI series.
KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant have been chosen as the primary wicket-keepers, leaving out Sanju Samson. In a significant comeback, Mohammed Shami has been included in the squad after recovering from an injury. Kuldeep Yadav, another key player, also makes his return.
Several notable names, including Mohammed Siraj, Nitish Reddy, and Karun Nair, have not been included in the team. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is yet to make his ODI debut, has been brought in as a backup opener, thanks to his impressive performances in Tests and T20Is.
India’s squad is identical for both the Champions Trophy and the England series, ensuring consistency in preparations. However, the absence of a pace-bowling all-rounder to back up Hardik Pandya could become a concern if fitness issues arise.
The Champions Trophy 2025 is set to take place from 19 February to 9 March.
Full squad for the Champions Trophy 2025:
Batters: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer
Wicket-Keepers: KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant
All-Rounders: Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar
Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav
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Delhi court sentences Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia, associate to life imprisonment
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court has sentenced Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia and his associate to life imprisonment under MCOCA provisions, but refused the death penalty saying the offences did not fall under the category of 'rarest of the rare cases'.
Additional Sessions Judge Vandana Jain sentenced Gulia and Dhirpal alias Kana to rigorous imprisonment for life under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
In an order dated December 13, the judge said, "Death sentence can only be awarded in 'rarest of the rare cases' wherein the murder is committed in an extremely inhumane, barbarous, grotesque or dastardly manner as to arouse umbrage of the community at large."
The judge said that on weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, it could be concluded that the present case did not fall under the category, and so, the death penalty could not be imposed upon the convicts.
"Thus, both the convicts are sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs 3 lakh each, for committing the offence under Section 3 of MCOCA," she said.
The public prosecutor, seeking the death penalty for both the accused, submitted that they were involved in several unlawful activities while they were on bail in other cases.
He argued that the accused had shown no respect for the law and acted without any fear of legal consequences, and therefore did not deserve any leniency from the court.
The court noted that both convicts were involved in offences of murder, attempt to murder, extortion, robbery, house trespass, and criminal intimidation. Besides, they had misused the liberty of interim bail granted to them by absconding.
It said, "The terror of the convicts was such that it created fear psychosis in the mind of the general public, and they lost complete faith in the law enforcement agencies and chose to accede to the illegal demands of convicts. Despite suffering losses, they could not gather the courage to depose against them."
The court noted that Gulia was involved in at least 18 criminal cases, while Dhirpal had links to 10 serious offences.
It underlined that MCOCA had been enacted "keeping in view the fact that organised crime had come up as a serious threat to society, as it knew no territorial boundaries and is fuelled by illegal wealth generated by committing the offence of extortion, contract killings, kidnapping for ransom, collection of protection money, murder, etc."
Both accused persons had been convicted on December 10 in a case registered at Najafgarh police station. The police filed a chargesheet under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) and 4 (punishment for possessing unaccountable wealth on behalf of member of organised crime syndicate) of MCOCA.
