India-Australia series opener called off due to rain
Canberra(PTI): India skipper Suryakumar Yadav was back in his element with some spectacular hits but inclement weather proved to be a complete dampener as the first T20 International against Australia was called off after a steady spell of shower here on Wednesday.
With his deputy Shubman Gill (37 not out off 20 balls) also in good nick, Suryakumar showed controlled aggression before unleashing a flurry of attractive strokes en route his unbeaten 39 off 24 balls. The duo added 62 runs off 35 balls for the second wicket and both looked good for big scores which was not to be in the end.
Suryakumar, who has had a strike-rate of less than 110 and managed only 100 runs in 2025, showed why he was once world's No. 1 ranked T20 batter as he picked up a Josh Hazlewood delivery and deposited it over square leg fence.
That was the shot of confidence that Suryakumar needed in his armoury. It only helped that Manuka Oval strip had good bounce and carry, two essential co-factors in the Indian skipper's game.
He farmed the strike for some time till he reached 20 before breaking the shackles off Nathan Ellis' over, the 10th of the innings, as he uppishly square-cut, followed by an off-drive and then a huge pull over mid-wicket for a six before the heavens opened up.
At the other end, Gill blended caution and aggression with some lusty blows, including a slog-swept six over cow corner off left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann which effectively opened the floodgates.
There were two breaks across the 9.4 overs that India had to endure and after the first break, next 4.4 overs turned out to be very productive for the visitors with 54 runs coming during that phase. The rain also meant that the ball was getting wet and Australian bowlers found it difficult to grip.
Earlier, Abhishek Sharma (19 off 14 balls), who started the onslaught with three fours off Xavier Bartlett, couldn't gauge Ellis' back-of-the-hand slower delivery which was pouched by the mid-off fielder after the southpaw failed to get the required elevation.
This was after Gill had smashed Ellis for a couple of boundaries to get going.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
