Mayank Agarwal to lead Karnataka in Ranji Trophy
Bengaluru (PTI): Experienced opener Mayank Agarwal was on Wednesday named as Karnataka captain for the first two matches of the upcoming Ranji Trophy season.
The promising young batsman Nikin Jose has been appointed as Agarwal's deputy.
However, KL Rahul has not been named in the 16-man squad considering India's upcoming assignments at home against Afghanistan (three T20Is) and England (five Tests) across January and February.
Agarwal had a big 2022-23 domestic season emerging as the top run-getter in the circuit with 990 runs from nine matches at average of 82.50 that contained three hundreds and six fifties.
Karnataka will open their Ranji campaign against Punjab at Hubli from January 5-8 and in their second match, the former champions will face Gujarat in Ahmedabad from January 12-15.
Former batsman PV Shashikanth has been retained as the coach of the side.
Karnataka squad: Mayank Agarwal (c), Ravikumar Samarth, Devdutt Padikkal, Nikin Jose (vc), Manish Pandey, Shubhang Hegde, Sharath Srinivas (wk), Vysakh Vijayakumar, Vasuki Koushik, Vidwath Kaverappa, K Shashikumar, Sujay Sateri (wk), D Nischal, M Venkatesh, Kishan S Bedare, AC Rohit Kumar.
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Waqf Bill anti-secular, will snatch rights of Muslims: Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday described the Waqf (Amendment) Bill as “anti-secular”, claiming that it would snatch the rights of Muslims.
Banerjee, speaking in the assembly, also said the Centre did not consult with states over the matter.
“The bill is anti-federal and anti-secular; it is a deliberate attempt to malign a particular section. It will snatch the rights of Muslims... The Centre did not consult with us on the Waqf Bill,” she said.
The chief minister added that “if any religion was attacked”, she would wholeheartedly condemn it.
Opposition parties have stridently criticised the amendments proposed by the bill in the existing Waqf Act, alleging that they violate the religious rights of Muslims.
The ruling BJP has asserted that the amendments will bring transparency in the functioning of the Waqf boards and make them accountable.
A parliamentary committee has been constituted to scrutinise the contentious bill.
