Mohammed Shami, Mayank Agarwal rise to career-best Test rankings
Dubai: Speedster Mohammed Shami and opener Mayank Agarwal on Sunday achieved their career-best positions in the latest ICC Test Rankings after contributing in India's innings and 130-run victory over Bangladesh in the first Test in Indore.
Shami's bowling figures of 3 for 27 and 4 for 31 lifted him eight places to seventh position. His 790 rating points are the third best for an India pace bowler with only Kapil Dev (877) and Jasprit Bumrah (832) having recorded more points.
Double centurion Agarwal, meanwhile, climbed to the 11th spot after his player-of-the-match effort of 243 in India's only innings. The 28-year-old has reached 691 rating points after scoring 858 runs in his first eight Tests.
Only seven batsmen have scored more runs than Agarwal in their first eight Tests -- Don Bradman (1210), Everton Weekes (968), Sunil Gavaskar (938), Mark Taylor (906), George Headley (904), Frank Worrell (890) and Herbert Sutcliffe (872).
In other significant movements for India, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja jumped four slots to reach joint-35th position among batsmen while pacers Ishant Sharma (20th) and Umesh Yadav (22nd) have moved up one place each.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is in the top 10 bowlers list, while moving back to fourth position among all-rounders.
For Bangladesh, Mushfiqur Rahim's knocks of 43 and 64 have helped him gain five places and reach 30th position while Liton Das has moved up from 92nd to 86th position.
Among bowlers, fast bowler Abu Jayed, who took four wickets in Indore, has advanced 18 slots to take 62nd position after only six Tests.
Meanwhile, India strengthened their position in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) standings by reaching 300 points. They are yet to concede a point, having gained a full 120 points each in their three-Test home series against South Africa and two-Test series in the West Indies.
Each Test of the ongoing two-match series against Bangladesh is worth 60 points since the 120 points up for grab in a series are evenly distributed over the number of matches in a series. The points range from 60 points for each match of a two-Test series to 24 for each match of a five-Test series.
Sri Lanka and New Zealand are on 60 points each after drawing their two-match series 1-1 while England and Australia are on 56 each after their five-match Ashes series ended 2-2. The West Indies and South Africa failed to get any points in their opening series.
Pakistan will play their first WTC series against Australia starting later this week. The first match of the two-Test series starts in Brisbane on Thursday while the second Test, a day-night fixture, will be played in Adelaide from November 29.
The top two teams at the end of the league will play the final in the UK in June 2021 with the winners crowned the World Test Champions.
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Shobha Karandlaje urges Governor to withhold assent to Karnataka hate speech bill
Bengaluru (PTI): Union Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje on Friday urged Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to withhold assent to the Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill, 2025, terming the Bill "vague, overbroad, and susceptible to misuse".
She also requested him to reserve the Bill for the consideration of President Droupadi Murmu under Article 200 of the Constitution of India, in the larger interest of constitutional governance, democratic freedoms, and the rule of law.
The bill, passed by both houses of the legislature, will be sent to the Governor for his assent.
Taking to social media 'X', the minister said, "The Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill 2025 hands the State sweeping authority to silence opposition voices, restrain the media, and intimidate the citizens who defend Karnataka's land, language, and Dharma. This isn't a hate speech prevention bill, it's rather a bill that prevents the right to speech." "We will not let Congress turn the law into a tool to choke free speech and democratic dissent," she added.
In a letter to the governor, Karandlaje said the objective of the Bill is to address hate speech and hate crimes. However, upon careful examination, it becomes evident that the Bill, in its present form, establishes a "State-controlled mechanism" for monitoring, assessing, and penalising speech, rather than narrowly addressing expression that poses a clear and imminent threat to public order.
"The structure of the Bill enables executive authorities to determine the permissibility of expression, thereby transforming the law into a tool capable of suppressing voices critical of the government. Such an approach undermines the constitutional guarantee of democratic dissent and free expression," she said.
Citing reference of article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India that guarantees freedom of speech and expression to every citizen, she said, "The Bill departs from these constitutional limits by employing broad, vague, and subjective expressions such as "disharmony," "ill-will," and "prejudicial interest," which are not precisely defined. These terms confer excessive discretion on the Executive, enabling arbitrary and selective enforcement, which is inconsistent with constitutional safeguards."
She said the constitutional infirmities of the present Bill must be examined in light of the Supreme Court's judgment in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, (2015), wherein the Court held that any law regulating speech must be clear, narrowly tailored and free from vagueness.
The minister alleged that the Bill further authorises executive authorities and law-enforcement agencies to assess and act upon speech without adequate judicial oversight. Penal consequences are linked to executive assessment, thereby concentrating investigative and adjudicatory functions within the Executive.
"Such an arrangement erodes procedural safeguards and is inconsistent with constitutional principles governing the protection of fundamental rights," she alleged.
Karandlaje also pointed out the potential impact of the Bill on "historically marginalised" and "constitutionally protected" voices.
"The vague and expansive language of the legislation is capable of being invoked to silence Kannada language activists, women's organisations, representatives of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, backward classes, minorities, journalists, student groups, and civil society organisations that raise issues of governance, social justice, or administrative accountability," she said.
Instead of empowering vulnerable communities, according to the minister, the Bill risks becoming an instrument to deter them from articulating grievances and participating meaningfully in public discourse, thereby defeating the very constitutional promise of equality, dignity, and inclusive democracy.
The minister alleged that the cumulative effect of the Bill is likely to create a "pervasive chilling effect" on public discourse, which is incompatible with democratic governance.
Pointing out that the Bill directly impacts fundamental rights guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution, she said, "In view of the serious constitutional questions it raises, this is a fit case for the exercise of constitutional discretion under Article 200. Reserving the Bill for the consideration of the President would enable a broader constitutional examination of its implications for civil liberties and the federal constitutional balance."
