New Zealand Cricket to host Indian men & women simultaneously
Wellington, July 31 : New Zealand Cricket (NZC) on Tuesday announced the itinerary for India's tour early next year, which will see both the men's and women's teams playing limited overs matches simultaneously.
According to a release from NZC, the men-in-blue team will play five ODIs and three T20Is while the women play three ODIs and as many T20Is.
The T20Is will be double-headers, to be played on February 6, 8 and 10 in Wellington, Auckland and Hamilton, respectively. Three of the men's ODIs will precede the women's 50-over games on the previous day.
The Virat Kohli-led side will start their campaign with the first ODI in Napier on January 23, followed by the second and third matches on January 26 and 28 at Tauranga.
Hamilton will host the fourth ODI on January 31 while the fifth ODI and the first T20I will be played here on February 3 and February 6. Auckland and Hamilton will host the second and third T20Is on February 8 and 10, respectively.
Similarly, the Indian eves will clash with the White Ferns' in the first ODI in Napier on January 24, followed by the second ODI at Tauranga. The third and final 50-over match will be hosted at Hamilton.
Wellington will host the first T20I on February 6 while the second and third T20I will be played on February 8 and 10 at Auckland and Hamilton, respectively.
In a first in New Zealand's cricket history, the women's matches will be televised.
"It's exciting to have the India men's and women's team here. The men are currently ranked No.2 in ODIs and T20s and the women arrive as ICC Cricket World Cup finalists," NZC Chief Operating Officer Anthony Crummy said.
"All six of the White Ferns' (New Zealand Women) fixtures will be televised live for the first time in New Zealand history," he added.
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PM Modi, RSS strengthening wall in path of SCs, STs, OBCs: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS were strengthening the wall standing in the path of Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs, even as he acknowledged that the UPA took steps to weaken that wall but not to the extent it should have.
Addressing the 'Samvidhan Rakshak Abhiyaan', Gandhi also referred to the function held on Constitution Day in Parliament and said that it is his guarantee, that "Modi has not read" the Constitution.
"If PM Modi would have read this book then what he does daily, he would not do it," Gandhi said, displaying a copy of the Constitution of India.
Gandhi said the country's whole system is pitted against Dalits, Adivasis and backward class people.
He said a wall obstructs the path of Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs and Modi and the RSS are strengthening that wall by "adding cement to it".
"Slowly the wall (obstructing the path of SCs, STs, OBCs) is getting strengthened. Earlier, the UPA government gave MGNREGA, the land acquisition act, the right to food...those were ways to weaken that wall. Today, when I look back, I can say the UPA government did not weaken the wall to the extent it should have, it did not do it as strongly as it should have," Gandhi said.
"However, we used to make efforts to weaken that wall but they (the BJP) are strengthening that wall by adding concrete," the former Congress president said.
Gandhi said a caste survey being carried out in Telangana is a historic step and the Congress will do the same wherever it comes to power.
