Pant, Gill, Jaiswal are in same boat; don't want to tamper their mindset: Rohit
Melbourne (PTI): The trio of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant is aboard "the same boat" when it comes to erratic form in the ongoing Test series against Australia but skipper Rohit Sharma feels none of them should be "overburdened" with suggestions as it would complicate matters.
Save Jaiswal's 161 in the second innings in the opening Test in Perth, white-ball vice-captain Gill and maverick match-winner Pant have endured poor scores in the three Tests so far.
Jaiswal's struggles in the first innings are well-documented while Gill and Pant have been frittering away good starts.
"All these boys like Gill, Jaiswal and Pant are all in the same boat. (They know) what they are capable of doing, we shouldn't complicate those things," Rohit was categorical in his assessment ahead of Boxing Day Test here when asked individually about the troika which will form the core of Indian batting in the next decade.
The soon-to-be 23 Jaiswal didn't have any double-digit score in the first innings of either Perth, Adelaide or Brisbane but the skipper knows the worth of his talent.
"Jaiswal is coming here for the first time. He has already shown what he is capable of. He has got so much talent, when you have a guy like him, you don't want to tamper too much with his mindset.
"Let him be as free as possible and not over-burden him with too many thoughts regarding his batting. He understands his batting more than any one of us and that's how he has played his cricket," the skipper stood firmly behind his young colleague.
Rohit believes that Jaiswal can both attack and defend and he has had conversations with senior players to sort out a few technical issues.
"Their (Australia's) bowlers are the same. They have four seamers in their squad, one off-spinner...We don't want to tell him too many things about his own batting and we want him to play the way he plays. If he gets going, he can be very dangerous," he said.
Ditto for Gill, the skipper doesn't want to lose sleep over his early dismissal in Brisbane and expressed a lot of faith in the Mohali-man's quality.
"Talking about Gill, he is quality and we all know that. It's just about backing that quality and making sure we give clear messaging and like Jaiswal, we don't want to complicate too many things and he understands his batting really, really well," Rohit said.
"He knows how to score big runs and he has done that before. Just make sure you get 30s and 40s and make that count. Getting in here is the toughest part."
He also brushed aside suggestions that pressure is rising for Pant to emulate his 2021 series heroics.
"There is no pressure on Pant. Look, he played three Tests here. He was in good form in India, made runs. We shouldn't sit here on judgement on basis of two or three Test matches. He knows what he needs to do," the skipper was clear.
While summing up his messaging for the trio, he kept it short.
"They know what's expected of them and our job is to tell them to work on small things like game awareness. I don't think that we need to talk more and complicate their thought process."
For Bumrah, no advice is best advice
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While his juniors still need a bit of hand-holding, the team's numero uno match-winner and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah needs to be left alone as he is always sure about what he is doing.
"The easiest way of handling Bumrah is to not say anything. He knows what he is doing and how he operates. He doesn't try to complicate things and keeps it nice and simple and believes in his skillset...," Rohit explained.
"Whether he gets wickets or not, he is very clear in his mind. Conversations I have had with him during games has made me realise the guy knows what he is doing so there is nothing much I can add there," Rohit concluded.
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Army showcases several AI-driven applications at AI Summit, Rajnath visits pavillion
New Delhi (PTI): From a climatology and diaster prediction system to a device that detects driver's fatigue to avert accidents, the India Army has showcased a slew of artificial intelligence-based applications at the AI Impact Summit here, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visiting the Army pavilion on Friday.
The Indian Navy has also put up a pavilion as part of the summit expo.
The AI Impact Summit is being held from February 16-20 at Bharat Mandapam, in which several heads of state, many global AI leaders, academicians and researchers, and heads of global tech giants, and philanthropists have taken part.
The Army has showcased several AI-based applications at its pavilion in Hall no. 4, and Defence Minister Singh interacted with military officials who gave him a tour of the pavilion, which has attracted both young and old-age visitors.
"Delighted to visit the AI Impact Summit at Bharat Mandapam today. India is rapidly emerging as a global leader in Artificial Intelligence and advanced technologies. The Summit showcases the immense talent of our innovators, researchers, startups, armed forces and industry leaders. India's AI vision MANAV, articulated by PM Shri @narendramodi at #IndiaAIImpactSummit2026, sets humanity’s direction towards a secure and future-ready world," Singh later posted on X.
"Guided by principles of morality, accountability, national data sovereignty, accessibility and robust systems, India is helping shape the next civilisational leap through responsible AI.
"AI is not just a driver of economic growth, but also a force multiplier for national security and good governance. I thank PM Modi for hosting the AI Summit in India. Compliments to the organising Teams and all participants for making this Summit a grand success," he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the summit on Thursday and unveiled the 'MANAV' vision for a human-centric approach and use of AI with a strong accent on sovereignty and inclusivity.
"Army officers and personnel, researchers and scholars, of course have come to our pavillion in the past few days, but youths too are showing keen interest in AI-based military applications. And, today the honourable defence minister visited and showed keen interest in knowing more about these applications," a senior Army official told PTI.
Some of the AI-based applications which have been showcased include 'Prakshepan' a military climatology and diaster prediction system; Xface -- a facial recognition system for rapid image and video-based verification in boosting security and surveillance mechanism; Nabhdrishti -- a telemetry reporting system which can capture positional data, imagery and orientation, "even based on images of an unidentified drone in flight"; and an AI-based device that detects driver's fatigue and alerts the person behind the wheels to avert accidents.
Lt Col A R Packianathan said 'Prakshepan' was launched by the defence minister last November.
The name draws from Sanskrit word 'Prakshepan', which means projection, he said.
At the Army pavilion, a dashboard has been displayed showcasing how the system works, with "near-live data".
"This application is a cutting edge military climatology application developed in-house by the Army's Directorate General of Information Systems. It has been powered by scientific and technical collaboration from several ministries with agencies like India Meteorological Department, National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, Central Water Commission, North East Space Application Centre, Geological Survey of India and Defence Geospatial Research Organisation," Lt Col Packianathan told PTI at the pavilion.
It has three prediction modules -- prediction of flood, of landslide and of an avalanche.
"This is India's first hybrid military climatology system capable of predicting landslides and avalanches 3-7 days in advance using multi-agency scientific datasets, terrain intelligence, and AI/ML (AI/machine learning) modelling," another Army official said.
The Indian Army in January had declared 2026 as the 'Year of Networking & Data Centricity' and said that this initiative will enhance connectivity, real-time decision-making and combat effectiveness, thereby strengthening resilience and agility for a future-ready force.
In line with the vision, the pavilion also showcases visual representations of Army assets and weaponry using holographic projections.
The Army has said that beyond military use, man of these application can have dual-use and help civilian administration and the masses as well,
So, 'Prakshepan' can provide early warnings to civil administration in remote areas, contributing to national disaster resilience and capacity building, Lt Col Packianathan said.
Similarly, the AI-based device that detects driver's fatigue and alerts the person behind the wheels can help avert accidents on highways for civilian drivers too, another official said.
