Rishabh Pant return as India announce squad for 1st Test against Bangladesh
Mumbai, Sep 8: Rishabh Pant on Sunday returned to the Test side after nearly 20 months as India announced their 16-man squad for the opening match of the two Test series against Bangladesh starting on September 19.
Virat Kohli also returned to the Test side having missed the five-Test series against England at home earlier this year.
Having played in the second and final Test against Bangladesh at Mirpur from December 22-25, 2022, Pant had met a road accident a few days later on December 30 and made his return to top flight cricket only in IPL this year.
The 26-year-old swashbuckling batter returned to the national side in their title-winning campaign in the T20 World Cup.
However, Mohammed Shami failed to make it to the Test side even though chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar had earlier expressed that the right-arm seamer was targeting a return in the first Test against Bangladesh.
Left-arm Uttar Pradesh seamer Yash Dayal also earned a maiden call-up to the Indian team for the opening Test.
India’s long Test season begins with the first of the two Tests against Bangladesh in Chennai, starting on September 19.
The second Test of the series will be played at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur from September 27 to October 1.
India and Bangladesh have played 13 Tests so far in which the former has won 11 times while two have ended in draws.
Bangladesh will enter this series having recorded a historic 2-0 win over Pakistan in the opponent’s backyard whereas it will be India’s first Test assignment since beating England 4-1 at home in January-March earlier this year.
India squad for 1st Test: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
