Shah Rukh Khan kisses Gautam Gambhir on the forehead as KKR clinches IPL trophy
Chennai: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) soared to victory for the third time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a stunning performance, accompanied by a touching moment as team co-owner and Bollywood Superstar Shah Rukh Khan bestowed a tender kiss on the forehead of the team's mentor, Gautam Gambhir.
In a lopsided final match, Sunrisers Hyderabad faced a crushing defeat as KKR sealed the win with a commanding 8-wicket triumph, with a remarkable 57 balls to spare. Setting a record for the lowest total in an IPL final, SRH was dismissed for a mere 113 runs in just 18.3 overs.
The chase for KKR was largely fueled by Venkatesh Iyer's stellar performance, who blazed his way to 52 runs off just 26 balls. His innings, punctuated by three sixes and four fours sealed the victory for KKR.
Gautam Gambhir, instrumental in KKR's maiden IPL victory in 2012, played a pivotal role behind the scenes this time, guiding the team to triumph after twelve years. The emotional high point came when Shah Rukh Khan, present at the jubilant celebrations, rushed onto the field to express his joy. Khan's heartfelt gesture, captured on camera, as he kissed Gambhir on the forehead and embraced the former captain, quickly went viral on the internet.
KKR's journey to the 2024 title was marked by redemption, having finished sixth in the previous season after losing to Chennai Super Kings in the final match of 2021. However, strategic decisions, including the move to deploy Sunil Narine as an opener under Gambhir's guidance, paid rewards. Narine's stellar performance saw him amass 488 runs from 15 matches, contributing significantly to KKR's triumphant campaign.
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Malian defence minister killed in attack that saw jihadis and rebels seize towns, military bases
Dakar (AP): Malian Minister of Defence Gen. Sadio Camara was killed in an attack as jihadi and rebel forces seized towns and military bases across the country, according to a military officer and two other sources on Sunday.
There was no immediate comment from the Malian government.
“Unfortunately, the Ministry of Defence, Gen. Sadio Camara, has been killed during the attack which targeted his house yesterday,” said a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not have permission to speak to the media.
Two other people, a civil society leader and a security member, confirmed the information.
Separatist fighters on Saturday joined Islamic militants in launching one of the biggest coordinated attacks on the Malian army in the capital and several other cities that left at least 16 wounded.
The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali, while al-Qaida and Islamic State group-aligned militants have been fighting the government for over a decade.
Malian troops and Russian mercenaries withdrew from the northern city of Kidal after the attacks, the rebels said Sunday.
A spokesperson for the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, a separatist group, said the Russian Africa Corps troops and the Malian military withdrew from the city after an agreement was reached for their peaceful exit.
“Kidal is declared free,” said FLA spokesperson Mohamed El Maouloud Ramadan.
The Malian army did not respond to requests for comment but in an earlier statement said they were “tracking down terrorist armed groups in Kidal.”
The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali. Kidal had long served as a stronghold of the rebellion before being taken by Malian government forces and Russian mercenaries in 2023. Its capture marked a significant symbolic victory for the junta and its Russian allies.
It was the first time the separatists worked alongside the al-Qaida-linked militant group JNIM, which also claimed responsibility for Saturday's attacks on Bamako's international airport and four other cities, including Kidal, in central and northern Mali.
“This operation is being carried out in partnership with the JNIM, which is also committed to defending the people against the military regime in Bamako,” Ramadan said.
Wassim Nasr, a Sahel specialist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center security think tank, said that the coordination between the two groups, as well as the explicit call for the Russian military to leave, is new.
“The coordination, conducting attacks all over the country at the same time, real coordination on the military level but also on the political level because both claims of both groups they acknowledged that they worked together, this is a first,” said Nasr.
Mali government spokesperson Gen. Issa Ousmane Coulibaly said on state television late Saturday that 16 people were wounded, including civilians and military personnel, and that several militants were killed. He did not provide a death toll.
The governor of Bamako's district, Abdoulaye Coulibaly, announced a three-day overnight curfew, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The Economic Community of West African States has condemned the attacks and called on “all states, security forces, regional mechanisms and populations of West Africa to unite and mobilize in a coordinated effort to combat this scourge.”
The separatists called on Russia to “reconsider its support for the military junta in Bamako, whose actions have contributed to the suffering of the civilian population.”
Following military coups, the juntas in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso turned from Western allies to Russia for help in combating Islamic militants. But the security situation has worsened in recent times, with a record number of attacks by militants. Government forces have also been accused of killing civilians they suspect of collaborating with militants.
In 2024, an al-Qaida-linked group claimed an attack on Bamako's airport and a military training camp in the capital, killing scores of people.
Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said that while the attacks were a major blow to the credibility of Mali's Russian partners, JNIM is unlikely to take control of Bamako in the near term due to opposition from the local population.
“The attacks are a major blow to Russia as the mercenaries had no intelligence about the attacks and were unable to protect major cities. They have unnecessarily worsened the conflict by not distinguishing between civilians and combatants,” Laessing said.
