Sri Lanka, Bangladesh fail to secure direct qualification to T20 WC Super 12s
Dubai, Jan 1: Former champions Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have failed to get direct qualification for the men's T20 World Cup's Super 12s owing to their low rankings and will have to fight for a place in a group stage competition in 2020.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) Tuesday stated that top-ranked Pakistan, India, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, the Windies and an on-the-rise Afghanistan will start their campaign directly in the Super 12s.
But former champions and three-time finalists Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will have to contend with the other six qualifiers in the group stage of the tournament, which will be held from October 18 to November 15, 2020.
As per the qualification criteria, the top eight make it straight to the Super 12s stage while the remaining two have to play in the group stage along with teams, which will make it through from the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier in 2019. Four teams from the group stage will advance to the Super 12s.
Sri Lanka captain Lasith Malinga was disappointed at 2014 champions not making it to the Super 12s but was confident of the team doing well in the tournament.
"It is a bit disappointing that we have not been able to ensure a direct Super 12s berth but I'm confident that we will do well in the tournament," Malinga said.
"it is natural that everyone expected us to finish in the top-eight but we have to take the opportunity in the extra matches of the group stage and prepare well for the knock-out matches," he added.
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said that recent performances had given his team the belief to respond well to the challenge.
"I see no reason why we can't go far in the tournament. There is still some time and we will use it to be at our best for the T20 World Cup.”
"We won a T20 series against the West Indies, the world champions, in their backward not so long ago. That performance has given us a lot of belief in our Twenty20 capabilities," he said.
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India harbouring big and bold dreams in space sector: Shubhanshu Shukla
Kolkata (PTI): Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to go to the International Space Station, on Wednesday said the country is harbouring “big and bold dreams”, foraying into human spaceflight after a hiatus of 41 years.
Shukla was the first Indian to visit the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-4 mission. He returned to India from the US on August 17, 2025, after the 18-day mission.
The space is a “great place to be”, marked by deep peace and an “amazing view” that becomes more captivating with time, he said, interacting with schoolchildren at an event organised by the Indian Centre for Space Physics here.
“The longer you stay, the more you enjoy it,” Shukla said, adding on a lighter note that he “actually kind of did not want to come back”.
Shukla said the hands-on experience in space was very different from what he had learnt during training.
He said the future of India’s space science was “very bright”, with the country harbouring “very big and bold dreams”.
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Shukla described his ISS flight, undertaken with support from the US, as a crucial “stepping stone” towards realising India’s ‘Vision Gaganyaan’.
“The experience gained is a national asset. It is already being used by internal committees and design teams to ensure ongoing missions are on the right track,” he said.
Shukla said the country’s space ambitions include the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, the Bharatiya Station (India’s own space station), and eventually a human landing on the Moon.
While the Moon mission is targeted for 2040, he said these projects are already in the pipeline, and the field will evolve at a “very rapid pace” over the next 10-20 years.
He told the students that though these targets are challenging, they are “achievable by people like you”, urging them to take ownership of India’s aspirations.
The sector will generate “a lot of employment opportunities” as India expands its human spaceflight capabilities, he noted.
Echoing the iconic words of India’s first astronaut Rakesh Sharma, Shukla said that from orbit, “India is still the best in the world”.
Shukla also asserted that the achievement was not his alone, but that of the entire country.
“The youth of India are extremely talented. They must stay focused, remain curious and work hard. It is their responsibility to help build a developed India by 2047,” he said.
Highlighting a shift from Sharma’s era, Shukla said India is now developing a full-fledged astronaut ecosystem.
With Gaganyaan and future missions, children in India will be able to not only dream of becoming astronauts, but also achieving it within the country, he said.
“Space missions help a village kid believe he can go to space someday. When you send one person to space, you lift million hopes. That is why such programmes must continue... The sky is not the limit,” Shukla said.
“Scientists must prepare for systems that will last 20-30 years, while ensuring they can integrate technologies that will emerge a decade from now,” he said.
Shukla added that he looked forward to more space missions, and was keen to undertake a space walk, which will require him to "train for another two years".
