U-19 World Cup: India start favourites against Bangladesh
Bulawayo (PTI): Seeking to continue their confident start to the tournament, a well-balanced India will begin as firm favourites despite facing a tricky Bangladesh in their second match of the ICC U-19 World Cup here Saturday.
Five-time champions India started their campaign on expected lines, registering a six-wicket win over USA after bundling the opponents out for a paltry 107 in a rain-hit match, with right-arm pacer Henil Patel returning exceptional figures of 5/16 in seven overs and the other bowlers also doing a fine job.
The star-studded Indian batting line-up will hope to get an extended run at the crease against Bangladesh, who are likely to pose a greater challenge to the Ayush Mhatre-led side after a rather comfortable win against the USA.
The opening duo of Mhatre and the incredible 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi will again lead the batting in the company of vice-captain Vihaan Malhotra, all-rounders Aaron George and Vedant Trivedi and wicketkeeper Abhigyan Kundu.
D. Deepesh, RS Ambrish, Henil Patel, Kishan Kumar Singh and Udhav Mohan offer the team pace bowling options, while the likes of Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan Patel and Mohamed Enaan shoulder the spin bowling responsibility.
Champions in five of the 16 editions, India are by far the most dominant team in the history of the competition, which started back in 1988 with Australia emerging winners in the inaugural event.
Raising their prospects further is the team's form in the last one year, having won series in England, Australia and South Africa. The victory against USA was India's 14th in last 17 matches, and the side is backing itself to continue the excellent run of form against their next opponents.
As far as Bangladesh are concerned, they have captain Azizul Hakim who has a fair bit of experience, and a lot will depend on how he marshals his side in the tournament in Zimbabwe and Namibia.
With his deputy Zawad Abrar, Hakim will spearhead the Bangladesh batting. The duo have been prolific at the under-19 level, having scored over 1000 runs in Youth ODIs since the last edition of the tournament in 2024. Kalam Siddiki, with 857 runs in this period, is another prolific run-getter in the side.
Bangladesh also carry a potent bowling attack, with pacers Iqbal Hossain and Al Fahad expected to get plenty of support in pace-friendly conditions in Zimbabwe.
These two are the most successful bowlers since the last U19 World Cup with 45 and 43 wickets to their names respectively. Not too far behind is left-arm spinner Samiun Basir, who had 29 wickets in this period, at an economy of under four.
Teams (from):
India: Ayush Mhatre (c), R.S. Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, D. Deepesh, Mohamed Enaan, Aaron George, Abhigyan Kundu, Kishan Kumar Singh, Vihaan Malhotra, Udhav Mohan, Henil Patel, Khilan A. Patel, Harvansh Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Vedant Trivedi.
Bangladesh: Azizul Hakim Tamim (c), Zawad Abrar, Samiun Basir Ratul, Sheikh Parvez Jibon, Rizan Hossan, Shaharia Al Amin, Shadin Islam, Md Abdullah, Farid Hasan Faysal, Kalam Siddiki Aleen, Rifat Beg, Saad Islam Razin, Al Fahad, Shahriar Ahmed, Iqbal Hossain. Reserves: Abdur Rahim, Debashis Sarkar Deba, Rafi Uzzaman Rafi, Farhan Shahriar, Farzan Ahmed Alif, Sanjid Majumder, Md Sobuj.
Match starts 1.00 pm IST.
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Gurugram CA held for slitting pregnant wife's throat with scissors
Jhajjar (PTI): A chartered accountant has been arrested for allegedly killing his pregnant wife by slitting her throat with a pair of scissors and trying to pass it off as a robbery attempt, police said on Wednesday.
According to police, Anshul Dhawan (31) got married to Mehak (27) in September last year. Both worked in Gurugram.
Police received a call on Sunday night reporting that some unidentified people tried to rob Anshul, took his car and kidnapped his wife, SHO Badli, Inspector Suresh said.
When police reached the spot, they found the woman's body near a dry canal with injury marks on her neck, he said.
Suspecting inconsistencies in Anshul's version of events, police took him into custody for interrogation. He confessed that he had killed Mehak with a pair of scissors, wearing gloves, over suspicions about her character, SHO said.
"During his questioning, it came to light that he had pre-planned the murder. His wife worked in a private bank in Gurugram. He had doubts that she talked to her friends, and he did not like it," SHO added. Following the confession, Anshul was arrested on Monday.
Further investigation into the matter is underway, police said.
Mehak's sister, Shruti, told the reporters that the family had doubts that Anshul was involved in the murder. She said, "We want justice; the killer should be hanged. He did not even think that his wife was two months pregnant."
She said on February 15, Anshul came to their house and stayed only for ten minutes and left with Mehal for Gurugram.
Shruti alleged that Anshul had pre-planned the murder.
