All is well, had another event to attend: Ajit Pawar on leaving cabinet meet early
Mumbai, Oct 11: Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday sought to scotch speculation over his leaving the state cabinet meeting early, and said all is well within the ruling Mahayuti alliance comprising BJP, Shiv Sena and his NCP.
Speaking at a press conference here after inducting actor Sayaji Shinde in the Nationalist Congress Party, Pawar was non-committal about whether he would contest from the Baramati assembly seat, stating that the decision will be taken after seat-sharing is finalized.
“I had to leave early to attend a scheduled programme at Ahmedpur in Marathwada region,” the NCP chief said. “All the cabinet decisions taken yesterday have my approval,” he added.
Pawar's brief attendance at a crucial cabinet meeting in Mumbai Thursday had raised eyebrows, particularly as numerous financially significant decisions were taken in his absence even though he is the finance minister.
Thirty-eight decisions -- many of them having major financial implications -- were taken in the two-and-half hours after he had left.
“All is well and speculation about any dispute in the state cabinet meeting is baseless,” Pawar said.
"Too much is being read into it," he added.
The state cabinet can overrule objections of any department, Pawar said, when asked about the negative remarks by the finance department headed by him on populist schemes announced by the state government ahead of the assembly elections, likely to be announced in less than a week.
The seat-sharing talks among the Mahayuti alliance partners were going on smoothly, Pawar said.
"We will announce (outcome of the talks) when we feel like it," he said to a question.
Asked whether he would be contesting from his current Baramati assembly seat, Pawar gave no definite reply.
"Seat-sharing is yet to be done. After the Baramati seat is allotted to us, we will take a decision," he added.
Notably, his wife Sunetra Pawar was defeated by his estranged cousin and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) faction leader Supriya Sule from the Baramati Lok Sabha seat this year.
Sayaji Shinde would be the NCP's star campaigner in the elections, Pawar said, adding, "More people are slated to join us and it will happen in phases."
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Jasprit Bumrah to be Rohit Sharma's deputy in home Test series against New Zealand
New Delhi, Oct 11: Premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah was on Friday named vice-captain of India for the upcoming three-match home Test series against New Zealand, strongly indicating his possible elevation to the leadership role when the team travels to Australia from next month.
The three-match series against the Kiwis will start on November 16 in Bengaluru, followed by the second Test in Pune from October 24 and third game in Mumbai from November 1.
As reported by PTI on October 10, regular captain Rohit Sharma could skip one of the first two Test matches in Australia owing to personal reasons.
The five-match Test series in Australia starts on November 22 in Perth and the second match will be held at Adelaide from December 6, and there is a possibility that Rohit could give either the first or the second game a miss.
Adding strength to that thought is the fact that India did not name a vice-captain for the recent home series against Bangladesh, which they won 2-0.
Bumrah has prior experience of leading the side as he wore the captain’s armband during the rescheduled fifth Test match against England in July 2022 at Edgbaston. He also led India in the away T20I series against Ireland in 2023.
Recently, Bumrah also reclaimed his No. 1 spot in the ICC bowlers’ ranking after a stellar effort against Bangladesh.
The 30-year-old has been in riveting form in red-ball cricket, grabbing 42 wickets from eight Tests after his comeback from an injury in August 2023. He has an excellent average of 14.69 in this period.
Overall, Bumrah has played 38 Tests, taking 170 wickets, averaging 20.18 with 10 five-wicket hauls.
Yash Dayal, who was part of the squad for the Bangladesh series, was not selected after the pacer sustained a shoulder injury during Uttar Pradesh's Ranji Trophy match against Bengal in Lucknow on Friday.
It is not yet clear how long Dayal will take to recover from the injury, casting a shadow over his chances of touring Australia.
Other than that, all the players who did duty against Bangladesh recently were retained in the 15-member squad which will be led by Rohit.
Pacer Mohammed Shami, who is recuperating after an ankle surgery, was not considered, as the wait for his return to international cricket continues.
All-rounder Harshit Rana, middle-order batsman Nitish Kumar Reddy, pacers Mayank Yadav and Prasidh Krishna were named as travelling reserves in the squad, also underlining the prioritised place for these young players in the long-term Indian scheme of things.
Both Nitish and Mayank have been impressive in their maiden outing for India during the ongoing three-match T20I series against Bangladesh.
India's squad for the New Zealand Test series: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), 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 and Akash Deep.
