Abhishek's maiden ton, Ruturaj's 77 takes India to 234/2
Harare, Jul 7: Young Abhishek Sharma blended power with grace for a scintillating 46-ball 100 that propelled India to a massive 234 for two against hosts Zimbabwe in a much-improved batting performance in the second T20 International here Sunday.
The total was India's highest against Zimbabwe in T20 Internationals, surpassing previous best of 186, a fitting comeback after an inexplicable batting collapse in the opening game.
Having endured the disappointment of a four-ball duck on debut, Abhishek, IPL's most prolific six-hitting Indian batter, displayed his talent by clobbering eight sixes and seven fours in his knock.
He added 137 runs for the second wicket with Ruturaj Gaikwad (77 not out off 47 balls), who was completely overshadowed by the Punjab southpaw.
Abhishek got a reprieve on 27 when Wellington Masakadza dropped a regulation skier off Luke Jongwe. He never looked back after that.
Abhishek started his international run account with a pulled six off-spinner Brian Bennett, who had got the better of him on Saturday.
His fifty came off another pulled six behind square off medium pacer Dion Myers, whose 28-run over actually opened the floodgates during the back-10 for the visitors.
The shot that was most pleasing to the eye was his inside out six off rival skipper Sikandar Raza, lofting his off-break with the turn over extra cover boundary.
If that was elegance personified, the manner in which he muscled left-arm spinner Masakadza into the orbit with back-to-back sixes was a testimony to his brute power.
He raised his milestone hundred when he guided a wayward full-toss on leg-stump behind the square for a maximum before being dismissed off the very next delivery.
On return to the dug-out, he was congratulated by his skipper and best friend Shubman Gill, who once again had an indifferent outing.
The best part about his innings was how he switched gears as India were 74 for 1 after first 10 overs. In the next five, they smashed 78, courtesy Yuvraj Singh's student, who threw the kitchen sink at the Zimbabwean bowlers.
The poor fielding effort also hurt Zimbabwe as they also dropped Gaikwad's catch, who took off from where Abhishek had left, creaming off 87 runs off 36 balls for the third wicket with Rinku Singh (48 not out off 22 balls), who also made merry with five huge sixes.
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After fake ID crackdown, IRCTC daily new accounts down to 5000 from one lakh: Railways
New Delhi (PTI): With a new, stringent system to establish user identity, the number of new user IDs being added daily on the IRCTC website has declined to about 5,000 from nearly one lakh, officials said on Saturday.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw noted that the crackdown by Indian Railways on train ticket booking through fake identities is yielding positive results, according to a press note.
Before the latest reforms, this number had touched nearly one lakh new user IDs per day, it said.
"Following the introduction of a stringent system to establish user identity and detect fake IDs, about 5,000 new user IDs are now being added daily on the IRCTC website," the note said.
The officials stated that these steps have already helped Indian Railways deactivate 3.03 crore fake accounts.
"Another 2.7 crore user IDs have either been temporarily suspended or identified for suspension based on the suspicious activities they are indulging in," they said.
The Union minister directed officials to ensure that the ticketing system is reformed to a level where all travellers are able to book tickets easily through a real and genuine user ID, the press note added.
Additionally, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed officials to provide local cuisine of the region in Vande Bharat trains.
Introducing local cuisine that reflects the culture and tastes of the regions being traversed will significantly enhance the passenger experience, officials said.
This facility will be expanded to all the trains progressively in future, they added.
