2nd Test, Day 1: South Africa 35/1 at stumps, trail India by 167 runs
Ajinkya Rahane, Pujara flop show continues as Indian middle-order disappoints again
Johannesburg, Jan 3: Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane's saga of failures compounded a shoddy batting performance by India even as stand-in skipper KL Rahul impressed with a defiant show amid the ruins on the opening day of the second Test against South Africa here on Monday.
Rahul's patient 50-run knock on a day when India missed Virat Kohli due to back spasms and Ravichandran Ashwin's cavalier 46 at the rear end ensured that India scored 202 in their first innings on a bouncy Wanderers track.
At stumps, Mohammed Shami sent back Aiden Markram even as Dean Elgar (11 batting) and Keegan Peterson (14 batting) took South Africa to 35 for 1. It could have been two down had Rishabh Pant snapped Peterson off Jasprit Bumrah, which seemed a regulation catch.
Worse, Mohammed Siraj hobbled off with what looked like a hamstring strain and if it's bad news, then India would be left with four bowlers.
However, a lot of blame should go to India's batters as some like Pujara didn't show intent to score while others like Rahane seemed completely short of confidence.
It prompted the legendary Sunil Gavaskar to say it as it is on air, "I think the next innings will be their last chance."
Having given up hopes to play for England, Duanne Olivier (3/67 in 17 overs), playing his first game for South Africa in three years, dismissed Pujara (3 off 33 balls) and Rahane (0) off successive deliveries to make it difficult for the Indians.
Marco Jansen (4/31 in 17 overs), with his giant frame, created awkward lengths for every Indian batter while Kagiso Rabada (3/64 in 17.1 overs), despite not being at his best, got wickets when it mattered.
In his first game as captain, Rahul concentrated hard as he played 133 deliveries. He was peppered with short balls. He would sway to some and duck the others while pulling the ones that he could.
His back-foot driving was majestic and he rode the bounce while going for the flashy cut shots.
Such is beauty of sport that Rahul, who till five months ago wasn't supposed to start as an opener in England, is now being groomed as an all-format India captain.
If the first day composure is any indication, he won't do a bad job.
But then there was a moment's indiscretion when he played one pull shot too many and holed out in the fine leg region.
Prior to that shot, the occasional pull that he played, Rahul rolled his bat over and tried to keep it down the ground but in this case, he got under the Jansen short ball and didn't get the required elevation.
He had a nice little partnership of 42 runs with Hanuma Vihari (20) before an inspirational close-in catch from Rassie Van der Dussen at short leg sent the latter back.
Rishabh Pant (17) and an attacking Ashwin (24 batting 21 balls) added 40 in quick time but what India needed was a partnership of at least 75 if not 100.
At the start, Mayank Agarwal (26) looked fluent in the first hour with five boundaries before Jansen pitched one in the spot from where it wasn't on drivable length as it climbed on. The opener went for a drive only to edge that to wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne.
Rahul, on his part, survived strong caught behind and leg before appeals which were negated by debutant umpire Allahudien Palekar, someone who impressed on debut.
But what would disappoint Pujara and Rahane most is that on a day when they should have taken more responsibility in Kohli's absence, they couldn't even inject a sense of positivity in India's approach.
The manner in which Pujara hopped and skipped to rising deliveries actually would have made the dressing room feel jittery about demons in the pitch which wasn't the case. But there was definitely seam and bounce which one expects here in South Africa.
He once again got into a shell and was very uncomfortable against steep bounce which finally became his undoing.
Olivier's natural back of length deliveries were perfect recipe for disaster as he fended one that was wide of the short leg fielder but the next one lobbed up to the man at point for an easy catch.
Rahane's dismissal was that of a player, whose confidence has been torn to pieces.
The ball pitched on the fourth stump channel, created indecision on whether to play or not and Rahane dangled his bat for the catch to be taken in the slips.
This match will certainly not last the distance and if they can't make a difference in the second innings, the enormous patience that the Indian team management has shown towards them will definitely start wearing thin.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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