Australia, South Africa will be India's main hurdles: Ganguly
Kolkata (PTI): Australia and South Africa will remain biggest threats for India in their bid to regain the ODI World Cup, feels former skipper Sourav Ganguly.
Having endured back-to-back defeats against India and South Africa, five-time champions Australia have got their mojo back with four wins on the trot to climb to top-four.
"Australia and South Africa will be the two biggest challengers for India," Ganguly said at Eden Gardens that hosted its first World Cup match on Saturday with Bangladesh taking on the Netherlands.
"They have bounced back really well and are playing really good cricket. Today's win (against New Zealand) was really thrilling," the former BCCI president said.
In an earlier match in Dharamsala on Saturday, Australia rode on Travis Head's brutal 67-ball 109 and David Warner's 65-ball 81 to post a mammoth 388 in 49.2.
Later, Australia overcame a spirited New Zealand challenge to win by five runs in a thrilling last-ball finish.
The record five-time champions are in top-four and are well on course for a semifinal berth.
Often labelled as 'chokers', South Africa have taken the tournament by storm with power-packed batting performances as Ganguly have included the Proteas at the expense of defending champions England.
"Never thought England would play like that but that's what sports is all about," Ganguly said.
South Africa now occupy the top spot in the 10-team standings with five wins from six matches, going past India.
Second placed India will take on England in their sixth round clash in Lucknow on Sunday.
"India is a strong side and is doing well. But championship is too far, first they have to get past the knockout stage."
India also have an injury concern in their premier allrounder Hardik Pandya who is nursing a ligament tear and is likely to miss more matches.
"He is an important player but India are still a very strong side," he said.
India will play South Africa in an eighth round clash here on November 5 and the demand for tickets for the match have gone skyhigh.
"It's India match obviously there will be craze. Thankfully I'm not (BCCI) president anymore. I don't have any tickets with me."
Ganguly was also excited to see so many Bangladeshi supporters in the Saturday's match.
Bangladesh found themselves "at home" as about 70 per cent of the 15,202 attendance in the game against the Dutch were from the neighbouring country.
"Bangladesh is close, so it's obvious so many people have come. It's good to see so many Bangladeshi fans here. They have played well too."
"I hope the crowd attendance will be more for the Pakistan-Bangladesh game on Tuesday," Ganguly signed off.
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Los Angeles county wildfires could be costliest in US history, early estimates say
Los Angeles, Jan 11: The wildfires that erupted this week across Los Angeles County are still raging, but already are projected to be among the costliest natural disasters in US history.
The devastating blazes have killed at least 11 people and incinerated more than 12,000 structures since Tuesday, laying waste to entire neighbourhoods once home to multimillion-dollar properties.
While it's still too early for an accurate tally of the financial toll, the losses so far likely make the wildfires the costliest ever in the US, according to various estimates.
A preliminary estimate by AccuWeather put the damage and economic losses so far between USD 135 billion and USD 150 billion. By comparison, AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic losses caused by Hurricane Helene, which tore across six southeastern states last fall, at USD 225 billion to USD 250 billion.
“This will be the costliest wildfire in California modern history and also very likely the costliest wildfire in US modern history, because of the fires occurring in the densely populated areas around Los Angeles with some of the highest-valued real estate in the country,” said Jonathan Porter, the private firm's chief meteorologist.
AccuWeather factors in a multitude of variables in its estimates, including damage to homes, businesses, infrastructure and vehicles, as well as immediate and long-term health care costs, lost wages and supply chain interruptions.
The insurance broker Aon PLC also said Friday that the LA County wildfires will likely end up being the costliest in US history, although it did not issue an estimate. Aon ranks a wildfire known as the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, in 2018 as the costliest in US history up to now at USD 12.5 billion, adjusted for inflation. The Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed about 11,000 homes.
The LA County wildfires, which were fuelled by hurricane-force Santa Ana winds and an extreme drought, remained largely uncontained Saturday. That means the final tally of losses from the blazes is likely to increase, perhaps substantially.
“To put this into perspective, the total damage and economic loss from this wildfire disaster could reach nearly 4 per cent of the annual GDP of the state of California,” AccuWeather's Porter said.
In a report Friday, Moody's also concluded that the wildfires would prove to be the costliest in US history, specifically because they have ripped through densely populated areas with higher-end properties.
While the state is no stranger to major wildfires, they have generally been concentrated in inland areas that are not densely populated. That's led to less destruction per acre, and in damage to less expensive homes, Moody's noted.
That's far from the case this time, with one of the largest conflagrations destroying thousands of properties across the Pacific Palisades and Malibu, home to many Hollywood stars and executives with multimillion-dollar properties. Already, numerous celebrities have lost homes to the fires.
“The scale and intensity of the blazes, combined with their geographic footprint, suggest a staggering price tag, both in terms of the human cost and the economic toll,” Moody's analysts wrote. The report did not include a preliminary cost estimate of the wildfire damage.
It could be several months before a concrete tally of the financial losses from the wildfires will be possible.
“We're in the very early stages of this disaster,” Porter said.
