Australians appear jittery over pitch behaviour, Cummins clicks photos of match strip
Ahmedabad, Nov 18: Inspecting the pitch before a match is routine but clicking pictures of the track, for possible dressing room discussion and strategy building, is a bit unusual.
That's exactly what happened this morning when Australia skipper Pat Cummins came to have a look at the 22-yard-strip which will be used for the World Cup title clash between India and Australia on Sunday.
Probably the pitch is playing on Australians' mind before the big match.
Cummins was guarded in his response when asked about his assessment of the pitch, which has already been used for the marquee India-Pakistan match.
"Just had a look," Cummins replied when asked about the track.
So what do you make of it? He was probed further.
"I'm not a great pitch reader, but it looked pretty firm. They've only just watered it, so yeah, give it another 24 hours and have a look, but it looks like a pretty good wicket."
"I think Pakistan played someone there," he said without taking India's name.
While Australian team had an afternoon training session, Cummins was at the Narendra Modi Stadium just after half past 9.
He went up to the square and then started clicking pictures to possibly check and compare how much the track's look will change from Saturday morning to afternoon and subsequently on the match-day afternoon.
In fact, before the Australian training session started, Steve Smith, Travis Head, head coach Andrew McDonald also wanted to have a close look.
Head, a good off-spinner in conducive conditions tried to gauge the hardness of the surface.
Eden Gardens strip had a few deliveries turning at right angles but Cummins believe that it won't be like that in Motera.
A black soil track, rolled heavily to ensure slowness, is on offer. Batting will be difficult under the lights if opposition has two quality spinners operating in the middle overs.
"It's been a bit more high scoring here throughout the tournament. It's obviously the same for both teams. No doubt playing on your own wicket in your own country has some advantages, similar to wickets that you've been playing your whole life," he said.
Unlike Wankhede where New Zealand virtually lost the game after losing the toss, it won't be the case at Motera.
"I think, of all the venues, perhaps this venue - the toss isn't as important as, say, a Mumbai Wankhede Stadium or other venues. So, we'll be ready in terms of anything they'll throw at us. Yeah, we'll wait and see, but we'll make sure we have some plans."
Dew will be big factor
ICC's pitch consultant Andy Atkinson did pay a visit and was around for an hour as BCCI's curators monitored the last day touch up before it is handed over to match referee Andy Pycroft.
The GCA ground-staff were seen using anti-dew spray in the afternoon as the last 20-25 overs of the match are always affected by late evening dew.
"I think the biggest difference is the dew. This city and venue seems to have more dew than a lot of the other places we play. So perhaps, yeah, that's something to think about ahead of tomorrow."
If Australia bat second, keeping dew factor in mind, Cummins indicated that batting order could be tweaked a bit.
"You've got to weigh up batting during the day when it might be a bit easier than under lights, but knowing that late in the second innings it could also slide on.
"Again, it (dew) might only be the last quarter of the game but once that settles in and the ball is skidding on, it's quite different to say the first 20 overs where it might be swinging. So, something to consider," he further stated.
Captain Pat Cummins inspects the pitch ahead of the final 🔍#CWC23 #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/fUNpHgJXtd
— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) November 18, 2023
Pat Cummins taking some pics of the pitch to make sure that they don’t change the pitch at the last moment 😀 #CWC2023 pic.twitter.com/ePxlxe7QJh
— Nibraz Ramzan (@nibraz88cricket) November 18, 2023
Pat Cummins clicking picture of Narendra Modi stadium pitch.pata. Nahi midinnings me change ho Jaye to pehle se hi photo click kar deta hu.. pic.twitter.com/N4VGksNQWh
— Manchester United FC (@DesaiDipen7) November 18, 2023
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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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