Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das ruled out of entire Asia Cup due to illness
Dhaka (PTI): Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das was on Wednesday ruled out of the entire duration of Asia Cup cricket tournament due to illness, dealing a blow to the side ahead of their campaign opener against hosts Sri Lanka in Pallekele.
Das could not recover from a viral fever, and he did not travel to Sri Lanka whom Bangladesh face in their opening match on Thursday.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has named 30-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Anamul Haque Bijoy as Das' replacement.
Bijoy will join the squad in Sri Lanka later on Wednesday.
"Bangladesh opening batsman Litton Kumer Das, who could not travel to Sri Lanka with the Asia Cup squad due to viral fever, has been ruled out of the tournament as he has not recovered from the illness," the BCB said in a statement.
"The National Selection Panel of BCB has named 30-year-old fellow right-hander Anamul Haque Bijoy as Litton's replacement."
Anamul Haque has played 44 ODIs and has scored 1254 runs which include three hundreds. His last ODI appearance for Bangladesh was in December 2022 against India.
BCB's National Selection Panel Chairman Minhajul Abedin said: "He (Anamul) has been in the runs in domestic cricket and we have continued to monitor him in the Bangladesh Tigers programme. He was always in our consideration.
"Due to Litton's unavailability, we needed a top-order batter who could keep wicket and Anamul got the nod."
Bangladesh Squad: Shakib Al Hasan (Captain), Najmul Hossain Shanto, Tawhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain Dhrubo, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Naim Sheikh, Shamim Hossain, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Anamul Haque Bijoy.
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PM Modi becomes most followed world leader on Instagram with 100 million followers
New Delh (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has crossed the massive milestone of 100 million followers on Instagram, making him the first world leader and politician to achieve this feat on the platform, officials said on Thursday.
Prime Minister Modi joined Instagram in 2014, and over the past decade, his account has evolved into one of the most engaging digital spaces among global leaders, officials said.
Among major global leaders, Modi now has the highest number of Instagram followers. He has more than twice as many followers as US President Donald Trump on the social media platform.
The combined follower count of the next five major world leaders is still lower than Modi's individual total, officials said.
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US President Donald Trump holds the second spot with 43.2 million followers.
He is followed by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto with 15 million followers, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with 14.4 million followers, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with 11.6 million followers and Argentine President Javier Milei with 6.4 million followers.
This underlines Prime Minister Modi's unmatched global outreach and popularity among the youth across the world, officials noted.
In India, the gap in followers is significant, as Modi is far ahead of other Indian political leaders on Instagram.
The second spot is held by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with approximately 16.1 million followers, followed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with approximately 12.6 million followers.
