Cautious Kohli unbeaten on 88 as India reach 362 for 4 at lunch
Ahmedabad (PTI): Virat Kohli sedately inched towards his first Test hundred since November 2019 as India reached 362 for four at lunch on day four of the fourth Test against Australia here on Sunday.
The pitch hasn't been easy for scoring with only 73 runs scored off 32 overs in the morning session.
Kohli (88 batting) added 29 runs to his overnight score of 59 not out with India still 118 runs behind Australia's first innings score of 480.
With Shreyas Iyer unlikely to bat due to recurrence of a lower back injury, Kona Bharat was promoted up the order and he did his case no harm with an unbeaten 25 off 70 balls.
The wicket-keeper also shared an unbroken 53-run stand with the former India captain.
Bharat, in fact, played the best shot of the morning, a slog sweep over cow corner off Nathan Lyon for a six.
The only wicket that India lost during the session was of Ravindra Jadeja (28 off 84 balls), who failed to clear Usman Khawaja at mid-on off Todd Murphy (2/64 in 32 overs).
Kohli has put his head down during his 220-ball knock and it did allow the Australians to control the proceedings on a slow deck. The only time he got closest to hitting a boundary was a flick through mid-wicket off Cameron Green but Mitchell Starc cut it down to three runs.
He was then happy getting the occasional single and double to keep the scoreboard moving.
Bharat, who has had a wretched time with the bat in the series so far, did look way more confident on a flat track and was more assured in his defence.
He put a big stride forward to negate the little bit of turn that was on offer for the Australian spinners.
The only one who got a couple of deliveries to break back sharply was Lyon (1/99 in 49 overs).
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Informing Pakistan ahead of Operation Sindoor was a crime: Rahul Gandhi on Jaishankar's 'admission'
New Delhi, May 17 (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at the government for "informing" Pakistan about targeting terror infrastructure as part of Operation Sindoor, saying it was a crime and asking who had authorised it.
In a post on X, Gandhi questioned External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar for publicly admitting that the government of India (GOI) had informed Pakistan of the action and asked how many aircraft the Indian Air Force lost as a result.
"Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it. Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our air force lose as a result?" said Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha.
He also shared an undated video of Jaishankar saying India had informed Pakistan of the action against terror infrastructure on its soil.
Jaishankar can be heard saying in the video, "At the start of the operation, we had sent a message to Pakistan, saying, 'We are striking at terrorist infrastructure and we are not striking at the military.'"
"So the military has the option of standing out and not interfering in this process. They chose not to take that good advice," the minister can be heard saying in the clip.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB), however, has debunked claims that Jaishankar had said India informed Pakistan ahead of Operation Sindoor. In a post on X, the PIB's Fact Check Unit said the minister had not made any such statement and that he was being misquoted.
Operation Sindoor was the Indian offensive against terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam.
Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 17, 2025
EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it.
1. Who authorised it?
2. How many aircraft did our airforce lose as a result? pic.twitter.com/KmawLLf4yW
