CSK's Devon Conway to undergo surgery for thumb injury, all but ruled out of IPL
Wellington, Mar 4: New Zealand opener Devon Conway is all but ruled out of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) due to a left thumb injury that will take eight weeks to heal, dealing a blow to his franchise Chennai Super Kings.
Conway sustained the injury during the T20I series against Australia last month.
The 32-year-old will undergo a surgery on his left thumb which got injured during the second T20I in Auckland on February 23. The IPL is scheduled to start on March 22, with defending champions CSK taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
He missed the first Test which ended on Sunday and after further medical examination, he has been advised surgery, which will take place later this week.
"Devon Conway has a small fracture in the joint of his thumb. So he will undergo surgery this week and hopefully he will good in somewhere between an eight-week period," New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said in a media interaction.
Conway was bought by Chennai Super Kings for a base price of Rs one crore in the 2022 auction.
The left-handed batter has amassed 924 runs in 23 matches in the IPL at an average of 46.12 with a strike rate of 141.28. CSK have started preparing for the upcoming IPL season with a training camp in Chennai.
"Following several scans and specialist advice, the decision was made to operate on Conway with a likely recovery period of at least eight weeks," New Zealand Cricket said in a statement.
The IPL schedule has been announced only for the first 21 matches. The fixtures for the remaining games will be announced after the schedule of the upcoming general elections in India is unveiled.
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Telangana first state to implement SC categorisation, issues orders
Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana on Monday issued a government order on the implementation of Scheduled Castes (SC) categorisation, making it the first state in the country to do so officially, Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said.
Telangana government had earlier appointed a commission headed by retired High Court judge Justice Shameem Akther on SC categorisation, which made recommendations that the 59 Scheduled Caste (SC) communities be divided into three groups viz I, II, and III for the total reservations of 15 per cent in government jobs and education.
"The following Act of the Telangana Legislature received the assent of the Governor of Telangana on 8, April 2025 and the said assent is hereby first published on the 14th April 2025 in the Telangana Gazette for general information," the GO said.
The issuance of GO coincides with the birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar, architect of Indian Constitution.
According to the commission report, group-I one comprising 15 socially, economically and educationally disadvantaged SC communities, are given one per cent reservation.
Group-II, including 18 moderately benefited SC communities, are provided a nine per cent quota while the Group-III comprising 26 significantly benefited SC communities, are given five per cent reservation.
Addressing a press conference, Minister Reddy, who headed a sub-committee on SC Categorisation, said the first copy of the GO was given to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy this morning.
"From today, from this moment, SC categorisation will be implemented in Telangana in employment and education. We have issued a GO to that extent and gave the first copy to the CM," he told reporters.
"Telangana is the first state to implement the SC categorisation after the Supreme Court’s verdicts," Reddy said.
The minister alleged that earlier governments in Telangana confined themselves to pass resolutions for the categorisation and never took forward.
He further said all job vacancies in the state government now will be filled according to the sub-categorisation for SCs.
The Irrigation Minister further said the cabinet sub-committee did an extensive exercise in collecting the opinion of all the stakeholders.
He also said if the SC population goes up in 2026 census, the reservations for it would go up accordingly.
The Telangana Legislature in February accepted the recommendations of Justice Akther on SC categorisation, rejecting an advice that creamy layer should be exempted from reservations.
The Scheduled Castes (Rationalisation of Reservation) Bill, 2025 was passed last month. The Supreme Court gave a verdict last year in favour of categorisation.
