Day 1: India all out for 252 against SL in 2nd Test
Bengaluru, Mar 12: Shreyas Iyer produced a counter-attacking 92 to put India in position of strength on a track that is offering extensive help to spinners as the hosts scored 252 after Sri Lankan bowlers made early inroads on the opening day of the second Test, here on Saturday.
India were struggling at 126 for five at one stage but Rishabh Pant (39 off 26 balls) turned it around with his aggressive yet effective batting.
The left-hander was dropped when he was on four and he made the Lankans pay heavily for the mistake.
Iyer then changed the narrative with his controlled aggression, the result of which was a gritty knock under pressure that will enable India to call the shots in the day/night game.
Iyer made batting look easy after sharp turn and uneven bounce at the M Chinnaswamy track made the Indians dance to Lankan spinners' tunes.
His entertaining knock that came off 98-balls had 10 fours and four sixes, negated all the good work done by the visiting bowlers in the first session when they had taken four wickets, including that of skipper Rohit Sharma (15) and Virat Kohli (23).
He missed out on his second Test hundred as he was stumped off Praveen Jayawickrama (3/81) going for a big shot.
The bowler who had grabbed the momentum for Sri Lanka was left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya (3/94), who also dismissed three batters but was later taken to cleaners by Iyer.
While Iyer and Pant took the counter-attacking route, Hanuma Vihari (31) and Kohli were carefully crafting their knocks during first session.
With the sun shining bright, the pink ball did not swing enough to trouble the batters but a few balls kept really low, making it tough for home team after it elected to bat.
While Mayank Agarwal (4) was run out, Rohit was dismissed by left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya, who got the ball to turn and bounce.
Vihari's eventful stay was ended by Praveen Jayawickrama, also a left-arm spinner, while Virat Kohli's carefully crafted short knock met its end with a ball that kept really low and had him plumb off off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva.
India could have lost another wicket but Pant was dropped by Suranga Lakmal in the deep when he was on 4.
Vihari and Kohli confidently played drives and cuts to raise a 47-run stand for the third wicket but once it was broken, batting seemed to be a challenge.
The track at M Chinnaswamy stadium was devoid of any grass, India expectedly opted to bat even as Rohit, who looked fluent, and Agarwal also could not utilise the opportunity to score big.
Pacer Lakmal maintained a probing off-stump line but left-arm pacer Vishwa Fernando largely kept it on middle and leg, from where Rohit easily played on-drives. Agarwal, who dispatched one over-pitched from Lakmal to cover region boundary to start off, threw away his wicket when he got himself run out in the second over of the day.
Fernando appealed for a leg before but the umpire was unmoved. Agarwal looked for a single but Rohit also took a couple of steps but stopped realising that there was no run on offer.
But it was too late for Agarwal to get back to his crease since he was already half-way down and was run-out.
Left-armer Fernando dug one short and the Indian skipper dispatched that with ease into the spectators stand with his trademark pull shot.
Left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya created a chance in his very first over when he induced an edge from Vihari but it just fell short of first slip.
However, he scalped the Indian captain, getting him caught in the second slip. The ball had turn and bounce as it took the edge and flew towards de Silva, who completed the catch at gully.
Vihari survived when umpire judged him leg before off Jayawickrama but the DRS review showed that the ball was missing the leg stump. He was 31. However the same bowler had him caught behind soon.
Kohli, who is chasing a long overdue Test hundred, grew in confidence but low-bounce did not allow him stretch his stay.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
