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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'Engineered narratives': West Bengal guv on alleged molestation charges against him
Kolkata, May 2: West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Thursday said he will not be cowed down by “engineered narratives” and the "truth shall triumph” after TMC leaders claimed that a woman working at Raj Bhavan levelled allegations of molestation against him.
In a statement, the Governor said, “Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives. If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal,”
To the Raj Bhavan staff "who expressed solidarity with him following some derogatory narratives that were circulated by two disgruntled employees as agents of political parties," a communication by Raj Bhawan said.
The Governor’s statement came after senior TMC leaders claimed this evening in a series of social media posts that the woman, who had levelled the allegations, has been taken to a police station to complain against Bose.
Though police sources said they received a verbal complaint, there was no official word on whether a formal complaint had been registered.
“BIG. Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose was accused of molesting a woman. How utterly appalling and Horrifying. Ahead of @narendramodi visit to Kolkata who is supposed to stay overnight at Raj Bhavan, a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj Bhavan today. The complainant has been taken to the Hare Street police station for filing a complaint. The woman has accused the Governor of molesting her. Shocking and disgraceful,” TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose said in a post on X.
Fellow TMC MP Saket Gokhale also posted on his X account regarding the issue.
West Bengal Women and Child Development Minister Shashi Panja said it is “shameful” that the Governor has maligned his post and has used it to “torture a woman”.
“It is appalling and shocking to see such an incident. This is the same Governor who had reached out to Sandeshkhali to talk about women’s rights and Nari Shakti. This is shameful that the Governor sought undue advantages in the pretext of giving her a permanent job. We want Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will be addressing rallies in Bengal tomorrow to react on this issue,” she said.
According to sources in the Governor's House, the "woman employee with the help of her alleged boyfriend who is also an employee of the Raj Bhavan was blocking complaints (from people) being sent to the Election Commission of India.
"When she was reprimanded for that, she went outside and alleged molestation. She is in the habit of throwing tantrums against her colleagues because of some disease," a Raj Bhavan official said.
The West Bengal Governor and the TMC government have shared an acrimonious relationship since he assumed office in November 2022 and had several run-ins on various issues.
The BJP said it has to be seen whether this a “conspiracy by the TMC” or has an “iota of truth in it”.
“We all know that the TMC is politically cornered on the issue of SSC scam and is looking for a breathing space. So this needs to be seen whether this is a conspiracy by the TMC or it has any iota of truth in it,” BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said.
BIG. Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose accused of molesting a woman. How utterly APPALLING and HORRIFYING. Ahead of @narendramodi visit to Kolkata who is supposed to stay overnight at Raj Bhavan, a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj…
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) May 2, 2024
Shameful that a constitutional office holder should try to prejudice an impartial investigation by attacking the motive of the complainant. We have seen this happen in that infamous Saturday Hearing of the Supreme Court. Respect women! https://t.co/E6eJLQvFXO
— sanjoy ghose (@advsanjoy) May 2, 2024
