Dazzling Rohit Sharma hits 155 as Mumbai decimate Sikkim by 8 wickets
Jaipur (PTI): Rohit Sharma made a mockery of an inexperienced Sikkim bowing attack with a 94-ball-155 on his return to List A cricket, as Mumbai cruised to an eight-wicket victory in their opening Group C match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Wednesday.
A near capacity crowd of 20,000-odd fans celebrated the Christmas eve witnessing the 'HitMan' carnage, which included 18 fours and nine sixes with Mumbai chasing down a target of 237 in just 30.3 overs.
Truth be told, there was not much to write home about Sikkim's bowling unit with Palzor Tamang, Kranthi Kumar, Gurinder Singh and Ankur Malik looking overawed or clueless from the moment Rohit took guard.
It started with a trademark pull-shot over mid-wicket off Kranthi for a boundary, followed by a swivel pull shot off his hips.
ALSO READ:Virat Kohli returns to Vijay Hazare Trophy: King’s tryst with silence and chaos
The pacers lacked sting and twice, seamer Palzor's 125 kmph deliveries were swept fine behind the square for sixes.
Rohit played a few late cuts against the spinners using the pace of their deliveries. He was dropped twice but Rohit remained undeterred and always found a way to bisect the gaps at time and over of his choice.
Rohit also hit some delectable straight shots leaving the Sikkim bowlers in complete awe.
"It is the best day of our lives as we shared the pitch with such a great cricketer. He respected the good balls and punished the poor deliveries. At times he would speak to himself and say, "Yeh achha delivery thaa. Yeh shot mujhe waaha nahi yehaan marna chhiye thaa (This was a good shot. I should not have played this shot in that area)," Sikkim skipper Le Yong Lepcha told PTI.
Rohit had two partnership, one that yielded 141 runs for the opening stand with Angkrish Raghuvansi (38 of 56 balls) and another 75 with debutant Musheer Khan (27).
Abhishek contributes 48 in Punjab's win
Skipper Abhishek Sharma contributed 48 off 45 balls but it was Naman Dhir who stole the show with a fine 97 off 78 balls as Punjab beat Maharashtra by 51 runs in another group league game.
Punjab scored 347 for six largely due to contribution from Dhir along with Singh cousins -- Anmolpreet (85 off 78 balls) and Prabhsimran (60 off 77 balls).
In reply, Maharashtra managed 296 for 8 with skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (1) enduring a rare failure.
Brief Scores
Sikkim 236/7 in 50 overs (Ashish Thapa 79, Shardul Thakur 2/19).
Mumbai 237/2 in 30.3 overs (Rohit Sharma 155).
Mumbai won by 8 wickets.
Punjab 347/6 in 50 overs (Naman Dhir 97, Anmolpreet Singh 85, Prabhsimran Singh 60).
Maharashtra 296/8 in 50 overs (Prithvi Shaw 47, Ramakrishna Ghosh 73, SS Bajwa 2/36).
Punjab won by 51 runs.
Chattisgarh 233 in 48.5 (Amandeep Khare 76, Deepraj Gaonkar 4/35).
Goa 234/4 in 44.1 overs (Snehal Kauthankar 107 no, Lalit Yadav 43).
Goa won by 6 wickets.
Himachal Pradesh 259 in 47.3 overs (Innesh Mahajan 60, DS Bora 4/44).
Uttarakhand 164 in 40.3 overs (Aanjaneya Suryavanshi 55, J Sucheeth 51, Akash Vashist 3/30).
Himachal Pradesh won by 95 runs.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Ex-PM Deve Gowda slams Siddaramaiah government over BMIC project
Bengaluru (PTI): Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the Karnataka government, saying he has been made a party in a writ petition filed in the Supreme Court over the BMIC/NICE project, forcing him to fight a legal battle even at an advanced age.
Addressing a press conference at the JD(S) state office, JP Bhavan, Gowda said the writ petition names the state government, some farmers and himself as respondents in connection with the long-pending project.
"A writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court regarding the Bengaluru-Mysuru infrastructure project, and I have also been made a party to it," the 92-year-old leader said, expressing anguish over being dragged into litigation.
ALSO READ: BJP will hold protest till money under Gruha Lakshmi scheme is disbursed: Ashoka
The Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC), also known as the NICE Road project, is a large-scale integrated infrastructure project in Karnataka, India, designed to connect Bengaluru and Mysuru via a high-speed expressway and thematic townships.
Allegations of acquiring "excess land" beyond project requirements have led to numerous legislative inquiries and public protests.
Over 20,000 acres were earmarked, causing long-term uncertainty for thousands of farming families who were unable to sell or develop their land for decades.
Critics have raised alarms over the impact on forests, lakes (like Gottigere Lake), and the regional water table.
The JD(S) patriarch recalled that when the agreement for the BMIC project was signed during his tenure as CM, Siddaramaiah, who is chief minister now, was the finance minister then.
"When I was the chief minister of this state, Siddaramaiah was the finance minister. The finance department had given its consent to the BMIC project, and an MoU was signed. He has all the details of that agreement as well," he said.
Explaining the scope of the project, Gowda said it covered four districts, including Bengaluru, Mandya and Mysuru, and involved the construction of concrete roads and five townships.
Lashing out at the state government, he said, "Even at this age, I have to pay lawyers and fight in court. I am told Rs 55 lakh is being paid to legal advisors in the NICE company case. Despite having an Advocate General and legal advisors, another counsel has been appointed specifically for the NICE issue," he said, criticising the state government's approach.
The former Prime Minister asserted that he still had the strength to fight.
"I still have the spirit to struggle and the strength to fight," he said, while alleging large-scale dependence on outsourced employees.
He claimed that over one lakh workers were employed on contract and that thousands of sanctioned posts remained vacant, citing Victoria Hospital as an example.
Taking a dig at the present administration, Gowda said the CM showed "excessive sympathy" towards the poor while allowing seven to eight people with cabinet rank to function from the Chief Minister's Office, calling it reflective of the government's style of functioning.
Gowda also said that constantly blaming the Centre would yield no results.
Recalling past experience, he said that when Siddaramaiah was the finance minister in the state and Manmohan Singh held the same portfolio at the Centre, a request to waive penal interest on farmers' loans was rejected by the Centre, NABARD and then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao.
"If the state government spends all its time accusing the Centre, what is the use? A CM should attend DISHA meetings chaired by the Prime Minister and fight for the state's needs," he said, adding that MPs would not shirk their responsibilities.
Announcing his party programmes, Gowda said the JD(S) would hold conventions in Hassan and Bagalkote between January 23 and 25, ahead of the Parliament's joint session beginning on January 30.
He said Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy had been informed and that the meetings would highlight the state government's failures and its discontinuation of welfare schemes implemented during Kumaraswamy's tenure.
On renaming the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Gowda accused the Congress of hypocrisy.
He questioned the Congress's concern for Mahatma Gandhi, asking whether Gandhi's posters were ever prominently displayed during the tenures of Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi.
He noted that MGNREGA funds were being shared in a 60:40 ratio and that workdays had been increased, questioning the outrage over naming conventions.
The former PM also remarked that Prime Minister Narendra Modi knew how to run the country and clarified that he was not praising Modi.
