Harmanpreet only Indian player to get picked in WBBL overseas draft
Melbourne (PTI): Women's team captain Harmanpreet Kaur was the only Indian player to get picked in the WBBL overseas draft, being retained by Melbourne Renegades here on Sunday.
A total of 18 Indian players, including Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma, among other figured in the inaugural Women's Big Bash League overseas draft but just one -- Harmanpreet -- got picked.
Placed in the platinum category, Harmanpreet was retained by the Renegades along with Hayley Matthews of the West Indies.
Harmanpreet performed remarkably for the Renegades during the 2021-22 season, scoring 406 runs in 12 innings at an average of 58.00 and a strike rate of 130.96, including three half-centuries and a top score of 81 not out.
She was also effective with the ball, taking 15 wickets at an economy of 7.45, with best figures of 3 for 22.
Harmanpreet had made her WBBL debut with Sydney Thunder in 2016-17.
Speaking on Harmanpreet's retention, Renegades head coach Simon Helmot stated, "I'm so pleased we got both of them (Harmanpreet and Hayley) and I'm looking forward to them working with us again this year.
"It was a tough decision -- do we go Harmanpreet at pick three, or do we go Hayley? Fortunately, it worked out for us that Harmanpreet was still available in the second round, so we could still get her as a Platinum pick."
Harmanpreet's long list of domestic franchise T20 teams include Lancashire Thunder, Supernovas, Manchester Originals and Trent Rockets (The Hundred) and Mumbai Indians (Women's Premier League).
The WBBL overseas draft also included Indian players such as Harleen Deol, Hurley Gala, Richa Ghosh, Mannat Kashyap, Amanjot Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Shreyanka Patil, Sneh Rana, Meghana Sabbineni, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Pooja Vastrakar and Radha Yadav.
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Shashi Tharoor calls for regulation and taxation instead of banning online gaming
New Delhi(PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday criticised the government’s move to ban online money gaming, warning that such a step would only push the industry underground and strengthen criminal networks.
He also said he had not studied the three Constitution amendment bills seeking to provide a framework for the removal of prime ministers, Union ministers, chief ministers and state ministers detained on serious criminal charges in any detail.
“On the face of it, it is difficult to say it has any problem, but obviously if anyone does something wrong they should not be a minister anyway. I don’t know if there is any other motive,” he remarked.
Discussing the bill seeking to prohibit and regulate online gaming introduced in the Lok Sabha, he said, "I had written a very long article on the argument that by banning online gaming we are simply driving it underground, whereas it could be a useful source of revenue for the government if we legalise it, regulate it and tax it."
He added that many countries have studied the issue in detail and concluded that regulation and taxation can generate funds for social causes, while bans merely enrich “criminal mafias”.
In a post on X, Tharoor recalled that he had “gone on record in 2018 urging the government to legalise, regulate and tax online gaming, rather than drive it underground by banning it, which will merely enhance the profits of the mafia”.
“It’s a pity that the government seems to have derived no lessons from the experience of other countries that have considered this issue,” he wrote.
He added that the bill should at least have been referred to a parliamentary committee “to consider all the pros and cons before rushing it into law”.
The proposed bill prohibits online money gaming and its advertisements, prescribing imprisonment or fines, or both, for violators. It differentiates such games from eSports and online social games, while calling for their promotion.
1/2 I went on record in 2018 urging the government to legalise, regulate and tax online gaming, rather than drive it underground by banning it, which will merely enhance the profits of the mafia. https://t.co/KYi2aTxDQQ
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 20, 2025
