London (PTI): India women's team captain Harmanpreet Kaur will play for Trent Rockets while her deputy Smriti Mandhana will turn out for Southern Brave in this year's The Hundred cricket tournament. In contrast, top players in the Pakistan men’s team, captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, went unsold.

While Harmanpreet was signed by Trent Rockets at The Hundred draft held on Thursday, Mandhana was retained by Southern Brave. A total of 64 positions -- men and women -- were filled up in Thursday's The Hundred Draft.

The women's draft was held for the first time. Among big names among men, Pakistanis Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf were picked up by Welsh Fire.

Former West Indies captain Kieron Pollard and New Zealand left-arm pacer Trent Boult also were unsold.

The 2023 edition of The Hundred will begin on August 1, with Trent Rockets taking on Southern Brave in the men's and women's competition respectively.

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Patna: AYUSH doctor Nusrat Parveen has decided not to join Bihar government service after a controversial incident involving Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, despite recently receiving her appointment letter.

Parveen was among several hijab-wearing women attending a government Samvad programme in Patna when a video surfaced showing the Chief Minister allegedly pulling down her hijab in public. The incident sparked widespread criticism and political outrage across the country.

Although Parveen is scheduled to join service on December 20, she has chosen to stay away from the job due to the distress caused by the episode. Her family members are reportedly trying to convince her to reconsider the decision.

According to The Wire, Parveen’s brother, who teaches at a government law university in Kolkata, as saying that the family is of the opinion that she should not be held back for the fault of someone else, though they are well aware of her distress over the incident. Her husband works as a clinical psychologist at a college.

ALSO READ: Bihar CM removes hijab from newly appointed doctor's face at govt event, stokes controversy

The incident gained national attention after the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) shared a video clip of the Chief Minister’s interaction with Parveen on its official X account. As per the report, the video quickly went viral, drawing strong reactions from social media users, especially women, who described the act as inappropriate and humiliating.

The RJD criticised Nitish Kumar’s conduct and questioned his mental fitness in a strongly worded post. The Congress also entered the debate by condemning the Chief Minister’s behaviour and demanding his resignation, while linking the episode to concerns over women’s safety in Bihar and arguing that such conduct from the state’s highest constitutional authority sent a disturbing message to society at large.

Despite the growing outrage and sustained political pressure, there has been no official clarification or response from Nitish Kumar, his party, or the Bihar government more than a day after the video went viral.