India crush South Africa by eight wickets in opening ODI
Johannesburg: India pace bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan wreaked havoc as the KL Rahul-led visitors thrashed South Africa by eight wickets in the opening One-Day International at the Wanderers here on Sunday.
On a wicket offering pace and bounce to the quicks, Avesh returned figures of 4 for 27 in his eight overs, while left-armer Arshdeep had excellent figures of 5 for 37 in 10 overs as the Proteas were dismissed for a paltry 116 in 27.3 overs.
Sai Sudharsan (55 not out) and Shreyas Iyer (52) then struck fine half centuries to chase down the target in 16.4 overs for the loss of two wickets.
India and South Africa handed debut caps to 22-year-old top order batter B Sai Sudharsan and bowling all-rounder Nandre Burger respectively.
Brief Scores:
South Africa: 116 all out in 27.3 overs (Tony de Zorzi 28, Andile Phehlukwayo 33; Arshdeep Singh 5/37, Avesh Khan 4/27).
India: 117 for 2 in 16.4 overs (Sai Sudharsan 55 not out, Shreyas Iyer 52).
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.
Sharad Pawar praised RSS after seeing how it burst fake narrative balloon of LS polls: Fadnavis
Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."
