India pacer Harshit Rana ruled out of T20 World Cup; Siraj to come in: BCCI sources
Mumbai (PTI): Young India speedster Harshit Rana was on Friday ruled out of the T20 World Cup because of a knee injury sustained in a warm-up game here with skipper Suryakumar Yadav admitting that he was "not looking good".
Fellow pacer Mohammed Siraj has been drafted in to replace Rana in the squad, according to reliable BCCI sources.
Earlier, Suryakumar's admission was indication enough that head coach Gautam Gambhir's 24-year-old protege was unlikely to recover in time to play any of the matches, starting with the lung-opener against the USA on Saturday.
"Harshit Rana has not been ruled out yet, the physios are assessing him but he does not look good," Suryakumar said at the pre-match press conference here on Friday.
The Indian captain, however, tried to make light of the setback.
"Don't worry, we have 11 players for tomorrow. But it obviously would be a big blow because you make a squad of 15 after a lot of thought and he was included after some thought process," said Suryakumar.
"But if he is not available going forward, we will then set different combinations. We have enough players and combinations against all teams that we can have for this tournament but if we miss him (for not being available), we will definitely miss him," he added.
Rana could bowl only one over in the warm-up game against South Africa in which he conceded 16 runs and then hobbled off the field with a knee injury.
Although Rana is not a first eleven certainty with an economy rate of 10.60 in nine T20Is, he certainly would have been a handy inclusion in specific conditions. He is also a useful lower-order hitter.
In place of Rana, the pacers who could be in contention are Prasidh Krishna, and Mohammed Siraj among the experienced ones.
All-rounder Washington Sundar is already looking doubtful with a side strain and rib muscle tear.
"We will see which (other) fast bowlers have done really well for the last one or two years or if there is any bowler who can bat as well," Suryakumar said of available options.
"But there is no hard and fast rule that he can bat, because if you are expecting someone at No.9 or No.10 to come out and hit a six, then what are the other eight (players) doing before him? We will see, we do have a few options but we will pick the best one," he added.
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K'taka Cong files complaint against BJP's newspaper advertisement
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Congress on Friday filed a complaint with the Home Department and DGP M A Saleem against BJP for allegedly misusing Mahatma Gandhi's photograph in an advertisement to target the party-led government in the state.
The advertisement shows caricatures of Mahatma Gandhi showing a stick towards Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi.
It has a caption where Gandhi is accusing them of looting for 60 years in his name and now indulging in misinformation against the VB-G RAM G Act brought in by the Modi government, which he says fulfils his dream of gram swaraj.
The advertisement published on Friday in several leading Kannada and English newspapers is in response to the ad issued by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department both on January 29 and February 3, which features caricatures of Gandhi in conversation with a fictional person named 'Sangappa', depicted wearing a white shirt and khaki trousers resembling an RSS uniform, to highlight the alleged shortcomings of the Centre's new act compared to the earlier legislation.
"It has come to my notice that an advertisement given in several of today's i.e., 06-02-2026 news papers is being publicly circulated wherein the image of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation and an internationally revered symbol of non-violence, has been wrongfully and irresponsibly used in connection with violent acts / violent messaging / incitement to violence," Congress MLC, Ramesh Babu stated in the complaint.
He claimed that such misuse is deeply offensive, distorts the legacy of Gandhi, hurts public sentiments, and has the potential to disturb public order and harmony.
"This advertisement is published by Bharatiya Janata Party, Karnataka Unit, Bangalore. The above act constitutes cognizable offences under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023," Babu said citing the various sections.
Further, the content is circulated through electronic and digital platforms also, he said.
"The act also violates the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950 by unauthorized use of Mahatma Gandhi's image. Mahatma Gandhi represents the constitutional values of peace, non-violence, and unity. Any attempt to associate his image with violence is dangerous, unlawful, and against the spirit of the Constitution of India, and may provoke unrest among the public," he alleged.
Babu requested the police chief to direct the officers concerned to register an FIR and conduct a thorough investigation in this regard.
He urged him to initiate strict legal action against all responsible persons and take preventive steps to stop further circulation or misuse of national icons.
Meanwhile, taking to social media platform 'X', IT Minister Priyank Kharge hit out at the BJP claiming that then Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse whereas today Gandhism is being assassinated by "followers of Godse".
He said Mahatma Gandhi was the one who strongly conveyed the message of non-violence to the world.
"Gandhi never raised the walking stick in his hand to attack anyone. Gandhi never showed the path of falsehood. However, failing to understand the greatness of the Mahatma, @RSSorg and @BJP4Karnataka have once again insulted Mahatma Gandhi by issuing an advertisement portraying him as a proponent of violence," he said in his post.
