IND vs AUS 4th Test: Gill scores half-century, India reach 129/1 after losing Rohit Sharma
Ahmedabad (PTI): Young Shubman Gill justified his inclusion in the playing XI with a composed half-century as India scored at a fair clip to reach 129 for one at lunch on the third day of the fourth Test against Australia, here Saturday.
India are still 351 runs behind Australia's first innings score of 480.
India lost the wicket of their skipper Rohit Sharma (35 off 58 balls), who let slip a golden opportunity to get a big score on the best batting surface of the series.
Gill (65 batting, 119 balls) and Rohit added 74 runs for the opening wicket.
Sharma looked in good flow as he pulled a Mitchell Starc behind square for a six and ran well between the wickets during their 21-over stand.
The mode of dismissal was disappointing as the delivery from left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann (1/20) wasn't a wicket-taking one.
It was pitched short and Sharma could have hit it anywhere but his uppish back-foot punch found Marnus Labuschagne, stationed at short extra-cover for that particular shot.
Gill didn't have any issues tackling the Australian attack as he got a steady partner in Cheteshwar Pujara (22 batting), who showed more purpose at the crease during their unbroken stand of 55 runs.
The opener has hit five fours and a six while Pujara stepped out to smash off-spinner Todd Murphy through the covers for a boundary.
Towards the end of the session, there was one traditional off-break from Murphy that turned significantly to miss Gill's bat, the bails as well as wicketkeeper Alex Carey's gloves.
The pacers aren't getting much help from the track and the short-ball tactic that both Starc and Cameron Green used didn't pay much dividends.
The pitch is still on the slower side and pace off the track isn't much to hurry the batters into playing their strokes.
There is all the time in the world to rock back to either play the cut or punch through the off-side or play the pull in-front or behind the square.
Gill scored his first 40 runs quickly but after that slowed a bit.
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Karnataka Assembly passes bill on Palace Grounds amid opposition protest
Bengaluru, Mar 6 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Bangalore Palace (Utilisation and Regulation of Land) Bill, reaffirming state ownership over 472 acres and 16 guntas of land here, amid protests by the opposition BJP.
During the discussion, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state government would have to provide Rs 200 crore worth of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for each acre of land, which means that for 15 acres, Rs 3,000 crore worth of TDR would be issued.
“If we accept it, then this 2-km stretch of road will become the costliest road in the world. If we accept it then how are we going to develop the city in later stages? How will you carry out development works?” asked Patil.
He also pointed out that this question was raised not only under the Congress government but also during the previous BJP regime.
However, the BJP-led cabinet has opposed the project.
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“Suppose we agree to it then, what will be the valuation of the 472 acres? It will be lakhs and lakhs of crores of rupees. Can we accept?” Patil wondered.
The Minister said the government had previously exercised its executive powers to issue an ordinance, which was approved by the Governor. Now the government is bringing a bill with two amendments.
“In this bill, we have made provisions either to develop or drop the road development work,” Patil explained.
However, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MLA Arvind Bellad opposed the move, alleging that the government was targetting Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Mysuru royal family, and the BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency out of political vendetta.
“We talk of 472 acres of Mysuru Maharaja but here there are many Maharajas who too own 400 acres, 500 acres and thousands of acres of land, which is known to everyone,” Bellad said.
He slammed the Congress government, saying political power should not be misused for personal vendetta.
“Why (the then Deputy Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah brought the law in 1996 pertaining to the Bangalore Palace? Why are you setting eyes on the Bangalore Palace?” he asked.
Vijayendra charged that Wadiyar won the election on BJP ticket so the state government realised that it should acquire it.
“This bill has been brought for political vengeance. We are not discussing whether Rs 3,000 crore is exorbitant or not but the moment Yaduveer became MP, the state government woke up. You should be ashamed. This house should not be used for political vendetta,” he said.
Intervening, Minister Priyank Kharge said Vijayendra should not have raised it because the intention behind building the road was noble.
According to him, the BJP too had the same plan when it was in power.
He sought to know whether thousands of crores of rupees be spent on a road which should have cost significantly less.
In response, BJP MLA B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) said issuing TDR will not be a burden on the state government and appealed to the ruling Congress to reconsider its stance.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy too explained that the Karnataka government acquired the entire land way back in 1996.
The Mysuru royal family went to the High Court, which gave ruling in favour of the state government. The royal family then approached the Supreme Court, where the case is still going on, the Minister pointed out.
“The final judgment is pending in the SC to decide whether the acquisition was right or wrong. If the SC says it’s the royal family’s property then let it be so. If the order is in the state government’s favour then we can take a decision. The bill is only about it,” Reddy explained.
Speaker U T Khader then called for a voice vote and the bill was passed by the Assembly amidst opposition BJP’s discontent.
