Indian team wears black armbands in memory of former captain Dattajirao Gaekwad
Rajkot (PTI): Indian players wore black armbands in the memory of former captain Dattajirao Gaekwad on the third day of the ongoing third Test against England here on Saturday.
Dattajirao, who played 11 Tests for India between 1951 and 1962, died on February 13 after remaining hospitalised for 12 days.
At 95, he was India's oldest living Test cricketer.
Dattajirao was the father of former India batter and coach Aunshuman Gaekwad.
"Team India will be wearing black arm bands in memory of Dattajirao Gaekwad, former India captain and India's oldest Test cricketer who passed away recently," the BCCI said in a statement shortly before the third day's play got underway here at the Niranjan Shah Stadium.
A right-handed batter, who could bowl both medium pace and leg-break, Dattajirao was India's captain during the 1959 tour of England.
#TeamIndia will be wearing black arm bands in memory of Dattajirao Gaekwad, former India captain and India’s oldest Test cricketer who passed away recently.#INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 17, 2024
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Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya case: Hope emerges as Iran may contact victim’s family in bid for pardon
New Delhi: There appears to be a glimmer of hope for Nimisha Priya, the nurse from Kerala on death row in Yemen, as report suggest Iranian officials may reach out to the family of Talal Abdo Mahdi, her former business partner, to seek a pardon through blood money. Priya was sentenced to death for Mahdi's murder.
The 37-year-old nurse is currently imprisoned in Sana’a, the Yemeni capital, which is under the control of Iran-backed Houthis.
A report by The New Indian Express published on Friday stated that discussions are underway to gain the victim's family’s support in seeking a pardon. “It’s a relief of sorts. Iran officials could use their good offices with Houthis for the reach-out with family of the victim. Some cash has been arranged for blood money and talks are on to get the family on board to seek pardon, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed,” a source told the publication.
It is learnt that using an appropriate intermediary equivalent of Rs 30 lakh has been kept ready, the report added.
Hailing from Kollengode in Kerala’s Palakkad district, the nurse was found guilty of murdering the Yemeni citizen in July 2017. She was handed capital punishment by a trial court in 2020 while Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council upheld the verdict in November 2023.
Mahdi, reportedly died from an overdose of sedatives allegedly injected by Priya to retrieve her passport from him.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the Indian government is extending all possible help in the matter. “We are closely following the developments around the sentencing of Nimisha Priya. The government is extending all possible help in the matter,” he said last week.
