Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha retires from all forms of cricket
Bhopal, Feb 15: Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha on Monday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, bringing down curtains on a two-decade long illustrious domestic career.
The 37-year-old from Madhya Pradesh, who holds the record for the most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in the Ranji Trophy, has featured in one Test, one ODI and two T20 Internationals.
"I would like to announce my retirement," Ojha, who struggled to hold back tears, said in a virtual press conference.
"It is time for me to move on. It was a long journey, I am grateful I had this opportunity and I could fulfil my dream of playing for country and state," he said.
Ojha made his international debut in 2010 in his only ODI against Sri Lanka, followed by his first T20I match in Zimbabwe a week later. His lone Test came in 2015 against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
Although Ojha's international career never took off, the Ujjain-born player has played 146 first-class games notching up 9,753 runs with 22 hundreds at an average of 41.67 in a career spanning two decades.
The right-hand batsman has been excellent in the domestic circuit both with the gloves and bat. In the 143 List A and 182 T20s games, Ojha amassed 4,278 and 2,972 runs respectively.
He last appeared in a Ranji Trophy match for MP against Uttar Pradesh in January last year. He had captained MP in that Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match in Indore.
In the Indian Premier League, Ojha played for Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils.
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IndiGo cancels over 60 flights from Bengaluru despite CEO claiming operations stable
Mumbai (PT): IndiGo on Wednesday cancelled over 60 flights from Bengaluru Airport, despite Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers claiming on December 9 that the airline's operations were back on track.
IndiGo has cancelled 61 flights on Wednesday, including 35 arrivals and 26 departures, a source said.
On Tuesday, after the government slashed IndiGo's winter flight schedule by 10 per cent or around 220 flights of the nearly 2,200 approved per day, and IndiGo cancelled 460 flights from six metros alone, Elbers claimed that the airline was "back on the feet" and its operations were "stable."
He also said that lakhs of customers have already received their full refunds, without giving any specific numbers, but remained tight-lipped on the issue of compensation to those whose flights were abruptly cancelled, hugely delayed or rescheduled without their consent.
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As per the Civil Aviation Ministry's passenger charter, airlines are liable to pay compensation to passengers for flight delays or cancellations under certain situations. Also, airlines have to provide this compensation automatically without passengers having to request it.
IndiGo has cancelled thousands of flights nationwide after failing to plan for tighter safety regulations, causing severe hardships for passengers, driving up airfares on other domestic carriers and creating chaos across airports pan-India.
After the situation, which started on December 1 continued till December 5, the government finally stepped in with the DGCA issuing show-cause notices to Elbers and IndiGo Chief Operating Officer Isidro Proqueras, who is also the Accountable Manager for the Rahul Bhatia-controlled airline, and also ordered capping of airfares.
On Tuesday, the government ordered a 10 per cent cut in the airline's winter schedule.
"The Ministry considers it necessary to curtail the overall Indigo routes, which will help in stabilising the airline's operations and lead to reduced cancellations. A curtailment of 10 per cent has been ordered. While abiding by it, Indigo will continue to cover all its destinations as before," Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said.
Earlier that day, the DGCA had issued a notice to the airline, ordering a 5 per cent cut in its schedule and asked it to submit the revised plan by Wednesday 5 pm. PTI IAS DR
