New Delhi, Nov 27: Opener Shikhar Dhawan was on Wednesday ruled out of the T20 International series against the West Indies due to a knee injury, making way for Sanju Samson, who was dropped without getting a chance in the recent series against Bangladesh.

Dhawan suffered a deep cut on his left knee during a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy game against Maharashtra in Surat, the BCCI said in a statement.

"The BCCI Medical Team assessed him on Tuesday to review the healing of his wound. The BCCI Medical Team has suggested that Dhawan needs some more time for his stitches to come off and his wound to heal completely," the BCCI revealed.

"The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Sanju Samson as Dhawan's replacement for the T20I series," it added.

The T20 series against the West Indies gets underway on December 6 in Hyderabad. The other two matches will be played in Thiruvananthapuram (December 8) and Mumbai (December 11).

Kerala player Samson was dropped from the side without getting a single game in the home series against Bangladesh earlier this month. The dropping drew criticism with several former players questioning the logic of not playing him at all against Bangladesh.

The 33-year-old Dhawan is expected to be fit for the one-dayers against the Caribbean team but is under tremendous pressure due to his patchy recent form. The three-match ODI series against the West Indies starts on December 15 in Chennai.

Dhawan was off-colour in the recent series against Bangladesh accounting for 91 runs in three appearances. His form hasn't exactly been the best even in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Besides, the BCCI said Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha underwent a surgery on his right ring finger after sustaining a fracture during the recent Day/Night Test against Bangladesh, which India won by an innings and 46 runs.

"The BCCI Medical Team consulted a hand and wrist specialist and it was suggested that Saha undergoes a surgical fixation of the fracture," the Board stated.

"Subsequently, he underwent a successful surgery in Mumbai on Tuesday and will soon commence his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru," it added.

India's squad for three T20Is:

Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sanju Samson.

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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.

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