IPL first phase schedule announced amid travel concerns caused by war in West Asia
New Delhi (PTI): Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener in Bengaluru on March 28 as the BCCI announced the first phase of the tournament schedule amid concerns around players' travel arrangements due to the ongoing West Asia conflict.
All matches scheduled at the Chinnaswamy Stadium remain subject to clearance from the Karnataka government appointed expert committee, which is scheduled to meet on March 13 to assess venue preparedness in the wake of the deadly stampede at the stadium last season.
The BCCI announced the schedule of the first 20 games on Wednesday and will unveil the full schedule once the dates of elections in three states -- Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal -- are announced.
Besides the state elections, the escalating conflict in West Asia will also be at the forefront of BCCI officials' minds. The war has wreaked havoc to international travel with operations of major airports like Doha and Dubai being heavily restricted.
As a result of that, some of the squad members of South Africa and West Indies are yet to reach home a week after the completion of their T20 World Cup campaign.
It remains to be seen if IPL bound players of those two nations report to their respective teams in time.
"There was a substantial delay in departure of West Indies and South Africa players. It would be a tough task to get them back to India on time. Plus the airfares have gone up substantially due to the war in West Asia," a team official told PTI.
Additionally, hotels across India are facing cooking gas shortage due to the raging conflict and on Tuesday, the central government invoked Essential Commodities Act to ensure uninterrupted supply of domestic cooking gas.
Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanthan told PTI that he is expecting his players from the West Indies and South Africa -- Akeal Hossein and Dewald Brevis, to join the team well before their IPL opener.
"We are expecting no delays from their end," he said.
The second game of the opening weekend will see Mumbai Indians host Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium and the opening weekend will not feature any double-headers.
A total of 20 matches will be played across 10 venues: Bengaluru, Mumbai, Guwahati, New Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
"During the season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play five home matches in Bengaluru and two in Raipur. Punjab Kings will play four home matches in New Chandigarh and three in Dharamshala, while Rajasthan Royals will play three home matches in Guwahati and four in Jaipur," said the BCCI in a statement.
"During this period (the first 16 days), the tournament will feature four double-headers, with the afternoon matches beginning at 03:30 PM IST and the evening matches commencing at 07:30 PM IST.
"Following the opening encounter on Saturday, Mumbai Indians will take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
"The matches scheduled in Bengaluru are subject to clearance from the Expert Committee constituted by the Government of Karnataka," the BCCI added.
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Kerala HC upholds life term of 5 BJP workers for 2006 murder of CPI(M) activist in Kannur
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): The Kerala High Court has upheld the life sentence of five BJP activists for the murder of a young CPI(M) worker by throwing a bomb at him in Kannur in 2006, terming it as another incident of a person losing his life due to the political rivalry between the two parties in that district.
A bench consisting of justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Jobin Sebastian noted that the killing of 24-year-old Yackoob by throwing a bomb at his head was a retaliation for the assault of a BJP worker a few days before the incident.
"This is another incident in which a young man aged 24 years lost his life as a victim of the political rivalry that existed between CPI(M) and BJP, two political parties, in Kannur district," the bench said.
It upheld the decision of the trial court convicting and sentencing to life Vijesh (43), Prakashan (48), Kavyesh (43), Manoharan (31) and Sankaran Master (49), saying there were no discrepancies in the statements of the witnesses -- party colleagues of the victim -- who had faced the attack and named the five accused as the main perpetrators.
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The bench said that the post-mortem findings were consistent with death due to a blast injury to the head, "with total loss of the brain".
"A conjoint reading of the evidence of the doctor and the post-mortem certificate issued by him undoubtedly reveals that the death of Yackoob was homicidal and that the injury sustained to the head resulted from a bomb blast," the High Court said.
It also noted that two of the witnesses had suffered injuries in the attack on the CPI(M) activists by BJP workers on the night of June 13, 2006, and their version of the assault was consistent with the nature of the wounds found on their bodies.
The bench also accepted the version of two of the witnesses that they saw one of the accused throwing a bomb at the head of the victim, which exploded and killed him instantly.
The defence lawyers had claimed that the statements of the witnesses were not the same and had differences, but the bench rejected it.
The High Court also rejected the defence argument of a delay in lodging an FIR, saying that the police initially went on patrolling to ensure law and order was maintained in the area to prevent other similar incidents, and a case was registered six hours after the death of the victim.
The bench also said that though the bomb was hurled by one of the accused, all of them were liable for the murder, as the act was done in furtherance of the common objective of the unlawful assembly to kill Yackoob.
"The accused, who inflicted a grievous injury on the head of the deceased by hurling a country-made bomb and causing an explosion, cannot be heard to say that they did not conceive an intention to murder the deceased in this case.
"Resultantly, we confirm the findings, conviction, and sentences passed by the Additional Sessions Judge," the bench said, dismissing the appeals of the five accused against their conviction and life sentence.
According to the prosecution, the accused BJP workers hatched a conspiracy to kill Yackoob, a CPI(M) activist, and on June 13, 2006 formed themselves into an unlawful assembly armed with dangerous weapons, including country-made bombs, and criminally trespassed into the house where the victim and his party colleagues were present.
On seeing the accused armed with weapons, the victim and his friends got scared and ran in different directions, and as they were attempting to escape, a bomb was thrown at the head of Yackoob, the prosecution had said.
The bomb exploded and killed the CPI(M) activist on the spot, it had said.
