Jasprit Bumrah ruled out of Asia Cup with back injury
New Delhi, Aug 8: Senior fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is set to be ruled out of the Asia Cup T20 tournament with a back injury, which would require some time to heal.
The Indian squad for the continental championship will be selected on Monday, but it is still not clear if the official announcement will happen on the day.
"Jasprit Bumrah has a back injury and will not play in the Asia Cup. He is our main bowler and we would like him to be back in action before T20 World Cup. WE can't risk him in Asia Cup and the injury could aggravate," a senior BCCI official told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
Bumrah last played in the ODI away series against England before being rested from the rubber against West Indies and the upcoming one against Zimbabwe.
However, it is understood that the back issue will keep him out for some time and he will need to do rehabilitation work at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru before being deemed fit for the white-ball home series against Australia and south Africa in September-October.
Bumrah had had similar issues few years ago and was out for a considerable amount of time.
Currently, the pacer is holidaying with his family in the United States.
Bumrah's injury is a setback for the Indian team as he would need some matches to get into the groove after a long lay-off which will be more than two months.
While he is an automatic choice as and when he makes a comeback, the same can't be said about someone like Avesh Khan, who, if given a chance in the Asia Cup, would like to prove his worth to remain in the mix.
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The Kerala Story 2: Slow ticket sales on first day of film's release
Thiruvananthapuram/Kochi/Kozhikode (PTI): A day after the Kerala High Court paved the way for the release of the 'The Kerala Story 2-Goes Beyond' film, ticket sales of the movie are slow, but are expected to pick up in the coming days, theatre owners said.
In some theatres in the state capital, according to figures on the online movie ticket booking app, BookMyShow, ticket sales are very low.
In the PVR theatre at the Lulu Mall in Thiruvananthapuram, there were only 68 bookings till 10 am for the four shows scheduled for the day, according to BookMyShow figures.
In Kochi, Suresh, the owner of the popular Shenoy theatre, said there were around 50 per cent bookings for the four shows scheduled during the day.
"The bookings are more for the evening and night shows," he told PTI.
He said that the number of shows to be screened in the coming days will be decided based on the first day's ticket sales.
At the same time, Suresh also said that it was a slow start when the first movie -- 'The Kerala Story' -- was released in 2023.
"The bookings had slowly picked up, and there was a good collection," he said.
At Kozhikode city's Crown Theatre, a similar trend was seen last time in 2023, its owner Vinod Iyer said.
This time, the bookings are "very poor" for the four shows scheduled in his theatre for the day, Iyer told PTI.
He said that the reasons for it might be that the bookings were opened late on Friday, and people might be waiting for the reviews before making a decision.
Even in various other theatres in the city, bookings are very low, and some have cancelled shows as a result, he said.
"Hopefully, things will improve in the coming days as they did the first time," Iyer said.
A division bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday had paved the way for the release of 'The Kerala Story 2-Goes Beyond' film by staying the single judge order, which had put on hold the movie's screening for 15 days.
The bench had said that the single judge's finding that guidelines for certification have not been borne in mind by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) were "merely on the basis of a few clippings and without viewing the movie" and therefore, it "cannot be countenanced".
It had further said that once a certificate has been issued, there is, prima facie, a presumption that the authority concerned has taken into account all the guidelines, including public order.
"In the light of the afore discussions, we are of the view that the impugned order dated February 26, 2026 interdicting the release of the movie is only to be stayed and we do so. Ordered accordingly," the bench had said on an appeal moved by the film's producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah against the single judge's order.
The single judge, on Thursday, held that prima facie there was a manifest non-application of mind to the requirement of law by the censor board, CBFC.
The judge also said that "the possibility of communal disharmony or denigration of a community also being prima facie involved in the movie", and its release without scrutiny by the higher authorities would be legally improper.
The court had further said that the content of the film's teaser has "a prima facie potential to distort public perception and disturb communal harmony".
