Joe Root double ton powers England to 454/4 at tea
Chennai: Skipper Joe Root carved out a brilliant double century in his 100th Test and helped England reach a dominant 454 for four at tea on the second day of the first Test against India here on Saturday.
Resuming at his lunch score of 156, Root continued to bat in a serene manner, gathering runs with ease and reached his double hundred with a six off Ravichandran Ashwin.
At the tea break, he was batting on 209 (19 fours and 2 sixes) after put England in commanding position with a superb display of batsmanship. He was also helped, to a large extent, by Ben Stokes' fine 82.
England added 99 runs in the session between lunch and tea and lost one wicket.
The captain's 124-run partnership for the fourth wicket wih Stokes (82; 10 fours, 3 sixes) meant England continued their dominance.
Ollie Pope (batting on 24), who came in at the fall of Stokes' wicket, overcame an early period of uncertainty to stitch together a half-century stand with Root.
Stokes fell when in sight of a ton, holing out after going for a slog sweep to give Shahbaz Nadeem his first wicket, some reward for his toil as Cheteshwar Pujara took a catch in the deep after an awkward juggle.
For India, the experienced trio of Ishant Sharma (0/42), Jasprit Bumrah (2/66) and Ashwin (1/114 from 41 overs) stuck to their task but could not find any success.
Nadeem (1/140), though he broke the Root-Stokes partnership, and Washington Sundar (0/65) could not make any impact and proved to be expensive.
In the first session, Stokes played some powerful strokes, employing the sweep shot against the spinners, and reached his 50 off 73 balls with a reverse sweep off Nadeem.
As many as 92 runs came in the pre-lunch session as Stokes went about playing aggressively while Root appeared content to play the second fiddle and moved past 150 without looking in any sort of trouble.
Root had hit a double ton in Sri Lanka in the recent series and followed it up with another big century. England had added 40 runs in the opening hour and increased the scoring rate as Stokes went on the offensive.
In between, Ashwin put down a caught and bowled chance and Pujara could not hold on to a tough catch when Stokes hammered one on the leg-side.
Stokes, always on the look out for runs, smashed Ashwin for a big six over mid-off. Earlier in the day, Bumrah almost got Stokes with a brilliant yorker, which the southpaw somehow managed to keep out.
The hard-working Bumrah came up with a searing yorker closer to lunch but Root was able to bring his bat down in time.
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Passing out parade held at IMA Dehradun, 491 young officers join Indian Army
Dehradun(PTI): After undergoing rigorous training at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun, 491 cadets participated in a grand Passing Out Parade on Saturday and will now be commissioned as officers in the Indian Army.
The spectacular parade, held at the historic Drill Square in front of the academy's Chatwood Building, was reviewed by Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, who served as the reviewing officer.
Along with 491 Indian cadets, 34 foreign cadets from 14 friendly countries also participated in the Autumn Term 2025 Passing Out Parade.
A total of 525 officer cadets from the 157th Regular Course, 46th Technical Entry Scheme, 140th Technical Graduate Course, 55th Special Commissioned Officers Course, and Territorial Army Online Entrance Exam 2023 Course participated in the Passing Out Parade.
The 'Sword of Honour' and gold medal for securing first place during training was awarded to ACA Nishkal Dwivedi, the silver medal to BUO Badal Yadav for second place, and the bronze medal to SUO Kamaljeet Singh for third place.
The silver medal for securing first place in the 'Technical Graduate Course' was awarded to Officer Cadet Jadhav Sujit Sampat, and the silver medal for first place in the 'Technical Entry Scheme-46' was awarded to WCC Abhinav Mehrotra.
The silver medal for the 'Special Commission Officer Course' was given to Officer Cadet Sunil Kumar Chhetri.
Among the foreign cadets, the first place in merit was secured by JUO Mohammad Safin Ashraf from Bangladesh. The Army Chief's Banner for overall best performance in the Autumn Term was awarded to Imphal Company.
As the parade concluded, helicopters showered flowers on the newly commissioned officers from the sky.
On this occasion, General Dwivedi congratulated the new officers in his address for successfully completing their training. He praised the young officers for their high level of discipline, leadership qualities, and endurance, and urged them to uphold the glorious traditions of the Indian Army and serve the nation with loyalty, commitment, and honour.
General Dwivedi said that joining the army marks the beginning of a lifelong duty and selfless service.
The parents and guardians of the newly commissioned officers were also present during the passing out parade.
