Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Defending champions TN thrash Hyderabad by 8 wickets, storm into final
New Delhi, Nov 20: Rookie medium pacer P Saravana Kumar starred with a fifer as defending champions Tamil Nadu outplayed Hyderabad by eight wickets to sail into the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 cricket tournament here on Saturday.
The TN bowlers backed skipper Vijay Shankar's decision to field first as they bundled out the hitherto unbeaten Hyderabad for 90 in 18.3 overs with only Tanay Thyagarajan (25 off 24 balls) reached double figures.
Saravana did most of the damage upfront as he accounted for the top order, including rival captain Tanmay Agarwal (1) and the in-form Tilak Varma (8). He finished with the sensational figure of 5 for 21, the second best ever bowling figures for TN behind Rahil Shah's 5 for 12.
Hyderabad was tottering at 30 for 5 in 6.2 overs and it soon became 39 for 6 when Ravi Teja was dismissed by M Mohammed for 9.
Late resistance by Thyagarajan and Chama Milind (8) helped Hyderabad escape complete humiliation before they folded for 90 in the 19th over.
Thyagarajan hit a huge six off Saravana and followed it up with a boundary before another attempted big shot brought about his downfall.
Apart from Saravana, leg-spinner M Ashwin (2/13 from 4 overs) and M Mohammed (2/12 from three overs) helped keep the Hyderabad batters in check. R Sai Kishore (1/19) took the other wicket.
While chasing, Tamil Nadu lost the in-form N Jagadeesan (1) in the third over and fellow opener C Hari Nishaanth (14) in the same over to Rakshann Readdi (2/23).
But the impressive youngster B Sai Sudharsan (34 not out) and captain Shankar (43) saw the team home in the 15th over with a 76-run partnership for the third wicket.
Sudharsan batted fluently and struck a few stylish shots while Shankar, who started cautiously, began hitting the ball powerfully after getting his eye in. He finished the game by smashing a four and six off Rakshann Readdi.
Tamil Nadu awaits the winner of the Karnataka vs Vidharba semi-final clash in Monday's final.
Brief scores: Hyderabad 90 all out in 18.3 overs (Tanay Thyagarajan 25, P Saravana Kumar 5/21) lost to Tamil Nadu 92 for 2 in 14.2 overs (Vijay Shankar 43 not out, Sai Sudharsan 34 not out) by eight wickets.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Tharoor junks Rijiju's claim that he agreed Cong is 'anti-women'; hails his party
New Delhi (PTI): Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday debunked Union minister Kiren Rijiju's reported claim that the opposition party leader had agreed that the Congress is "anti-women", asserting that at no point did he imply any such thing and that his party has stood for women's rights and reservation.
Reacting to Rijiju's claims, Tharoor stressed that the Congress is totally in favour of women's reservation and prepared to have it implemented right now -- without linking it to delimitation.
In a post on X, the Congress leader said, "I am sorry, but with the greatest respect for Kiren Rijiju, at no point did I say or imply any such thing -- and I have seven witnesses in the photograph who can confirm that!"
"'That was what he meant', our Minister says. No, sir, that is NOT what I meant. 'That Congress can be anti-women...he agreed in a way,' he added. I am sorry but I did NOT agree in any way," Tharoor said.
"The Congress has stood for women's rights and women's reservation under a strong woman president in Sonia Gandhi, initiated the Women's Reservation Bill, passed it in the Rajya Sabha during our tenure and supported it in the Lok Sabha when it was brought by government of India in 2023," he said.
"We are totally in favour of women's reservation and are prepared to have it implemented right now -- without linking it to delimitation," the Thiruvananthapuram MP added.
Rijiju's reported comments came while narrating details of the conversation he had with Tharoor on April 18 after the end of the three-day special sitting of Parliament during which the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated in the Lok Sabha.
Tharoor on April 18 had shared a snippet of his conversation with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rijiju after the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die, and said the BJP leader conceded that “no one could ever call me anti-women”.
Tharoor had said women are by far the better half of the species - 'Humans 2.0' - and deserve representation in Parliament and in every institution.
"Just don’t link their advancement to a mischievous and potentially dangerous Delimitation that could devastate our democracy," he had said on X.
Sharing a picture of some opposition MPs standing with Rijiju in the Lok Sabha, Tharoor had said, "A little post-adjournment gathering of Opposition MPs in the Lok Sabha with our charming Parliamentary Affairs Minister.
"When Kiren Rijiju explained why he and his party were calling the Opposition 'mahila virodhi', it was pointed out to him that no one could ever call me anti-women! He conceded the point…"
While 298 members voted in support of the Bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.
The Bill proposed to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats were also to be increased in state and UT assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
The three-day special sitting was convened from April 16 to 18 to secure Parliament's approval for the Bill.
After the bill was defeated, the Congress had said the "nefarious attempt" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to link their "dangerous delimitation proposals" to women's reservation had been decisively defeated in the Lok Sabha, calling it a win for democracy and the Constitution.
I am sorry, but with the greatest respect for @KirenRijiju, at no point did I say or imply any such thing -- and I have seven witnesses in the photograph who can confirm that!
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 28, 2026
"That was what he meant", our Minister says. No, sir, that is NOT what I meant. "That Congress can be… https://t.co/hkUsYgOY7a
