Rabada's "Immature jibe": Kohli says he will discuss 'man to man'
Southampton, Jun 4: Kagiso Rabada may have found Virat Kohli's on-field demeanour to be "very immature" but the Indian captain Tuesday showed enough maturity, refraining from getting into a war of words ahead of their World Cup encounter against South Africa.
Rabada, in a recent interview to a cricket website, had recalled an incident during an IPL game when he felt that Kohli lacked maturity.
"I was just thinking about the game plan, really, but Virat, he hit me for a boundary and then he had a word. And then when you give it back to him, he gets angry. I don't get the guy. Maybe he does it because it gets him going, but that comes across as very immature for me. He is a phenomenal player but he can't take the abuse," Rabada had said.
When a South African scribe popped the question, Kohli first denied having any knowledge of the comment made by the Proteas speedster, but when probed further, the Indian skipper immediately doused the fire.
"Well, I played against him many times and if anything needs to be discussed, we can discuss it man-to-man. I am not using a press conference to answer anything," Kohli replied.
In fact, he went a step ahead and praised Rabada for being a genuine match-winner for the Proteas.
"Look whether (Lungi) Ngidi plays, or (Dale) Steyn plays or not, Rabada is always going to be a world-class bowler and a threat to any side he plays against. He has the kind of passion and he has a kind of skill-set that he can. On his day, he can go through any batting order," Kohli said.
"So against guys like Rabada, who can turn up on their day and bowl outstandingly well, you have to be respectful but have that self-belief in yourself as well and that balance will be crucial. Whether he plays with Dale and Ngidi or by himself, he is going to be a skilful bowler," he added.
When a beleaguered South African skipper Faf du Plessis, already reeling under Steyn's pull-out and Ngidi's absence, was posed the question, he managed to keep his sense of humour intact.
"A lot of other things are haunting me at the moment (smiling). Virat is a great player. Virat, whether you say something bad into the media, or you say something good, he is still going to rock up a good player at the match. I don't think that makes too much of a difference," the unassuming skipper replied.
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.
Telangana CM urges Amit Shah to increase sanctioned strength of IPS officers in state
Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday night and urged him to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state in view of its growing administrative and security needs.
The two leaders also discussed the recent surrender of several senior Maoist leaders before the Telangana Police and other issues.
"During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the issue of Maoist surrenders and their rehabilitation. The chief minister informed Shah that significant improvements in policing have taken place in Telangana over the past two years," an official release here said.
Highlighting that 591 Maoists have laid down their arms and joined the mainstream of society during this period, the chief minister said the state government was providing them compensation and rehabilitation assistance as per the rules.
He requested the Union home minister to extend financial support from the central government for development works in the backward regions of the state.
Reddy also urged Shah to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state from 83 to 105 in line with the state's growing administrative and security needs, the statement said.
The first cadre review after the formation of Telangana was conducted in 2016, while the next review, due in 2021, was delayed and finally carried out in 2025. Even then, only seven additional IPS officers were allocated to the state, the chief minister informed Shah and requested that the third cadre review be conducted in 2026 as per the schedule.
Reddy explained that Telangana, like the rest of the country, is facing several modern challenges, including cybercrime, drug trafficking, white-collar crimes, and other emerging security threats.
He highlighted the reorganisation of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Malkajgiri Police Commissionerates, the proposed formation of the Future City Commissionerate and the rapidly growing population in Hyderabad to underline the increasing administrative requirements of the state.
