RCB breaks losing streak, beats Kings XI Punjab by 8 wickets to taste first victory of the season
"Great feeling to get across the line" says skipper Kohli after victory
Mohali, Apr 13: Skipper Virat Kohli was a relieved man after Royal Challengers finally snapped a six-match losing streak in this IPL with an eight wicket win over Kings XI Punjab here Saturday.
Kohli (67) in company of AB de Villiers (59 not out) scripted a superb run chase, sharing a 85-run stand to lay the foundation, while Marcus Stoinis (28 off 16) played a crucial cameo as RCB overhauled the target of 174 with four balls to spare.
"It is a great feeling to get across the line. Have been unlucky in couple of games. Won't say we've been unlucky in every game, but a couple of games we should've closed out before this," Kohli said.
"After so many setbacks, the guys had desire. That's one word we spoke about."
"We thought 190 will be par and to restrict them to 170 was a great effort. To pick up 4 wickets in 8 overs in the middle for 60 runs was a great effort."
AB de Villiers, who was adjudged the Man of the match, said it was a long wait for the team.
"Waited for a long time for this, so we're very happy. It's a very small step in the right direction, but also a big one," he said.
"I've got too much respect of the game to be upset about that, to get ahead of myself, to get too hard on myself. It needs one knock to get back in that confidence zone, and hopefully I can maintain that now."
Ab de Villiers had retired from international cricket to prolong his career in T20 cricket.
"I've decided not to play international cricket - to be as sharp as I can in the other forms of cricket around the world. Can't keep playing 10-11 months a year and keep being sharp after 15 of my careers."
RCB received a big boost after seasoned South African pacer Dale Steyn was named as a replacement for injured Australian Nathan Coulter-Nile.
"It was a fantastic move to get Dale involved. We all know what he's capable of. One thing for sure is he'll give 200% with every ball. We know what we have to do.
"We have to win a lot of games of cricket. The next step is Mumbai, the Wankhede stadium. We love playing cricket there."
Ashwin blamed his team for being sloppy on the field.
"We let ourselves down in the field. We dropped catches and let a lot of balls go through us. The dew helped the wicket on. It was really dry in the first half. It gets better to bat in the second half," he said.
Asked why Sarfraz was chosen to bowl the final over, Ashwin said: "There was only 6 runs to go and the ball was sliding on nicely. I thought the best way against AB and Stoinis was to try and go with a leggie, not that Sam can't defend.
"We tried with wrist spinners and even I came to bowl, but they were smart enough to knock around and not take any chances.
"With 38 needed off 3 overs, I had to back my best bowlers to do the job, didn't quite work out today."
Talking about the next matches, Ashwin said: "We play one here and go off to Delhi. We need to string some wins. It's not a bad time to get some momentum back."
Marcus Stoinis praised de Villiers for his superb knock.
"I said to him (AB), that he is probably the best player of our generation and he showed it today," he said.
On RCB finally getting a win, he said: "Yes, I was telling Gary (Kirsten) that I had brought two points for the side after my recent trip and we got it today (chuckles).
"The main difference tonight was that our bowlers came back well, which is key in this format.
"We kept coming back with the ball and then got partnerships with the bat.
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Resolution for his removal: Speaker Birla to be present in House but not chair proceedings
New Delhi (PTI): The Lok Sabha will witness a rare moment most likely on Monday next when Om Birla will not chair proceedings but will be seated amongst the members as the House takes up a notice seeking his removal from office.
As Parliament meets for the second phase of the Budget session on March 9, the Lok Sabha is likely to take up the resolution moved by the opposition against Birla's for allegedly acting in a "blatantly partisan" manner.
According to the rules and laid down procedure, Birla will get a right to defend himself when the resolution is discussed by the lower house. He will also have the right to vote against the resolution, Constitution expert P D T Achary explained.
The expert said while Birla will not chair the proceedings when the resolution comes up before the House, he will be seated in the prominent rows in the Treasury benches.
At least 118 opposition members had submitted a notice for moving the resolution to remove Birla from office for not allowing Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders to speak in the House on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, as well as for suspending eight MPs.
Congress member and chief whip K Suresh submitted the notice to the Lok Sabha secretariat on behalf of several opposition parties, including his party, Samajwadi Party and DMK.
TMC MPs, however, did not sign the notice.
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Achary, a former Lok Sabha secretary general, told PTI, that the "allocation of the seat, which the Speaker occupies under such circumstances is not mentioned in the Rules".
He said Birla will also not be able to vote on the resolution using the automated vote system, but will have to fill a slip to register his vote.
He presumes that a seat belonging to a Union minister, who is from the Rajya Sabha, could be given to him as only Lok Sabha members will be able to cast their votes for or against the resolution.
Deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha and deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha have their earmarked seats in their respective Houses when they are not presiding over.
Front seats in the opposition benches are allocated to them.
Article 96 of the Constitution bars a speaker or a deputy speaker from presiding over the House sitting while a resolution for his removal from office is under consideration.
The speaker has a constitutional right to defend himself in the House if the resolution is discussed in the Lok Sabha.
At least two Lok Sabha members have to sign the notice to move a resolution for the speaker's removal. Any number of members can sign the notice but a minimum of two is mandatory.
The speaker can be removed from office by a resolution passed by the House through a simple majority.
Article 94C of the Constitution has provisions for such a move.
"All the members of the House are counted to compute the majority, not the members present and voting, which is the normal practice. It means the effective membership of the House, except for the vacancies, is used to calculate the majority," Achary said.
The notice has to be submitted to the Lok Sabha secretary general, and not the deputy speaker or anyone else, he said.
The document is then examined at the preliminary stage to see whether it contains "very specific charges", he said.
"At the threshold itself, there is a process of admissibility. At that stage, it is seen whether it contains specific charges. Specific charges are required as only then the speaker will be able to respond," Achary explained.
The resolution must not contain defamatory language or content.
Article 96 gives the speaker the opportunity to defend himself or herself in the House.
The language of the proposed resolution is usually examined by the deputy speaker, but since the present Lok Sabha does not have a deputy speaker, it may be examined perhaps by the senior-most member of the panel of chairpersons.
The panel helps the speaker run the House in his or her absence.
"The speaker examining a resolution that seeks his removal looks absurd," Achary said, adding that the rule is silent on the subject.
Once the processing part is over, the resolution reaches the House. But it can go to the House after 14 days, Achary said.
The chair then places it in the House for consideration. It is actually the House which admits it, or as the rule says, "grants permission".
Achary further said, "The chair then asks members in favour of the resolution to stand up. If 50 members stand up in support of it and if the criteria is fulfilled, the Chair announces that the House has granted permission. Once the House grants permission, it has to be taken up for discussion and disposed of within 10 days."
Lok Sabha sources said it will be taken up for discussion on Monday itself.
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There are precedents of resolutions being moved. However, none has been adopted so far.
"The reason -- governments have a majority," Achary said.
The resolution alleges that Speaker Birla had acted in a "blatantly partisan" manner in conducting the business of the House and "abused" the constitutional office he occupies.
The Opposition also accused the speaker of making certain false allegations against members of the Congress.
Three Lok Sabha speakers -- G V Mavlankar (1954), Hukam Singh (1966) and Balram Jakhar (1987)-- had faced no-confidence motions in the past, which were negatived.
