Bengaluru, Mar 13: Flamboyant wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant on Sunday broke the legendary Kapil Dev's 40-year-old record of fastest Test fifty by an Indian on the second day of the Day/Night match against Sri Lanka here.
The dashing left-hander cruised to his fifty in 28 balls (7x4, 2x6) in the 42nd over of Indian second innings when he hit a Praveen Jayawickrama delivery through the extra cover boundary.
India's first World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev had cracked a 30-ball half-century against Pakistan in the Karachi Test in 1982.
"Rishabh Pant surpasses Kapil Dev to score the fastest 50 by an Indian in Test cricket... Take a bow, Rishabh," posted BCCI in its Twitter handle.
Pant also set a world record for notching up the fastest fifty by a wicketkeeper-batter in Tests, bettering the efforts of Australia's Ian Smith and former India captain MS Dhoni (both scored 34-ball fifty).
Pant, however, could not make it big and got out in the same score and over, giving Jayawickrama a return catch in the final delivery.
Shardul Thakur is the third in the list of fastest Test fifty by an Indian with his 31-ball half-century in the Oval Test against England last year.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag has scored a 32-ball 50 against England in Chennai in 2008.
FIFTY!@RishabhPant17 surpasses Kapil Dev to score the fastest 50 by an Indian in Test cricket. It has come off 28 deliveries.
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 13, 2022
Take a bow, Rishabh 👏💪💥
Live - https://t.co/t74OLq7xoO #INDvSL @Paytm pic.twitter.com/YcpJf2sp2H
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Mysuru (PTI): Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday accused the Congress government in Karnataka of "neglecting" the farmers in the state and being involved in corruption.
The JD(S) leader took part in an event where President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the 1066th Jayanthi celebrations of Adi Jagadguru Sri Shivarathreeshwara Shivayogi Mahaswamiji at Malavalli in Mandya district, which comes under his Lok Sabha constituency.
"I saw a report that 2,800 farmers have died by suicide after this government came to power (in state). The government seems to be not concerned about the farmers. This government on coming to power said that it will give Rs 24,000 crore as loan to 32 lakh farmers for their farming activities, but till November, about Rs 12,000 crore has been paid to 24 lakh farmers, limiting to what was there earlier by managing the books of account," Kumaraswamy said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "These things show the failures of this government. Also, there is a corrupt system. I will not speak about it now. After December 20, I will speak to you in detail. There are a lot of issues to share with you."
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Responding to a question, the JD(S) leader, who turned 66 today, said there is no use of giving any documents. "I'm waiting for the right time."
Regarding the Congress government introducing a bill against "hate speech" in the Assembly, Kumaswamy said it is aimed at silencing the opposition in the state, but they won't be successful.
"What do Congress leaders have to say about their workers' comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi?. He cited slogans -- 'Modi teri kabr khudegi, aaj nahi to kal khudegi' (Modi's grave will be dug.. if not today, then tomorrow) -- allegedly raised against Modi at a Congress rally in Delhi on Sunday.
