Rishabh Pant reaches career-high 7th in ICC Test rankings
Dubai, Jun 25 (PTI): India's swashbuckling wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant reached a career-high seventh in the latest ICC Test rankings for batters on Wednesday, following his twin centuries in the series-opener against England in Leeds.
India's new Test captain Shubman Gill jumped five rungs to 20th overall following his century in the first innings of the match that his team lost by five wickets despite setting England a stiff target of 371.
Pant, who became only the second wicketkeeper to hit two hundreds in the same match during the first Test of the five-match series, climbed one spot in the list.
Before the 27-year-old Pant joined him, Zimbabwe's Andy Flower remained the sole stumper with two centuries in the same Test match.
Pant struck 134 and 118 in the thrilling Leeds Test that England won by five wickets.
There was little change in the rankings for Test bowlers, with India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah maintaining his place at the top of charts following yet another five-wicket haul in the Headingley Test.
Meanwhile, Ben Duckett, who was adjudged Player of the Match for his scores of 62 and 149 in England's victory, jumped five places to eighth in the rankings.
Duckett's teammates Ollie Pope (up three spots to 19th) and Jamie Smith (up eighth places to 27th) also made significant gains.
England veteran Joe Root remained the No.1 ranked Test batter, with teammate Harry Brook his closest challenger.
England skipper Ben Stokes gained three places to move up to fifth in the list for Test all-rounders following solid contributions with both bat and ball across the same game.
The drawn first Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh saw a host of their players make some inroads in the latest batters' rankings. Mushfiqur Rahim led the way, following his innings of 163 in Galle.
Rahim gained 11 spots to move to 28th for Test batters, while teammate Najmul Hossain Shanto jumps a whopping 21 places to improve to 29th on the same list after he scored a pair of tons in the same match.
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Centre spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print media ads for RSS centenary, reveals RTI
New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.
The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.
Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.
“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.
RTI reply shows Min of Culture Govt of India spent a Whopping Rs 76L,13K,129 on Advertisement in Print Media on occasion of 100 yrs of #RSS
— AJAY Basudev Bose (@AjayBos93388306) April 16, 2026
When Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??@RSSorg… pic.twitter.com/dW4IUtdNCg
Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”
Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.
In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”
"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added.
Why is public money being used to serve a private ideological project?
— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) April 16, 2026
Modi Sarkar spent ₹76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS.
Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to… pic.twitter.com/EoZ6Pim3IM
According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.
Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.
