Rohit, Kohli back in T20 squad for Afghanistan series
Cape Town, Jan 7: Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli on Sunday made a high-profile comeback to India's T20 squad for the three homes against Afghanistan with the former also named captain for the series beginning in Mohali on January 11.
Rohit and Kohli last appeared in a T20 for India in the World Cup semifinal against England in November 2022.
Back then, the two veterans along with KL Rahul were seen to be playing archaic cricket in the powerplay and the team needed to move on from that approach with Hardik Pandya earmarked as the new T20 skipper.
However, Pandya's own injury in the ODI World Cup along and more recently, Suryakumar Yadav's ligament tear, resulted in a lot of inexperience at the top of the order.
PTI had reported last week that the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel was set to pick the celebrated duo for the Afghanistan series.
"Decisions on Rohit and Virat can't solely be taken by the selection committee. There is a lot at stake, broadcasters, sponsors and you can't pick one and drop the other. Ajit and his team needed to maintain a status quo," a former India selector told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
While Rohit's chances of leading India in the T20 World Cup has considerably brightened, the development comes across as a big blow to Hardik's captaincy ambitions at the global event in June.
However, he has replaced Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians skipper for IPL 2024.
The T20 squad also features Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma, who will be the two glovesmen with Ishan Kishan being ignored for the shortest format.
"Ishan wasn't happy that he was travelling without much game time. He is on a break right now and is vacationing. In any case, selectors are in all likelihood are looking beyond Kishan.
"It will be interesting if he is picked for England Test series where KS Bharat will be back behind the stumps," a BCCI source said.
Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, the two Test team certainties, have been rested and Ruturaj Gaikwad isn't fit to play yet.
All-rounder Shivam Dube has also been named in the squad in Hardik's absence.
The Afghanistan series will be India's last before the World Cup, which takes place right after the IPL.
Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith reckons leaving out the likes of Rohit and Kohli from any team is extremely tough.
"I wouldn't want to be a selector. It's a very tough decision to leave out two players who have been incredible. Virat always comes back incredibly well. With the amount of talent that India has now, it is a difficult choice to make," said Smith on the sidelines of an interaction organised ahead of SA20.
India's Squad for 3 T20Is against Afghanistan: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.
What do you all make of this power-packed T20I squad set to face Afghanistan? 😎#TeamIndia | #INDvAFG | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/pY2cUPdpHy
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 7, 2024
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India's Got Latent remarks row: SC orders return of passport to Ranveer Allahbadia
New Delhi, Apr 28 (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the return of passport to podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia to enable him to travel abroad for work.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh relaxed the condition after Assam and Maharashtra governments said the investigation against him was complete.
The bench asked Allahbadia to approach the Maharashtra cyber police bureau to retrieve his passport.
The top court told Allahbadia's lawyer, senior advocate Abhinav Chandrachud, it would consider his prayer to club the FIRs against his client and bring it in one place on the next hearing.
Chandrachud said the Maharashtra FIR was the first one on the issue and the Guwahati FIR could be clubbed with it as it stemmed from the same facts and incident.
Justice Kant, however, told Chandrachud the Guwahati FIR comprised a different set of allegations, specific to people of Assam.
"If you want to argue on the issue, then we will hear it on the next date of hearing and you can make out case then," the judge said.
The bench also allowed NGO Cure SMA Foundation of India to implead "India's Got Latent" host Samay Raina and other co-accused through the police of Maharashtra and Assam, as their statements were recorded in the case.
Senior advocate Aprajita Singh, representing the NGO, said they were not able to implead Raina and others in the case as respondents for want of their addresses and requested the bench to allow them to be made parties even without their particulars.
The NGO referred to deficiencies in the existing legal framework and urged the bench to formulate guidelines on online content.
The comprehensive guidelines and regulatory measures were sought to regulate any "derogatory, denigrating, ableist and belittling content against the persons with disability, their diseases and their treatment options" by stakeholders, including but not limited to "publishers of online curated content, publishers of news and current affairs content, self-styled influencers and content creators, broadcasters, intermediaries" among others.
The NGO said while it did not intend to seek a blanket restraint, it was concerned with derogatory content on persons with disabilities.
"Notably, this requires maintaining the highest degree of sensitivity and compassion across the channels, however, that becomes a mammoth task when certain individuals, like the comedian, Samay Raina, host a comedy show and make insensitive commentaries on persons such with such condition, the high-costing drugs and the treatment options," it said.
The NGO's plea said Raina's act in turn deprecated the public mindset, often resulting in perpetuating lack of receptivity towards the seriousness of the illness, or the ensuing challenges in the resource management.
On February 18, the top court protected Allahbadia from arrest in multiple FIRs filed over his comments during a YouTube show and directed him to deposit his passport with the investigating officer of Police Station Nodal Cyber Police, Thane.
On March 3, it allowed Allahbadia to resume his podcast "The Ranveer Show" subject to maintaining "morality and decency" and making it suitable for viewers of all ages.
Allahbadia, popularly known as BeerBiceps, was booked for his comments on parents and sex on an episode of India's Got Latent.
The apex court initially restrained Allahbadia from airing any programme of his podcast having a "direct or an indirect" bearing on the merits of the sub-judice cases against him.
On February 18, the top court granted interim protection from arrest to Allahbadia and termed his comments "vulgar" and accused him of having a "dirty mind".
Aside from Allahbadia and Raina, others named in the case in Assam are comics Ashish Chanchlani, Jaspreet Singh and Apoorva Makhija.
