Dubai, Sep 21: India dished out another comprehensive performance to thrash Bangladesh by seven wickets in a Super Four stage match of the Asia Cup at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium here on Friday.
Skipper Rohit Sharma led India from the front with a fluent unbeaten half-century to overhaul the paltry target of 174 with more than 13 overs to spare, after the men-in-blue rode on left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja's magical spell of 4/29 on winning the toss and opting to chase.
The defending champions were off to a brilliant start once again with Rohit (83 not out off 104 balls; 5X4, 6X3) and Shikhar Dhawan (40 off 47; 4X4, 6X1) putting on 61 runs before the southpaw was trapped leg-before by left-armer Shakib Al Hasan in the 15th over.
Thereafter, Rohit and new man Ambati Rayudu (13) added 45 runs for the second wicket before the No.3 batsman was caught behind off pacer Rubel Hossain.
With India cruising to an easy victory, former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (33 off 37; 4X3) was promoted up the order and the talismanic wicketkeeper-batsman played the perfect second fiddle to the skipper, who clobbered Shakib for three sixes, one among those to get to his 36th ODI fifty.
Dhoni soon joined the party, belting two consecutive boundaries off skipper Mashrafe Mortaza to raise India's 150 and also the 50-run stand for the third wicket.
Mortaza, however, avenged the thrashing with the wicket of the stumper, who in an attempt to finish off the innings with a six, gifted his wicket away with India just four runs shy of victory.
Dinesh Karthik (1 not out) then joined his skipper to complete the formalities in style.
Earlier, Jadeja, playing his first ODI since July 2017, wreaked havoc among the Bangladeshi middle-order that comprised the key wickets of Shakib Al Hasan (17), Mushfiqur Rahim (21), Mohammad Mithun (9) and Mosaddek Hossain (12), to help India restrict the opposition for a paltry 173, centred mainly around a 66-run eighth wicket stand between lower-order batsman Mehidy Hasan (42) and skipper Mashrafe Mortaza (26).
Jadeja was complimented well by the pace duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/32) and Jasprit Bumrah (3/37).
Put in to bat, Bangladesh immediately found themselves on the back foot after Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah removed the openers Liton Das (7) and Nazmul Hossain Shanto (7), respectively, with just 16 runs on the board.
Thereafter, Jadeja spun his magic around the Bangladesh batsmen which reduced them to 65/5 by the 18th over, before Mahmudullah (25) and Mosaddek steered the total past the 100-run mark with a brief 36-run sixth wicket stand.
Towards the end, Mehidy and Mashrafe batted sensibly to take the side past the 150-run mark even as the Indian bowlers came back well to restrict them to a below-par score.
Brief Scores:
Bangladesh: 173 (Mehidy Hasan 42, Mashrafe Mortaza 26; Ravindra Jadeja 4/29, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/32, Jasprit Bumrah 3/37) lose to India: 174/3 (Rohit Sharma 83 not out, Shikhar Dhawan 40, M.S Dhoni 33) by 7 wickets.
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Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka Cabinet has decided to meet again to discuss the issue of providing internal reservation among Scheduled Castes for direct recruitment in the government sector, as deliberations on the matter remained incomplete.
While no specific date for the next meeting has been announced, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil told reporters it would be held "at the earliest" and reiterated the government's commitment to the issue.
The issue came up for discussion at the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, amid reports of rifts between SC(Right) and SC (Left) factions within the ruling Congress over providing internal reservation in the recruitment to 56,432 vacant posts.
"The government is committed to providing internal reservation. We will meet again for further discussion. The chief minister will decide when to meet at the earliest. It will be a Cabinet meeting and will be held as early as possible," Patil said.
He said, "We had a detailed discussion on this matter for some time, but it was incomplete because many ministers are yet to speak on this. The order already issued (for filling up vacancies) will not be disturbed, and about other things, we will discuss in the next meeting."
The state government decided to conduct recruitment for 56,432 vacant jobs based on the reservation order in force before December 28, 2022, (15 per cent for SCs and 3 per cent for STs), due to the stay on the enhanced quota and internal reservation, while continuing to pursue its case in court.
The previous BJP government had increased the reservation quota for SCs from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for Scheduled Tribes from 3 per cent to 7 per cent, raising the state's total reservation to 56 per cent, exceeding the Supreme Court-mandated 50 per cent ceiling.
While this matter is still in court, the Congress government decided to provide internal reservation by slicing up the 17 per cent reservation matrix given to 101 scheduled castes, under three groups, with a formula of six, six, and five per cent respectively.
According to sources, the SC(Left)/Madiga community, which has fought for internal reservation for decades, opposes recruitment for 56,432 jobs without providing internal reservation.
The SC (Right)/Holeya community, however, favoured recruitment without providing internal reservation.
At the meeting, the Cabinet gave administrative approval for Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation to purchase 144 'BS-VI' urban transport diesel buses at an estimated cost of Rs 62 crores.
It also granted administrative approval for the purchase of hardware and software for implementing ICJS (Inter-operable Criminal Justice System) and IT services in the state under the Police Modernisation Project at an estimated cost of Rs 227.58 crores.
The Cabinet also asked the health minister to speak with officers, doctors and other staffers appointed on a permanent, contract, temporary, or outsourced basis in the health department, who have threatened to go on strike over their various demands.
Approval was also given for amendments to certain sections of the Karnataka Municipalities Act, 1964, and the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, regarding advertisement charges under local bodies.
