Senior guys including myself need to step up: Rohit Sharma
Mumbai (PTI): Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma feels that senior players, including the skipper himself, need to step up and put up an improved batting show after losing their first two IPL games.
Rohit, along with Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan, are yet to come to the party as MI lost by seven wickets to CSK here on Saturday.
"The senior guys need to step up, starting with me. We know the nature of IPL. We need to get some momentum, and if you don't it is going to be tough," Rohit said after the match.
Rohit urged his batters to try different things.
"We need to try different things, need to attack, need to be brave. We have a couple of guys who are young into the IPL. Got to give some time to them. It will take time, but we need to back them up and show enough trust in their ability."
The MI skipper feels that all is not lost.
"Just two games, not all is lost, but the senior guys need to step up with the bat. That's the nature of the tournament. If you win, you can win on the trot. If you lose, it will hamper the momentum. We wanted to do a lot of things right."
He did admit that they were at least 40 runs short of what would have been a competitive score.
"We lost our way in the middle. We did not capitalise on the start. It was a good pitch, we were 30-40 runs short in the middle. Credit to their spinners, they bowled well, kept us under pressure and we did not respond well," he said.
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India & Israel elevate ties to special strategic partnership, vow to soon conclude free trade deal
Jerusalem (PTI): India and Israel on Thursday elevated their "time-tested" relationship to a special strategic partnership and agreed to soon firm up a "mutually beneficial" free trade deal even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed the Gaza peace initiative, asserting that humanity must never become a victim of conflict.
Following talks between Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, the two sides inked a plethora of agreements to expand cooperation in areas of trade, agriculture, energy, cyberspace and digital payment.
India and Israel also vowed to expand their already close defence partnership by working towards joint development and joint production of military hardware under the framework of the transfer of technologies.
In his media statement, Modi said India's security interest is linked to peace and stability in the Middle East, adding that New Delhi fully supports the Gaza Peace Initiative.
"India's stance is clear: humanity must never become a victim of conflict. A path to peace has been created through the Gaza Peace Plan. India has fully supported these efforts," he said.
"In the future as well, we will continue dialogue and cooperation with all countries," he said.
PM Modi landed in Israel on Wednesday on a two-day visit. It is his second visit to Israel in nine years.
In his remarks, the prime minister said India and Israel have a united view that there is no place for terrorism in the world and both sides stand shoulder-to-shoulder in countering terrorism and its supporters.
"Our relationship is founded on the strong bedrock of deep trust, shared democratic values, and human sensitivities. Our bond has stood the test of every trial of time," he said.
"Today, we have taken the historic decision to elevate our time-tested partnership to the status of a 'Special Strategic Partnership'," he said.
The prime minister also announced the establishment of an India-Israel critical and emerging technologies partnership to impart a new momentum for cooperation in areas of artificial intelligence, quantum, and critical minerals. "I am pleased that an agreement has been reached for the use of UPI in Israel," he said.
The prime minister, referring to the threat of terrorism, said India and Israel will continue to confront the menace unitedly.
"India and Israel are completely clear that there is no place for terrorism in the world. In any form, in any expression, terrorism cannot be accepted," he said.
"We have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in opposing terrorism and its supporters, and we will continue to do so," he added.
India and Israel also discussed the implementation of the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and cooperation under the framework of I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA).
