Virat Kohli likely to miss next two Tests, also doubtful for final game
New Delhi, Feb 7: India's star batter Virat Kohli is likely to miss the third and fourth Tests against England due to personal reasons, which also kept him out of the first two matches of the series, a BCCI source said on Wednesday.
Chances of Kohli playing the final Test of the series in Dharamsala (from March 7-11) are also remote but the board isn't looking that far ahead as that particular match is still a month away.
The third Test will be held in Rajkot from February 15-19, while the fourth game is in Ranchi from February 23-27.
On February 3, PTI had reported that there is no clarity on Kohli's participation in the series and he will only be picked if he is in a position to play.
Recently Kohli's close friend and former South African skipper AB de Villiers had revealed on his YouTube show that the Indian batting ace is missing in action due to the impending arrival of his second child.
"The BCCI has time and again made it clear that when it comes to family matters, it stands firmly behind the cricketer and it will be Virat's call when he is ready to make a comeback. As of now, it looks unlikely that he will play in the series," a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
The other big question has been Jasprit Bumrah's workload management after the team's bowling spearhead sent down 33 overs for a match-winning haul of nine wickets in the second Test.
It is understood that the third Test's result could go a long way in deciding the course of the series which would make it difficult to rest Bumrah in the Rajkot game. If he plays in Rajkot it is a foregone conclusion that he will not play the next game in Ranchi, which would start in three days' time after the third Test.
Among the imminent comebacks, KL Rahul is likely to return to the playing eleven and Rajat Patidar will then have to sit out as Shreyas Iyer, after his tremendous work in the field including a superb run-out of Ben Stokes in Visakhapatnam, will get another go.
Ravindra Jadeja's progress has been positive and his hamstring is healing well but it might not be good enough to allow him to get cracking on his home turf in Rajkot.
Mohammed Siraj will be back after being given workload-related rest in Visakhapatnam and Mukesh Kumar is more than hundred percent certain to get the axe from playing eleven.
If Bumrah isn't rested, it will be interesting to see if head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma play two pacers along with three spinners or include a batting all-rounder like Washington Sundar, who has had scores of 85 not out and 96 not out in the previous home series against the same opposition.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
