Virat Kohli skips pink-ball warm-up game, India opt to bat
Sydney, Dec 11: India captain Virat Kohli on Friday opted out of the day-night warm-up game against Australia A, deciding to give his body some rest after having played in all the preceding limited-overs matches.
India won the toss and elected to bat in the three-day game that started here on Friday.
With Kohli sitting out of the pink-ball tour match, the seasoned Ajinkya Rahane is leading the team at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The game is more of a simulation ahead of the series opening day-night Test, which will be played with a pink ball from December 17 to 21 at Adelaide.
The touring Indians don't have enough experience of facing the pink ball in top-flight cricket, having played only one such Test against Bangladesh last year.
India though won that game, held at the Eden Gardens, by a handsome margin of innings and 46 runs.
Australia have played in quite a few pink-ball day-nighters over the last few years.
After Adelaide, the matches will be played at Melbourne (from December 26 to 30), Sydney and Brisbane in January.
Four members of Australia's Test squad are playing in the tour game opening batsman Joe Burns, all-rounder Cameron Green, pace bowler Sean Abbott and leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson.
India are coming into the game after having won the T20I series 2-1 following a loss in the ODI rubber by a similar margin.
Teams:
India: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah.
Australia A: Joe Burns, Marcus Harris, Nic Maddinson, Ben McDermott, Cameron Green, Jack Wildermuth, Alex Carey, Sean Abbott, Will Sutherland, Mitch Swepson, Harry Conway.
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Vice President Radhakrishnan unveils drone to tranquilise elephants
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): A drone designed to tranquilise violent elephants without close human contact, recently unveiled by Vice President C P Radhakrishnan, marks a significant milestone in the use of indigenous UAV technology for human-wildlife conflict mitigation, the manufacturing company said.
The unveiling of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) took place on Sunday in the presence of Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar and Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism Suresh Gopi, underscoring the national importance of integrating advanced aerial systems into wildlife protection efforts, the company said in a release.
"The customised drone is engineered to support safe and precise elephant darting operations by enabling aerial-assisted tranquilisation with enhanced accuracy.
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"The system significantly reduces on-ground risk to forest personnel, minimises disturbance to wildlife, and improves operational efficiency during critical interventions involving distressed or conflict-prone elephants," it said.
It further said that nearly a decade ago, the platform marked the first drone designed by Garuda Aerospace for the Tamil Nadu Forest Department.
"The latest customised solution represents the culmination of years of field learning, technological upgrades, and mission-focused research and development," it said.
It also said that in the past, Garuda Aerospace has supplied multiple drones to leading conservation bodies, including the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), along with several forest departments across India.
"These deployments have supported wildlife monitoring, anti-poaching operations, habitat mapping, and rapid-response missions in ecologically sensitive regions," the release said.
Speaking on the occasion, Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and Director of Garuda Aerospace, said that witnessing the Vice President unveil an evolved, customised solution for drone-aided elephant darting was "deeply fulfilling".
"Our journey has been built on incremental innovation—continuously enhancing our technology to responsibly serve wildlife conservation. We remain committed to creating indigenous solutions that protect both animals and communities," he was quoted as saying.
As India continues to address the growing challenges of human-elephant conflict, drone-assisted darting offers a safer, more efficient, and humane alternative to traditional ground-based approaches, Garuda Aerospace, a drone tech start-up, has said.
