Virat might have to bat at top in some games but Rahul will open at T20 WC: Rohit Sharma
Mohali, Sep 18: Virat Kohli batting at the top alongside him is a "definite option" but India captain Rohit Sharma on Sunday made it clear that K L Rahul will remain his opening partner at the T20 World Cup in Australia next month.
Speaking to media ahead of the three-match T20 International series against Australia starting here on Tuesday, Rohit said the team management has absolute clarity on the role of each player in the squad.
The Australia series will be followed by three games against touring South Africa before India leave for the T20 World Cup Down Under.
"Rahul bhai and I have had a chat that we will have to make Virat open in some of the games because he is our third opener. In the last match we saw what he did (as opener) and we are obviously happy about that," Rohit said referring to Kohli's hundred against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup earlier this month.
It was Kohli's first hundred since November 2019 and 71st overall. While calling Kohli as the team's back-up opener, Rohit also clarified that Rahul remains his opening partner.
"K L Rahul will open for us at the T20 World Cup. We are not going to experiment with that position a lot. His performances often go noticed. He is a very important player for India.
"If you look at his performances over last two-three years, it has been very good. I want to make it clear to everyone that we have absolute clarity on this and kya khichdi pak rahi hain we know it very well. There is no confusion," said the skipper on a lighter note.
Rahul's strike rate has been questioned for sometime now and with Kohli finding form at the Asia Cup, the debate over who should be Rohit's opening partner has intensified.
"We are clear what KL brings to the table for us. He is match winner for us as well. We have not picked a back-up opener and Virat can obviously open for us. He has done that well for his IPL franchise over the years," Rohit added.
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Indian national sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexual exploitation of minors, child pornography
New York (PTI): A 31-year-old Indian national has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexually exploiting several children through a social media app where he often posed as a teenage boy to gain their trust and threatened and extorted them with child pornography when they refused his requests.
Sai Kumar Kurremula, 31, an Indian national living in Edmond, Oklahoma on an immigrant visa, has been sentenced to serve 420 months in federal prison for the sexual exploitation of three children and transportation of child pornography, US Attorney Robert Troester said in a statement.
At the sentencing hearing last week, US District Judge Charles Goodwin sentenced Kurremula to serve 420 months in federal prison, followed by a lifetime term of supervised release.
In announcing his sentence, Goodwin noted that these offences are among those that society considers the most serious because they involve such vulnerable victims. Goodwin further highlighted that Kurremula inflicted trauma on his victims that will echo throughout their lives and their families’ lives, and his lengthy sentence of imprisonment reflects that trauma.
In April last year, Kurremula was charged with sexual exploitation of children and transportation of child pornography. According to an affidavit filed in support of a criminal complaint, in October 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began investigating an account on a social media messaging app involving a user who was sexually exploiting minor girls.
The Internet Protocol address used to create the account led federal authorities to Kurremula. Public documents and evidence at the sentencing hearing allege Kurremula had sexually exploited at least 19 minors through the social media messaging app, often posing as a 13-15-year-old boy to gain the trust of his victims. When the victims refused his requests, Kurremula would manipulate, threaten, and extort his victims to produce even more child pornography.
Kurremula had pleaded guilty and admitted to sexually exploiting three minor victims and knowingly transporting images of child pornography. Specifically, Kurremula admitted that to ensure the minor victims complied, he threatened one minor that he would drive to her house and show her parents sexually explicit images of her; threatened another victim that he would come to her home and shoot her family; and threatened a third young individual that he would publicly post sexually explicit images and videos of her.
“The appalling exploitation, manipulation, and coercion of multiple children by this defendant justly warranted the 35-year sentence imposed by the Court,” Troester said. “This case serves as a clear warning to others that the strongest of penalties await those who exploit and victimize our children.” FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge Doug Goodwater said Kurremula manipulated children into sending him explicit images for his perverse gratification. “These disgusting actions robbed the victims of their innocence and caused unthinkable harm,” Goodwater said.
