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Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Bribery case: Kerala HC extends order restraining ED officer's arrest
Kochi: High court has reserved its order on the anticipatory bail petition filed by Sekhar Kumar, an assistant director of Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Kochi, in connection with an alleged bribery case. The bench of Justice A Badharudeen on Thursday extended the interim order restraining Kumar's arrest until the pronouncement of the final order. The case arises from a complaint filed by Aneesh Babu, a Kollam-based cashew trader, who alleged that ED officials demanded a bribe to halt an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The PMLA proceedings were initiated following a police case registered against Aneesh for allegedly cheating local traders by accepting advance payments for imported cashew nuts and failing to deliver the goods. In his complaint, Aneesh alleged that two middlemen, Wilson Varghese and Mukesh Kumar, approached him on behalf of the ED officer and demanded Rs 2 crore to stop the ED probe. The vigilance department arrested both middlemen, who, during interrogation, allegedly named Sekhar Kumar, leading to his arraignment as the first accused in the case. Kumar, in his plea, has denied any involvement and contended that there is no material linking him to the arrested individuals. He further claimed that he has been falsely implicated with ulterior motives and that the case is driven by vexatious intent.


The Print
an hour ago
- The Print
India's selection for Edgbaston Test shows team management is second-guessing itself
The shuffle screams one thing loud and clear: the team management is second-guessing itself. It's like they walked into a buffet, piled everything onto the plate, and are now hoping something magically tastes right. Confidence in their own selections is nowhere to be found. And, not picking Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI just made it all the more worse. The Indian team management, now led by coach Gautam Gambhir, must be sipping something stronger than coffee, because there's no sane justification for dropping Sai Sudharsan from the second Test against England at Edgbaston. After the first Test hiccup, the vibe is pure panic mode. Experiments, tweaks, and crossed fingers—pushing the team on the back foot not only in the dressing room, but also in front of the opponents. Instead of sticking to a clear plan, Gambhir and the selection committee are playing musical chairs with the lineup, hoping that eventually, something clicks. Out of all, it is Gambhir who should remember that in the transition phase, clear communication between the think tank and younger players and giving them an environment where their heads are not at stake in each game is the least a coach of his power should do. Let's not repeat the Karun Nair story all over again. Also read: IPL expansion will kill Test cricket. Players no longer care about playing for the country Strong lower order at what cost? Following his debut in the series opener, Sudharsan was axed after just one game. Along with him, Jasprit Bumrah was rested and Shardul Thakur was left out. Their replacements: Akash Deep, Washington Sundar, and Nitish Kumar Reddy. If Sudharsan was dropped due to an underwhelming debut performance, it certainly wouldn't be the first instance of a cricketer struggling in their first Test. History is full of such examples—Parthiv Patel (2002), Wriddhiman Saha (2010), Dean Elgar (2012), Jimmy Cook (1992), and Graham Gooch (1975), all failed to score in their debut innings. Even some of India's Test greats struggled in their debut. Virat Kohli scored 4 and 15 in his debut against West Indies in 2011, Cheteshwar Pujara managed just 4 in his first outing against Australia in 2010, Rishabh Pant scored 24 and 1 in his 2018 debut versus England, while KL Rahul scored 3 and 1 against Australia in 2014. Clearly, a rocky debut isn't a fair measure of future potential. Hence, Sudharsan's omission raises more questions than answers. If the aim was team balance, it still feels like a rookie move to pick Washington Sundar over Sai Sudharsan—it comes across as a desperate attempt to prep up the lower batting order and avoid another collapse like we saw in Leeds. India is now fielding three all-rounders to strengthen the tail, but at what cost? When your most lethal wicket-taker is being rested, sacrificing bowling firepower for batting depth seems questionable. This is after Gambhir, in a 2023 tweet, wrote, 'It's the bowlers who win you tournaments.' Well, the coach should at least practice what he preaches. Choosing spin-bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar over Kuldeep Yadav's left-arm wrist spin is baffling. Between the two, it's a no-brainer that Kuldeep offers far more bite, especially given England's struggles against wrist-spin. Since 2022, the England batters have averaged just 30.50 against leg-spinners, while Kuldeep has claimed 19 wickets at a strike rate of 36. His exclusion defies cricketing logic. Views are personal. (Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)


India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Joeswal at RR: Sangakkara on how Joe Root mentored Yashasvi Jaiswal
Kumar Sangakkara explained the bond between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Joe Root during their time together at Rajasthan Royals and how the England batter mentored the Indian opener. Root played in the IPL during the 2023 season as he made three appearances for the Jaipur-based franchise. Incidentally, this was the breakout season for Jaiswal as he scored 625 runs in 14 matches and scored a hundred as well. advertisementJaiswal went on to become a mainstay in the Test team and has already scored 192 runs in 3 innings. Speaking to Sky Sports, Sangakkara, who works as the Director Of Cricket with the Royals, revealed the bond the young opener shared with Root. ENG vs IND 2nd Test Day 2 Updates Sangakkara said that they had a nickname for the Indian opener and it was Joeswal as he was constantly by Root's side and learning everything. "Every young cricketer that I come across has that same passion. The only thing is they do understand what's on offer and how to navigate that cricketing landscape and the changing of it. So I think careers will come down, the span of careers will come down, and we're seeing it already, and I don't think it's gonna be any different for Jaiswal, especially when he has to manage his body and his workload. But we had Joe Root at Rajasthan Royals and we used to call Jaiswal, Joeswal, because he never left Joe's side and soaking up everything," said Sangakkara. 'Jaiswal is a fast learner'Sangakkara said that conversations between Root and Jaiswal were about cricket and life and they would sit for four hours every night and the Indian opener would ask him a lot of questions and listen to the England batter. The RR director said that Jaiswal is a fast learner. "And they weren't talking just T20, they were talking about everything cricket and life, and he would sit right next to Joe for about 4 hours every night and just pester him with questions or just open-mouth listening to Root. Root was absolutely brilliant in our environment and he's learned so much and that's another aspect of Jaiswal, he's a fast learner and he wants to learn," said Sangakkara. Jasiwal scored 87 in the first innings of the Edgbaston Test.- EndsMust Watch