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Time of India
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
IND vs ENG: Rishabh undefined! How Pant's world went from chaos to order
For five years, 's display picture on Whatsapp was a quote which read, 'Everyone works to be seen. I work to disappear.' It was put up when the world went into lockdown during the pandemic and Pant found himself sitting at home, unsure about his future in the Indian team. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now He would subsequently turn things around with two magical knocks in Sydney and Brisbane in 2020-21. Cut to March, 2025. Pant decided to uninstall Whatsapp and keep his mobile phone switched off unless he needed to reach out. It was only a tiny part of the whole process to remove the clutter from his mind after going through the most chaotic season in his cricket career. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! As he did the now-viral front-flip celebration after scoring a century in the first innings of the Headingley Test last week — just like he did upon reaching the milestone in his last IPL game this year — Pant would have been satisfied at having turned things around. Pant's last three innings across formats have all been centuries, a performance that his most ardent fan would have struggled to imagine 45 days ago. On paper, coming back to form looks like a simple process, but people close to him say those were the longest 45 days Pant has endured as a cricketer. Devender Sharma, his childhood coach at Sonnet Club in Delhi, says Pant realised things were getting out of hand after getting out in a flippant manner in the MCG Test, a dismissal now famous for Sunil Gavaskar describing it as 'stupid, stupid, stupid'. IND vs ENG Tests: New Spin Twist for Team India? In the following Test, Pant decided to knuckle down, taking blows on his body while scoring 40 runs in the first innings on a spicy Sydney pitch before reverting to his instincts to score 61 off 33. Yet, at that moment, nobody could tell which Pant was the real one. Having subsequently lost his place in the ODI XI and enduring a wretched run in the IPL, Pant asserted in an exclusive interview to TOI that he was practicing so hard in the nets that he had developed blisters on his palms. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now On the sidelines of the interview, he quietly said, 'I have spoken to a lot of experts. The more I think, the more this phase will keep engulfing me.' He took a decision to isolate himself from all the criticism and noise. Soham Desai, Team India's strength and conditioning coach till before the England tour, said Pant put himself through a punishing routine when he was benched from the XI during the Champions Trophy. Arshdeep vs Morkel: WWE at the Nets! | Team India's Lighter Moment in Birmingham 'He did the most intense sessions, day in and day out. He dragged me into the gym whenever he was free. He didn't care about fatigue or workload programmes. All he said was he needed to keep working on himself. On the day of the final, he came to me with some kind of guilt in his mind and asked if he could take the day off. I said it was high time that he did,' Desai told TOI. 'Pant has so much in reserve that he will be fine for at least a year without having to do anything extraordinary. That's why you see him moving around so well despite scoring two hundreds and keeping wickets for so long in the Headingley Test,' Desai added. In spite of the punishing training, results eluded him. The lightbulb moment happened when he reached out to Devender Sharma a couple of days before the enforced break in the IPL due to cross-border tensions with Pakistan. Jasprit Bumrah Unleashes Heat in the Nets | IND vs ENG 2nd Test Prep 'When he called me, he kept saying that he was training very hard. I had seen his practice videos put up by Lucknow Super Giants on social media. I told him it didn't seem like he was working on his defence. He has an outstanding defence. I told him to play close to his body and trust his technique to middle the ball more often,' Devender told TOI. The conversation went on for a couple of hours. 'The idea wasn't to discourage him from playing aggressive cricket, which comes naturally to him. The discussion was to reinstill the belief that he could score quickly and score big even by looking to hit in front of the wicket. That's what he has done for most of his career,' Devender said. Following the conversation, Pant confessed he felt good about his batting for the first time in months when he smacked Kagiso Rabada over long off and flicked him over square-leg for twin sixes. He knew he was back in the game. It was, therefore, no surprise that after one of his failed ramp shots at Headingley, Pant was caught on the stump mic chiding himself. 'There is no need to play this shot. You can still get runs hitting in front of the wicket,' he was heard muttering to himself. Every phase in Pant's career has been a fascinating story. This one is no different. He is clearly India's most consistent and prolific Test batter in the last half a decade. Yet, he always leaves you wanting more. He has managed to revive his own batting but the real job starts now. It needs to be seen if he can still put his head down and carry the mantle of being the most established Test batter in the lineup. In England, Team India needs him more than ever.
Time of India
15-06-2025
- Time of India
Cops arrest key aide of serial killer ‘Dr Death'
New Delhi: Crime Branch of Delhi Police arrested a key associate of notorious serial killer Devender Sharma, alias "Dr Death". The accused, Rajender alias Raju (59) — on the run for 21 years — was apprehended on June 14 from Kasimpur, Aligarh, where he was hiding and working as a security guard at a local pump house. "Rajender was a close associate of Sharma. The duo was part of a gang involved in a series of heinous crimes, including kidnapping and murder of truck and taxi drivers across Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. They used to dispose of the bodies in the crocodile-infested Hazara Canal in Kasganj, UP, while the stolen vehicles were sold in the grey market for Rs 20,000-25,000 each," said DCP (crime) Aditya Gautam. While absconding in the Delhi case, Rajender was arrested in a separate murder case in Jaipur under a false name and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2007. He served 14 years in jail till 2021. TNN
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Time of India
From killer to 'priest': 2 years after jumping parole, Delhi's ‘Dr Death', involved in murder, kidney transplant racket, held from ashram in Rajasthan
Dr. Devender Sharma, infamously known as 'Doctor Death,' was rearrested after jumping parole, Delhi police reported on Monday. Sharma, 67, was found living as a priest in Rajasthan. NEW DELHI: Nearly two years after he jumped parole, Dr Devender Sharma , notorious as ' Doctor Death ', was on Monday arrested by Delhi police from an ashram in Rajasthan's Dausa, where he was living as a 'priest'. Sharma (67) was involved in the abduction and murders of truck and taxi drivers in Delhi and other states in the early 2000s, and was also convicted of his role in a kidney racket . First arrested in 2004, he was granted a two-month parole on June 9, 2023, but went into hiding instead of returning to prison. DCP (crime) Aditya Gautam said on Tuesday that a police team launched an investigation across several locations, including Aligarh, Jaipur and Delhi. Over a period of six months, the cops explored possible hiding spots, including Agra and Prayagraj. Finally, they traced Sharma to an ashram in Dausa, where he was living under a false identity, posing as a priest. From 1998 to 2004, 'Dr Death' involved in kidney transplants A native of Aligarh, UP, Sharma graduated with a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) degree in 1984. His father worked for a pharmaceutical company in Siwan, Bihar. Sharma later set up and ran a clinic in Rajasthan for 11 years. In 1994, he faced a major financial setback after being defrauded of Rs 11 lakh in a gas dealership scam. By 1995, he himself allegedly started a fake gas agency to recover his losses. Between 1998 and 2004, Sharma allegedly became involved in illegal kidney transplants , working closely with a person named Dr Amit. He allegedly facilitated more than 125 illegal kidney transplants, earning between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 7 lakh per procedure. Sharma earlier told police that as an intermediary, he arranged kidney donors for Dr Amit. In 2004, Sharma was arrested in Gurgaon in connection with the kidney racket. Around the same time, he and his gang were also allegedly involved in the abduction and serial killing of taxi drivers and disposing of their bodies in the crocodile-infested Hazara canal in UP's Kasganj. Each vehicle sold in the grey market in UP earned them between Rs 20,000 and Rs 25,000. Sharma was charged with the murder of 21 truck and taxi drivers and sentenced to life imprisonment in seven cases across Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana. He was also sentenced to death by a Gurgaon court for the murder of a taxi driver. Sharma confessed to killing more than 50 people. His horrific crimes led to his wife and children abandoning him. In 2020, Sharma was granted a 20-day parole but jumped bail, staying at large for seven months before being apprehended in Delhi. In June 2023, he was again granted parole for two months, but failed to return to prison.
New Indian Express
21-05-2025
- New Indian Express
Serial killer, who fed victims to crocs, held after jumping parole at ashram in Rajasthan
NEW DELHI: Ayurveda practitioner-turned-serial killer – the infamous Doctor Death, who fed his victims to crocodiles – was arrested by Delhi Police after he jumped parole last year, a senior official absconder was posing as a priest under a false identity at an ashram in Rajasthan's Dausa when he was arrested on Monday, he added. 67-year-old Devender Sharma was convicted in multiple murder cases. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in seven separate cases across Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana, and a Gurgaon court even awarded him capital punishment. DCP (Crime Branch) Aditya Gautam said Sharma had been serving life sentence in Tihar Jail for the brutal killings of several taxi and truck drivers between 2002 and 2004, when he jumped parole in August 2023.
Hindustan Times
21-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Fugitive ‘serial killer' living at Raj ashram as priest arrested by Delhi Police
An ayurveda doctor convicted in seven murder cases and absconding for the last two years was residing at an ashram as a priest in Rajasthan and treating devotees for ailments — till Monday, when he was finally arrested after a seven-month long manhunt, Delhi Police officers said on Tuesday. Sixty seven-year-old Devender Sharma, who is charged of murdering 21 men between 2002 and 2004, had jumped his parole two years back for a second time in June 2023. Sharma was one of the most wanted criminals in 2004 as he specifically targeted taxi drivers and confessed to have killed over 50 men, according to police. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2004. However, in 2020, he was released on parole and was absconding till he was nabbed few months later. In June 2023, he was again released on a two-month parole, which he too jumped. In 2004, according to Delhi Police, Sharma said he had abducted over 21 taxi drivers from Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Prades, Rajasthan, murdered them, .and dumped the bodies in crocodile-infested lakes in UP's Kasganj to destroy evidence. Police said that he also facilitated more than 125 illegal kidney transplants in Delhi-NCR between 1994-2004. The Crime Branch arrested him from Rajasthan's Dausa on Monday after a seven-month long operation during which searches were conducted across Delhi, Jaipur, Aligarh, Mumbai, Aligarh, Agra, and Prayagraj. A team led by ACP Umesh Barthwal and inspector Rakesh Kumar had first zeroed in on Sharma's family residing in Mumbai. 'We put his wife's and family members' phone on surveillance. Then, an interesting pattern emerged. We found that a majority of the unknown number calls were received from either temples or religious sites across India…There were calls from Ashrams, temples in UP, even Mahakumbh area…' said an investigator aware of the details. Further analysis led police to recent calls being made from Dausa in Rajasthan. 'Our aim was to first look at all temples and religious sites. We had a hunch that Sharma could be hiding at a religious place,' added the investigator, wishing not to be named. DCP (crime) Aditya Gautam said that investigators last week found that Sharma was residing at an ashram as a priest. He had changed his name to Devdas and was treating patients by prescribing them medicines, said police. Gautam said his team stayed at Dausa for over a week and posed as devotees at the ashram to look for the accused. Another investigator said, 'We looked for him at multiple places and then found him as a local priest-doctor at an ashram. When I went to check and posed as a devotee with blood pressure issues, he asked me to put ghee on my head. We identified him and arrested him.' Sharma, who held a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery degree, ran an Ayurveda clinic in Bandikui, Rajasthan for 11 years. In 1994, he was duped of ₹11 lakh in a gas dealership scam, after which he started his own fake gas agency. Around 1998, police said that he came in contact with his co-accused, Dr Amit Kumar, and they started a kidney racket. Police said that around the same time, he and his gang started abducting taxi drivers at night, killed them for their cars, and later sold the vehicles. He was arrested by the Gurugram and the Delhi Police after a Gurugram-based cab driver went missing in 2003 and his car was found in Delhi.
