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On MS Dhoni Batting Order Debate, Virender Sehwag's Brutal “19th Or 20th Over” Jibe | Cricket News

by | Mar 29, 2025 | top-stories






In the aftermath of Chennai Super Kings (CSK)’s 50-run loss to rivals Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), former captain MS Dhoni‘s batting order has sparked a big debate. Dhoni, who came out to bat at no. 9, hit an unbeaten 30 off just 16, but his knock had no relevance as RCB cruised to a crushing win. While Dhoni has limited his batting time over the past few seasons, in terms of the amount of deliveries he faces, fans and experts were not happy with the 43-year-old batting behind the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran and Ravichandran Ashwin.

In hindsight, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference even if Dhoni had walked out to bat at no. 8.

However, former India batter Virender Sehwag poked fun at Dhoni during a discussion on Cricbuzz. Sehwag joked that the CSK legend came out to bat early as he generally prefers to bat in the last two overs of the innings.

“Jaldi aa gaye na (He came out to bat early),” joked Sehwag, whose response sparked a laughing riot.

“We were talking about this that maybe he will walk out to bat at No.10,” former India batter Manoj Tiwary, who was also part of the discussion, added.

“When he came, 16 overs were bowled. Usually, he comes in the 19th or 20th over, so he came out to bat early, didn’t he? Either he came out to bat early, or his batters lost wickets far too quickly,” Sehwag added.

In the end, Dhoni gave something back to his fans, who had been cheering every time a wicket was falling, only to catch a glimpse of the CSK legend. He struck three boundaries, and slammed two towering sixes in the final over off Krunal Pandya.

On Friday, Dhoni surpassed Suresh Raina to become the highest run-getter for CSK. Dhoni has a total of 4699 runs in the 204 innings, which has come at an impressive average of 40.50 and a strike rate of 139.43. On the other hand, before retiring from the sport, Raina went on to score 4687 runs in 171 innings.

The other players on the list are Faf Du Plessis (2721 runs in 86 innings), skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (2433* runs from 67 innings), and Ravindra Jadeja (1939 runs off 127 innings). Gaikwad and Jadeja are still playing for the franchise, whereas Du Plessis has joined Delhi Capitals as vice-captain for the ongoing season.

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Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru LIVE Score, IPL 2025: Virat Kohli's Furious Response After Being Hit By Matheesha Pathirana Bouncer | Cricket News

by | Mar 28, 2025 | top-stories



CSK vs RCB Live: Have a look at squads –

Chennai Super Kings Squad: Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, Shivam Dube, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Nathan Ellis, Khaleel Ahmed, Vijay Shankar, Jamie Overton, Shreyas Gopal, Devon Conway, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Mukesh Choudhary, Anshul Kamboj, Matheesha Pathirana, Gurjapneet Singh, Shaik Rasheed, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Andre Siddarth C, Vansh Bedi

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Abhinandan Singh, Manoj Bhandage, Romario Shepherd, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lungi Ngidi, Nuwan Thushara, Jacob Bethell, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chikara



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4 Cops Killed In Action, 2 Terrorists Shot Dead During Encounter In J&K: Sources

by | Mar 27, 2025 | top-stories




Srinagar:

Four police personnel have been killed in action during an encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district, sources said on Thursday. Two of the terrorists have also been shot dead while three to four terrorists are still holed up. 

Five security personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police, have been injured and are undergoing treatment at a hospital.

Teams from the Army, the National Security Guard, the Border Security Force, Police, the Special Operations Group, and the Central Reserve Police Force had been carrying out searches in the area for the past five days. There was an exchange of fire on Sunday and a local resident had informed the police on Tuesday that two men in army uniform had asked her for water while they were having food in the area.

Police suffered casualties on Thursday after cops entered deep inside the forests and engaged in close quarters combat with heavily armed terrorists. 

In the ensuing gun battle, two terrorists were killed. But, before neutralising the terrorists, four policemen were killed in action and five others were injured, said an official involved in the operation. 

“So far we have not retrieved bodies of fallen cops due to adverse terrain and presence of more terrorists there,” said an official. 

Nalin Prabhat, Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police, is leading this major anti-terrorist operation in Kathua. Mr Prabhat confirmed the killing of two terrorists and exuded confidence that other holed-up terrorists will also be neutralised during the operation. 

On Sunday, at least five terrorists were trapped at Sanyal forests. After a fierce gun battle with the police, they managed to escape and reached Juthana, 20 km away. They left behind magazines of US-made M4 rifles at the first encounter site, indicating that they were equipped with state-of-the-art weapons.

On Thursday morning, police cornered them again at the Juthana forests and a fierce encounter erupted. 

The operation was supported by helicopters, drones, bulletproof vehicles, and sniffer dogs and security agencies had questioned several people and picked up three suspects. On Tuesday, the forces had recovered two grenades among other material.

The tracksuits found among a large cache of ammunition and other materials in the Sanyal forests were identical to those worn by the four Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) terrorists killed in the Assar forests and Doda in June and August last year, a report by news agency IANS said. 

The terrorists are believed to have inflitrated into India on Saturday. 




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“Jitni Umar Likhi Hai…”: Salman Khan On Lawrence Bishnoi Death Threats

by | Mar 27, 2025 | top-stories




Mumbai:

Speaking out on the continuous death threats he has been receiving, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has said his life is in the hands of God. During a promotional event for his upcoming movie Sikandar, Mr Khan was asked about the threats. “Bhagwan, Allah sab unpar hai. Jitni umar likhi hai, utni likhi hai. Bas yahi hai.” This roughly translates to, “It’s all up to God, Allah. What is written is written. That’s all.”

The 59-year-old actor acknowledged the challenges created by the heightened security cover provided to him following the threats and the shooting near his Mumbai apartment.

“Sometimes, having to move around with so many people becomes a problem,” he said at the press meet held amid tight security and off the camera. “Galaxy, shoot, shoot Galaxy. No detours,” he said.

In April last year, two men on a bike fired multiple shots outside Galaxy Apartments in Bandra, where the actor lives. The investigation later revealed that the shooting was aimed at intimidating the actor and was carried out on the instructions of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. The gangster, who is in prison in Gujarat, is enraged with Salman Khan over the 1998 blackbuck shooting case, in which he was accused. The Bishnoi community holds blackbucks sacred. The actor has received frequent threats over the years.

On the professional front, the actor is now set for the release of Sikandar on Sunday. Directed by AR Murugadoss, it stars Rashmika Mandanna, Kajal Aggarwal and Sharman Joshi in key roles.





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People's Mandate Has Shown Who's Real Traitor: Eknath Shinde On Kunal Kamra Row

by | Mar 26, 2025 | top-stories




Mumbai:

Hitting out at the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena over the ‘gaddar’ (traitor) jibe, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has repeated the allegation that its use by Kunal Kamra in a satirical song about him was part of a ‘supari’ (contract) given to the comedian.

The Shiv Sena chief also alleged that while the Uddhav faction of the Sena and others in the opposition in Maharashtra are talking about the Constitution and freedom of speech now, there have been several instances in the past when they have acted against people who criticised them. Mr Shinde cited the example of the bulldozing of actor-MP Kangana Ranaut’s Mumbai office in 2020 after she spoke out against the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government’s handling of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.

Mr Shinde has been called a traitor several times by the Uddhav Thackeray faction after he split the Shiv Sena in 2022 and joined hands with the BJP. The move had led to the Thackeray-led government falling in Maharashtra and being replaced with one headed by Mr Shinde.

Speaking in the Maharashtra Legislative Council on Wednesday, Mr Shinde thundered, “You keep calling me ‘gaddar, gaddar‘, you will soon have to close the ‘daar‘ (door in Marathi) of your party.”

Referring to the verdict given by the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker and the Election Commission – that the faction led by him is the “real” Shiv Sena – and the thumping win achieved by the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) in last year’s Assembly polls in the state, Mr Shinde continued, “The Election Commission, Supreme Court and the Speaker of the House have said who is the ‘gaddar‘. More importantly, the people, who are above everyone, have also given their verdict. No matter how much “supari” (contract) you give, nothing’s going to work.”

In a show shot at the Habitat Comedy Club in Mumbai’s Khar, Mr Kamra had made some comments on the Eknath Shinde chief – without naming him – through a satirical version of the song ‘Bholi si surat‘ from the 1997 blockbuster ‘Dil To Pagal Hai‘. The satirical song also had a mention of ‘gaddar‘.

‘Where Was Your Constitution?’

After a row erupted, Shiv Sena workers vandalised the Habitat Comedy Club on Sunday and a case was filed against him, Mr Kamra said he would cooperate with the police but would not apologise for his remarks. 

While ending his show, the comedian had also shown a copy of the Constitution to the audience and said, “For all of the people who will not like this show, I have something for you… This is the Constitution of India and this is what allows me to do what I do.”

Members of the Uddhav Sena and other opposition parties have also accused Mr Shinde of going against the Constitution by seeking action against Mr Kamra, prompting the Shiv Sena chief to hit back on Wednesday. 

Mr Shinde brought up instances of a retired Indian Navy personnel being beaten up in 2020 allegedly by Shiv Sena workers for forwarding a cartoon on Uddhav Thackeray and comedian Pranit More being thrashed last month for comments against Veer Pahariya, who is the grandson of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde of the Congress. 

Apart from the demolition of Kangana Ranaut’s office, the deputy chief minister also pointed to the united Shiv Sena’s reaction after popular Radio Jockey Malishka had made a satirical song about potholes in 2017. 

“Where was your constitution when you beat up a retired person from merchant navy? When Pranit More was beaten in Solapur… when you bulldozed Kangana’s office?” Mr Shinde asked.

“Anyone shows the constitution these days, in a diary,” he added, in what was seen as a dig at both Mr Kamra and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi. 




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Despite Anti-Corruption Drive, Xi Jinping's Family Holds Millions: Report

by | Mar 25, 2025 | top-stories




Beijing:

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s relatives continue to possess millions of dollars in business ventures and financial investments, Radio Free Asia reported, citing a recent report from US sources.

After assuming power in 2012, President Xi initiated an anti-corruption campaign designed to eliminate corruption at all tiers of the Communist Party. This initiative, which focused on both high-ranking “tigers” and low-ranking “flies,” resulted in the investigation and punishment of hundreds of thousands of officials, as reported by RFA.

The RFA report pointed out that the US-backed intelligence agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), indicated that President Xi’s family has maintained substantial financial interests and may have gained from political ties through both private and state-owned enterprises.

“Their high-ranking positions could have provided them with access to privileged information, and both private and state-run enterprise activities might have benefited family investments due to their associations with people in political authority,” the ODNI stated in a report quoted by RFA.

The ODNI noted that centralized authority, a lack of independent oversight, and limited accountability, especially at the provincial level, are systemic issues that foster corruption in China, as mentioned by RFA. The report suggested that these conditions enable government officials to amass wealth through corrupt practices at a rate estimated to be four to six times their official salaries.

“Higher-ranking officials, who enjoy greater access to state assets, gain the most from bribery and illicit financial transactions,” the ODNI reported, using their membership in China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) as an example, as cited by RFA.

“The potential advantages of NPC membership encourage individuals to incur substantial costs to join, often through bribes, and to accept bribes while serving or even after their term to facilitate business transactions,” the ODNI stated, as reported by RFA.

The NPC, which is China’s legislative body that primarily functions as a rubber-stamp parliament, is regarded as a status symbol and a means to gain access to sensitive government information, according to the RFA report.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)




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