Hovering near the upper echelons for some time, battle-hardened Afghanistan finally showed they belong among cricket’s elites, having received help from the sport’s behemoth, India. Ravaged by years of wars and internal conflicts, the country’s cricket team on Sunday caused a huge World Cup upset when they outplayed holders England by 69 runs for only their second World Cup win. Afghanistan cricketers trained a lot in Pakistan in their formative years and some of them even picked up the sport in refugee camps on the other side of the border. The team from the war-ravaged nation even made its T20 and ODI debut against Pakistan.
After that, however, the BCCI took over and played a massive role in the rapid rise of the game in the strife-torn nation.
The Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida became a temporary “home-ground” for the team in 2015 with BCCI lending a helping hand. They had shifted base to Noida from Sharjah and even played home international matches against Ireland in Greater Noida in 2017.
Afghanistan had also “hosted” a Twenty20 series against Bangladesh in Dehradun.
Besides, former India players Lalchand Rajput and Manoj Prabhakar have coached the Afghanistan team, the latter as bowling coach.
Strengthening the relations further between the two countries, BCCI had invited then Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani to watch the team play its first Test match in Bengaluru.
The side has come a long way since then, regularly playing in ICC world events besides earning their Test status.
Afghan players in the IPL too have helped spread the sport’s popularity in the country.
Afghanistan have always acknowledged the role India played in their development as a cricket nation.
When Afghanistan became the 12th Test playing nation five years ago, it culminated a 23-year journey that began in 1995, when the Afghanistan Cricket Federation was set up.
While they have had their moments in the last few years, Afghanistan were desperately looking for a result like the one they achieved on Sunday, against one of the game’s biggest teams.
It is quite remarkable that they were able to flatten England, the reigning world champions, despite rarely coming face to face with the established nations in the 50-over format.
Put in to bat on a wicket that had yielded big runs recently, Afghanistan notched a competitive total, and then out-performed the England bowlers with their spin trio dominating the formidable English batting line-up.
It was fitting that the team’s biggest ambassador Rashid Khan picked up the last wicket to seal the famous win and leave the English bruised and battered.
Needless to say, Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi was delighted with the victory.
“I’m quite happy, all the teammates are happy. This is the best win for us, the confidence will be there for the next game and I’m very proud,” Shahidi summed up the mood.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article
The BJP’s Nishikant Dubey has demanded immediate suspension of Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, alleging that she “took bribes to ask questions” in parliament from businessman Darshan Hiranandani. Mr Dubey has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, accusing her of breach of parliamentary privilege.
Ms Moitra has said she welcomes any inquiry.
Ms Gopinath also said China’s growth projection has been downgraded slightly.
Marrakech:
As the lingering effects of the Covid pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war continue to be felt, it’s been a challenging few years for the global economy, but there are rays of hope as well. In an exclusive interview with NDTV in Marrakech, the International Monetary Fund’s Gita Gopinath spoke about the macroeconomic stability in India, the headwinds in China, artificial intelligence, extreme weather events and how all of these will impact the trajectory of the world economy in the coming years.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 2023 World Bank Group – IMF Annual Meetings, the First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF also spoke about the impact of the conflicts between Israel and Gaza and Russia and Ukraine on oil prices and food security.
Boundless Potential, Some Concerns
Emphasising that it is early days to assess the true potential of artificial intelligence, Ms Gopinath said the promise of generative AI could raise productivity and help boost slowing global growth.
“But it is far from certain at this point whether we are going to get all that productivity gain. Obviously, the innovation is important but it is going to require regulation. This is not business as usual, this is a very different animal that we have to deal with in terms of regulation. We have to make sure AI is used so that it actually benefits humanity,” she said.
Ms Gopinath said governments will need plans and account for the possibility of a lot of workers being affected directly by AI, and some losing their jobs.
“What we have seen traditionally with technology is this concern that it will cause a lot of layoffs and doesn’t really help create jobs. And what history has taught us is that, on net, a lot more jobs are created. They are in different sectors and demand different skills and so there are people who get affected and lose jobs but that’s where policy plays a role in making sure that they get the right support they need,” she said.
The senior IMF official also said that AI will have an impact on the general pay structure. “It is very interesting, the early studies that are coming up. In the past, as a new entrant to a particular industry, you didn’t have the experience, you had to wait to learn and therefore the pay you got was not as much. With AI you get to use the experience that others had and you get that information really quickly. So we could see somewhat more of a flattening of the pay structure. “
India Third-Largest Economy?
Asked about India’s economic growth and whether the country is on course to becoming the third-largest economy in the world by 2030, Ms Gopinath said, “India has strong growth. At 6.3%, it is one of the largest growth numbers that we have among major economies. We have 6.3% for this year and 6.3% for next year. We did the upgrade because the first quarter data came in somewhat stronger than we had expected.”
“If there is this continuing amount of public investment that happens, that seems to be catalsying private investment and consumption is holding up better than we expected, so I think those are good signs. In terms of the trillion-dollar number that India gets to, I am always a bit cautious because in the last three years we had the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I wouldn’t want to venture into talking about particular dates,” she added.
Mr Gopinath pointed out that the important thing is that India’s economy is strong, there is macro stability and inflation is coming into the RBI’s target band. “The financial sector is the strongest it has been in a long time. If you combine that with structural reforms, a lot of which is still needed, that could generate a lot of growth in India,” she said.
China Concerns
Ms Gopinath said the IMF had downgraded China’s growth projection slightly, from 5.2% to 5% for this year, and the organisation sees growth slowing down in China in the coming years. She emphasised that the property sector is an important concern and so are its ageing population and weaker productivity growth.
“In terms of spillovers to Asia as a whole, the estimate we have is that when China’s growth goes down by 1 percentage point, it shaves off about 0.3 percentage points out of growth over a five-year period for Asian regions. If I look at India specifically, I don’t see strong direct spillovers. We don’t expect to have a big effect of India slowing down. But if there is a more general slowdown in the global economy that comes from Asia slowing down, of course that would feed into growth for India,” she said.
World Growth, Food Insecurity
Asked about the reasons behind the global growth outlook for 2023 being 3%, well below the pre-pandemic levels, Ms Gopinath pointed to ageing demographics and weakening productivity. She said China plays an important role in this.
On food insecurity stemming from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, she said it affects low-income countries the most because they spend a big percentage of their consumption basket on food. She asserted that while food prices have come down, they are still quite high and that remains a concern.
Ms Gopinath said that among the measures taken by the IMF to address this was the creation of the Food Shock Window to help countries in need.
Climate And The Future
Ms Gopinath said that while there is an increase in extreme climate-related disasters and the economic cost of that is adding up, the implications for global growth are small for now because the larger economies are doing relatively okay.
“For individual countries, small island nations, this can be very, very big. Even in India, temperatures are going up at twice the rate that it’s happening, on average, in the world. So it is quite vulnerable,” she said.
The IMF official pointed out that India played a big role in pushing for the reforms of Multilateral Development Banks through its G20 leadership and she sees momentum on that front. She also said the inclusion of the African Union into the G20 is very important because most of the working-age population will be on the African continent over the next many years.
The woman, who is still at large, was booked at Sector 29 Police Station.
In Gurugram, a young man’s eagerly anticipated online date, which began with hopes of creating lasting memories, took an alarming turn, leaving him with a distressing experience. This unfortunate incident unfolded during a Bumble rendezvous, where the man claimed that a woman, after allegedly drugging him at his DLF Phase 4 residence, vanished with his mobile phone, valuable gold jewelry, and siphoned off a substantial sum of Rs 1.78 lakh from his bank accounts, according to the local police.
The victim, Rohit Gupta, recounted in his official complaint that he had met a woman named Sakshi, also known as Payal, through the Bumble online dating app. Gupta shared that the woman conveyed that her roots were in Delhi and that her current residence was with her aunt in Gurugram.
“On October 1, she called me and said she wanted to meet me. Around 10 pm, she called me to pick her up from near Dockyard Bar in Sector 47. I picked her up and then bought some liquor from a nearby shop and came to my house,” Gupta said in his complaint.
At his house, the woman asked him to go to the kitchen to bring ice, and when he was away, she spiked his drink with some drug.
“The effect of the drug was so severe that I woke up on the morning of October 3. I found the woman was missing, as were my gold chain, an iPhone 14 Pro, Rs 10,000 in cash, and credit and debit cards.
“I found Rs 1.78 lakh were also withdrawn through my credit and debit cards,” Gupta said in his complaint, according to police.
The woman, who is still at large, was booked at Sector 29 Police Station on Tuesday, police said.
(With inputs from PTI)
Gaza has been under a debilitating Israeli blockade for over 15 years.
Hamas on Friday rejected an Israeli order to evacuate 1.1 million civilians south from northern Gaza within 24 hours, ahead of an expected ground incursion that will likely turn the overcrowded Palestinian territory into one of the world’s bloodiest war zones. “Our people reject the threat of the occupation (by Israeli) leaders and (the) call to flee to the south or Egypt,” the group said. “We are steadfast on our land and in our homes and our cities. There will be no displacement.”
However, the demand to move over a million people at short notice, during a war, has been criticised by the United Nations, which warned Israel of “devastating consequences”. “… impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences,” the UN said.
READ | Israel Asks Gaza City Civilians To Evacuate, UN Calls Order “Impossible”
The big (and very obvious) concern for aid agencies is – where? And how do you move 1.1 million men, women and children, as well as injured and infirm, while being bombarded by Israeli forces?
Israel has already indicated its willingness to inflict collateral damage, including killing civilians.
READ | “There Will Be Collateral Damage…”: Ex-Israel PM’s Warning To Hamas
Gaza is 41 km long and between six and 12 km wide. It is divided into five areas – North Gaza, Gaza, the Middle Area, Khan Younis, and Rafah. The Strip has two land borders – Israel on its north and east, and Egypt on its south. Both are closed. To its west is the Mediterranean Sea, also closed.
Gazan airspace is controlled by Israel; their airport was destroyed by the Israelis in 2022.
It is, therefore, completely cut off from the world; the narrow 365 sq km patch of land, which is among the most densely populated on the world, relies (almost) entirely on Israel for food, fuel, medicines, drinking water and other essentials, and, to a lesser extent, on international aid agencies.
Israel has demanded 1.1 million Gazans move from North Gaza to southern areas, potentially a 40 km journey in 24 hours, and as far down as Rafah and the border with Egypt.
There are two main entry/exit points on Gaza’s land border through which people are allowed – the Erez Crossing in the north that is controlled by Israel, and the Rafah Crossing controlled by Egypt.
Both have been closed to Gazans looking to flee the fighting. There is a third crossing – Kerem Shalom – which is controlled by Israel also but is normally only used to move goods.
The Gaza side of the Rafah Crossing was bombed even as civilians were looking to flee, raising questions over how serious Israel is about not deliberately targeting non-combatants.
There are none, for now.
Israel has already ruled out opening Gazan airspace or allowing aid agencies access via land or sea routes, and with the border crossings controlled by Israeli military, the Gazans are penned in.
READ | Israel Asks Gaza Residents To Flee War Against Hamas, Where’s The Exit?
One (perhaps the only) option are humanitarian corridors to allow civilians an escape route.
Israel has shown no indication it will permit this on its side, which leaves only Egypt. Cairo has so far rejected any move to set up such corridors, security sources in that country said Wednesday.
One of the sources, who asked not to be identified, said this was to “protect the right of Palestinians to hold on to their cause and their land”. Egypt has long restricted Gazans access to its territory.
Israel’s expected ground attacks will follow a week of relentless aerial strikes, which have killed over 1,500 people so far, as Tel Aviv extracts revenge for Hamas killing more than 1,200 on October 7.
That those ground attacks are moving closer was reinforced this afternoon after an NDTV exclusive ground report showed tanks and armoured vehicles massing at the Gaza border.
READ | Ground Report: Israeli Tanks Roll Up To Border As Gazans Asked To Move South
These include Namer Infantry Fighting Vehicles, the most heavily armoured in the world, and Merkava IV tanks that have defence systems that can destroy incoming anti-tank missiles.
NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.
The maritime patrol will begin from Friday
London:
The British government will send two Royal Navy ships and surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel, the prime minister’s office said Thursday.
“Alongside our allies, the deployment of our world-class military will support efforts to ensure regional stability and prevent further escalation,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement.
The maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft will begin flying in the region from Friday, the statement said, to “track threats to regional stability such as the transfer of weapons to terrorist groups”.
The military package includes P8 aircraft, two Royal Navy ships — the RFA Lyme Bay and RFA Argus — three merlin helicopters and a company of Royal Marines, the statement said.
The military deployments will be on standby to deliver “practical support” to Israel and offer “deterrence and assurance,” the government said.
“Our military and diplomatic teams across the region will also support international partners to re-establish security and ensure humanitarian aid reaches the thousands of innocent victims of this barbaric attack from Hamas terrorists,” said Mr Sunak.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
