International
Hope a lot of coaches and captains take up that kind of approach: Manjrekar on consistency in India’s playing XI

In the run-up to India’s T20I series opener against South Africa in New Delhi, head coach Rahul Dravid had mentioned about how he was someone who liked to have consistency in the playing eleven, giving players ample time and making them feel settled in their positions in the playing eleven.
Dravid’s words came true when India didn’t tinker with their playing eleven despite losing matches in New Delhi and Cuttack. With the Indian team management continuing to keep their faith on the playing eleven, India made a comeback in the series through victories in Visakhapatnam and Rajkot before a washout in Bengaluru led to the series being drawn at 2-2.
The consistency in India’s playing eleven during the series against South Africa is something which left former India cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar thrilled, who now wishes for more captains and coaches in the T20 world to adopt stability in their playing eleven.
“I thought that was actually quite fantastic which the new team management did. With T20 being such a hit-and-miss format, the worst thing you can do to a player is trying to stake a claim into that T20I side and seal his place with him getting this feeling that ‘I have got only two matches’. So, that was really very good and I hope a lot of coaches and captains take up that kind of approach.
“But unfortunately, against Ireland, you got only two games; you can’t give (a) long rope. But I really like that idea and I get this impression, feeling that guys who prove themselves in that series against South Africa might be rested against Ireland and then you get a new set of guys to look at. Hopefully, after Ireland, they get a longer rope as well,” said Manjrekar in a virtual interaction organised by Sony Sports.
In India’s upcoming two-match T20I series against Ireland, that consistency in the playing eleven will be tweaked as Dravid, along with Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, will be with the Test side for the all-important rescheduled Edgbaston Test from July 1-5.
It brings right-handed batters Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson in the reckoning to enter the playing eleven, with an eye to enhance their credentials, especially with the Men’s T20 World Cup later this year in Australia. Manjrekar is sure of Suryakumar, who is coming back after a hairline fracture and muscle strain on the left forearm, to get runs and hopes for Samson, who has been in and out of the national side, to make the chance count against Ireland.
“This is a time where one has got to be really excited about what the IPL is doing for Indian cricket apart from it being one of the most lucrative and cash-rich T20 leagues. It is also making Indian T20 talent quite rich and you got to be excited by the options available. Suryakumar Yadav didn’t play a single match against South Africa but India was still able to dominate that series despite starting off poorly.
“Sanju Samson interestingly in IPL 2022 wasn’t getting the large scores but he was largely more consistent than ever been.
“If these two guys will get opportunities and imagine them making an impact, I have got no doubt about Suryakumar Yadav; he’s more consistent and reliable and somebody who is likely to be in the squad for the T20 World Cup.
“Sanju Samson’s time at the international level hasn’t been great. But there is something about him that we have seen, so let’s hope that he will be turning a corner. For him, these opportunities are God-sent and very precious.
“If he doesn’t fire, then those opportunities won’t come along because he’s been there for a while and got opportunities to play for India. So, Suryakumar Yadav will definitely add value. Sanju Samson, as well, but his consistency has been the issue because he plays that high-risk game. But the benefit of having Samson in the team is that he’s so selfless, he becomes very dangerous as well,” concluded Manjrekar looking ahead of India’s T20I tour of Ireland, which will be broadcast on Sony Sports Network on June 26 and 28.
International
Murder of Hindu leader: India slams Bangladesh, says killing follows pattern of systematic persecution of Hindu minorities

New Delhi, April 19: India on Saturday issued a sharp condemnation of the abduction and brutal killing of Bhabesh Chandra Roy, a prominent Hindu community leader in northern Bangladesh, calling it part of a “pattern of systematic persecution” of minorities under the country’s interim government.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal voiced India’s grave concern, stating that the incident reflects an alarming trend of targetted violence against Hindus and other minority groups in Bangladesh.
“We have noted with distress the abduction and brutal killing of Shri Bhabesh Chandra Roy, a Hindu minority leader in Bangladesh. This killing follows a pattern of systematic persecution of Hindu minorities under the interim government, even as the perpetrators of previous such events roam with impunity,” Jaiswal said in a post on social media platform X.
He added, “We condemn this incident and once again remind the interim government to live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities, including Hindus, without inventing excuses or making distinctions.”
India has previously expressed similar concerns over rising attacks on minorities in Bangladesh, but this latest incident has drawn particular attention due to Roy’s prominence in the Hindu community.
Roy, who served as the Vice-President of the Biral unit of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, was abducted from his residence in Dinajpur district on Thursday evening. According to police and family accounts, he received a phone call around 4:30 p.m., after which four unidentified men arrived on motorcycles and forcibly took him to Narabari village. He was reportedly assaulted and later found unconscious. He was rushed to a hospital in Dinajpur, where he was declared dead on arrival. His wife, Shantana Roy believes the attackers used the call to confirm his location before carrying out the abduction.
Opposition leaders in India also slammed the shocking incident in the neighbouring country.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge highlighted that religious minorities, especially Hindus, are being persecuted in Bangladesh.
“Attacks on other religious minorities are also continuing. Recently, the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh made a very condemnable and disappointing comment about the northeastern states of India. The persecution of religious minorities in Bangladesh, human rights violations, and the attempt to erase the memories of the 1971 Liberation War are efforts to weaken the relationship between India and Bangladesh. From 1971 till today, India has always wished for peace and prosperity for all the people of Bangladesh. This is in the best interest of the subcontinent,” he said.
International
Death toll from US airstrikes on Yemeni fuel port rises to 38: Houthis

Sanaa, April 18: The death toll from US overnight airstrikes on the Yemeni fuel port of Ras Isa has increased to 38, with 102 others wounded, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported on Friday, citing Houthi-controlled local health authorities.
According to al-Masirah, the casualties include five paramedics who were killed upon arriving at the scene, when the US military launched another wave of airstrikes on the port just minutes after the first on Thursday night.
More than 14 airstrikes on the fuel port were reported during the two waves, igniting massive fires in tanks storing imported fuel. The fires were extinguished within hours, said the report.
The US Central Command said earlier in a statement that it struck and destroyed the Ras Isa port on Thursday to “eliminate this source of fuel for” and “degrade the economic source of power of” the Houthis, Xinhua news agency reported.
In mid-March, US President Donald Trump ordered “decisive and powerful military action” against the Houthis after the group announced plans to resume attacks on Israeli vessels in the Red Sea, citing Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza as the reason.
Earlier on April 17, Yemen’s Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi had said his group had launched 26 attacks against Israel and 33 strikes on the US aircraft carrier and warships in the Red Sea since March 15.
In a televised speech aired by the group’s al-Masirah TV on Thursday, the Houthi leader said the attacks on Israel were carried out using “30 ballistic missiles and drones,” while those targeting the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and its escorts involved “122 ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones”.
However, the Israeli military has reportedly intercepted many of the Houthi projectiles before they reached targets, Xinhua news agency reported.
The US Central Command dismissed the Houthi claims of daily attacks on the US aircraft carrier as “outlandish” in a post on the social media platform X.
Meanwhile, the Houthi leader noted that the US military had conducted more than 900 airstrikes against his group’s positions across northern Yemen during the past 30 days.
Tensions between the Houthi group and the US military have escalated since Washington resumed airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on March 15 to deter the group from attacking Israel and US warships in the Red Sea.
The Houthis, which control much of northern Yemen, said their attacks aim to press US-backed Israel to stop the offensive against the Gaza Strip and allow humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave.
Israel’s Channel 12 News reported last Saturday that a Yemeni drone was intercepted near the Dead Sea within the Jordanian airspace before it could reach Israel.
The Jordanian army confirmed later last week that an unidentified drone entered Jordanian airspace and crashed in the Ma’in area of Madaba governorate, near the Dead Sea, and no casualties were reported.
Even since Israel renewed its intensive strikes in March across the Gaza Strip, the Houthis have been launching frequent attacks against Israeli and US targets.
Earlier last week, the Houthi military spokesperson claimed fresh attacks against the US aircraft carrier, USS Harry S Truman, and other US warships in the northern Red Sea.
International
Houthis say 123 civilians in Yemen killed in one month of US airstrikes

Sanaa, April 15: A total of 123 civilians have been killed and 247 others injured, mostly women and children, since the US military resumed airstrikes across Yemen in mid-March, Houthi-run health authorities said in an statement.
The statement was issued following US airstrikes against a ceramic factory on the western outskirts of Yemen’s capital Sanaa late on Sunday night, which killed seven people and injured 29 others.
The health authorities’ previous statement on April 9 put the death toll from the renewed US air raids at 107 and the number of injuries at 223.
The Houthi group rarely discloses casualties among its fighters. However, the US military has repeatedly said the strikes have killed dozens of Houthi leaders, which the group has denied, Xinhua news agency reported.
Earlier on Sunday, Yemen’s Houthi group announced that it had shot down another US MQ-9 drone, the 19th it has downed since November 2023.
“A US MQ-9 drone was shot down while carrying out hostile missions in the airspace of Hajjah province” in northwestern Yemen, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.
Sarea added that the drone was downed by a locally manufactured surface-to-air missile, stressing “the ongoing US aggression” has not crippled the group’s military capabilities.
The statement affirmed the group’s support for the Palestinian people, saying its operations will continue “until the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip stops and the siege on it is lifted.”
The US resumed its air campaign against Houthi forces on March 15, stating that its strikes were aimed at deterring the group from launching attacks against Israeli and US naval assets in the Red Sea.
The Houthis, who control vast areas of northern Yemen, have been attacking Israeli targets since November 2023 to show solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip.
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