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Mukesh Choudhary, Simarjeet Singh’s bowling heartening, says CSK coach Fleming

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With the IPL 2022 season done and dusted for Chennai Super Kings, albeit prematurely, the team has hit the ‘experimentation mode’ and their chief coach Stephen Fleming is quite satisfied with the way the young bowlers are shaping up for the upcoming seasons.

On Thursday, defending a meagre 97 against Mumbai Indians — another team that has failed to live up to its billing this season — CSK gave the new ball to Mukesh Choudhary and Simarjeet Singh. Mukesh, the 25-year-old left-arm pacer from Bhilwara, Rajasthan, made an immediate impact with the new ball, taking three wickets for 23 runs in his four overs, while Simarjeet, the 24-year-old pacer from Delhi, took the wicket of Rohit Sharma and bowled a tidy four overs.

Fleming said he saw this as a positive sign for the franchise going forward.

“There are some really positive signs. I thought the new ball bowling from Simarjeet and Mukesh was outstanding. They have been developing, Mukesh all the way through the season, and for him to feel confident enough to bowl a spell like that and Simarjeet in four games and they have made some good gain. So, that is a positive with Deepak Chahar to come back into the side. They are some good options with the new ball.”

Pace bowler Chahar has not been able to play a single match for CSK this season because of the injury he sustained at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru while rehabilitating.

“I thought it was really impressive. They really gave us an opportunity and both of them bowled well. Mukesh in particular had the ball really swinging well and Simarjeet has got some deceptive pace, so we are really positive about that pairing going forward. It is just disappointing that we did not have more runs to play with, but out of the ashes came those two. So, it was a good way to look at it,” Fleming said.

“We are not far away, but we have got a couple of holes that seem to pop up at the wrong time. We are not as good as we need to be, we know that. We try to find some positive pieces when we move forward. Now that we are out of the competition, we have got an opportunity with two games to give some other guys an opportunity and hope we find something there as well.”

The head coach added that he was surprised by the way the pitch behaved.

“I think it took us by surprise, it looked very good at the start. And, we were never able to get any partnerships. We just seemed to nick everything down the leg side with no DRS, we didn’t get any momentum to post a score. We did get some assistance in the second innings with the ball, so I would say the expectations were of a high-scoring game and as it turned out, a score of 140 or 150 might have been competitive. So, we were a little surprised by the assistance that was on offer.

“Yes, we have got some work to do. We are really positive about the next two games to see if some guys will take the opportunity, which they will get and we just have to finish in the same way. Keep looking for the positives for the next season. We are still learning about our squad like most teams are, and hopefully we can learn over the next couple of games, and what I can say is there’s not much margin between having a great season and a not so great season. We’ve been through enough of these seasons to know that. We’re not going to tune too much over, but we do need to improve in some areas.”

Fleming said Super Kings were unlucky as there was no DRS in the initial stages of the match, but said it was a part of the game.

“It was a little bit unlucky that it happened at that time, yeah we are a little bit disappointed but it is a part of the game. A chain of events that were not in our favour but we should be better than that. It certainly was not a great start.”

health

Tobacco is not just addiction but poison: Delhi Speaker Vijender Gupta leads walkathon on World No-Tobacco Day in Rohini

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New Delhi, May 31: On the occasion of World No-Tobacco Day, Delhi’s Rohini area witnessed a strong show of public awareness and health advocacy through a walkathon organised to spread the message against tobacco consumption.

The event, themed ‘Walk for Life’, brought together medical professionals, civic leaders, and local residents in a collective stand against the harmful effects of tobacco.

Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta, who flagged off the walkathon, delivered a powerful message on the dangers of tobacco. “Tobacco is not just an addiction; it’s a poison,” he said, addressing the gathering. “It is a dangerous habit that ruins lives, and the only effective way to combat it is through sustained awareness and education,” he added.

Organised by the Indian Medical Association in collaboration with the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, the event saw enthusiastic participation from doctors, healthcare workers, and members of the public.

The walkathon aimed to raise awareness, especially among the youth, about the health risks associated with tobacco, including its direct link to life-threatening diseases like cancer.

“The younger generation often views smoking and tobacco use as fashionable, but we must help them understand the long-term consequences,” Gupta added, urging collective efforts to curb the rising trend of tobacco use among the youth.

Speaking at the event, Dr. Sudhir Rawal, Medical Director at the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute, emphasised the medical impact: “Tobacco is one of the main avoidable causes of cancer. If you don’t use tobacco, you significantly reduce your risk of developing cancer, especially lung and mouth cancer.”

The event also featured health-themed activities, including group exercises and educational talks, to create a more engaging and impactful experience for participants.

As part of a broader initiative across the country, the Rohini walkathon served as a crucial reminder of the importance of quitting tobacco and promoting healthier, smoke-free lives.

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Sports

IPL 2025: This will be the year for RCB, AB de Villiers backs his former franchise to end title drought

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Mumbai, May 31: Former South Africa batter AB de Villiers backed his former IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to lift their maiden title this year after securing their berth for the summit clash with a commanding win over Punjab Kings in Qualifier 1 on Thursday.

This year, RCB have been in stellar form and have not lost a single away game so far in the season. They finished the league stage with 19 points to seal the second spot in the points table.

Virat Kohli and Phil Salt have been leading the run-scoring for the franchise with 614 and 387 runs respectively. The duo has been supported by middle-order batters including captain Rajat Patidar, Jitesh Sharma and Krunal Pandya.

On the bowling front, Josh Hazlewood is the leading wicket-taker for the side with 21 scalps in 11 games while Krunal Pandya (15 wickets), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (15 wickets) and Yash Dayal (12 wickets) are also contributing in tandem to make them a balanced unit.

“I’m very happy that RCB is in the final. We saw MI winning last night, so it’ll be a very good qualifier too, knockout match between Punjab and MI. Looking forward to that one, and whoever deserves it will play RCB in the final, so I’m very much looking forward to the final and hopefully, this will be the year for RCB,” De Villiers told Media in Mumbai.

The legendary batter backed Punjab Kings to play the final against RCB but remains sceptical after watching Mumbai Indians’ dominance against Gujarat Titans to knock them out of the tournament on Friday.

“I said quite a while ago, about a month ago, that Punjab and RCB will be in the final. MI looked very strong right now, so it looks like the odds are against my call, but it is still cricket. You never know. It is a knockout match. It takes one or two great performances to turn the pressure onto your opposition. So I think it’s still going to be Punjab, but I’ve got a little bit of doubt now in my mind after watching last night’s game,” he said.

Punjab Kings will now take on Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday to seal a place for the IPL 2025 final against RCB on June 3 at the same venue.

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National

SpaceX’s Starship fails 3rd time, Musk blames fuel leak as megarocket explodes

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New Delhi, May 28: Even as SpaceX’s Starship flight exploded during splashdown on its ninth test on Wednesday, the company’s founder Elon Musk blamed it on fuel leaks.

This is the third time in a row that Starship flight has faced issues during the test flight. The company’s last two test flights — the seventh (January) and eighth (March) test flight — also ended prematurely with the destruction of the aircraft.

The ninth test flight of Starship — which blasted off at about 7:36 p.m. EDT (5:06 am IST) from the company’s Starbase launch site in Texas — successfully reached orbit, flying farther than on its two previous attempts.

However, the spacecraft’s payload bay door failed to open, preventing the planned release of simulated Starlink satellites. Around 30 minutes into the mission, SpaceX confirmed a fuel tank leak aboard the vehicle.

The first-stage Super Heavy booster exploded shortly before its expected splashdown, and live video showed the upper-stage vehicle spinning uncontrollably before its planned re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere, due to fuel leaks.

“Leaks caused loss of main tank pressure during the coast and re-entry phase,” Musk shared in a post on his social media platform X.

“Contact with the booster was lost shortly after the start of the landing burn when it experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly approximately 6 minutes after launch, bringing an end to the first reflight of a Super Heavy booster,” SpaceX said in a statement.

However, Musk called the flight an achievement and noted that there had been no loss to the heat shield tiles.

“Starship made it to the scheduled ship engine cutoff, so big improvement over the last flight! Also, no significant loss of heat shield tiles during ascent. Lot of good data to review,” Musk said.

SpaceX noted that the company “will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test”.

Standing 403 feet (123 meters) tall, Starship and heavy booster — the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket system. It will launch the moon lander for NASA’s Artemis 3 mission that aims to land astronauts on the Moon by 2026.

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