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‘Only time will tell, don’t write off champion players’: Shastri, Ponting on 2027 WC prospects of Rohit, Kohli

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New Delhi, Oct 21: India legend Ravi Shastri and Australian great Ricky Ponting have shared their thoughts on whether they think the Indian batting stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli remain on track to feature at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2027 and said “only time will tell” whether the duo will still be around.

Rohit and Kohli, who have retired from Tests and T20Is within the last 18 months, and the 50-over cricket remains the only format they feature. The veteran duo played their first international fixture since the ICC Champions Trophy at the start of March when they contributed modest returns with the bat against Australia in Perth on Sunday.

When you come back from a long layoff, you are obviously going to be rusty,” Shastri said on The ICC Review.

“It’s not easy for any overseas team to land in Australia, say, two days prior to a game in Perth and adjust to those conditions straight away, especially when you have that extra bounce and against quality fast bowlers.

“But I think only time will tell. They’ll go to Adelaide, they have some time off to get into the nets, get their minds sorted and get back into action,”

“So I’m in no hurry to judge, but it’s when you come back at that age, after some time, it’s about how much you’re enjoying the sport and how much hunger is there and passion is left in you to play the game.

“So if you tick the boxes in two out of those three, especially the enjoyment part of it, then you can give them both time because they’ve got class, they’ve got experience and a little bit of time will sort things out. But I’d rather wait than jump and judge immediately,” he said.

Ponting echoed the sentiments of Shastri and believes Kohli in particular will be targeting some short-term goals during the Australian tour that will help him decide whether to keep playing on.

“The one thing I don’t like hearing from anyone is that ‘I’ve achieved everything in the game’ because I think you still have to have some really short-term goals and not just be hanging on to try and get through to the 2027 World Cup,” Ponting said.

“Virat’s always been a highly motivated person. And I’d like to think that he’s probably sat down and even just given himself some goals and things that he can achieve in this series here in Australia and not be just waiting and killing time for that next World Cup to come around.

“What we know with both of those guys, at their absolute best, yes, of course they’re in India’s best team. But can they find their best between now and when that World Cup rocks around?

“And that’s only an answer that, like Ravi said, that we’ll find out in a short period of time. They will get some really good batting wickets coming up over the next few weeks here in Australia. There’s not many places that are better to go and bat in a one-day game than Adelaide Oval, which is coming up in a couple of days,” he said.

Ponting thinks it will only be a matter of time before Rohit and Kohli are among the runs again and that could come as soon as the next ODI against Australia in Adelaide.

“Finding your rhythm and tempo is the biggest thing. When you’ve had a break, just getting back used to the rhythm and the tempo of the 50-over game again, it takes a little bit of time for anybody,” Ponting said.

“I’d expect to see both those guys bounce back into it pretty quickly. As I said, Adelaide is a great place to bat and a great place to play cricket. But it won’t be easy for the fact that they are facing some of the best white-ball bowlers that have ever played the game. So, the challenge is definitely there.

“But I say it all the time, you don’t write off champion players ever. And these two guys have been two of the best, and while I’m on record saying I think Virat’s the best 50-over player I’ve ever seen, you don’t write them off.

“They’ll find a way to contribute and win games for their team, and if they do that, then they’ll most likely be in that World Cup team in 2027,” he added.

Crime

Delhi Police arrest three in illicit liquor supply case

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New Delhi, Aug 22: In a major crackdown on the illegal transportation and supply of liquor, the Anti-Auto Theft Squad (AATS) team of the North-East District of Delhi Police arrested three persons and recovered 778 quarters of Haryana-marked illicit liquor along with two taxis allegedly used to transport the consignment.

The action was carried out on August 21, 2026, after Head Constable Deepak, along with Head Constable Anuj and Constable Mukesh, was conducting area patrolling duty near Maujpur Chowk.

At around 6:30 a.m., the police team received information from a secret informer that two taxis carrying illicit liquor from Haryana would arrive near Seelampur Metro Station. The taxis’ numbers were also shared by the informer.

Acting on the information, the police team reached the location. At around 7:30 a.m., both taxis arrived and were intercepted. Three persons were apprehended, while another individual reportedly managed to flee from the spot.

A search of the vehicles led to the recovery of 399 quarters of illicit liquor from taxi HR55AX3345 and 379 quarters from taxi DL1ZD5015, taking the total recovery to 778 quarters.

The arrested accused have been identified as Vinit Chauhan (35), owner of taxi bearing number — HR55AX3345; Akash Sharma (25), driver of taxi bearing number — DL1ZD5015; and Vishal (23), who was allegedly accompanying the other accused.

During interrogation, the accused reportedly disclosed information about the source of the illicit liquor. Police are verifying the information and conducting further investigation to identify other individuals allegedly involved in the supply chain.

A case has been registered as FIR No. 288/26 under Section 33 of the Delhi Excise Act at Seelampur Police Station. Police said none of the three arrested accused has any previous criminal involvement on record. Further investigation is underway, according to police.

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Business

Banks raise $72.8 billion in forex inflows till Aug 21, FCNR(B) deposits reach $65.4 billion: RBI

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New Delhi, Aug 22: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Saturday said that authorised dealer banks have raised a massive $72.848 billion in forex inflows till August 21, and a major chuck came from FCNR (B) deposits at $65.397 billion.

External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) and Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings (OFCBs) under Reserve Bank’s Swap facility helped raised another $7.451 billion till August 21.

RBI had introduced a special USD-INR forex swap facility covering FCNR(B) deposits, ECB and OFCB inflows on June 8, 2026.

“As already announced vide Press Release dated August 14, 2026, the Scheme is open till August 31, 2026 for FCNR(B) deposits, and up to December 31, 2026 for ECBs and OFCBs,” The Research Bank said in a statement.

The massive foreign inflows arrive as Indian banks have stepped up their efforts to attract FCNR(B) deposits by offering higher interest rates after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) suddenly cut short the deadline for its dollar-rupee swap window to August 31, from September 30.

The swap facility, announced in June to boost the inflow of dollars amid a weakening rupee, was originally available until the end of September, but the RBI abruptly shortened this by a month due to the “encouraging response” to the facility, which resulted in the required amount of foreign exchange flowing into the country.

While there may be valid reasons to justify an early closure of the RBI’s FCNR(B) deposit scheme, the most likely reason could be that the target for dollar mobilisation has already been achieved with inflows at $57 billion, and another $25-30 billion could easily flow in the remaining days of August, taking the total collections to around $85 billion, an SBI Research report said earlier this week.

According to the SBI report, “we don’t believe that the cost of swap could have been a constraining factor”.

“Our estimates show that the cumulative cost would amount to around 15 per cent of the corpus, or $10.5 billion. While this appears sizeable in absolute terms, it needs to be viewed against the scale of India’s foreign-exchange reserves rather than the FCNR(B) corpus alone,” the report argued.

Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves jumped $9.905 billion to $716.90 billion during the week ended August 14, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday. The latest increase comes a week after the country’s forex reserves had surged by $14.1 billion to $707 billion, marking their highest level in the current financial year.

The rise in reserves was supported by inflows under the RBI’s FCNR(B) deposit scheme, which began to reflect in the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

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National News

CJP vs villagers: Rajasthan school shifted within 24 hours in Jaipur

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Jaipur, Aug 22: A day after a dispute between the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and villagers of Rampura over an inspection of a government school in Jaipur escalated into allegations of assault, intimidation and a law-and-order breakdown, the government school was shifted to a building about 50 metres away, within 24 hours of Friday’s clash.

After the confrontation, CJP founder and convenor Abhijeet Dipke had warned of an escalation stating that he would sit on a dharna in Jaipur if steps weren’t taken within 48 hours to improve the condition of the school.

The Rampura government school was shifted to a house in the village on Saturday morning. More than 16 children were present at the new location along with two teachers.

The room being used for classes had previously operated as a grocery shop. At the time of inspection, some children were also seen studying outside in the Sun.

A blackboard had been placed outside one of the rooms, while the room itself contained a storage chest and other belongings.

Children also reported that the ceiling fan inside the room was not working, leaving them uncomfortable in the heat.

On Saturday morning, both sides filed complaints against each other at Shivdaspura police station, accusing one another of assault and creating a ruckus.

Both parties have also alleged that police personnel are putting pressure on them.

CJP national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka alleged that party workers were assaulted in the village on Friday and that their clothes were torn. He demanded the immediate arrest of those responsible.

Ranka further alleged that people from outside the village were brought in for the attack and claimed that some of those involved were later seen with local BJP MLA Kailash Verma. He described the incident as a “pre-planned attack” and alleged that stones were used with the intention of causing serious harm.

According to Ranka, police personnel were not present at the spot despite repeated attempts to contact them. He said the CJP has made videos of the incident public and demanded an impartial investigation by the Rajasthan Police.

Ranka also alleged that Pratap Nagar police were intimidating him and putting pressure on him. He claimed police personnel were questioning CJP workers about him and his family.

In their complaint to the police, villagers alleged that the CJP had disturbed the atmosphere in Rampura.

They claimed that the arrival of a large number of people, allegedly carrying weapons, created fear in the village and that children were now frightened to attend school.

The villagers have denied the allegations made by CJP workers and sought action over what they described as intimidation and disorder.

Villagers said they want the government to reconstruct the school building at the earliest so that classes can resume properly within the village.

Reacting to the developments, Ranka said the CJP would not be intimidated and would continue its ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign over the condition of government schools.

He alleged that Education Minister Madan Dilawar would face embarrassment over the condition of Rajasthan’s schools and said he would personally visit schools again.

Ranka also said the CJP’s demand could now extend beyond school-related issues to seeking Dilawar’s resignation.

Meanwhile, Dilawar posted on social media that continuous efforts were being made to strengthen government schools in Rajasthan, including infrastructure development, construction and repairs, smart classrooms, laboratories and other essential facilities.

The allegations made by both sides have yet to be independently established.

The police investigation and the FIRs filed by the two parties are expected to determine the sequence of events and responsibility for Friday’s clash.

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