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WPL 2025: Bowlers hold the aces as UP Warriorz begin campaign against Gujarat Giants

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Vadodara, Feb 15: The UP Warriorz have put in the hard yards in pre-season, and are all geared up to begin their campaign at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 season against Gujarat Giants in Vadodara on Sunday.

The team welcomes a new captain Deepti Sharma while retaining the mission to fight hard and win every match. This season also brings a thrilling new chapter as UP Warriorz will play at their home stadium in Lucknow for the very first time during phase three of the tournament.

The team kicks off their campaign in Vadodara, facing the Gujarat Giants on February 16, and will play two games in the first phase. In Bengaluru and Lucknow, after that, the UP Warriorz are scheduled to play three matches each, respectively, to close out the league stage of their campaign.

Captained by Deepti Sharma, who hails from UP, and coached by England’s Jon Lewis, the UP Warriorz have a strong bowling set-up, especially the spin battery, which is possibly the most dangerous in the competition. Sophie Ecclestone, who is the WPL’s highest wicket-taker with 27 scalps in two seasons, has India’s best bowler in the format Deepti Sharma for company in the attack. Deepti, who has bagged 138 wickets for India, has amassed 19 dismissals across two seasons for the UP Warriorz. And backing them up are the likes of Australian Alana King, Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu (three wickets in 4 games), Rajeshwari Gayakwad (13 wickets from 16 games) and Gouher Sultana.

If the spinners are a deadly combination in the UP Warriorz set-up, the pace attack too is quite prolific. While Anjali Sarvani’s (six wickets in 13 games) shown her abilities with the ball in the first two seasons, the emergence of Saima Thakor has been a shot in the arm for the UP Warriorz. While Saima has only picked three wickets in six games, her ability to control the situation and the way she has grown from strength to strength over the last year augurs well for the UP Warriorz. Along with Saima, who is likely to lead the attack, and Anjali, the Warriorz also have in the ranks, the exciting speedster Kranti Goud, who helped Madhya Pradesh win a domestic ODI title for the first time with her four-wicket haul in the final.

For the UP Warriorz, the batting line-up is also one of their strengths. Sri Lankan ace Chamari Athapaththu, along with the Australian duo of Tahlia McGrath and Grace Harris are well known to score fast in the T20 format, and when in form can really put the long handle to good use.

Among the Indian batters, Deepti leads the way, and will look to continue with her attacking approach, which was one of the reasons she won the MVP in Season 2, when she scored three half-centuries and was striking at close to 150. The likes of Kiran Navgire, Shweta Sehrawat and Vrinda Dinesh, have all shown plenty of promise in the recently completed domestic season and will hope to carry that form into the WPL.

While the batting and bowling departments can do plenty of damage to the opposition team, and put the UP Warriorz in a favourable position in the game, there are two aspects which could hamper their progress.

For starters, the fielding is an aspect Jon Lewis and Co. will want to work on this season, as catches can truly win matches, and UP Warriorz did not fare well in the field in Season 2. The other aspect that the UP Warriorz will be hoping for a bit of luck in is with injuries, especially to crucial young players.

UP Warriorz squad: Deepti Sharma (c), Uma Chetry (wk), Chinelle Henry, Poonam Khamnar, Kiran Navgire, Dinesh Vrinda, Chamari Athapaththu, Grace Harris, Alana King, Tahlia McGrath, Shweta Sehrawat, Anjali Sarvani, Sophie Ecclestone, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Saima Thakor, Arushi Goel, Kranti Goud, Gouher Sultana.

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Centre approves reopening of 32 airports as tensions ease on India-Pakistan border

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New Delhi, May 12: The Centre on Monday issued the NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) to reopen the 32 airports that had been shut down since May 9 due to the cross-border drone and missile attacks following heightened tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam massacre of 26 tourists by Islamabad-backed terrorists.

The airports that will gradually reopen include Chandigarh, Srinagar, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Bhuntar, Kishangarh, Patiala, Shimla, Kangra-Gaggal, Bathinda, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Halwara, Pathankot, Jammu, Leh, Mundra, Jamnagar, Hirasar, Porbandar, Keshod, Kandla and Bhuj.

The airports will be opened gradually as, although the ceasefire announced following the Pakistan DGMO’s (Director General of Military Operations) request is largely holding, the government does not want to take any chances.

“The night remained largely peaceful across Jammu and Kashmir and other areas along the International Border. No incidents have been reported, marking the first calm night in recent days,” according to a statement issued by the Indian Army on Monday.

The opening of these airports which are close to the Pakistan border reflects a de-escalation in the cross-border hostilities which saw India successfully launching ‘Operation Sindoor’ to avenge the Pahalgam killings.

The reopening of these airports will help to restore normalcy in flight operations which have undergone widespread disruption due to the conflict.

Meanwhile, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said on Monday that operations at the airport are “currently smooth,” however, due to changing airspace conditions and increased security measures, some flight schedules and security checkpoint processing times may be affected.

The airport management has advised passengers to follow updates and instructions from their airlines, allow extra time for security checks due to heightened measures and adhere to hand baggage and check-in luggage regulations.

Passengers have been advised to check the latest flight status through their airline or the official Delhi Airport website.

Although an agreement for a ceasefire was reached on Saturday, the government is not taking any chances on the security front.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting on Sunday with the three service chiefs and the Chief of Defence Staff to take stock of the latest situation.

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PCB postpones men’s domestic tournaments with immediate effect amid India-Pak tensions

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Lahore, May 10: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Saturday announced the immediate postponement of all men’s domestic tournaments in the country owing to escalating cross-border tensions with India.

“The Pakistan Cricket Board confirms that the ongoing President’s Trophy Grade-II, Regional Intra-District Challenge Cup, Inter-District U19 One-Day tournament have been postponed with immediate effect due to prevailing security condition in the country.”

“The tournaments will resume from the same stage later and a revised schedule will be shared closer to the resumption,” said the PCB in its official statement on Saturday.

Previously on Friday, after the BCCI paused IPL 2025 for a week due to growing tensions between the two nations on the border areas, the PCB had announced it has postponed the ongoing edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) for an indefinite period, citing the advice given by Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

The tournament’s postponement news came hours after PCB claimed it was going to host the remaining eight matches of the tournament in the UAE, though the organisation didn’t specify the dates or venues of those rescheduled matches.

PSL’s future had come under great uncertainty after a drone had crashed at a food street near the Rawalpindi International Cricket Stadium, which resulted in Thursday’s match between Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings being postponed indefinitely.

Two weeks after 26 people were gunned down by terrorists in Pahalgam – a popular tourist destination in Jammu & Kashmir, India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ to target terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed.

Pakistan continued its aerial attacks, comprising drones and missiles, on Indian border cities as well as across other military stations in Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat on Friday. But all of them were successfully foiled by India’s defence systems.

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IPL 2025 suspended indefinitely, BCCI cites national interest

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New Delhi, May 9: Amid the escalating military conflict between India and Pakistan, the BCCI has decided to suspend the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season indefinitely in an emergency meeting on Friday, sources told Media.

After Thursday’s IPL 2025 match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals was called off after 10.1 overs of play at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala following the air and drone strikes from Pakistan which resulted in blackouts in Jammu, Pathankot and Udhampur, all of which are in close proximity to Dharamshala, the future of the tournament looked uncertain and BCCI convened emergency meeting to decide the way forward.

“IPL to be suspended, BCCI will issue detailed information anytime soon, the BCCI sources told Media on Friday. “Yes, the meeting just got over. After discussing with all the concerned authorities, this decision was made. Further details will be shared by the BCCI, ” it added.

“BCCI wants to stand with the nation at this time and thus suspends IPL 2025 with immediate effect. It’s indefinite at the moment (on a window to resume IPL 2025 in future). It will only happen if there will be time later in the year. But for now nothing,” said IPL sources to Media.

Following the abandonment of the Dharamshala match, several Australian players involved in the league reportedly expressed anxiety over their safety.

A special train has been arranged to evacuate both Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals players and support staff members, match officials, commentators, broadcast crew members and other key personnel associated with IPL 2025 to get them to a safe place.

After India launched precision strikes targeting nine high-value terror camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Pok), in response to the horrific terrorist attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives, Pakistan attempted to engage in number of military targets in Northern and Western India on May 7-8.

India on Thursday morning targeted the Air Defence Radars and systems at several locations in Pakistan, during which the one at Lahore has been neutralised.

Later, Pakistan launched aerial attacks on Jammu as well as several military stations near the western border, but those were successfully foiled by India’s air defence systems.

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