Hardik Pandya Slams Michael Holding's "Nowhere Near Kapil Dev" Jibe After Routing England

Agencies
August 20, 2018

Aug 20: Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya routed England with his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket and then urged pundits such as Michael Holding to assess him on his own merits after the West Indies great said he was "nowhere near" becoming the "next Kapil Dev". Pace-bowling all-rounder Pandya, playing in just his 10th Test, made the most of the swing-friendly conditions on offer to take five for 28 as England collapsed to 161 all out at Trent Bridge on Sunday. India then pressed home their advantage to be 124 for two at stumps in their second innings, a commanding lead of 292 runs on just the second day of the third Test.

"I have never wanted to be Kapil Dev," Pandya told reporters.

"Let me be Hardik Pandya, I am good at being Hardik Pandya, I played 41 ODIS and 10 Tests being Hardik Pandya, not Kapil Dev."

Prior to this match, the 24-year-old Pandya was averaging 32 with the bat and 39 with the ball in Test cricket.

That led West Indies fast-bowling great Holding to suggest India needed to "find someone who can contribute a lot more to this team right now".

Holding made his remarks during an interview with the ESPNcricinfo website on Thursday -- two days before the third Test started -- in which he insisted Pandya was a long way from becoming a world-class all-rounder in the mould of India great Kapil.

The now 59-year-old Kapil scored 5,248 runs at 31.05, including eight hundreds, during a 131-Test career that yielded 434 wickets at 29.64 as well for the fast bowler.

Kapil was also India's inspirational captain when they beat two-time defending champions West Indies, who had Holding in their XI, in the 1983 World Cup final at Lord's -- one of cricket's all-time stunning upset victories.

Before the second Test at Lord's last week, which India lost by the huge margin of an innings and 159 runs to fall 2-0 behind in this five-match series, Pandya had gone four Tests without a wicket.

"I don't think he does a lot with the ball," said Holding. "He is not consistent."

Holding, now a respected television commentator who is covering the England-India series for Sky Sports, insisted "I heard a mention, when I was working in South Africa: 'he is the next Kapil Dev'. I ain't going to tell anybody he's not going to be the next Kapil Dev, but he is nowhere near there yet.

"And they (India) need to find someone who can contribute a lot more to this team right now."

'Let me be Hardik Pandya'

But having made his mark at Trent Bridge, significantly as a fourth seamer in a rebalanced attack following the return of fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah from injury, Pandya said he had no interest in being compared to great players of the past.

"They (the players of Holding's generation) have created their era, let me be Hardik Pandya, let's stop comparing me with anyone," he said.

"My team is happy with me. Nothing else matters."

England were bowled out in a session on Sunday despite an opening stand of 54.

Having gone nearly 80 years without losing all 10 wickets in a Test session from 1938 to October 2016, Sunday's slump was the third time it had happened to them in 22 months.

They might have been made to follow-on before Jos Buttler top-scored with 39 to ensure India would have to bat again.

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News Network
January 7,2020

New Delhi, Jan 7: When a reign of terror was unleashed by "masked goons" in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday, Delhi Police registered two cases against varsity students union president Aishe Ghosh, who was badly injured in the attack, within a span of five minutes.

The registration of cases on two separate complaints against Ghosh and other students filed by JNU security department on January 3 and January 4 were registered on Sunday night when the violence was on, triggering questions about the motive behind the timing.

While the FIRs against Ghosh and others were registered between 8.44 pm and 8.49 pm after the JNUSU president was admitted to AIIMS, an FIR on the Sunday violence was registered on Monday at 5.36 am against unknown persons. The Sunday violence case has been transferred to Crime Branch for further investigations.

Questions are being raised over the registration of FIRs on Sunday while the complaints were filed on the previous days. Students allege that it was an afterthought from the police and authorities, as a nationwide outrage erupted as soon as the violence was reported.

Delhi Police is under attack for not coming to the aid of students targeted by the mob of ABVP activists armed with iron rods and sticks who went on a rampage on the campus. While no single person in the Sunday violence was arrested, the police are also accused of being a "mute spectator" by allowing the rioters to leave the campus without being arrested.

In its complaints, the JNU Security Department has alleged that Ghosh and others entered into a verbal and physical scuffle with security guards, including women, when officials tried to open the Centre for Information System (CIS) that was blocked by students protesting against the fee hike and registration process.

While the January 3 complaint claims that the students switched off the power supply to the CIS and evicted staff forcefully, the January 4 complaint alleged that they damaged the information system.

They also claimed the students damaged the servers, made it dysfunctional, severely damaged optic fibre cables and broke the biometric system in the CIS. The complaint also cited a Supreme Court order that prevented any protest within 100 metres of Administration Block and claimed the students violated the direction.

The FIR filed on Sunday violence on the basis of the statement of Inspector Anand Yadav said that the first phase of violence was reported at 3.45 pm when "40-50 unidentified" people who had "covered their faces" attacked students in Periyar Hostel and the situation was brought under control.

However at around 7 pm, "50-60 people with rods in their hands" targeted students in Sabarmati Hostel in which students were attacked and public property destroyed.

The FIR said that students were injured but skipped the mention of the attack on teachers, who were injured. At least two faculty members Sucharita Sen and Ameet Parameswaran were taken to AIIMS while several other teachers suffered minor injuries.

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News Network
February 3,2020

Mumbai, Feb 3: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, whose party severed ties with the BJP after the state elections, on Monday said that if somebody breaks a promise, "pain and anger is obvious".

"No, I did not get any shock," Thackeray said in an interview with Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana while talking about forming an alliance with NCP and Congress, and becoming the Maharashtra Chief Minister.

"I am a son of Shiv Sena Pramukh (Balasaheb Thackeray), several people tried to give a shock to me but they didn't succeed. This is a field where you have to accept in the beginning that there will be a bit pushing and pulling," Thackeray said.

He added that accepting the Chief Minister's post was not a shock for him and neither was it his "dream at any point of time".

"But I can say one thing for sure that I had decided to go to any level to fulfil the promise which I made to Balasaheb Thackeray. I want to further clear it that me becoming Chief Minister is not the fulfilling of the promise made to Shiv Sena Pramukh but it's just a step towards that. I will fulfil every promise which I made to my father," Uddhav Thackeray said.

"There are several types of shock. Did people like it or not, it is the important part. I have spoken on this issue (alliance with NCP and Congress) several times and even people have understood this. Making promises and keeping them are two different things. If someone breaks a promise, pain and anger is obvious," he added.

The Chief Minister said that he does not know if BJP "has come out their shock till now or not."

"But I have to say if they had kept their promise what would have happened, what a big deal had I asked for? Did I ask for stars and moon? I only asked for what was decided before Lok Sabha polls, when we decided seat distribution," he said.

He further said, "Maharashtra and the country are watching (who betrayed/shocked whom), I don't need to say much on this."

Soon after the Assembly election results, Shiv Sena demanded rotation of the chief minister's post and equal power-sharing in the state government, which was rejected by then ally BJP. The weeks of political stalemate led to the imposition of President's rule on November 13.

Firm on its demands, Sena, the second-largest party in the state, did not hesitate to cobble up with the ideological opponents -- NCP and Congress -- and was given the chief minister's post.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Hyderabad, Feb 10: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi continued his tirade against PM Modi and Amit Shah against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). "We are ready to take bullets in our chests but we will not show our papers.

We are ready to take bullets in our chests as we love our country," Owaisi said further.

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