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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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India Reign Supreme Despite All Odds

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-01-19 08:39:51

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

India won the last Test at Brisbane and won the series 2-1 against Australia. When the team had got out for 36 runs in the second innings of the first Test, no one would have thought that it will fight back in such spectacular fashion. There were many reasons for that. India's captain and its best batsman Virat Kohli was returning after that Test on a paternity leave. Rohit Sharma's participation in the second Test was doubtful. There was a new captain helming the team. The opening pair was not delivering. Australia were full strength with Steve Smith and David Warner back in the team. Yet, braving all odds, India went on to win the second Test. Then they were hit by injuries. They could not field the first choice team in the third Test and fielded a totally new-look team full of inexperienced youngsters at Brisbane. Still, throughout the rest of the series, it was Australia who were on the back foot as India never gave up.

The way the youngsters rose to the occasion in the final Test is how fairy tales unfold. The likes of Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Shubman Gill, T Natarajan, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini took on the might of Australia and delivered a knockout punch to them. The final Test at Brisbane will be studied for a long time by the Australians to discover where they went wrong. The best bowling attack in the world came a cropper against an inexperienced Indian lineup and allowed them to run away with the match. Ricky Ponting had even said on the fourth day that even if India manages to draw the game it would be a loss for Australia. Indian did one better and won the game.

Consider the facts - Australia had not lost at the Gabba for a long time. It won the toss and elected to bat on a good batting pitch. The Indian bowlers had little experience of Test cricket and they were bowling against Steve Smith and company. Yet they restricted the Aussies to a moderate score of 369. Natarajan, Thakur and Sundar took three wickets each. When India batted, and were reduced to 186/6, the old fears of failing overseas returned. But no one had reckoned with the spirited youngsters in the team. The unlikely pair of Sundar and Thakur combined to stitch together a 123-run partnership for the 7th wicket and ensured that the Australians got a lead of just 33 runs.

When the Aussies batted a second time, Mohammed Siraj and Thakur got into the act. Siraj was especially brilliant in taking 5/73 and bowling the Australians out for just 294, leaving India to get 327 runs for a historic win. The wicket was full of cracks and the Aussies were intent on beating India. They tried all their tricks, including peppering Cheteshwar Pujara with well-directed bouncers that hit him on his body, but to no avail. First Shubman Gill played an outstanding knock for 91 runs but got out at the wrong time. Then Rishabh Pant showed amazing temperament (no one doubts his batting talent, but he gets carried away at times) and paced his innings excellently to score 89 not out. This was one of the most exciting and important non-century innings for a winning cause in recent times. Pant took India home with just a few deliveries remaining.

This win - in fact the entire series from the second Test onwards - was a total team effort. The way the youngsters stood up to be counted and backed each other was excellent. Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur are the real find of this series. This writeup will be incomplete if one does not praise Ajinkye Rahane's excellent captaincy. The way he handled the youngsters was a lesson in how to marshal one's troops. The unassuming Rahane showed that he can rise to the occasion when the time comes. India will now have a problem of plenty when they sit down to choose the playing eleven for Tests. How can you leave out well performing youngsters? But that is a happy situation and one is sure Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri will deal with it when the time comes. For the moment though, let us savour the glory these youngsters have brought to the nation. 

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