oppn parties Rahane And Pacers To The Fore As India Thrash The West Indies

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  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
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Rahane And Pacers To The Fore As India Thrash The West Indies

By Linus Garg

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

There was a time when India has medium pacers just for the name. Their job was to take the shine off the new ball and make it ready for the dreaded spin trio. Any wickets they got were a bonus. But in Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami, India now has one of the most feared opening attacks in the world. All three of them bowl at a good pace, swing the ball both ways and with Bumrah able to bowl stinging yorkers at will, they are the scourge of the best batsmen in the world. If the conditions are even a trifle helpful, these three do not let partnerships build at the top and always put India in a commanding position.

This was on full display in the first Test versus the West Indies in Antigua as India beat the West Indies by a huge and humiliating margin of 318 runs. While Ishant Sharma tormented the islanders in the first innings by returning figures of 5/43, it was Bumrah's turn in the second innings as he bowled unplayable yorkers to get 5 wickets for just 7 runs. Shami played the supporting role with excellence by picking up crucial wickets in both innings. No West Indies batsman, except Roston Chase in the first innings, looked like settling in. This proved the complete domination of the Indian pace trio.

But even in victory, there few negatives India carries from the Test. For one, the failure of Mayank Agarwal at the top in both innings once again brings in focus India's continued problems with the opening pair. But Agarwal should be given a few more chances as he is a good talent. Then, the form of Cheteswar Pujara must also be a cause for concern. The same goes for Rishabh Pant. On the other hand, Ajinkye Rahane showed why he is important to this team by anchoring the innings in both the essays.  Hanuma Vihari is also shaping up well and was unlucky to miss out on a century in the second innings and Ravindra Jadeja proved that his captain was right in selecting him over Ashwin by preventing a collapse in the first innings and doing his bit with the ball. It was a good victory and India must now not let the advantage slip.