oppn parties Rishabh Pant: Throwing Away the Opportunities

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  • Bengal CM Suvendhu asks policemen to note down names of those immersing Durga idols as he said only Sanatanis can touch the idol
  • CJP leaders made a promise in court that they will not call for protests at the Jantar Mantar from now onwards
  • The Supreme Court stayed for one week the investigation into the alleged CMRL-Exalogic payments case involving former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family members. The court allowed them to challenge the order directing registration of an FIR before a Kerala High Court division bench; the temporary stay does not quash the FIR
  • Fresh violence intensified in Manipur on Wednesday as police used tear gas against Meitei protesters in Imphal, while a Kuki civil-society group alleged that several houses had been torched in Khoikai village, Kamjong district. Police said three Kuki-Zo men arrested over Monday's killing of three Meitei firewood collectors were active members of the Kuki National Front (N), a claim disputed by local Kuki groups
  • A Special Executive Magistrate in Delhi ordered the release of Cockroach Janta Party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka after accepting their sureties. The order followed their detention over a protest at Jantar Mantar; the Delhi High Court had declined to entertain their separate challenge to the extension of their custody
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Jamnagar on Wednesday to focus on energy cooperation involving the giant refinery operated by Reliance Industries. Discussions included the possibility of Indian refiners processing more Venezuelan crude as Washington seeks to diversify energy supplies and address global supply disruptions
  • The Reserve Bank of India rejected all bids in its planned ₹23,000-crore Treasury bill auction on Wednesday, signalling reluctance to accept the higher yields demanded by investors amid tightening banking-system liquidity. The surplus had fallen to ₹48,304 crore on Tuesday, its lowest level in three months, prompting continued liquidity-management operations
  • Heavy overnight rainfall led district administrations to close schools on Wednesday in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Ranipet in Tamil Nadu. Meenambakkam recorded 12 cm of rain and Nungambakkam 11 cm by 6 am, while meteorological officials warned of further heavy rainfall in parts of the state
  • India's infrastructure output grew 7.9% year-on-year in September, the strongest increase under the current data series, driven by electricity generation, refinery products, iron ore and coal. Cumulative growth during April-September reached 5.1%, compared with 2.5% in the corresponding period last year.
  • The ₹3.2-billion-dollar-equivalent public offering of Jio Platforms was subscribed 3.16 times by the end of its first day on Wednesday, making it India's largest IPO. The offering is the first public share sale from the Reliance conglomerate in two decades, and institutional investors filled their reserved portion within minutes of bidding opening.
  • The Indian rupee closed 0.5% stronger at ₹94.46 against the US dollar on Wednesday, its strongest closing level since early September. Foreign inflows linked to the Jio Platforms IPO and Reserve Bank intervention supported the currency, although higher oil prices and falling share prices limited its gains
  • Indian equity markets ended lower on Wednesday, with the BSE Sensex falling 143.21 points, or 0.19%, to 73,709.69, and the Nifty 50 declining 77.60 points, or 0.34%, to 22,811.35. Rising crude prices, which moved above $110 a barrel, weighed on investor sentiment despite the strong initial demand for Jio Platforms' IPO
  • The Finance Ministry's nationwide financial-inclusion campaign began on Wednesday and is scheduled to run until December 31, covering 2.70 lakh gram panchayats and urban local bodies. Banks are to organise enrolment camps, facilitate Aadhaar seeding for the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and Atal Pension Yojana, and help customers update nominations in savings accounts
  • Indian athletes won five gold medals at the Asian Para Games on Wednesday, with Sachin Khilari winning the men's F46 shot put, Simran Sharma the women's 100m T12, Dilip Gavit the men's 100m T45, Praveen Kumar the men's T64 high jump and Ayush Verma the men's F53 shot put. India's medal tally reached 62 by Wednesday evening, including 14 gold medals, leaving the country fifth in the standings
  • Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav join calls for release of CJP leaders. The two opposition leaders joined demands for the release of Cockroach Janta Party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, who are challenging their continued custody
Major data leak reported at SBI, customer data reportedly available on the dark web /////// Calcutta HC denies permisiion for a sitting High Court judge to head Chor Bagan Durga Pujo stampede probe
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Rishabh Pant: Throwing Away the Opportunities

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.

Rishabh Pant must be the most disappointed sportsman in India today. Despite getting numerous opportunities and the support of a majority of those who matter, he has allowed his impetuousness to make a hash of things every time he walks on the field. There is no doubting the talent - Pant has oodles of it. But in not recognizing that discretion is almost always better than valour, at least on the playing field, Pant has not been playing to his strength and has been trying to be someone who he is not and cannot be.

Consider the lazy shot to which he got out in the third T20 match against Bangladesh. It was as if he was in a hurry to get back to the dressing room. That, when the team needed a few quick runs to put up a fighting total on the board in a decider. He simply played an ungainly heave, a slog along the wrong line and was bowled. Pant has to realize that he is not a slogger. He is a talented batsman who has most of the strokes in the coaching manual plus a few of his own. He can do well with them in any situation. To make the situation worse, he makes far too many errors of judgment as a wicketkeeper.

But he tries to be fancy. He tries to do things that go against his nature. He tries to execute shots that are simply not there for the kind of balls he gets out to. It is increasingly becoming evident that Pant lacks character, determination and the will to succeed. Further, he does not appear to be a team man. Saurav Ganguly said just a couple of days that Pant will be OK if given time. But time is something that India’s bench strength doesn't allow a player nowadays. KL Rahul is already doing well and can don the gloves to give the team an opportunity to include another specialist batsman. Otherwise, Ishan Kishan, Ankush Bains and Srikar Bhagat are waiting in the wings. Pant has to get his act together soon if he nurses the ambition to represent India for any decent length of time.

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