NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli’s India have Sri Lanka in the firing line again as they seek a record equaling ninth straight series win when the third Test starts Saturday.
Already leading 1-0 in the three-match challenge, victory in the New Delhi Test would cap a dominant year and equal Australia’s record of nine successive series victories from 2005 to 2008.
As they build up the strength of their pace attack, India could break the record in South Africa where they arrive in January.
It was a 2015 tour of Sri Lanka that started India’s victory march that moved to eight series when they whitewashed the Sri Lankans on home territory in August.
India crushed Sri Lanka by an innings and 239 runs in the second Test in Nagpur on Monday.
They have laid out fast-paced pitches to prepare for their next tour.
Kohli said his team needs to be ready for a tougher challenge in South Africa. “That’s why we asked for pitches with help for the fast bowlers.
“There’s not enough time in between to prepare so we have to use the time we have now for a big tour coming up.”
India’s pace power has grown with the successful return of Ishant Sharma, who took five wickets in the second Test that was otherwise dominated by India’s spinners.
The 1.95-meter Sharma replaced Bhuvneshwar Kumar who in turn destroyed the Sri Lankan batting in the opening Test on a green Eden Gardens pitch in Kolkata.
Umesh Sharma seems the only weak link in the pace attack and Mohammed Shami, who sat out the second Test match, is expected to make his way back into the team.
“I think they (fast bowlers) have evolved immensely,” said Rohit Sharma, who will lead India in the three one-day matches against Sri Lanka when Kohli is rested.
“They have come of age,” added the senior batsman.
Sri Lanka came to India dreaming of a first ever Test win on Indian territory. Instead the tour has turned into a major reality check — Nagpur was Sri Lanka’s biggest Test defeat.
Their batting has floundered against the Indian spinners led by Ravichandran Ashwin who bagged eight wickets in the last Test.
On what should have been a good wicket for runs, senior batsman Angelo Mathews fell to the guile of left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja in each innings.
Coach Nic Pothas has warned that the bad results will lead to “repercussions” for the team, and the visitors are struggling to keep up their spirits.
“We need to score more runs in the first innings and that’s what we need to do in Delhi,” skipper Dinesh Chandimal said.
“Angelo is the one who is the most senior guys in the line-up. And if he is not scoring, our team goes down.
“As senior players you need to stand up and perform so the youngsters can follow. I’m sure he will stand up and make it count again,” he said.
Changes are expected for the Delhi Test, especially after veteran spinner Rangana Herath was ruled out with a back injury. Leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay or left-arm wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan will take Herath’s place.
Kohli’s India look to cricket record books in Sri Lanka Test
Kohli’s India look to cricket record books in Sri Lanka Test
Ex-PM Khan party dares Pakistan government to impose governor’s rule in province it administers
- Under the governor’s rule, a provincial chief minister loses all of their administrative powers for up to six months
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government says it will resort to street protests and move courts if governor’s rule is imposed
ISLAMABAD: Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Saturday dared the federal government, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, to impose governor’s rule in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, which the PTI has been ruling for the last more than 10 years.
In Pakistan, the federal government can impose the governor’s rule in a province and hand over all administrative powers to the governor, a representative of the federation, for up to six months in case the provincial government fails to tackle a “grave emergency.” Under the governor’s rule, the provincial chief minister and his cabinet lose all administrative powers and virtually stand suspended.
The development comes amid heightened tensions between the KP government, led by Khan’s party, and the federation following violent protests in Islamabad this week by PTI supporters, who sought to pressure the central government to release Khan from jail. The protests resulted in clashes that Pakistan’s government said killed three paramilitary soldiers and a police officer. The PTI says at least 20 of its supporters were killed after being shot by law enforcers, an allegation denied by authorities.
“We know the federal government is considering options to impose the governor’s rule in KP, but we warn them to refrain from this adventure,” Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, the KP government spokesperson, told Arab News.
The statement came a day after local media widely reported that a majority of members in PM Sharif’s cabinet had supported the idea of imposing the governor’s rule in KP after the Islamabad protests.
Saif said the provincial government would “react strongly” to any such move as they had “multiple options” available to deal with it, including street protests.
“We will obviously move the courts against this illegal and unconstitutional move if imposed on us,” he added.
Under Article 232 of the Constitution of Pakistan, the president can issue a proclamation of emergency if he is satisfied that “a grave emergency exists in which the security of Pakistan, or any part thereof, is threatened by war or external aggression, or by internal disturbance beyond the power of a Provincial Government to control.”
The constitution says a resolution from the provincial assembly was required for the imposition of emergency, which the KP Assembly would not pass as Khan’s PTI has a two-third majority in the house.
“If the President acts on his own, the Proclamation of Emergency shall be placed before both Houses of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) for approval by each House within ten days,” the article says.
Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, president of Pakistan Institution of Legislative Development (PILDAT) in Islamabad, said the coalition government of PM Sharif was in a position to impose the governor’s rule in KP as they had majority in both houses, the National Assembly and the Senate, of parliament to pass a resolution for the purpose.
“At the moment, sufficient justification is available for the federal government to declare emergency in the KP province following the violent protests in Islamabad,” he told Arab News.
As per the constitution, Mehboob said, the federal government could impose the governor’s rule only for a maximum of six months, initially for two months and then it could twice extend it for a period of two months following approval of a resolution from parliament.
He, however, urged political parties to find a political solution to the issue.
“Political forces should find out political solutions for the issues instead of invoking specific laws and articles of the constitution against each other,” he said. “This will only vitiate the ongoing political crisis in the country.”
Legal experts said the imposition of the governor’s rule in any province would ultimately be challenged in the respective high court or the Supreme Court for a final judgment.
“The imposition of the governor’s rule by the center is not a piece of cake,” advocate Sharafat Ali told Arab News. “The government has to fulfil certain legal and constitutional requirements to justify the proclamation of emergency, otherwise it would be turned down by the courts.”
In 2009, the then federal government, led by the Pakistan Peoples Party, had imposed the governor’s rule in Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province to suspend the administrative powers of then chief minister Shehbaz Sharif. However, the Supreme Court had later voided the proclamation and reinstated the Sharif government in the province.
Khan’s PTI has staged several protests this year to demand the release of the ex-premier, who has been in jail since August last year on a slew of charges, as well as to challenge results of the Feb. 8 national election, which it says were manipulated to keep the party from coming to power in the country. The Pakistani government and election authorities deny this.
Saudi Arabia’s 26th relief plane lands in Lebanon
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s humanitarian efforts for the Lebanese population displaced by the conflict continues with the 26th relief plane arriving at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport on Saturday morning.
The aircraft, operated by King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, was loaded with various relief aid, including food, medical and shelter supplies, state news agency SPA reported.
Th continuing mission follows the directives of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to support the Lebanese people.
Floods displace 122,000 people in Malaysia
- The number surpassed the 118,000 displaced during one of the country’s worst floodings in 2014
Kuala Lumpur: More than 122,000 people have been forced out of their homes as massive floods caused by relentless rains swept through Malaysia’s northern states, disaster officials said Saturday.
The number surpassed the 118,000 displaced during one of the country’s worst floodings in 2014, and disaster officials feared it could rise further as there was no let-up in torrential downpours.
The death toll remained at four recorded across Kelantan, Terengganu and Sarawak.
Kelantan state bore the brunt of the flooding, accounting for 63 percent of the 122,631 people displaced, according to data from the National Disaster Management Agency.
There were nearly 35,000 people evacuated in Terengganu, with the rest of the displacements reported from seven other states.
Heavy rains, which began early this week, continued to hammer Pasir Puteh town in Kelantan, where people could be seen walking through streets inundated with hip-deep waters.
“My area has been flooded since Wednesday. The water has already reached my house corridor and is just two inches away from coming inside,” Pasir Puteh resident and school janitor Zamrah Majid, 59, told AFP.
“Luckily, I moved my two cars to a higher ground before the water level rose.”
She said she allowed her grandchildren to play in the water in front of his house because it was still shallow.
“But if the water gets higher, it would be dangerous, I’m afraid they might get swept away,” she added.
“I haven’t received any assistance yet, whether it’s welfare or other kinds of help.”
Muhammad Zulkarnain, 27, who is living with his parents in Pasir Puteh, said they were isolated.
“There’s no way in or out of for any vehicles to enter my neighborhood,” he told AFP.
“Of course I’m scared... Luckily we have received some assistance from NGOs, they gave us food supplies like biscuits, instant noodles, and eggs.”
Floods are an annual phenomenon in the Southeast Asian nation of 34 million people due to the northeast monsoon that brings heavy rain from November to March.
Thousands of emergency services personnel have been deployed in flood-prone states along with rescue boats, four-wheel-drive vehicles and helicopters, said Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who chairs the National Disaster Management Committee.
13 more killed in Pakistan sectarian fighting
- Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country, but Kurram district has a large Shiite population and the communities have clashed for decades
- Fresh fighting broke out last Thursday when two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling under police escort were ambushed
PESHAWAR: Sectarian feuding in northwest Pakistan killed 13 more people, a local government official said Saturday, as warring Sunnis and Shiites defied repeated ceasefire orders in recent conflict claiming 124 lives.
Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country, but Kurram district — in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan — has a large Shiite population and the communities have clashed for decades.
Fresh fighting broke out last Thursday when two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling under police escort were ambushed, killing more than 40.
Since then, 10 days of fighting with light and heavy weapons has brought the region to a standstill, with major roads closed and mobile phone services cut as the death toll surged.
A Kurram local government official put the death toll at 124 on Saturday after 13 more people were killed in the past two days.
Two were Sunni and 11 Shiite, he said, whilst more than 50 people have been wounded in fresh fighting which continued Saturday morning.
“There is a severe lack of trust between the two sides, and neither tribe is willing to comply with government orders to cease hostilities,” he told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Police report that many people want to flee the area due to the violence, but the deteriorating security situation makes it impossible,” he added.
A seven-day ceasefire deal was announced by the provincial government last weekend but failed to hold. Another 10-day truce was brokered Wednesday but it also failed to stymie the fighting.
A senior security official in the provincial capital of Peshawar, also speaking anonymously, confirmed the total death toll of 124.
“There is a fear of more fatalities,” he said. “None of the provincial government’s initiated measures have been fully implemented to restore peace.”
Police have regularly struggled to control violence in Kurram, which was part of the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas until it was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 79 people had been killed in the region between July and October in sectarian clashes.
The feuding is generally rekindled by disputes over land in the rugged mountainous region, and fueled by underlying tensions between the communities adhering to different sects of Islam.
Pakistan to face Zimbabwe in first T20I on Sunday
- The first T20 between Pakistan and Zimbabwe will start at 4pm Pakistan standard time
- Pakistan this week defeated Zimbabwe 2-1 in their three-match one-day international series
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will face Zimbabwe in the first of their three-match Twenty-20 International (T20I) series in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe on Sunday.
The first T20 between Pakistan and Zimbabwe will start at 4pm Pakistan standard time. Pakistan this week defeated Zimbabwe 2-1 in their three-match one-day international series.
“A 99-run win in the third ODI to wrap up a series victory,” the Pakistan Cricket Board remarked as Kamran Ghulam struck his maiden one-day international century to steer Pakistan to win.
“Onto the T20I action.”
Pakistan and Zimbabwe will play the second and third T20 matches on Dec. 3 and 5 at the same venue in Bulawayo.
The tourists then head to South Africa for an eight-match all-formats tour, including two Tests.
