AFP Asia

The Indian army brought in sniffer dogs, drones and heavy earth-moving equipment on Wednesday to search for scores of people missing a day after deadly Himalayan flash floods.At least four people were killed and more than 50 are unaccounted for after a wall of muddy water and debris tore down a narrow mountain valley, smashing into the town of Dharali in Uttarakhand state, rescue officials said on Wednesday.Climate change experts warned that the disaster was a “wake-up call” to the effects of global warming.Deadly floods and landslides are common during the monsoon season from June to September, but experts say climate change, coupled with urbanisation, is increasing their frequency and severity.Torrential monsoon rains have hampered rescue efforts, with communication limited and phone lines damaged.However, the assessment of the number missing has been reduced as soldiers and rescue teams reached marooned individuals. Around 100 people were reported as unaccounted for late on Tuesday.”The search for the missing is ongoing,” said Mohsen Shahedi from the National Disaster Response Force.Videos broadcast on Indian media showed a terrifying surge of muddy water sweeping away multi-storey apartment blocks in the tourist region on Tuesday afternoon.Shahedi said more than 50 people were missing from Dharali, while 11 soldiers were unaccounted for from the nearby downstream village of Harsil.”Additional army columns, along with army tracker dogs, drones, logistic drones, earthmoving equipment etc., have been moved… to hasten the efforts,” the army said.Military helicopters were flying in essential supplies, it said, as well as picking up those stranded after roads were swept away even though rain and fog made flights difficult.- ‘Unimaginable scale’ -Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the flood was caused by an intense “cloudburst” of rain and that rescue teams had been deployed “on a war footing”.Several people could be seen in videos running before being engulfed by the waves of debris that uprooted entire buildings.Suman Semwal told the Indian Express newspaper that his father saw the flood hitting Dharali with a “rumbling noise” from a village uphill.What he saw was on an “unimaginable scale”, he said.”They tried to scream, but could not make themselves heard,” Semwal told the newspaper. “The people couldn’t comprehend what was happening. The flood waters struck them in 15 seconds.”A large part of the town was swamped by mud, with rescue officials estimating it was 50 feet (15 metres) deep in places, swallowing some buildings entirely.Images released by the army and government rescue teams showed men heaving rocks by hand and earth movers removing debris to clear roads.Government weather forecasters said on Wednesday that all major rivers in Uttarakhand were flowing above danger levels.”Residents have been moved to higher reaches in view of rising water levels due to incessant rains,” the army said.The UN’s World Meteorological Organization said last year that increasingly intense floods and droughts are a “distress signal” of what is to come as climate change makes the planet’s water cycle ever more unpredictable.Hydrologist Manish Shrestha said the 270 millimetres (10 inches) of rain that fell within 24 hours counted as “an extreme event”.Shrestha, from the Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, said such rain in mountains had a “more concentrated” impact than on flatter lowlands.”Such intense rainfall events are becoming increasingly common, and could be linked to climate change,” he said.Climate activist Harjeet Singh, from the Satat Sampada Climate Foundation in New Delhi, said “unscientific, unsustainable, and reckless construction” in the name of development were exacerbating the problem and “destroying our natural defences”.”Global warming is super-charging our monsoons with extreme rain,” Singh said.”The devastating loss… must be our final wake-up call.”

Sri Lanka’s anti-corruption authorities arrested a member of the once-powerful Rajapaksa family on Wednesday, accusing him of illegally claiming reparations for property loss when his presidential uncle was toppled three years ago.The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) said it had taken Shasheendra Rajapaksa, a former minister and nephew of two presidents, Mahinda and Gotabaya, into custody.Shasheendra becomes the first Rajapaksa to be arrested since the leftist government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake came to power in September, promising to investigate corruption.”Mr. Rajapaksa is charged with corruption for coercing state officials into paying him compensation for damage to a property he claimed was his,” CIABOC said in a statement.”However, this asset is located on state-owned land. He misused state land, claimed compensation he was not entitled to, and committed the offence of corruption.”Sri Lanka faced its worst economic crisis in 2022 when it declared its first sovereign default on $46 billion in external debt. Months of consumer goods shortages sparked widespread civil unrest, culminating in the ousting of then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.Two of Shasheendra’s cousins, Namal and Yoshitha, both sons of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, are facing money laundering charges.Yoshitha has told investigators that he raised a large sum of money from a bag of gems gifted by an elderly grand-aunt, who has since stated that she could not recall who originally gave her the gems.Mahinda’s brother-in-law, Nishantha Wickramasinghe, has been charged with causing losses to the state while head of the national carrier, SriLankan Airlines.Another brother of Mahinda, Basil Rajapaksa, who also served as a minister, is facing money laundering charges.

Sufi singer Jamal has spent decades devoted to his craft but now fears for his future as hardline Islamists gain ground in post-revolution Bangladesh.Conservative Muslim groups regard Sufism as deviant, opposing its mystical interpretation of the Koran.The movement is highly popular in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, but followers say they have faced unprecedented threats since the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August last year following a mass uprising.Hasina took a tough stand against Islamist movements during her autocratic 15-year rule, and since her ouster, Islamist groups have become emboldened, with security forces stretched.At least 40 Sufi shrines have come under attack in the past few months, according to official figures, with vandalism, arson and other violence linked to Islamist hardliners.Other estimates put the number at twice as high. Musical performances, once a mainstay at Sufi shrines, have sharply declined.”It’s been difficult for the last one-and-a-half decades but after August 5 things have deteriorated significantly,” said Jamal, on the sidelines of a musical gathering at a centuries-old shrine in Dhaka.”We used to perform in 40 programmes per season but now it’s down to 20 due to resistance from some people,” added the 50-year-old.In addition, Bangladesh’s ascetic minstrels, Baul folk singers who wander on foot from town to town singing and begging for alms, are also feeling the heat.While separate from Sufis, they are also branded heretics by some Islamists.Sardar Hirak Raja, general secretary of the Bangladesh Baul and Folk Artists Association, said more than 300 musical performances had to be cancelled since last year because of pressure from Islamist hardliners.  “The Sufi singers are in crisis because there aren’t enough programmes,” he told AFP.- ‘Inappropriate music’ -In northern Bangladesh’s Dinajpur this year, a vigilante group vandalised a popular shrine, accusing it of hosting “inappropriate music”. Similar disruptions have been reported across the country.Many of these attacks have been claimed by “Tauhidi Janata” (people of faith), an umbrella group of Muslim radicals who insist music is forbidden in Islam. Hefazat-e-Islam — a platform of religious seminaries also accused of mobilising people to attack shrines — said it opposed musical gatherings. “A group of people gather at shrines, consume cannabis and hold music fests, all of which are prohibited in our religion,” said its general secretary, Mawlana Mamunul Haque.Experts say the conflict between codified Islam and its mystical offshoots goes back far into the past.”Sufi singers and Bauls have been attacked repeatedly over the past decade but such incidents have become more frequent now,” said Anupam Heera Mandal who teaches folklore in the state-run Rajshahi University.”Since they rarely file complaints, the crimes committed against them often go unpunished.”Bangladesh’s interim government, headed by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, has been criticised for going soft on the alleged vandals, with police making only about 23 arrests so far.Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, who heads the country’s cultural affairs ministry, downplayed the threat, calling the scale of the violence “relatively low”.  “Whenever a festival is cancelled, we help the organisers hold it again,” Farooki told AFP.- ‘More powerful now’ -But critics say the measures are insufficient. “For mystical singers, the lyrics are not just words — they carry knowledge. Through music, they spread this philosophy,” said Faisal Enayet, a marketing graduate and Sufi music enthusiast.”Some people are trying to silence them.”Sufi singer Shariat Bayati, whom Islamist groups have in the past targeted with police complaints, said the harassment continued. “I couldn’t hold a programme in my courtyard last March,” he said. “Those who filed the cases are more powerful now and they keep threatening me.”Mystic practitioners, however, say they are turning to their core beliefs to weather the storm. “For mystic singers, it’s imperative to overcome anger,” Fakir Nahir Shah, one of the country’s best-known Bauls, said at a recent gathering of ascetics in Kushtia, widely celebrated as Bangladesh’s cultural capital.  “Modesty is the path we’ve deliberately chosen for the rest of our lives.”

A flash flood driving a torrent of mud smashed into a town in India’s Himalayan region on Tuesday, killing at least four people with around 100 others missing.The roaring waters tore down a narrow mountain valley, demolishing buildings as the flood barrelled into the town of Dharali in Uttarakhand state.”It is a serious situation,” Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency.”We have received information about four deaths and around 100 people missing. We pray for their safety.”Videos broadcast on Indian media showed a terrifying surge of muddy water sweeping away multi-storey apartment blocks in the tourist region.Several people could be seen running before being engulfed by the dark waves of debris that uprooted entire buildings.Uttarakhand State Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said rescue teams had been deployed “on a war footing”.- ‘Wake-up call’ -India’s army said 150 troops had reached the town, helping rescue around 20 people who had survived the wall of freezing sludge.”A massive mudslide struck Dharali… triggering a sudden flow of debris and water through the settlement,” the army said.Images released by the army, taken from the site after the main torrent had passed, showed a river of slow-moving mud.A wide swath of the town was swamped by deep debris. In places, the mud lapped at the rooftops of houses.State Disaster Response Force commander Arpan Yaduvanshi said the mud was 50 feet (15 metres) deep in places, swamping some buildings entirely.”Search and rescue efforts are ongoing, with all available resources being deployed to locate and evacuate any remaining stranded persons,” army spokesman Suneel Bartwal said.Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences in a statement, and said that “no stone is being left unturned in providing assistance”.Chief Minister Dhami said the flood was caused by a sudden and intense “cloudburst”, calling the destruction “extremely sad and distressing”.The India Meteorological Department issued a red alert warning for the area, saying it had recorded “extremely heavy” rainfall of around 21 centimetres (eight inches) in isolated parts of Uttarakhand.Deadly floods and landslides are common during the monsoon season from June to September, but experts say climate change, coupled with urbanisation, is increasing their frequency and severity.The UN’s World Meteorological Organization said last year that increasingly intense floods and droughts are a “distress signal” of what is to come as climate change makes the planet’s water cycle ever more unpredictable.”The devastating loss… must be our final wake-up call”, said climate activist Harjeet Singh, from the Satat Sampada Climate Foundation in New Delhi.”This tragedy is a deadly cocktail”, he added.”Global warming is super-charging our monsoons with extreme rain, while on the ground, our own policies of cutting hills; unscientific, unsustainable, and reckless construction; and choking rivers for so-called ‘development’ are destroying our natural defences.”

Bangladesh’s interim leader marked one year since the overthrow of Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic regime by calling on Tuesday for people to seize the “opportunity” for reform.Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, the 85-year-old leading the caretaker government as its chief adviser until elections, announced the polls would be held in February. He also warned against forces he said sought to roll back the democratic gains made.”Today marks an unforgettable chapter in the history of Bangladesh,” Yunus said, describing it as “liberating our beloved nation from the grip of long-standing fascist rule”.The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since a student-led revolt ousted then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5, 2024, ending her 15-year rule.Yunus later addressed crowds of thousands outside parliament, standing in the rain to issue a “proclamation” alongside leaders of key political parties. The document will be added to the country’s constitution.”The trust of the people… as expressed by the mass uprising for addressing the political and constitutional crisis in Bangladesh is justified, legitimate and internationally recognised,” he read from the document.”The people of Bangladesh express their desire for ensuring good governance and fair elections, rule of law and economic and social justice, and for introducing lawfully democratic reforms for all state and constitutional institutions.”The crowd, some wearing headbands made from the national flag, and including families of those killed in the crackdown on the protests, applauded Yunus’s reading.Fariha Tamanna, 25, who travelled to Dhaka on a government-sponsored train, said it was “deeply satisfying” to hear the government “acknowledge the uprising”.”There’s still a long road ahead, so many wrongs continue,” she added. “But I still hold on to hope.”Kazi Solaiman, 47, a teacher in an Islamic school, said it was a day of celebration.”An oppressor was forced to flee by the people’s uprising,” he told AFP. “I hope Bangladesh never again becomes a land of tyranny.”- ‘Stand united’ -Political parties had been demanding Yunus set a date for elections, and on Tuesday, he said he would write to the election commission asking for polls to he held before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins in late February.”I urge you all to pray for us so that we can hold a fair and smooth election, enabling all citizens to move forward successfully in building a ‘New Bangladesh'”, he said.Hasina’s rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killing of her political opponents, and Yunus has pledged to overhaul democratic institutions.”The sacrifice of thousands has gifted us this rare opportunity for national reform, and we must protect it at any cost,” Yunus said in letter issued to mark the anniversary.”The fallen autocrats and their self-serving allies remain active, conspiring to derail our progress.”But he said that while the interim government had made “extensive reform efforts”, a deal on measures to prevent a return to authoritarian rule remained elusive.Political parties are jostling for power ahead of elections.”Dialogue continues with political parties and stakeholders on necessary reforms, including the political and electoral systems,” he added.He called for people to remember the sacrifices made last year and to work together.”Let us stand united beyond all divisions to confront and defeat these threats,” he added. “Together, we will build a Bangladesh where tyranny will never rise again.”Protests began on July 1, 2024, with university students calling for reforms to a quota system for public sector jobs.They culminated on August 5, 2024, when thousands stormed Hasina’s palace as she escaped by helicopter.Hasina, 77, remains in India, where she has defied court orders to attend her ongoing trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity.

A flash flood driving a torrent of mud smashed into a town in India’s Himalayan region on Tuesday, tearing down a mountain valley before demolishing buildings and killing at least four people.Videos broadcast on Indian media showed a terrifying surge of muddy water sweeping away multi-storey apartment blocks in the tourist region of Dharali in Uttarakhand state.Several people could be seen running before being engulfed by the dark waves of debris that uprooted entire buildings.Uttarakhand State Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said rescue teams had been deployed “on a war footing”.Senior local official Prashant Arya said four people had been killed, with other officials warning that the number could rise.India’s army said 150 troops had reached the town, helping rescue around 20 people who had survived the wall of freezing sludge.”A massive mudslide struck Dharali… triggering a sudden flow of debris and water through the settlement,” the army said.Images released by the army, taken from the site after the main torrent had passed, showed a river of slow-moving mud.A wide swathe of the town was swamped by deep debris. In places, the mud lapped at the rooftops of houses.”Search and rescue efforts are ongoing, with all available resources being deployed to locate and evacuate any remaining stranded persons,” army spokesman Suneel Bartwal said.Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences in a statement, and said that “no stone is being left unturned in providing assistance”.Chief Minister Dhami said the flood was caused by a sudden and intense “cloudburst”, calling the destruction “extremely sad and distressing”.The India Meteorological Department issued a red alert warning for the area, saying it had recorded “extremely heavy” rainfall of around 21 centimetres (eight inches) in isolated parts of Uttarakhand.Deadly floods and landslides are common during the monsoon season from June to September, but experts say climate change, coupled with urbanisation, is increasing their frequency and severity.The UN’s World Meteorological Organization said last year that increasingly intense floods and droughts are a “distress signal” of what is to come as climate change makes the planet’s water cycle ever more unpredictable.

India’s top court will hear a plea for the restoration of Kashmir’s federal statehood later this week, court officials said Tuesday, as the region marked six years under direct rule from New Delhi.The hearing, scheduled for August 8 in the Supreme Court, follows an application filed by two residents of the Muslim-majority territory, where a separatist insurgency has raged for years.Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government in August 2019 revoked Kashmir’s limited autonomy and brought it directly under federal control.The move was accompanied by mass arrests and a communications blackout that ran for months as India bolstered its armed forces in the region to contain protests.The removal of Article 370 of the constitution, which enshrined the Indian-administered region’s special status, was challenged by Kashmir’s pro-India political parties, the local Bar Association and individual litigants.The Supreme Court in December 2023 upheld removing the region’s autonomy but called for Jammu and Kashmir, as the Delhi-administered area is known, to be restored to statehood and put on a par with any other Indian federal state “at the earliest and as soon as possible”.”We have moved an application seeking a definitive timeline for the restoration of statehood,” said the petitioners’ lawyer, Soayib Qureshi.”It has been quite some time since the court asked for it and elections have also been successfully held.”Last November, Kashmir elected its first government since it was brought under New Delhi’s direct control, as voters backed opposition parties to lead its regional assembly.But the local government has limited powers and the territory continues to be for all practical purposes governed by a New Delhi-appointed administrator.Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the neighbours were granted independence from British rule and partitioned in 1947. Indian security forces were deployed in force in the Himalayan territory on Tuesday, eyeing protests demanding the restoration of its special status. 

Salt crusts crackle underfoot as Habibullah Khatti walks to his mother’s grave to say a final goodbye before he abandons his parched island village on Pakistan’s Indus delta. Seawater intrusion into the delta, where the Indus River meets the Arabian Sea in the south of the country, has triggered the collapse of farming and fishing communities. “The saline water has surrounded us from all four sides,” Khatti told AFP from Abdullah Mirbahar village in the town of Kharo Chan, around 15 kilometres (9 miles) from where the river empties into the sea.As fish stocks fell, the 54-year-old turned to tailoring until that too became impossible with only four of the 150 households remaining. “In the evening, an eerie silence takes over the area,” he said, as stray dogs wandered through the deserted wooden and bamboo houses.Kharo Chan once comprised around 40 villages, but most have disappeared under rising seawater.The town’s population fell from 26,000 in 1981 to 11,000 in 2023, according to census data. Khatti is preparing to move his family to nearby Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, and one swelling with economic migrants, including from the Indus delta.The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, which advocates for fishing communities, estimates that tens of thousands of people have been displaced from the delta’s coastal districts.However, more than 1.2 million people have been displaced from the overall Indus delta region in the last two decades, according to a study published in March by the Jinnah Institute, a think tank led by a former climate change minister.The downstream flow of water into the delta has decreased by 80 percent since the 1950s as a result of irrigation canals, hydropower dams and the impacts of climate change on glacial and snow melt, according to a 2018 study by the US-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water.That has led to devastating seawater intrusion.The salinity of the water has risen by around 70 percent since 1990, making it impossible to grow crops and severely affecting the shrimp and crab populations.”The delta is both sinking and shrinking,” said Muhammad Ali Anjum, a local WWF conservationist.- ‘No other choice’ -Beginning in Tibet, the Indus River flows through disputed Kashmir before traversing the entire length of Pakistan.The river and its tributaries irrigate about 80 percent of the country’s farmland, supporting millions of livelihoods.The delta, formed by rich sediment deposited by the river as it meets the sea, was once ideal for farming, fishing, mangroves and wildlife.But more than 16 percent of fertile land has become unproductive due to encroaching seawater, a government water agency study in 2019 found.In the town of Keti Bandar, which spreads inland from the water’s edge, a white layer of salt crystals covers the ground.Boats carry in drinkable water from miles away and villagers cart it home via donkeys.”Who leaves their homeland willingly?” said Haji Karam Jat, whose house was swallowed by the rising water level. He rebuilt farther inland, anticipating more families would join him. “A person only leaves their motherland when they have no other choice,” he told AFP.- Way of life -British colonial rulers were the first to alter the course of the Indus River with canals and dams, followed more recently by dozens of hydropower projects. Earlier this year, several military-led canal projects on the Indus River were halted when farmers in the low-lying riverine areas of Sindh province protested.To combat the degradation of the Indus River Basin, the government and the United Nations launched the ‘Living Indus Initiative’ in 2021.One intervention focuses on restoring the delta by addressing soil salinity and protecting local agriculture and ecosystems. The Sindh government is currently running its own mangrove restoration project, aiming to revive forests that serve as a natural barrier against saltwater intrusion. Even as mangroves are restored in some parts of the coastline, land grabbing and residential development projects drive clearing in other areas.Neighbouring India meanwhile poses a looming threat to the river and its delta, after revoking a 1960 water treaty with Pakistan which divides control over the Indus basin rivers.It has threatened to never reinstate the treaty and build dams upstream, squeezing the flow of water to Pakistan, which has called it “an act of war”.Alongside their homes, the communities have lost a way of life tightly bound up in the delta, said climate activist Fatima Majeed, who works with the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum.Women, in particular, who for generations have stitched nets and packed the day’s catches, struggle to find work when they migrate to cities, said Majeed, whose grandfather relocated the family from Kharo Chan to the outskirts of Karachi.”We haven’t just lost our land, we’ve lost our culture.”

England suffered an agonising six-run loss to India at the Oval on Monday as one of the most dramatic Test series of recent times ended in a 2-2 draw.Their next major red-ball assignment is a five-match Ashes series away to arch-rivals Australia — where England have gone 15 Tests without a win — starting in November.Below AFP Sport looks at some of the key issues that emerged from England’s rollercoaster contest with India and what they mean for their quest to regain the Ashes ‘Down Under’.Stokes central to England’s hopesWhat England gain from having Ben Stokes in their side was never more evident than when their inspirational captain missed the fifth Test with a shoulder injury — a fresh worry following his history of hamstring trouble.The 34-year-old all-rounder was the most threatening member of England’s attack against India, taking 17 wickets at 25 in 140 overs — the most he has bowled in a series.Stokes also looked back to his best with the bat, scoring 141 in England’s mammoth total of 669 in the drawn fourth Test at Old Trafford. By contrast specialist opener Zak Crawley failed to reach three figures in nine innings.And at the Oval, the sight of vice-captain Ollie Pope running off to the dressing room to receive what appeared to be tactical guidance from Stokes did not say much for England’s depth of leadership.England limited-overs captain Harry Brook, also a mainstay of the Test team and a lively skipper in the Stokes mould, could yet prove a better fit as vice-captain against Australia.Fast-bowling plan under threatEngland have long believed a battery of genuinely fast bowlers is essential if they are to win an Ashes series in Australia for the first time since 2010/11.But fitness issues could blight their best-laid plans. Jofra Archer made an encouraging return to Test cricket against India but played just two matches as England looked to manage the express paceman’s workload. Mark Wood, another bowler with genuine pace, has not played Test cricket for nearly 12 months and had knee surgery earlier this year.The inconsistent Josh Tongue’s return of 19 wickets at under 30 in the India series could well see him selected for Ashes duty, with Gus Atkinson’s five-wicket haul on his return to Test duty at the Oval doing his cause no harm.Spin dilemma England, and Stokes in particular, have shown huge faith in Shoaib Bashir, a 21-year-old off-spinner unable to hold down a regular place in a county side but who has now taken 68 wickets in 19 Tests at 39.In the India series, Bashir’s 10 wickets came at an expensive average of 54.1, before a finger injury ruled him out of the last two Tests.But Hampshire stalwart Liam Dawson failed to seize his chance in the drawn fourth Test, with Stokes appearing to tell the left-armer where he should be bowling on the Old Trafford pitch.Leicestershire’s 20-year-old leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, already England’s youngest Test cricketer, is another option.England, however, didn’t bother with a specialist spinner at the Oval, deploying Joe Root and Jacob Bethell — clean bowled following a reckless charge down the pitch during a second-innings collapse — for a mere 11 overs combined.But former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes England should stick with Bashir for the Ashes because of his similarity to outstanding Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.”Australia will have probably three or four left-handers in their line-up which will aid the right-arm off-spinner as well,” Ponting told Sky Sports. “And it’s the over-spin that you need in Australia.”

Shubman Gill will fly home to India with plenty of credit after a sensational campaign with the bat against England and a hard-earned series draw in his first outing as Test captain.The stylish batsman scored a remarkable 754 runs in five Tests, falling just 20 shy of Sunil Gavaskar’s long-standing series record for an Indian cricketer.Gill, nicknamed “Prince”, arrived in England in early June under intense pressure and with a modest Test average of 35.Not only was he succeeding Rohit Sharma as captain, he was also filling the number four slot vacated by the great Virat Kohli, who followed Rohit into Test retirement in May.But Gill has led from the front in spectacular style, combining an effortless elegance with an ability to go through the gears and innovate when necessary.The 25-year-old scored 147 in his first innings of the series at Headingley.During the second Test at Edgbaston he compiled a majestic 269 in the first innings and a turbo-charged 161 in the second innings as India won to level the series.After a quiet third Test at Lord’s, won by the hosts, Gill returned to form in Manchester, grafting for 103 in 238 balls as the tourists battled successfully to draw the match and keep the series alive.An unnecessary first-innings run-out in the fifth Test at the Oval left him an agonising 31 runs short of Gavaskar’s mark and he fell for just 11 in his final innings of the campaign.Gill grew into his role as captain during a series in which he faced several challenges, including the vocal presence of several senior players and the limited availability of paceman Jasprit Bumrah.The series was still alive heading into the final match in London but India appeared to be sliding inexorably towards defeat before England suffered a dramatic collapse, with fast bowler Mohammed Siraj doing most of the damage.The nervy six-run win turned a potential 3-1 series defeat into a 2-2 draw, dramatically changing the narrative, and Gill collected India’s player-of-the-series award to add gloss to his tour.- Child prodigy -Born in Fazilka, near the border with Pakistan, Gill moved to Mohali aged eight to be closer to better cricket facilities.As a boy he wanted to know what Kohli’s scores and achievements were when he was at an equivalent age.And when Kohli, a former India captain, first saw his eventual successor in the nets, he said he had not even had 10 percent of Gill’s talent when the same age.Gill made his one-day international debut in 2019 but it was in his first Test series, in Australia in 2020/21, that he caught the eye, notably with a fluent 91 in India’s thrilling series-clinching win at the Gabba.His first Test hundred came in Chattogram at the end of 2022 and a month later, aged 23, he became the youngest player to make a one-day international double-century, smashing 208 off 149 balls against New Zealand.But it has not all been plain-sailing for the prodigiously talented batsman, whose average dipped below 30 after a duck against England in Hyderabad last year.Rahul Dravid, the then India coach, resisted the temptation to drop Gill, who went on to make two centuries during a series India won 4-1.Gill, who has skippered India in T20 cricket and leads the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League, was the man chosen to replace Rohit as Test skipper despite his relative youth.He has passed his first major test, with elated India great Sachin Tendulkar posting on social media after Monday’s thrilling success: “Series 2–2, Performance 10/10!”