AFP Asia

India’s pace spearhead Mohammed Shami on Thursday said he came into the Champions Trophy with an eye on taking regular wickets after he returned to international cricket from a career-threatening injury.Shami claimed impressive figures of 5-53 to set up India’s six-wicket win over Bangladesh in their opening match of the 50-over tournament in Dubai.The 34-year-old stepped up in the absence of fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who was forced to miss the event due to a back injury.Shami himself only returned to competitive cricket late last year after a string of injuries including ankle, heel and knee which delayed his recovery since his last match in the 2023 ODI World Cup final.Shami was India’s star bowler in the 50-over World Cup at home with 24 wickets in seven matches but the team lost the final to Australia in Ahmedabad.”It was difficult to get injured and go down from the form that you had in the World Cup,” Shami told reporters.”Those 14 months were very difficult as I had to repeat all the things and that pinches you and you feel the pain. But I got those domestic matches and four international games (against England) to get my confidence back.”On his performance in ICC tournaments, Shami said, “I always try, especially in ICC events, that even if I leak plenty of runs, I should at least get some wickets.”Shami has always been key for India in top tournaments and has snow surpassed former quick Zaheer Khan in ICC ODI tournaments as the leading bowler with 60 wickets. Zaheer took 59.Shami was missed in India’s recent 3-1 Test defeat in Australia as often Bumrah felt the absence of solid support form the other end.Shami said it was equally tough for him watching from the sidelines.”You always miss your bowling unit and the ones you’re usually with,” said Shami.”You always think ‘I wish I could contribute as well’. You always miss that when you’re injured then you can’t do anything apart from watching games, ball by ball.”Life, though, has come a full circle for Shami in Dubai, a city where he was trolled with ugly social media abuse after India lost to Pakistan in the 2021 T20 World Cup.Shami was attacked for being a Muslim and the then skipper Virat Kohli and many former players stood up for the veteran bowler.”Social media is such these days that it can lead to some unwanted things in your mind,” said Shami when asked about the incident.”I don’t like to think about such things. People will remind you about the poor performances and it will pinch you too but I feel as a cricketer and sportsman one shouldn’t look back too much and just stay in the present, and plan for the future.”India next take on arch-rivals Pakistan in a Sunday blockbuster.

In-form Shubman Gill made an unbeaten 101 to anchor India’s chase in a six-wicket win over Bangladesh as the two teams began their Champions Trophy campaign on Thursday in Dubai.Needing a tricky 229 for victory on a seemingly tough pitch, India rode on Gill’s second successive ODI ton to achieve their target with 21 balls to spare.”Definitely one of my most satisfying innings that I have played and my first century in ICC events,” Gill said after being named man of the match. “Very happy with the way I performed.”Skipper Rohit Sharma praised his opening partner, saying, “Gill, we know the class that he has, Shouldn’t surprise anyone. It was good to see him bat till the end.”Title favourites India are playing their matches in the 50-over tournament at the Dubai International Stadium after refusing to tour host nation Pakistan over political tensions.Pace spearhead Mohammed Shami set up victory with figures of 5-53, helping reduce Bangladesh to 35-5 in his opening spell before they recovered to manage 228 all out after electing to bat first.Towhid Hridoy, who made 100 — his first ODI ton — and Jaker Ali (68) put on 154 runs for the sixth wicket to lift the total, albeit with some assistance from sloppy Indian fielding including two dropped catches.In reply, India started strongly as Rohit and Gill got going with regular boundaries. Rohit became just the 10th batsman — and fourth from India — to surpass 11,000 ODI runs.The India captain made 41 before he was dismissed by fast bowler Taskin Ahmed and Virat Kohli walked in to loud cheers from the crowd at a largely empty stadium.Kohli took 10 balls to get his first run and made 22 before mis-timing a late cut to backward point off leg-spinner Rishad Hossain.India lost two more wickets after Rishad and Mustafizur Rahman removed Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer to put India in trouble at 144-4.But vice-captain Gill, who was player of the series with 259 runs in India’s 3-0 ODI sweep of England last week, kept calm as he and KL Rahul took the team home in an unbeaten 87-run stand.Rahul finished 41 not out but was dropped early in his innings by Jaker at deep mid-wicket and India never faltered after that with Gill reaching his eighth ODI century.- ‘Cost us the game’ -“Losing five wickets in the powerplay cost us the game,” Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto said.”Hridoy and Jaker batted brilliantly but we still made mistakes on the field. Dropped catches and a few run-outs missed, the result could have been different.”Shami was the bowling star with his sixth five-wicket haul in 104 ODIs, stepping up in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who was ruled out of the tournament due to a back injury.Shami, who returned to international cricket from injury after 14 months in the England series, overtook former pacer Zaheer Khan to become India’s leading bowler in ICC ODI tournaments with 60 wickets.Shami struck in the first over to get left-handed Soumya Sarkar caught behind for a five-ball duck.Left-arm spinner Axar struck twice in two balls to send Tanzid Hasan (25) and Mushfiqur Rahim, for a duck, trudging back to the pavilion.It could have been six down had Rohit not dropped a catch at first slip, denying Axar a hat-trick and handing Jaker a reprieve on nought.Jaker, who survived another chance on 24 when wicketkeeper Rahul missed a stumping, and Towhid, dropped on 23 by Hardik Pandya at mid-off, combined to thwart the Indian charge.Jaker fell to Shami but Towhid kept up the fight until his 118-ball knock ended with six fours and two sixes.India next play arch-rivals Pakistan in a Sunday blockbuster.

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma warned his team they will need to be at their best against Afghanistan in their opening game of the Champions Trophy in Karachi on Friday. It will be the first meeting between the countries since Afghanistan beat South Africa 2-1 in a one-day series in Sharjah last September.Bavuma said Afghanistan would draw confidence from that series going into their Group B encounter. “They are a highly competitive team,” said Bavuma. “I think they’ve got a lot of experience within their team. “Guys who have that international pedigree at least from a skill point of view and we have to bring out our A-game.” “We played against them mid-to-late last year and they were victorious, so they won’t be short of any type of confidence coming into the game tomorrow but in terms of preparations we have ticked all the boxes,” he added.South Africa will be at full strength with Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs and Rassie van der Dussen all available, having sat out the recent tri-series in Pakistan.Despite losing to Pakistan and New Zealand in that series, Bavuma felt his team has prepared well. “We understand, you know, the Champions Trophy is a little bit different, it’s almost like every game is a knockout type of thing and our mindset really is to make sure that we pitch up and play our best game of cricket,” said Bavuma. “Hopefully we’re playing five games and not three games of cricket in this tournament. I think most importantly, we win the moments that matter.” Australia and England are the other two teams in Group B, with Pakistan, India, New Zealand and Bangladesh in Group A. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals. South Africa won the inaugural Champions Trophy — then named the ICC Knock-Out Trophy — in Bangladesh in 1998. But they have since fallen short in major tournaments, often losing in the knock-out rounds, and earning the tag of “chokers”. They lost in the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup in India in 2023 and were runners-up to India in last year’s T20 World Cup held in the United States and the West Indies. Bavuma dismissed fears the long title drought would weigh on the minds of the players. “There’s no negativity from the fact that we haven’t been able to be successful in other ICC events or editions,” said Bavuma. “But there is a lot more positivity and confidence in terms of our ability or how far we can go within the tournament.”

A Sri Lankan passenger train derailed Thursday after smashing into a family of elephants, with no passengers injured but six animals killed in the island’s worst such wildlife accident, police said.The express train was travelling near a wildlife reserve at Habarana, some 180 kilometres (110 miles) east of the capital Colombo, when it hit the herd before dawn.Videos shot of the aftermath showed one elephant standing guard over an injured youngster lying beside the tracks, with the tips of their trunks curled together.”Three baby elephants were among the six killed,” government spokesman and media minister Nalinda Jayatissa told reporters.”Elephants being runover by trains is something that is not uncommon, but our attention is focused on this case because of the sheer numbers.”Local police said two other elephants escaped with serious injuries.Jayatissa said the government was working on a new mechanism to reduce the number of wild animals hit by trains in sparsely populated jungle areas of the island.”All systems that were in place, like reducing speed, have failed,” he said. Killing or harming elephants is a criminal offence in Sri Lanka, which has an estimated 7,000 wild elephants.The animals are considered national treasures, partly due to their significance in Buddhist culture.In August 2016, three elephant calves and their mother were run over by an express train and killed at Cheddikulam, about 260 kilometres (162 miles) north of Colombo.One the baby elephants was dragged about 300 meters (990 feet) along the track after being hit by the train which was allowed to travel at speeds up to 100 kilometres an hour (60 mph).Two baby elephants and their pregnant mother were killed in a similar accident by a train in Habarana, the scene of Thursday’s tragedy, in September 2018.Since then, the authorities ordered train drivers to observe speed limits to minimise injury to elephants when going through areas where they cross the lines.- Growing conflict -The elephant deaths comes days after the authorities expressed concern over the growing impact of conflict between humans and elephants due to habitat encroachment.Farmers scratching a living from smallholder plots often fight back against elephants raiding their crops.Deputy environment minister Anton Jayakody told AFP on Sunday that 150 people and 450 elephants were killed in clashes in 2023.”We are planning to introduce multiple barriers — these may include electric fences, trenches, or other deterrents — to make it more difficult for wild elephants to stray into villages,” he said.A study last year in the Journal of Threatened Taxa detailed how Asian elephants loudly mourn and bury their dead calves, reminiscent of human funeral rites.Asian elephants are recognised as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. An estimated 26,000 of them live in the wild, mostly in India with some in Southeast Asia, surviving for an average of 60-70 years outside captivity.

Hosts Pakistan suffered a serious blow Thursday when opener Fakhar Zaman was ruled out of the Champions Trophy with an injury ahead of their crunch clash with arch-rivals India.The 34-year-old left-handed batsman was replaced by Imam-ul-Haq, the International Cricket Council said.Zaman sprained a chest muscle while fielding at the start of Pakistan’s game against New Zealand in Karachi on Wednesday, which the hosts lost by 60 runs.He could not open the innings because of playing rules and instead batted at number four and made a laborious 41-ball 24, showing signs of discomfort.Zaman has played 86 ODIs, averaging just over 46.”I have been privileged enough to represent Pakistan multiple times with pride,” he wrote on social media.”Unfortunately I’m now out of ICC Champions Trophy 2025 but surely Allah is the best planner. Grateful for the opportunity.”I will be backing our boys in green from home. This is only just the beginning, the comeback will be stronger than the setback.”Following Wednesday’s defeat in the tournament opener, defending champions Pakistan now must beat India in Dubai in Group A on Sunday to keep alive their chances of reaching the semi-finals.Bangladesh are the other team in Group A, while Australia, England, South Africa and Afghanistan comprise Group B in the 50-over tournament.The top two teams from each group qualify for the last four.

A member of India’s ruling Hindu-nationalist party was sworn in Thursday as chief minister of Delhi after an election landslide handed it control of the capital for the first time in decades.Rekha Gupta, 50, of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the fourth woman to serve as chief minister of the sprawling megacity of more than 30 million people.The BJP is in government nationally but has not controlled the local legislature in Delhi since 1998, so its sweeping victory taking more than two-thirds of seats in the February 5 polls was both symbolic and strategically important.Gupta, who has a law degree and began her career in student politics in the city, was selected for the post by party members late Wednesday.”I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office,” Gupta said while taking the oath of office in front of a crowd of cheering supporters.Modi, who was present at the ceremony, said in a post on X that Gupta had “risen from the grassroots” to become the chief minister. “I am confident she will work for Delhi’s development with full vigour,” he added. The elections ousted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), whose leader Arvind Kejriwal had governed Delhi for much of the past decade and was a prominent critic of Modi.Kejriwal rode to power as an anti-corruption crusader but spent several months behind bars last year over accusations his party took kickbacks in exchange for liquor licences.He has denied wrongdoing and characterised the charges as a political witch hunt by Modi’s government.The win is a boost for the BJP and 74-year-old Modi, who won a third term in office after elections last year but with a reduced vote that forced him to rely on coalition partners to govern. Gupta faces major challenges including Delhi’s monumental air pollution crisis, which smothers the city in hazardous fumes for months during the winter.New Delhi is regularly ranked the worst capital in the world for choking smog, which often surges as much as 60 times the World Health Organization’s recommended daily maximum.Years of piecemeal government initiatives have failed to measurably address the problem, with the smog blamed for thousands of premature deaths annually and particularly affecting the health of children and the elderly.None of the key parties made tackling the health crisis a focal point of their campaigns.

A Sri Lankan passenger train derailed Thursday after smashing into a family of elephants, with no passengers injured but six animals killed in the island’s worst such wildlife accident, police said.The express train was travelling near a wildlife reserve at Habarana, some 180 kilometres (110 miles) east of the capital Colombo, when it hit the herd crossing the line before dawn.”The train derailed, but there were no casualties among the passengers,” police said, adding that wildlife authorities were treating two elephants who survived the crash.Videos shot after the accident showed one elephant standing guard over an injured youngster lying beside the tracks, with the tips of their trunks curled together.Killing or harming elephants is a criminal offence in Sri Lanka, which has an estimated 7,000 wild elephants, with the animals considered a national treasure, partly due to their significance in Buddhist culture.Two baby elephants and their pregnant mother were killed in a similar accident by a train in the same area in September 2018.Since then, the authorities ordered train drivers to observe speed limits to minimise injury to elephants when going through areas where they cross the lines.The elephant deaths comes days after the authorities expressed concern over the growing impact of conflict between humans and elephants, as the ancient habitat of the animals is increasingly encroached upon.Farmers scratching a living from smallholder plots often fight back against elephants raiding their crops.Deputy Minister of Environment Anton Jayakody told AFP on Sunday that 150 people and 450 elephants were killed in clashes in 2023.That is an increase on the previous year, when 145 people and 433 elephants were killed, according to official data.Just those two years represent more than a tenth of the island’s elephants.But Jayakody said he was confident the government could find solutions. “We are planning to introduce multiple barriers — these may include electric fences, trenches, or other deterrents — to make it more difficult for wild elephants to stray into villages,” Jayakody said.A study last year detailed how Asian elephants loudly mourn and bury their dead calves, in a report that details animal behaviour reminiscent of human funeral rites.Elephants are known for their social and cooperative behaviour but calf burial had previously only been “briefly studied” in African elephants — remaining unexplored among their smaller Asian cousins, according to the study in the Journal of Threatened Taxa.Asian elephants are recognised as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. An estimated 26,000 of them live in the wild, mostly in India with some in Southeast Asia, surviving for an average of 60-70 years outside captivity.

Afghanistan has been cloaked in “darkness” since the return of the Taliban government three and a half years ago, but the country’s former women’s affairs minister insists the problem “can be solved”.When the Taliban swept back to power in August 2021, “everything was lost”, Massooda Jalal, a former minister and the first woman in Afghanistan’s history to run for president, told AFP in an interview this week.”They brought back the darkness we had fought so hard to escape.” Despite promises not to return to the brutality displayed during their first stint in power in the 1990s, the Taliban authorities have imposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law, including the return of public floggings and executions.Women and girls have been barred from education beyond the age of 12, from holding many jobs and from many public spaces in what the United Nations has described as “gender apartheid”.Jalal, a 61-year-old medical doctor who served as Afghanistan’s women’s affairs minister from 2004 to 2006, insisted that “there is a way to replace the darkness with the light”.”It is challenging, but it is not impossible,” she told AFP in Geneva, where she and her daughter Husna were being awarded a women’s rights prize at the annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.”It can be solved.”- Light -She called for an international conference, like the United Nations-backed talks held in Bonn, Germany in 2001.Those talks saw the signing of a landmark deal to create a post-Taliban leadership and usher in democracy after the militants were ousted by a US-led invasion following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.”The political regime in Kabul is not supported by the people, and it is not recognised and supported by the world,” said Jalal, now an activist who lives in the Netherlands.”It has no meaning, so why continue that? Millions of people there are suffering.”With a little bit of international will, she insisted that pressure could be exerted on the Taliban authorities and those propping them up to ensure they participate. The international community, she insisted, has a responsibility to bring an end to the deep suffering in Afghanistan.”The world should not just keep watching it,” she said.Jalal recalled her elation in 2001 “when the international community came in and set the democratic agenda”.”The light came into the country.” – ‘Will not be erased’ -Jalal, who at that time was a UN aid worker, after the Taliban had chased her from her post as a professor at Kabul University, stood in the country’s first presidential polls in 2004.She was surprised when she lost to Hamid Karzai, garnering just 1.1 percent of the votes.”I thought I was going to be the winner,” she said, pointing out that her opponents were all linked to armed groups, while she claims she had become very popular after travelling all over the country, handing out aid.While that loss was disappointing, Jalal rejected the idea that Afghans were not ready to see women in power.She called for the swift restoration of democracy, insisting that “of course, women should be given equal rights”.And since “they suffered more than others… they should get extra… We need to bring more and more women into the process and into leadership in the country”.During her speech to this week’s rights summit, Jalal lamented her own “forced exile”.”But exile does not mean surrender,” she said.”I will continue to fight for democracy, for justice, for the dignity of every Afghan woman, because we will not be erased.”

Will Young and Tom Latham hit sparkling centuries to guide New Zealand to 320-5 on Wednesday in the opening match of the Champions Trophy, marking Pakistan’s first international tournament in three decades. Tom Latham hit an unbeaten 104-ball 118 while opener Young scored 107 from 113 balls as New Zealand — sent in to bat by Pakistan — made the most of a flat National Stadium pitch.The eight-nation event was launched with country’s Air Force flying over the stadium to mark the occasion as thousands of fans, including President Asif Zardari, took their seats on a historic day.On the field, Young and Latham revived the innings from 73-3 with a 118-run fourth wicket stand, helping their team overcome the early loss of Devon Conway (10), Kane Williamson (1) and Daryl Mitchell (10).Young hit 12 boundaries and a six in his fourth one-day international century before holing out to Naseem Shah in the 38th over.Latham and Glenn Phillips, who made an aggrssive 39-ball 61, gave the innings more impetus as New Zealand smashed 113 in the last 10 overs and 64 in the last five. Latham hit 10 boundaries and three sixes in his eighth one-day hundred while Phillips’s robust knock had four sixes and three boundaries.Fast bowler Naseem Shah was the best Pakistan bowler with 2-63 but fellow pacers Haris Rauf finished with 2-83 and Shaheen Afridi conceded 68 in 10 wicket-less overs each.

Indian police in disputed Kashmir have raided dozens of bookshops and seized hundreds of copies of books by an Islamic scholar, sparking angry reactions by Muslim leaders.Police said searches were based on “credible intelligence regarding the clandestine sale and distribution of literature promoting the ideology of a banned organisation”.Officers did not name the author but store owners said they had seized literature by the late Abul Ala Maududi, founder of the Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami.Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, and both claim the Himalayan territory in full.Rebel groups, demanding Kashmir’s freedom or its merger with Pakistan, have been fighting Indian forces for decades, with tens of thousands killed in the conflict.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government banned the Kashmir branch of Jamaat-e-Islami in 2019 as an “unlawful association”.New Delhi renewed the ban last year for what it said were “activities against the security, integrity and sovereignty” of the nation.Plainclothes officers began raids in the main city of Srinagar on Saturday, before launching book seizures in other towns across the Muslim-majority region.”They (police) came and took away all the copies of books authored by Abul Ala Maududi, saying these books were banned,” a bookshop owner in Srinagar, who asked not to be identified, told AFP.Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said it was “the latest step in a series of measures to crush dissent and to intimidate the local people”.”They must be given freedom to read the books of their choice,” spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan said.Police said the searches were conducted “to prevent the circulation of banned literature linked to Jamaat-e-Islami”.”These books were found to be in violation of legal regulations, and strict action is being taken against those found in possession of such material,” police said in a statement.The raids sparked anger among supporters of the party.”The seized books promote good moral values and responsible citizenship,” said Shamim Ahmed Thokar.Umar Farooq, Kashmir’s chief cleric and a prominent leader advocating for the right to self-determination, condemned the police action.”Cracking down on Islamic literature and seizing them from bookstores is ridiculous,” Farooq said in a statement, pointing out that the literature was available online.”Policing thought by seizing books is absurd — to say the least — in the time of access to all information on virtual highways,” he said.Critics and many residents of Kashmir say civil liberties were drastically curtailed after Modi’s government imposed direct rule in 2019 by scrapping Kashmir’s constitutionally enshrined partial autonomy.