The inaugural edition's winner Mumbai Indians will bank on their core group of players while two-time finalists Delhi Capitals will expect fireworks from Shafali Verma when they face-off in the second game of the Women's Premier League here on Saturday. The finalists of the first WPL in 2023, both Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals made it to the knockouts in the second edition last year but lost to the eventual champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the eliminator and the final respectively. Those defeats were certainly not reflective of how well MI and DC had fared until the knockouts stage, with Harmanpreet Kaur's side finishing second in the points table with five wins in eight matches and Meg Lanning's team topping it with six wins in as many outings. The winners of WPL 2023, Mumbai Indians tend to lean on their core group of players both overseas and Indian and a similar approach can be expected this year, with only a few changes taking place in terms of squad composition. India pacer Pooja Vastrakar, who was grappling with an unspecified injury, was ruled out of the competition and has been replaced by slow left-arm orthodox bowler Parunika Sisodia, who was one of the main performers in India's title-winning campaign in the U-19 Women's T20 World Cup recently. Mumbai Indians have let go of England's Issy Wong, who took the first-ever WPL hat-trick in 2023, after the player lost form and the franchise found the leader of their attack in South Africa's Shabnim Ismail. Among domestic talents, another member of the U-19 T20 World Cup winning squad G Kamalini would be one to watch out for, having finished as the third highest scorer in the competition with 143 runs in seven matches. Apart from a strong leader in Harmanpreet, MI have strong figures from other international sides such as Nat Sciver-Brunt (England), Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Amelia Kerr (New Zealand), as well as South Africans Nadine de Klerk, Shabnim Ismail and Chloe Tryon. While Yastika Bhatia is MI's No 1 wicketkeeper-batter, other Indian players in Saika Ishaque, Sajana Sajeevan, uncapped Akshita Maheshwari and Amanjot Kaur will be expected to play their roles to perfection. On their part, Delhi Capitals will be keen to do one better after finishing as runner-up for two times in a row ever since the competition began. One of the most consistent teams in the competition, the Lanning-led Delhi have strong talent base across departments but the key will be to deliver in crucial matches. All eyes will be on the explosive Indian batter Shafali who has responded to her exclusion from the Indian side with runs in domestic cricket. She forms a lethal opening pair with Lanning at the top, while the likes of Australia's Annabel Sutherland, England's Alice Capsey and India's Jemimah Rodrigues form the core of their middle order. All-rounder Sutherland will hope to draw inspiration from her recent success of having struck 163 in the only Test of the women's Ashes followed by winning the highest individual honour in Australian cricket. While Delhi boasts of three wicketkeeper-batters in India's Taniyaa Bhatia, Nandini Kashyap and Scotland's Sarah Bryce, their bowling looks settled with Marizanne Kapp as the leader of the attack, backed by Australia's Jess Jonassen, India's Radha Yadav and Shikha Pandey as well as Titas Sadhu.
The eight-year-old boy, who was injured in the stampede during the screening of Pushpa-2 in Hyderabad on December 4, was taken off oxygen and ventilator support as his condition is improving, his father has said.
Dr Theyiesinuo Keditsu, a professor of English Literature with PhD and MPhil degrees, was spotted at a restaurant. The next day she was offered Paatal Lok 2.
The bonus point win helped Gujarat (26) climb to the second spot, two points behind Vidarbha who led a strong second innings fightback in an away match against Rajasthan.
India registered a thumping 86-run victory in the second T20I against Bangladesh to seal the three-match series 2-0.
'It (the decision to pick Nitish ahead of Shardul) is also about moving forward and I feel that this is the best set of players that we have selected to do the job for the country.'
Yashasvi Jaiswal on Monday termed his maiden tour of Australia a learning experience and vowed to come back stronger
Mohammed Shami's much-awaited return to top-flight cricket did not receive too many supporting signals during the seasoned pacer's nearly hour-long stint of varying intensity at the India nets here on Friday. Despite working hard on finding his bowling rhythm, Shami never really hit his flowing peak. While he was expected to feature in the playing 11 during India's first T20I against England at Kolkata on Wednesday, the management decided to delay his comeback. Shami's rhythm and sharpness gradually hit a higher gear but the whole picture was one of rustiness, raising questions about his current form and the decision to select him for the series against England and the Champions Trophy.
Amid allegations that bouncers hired by Allu Arjun pushed crowds as well as policemen when the stampede occurred at the cinema hall, the police commissioner warned that stringent action as per law would be taken if THE bouncers indeed misbehaved with the police on duty. The VIPs would be made responsible for the behaviour of the bouncers hired by them, he said.
The left-hander clobbered eight sixes and five fours in his scintillating 79 off 34 balls as India chased down a modest 133-run target in 12.5 overs.
Jasprit Bumrah bettered spin stalwart Ravichandran Ashwin's all-time rating-point record by an Indian in the latest ICC rankings.
'There is no substitute for hard work. The relentless effort behind the scenes translates into success on the field. The Indian bowlers are ticking every box as we get ready for the Boxing Day Test.'
Reddy dared the saffron party to prove its claim that the Congress government in the southern state did not fulfil its poll guarantees.
A day after six persons died in the Tirupati stampede, the Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday announced a judicial inquiry into the incident that seems to have been the result of a policeman's innocuous act of opening the gate with the intention of aiding a sick woman.
'Sudip sir keeps telling me that what I have done is very Hollywood.'
Allu Arjun goes white... Sunny shares BTS pix... Konkona gets nostalgic...
Corporate earnings from blue-chips like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Donald Trump's swearing-in as the US President, and trading activity of foreign investors are the key factors to drive equity markets this week, analysts said. Trump will be sworn in as the US president for a second term on Monday. This week, several key Nifty-50 companies, including BPCL, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Dr Reddy's, UltraTech Cement, JSW Steel and ICICI Bank are scheduled to announce their financial results.
Industry insiders in India warn that any such move in the pharmaceutical sector could be counterproductive for the US as it may face increased drug shortages if tariffs are imposed on such imports.
Gujarat captain Chintan Gaja and spinner Vishal Jayswal shared seven wickets between them to bowl out Himachal Pradesh for 215 on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy match.
Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain clinched the women's 75kg gold at the National Games in Dehradun.
"The doctrinal error in the Krishna Iyer approach was, postulating a rigid economic theory, which advocates for greater State control over private resources, as the exclusive basis for constitutional governance," the CJI wrote in the 193-page judgment.
After winning the double gold medals at the Chess Olympiad, Telangana Chief Minister, Revanth Reddy, on Friday announced a cash reward of Rs. 25 lakhs for each Indian chess grandmaster, Arjun Erigaisi and Harika Dronavalli.
TDP supremo and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu claimed that the previous YSRCP government did not even spare Sri Venkateswara temple and used substandard ingredients and animal fat for making laddus.
Movie stars celebrate Makar Sankranti, Pongal and Lohri in their special ways.
Reddy, rookie speedster Harshit Rana, Devdutt Padikkal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna and Dhruv Jurel are on their maiden Test tour to Australia.
Will Rohit Sharma get one final opportunity to salvage his Test career?
Do we have enough trained oncologists and medical professionals in India to man these over 4,500 beds in the public sector?
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand (women's doubles) and B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy (mixed doubles) suffered three-game defeats in their opening contests.
Congress leader and chairperson of the Telangana State Women's Cooperative Development Corporation, B Shobha Rani, hit out at Reddy over his comments saying he insulted women with his disrespectful comments.
Washington Sundar expressed his gratitude towards head coach Gautam Gambhir and the support staff for their unwavering belief in his abilities in the post-day press conference in Melbourne on Saturday.
November is the start of the soup season in India. A bowl of garam garam soup is the just the way to kick off an evening.
India fight back against Australia as 17 wickets tumble on opening day
Selectors will assess the fitness level of star pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who is recuperating from back spasms, and veteran fast bowler Mohammed Shami.
Images from Day 1 of the 'Pink-ball' second Test between Australia and India in Adelaide on Friday.
She brought newfangled sari style to the Cannes red carpet.
Images from Day 1 of the fifth Test between Australia and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday.
No separate vehicle for anyone, all players to travel by team bus, BCCI tells state units
'This Border-Gavaskar Trophy (series) has had the biggest Boxing Day crowd ever passing the Ashes and the series is so delicately poised now, it is living up to every hype.'
Chalapathi, a top leader of the CPI(Maoist) and a key figure in the 2008 Nayagarh armoury attack in Odisha, was killed in a gunfight with security forces at the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border. He was one of 14 Maoists killed in the encounter, which lasted for two days. Chalapathi, who had been a mystery to security agencies for decades, was eventually identified through a selfie with his wife, Aruna, found in an abandoned smartphone. He was considered an expert in military tactics and guerrilla warfare and had played a significant role in expanding the Maoist network in Odisha.
Saurashtra all but ensured Delhi's exit from Ranji Trophy with a 10-wicket victory inside two days in Group D, in Rajkot, on Friday.
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