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These key appointments highlight the team’s commitment to building a competitive and successful team for the upcoming HIL season as they prepare to dominate the player auction and assemble a well-rounded squad capable of winning the tournament.

David John has been associated with Indian hockey since 2011, having served as the exercise physiologist of the national men’s team and high-performance director of Hockey India. As strategy director, David will focus on making Kalinga Lancers the top-performing franchise. He will design match strategies, onboard top players, and ensure the team’s physical, mental, and nutritional readiness. Additionally, he will hold leadership meetings to build a forward-looking strategy and provide a season-end performance review.

“It’s an exciting opportunity to work with the team. My focus will be on developing a strategy that blends technical skills with a tactical mindset, allowing the team to make the most of its strengths. Before that, we are looking forward to a very successful player auction where we aim to acquire best talent that the sport has to offer,” said David.

Former India captain, goalkeeper, coach and Arjuna awardee, Dr. A.B. Subbaiah comes on board as team manager. He will oversee

communication, team meetings, equipment management, travel logistics, and risk management, ensuring smooth team operations on and off the field.

Commenting on his new role, Subbaiah said, “Congratulations to Vedanta. With my experience as former player and coach, I am keenly looking forward to building and managing a world-class team that will surely win laurels and millions of hearts.”

--IANS
 

India suffered a setback before the start of play as Asha Sobhana suffered a knee injury during the warm-up on the sidelines of the toss. Radha Yadav replaced her in the playing 11 after Australia's captain agreed to match referee's request for a late change.

The other change in India's side was Pooja Vastrakar, who replaced S. Sanjana while Australia were without their regular captain Alyssa Healy (injured) and Tayla Vlaeminck (ruled out), who were replaced by Grace Harris and Darcie Brown.

Opting to bat first, Australia did not get the desired start in the powerplay as Renuka Singh, Shreyanka Patil and Pooja Vastrakar bowled tight lengths on slow and low Sharjah wicket.

Grace Harris started Australia's scoring with a four towards point off Renuka on the second ball of the innings. Harmanpreet introduced Shreyanka in the second over and the move worked as bowled four dot balls to Beth Mooney while giving just two runs.

In the next over, Mooney, who was under pressure, tried to flex her arms but only found Radha towards the backward point. On the next ball, Renuka trapped Georgia Wareham in front of the wickets to clinch her second scalp on successive balls. Stand-in captain Tahlia McGrath joined Grace in the middle.

Pooja bowled the fourth over of the innings and gave six runs off it before Renuka returned for her third over in the powerplay.

In the final over of the field restriction, Grace struck Shreyanka for four on the first ball but the all-rounder finished well with just seven off it. Australia were 37/2 after 6 overs.

Arundhati Reddy came into attack for the seventh over and kept the pressure on Australian batters. However, Tahlia and Grace hit fours off Pooja in the next over to accumulate 10 from it.

Deepti Sharma started with a tight over to restrict Australia to 65/2 at the halfway mark. Meanwhile, Tahlia became the fastest Australian women's player to complete 1000 T20I runs. He completed the feat in 37 innings, one short of Meg Lanning.

In the 11th over, Renuka returned to attack and completed her quota of four overs with figures of 2-24. The Australia duo stitched a 62-run crucial partnership for the third wicket before Radha broke the stand. Harmanpreet Kaur dropped Tahlia for 31 off Radha at extra-cover in the 12th over before she finally got her out two balls later in the same over. Ellyse Perry came in to bat at No. 5 as Australia were 80/3 after 12 overs.

Grace switched gears in the 13th over and hit two fours off Arundhati to add 11 from the over. Deepti finally gave some respite to India as she removed Grace for 40 in the 14th over. Ashleigh Gardner had a very short stint in the middle as Pooja sent her back to the pavilion in the 15th over.

Phoebe Litchfield and Ellyse kept the scoreboard ticking in the final overs. Ellyse took charge on her shoulders and struck Shreyanka for a four and six on consecutive balls to add 14 from the 16th over.

With Litchfield and Ellyse in the middle, Australia added 17 runs in the next two overs before Deepti removed the latter for 32 off 23 including two fours and a six in the penultimate over.

Australia lost two more wickets in the final over bowled by Shreyanka before Litchfield finished the innings with a six to post 151/8 in 20 overs.

Brief scores: Australia 151/8 in 20 overs (Grace Harris 40, Tahlia McGrath 32, Ellyse Perry 32; Renuka Singh 2-24, Deepti Sharma 2-28) against India.

--IANS
 

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and the party's National General Secretary Tarun Chugh have been appointed observers for the Jammu and Kashmir.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called a meeting of its newly-elected 48 legislators in Haryana to elect their legislature party leader.

Nayab Singh Saini, the party’s Chief Minister face in the Assembly poll, is expected to be chosen as the leader of the legislature party ahead of the swearing-in ceremony to be held on a day after the meeting.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Shah, ministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states will attend the ceremony.

The date for the oath-taking was finalised after outgoing Chief Minister Saini met Home Minister Shah and other senior leaders in New Delhi on Friday night after confirmation of PM Modi’s availability from the Prime Minister’s Office.

For the second time, Panchkula, near the state capital Chandigarh, will be hosting the swearing-in ceremony of the BJP government. The ceremony will be held at the Dussehra ground at 10 A.M. in Sector 5.

Earlier, the swearing-in ceremony was planned for October 15, but owing to PM Modi’s availability on October 17 it was rescheduled, party leaders said.

In 2014, Panchkula was the venue for the swearing-in of Manohar Lal Khattar, the BJP’s first chief minister in the state, after the party won a majority with 47 seats in the 90-member Assembly.

At that time also, PM Modi had attended the ceremony.

Days ahead of government formation for the third time, Saini on Friday said 25,000 appointments would be made before the oath-taking ceremony.

Taking a jibe at the main Opposition, he said the Congress never rose above corruption and dynastic politics.

“In the past, they had won power by deceiving people in several states, including Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, and others. The Congress has lost its credibility,” Saini has told the media.

Outgoing Chief Minister Saini, under whose leadership the party fought the high-octane electoral battle and overcame a 10-year anti-incumbency, may be retained as the Chief Minister, party leaders believe.

The BJP won a landslide majority by winning 48 seats in a House of 90. The Congress was the second-largest party with 37 seats, while the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) got only two seats.

Independent candidates who got three seats, extended unconditional support to the BJP, whereas Dushyant Chautala's Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) drew a blank.

Simultaneously, BJP's parliamentary board has tasked Union Minister Prahlad Joshi and BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh with overseeing the selection of the legislature party leader in J&K.

Despite the National Conference's 42-seat win, marking them as the largest party, the BJP marked a historic high of 29 seats in the region's Assembly elections.

--IANS

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