Pant and Gill available for second Test as India face selection dilemma in Pune

Pant And Gill Available For Second Test As India Face Selection Dilemma In Pune

by Utkalika Mohanty

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

India are expected to have a nearly full-strength squad for the second Test against New Zealand in Pune, with assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate confirming that Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill are fit and will be available for selection.

Pune, Oct 22: India are expected to have a nearly full-strength squad for the second Test against New Zealand in Pune, with assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate confirming that Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill are fit and will be available for selection.

Both players are recovering from injuries that kept them out or limited their participation in the first Test, where India suffered a defeat in Bengaluru.

Pant, who injured his knee during New Zealand’s first innings, left the field and did not return to wicketkeeping duties for the remainder of the match. Dhruv Jurel replaced him behind the stumps, but India hopes Pant will be fit enough to resume his role in Pune.

"Yeah, I think everyone's really well. There wasn't too much bowling in that first Test, so the fast bowlers are all good. Rishabh's pretty good," Ryan said in the pre-match press conference on Tuesday. "I think Rohit Sharma touched on it the other day. He was having a little bit of discomfort at the end range of his movement with the knee. But fingers crossed he'll be good to keep in this Test as well."

Shubman Gill, who missed the first Test due to neck stiffness, has also been progressing well. "He's batted last week in Bangalore, he had a few nets," the assistant coach said of Gill. "He's got a little bit of discomfort, but I'll think he will be good to go for the Test."

Ryan also claimed that there are no concerns about KL Rahul's form at the moment but admitted that there is a big fight for places within the team. Rahul was terribly out of touch in the Bengaluru Test as he got for a duck in the first innings and 12 in the second one.

The return of Gill raises a significant selection challenge for India, especially in the batting department. Sarfaraz Khan, who replaced Gill in the Bengaluru Test, capitalised on his opportunity with a stunning 150. His standout performance adds to the complexity of India's middle-order decisions, especially with Rahul's current form under scrutiny.

"He didn’t play and miss at any balls. That’s what tends to happen when you're not getting runs. He got two balls in the game, one down the leg side and one that he managed to nick," ten Doeschate explained. "There’s certainly no concerns about KL. He’s batting nicely, and he’s in a good mental space."

The assistant coach hinted at a fierce competition for spots in the playing XI, particularly in the middle order. "Sarfaraz was brilliant in the last Test... We certainly have to fit seven pieces into six spots for this Test. We will look at the pitch now and decide what's going to be best for the team," he said.

The second Test between India and New Zealand begins on October 24.

--IANS

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Cyclone Dana: Colleges And Universities Closed In Odisha's 14 Districts From Oct 23-25

by Hemanta Pande

Bhubaneswar, Oct 22: The Odisha government on Tuesday announced that Colleges and Universities in 14 districts of the state will remain closed for three days starting from October 23 due to the impending cyclonic storm 'Dana'.

In a letter, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Deoranjan Kumar Singh apprised the Commissioner-cum-Secretary to the Higher Education Department about the decision regarding the closure of the Colleges and Universities in the affected districts from October 23 to October 25.

All the Colleges and Universities in Ganjam, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Angul, Khurda, Nayagargh and Cuttack districts will remain closed from October 23 to October 25 as a precautionary measure in view of the impending severe cyclonic storm, the SRC said.

The above districts are expected to witness rough weather due to the severe cyclonic storm ‘Dana’.

Meanwhile, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari told media persons the State government has kept ready more than 750 cyclone shelters for people who will be evacuated from vulnerable areas.

The Minister stated that officials at the ground level have been instructed to make arrangements for women in cyclone shelters where women police will be deployed.

Food, water, medicine, electricity and other essentials are kept in readiness for the people to be evacuated due to the impending cyclone, he said.

According to the IMD, the severe cyclonic storm ‘Dana’ likely to be formed in the Bay of Bengal on October 23 is very likely to cross north Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island during the night of 24th and early morning 25th October 2024 as a severe Cyclonic Storm with a wind speed of 100-110 kmph gusting 120 kmph.

The IMD predicted that the rainfall activities will start in the coastal areas of the state from October 23 onwards while extremely heavy rainfall will be witnessed in some parts on October 24 and 25.

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Sensex Crashes 930 Points, All Sectoral Indices In Red

by Utkalika Mohanty

Mumbai, Oct 22: The Indian stock market saw a steep decline on Tuesday amid weak global cues as heavy selling was seen in PSU banks, metal and realty sectors.

Due to the fall, the market cap of all the companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) dropped by about Rs 9 lakh crore to Rs 445 lakh crore.

The Sensex closed at 81,151.27 at the end of trading after a huge fall of 930.55 points or 1.15 per cent. At the same time, the Nifty closed at 24,472.10 after falling 309.00 points or 1.25 per cent.

The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed in the red at 56,174.05 after slipping 1503.65 points or 2.61 per cent at the end of trading. The Nifty Smallcap 100 index closed at 18,061.00 after falling 736.40 points or 3.92 per cent.

Nifty Bank closed at 51,257.15 after falling 705.55 points or 1.36 per cent. Selling was seen in Nifty's Auto, IT, PSU Bank, Fin Services, Pharma, FMCG, Metal, Realty, Media, Energy, Private Bank, Infra and Commodity sectors.

The market trend remained negative. On the BSE, 576 stocks were trading in the green, 3,407 stocks in the red. Nearly 75 stocks closed without any change.

Barring ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel, all the major stocks in the Sensex pack ended in red.

BHEL, Coal India, M&M, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, SBI and Hindalco were the top losers in the Nifty pack. On the other hand, Infosys, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel were the top gainers.

According to market experts, bearish sentiment continued to dominate the domestic market amid heightened volatility, with small and midcap stocks taking the biggest hit.

"The RBI's latest bulletin upholds India's GDP growth forecast of 7.2 per cent for FY25, suggesting that the Q2 slowdown is temporary, with festive season consumption expected to rebound and ease the pressure on earnings downgrades,” said experts.

--IANS

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Adani Energy Solutions Reports 172 Pc Jump In Net Profit In Q2 FY25

by Hemanta Pande

Ahmedabad, Oct 22: Adani Energy Solutions Limited (AESL) on Tuesday reported an impressive 172 per cent surge in net profit at Rs 773 crore in the July-September quarter (Q2) this fiscal.

Adjusted profit after tax (PAT) was Rs 459 crore, excluding deferred tax reversal (MAT entitlement) of Rs 314 crore -- up 61.6 per cent YoY while EBITDA was Rs 1,891 crore, up 31 per cent YoY.

Kandarp Patel, CEO, Adani Energy Solutions, said the company remains focused on timely project commissioning as well as achieving operating efficiencies.

“The power demand trends in both utilities and new transmission project wins are very encouraging and we are making progress with the installation of smart meters in all our contracts,” said Patel.

In the month of August, the Adani Group company raised Rs 8,373 crore via the qualified institutional placement (QIP) route, the largest in the country's power sector. The QIP received bids of approximately six times of the base deal size from a diverse group of investors.

Adani Energy Solutions reported an increase in its project pipeline from Rs 17,000 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal to Rs 27,300 crore in the second quarter (Q2). The transmission network was at 23,269 circuit kilometres (ckm) in the July-September period, compared to 19,862 ckm in the same period of the previous year.

Adani Energy Solutions saw robust growth of 69 per cent in total income, driven by the contribution from the recently commissioned Kharghar-Vikhroli, Warora-Kurnool, Khavda-Bhuj lines, acquired Mahan-Sipat line, higher energy sales in Mumbai and Mundra utilities and contribution from smart metering.

The company also secured three new transmission projects -- NES in Jamnagar Gujarat, NES in Navinal (Mundra), and Khavda Phase IVA, thereby adding 2,059 ckm to under construction network.

“The leverage position is healthy, with net debt to EBITDA metric at 3.1 times in H1 FY25,” said the company. The capex as of H1 FY25 was Rs 4,400 crore, as against Rs 2,622 crore in H1 FY24.

“Our credible steps of successfully divesting the Dahanu thermal plant in line with our commitment and achieving an all-time high share of 39 per cent renewable power penetration in Mumbai strengthens our position as true energy transition leader in India,” Patel said.

--IANS

Pant and Gill available for second Test as India face selection dilemma in Pune

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