A Sikh parade in South Auckland was disrupted on Saturday by a group of ‘Patriot’ protesters doing haka. They were linked to political leader Brian Tamaki’s Destiny Church, a Christian fundamentalist religious group. The demonstration took place on Great South Road, where police were forced to separate the protesters and parade participants to ensure no one was hurt if things escalated, reports the NZ Herald.In a video posted to Tamaki’s social media, the group True Patriots of NZ can be seen confronting the Sikh parade as it moved along the street. The group described themselves as “Guardians of the Kiwi Way of Life. Defenders of Faith, Flag & Family,” which opposes “globalism, mass immigration, and woke ideology.”The protesters were wearing blue shirts with slogans such as “Kiwis first,” “Keep NZ, NZ,” and “True Patriot.” They also displayed a large banner which said “This is New Zealand not India.” They performed a haka and linked arms, chanting “One true God,” “Jesus,” and “God of nation,” while being held apart from the Sikh group by police.Inspector Matt Hoyes said about 50 protesters blocked the road at around 2pm, attempting to disrupt the parade. “Police acted swiftly to ensure the parade was able to safely continue and additional officers were called in to escort the parade participants through the remainder of their route,” he said. Officers remained in the area until the parade concluded to make the Sikh community feel safe.Inspector Hoyes said protesting is a right, but it should not threaten public safety: “NZ Police recognises the lawful right to protest, however we will not tolerate actions that threaten public safety or intimidate others exercising their lawful rights.”In a caption accompanying the video, Tamaki said, “THIS IS OUR LAND. THIS IS OUR STAND. Today, True Patriots stood their ground in South Auckland. No violence. No riots. Just my young men performing a haka…face-to-face…to send a clear message: KEEP NZ, NZ.”The demonstration comes amid heightened police presence at religious and community sites following the Bondi Beach shooting in Sydney, Australia, earlier this month, which left 16 people dead during a Jewish Hanukkah festival. The identified suspects were a father and son duo named Sajid Akram (50) and Naveed Akram (24). Police said the attack was inspired by Islamic State (ISIS) ideology and targeted the Jewish community. It was later confirmed that Sajid Akram was born in Hyderabad, India and later migrated to Australia in 1998.Tamaki previously took to social media after the attack to claim that “multiculturalism is ruining Australia.”

Leading watch and jewellery maker Titan is “very bullish” for its watch business, which is expected to touch the $1 billion sales mark in the next two years, led by factors such as premiumisation, retail footprint expansion and growth of the international business division, a top company official said. Titan recorded a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 16 per cent in the last four to five years, and it is focusing on the mid-premium analogue segment (Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000), and the premium segment (Rs 25,000 to Rs 1 lakh) to drive growth, Titan Watch Division CEO Kuruvilla Markose told PTI. Riding on the premiumisation wave, trend of revival of analogue watches, Titan is expanding the network of its Helios and the new Helios Luxe format as the appetite for luxury watches in India is on the rise, he said, adding, “Premium and luxury segments will grow faster, potentially upwards of 30 per cent.” With tailwinds such as a growing economy, rising personal income, and a large, aspirational millennial population, Titan is “very bullish on India (watch). Premium and luxury segments will grow rapidly,” said Markose. Currently, Titan has around 282 Helios stores. “We have opened 5 Helios Luxe stores at present, going to open 20 stores by the end of FY26 and planning to open 40 stores by FY27 and will continue expanding. We operate in around 500 towns overall and see scope to expand Helios further where premium demand exists,” he said. Watches above Rs one lakh are in the luxury segment, which is further divided into accessible, aspirational, and absolute luxury, which are sold through Helios and Helios Luxe stores. “From FY25 to FY26, the share of premium segment sales has more than doubled. Titan, Edge, and international brands are growing rapidly above Rs 25,000,” Markose said. In FY2024-25, Titan’s ‘Watch & Wearable’ segment reported a revenue of Rs 4,576 crore, with a growth of over 17 per cent, which, according to the company, was a “defining year”. Over the expected growth in the current fiscal, he said: “We have been growing from 16 per cent CAGR for the last 4-5 years. We see no reason for any change. If you look at our published performance till Q2, we have pretty much followed that track, continuing to grow 16 to 17 per cent over the last year.” When asked when he expects Titan’s ‘Watch & Wearable’ business to reach USD 1 billion in sales, Markose said: “From a consumer price perspective, we expect to cross a billion dollars next year (FY’27).” Net sales may take another year.” Besides, Titan is also expanding to other retail formats as Titan World, Fastrack and is also present in large format stores, electronic stores for smartwatches, marketplaces, and our own websites in India and internationally, he added. The mid-premium analogue segment will also continue to grow because India has a large population upgrading from unbranded or informal watches to branded ones, similar to moving from two-wheelers to cars, he said. “We are very bullish on India. Premium and luxury segments will grow rapidly, but we will continue serving mass and mid-premium segments as well. We are building capabilities across product, retail, branding, and marketing to serve all segments effectively,” said Kuruvilla Markose, who, earlier this July, was appointed CEO of Titan’s watch division. Titan, a JV between Tata Group and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), a government enterprise, will continue to invest in “modernisation, capability building, and horology”. “At higher price points, movement quality and complications matter more. We have developed in-house automatic movements, including India’s first wandering hour. We will continue investing with a mix of in-house, indigenous, and global vendor ecosystems,” said Markose. On the analogue versus smartwatch, he said, the traditional analogue is now growing faster than the new-age digital. However, he also added: “We believe smartwatches are here to stay, shifting from novelty to functional value focused on fitness, health, and productivity. Our research shows about 20 per cent of consumers buy a smartwatch in addition to an analogue watch, and about 30 per cent buy both alongside each other.” Markose did not share the split between analogue and digital revenue in Titan. When asked about Titan’s international presence in the watch segment, he said, “We are present in about 25+ countries, with around 75 exclusive brand outlets and over 1,500+ multi-brand outlets. We also operate 10+ country-specific international websites and are present on 40+ global marketplaces.”

India Women return to international action this Sunday evening in Visakhapatnam for the first of five T20Is against Sri Lanka Women, a series serving as a crucial launchpad for their T20 World Cup 2026 preparations following their historic maiden ODI World Cup title earlier this year.

With the match starting at 7:00 PM IST at the ACA-VDCA Stadium, Team India is expected to maintain their balanced template of three seamers and three spinners, potentially handing a debut to Vaishnavi Sharma in place of the unavailable Radha Yadav to support a powerhouse lineup featuring Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana. Facing them is the Sri Lankan side eager to test themselves against top opposition, relying heavily on the all-round brilliance of captain Chamari Athapaththu and a spin-led attack suited to the local conditions to challenge the hosts.

IND-W vs SL-W, 1st T20I: Match Details

• Date and Time: December 21; 1:30 pm IST / 7:00 am GMT
• Venue: ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam

IND-W vs SL-W Head to Head Record in T20Is

Matches played: 26 | India Women won: 20 | Sri Lanka Women won: 05 | No result: 01

ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium Pitch Report

The pitch at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam is generally a hard, batting-friendly surface with true bounce, allowing for high-scoring white-ball contests where batters can play freely through the line early on. However, the track tends to slow down as the match progresses, bringing spinners and change-of-pace seamers into the equation, though the frequent arrival of dew in evening games often counteracts this, tilting the advantage toward the chasing side.

Squads

India Women: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Amanjot Kaur, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Singh Thakur, Shree Charani, Arundhati Reddy, Vaishnavi Sharma, G Kamalini

Sri Lanka Women: Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu (c), Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Kaushani Nuthyangana (wk), Rashmika Sewwandi, Imesha Dulani, Kawya Kavindi, Nimesha Madushani, Malki Madara, Inoka Ranaweera, Malsha Shehani, Shashini Gimhani

Also READ: SA-W vs IRE-W, 3rd ODI Match Prediction – Who will win today’s game between South Africa and Ireland?

IND-W vs SL-W, 1st T20I: Today’s Match Prediction

Case 1:

• India Women wins the toss and bowls first
• Sri Lanka Women’s powerplay score: 30-40
• Sri Lanka Women’s total score: 140-150

Case 2:

• Sri Lanka Women wins the toss and bowls first
• India Women’s powerplay score: 50-60
• India Women’s total score: 170-180

Match result: India to win the contest.

Also READ: Shafali Verma reveals Team India’s next big goal after their World Cup triumph

This article was first published at WomenCricket.com, a Cricket Times company.

You don’t have permission to access “http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/several-killed-in-mass-shooting-in-johannesburg-in-south-africa-9857174” on this server.

Reference #18.14092017.1766296950.ae6143a

https://errors.edgesuite.net/18.14092017.1766296950.ae6143a

India’s Shubman Gill (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma)

New Delhi: On the morning of the fourth T20I against South Africa on Wednesday, chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar rushed to Lucknow. By evening, it emerged that vice-captain Shubman Gill was going to miss the remaining T20Is after suffering an impact injury on his right foot on the eve of the fourth match. On paper, it may sound as if it was just a coincidence that Sanju Samson was going to open the innings again for India in the fifth T20I in Ahmedabad on Friday. TOI understands that the team management had already conveyed its wish to replace Gill at the top of the order after a prolonged period of lack of runs. The team had moved on from Gill as it revisited its plans for the T20 World Cup starting in another 48 days.

As India’s T20I team went on a break from the start of the IPL, the team management and selectors had identified Gill as their all-format leader going forward. Hence, a strategy was devised where they wanted the wicketkeeper to bat in the middle order. If one revisits the IPL, both Samson and Rishabh Pant came out to bat lower than their preferred positions. Gill was given a free run at the top of the order. Security for a place in the XI comes at a premium in Indian cricket these days. Gill was even given that with vice-captaincy despite not featuring in the T20 World Cup team in 2024. He was perhaps the only batter in Indian cricket who had absolute clarity about his batting positions across formats in the last eight months. This team management, under head coach Gautam Gambhir, has been bullish about not letting superstar culture persist in the dressing room. Gill’s omission is a brutal reminder that even the man identified to be the face of Indian cricket can’t hide behind non-performance. At the same time, the team management and the selectors also can’t shy away from the utter lack of clarity in its plans. Lack of clarity in Gill’s role, compromised power-hitting When Gill was brought back to his opening spot in T20Is, the idea was to have at least one batter who could bat out overs without really compromising on the run-rate. The idea revolved around the fact there are very few high-scoring matches in big tournaments. Someone with the stability of Gill up the order can anchor an innings much like Virat Kohli did for such a long time. “Gill was stuck in a place where he probably felt the pressure of going big at the top of the order. The whole idea behind a young and revamped T20I team was to keep the opposition under pressure with a high run-rate. Gill perhaps got caught up in that. He didn’t quite strike a balance between power and adding stability,” a source close to the team management told TOI. It also led to India’s power-hitting getting compromised. The pressure fell back on the bowlers. With the wicketkeeper now batting up the order, it has lent depth to the power-hitting in the lineup. “With both captain Suryakumar Yadav and Gill woefully out of form, the other batters couldn’t bat with freedom and the strike-rates suffered,” the source added. TOI also understands that Surya always had reservations about his team being disturbed with players coming back from Test duties. As it turned out, three players—Gill, Rishabh Pant, and Yashasvi Jaiswal—who were asked to focus on Test cricket after the 2024 T20 World Cup, have all missed out on the upcoming edition in Feb-March. The team management had to go back to Ishan Kishan, who has not been around the Indian team for a couple of years. Bigger storm brewing after T20 WC Agarkar and Gambhir have been working together to build a stable team that can seamlessly take Indian cricket forward in the coming decade. Yet, they have not managed to assign definite roles to players. Gambhir thrives on a horses-for-courses philosophy. That said, Saturday’s selection also points at a project around grooming a future leader that has collapsed. “The board and the selectors are bracing for many more tough calls post the T20 World Cup. The team management’s initial plan around leadership has fallen through. They have to go back to grooming another leader after the T20 World Cup even if Surya has a good tournament,” the source said. The team wears a more balanced look on paper. The players picked in the team have battled uncertainty in their roles in the name of flexibility. It’s only a guess if the team management has finally zeroed down upon a plan with another five remaining T20Is against New Zealand at home in January.

Representative image (Picture credit: ANI)

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has asked his supporters to prepare for nationwide protests and said he will challenge his conviction in the Islamabad High Court after he and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were sentenced to 17 years in prison in the Toshakhana-II corruption case on Saturday.Khan, who does not currently have access to his social media accounts, conveyed his message through his legal team. According to a post on X cited by Dawn, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder said he had instructed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to begin preparations for a mass street movement. “I have sent a message to [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM] Sohail Afridi to prepare for the street movement. The entire nation will have to rise for its rights,” Khan said.Reacting to the verdict, Khan said the decision did not come as a surprise and accused the court of acting in haste. “Like the baseless decisions and sentences of the last three years, the Toshakhana-II decision is also nothing new to me,” he said, adding that the ruling was delivered “without any evidence” and that his legal team was “not even heard”, as reported by ANI.He confirmed that his lawyers had already been directed to move the high court against the sentence.PTI, in an official statement, described the verdict as “blatantly unconstitutional, illegal” and an act of political victimisation, alleging that the conviction was meant to prolong Khan’s imprisonment. Addressing a press conference, PTI secretary general Salman Akram Raja quoted Khan as saying, “I am standing firm and resolute and will not seek an apology from anyone, come what may.”The case relates to allegations that a Bulgari jewellery set, worth over PKR 71 million and received from the Saudi Crown Prince, was undervalued. Khan and Bushra Bibi were convicted under sections linked to criminal breach of trust and corruption, as per ANI.The sentencing has sparked public debate across Pakistan. Quoted by ANI, residents and journalists in Lahore and Peshawar questioned the credibility of the ruling, with some alleging political motives and a lack of evidence, saying the verdict had further weakened public trust in the justice system and democratic institutions.