NEW DELHI: The past week was quite turbulent for the cricket world — from Mustafizur Rahman being released by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, to the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s decision not to send its team to India for the upcoming T20 World Cup, and now the ICC stepping in to reassure the BCB.Bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh have remained strained since the mass uprising in Bangladesh in 2024 that led to the removal of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and the ripple effects are now being felt strongly in the sporting sphere as well.

Amid this ongoing tussle between the two neighbours, former Bangladesh batter Rajin Saleh revisited a significant moment from his career, recalling the ‘big’ support he received from batting legend Sachin Tendulkar and former India captain Sourav Ganguly.Saleh took fans down memory lane to the 2004 tour, when India visited Bangladesh for a Test and ODI series. The assignment proved memorable not just on the field but also for the camaraderie and guidance he experienced from two of Indian cricket’s biggest icons.“I was struggling with the bat in that series. I scored two ducks in a Test match and then didn’t have a good outing in the ODIs either. I scored 14 and 0 in the first two matches. I was feeling so down and dejected. My morale was completely low. That’s when I decided to speak to Sourav and Sachin,” Saleh told TimesofIndia.com in an exclusive interview.“Ahead of the third ODI, I knocked on Sachin’s door and he welcomed me. I told him about my poor form. He smiled and gave me some tips. He told me how to stay mentally fit going into a game by burying past performances. He said when you walk off the ground after getting out, just leave that innings there and start afresh in the next match,” Saleh said.“Ganguly also came in at that moment and sat quietly, listening to what Sachin was telling me. Ganguly then said, ‘veer ki tarah khelo, yoddha bano’. He asked me to bat fearlessly at the crease. Those words really egged me on. In the next match, I scored in the 80s against India. I scored runs against top bowlers — Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh — in that game,” he added.“One is God (Sachin) and the other is one of the finest captains India has ever produced (Ganguly). I truly admire them. I am grateful that I played against both those stars. Sachin is the god of cricket — I have witnessed that on the ground. The atmosphere was magical whenever he came out to bat. It was only Sachin, Sachin and nothing else. It was really hard to concentrate when he was batting,” Saleh, who played 24 Tests and 43 ODIs between 2003 and 2008, said.Saleh currently serves as the national high-performance batting coach with Bangladesh cricket.“I am currently coaching one of the teams in the BPL season. I am also coaching the Bangladesh senior team and working with the national high-performance setup. We miss playing against India. I played the Under-19 World Cup with Kaif, Yuvraj and many others, and I really miss competing against India.“I even asked Yuvraj for bats on a couple of occasions. He took me to the dressing room and said, ‘le lo jo bhi bat chahiye’. He has such a big heart,” Saleh signed off, leaving fans nostalgic.

Dhurandhar’, directed by Aditya Dhar and starring Ranveer Singh and Akshaye Khanna in lead roles, has continued its golden run at the ticket windows. The film, that is in its fifth week, continued to maintain a steady grip over the box office, seeing only a minor dip in numbers as per early estimates.Dhurandhar Movie Review

‘Dhurandhar’ box office collection Day 34

A report on sacnilk states that the film earned an estimated Rs 4.25 crore on Day 34, its fifth Wednesday at the box office. The Hindi version recorded an overall 10.69 per cent occupancy, even a month after its release. The film that has been on a record-breaking run at the box office, scored the highest fifth week collections in just the weekend. The film beat ‘Chhaava’s Rs 30 crore record by earning an estiamted Rs 33.25 crore net in just 3 days. Monday saw the film face a dip in numbers, earning around Rs 4.75 crore. It maintained its graph on Tuesday, earning another Rs 4.75 crore. With Wednesday’s collections, the film’s total net collection for week 5 has hit an estimated Rs 47 crore.

‘Dhurandhar’ week-wise collections

The film’s week-wise India nett collections stand as follows:Week 1: Rs 207.25 croreWeek 2: Rs 253.25 croreWeek 3: Rs 172 croreWeek 4: Rs 106.5 croreWeek 5: Rs 47 croreWhile the film has managed to surpass the Rs 100 crore mark for the past few weeks, this will be the first time that the movie will only hit the Rs 50 crore net milestone.

‘Dhurandhar’ total gross collections

By the end of Day 34, Dhurandhar has amassed a net total collection of Rs 786 crore nett in India. The film’s gross total collections on the other hand, have hit an estimated Rs 943 crore. With an additional Rs 284 crore coming in from overseas markets, the film has now hit a gross total collection of Rs 1227 crore.

‘Dhurandhar’ becomes No 1 Hindi film

‘Dhurandhar’ on Wednesday, officially became the highest-earning film in a single language (Hindi). As per box office data released by the producers, its total India nett collection climbed to Rs 831.40 crore, thus surpassing the Hindi lifetime business of Allu Arjun’s ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’, which had earned around Rs 830 crore nett. With this, the film also made its way past the other top-grossing Hindi films including Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Jawan’ which earned Rs 643 crore and the horror-comedy ‘Stree 2’ that raked in an estimated Rs 627 crore.‘Dhurandhar’ box office collection day 34: The Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna starrer slows down after becoming the highest grossing Indian film, holds better than ‘Ikkis’ and ‘Tu Meri Main Tera’

‘Dhurandhar’ claims box office victory

The makers of ‘Dhurandhar’ also released an official statement that read, “History has been rewritten. With Tuesday’s collections, Dhurandhar has officially risen to become the highest-earning Hindi film of all time, a towering achievement that has redefined Indian box office success.”Yash Raj Films also congratulated the team, calling the film’s success a “milestone moment in Indian cinema”.

Agastya Nanda’s ‘Ikkis’ has showcased no potential to pull the audience to the theaters since its release in theaters, and the box office reports are the proof of the same. The war drama has not yet reached the 25 crore mark, even after seven days since the release. Let’s take a look at how much the film earned on its day 7.

‘Ikkis’ box office collection Day 7

The audience had high expectations from the film, as it was the big-screen debut of Agastya Nanda and a Sriram Raghavan directorial. However, the movie failed to live up to the hopes of the people. According to the Sacnilk report, the war film has earned Rs 1.15 crore at the box office. This brings the movie’s total revenue to Rs 24.25 crore.

Day-wise collection

Day 1 [1st Thursday]: Rs 7 croreDay 2 [1st Friday]: Rs 3.5 croreDay 3 [1st Saturday]: Rs 4.65 croreDay 4 [1st Sunday]: Rs 5 croreDay 5 [1st Monday]: Rs 1.35 croreDay 6 [1st Tuesday]: Rs 1.6 croreDay 7 [1st Wednesday]: Rs 1.15 croreTotal: Rs 24.25 crore

‘Ikkis’ vs ‘Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri’

Comparing the collections of the first seven days of ‘Ikkis’ and ‘Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri’, the Kartik Aaryan and Ananya Panday starrer was ahead of the war drama. The rom-com earned Rs 28.85 crore in its first seven days.Meanwhile, the movie earned Rs 0.25 crore on its Day 14 (second Wednesday), January 7, 2026. The total collection of the film is now Rs 32.8 crore at the box office.

‘Ikkis’ vs ‘Dhurandhar’

Well, ‘Dhurandhar’ is the beast of the box office right now and has collected over Rs 1200 crore globally. On its day 34 (fifth Wednesday), the movie raked in Rs 4.25 crore. The total collection of the film in India is Rs 786 crore.

More about ‘Ikkis’

Directed by Sriram Raghavan, the film stars Agastya Nanda, Dharmendra (his last screen appearance), Jaideep Ahlawat, Sikander Kher, Simar Bhatia, and Vivaan Shah.The movie is based on the Paramvir Chakra honoree (posthumously), Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, who was martyred during the India-Pakistan War of 1971.The film was released in theaters on January 1, 2026.

Ahmedabad: A couple from Rajkot approached the Gujarat high court seeking directions to the Centre and RBI against Indian Bank, alleging that gold ornaments worth Rs 1.15 crore pledged for two loans went missing from the bank’s custody, and that the bank kept them uninformed while continuing to accept interest on the loans.The petition was filed by Sangeeta Shah and Shyam Shah, who got two MSME jewel loan facilities in 2023 from Indian Bank’s Rajkot branch by pledging 1004.1 gram of 22-carat jewellery, including gold ornaments and gemstones, with market value of Rs 1.15 crore.

Ahmedabad Headlines Today — Key Stories You Shouldn’t Miss.

The petitioners submitted that the loans were renewed annually and the bank used to appraise the value of the pledged gold. When they requested the bank to renew the loans on Oct 28, 2025, the bank informed them the next day that it could not renew the loans because the “jewel pocket” kept on pledge was missing. It asked them to submit a reimbursement claim, quoting a reference rate of Rs 10,813 per gram for 24-carat gold.The bank informed the petitioners that the ornaments were missing from March 2025, and the bank filed a complaint with the police in July, though no FIR was filed yet. The couple approached the HC after the bank threatened them to classify the loan accounts as NPA, imposed penal charges, and their credit score began getting affected.Their advocate, Nimit Shukla, argued that the bank suppressed the information for several months and continued to demand and accept the interest amount. This was in breach of the duty of care. The couple made a representation on Nov 5, 2025, highlighting negligence and claimed reimbursement of the lost gold, making charges, and the gemstones’ value.The petition contended that the bank did not even provide a timeline for reimbursement. Despite its admission in writing about the gold loss, the bank resorted to coercive steps, which amounted to unjustified abuse of dominance. “The bank’s deliberate suppression of information for several months and its failure to compensate petitioners is in absolute disregard for the guidelines laid down by the RBI,” the petition read.The couple sought directions to the Centre and RBI to take necessary action against the bank and direct the bank to appropriately compensate the petitioners in accordance with law, or to constitute an independent vigilance committee to take necessary action against the bank. They also sought complete details of loan accounts and internal enquiries, and directions against the bank to refrain itself from taking any coercive steps against them regarding the loan accounts.After a preliminary hearing, Justice Aniruddha Mayee issued notice to the Centre, RBI and Indian Bank, seeking their replies by Jan 27, when further hearing was posted.

Justin Langer, the former Australian coach, has mounted some well-deserved praise for Jacob Bethell after his magnificent century at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The former Australian batter has used some tricky phrases and has intrigued the audience.

The Ashes have not marked too many glorious moments for the English cricketers who toured Down Under. However, Jacob Bethell played in his second game of the Ashes series and managed to score his maiden First-class hundred.

Joe Root, on the other hand, has been one of England’s most promising batters and scored his second century of the series. Harry Brook and Zak Crawley also remained among the highest scorers for England.

Jacob Bethell lit up SCG with a stupendous century

Left-handed batter Jacob Bethell not only played a stupendous innings at the SCG but also threatened to take over the no. 3 position in the English red-ball side. Ollie Pope has struggled in the position since last year, as he has either scored centuries or been dismissed for ducks.

Bethell scored his first century and helped England’s innings single-handedly. Harry Brook and Ben Duckett remained the only batters who helped him with the innings. Bethell remained unbeaten at the end of Day 4 and helped England to a lead of 119 runs.

Justin Langer has made the headlines with a quirky response on Jacob Bethell, mounting praises for the English batter, and his comments show he might be in love with the batter’s performances.

“Ah, guess what, my boyfriend’s coming. My boyfriend arrived,” said Justin Langer. The remark made Alastair Cook and the presenter of TNT Sports laugh out loud as they welcomed Jacob Bethell.

“I love his honesty. I love the way he played. And yeah, dare I say, I love him,” the Australian legend remarks made Alastair Cook get all naughty. Cook replied, “I am not going to quote that for the national TV. I’ll let Justin do that.”

Mountains of well deserved praise for Jacob Bethell from the team 🙌

Justin Langer may be in LOVE 😍😂 pic.twitter.com/QpIwPidNzi

— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) January 7, 2026

In another major feat, Justin Langer has credited Jacob Bethell’s upbringing for his fine technique on the back foot. Langer has said that any player who is good on the back foot can evolve to be a promising player in the future.

“He just says it as it is. I just love what he said about growing up in Barbados. I’ve always said, if I were a coach of a kid, I would be teaching them to play off the back foot before the front foot,” said Langer.

“Because if you have any worries about playing off the back foot, it doesn’t matter if you hit 10 billion balls on the front foot. You’re never going to be quite as sharp. So, a great upbringing for him, a great lesson for kids wanting to become really good players,” he added.

ALSO READ: Ricky Ponting, Kevin Pietersen PUBLICLY EXECUTE Will Jacks over horrible Sydney Test dismissal

On this day, seven years ago, India created history by becoming the first Asian team to win a Test series against Australia in Australia. It was a truly stunning tour Down Under for the Virat Kohli-led Indian side as they went on to win both the Test and ODI series after drawing the T20I series.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The historic victory came after a 71-year wait for India, who first toured Australia in 1947–48. The scoreline at the end of the four-match series read 2-1 in favour of the visitors. In fact, it could have been an emphatic 3-1 if not for rain washing out most of the final two days of the fourth match in Sydney, such was India’s dominance in the contest.

Nonetheless, Team India set plenty of records in that historic series, which started with a 31-run victory in Adelaide in the first Test. Australia bounced back with an emphatic 146-run win in the second Test in Perth to level the series 1-1.India replied to that thrashing with one of their own, registering a 137-run victory in Melbourne to take a decisive 2-1 lead before the series moved to the SCG.India dominated the series finale in Sydney, posting a mammoth 622 for 7 declared after batting first, then bowling out Australia for 300 and enforcing the follow-on. It was the first follow-on at home for Australia since 1988. But rain somehow saved the hosts from defeat in Sydney.

The main architects of the historic series win Down Under for India were Cheteshwar Pujara with the bat and Jasprit Bumrah with the ball, along with contributions from other members of the team. Pujara was the top-scorer with 521 runs at an average of 74.42 in seven innings and deservedly won the Player of the Series award. Bumrah was the joint-leading wicket-taker of the series with Nathan Lyon, picking up 21 wickets at a stunning average of 17 in eight innings.Overall, India’s batters had a brilliant series, with the top three run-getters all being Indians. Apart from Pujara, young wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant had a breakthrough series, scoring 350 runs at an average of 58.33, including 159 not out in the final Test. Captain Kohli also contributed 282 runs, more than Australia’s top run-getter of the series, Marcus Harris (258).Among bowlers, Bumrah’s new-ball partner Mohammed Shami claimed 16 wickets at 26.18. The Indian pace duo outperformed their Australian counterparts on their own turf, giving the visitors a decisive edge in the series.The famed Australian trio of Pat Cummins (14), Josh Hazlewood (13) and Mitchell Starc (13) followed in the list of wicket-takers, with India’s Ishant Sharma also chipping in with 11 wickets in three matches.Australia had a chance to level the series when they arrived in Sydney for the finale, with India leading 2-1. But it was not to be.

Here’s how the final match of the historic series panned out at the SCG:On January 3, Kohli won the toss and decided to put runs on the board first. The decision looked to have backfired when India lost opener KL Rahul in the second over to Hazlewood for 9. But it proved to be just a small hurdle before the Indian batters took control of the situation.Mayank Agarwal and No.3 batter Pujara then scored their fifties and added 116 runs for the second wicket to shake off the initial hiccup. Agarwal missed out on a well-deserved hundred when he fell for 77 off 112 balls to Lyon.The wicket did not bring further success for Australia as Pujara held one end firm and continued stitching partnerships. He added 54 with Kohli (23), followed by 48 with Ajinkya Rahane (18). Pujara brought up his hundred and took India to 303/4 at stumps on Day 1, batting on 130 not out, with Hanuma Vihari (39*) for company.When India lost Vihari for 42 the next day, he had already added 101 runs for the fifth wicket with Pujara. India’s No.3 did not stop there, adding another substantial 89-run partnership with Pant before falling for a majestic 193 off 373 balls. India were 418/6 when Pujara departed.Australia were still coming to terms with Pujara’s knock when the floodgates suddenly opened and runs began to flow freely from the bats of Pant and Ravindra Jadeja. Their stunning 204-run stand ended all hopes of a series-levelling win for the hosts on Day 2 itself.Pant remained unbeaten on 159 off 189 balls when India declared at 622/7 following the fall of Jadeja’s wicket. Jadeja departed after smashing 81 off just 114 balls.Australia ended the second day at 24/0, but knew they had a mountain to climb even to salvage a draw, let alone win the match.Harris and Usman Khawaja gave the hosts a solid start, adding 72 before the latter was dismissed for 27 by Kuldeep Yadav. Harris then added 56 with Marnus Labuschagne before falling for 79 to Jadeja. Australia lost four more wickets before rain and bad light ended the third day early, with the hosts at 236/6.The fourth day also began with rain in Sydney, washing out the first session. After a delayed start, India bundled out Australia for 300 in their first innings and enforced the follow-on. It was Australia’s first follow-on at home in 31 years. They were 6 without loss when rain returned and washed out the third session as well.The fifth day — January 7, 2019 — also began with more rain, much to the relief of the hosts. After lunch was taken without a ball being bowled, officials finally decided to call off the match during the second session.Rain, however, did not dampen the Indian celebrations as they clinched their first-ever Test series win in Australia. More importantly, they went on to replicate the feat on their next assignment Down Under as well.

NEW DELHI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi once again stole the spotlight during the third Under-19 ODI between India and South Africa on Wednesday. However, the day began with an unexpected moment from the young star. After losing the toss, Sooryavanshi looked upset on camera as he covered his face with his hands. The reaction caught everyone’s attention, including the match referee, who could not help but smile at the teenager’s honest response.

What followed later in the match, nevertheless, was pure domination from the 14-year-old.Leading the Indian team in the absence of regular captain Ayush Mhatre, Sooryavanshi produced a breathtaking batting performance. He reached his century in just 63 balls, becoming the youngest captain to score a hundred in Youth ODIs at the age of 14 years and nine months. He eventually scored a stunning 127 off just 74 balls, filled with clean hitting and fearless stroke play.India finished with a massive total of 393 for 7 in their 50 overs, making South Africa’s decision to bowl first a costly one. Sooryavanshi was well supported by Aaron George, who played a fine knock of 118 from 106 balls.

The pair put together a huge opening partnership of 227 runs, completely taking the game away from the visitors.South Africa struggled from the very start of their chase. Kishan Singh caused early damage, having reduced them to 15 for 3 within four overs. He removed Jorich Van Schalkwyk, Adnaan Lagadien and Lethabo Phahlamohlaka in quick succession.Although Daniel Bosman and Jason Rowles tried to steady the innings, South Africa kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They were eventually bowled out for 160 in 35 overs, handing India a crushing 233-run victory and a clean sweep of the three-match series.

New Delhi: The Union home ministry Wednesday formally notified the timeline for the first phase of Census 2027 — involving housing and houselisting operations — declaring that it shall be conducted over a 30-day period, to be specified by each state or Union territory, between April 1 and Sept 30 this year. Invoking its powers under Sections 3 and 17A of the Census Act, 1948, read with 6A and 6D of Census Rules, 1990, and in supersession of the notification dated Jan 7, 2020, “except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such supersession”, the Centre declared in the notification that the houselisting operations of Census 2027 shall have an option for self-enumeration, “which shall be conducted in 15 days’ time just before the start of house-to-house houselisting operations of 30 days”.

Census to be held digitally for first time

The release of schedule for first phase of the exercise formally kickstarts what was a decennial exercise, before the Covid outbreak delayed Census 2021. It shall be conducted in two phases – houselisting and housing census followed by population enumeration – between April 1, 2026 and Feb 28, 2027, with 00:00 hours of March 1, 2027, as the reference date (except for UT of Ladakh and snow-bound areas and non-synchronous areas of J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand).On Dec 12 last year, the Union cabinet chaired by PM Modi had approved the proposal for conducting Census of India 2027 at a cost of Rs 11,718.2 crore. The population enumeration phase of the latest census will also capture caste identity.About 30 lakh field functionaries will be involved in the Census, the largest administrative and statistical exercise in the world. Being the first digital census, it will involve the use of mobile app for data collection and a central portal for monitoring purposes, ensuring better quality data.The govt had last month stated that Census data dissemination will be much better and done in a user-friendly way so that all queries on required parameters for policymaking are available at the click of a button.Census-as-a-service (CaaS) will deliver data to ministries in a clean, machine-readable and actionable format.The Census process involves visiting each and every household and canvassing separate questionnaires for houselisting & housing census and population enumeration.The enumerators, generally government teachers and appointed by state govts, will do the Census fieldwork in addition to their regular duties.A dedicated portal, namely Census Management & Monitoring System (CMMS) portal, has been developed for managing and monitoring the entire process on a real-time basis. Public can self-enumerate through the Census app or portal in the 15-day period before start of the 30-day houselisting phase in their state/UT. Suitable security features have been provisioned for the digital census.