India’s Axar Patel celebrates the wicket of New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips during the fifth and final T201 cricket match between India and New Zealand, at the Greenfield International Stadium, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. (PTI)

TimesofIndia.com in Mumbai: In April 2024, on the sidelines of a Delhi Capitals event in the national capital, Axar Patel was asked about his chances of making it to the T20 World Cup. “Aapko toh maloom hai ki main har World Cup se pehle injured ho jaata hoon (You guys know my history, I get injured before every World Cup),” pat came the reply from the India all-rounder. It brought a smile to everyone’s lips but after a while, when it sank in, one could sense the pain behind Axar’s comment.Axar’s childhood friend Keval Patel bursts into laughter while sharing the text he sent his buddy after the 32-year-old injured his bowling finger attempting a return catch in the first T20I against New Zealand.

“Maine usko message kar diya tha ki bhai dhyaan se, abhi World Cup hai, bahut lamba cricket hai (laughs). I messaged him to be careful, the World Cup is ahead, and there is a lot of cricket,” Keval tells TimesofIndia.com from Nadiad in Gujarat.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Behind the laughter, one could sense the tension that had gripped Axar’s close circle back home. Keval had seen a similar script unfold in 2023 when Axar got injured and missed the ODI World Cup at home. And he was not ready for another heartbreak.The absolute low of 2023 was followed by a dream run for Axar as he featured in the title-winning 2024 T20 World Cup squad, played a stellar knock in the final, and followed it up with a Champions Trophy title in 2025.

Axar Patel with his childhood friend Keval Patel (Special Arrangements)

In between, Axar became a father with the arrival of ‘Chota Patel’. Axar and his wife were blessed with a baby boy in December 2024 and, in Keval’s words, the toddler is the heartbeat of the entire clan. A group that once spent its time playing PlayStation now spends it with Haksh.“Hum jaise pehle baithte the, abhi bhi waise hi baithte hai. Abhi wo chota Patel ko leke aata hai to usme zyaada time chala jaata hai. Hum ab chotu ke saath hi khelte rehte hai (We still sit the same way, but now Axar brings his son along and all the time goes there. We keep playing with him),” says Keval.While Axar’s close circle has watched many of his games from the stands, it will be a World Cup debut of sorts for his son. Keval plans to take ‘Chotu’ to the ground for one of the matches. “Maine bahut match dekhe hai. Chotu ne bhi Delhi Capitals ka IPL match dekha hai. But is baar World Cup mein ‘Chota Patel’ ka entry hoga. Abhi kaunsa match dekhna hai, wo decide nahi hua hai, but Axar ko bol diya hai ki hum saath mein match dekhne aayenge (I have watched many matches. ‘Chotu’ has also watched a Delhi Capitals IPL game. But this time, it will be his first World Cup. We haven’t decided which match yet, but Axar knows we will be there together),” Keval shares.Axar flies under the radar most of the time, but his contributions with both bat and ball make him an integral part of the side. He remains the underrated cog in a star-studded Indian line-up. Brick by brick, the 32-year-old has grown in stature. He is the captain of Delhi Capitals and the deputy to Suryakumar Yadav in India’s T20I set-up.“Axar has been with us since 2019. He is an excellent reader of the game. He is a fun-loving character who keeps things light, but not many have noticed his game-reading skills and the way he thinks about cricket,” Venugopal Rao, Delhi Capitals’ director of cricket, tells this outlet.

Axar Patel of Delhi Capitals plays a shot during the 2025 IPL match between Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders at Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 29, 2025, in Delhi, India. (Photo by Prakash Singh/Getty Images)

Rao also revealed how Axar won the captaincy race despite the presence of experienced campaigners like Faf du Plessis and KL Rahul.“When captaincy was discussed, Rahul was there and Faf was there, but everyone was convinced about Axar because even the Indian team had started taking note of his leadership abilities,” says Rao.Rao’s first meeting with Axar came when the all-rounder was making waves in the age-group circuit for Gujarat and was known as the “Jayasuriya of Nadiad” because of his strokeplay.He recalls a fascinating episode from the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy season, when Axar was thrown into the deep end in a crucial fixture against Delhi. Rao and then Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel, agreed on the need to include a left-arm spinner against a star-studded Delhi batting line-up featuring Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Mithun Manhas and Rajat Bhatia.“I remember discussing it with Parthiv. We knew Axar from the age-group circuit and felt a left-arm spinner was essential. I scored a hundred, Parthiv got a half-century, but it was Axar who stood out. He took six wickets in the first innings and made vital runs to give us the first-innings lead,” Rao recalls.

Axar Patel of India bats during game four of the T20 International Series between Australia and India at People First Stadium on November 06, 2025 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

The performance did not go unnoticed. Axar was picked by the Punjab Kings at the IPL auction and soon earned a national call-up. Months later, he made his ODI debut for India against Bangladesh in June 2014.“He made an immediate impact. He did well against a strong Delhi side and got his rewards. There was no looking back after that,” Rao adds.From the teenager Rao saw in 2013 to the match-winner he has worked with at Delhi Capitals, much has changed. Yet, much has remained the same. Axar has matured significantly, but his mantra of keeping things simple remains intact.“With the greatest cricketers, it’s about how simple they keep things. Axar has mastered that and has only matured with time,” explains Rao.

India’s Axar Patel during a visit at Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, in Thiruvananthapuram.

Back in Nadiad, little has changed. He is still the same Axar Keval grew up with. Having lived through the highs and lows of his childhood friend’s career, Keval says one thing has never changed: Axar’s humility.“Bahut hi down-to-earth banda hai. Kuch bhi change nahi hua hai. Field ke bahar wo wahi Axar hai jo pehle tha(He is very down-to-earth. Nothing has changed. Outside the cricket field, he is still the same Axar as before),” says Keval.During the 2023 ODI World Cup, Axar was confined to watching matches on television. His friends sensed the turmoil he must have been going through. Their plan was simple: PlayStation, card games and plenty of laughter to keep his spirits up.“Hum jaante the wo andar se bahut dukhi hoga. Itna bada stage hai. Hum log roz saath baithte the aur usko distracted rakhte the. Pura din saath rehte the (We knew he was sad on the inside. It was a huge stage. We would sit everyday and distract him),” Keval says.

Axar carries the air of someone who has endured more than his share of misfortune. For over a decade, he has lived in Ravindra Jadeja’s shadow and missed major tournaments due to injuries. Yet, his tenacity has kept him going. A self-made cricketer, he has squeezed every ounce of his talent.He has won ICC titles, but this time, he will have a new supporter in ‘Chota Patel’ cheering from the stands. Axar now has the task of making his son’s first World Cup memorable by helping India lift the trophy once again.

Mumbai: The Union Budget 2026-27 has exempted basic customs duty on 17 critical cancer drugs to reduce treatment costs, but it seems to offer little more than a “grim reality check” for patients’ families. According to an analysis by public health researchers, even with the tax break, the annual cost for these medicines, considered path-breaking, can still range from over several lakhs to as much as Rs 1 crore.For instance, one of the drugs exempted includes Ribociclib, which is used for the treatment of breast cancers that are advanced, metastatic, or even high-risk early-stage, and costs Rs 24,355 per strip of 21 tablets. The clinical dose is 600mg per day, which is often split between three tablets of 200mg in a day. As per calculations by the Working Group on Access to Medicines and Treatment, the tablets needed per cycle are 63, or three strips, which translates to expenditure of Rs 73,065 per month and nearly Rs 9.5 lakh a year. Even with the waiver, this is still a little over Rs 8.5 lakh. The treatment could last for three years.India reports more than two lakh breast cancer cases annually, with Maharashtra accounting for 10% of them, according to the past National Cancer Registry.Speaking to TOI, K M Gopakumar, co-convenor of the access group, said that a large number of women are either deprived of these medicines or are put on alternative medicines that are not of the same scientific advancement. In some cases, the families decide to bear this out-of-pocket expense and fall into debt traps. “This makes the customs waiver just for optics. Generics are far in the future for many of the exempted drugs. The Patents Act allows the govt to intervene and make the companies reduce the price by warning them generics would be permitted earlier, but there is no will,” said Gopakumar.The only time this happened for cancer medicine was in 2012, when sorafenib was issued a compulsory licence, bringing the cost of this liver and renal cancer drug down to Rs 8,800 from 5,500 USD (around Rs 2.8 lakh).While Tata Memorial Hospital allows for most drugs at 30% less than the market price, director Dr Sudeep Gupta noted that these 17 medicines are still close to the market price as they are on-patent. “These medicines are considered superior because the side-effects are less and efficacy is higher. But in India we still have less expensive alternatives that are pharmacologically equivalent to them,” he said.Dr Gupta added, “The govt move is still welcome because we are trying to make it affordable. For someone on long-term treatment, it is still a substantial reduction in the price.”

Mumbai: Applications for professional courses under the NRI quota in private colleges across the state plunged from 1,392 in 2024-25 to just 173 this academic year — a near 90% drop — after Maharashtra govt tightened norms to ‘curb misuse’ of the category, showed data from the state’s CET cell. This quota allows students who do not manage to secure seats in general category, to use NRI status or sponsorship to get admission by paying substantially higher fees.Maharashtra is probably the first state in the country to significantly narrow the eligibility under this quota to students who are themselves NRIs, whose parents are NRIs, or whose legal guardians, appointed under the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, are NRIs. Earlier, students could seek admission under the quota if they were sponsored by NRI relatives such as siblings, grandparents or even uncles and aunts.The change in the definition of ‘NRI’ in Maharashtra in June 2025, mooted under the guidance of higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil, has had an immediate impact on admissions in this academic session. In the previous admission cycle, 603 of the 1,392 applicants were admitted under NRI quota. This year, the number stands at just 38 so far, though a marginal increase is expected after PG medical admissions conclude. The vacant seats under the category are converted into management seats, where the fees are comparatively lower.CET cell data showed that applications under the NRI quota are largely concentrated in courses such as engineering and postgraduate medical programmes, the latter having a limited number of seats and intense competition.The Centre’s Medical Counselling Committee, which oversees medical admissions under the all-India quota as well as in central and deemed universities, continues to follow a broader framework that allows extended family members, too, to sponsor candidates. TOI had reported that 811 candidates had ‘changed their nationality’ from Indian to NRI to get seats in the third round of the PG medical admissions, of which only 113 were NRIs or children of NRIs and the rest were sponsored by first- or second-degree relatives.Dileep Sardesai, CET cell commissioner, said they had noticed that most of the students taking advantage of the NRI quota were sponsored by relatives and distant relatives. “For the NRI quota, private medical colleges are allowed to charge up to five times the fees fixed by the Fee Regulatory Authority (FRA). The revised rules bring in transparency and will also benefit students in the long run,” said Sardesai. Data from the cell shows that the highest number of applications under NRI category are historically received for BE/BTech, followed by PG medical admissions. Last year, of the 1,392 applicants, 633 were engineering aspirants and 577 were aspiring for PG medical seats. This year, after the numbers declined, the trend remains similar. Sudha Shenoy, a parent representative, however, said that engineering colleges not only reserve seats for foreign nationals, but also for children of Indians working in Gulf countries, which could be contributing to the higher numbers.The amendment was challenged in court in four separate cases. While two of the matters have been dismissed by the Bombay High Court and its Aurangabad bench, two are still pending. Special Counsel for state and CET Cell, Pralhad Paranjape, said the Aurangabad bench of the HC dismissed the challenge, thereby upholding the state policy, which is also in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment in PA Inamdar v/s State of Maharashtra case.Shenoy said that genuine students with higher merit scores, whose first-degree blood relatives were NRI, were benefiting from the earlier policy, but are now denied the opportunity. She said the competition is intense when it comes to PG medical admissions. A Tamil Nadu-based activist, Meeran, however, said that with the Centre lowering the eligibility criteria to zero percentile in NEET-PG, merit is no longer a bone of contention. The fact that students can benefit economically is important now, he added.

MUSSOORIE: Padma Shri award-winning travel writer Hugh Gantzer passed away at his Mussoorie home late Monday evening at the age of 95. Apart from one of India’s highest civilian honours, Hugh, along with his wife Colleen Gantzer (who passed away in 2024 at age 90), was recognised with six national awards, the National Tourism Lifetime Achievement Award, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the All India Anglo-Indian Association, and two gold awards from Pacific Asia Travel Association.In 2017, the couple also received commendation from the Prime Minister’s Office for their pioneering contributions to travel writing.The couple began their career after being commissioned to write a book on Kerala for the India Tourism Development Corporation. Over the next five decades, the Gantzers produced 52 documentaries for Doordarshan, authored more than 30 books, and wrote travel columns for several leading English newspapers.“My father was a passionate man, defined by his love of writing and deep curiosity about the world. He lived with great pride in what he had built and gratitude for the blessings he had received. He and my mother were inseparable, spending their lives weaving together their love for one another with their zeal for travel. I can only hope they are together again now, at peace,” said Peter Gantzer, the author’s son.The burial will be held on Wednesday at Camel’s Back Cemetery in Mussoorie.Hugh Gantzer served in the Indian Navy as Commander and Judge Advocate of the Southern Naval Command. Since 1990, he had been a member of the monitoring committee constituted by the Supreme Court to track environmental issues in Doon Valley and Mussoorie.Gantzer, who was born and brought up in Mussoorie, hailed from an influential Danish family. His great-great-grandfather was an officer in the Danish court who came to India in the early 19th century. His father, Joseph Francis Gantzer, served as the director of survey in Bihar and Orissa under the British govt and, after retirement, chose to settle in Mussoorie.In 1941, Joseph was elected chairman of Mussoorie Municipal Council (MMC) and later served as its administrator.As news of Hugh’s death spread, residents gathered to bid a tearful farewell to a writer who had chronicled India with rare warmth and wit.

Transactional Model Of Relationship

NEW DELHI: The India-US trade deal allows both sides to get the relationship back on to an even keel, but whether it can lead to long-term stability in ties remains open to question.The importance of the agreement, even if conditional, cannot be overstated as it allows India and the US to avert an immediate crisis. India just managed to rid itself of an albatross around its neck that was threatening to smother cooperation with its most important strategic partner even in other areas. However, the estrangement with the US since Donald Trump’s return to the White House has not been about trade alone. There are several other friction points.The first is the India-Pakistan re-hyphenation Trump has brought upon India through his courting of Rawalpindi. It is here US ambassador to India Sergio Gor, who seems to have found a way out of the trade impasse within weeks of arrival, may have an important role to play. Suspense still looms over his dual role as Trump’s special envoy for south Asia and any false move bracketing India with Pakistan, let alone playing sheriff, will be met with resistance.Bilateralism has been the leitmotif of India’s Pakistan policy and, as far as India is concerned, there’s no Nobel Peace Prize for any third party to win.The second concern is related to the US commitment to the Indo-Pacific under Trump, who wants to engage his counterpart Xi Jinping for a “stable peace, fair trade and respectful relations”. Trade differences between India and the US were seen as blocking any forward movement by Quad and a US-India reset must surely clear the ground for a summit meeting. While the US 2026 National Defence Strategy underlines the goal of a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific , it makes no mention of Quad or India.Thirdly, India’s strategic autonomy will likely continue to act as a limiting factor. India will continue to use the same to navigate geopolitical complexities, especially in its relations with the US, Russia and China. India may have, according to Trump, promised to stop buying Russian oil but it will continue to work closely with Moscow in defence and in forums like the SCO and BRICS. India would like Russia to see its energy pivot as a blip caused by market conditions, not as an ebbing of its strategic autonomy.For India, the structural shift in how the US handles the H-1B visa programme remains a major irritant that it hopes Washington will address.Finally, India will also be concerned about the transactional relationship that the US under Trump seeks with India. Many claims made by Trump in his announcement India saying no to Russian oil, agreeing to buy energy and other products worth $500 billion from the US, zero tariff on US products have not yet been confirmed by Indian govt, suggesting there might be a devil in the details. India will hope that some of Trump’s claims are just political signalling, not an ultimatum.

In a low-scoring encounter at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, England successfully defended a modest total to defeat Sri Lanka by 12 runs. Despite a middle-order collapse sparked by a vintage performance from Dushmantha Chameera, the English lions roared back through the unexpected bowling heroics of Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks.

Dushmantha Chameera decimates England’s batting line-up in the first innings

The third and final T20I began with high drama as Sri Lanka’s pace spearhead, Chameera, produced one of the most devastating spells of his career. Opting to bowl first, the Sri Lankan attack exploited the early moisture in the Pallekele surface. Chameera struck with his second delivery, trapping Ben Duckett lbw for a duck.

The collapse continued as Chameera dismantled the English batting spine. He finished with staggering figures of 5/24, removing heavy hitters like Sam Curran and Jamie Overton during the death overs. England found themselves reeling at 47/5 after Jos Buttler fell for 25. It was only through a gritty, calculated 58 off 48 balls from Curran that England managed to crawl to a total of 128/9. While the total seemed subpar for the modern era, the sluggish nature of the pitch hinted that the chase would be anything but straightforward.

Also READ: SL vs ENG, 3rd T20I: Here’s why Phil Salt is not playing in today’s match

Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks stifle Sri Lanka to complete the sweep 

Sri Lanka’s pursuit of 129 started with characteristic flair as Pathum Nissanka raced to 23 off 12 balls. At 46/2 after the powerplay, the hosts looked comfortably on track to wrap up the series. However, the introduction of England’s part-time spinners completely flipped the script.

Will Jacks initiated the squeeze, bowling with incredible discipline to finish with 3/14 in his four overs. His scalps included the dangerous Kusal Mendis (26) and Kamindu Mendis, effectively removing the engine room of the Sri Lankan middle order. As the required run rate climbed, the pressure became palpable.

The final nail in the coffin was hammered in by Jacob Bethell. In a career-defining spell, Bethell tore through the lower order, finishing with incredible figures of 4/11 in just 3.3 overs. He triggered a sensational collapse where Sri Lanka lost their final four wickets for just four runs. From 112/6, the hosts were bundled out for 116 in 19.3 overs.

England’s ability to defend 128 serves as a tactical masterclass in white-ball cricket. By trusting the spin of Jacks and Bethell over traditional pace options in the late stages, Harry Brook’s side proved that adaptability is their greatest weapon.

Also READ: Tom Banton steers England to series-clinching win over Sri Lanka in 2nd T20I