Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali has warned Pakistan about India’s spin attack ahead of their big T20 World Cup clash on Sunday. He believes Indian spinners, especially Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy, could cause major trouble for Pakistan’s batters. “For India, I’d definitely want Kuldeep Yadav to play. He’ll be the bigger threat than any other Indian bowler for Pakistan,” Ali said in a podcast with Anis Sajan.

On Friday, Team India received a grand and colourful welcome when they arrived in Colombo. Local musicians and dancers greeted the players at the airport with traditional drums, creating a festive atmosphere. Arshdeep Singh stole the spotlight by dancing to the drum beats, and the moment is expected to go viral on social media. Head coach Gautam Gambhir looked serious and focused, while Hardik Pandya arrived in style with his girlfriend, Mahieka Sharma.On the field, India will aim to dominate Pakistan. The team is expected to rely on a strong batting lineup that includes Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, and either Abhishek Sharma or Sanju Samson. Abhishek is recovering from a stomach infection and will be looking to bounce back after a poor start to the tournament.Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya have good past records against Pakistan, and Ishan Kishan is also in good form. Tilak Varma has performed well against Pakistan before and will try to repeat that in the big match.Since Sri Lanka is known for spin-friendly pitches, Varun Chakravarthy could play an important role, as India’s spin attack is expected to be a key factor in the high-voltage clash.

Australia’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign suffered a major jolt after a stunning 23-run defeat to Zimbabwe at the R. Premadasa Stadium. What was expected to be a routine Group B fixture turned into one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, leaving the five-time world champions with plenty to ponder.

Chasing a modest target, Australia faltered under pressure and were eventually bowled out for 146. Despite a fighting 65 off 44 balls from Matt Renshaw, the innings never truly gathered momentum. The Zimbabwe bowlers kept things tight, exploited the sluggish surface smartly, and forced Australia into mistakes at regular intervals.

The defeat not only dented Australia’s confidence but also complicated their qualification hopes in a tightly contested group. For a side known for its adaptability and big-match temperament, the loss was both unexpected and sobering.

Matt Renshaw opens up after Zimbabwe stun the Aussies

While many pointed towards the slow nature of the Colombo surface as a contributing factor, Renshaw chose not to hide behind conditions. Speaking candidly at the post-match press conference, the left-hander emphasized that adapting to varying pitches is part and parcel of international cricket.

“I think that’s just the nature of cricket. You get a sub-continent team come to Australia and you don’t get them complaining about the bounce or the pace. It’s just the way that cricket is nowadays. You’ve got to be able to go through different surfaces,” said Renshaw.

Renshaw’s knock was one of the few positives for Australia. He tried to anchor the innings while wickets tumbled around him, mixing calculated aggression with strike rotation. However, the lack of partnerships ultimately hurt the side. Addressing suggestions that switching from the hard, bouncy tracks of the Big Bash League to slower Asian surfaces posed a challenge, Renshaw dismissed the notion.

“Yes, the wickets in Australia during Big Bash are quite true — they get a lot of bounce. You go to India, and in other parts of tournaments there are different wickets, sometimes higher scores, shorter boundaries. The boundaries here are quite big, so it’s just cricket,” added Renshaw.

His remarks reflected a sense of accountability within the Australian camp. Rather than blaming external factors, Renshaw stressed the importance of preparation and clarity in game plans.

“It’s probably just trying to adjust the conditions as well as we can so that when we get to these conditions we know what the game plan is, we know how we’re best suited,” he added further.

Also READ: Fans erupt as Blessing Muzarabani’s bowling brilliance propel Zimbabwe to historic win over Australia in T20 World Cup 2026

Qualification Scenarios for Australia

Following the defeat at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Australia’s path to the Super 8s has become increasingly complicated. Currently placed third in Group B with one win (against Ireland) and one loss, they no longer control their destiny outright.

Australia now face two crucial fixtures — first against a strong Sri Lanka side on February 16, followed by Oman on February 20. Realistically, these have become must-win encounters. Victories in both matches would take them to six points, but even that may not guarantee qualification.

If Sri Lanka defeat Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe overcome Ireland, a three-way tie on six points could emerge. In that case, Net Run Rate (NRR) would determine the qualifiers, making a dominant performance against Oman essential to repair the damage inflicted by the Zimbabwe defeat.

However, if Australia lose to Sri Lanka, their hopes would hang by a thread. They would then require Zimbabwe to lose both of their remaining matches, potentially leading to a multi-team tie on four points — again to be decided by NRR.

Also READ: The ‘Zimbabwe Prophecy’: Why history says Suryakumar Yadav’s India will lift the T20 World Cup 2026?

The Centre has given the green light to a series of highway projects worth over Rs 11,000 crore spanning Maharashtra, Gujarat and Telangana, according to official statements.The approvals were granted by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and cover road widening, rehabilitation and new four-lane stretches aimed at boosting freight movement and regional connectivity.

Major upgrade for NH-160A in Maharashtra

In Maharashtra, the CCEA has approved the rehabilitation and upgradation of the Ghoti–Trimbak (Mokhada)–Jawhar–Manor–Palghar stretch of National Highway-160A. The 154.635-km project will be taken up at a total capital cost of Rs 3,320.38 crore.The ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) said the work will be executed under the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode.The ministry highlighted that the area west of Nashik — particularly Ambad and Satpur — houses a dense cluster of industrial units set up by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. This industrial concentration leads to significant freight traffic in the region.The project has been designed in line with PM GatiShakti principles and is expected to connect six PM GatiShakti Economic Nodes, one Social Node and eight Logistics Nodes in Maharashtra. According to MoRTH, this is likely to have a positive impact on the country’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI).

Rs 4,583 crore four-laning project in Gujarat

In Gujarat, the CCEA has approved the construction of four-lane sections between Dhamasiya-Bitada/Movi and Nasarpore-Malotha at a cost of Rs 4,583.64 crore, as per news agency PTI.The 107.67-km stretch forms part of National Highway-56. The highway originates at Nimbahera in Rajasthan, passes through Dahod district in Gujarat, Alirajpur district in Madhya Pradesh, re-enters Gujarat near Chhota Udepur district and ends at its junction with NH-48 near Vapi.The project has been designed for a speed of 100 km per hour, with an expected average travel speed of 70 km per hour. This is projected to cut travel time by 40 per cent — reducing the journey from 2.5 hours to 1.5 hours, MoRTH said in a separate release.

NH-167 widening cleared in Telangana

The government has also approved widening of National Highway-167 in Telangana at a total capital cost of Rs 3,175.08 crore, reported PTI.The 80.01-km project will cover the Gudebellur to Mahabubnagar stretch on the Hyderabad–Panaji Economic Corridor. It will be upgraded to a four-lane standard and executed under the Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) through the National Highways (Original) [NH(O)] scheme.According to MoRTH, the upgrade aims to address existing infrastructure challenges and is expected to significantly benefit Narayanpet and Mahabubnagar districts in Telangana.Together, the three projects are intended to strengthen industrial connectivity, improve logistics efficiency and reduce travel time across key economic corridors in the three states.

England’s Jos Buttler (AP Photo)

Jos Buttler etched his name into the record books on Saturday, becoming the first wicketkeeper-batter in history — and the quickest overall in terms of balls faced — to reach 4,000 runs in T20 Internationals. The England star achieved the landmark in just 2,670 deliveries, surpassing the previous benchmark held by Rohit Sharma.The milestone came during England’s Group C clash against Scotland in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in Kolkata. Needing only three runs to get to the mark while chasing 153, Buttler reached 4,000 on the fourth ball of the second over. The occasion was doubly special as it also marked his 150th T20I appearance for England, making him the only English player — and one of just five worldwide — to feature in 150 or more matches in the format.His stay, however, was brief. Soon after reaching the landmark, Buttler was dismissed for three off four balls, chipping a catch to Brandon McMullen off Brad Currie.Buttler is only the fourth cricketer to breach the 4,000-run barrier in T20Is, joining Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Babar Azam. Kohli was the first to achieve the feat, getting there during the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final against England at the Adelaide Oval.Since making his T20I debut against India in 2011, Buttler has amassed over 4,000 runs at an average above 35 and a strike rate of 148. His tally includes 28 fifties and a highest score of 101. Notably, he remains the only designated wicketkeeper in T20I history to cross the 4,000-run mark.A former England captain, Buttler stands comfortably as his nation’s leading run-scorer in T20Is, well ahead of Eoin Morgan, who accumulated 2,458 runs in 115 matches. Widely regarded as one of England’s finest white-ball players, Buttler is also a prized asset in T20 leagues around the world.

The Don shows tough love to friends and allies on Valentines DayThe author of The Art of the Deal has no patience with the weatherworn adage — Build Bridges, Not Walls. Donald Trump has a penchant for doing the exact opposite to ‘win friends and influence people.’In a fresh display of tough love ahead of Valentine’s Day, Trump accusing Canada of trying to “take advantage of America” threatened to block the opening of a new bridge between the US and its northern neighbour.In a lengthy post on his mouthpiece Truth Social, Trump doubled down on his often-cited claim that Canada has “treated the United States very unfairly for decades.”Demanding that the US be “fully compensated for everything we have given them,” Trump claimed that Canada will own both sides of the $4.7 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Detroit, Michigan, to Windsor, Ontario. He also accused Ontario of refusing to stock some US-produced alcoholic products in shops and complained about Canada’s tariffs on dairy products.The latest spat with Canada came weeks after Prime Minister Mark Carney earned his wrath at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January for boldly asking middle powers to stand up to “great powers” using economic pressure.This time the provocation came from nearer home with six Republican lawmakers joining Democrats to adopt a House resolution to block Trump’s Canada tariffs.Not the one to retreat, he defiantly dug in accusing Canada of having “taken advantage of the United States on Trade for many years,” and suggesting, “They are among the worst in the World to deal with, especially as it relates to our Northern Border.”Then came the inevitable ominous warning to the lawmakers: “Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries!”Faithful MAGA followers were quick to endorse with, “Hey Canada👇 your days are numbered‼️😆”Then as America’s European allies gathered at the annual security conference in Munich under the looming shadow of an absent Trump, German chancellor Friedrich Merz offered him a rare public rebuke.Under Trump in his second term, the United States’ claim to global leadership “has been challenged, and possibly squandered,” said Merz warning Washington not to make things worse and further squander the trust of its allies.“In the era of great power rivalry, even the United States will not be powerful enough to go it alone,” he said even as he acknowledged a more vigorous Europe, better able to defend itself and its own interests, would help “forge a healthier trans-Atlantic relationship.”But the staff at the security conference was more blunt. In a report before the gathering, they called Trump a “wrecking ball” and one of the “demolition men” destroying the norms and institutions of the international order.And at home, Trump took his wrecking ball to the climate change fight by erasing a 2009 bedrock scientific finding that greenhouse gases threaten human life.At a White House event Trump, who has referred to climate change as “a hoax” and a “scam,” hailed the decision to erase limits on emissions from cars, power plants and other industries “the single largest deregulatory action in American history.”As a part of his attempt to boost the fossil fuel industry, Trump later signed an executive order instructing the US military to purchase more coal-based electricity and said that the Energy Department will pay for upgrading coal plants in four states.Meanwhile, the ghost of Epstein that has dogged Trump for more than a year, again loomed large as the Justice Department released about three million pages of documents related to its years long investigation into the convicted sex offender.The New York Times found more than 5,300 files with references to Trump and related terms, including salacious and unverified claims, as well as documents that had already been made public.Deputy attorney general Todd Blanche was quick to absolve Trump saying the Justice Department looked into sexual misconduct allegations against the President, but did not find credible information to merit further investigation.Trump himself praised Attorney General Pam Bondi for her “fantastic” performance “under intense fire from the Trump Deranged Radical Left Lunatics,” at a Congressional “Hearing on the never ending saga of Jeffrey Epstein.”“The one thing that has been proven conclusively, much to their chagrin, was that President Donald J. Trump has been 100% exonerated of their ridiculous Russia, Russia, Russia type charges,” he posted proclaiming, “Actually, it is the SLIMEBALL Democrats, many of them big Donors and Politicians, that have been proven GUILTY!”But Bondi, according to an NBC report, is under pressure from Trump to produce a result more than a year after she created a “Weaponization Working Group” to prosecute his perceived enemies. The group was created ostensibly to root out “abuses of the criminal justice process” by federal law enforcement officers in their investigations of Trump when he was out of power.Even as he has criticized Bondi in private, Trump publicly declared his trust in her saying,“Pam is doing an excellent job. She has been my friend for many years. Tremendous progress is being made against radical left lunatics, who are good at only one thing, cheating in elections and the crimes they commit.”Come Valentine Day, Trump greeted his followers with three cards “Made just for you 💌”One with a map of Greenland in a heart served notice on his latest object of desire asking, “It’s time we define our situationship.”The second took a dig at Democrats avowing “My love for you is as strong as Democrats’ love for illegal aliens” and “l’d fly 1,537 miles to have a drink with you!”And the third one depicted POTUS 45 & 47 holding his latest fiat “Executive Order: 4547” proclaiming, “UR MyValentine” — Love it or hate it!(By arrangement with The American Bazaar, www.americanbazaaronline.com)

You don’t have permission to access “http://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/mahashivratri-2026-date-timings-and-rituals-explained-11004330” on this server.

Reference #18.c4f5d217.1771083409.6343ac2a

https://errors.edgesuite.net/18.c4f5d217.1771083409.6343ac2a

Amit Shah addressing a public meeting in Puducherry’s Karaikal

NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday accused Congress leader V Narayanasamy of turning Puducherry into an “ATM for the Gandhi family” during his tenure as chief minister of the poll-bound Union territory.The senior BJP leader also alleged that the Narayanasamy administration “sold” PG and diploma seats, including those for reserved category candidates, to “wealthy individuals.”Narayanasamy served as chief minister from June 2016 to February 2021.“Narayanasamy’s government had turned Puducherry into an ATM for the Gandhi family. They openly auctioned PG and diploma seats and even sold the reserved seats for SC and ST to wealthy individuals for the sake of money. Transport mafias were given free rein to trouble the public,” Shah said at a public meeting in Puducherry’s Karaikal.The former BJP president added that Congress leader’s tenure as chief minister was marked by “corruption and chaos,” which the BJP — part of the All India NR Congress-led incumbent government — has worked to eliminate.He further asserted that the saffron party’s focus is now on transforming Puducherry into a developed Union territory over the next five years.“For five years, the Congress government created an environment of corruption and chaos here. In five years, we eliminated corruption and transformed chaos into order, and now it is time to transform Puducherry into a developed Puducherry in the next five years. Earlier, the decisions regarding Puducherry were taken by the Gandhi family in Delhi; now the decisions regarding Puducherry are being taken by Puducherry itself,” Shah told the gathering.Noting that the BJP-All India NR Congress alliance secured 44% of the vote in the 2021 Puducherry assembly elections, he set a target of 60% for the upcoming polls, expected in April.“PM Narendra Modi has worked to make India prosperous as well as secure. The people of Puducherry have expressed their trust in the NDA, BJP, and our leader N Rangaswamy and PM Modi. In the 2021 assembly elections, the people of Puducherry gave us 44% of the votes. This time, the alliance of BJP, AINRC and AIADMK is aiming to secure 60% of the votes,” he added.(With ANI inputs)

File photo: Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman

India has sharply increased its spending on climate action over the past six years, with allocations rising from around 3.7 per cent of GDP to nearly 5.6 per cent, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.Speaking at the ‘Degrees of Instability: Climate Security in a Warming World’ townhall during the Munich Security Conference in Germany, she said the country was taking strong domestic steps to meet its environmental commitments rather than depending solely on international support.

Spending more, not waiting for aid

Highlighting the jump in allocations, Sitharaman said, “India has increased its commitment to climate action. We were at something like 3.7 per cent of our GDP six years ago… but today, we are somewhere close to 5.6 per cent. So more than doubled in a matter of six years”.She underlined that India had already put money on the table. “We have invested the funds. We are not waiting for financing and technology to come from elsewhere but they must come,” she said, as quoted by news agency PTI.While acknowledging that global technology transfers and financial flows remain important, she stressed that India has moved ahead with its own resources to achieve its nationally determined commitments (NDCs).She also pointed out that many African nations may find it difficult to match such levels of spending due to economic constraints.

Focus on adaptation and fairness

The finance minister argued that climate policy must go beyond emission cuts. Equal weight, she said, should be given to resilience and adaptation to avoid severe consequences for people and livestock.“As much attention we give for the emission control, we need to look at resilience and adaptation. Otherwise, you’re going to sacrifice a lot,” she said. She added that “technologies will have to talk to each other” and cautioned that no country can claim to have found a perfect solution to climate change.Sitharaman also pressed for what she described as differentiated treatment in sharing the financial burden of climate action. According to news agency ANI, she said the global community must follow a “polluter pays” principle.“It cannot be that countries which have less contributed to emission are made to pay equally,” she said, adding that countries with lower historical emissions should contribute less towards climate costs.

Renewable push and carbon capture funding

Detailing India’s domestic progress, Sitharaman said the country has already achieved two-thirds of its renewable energy commitments under its NDCs and that too four years ahead of schedule.She added that the Union Budget 2026-27 has earmarked funds and incentives for carbon capture strategies. These technologies are being encouraged across the mainland and in remote regions to help businesses cut their carbon footprint and support India’s transition to a greener economy, reported ANI.Reiterating India’s position, the minister said the country would continue to invest steadily in renewable energy while pushing for fair and practical global cooperation on climate finance and technology.