Abhishek Sharma (AFP Photo)

India opener Abhishek Sharma should not be burdened by expectations at the T20 World Cup despite yet to open his account in the tournament, with the team management backing his approach and clarity of thought.The defending champions have won all three of their Group A matches and will take on the Netherlands in Ahmedabad on Wednesday in their final league fixture, having already secured a place in the Super Eights.

However, Abhishek’s lean run has drawn attention.“We don’t unneccessary over-analyse,” India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak told reporters.“Because sometimes you start to make your own assumptions what the opposition are doing.“He has his plans sorted and follows the way he wants to play.“Obviously we discuss about the oppositions and their bowling strengths. It is all normal for every batter.”The 25-year-old missed the Namibia game due to a stomach infection. On either side of that, he was dismissed for ducks — first ball against USA and fourth ball versus Pakistan — facing just five deliveries so far.“He has made runs before he was unwell,” said Kotak.“The T20 format is a high-risk game and players will get out at some point. If we start stressing on such things then there will be pressure on players.“He is in good form, he has got a clear plan and clear mindset.”Kotak added that there would be no complacency against the Netherlands.“Every game is important for momentum,” he said.“We played the last game with the same intent and will play the next game with the same intent.”

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat’s electoral strength contracted 13.4% to 4.4 crore voters on completion of a special intensive revision (SIR) that saw 77 lakh-odd names being deleted from the 2025 rolls and 9.5 lakh new electors getting added to the final list published Tuesday. The double-digit percentage decline caps two rounds of scrutiny, starting with 73.7 lakh deletions when the draft rolls were published last Dec after updating mortality records, migration data and incorrect registrations. Another 3.9 lakh names were removed before the final rolls were put out. Between the publication of the draft and final rolls, the electorate expanded 1.3%, a large section of them first-time voters. Around 40 lakh voters in the unrevised 2025 rolls were found to have permanently shifted, 18 lakh were dead, 9.8 lakh couldn’t be traced to their registered addresses, and 3.8 lakh had duplicate voter cards.Another 1.9 lakh voters’ names in Gujarat were omitted for other reasons. Based on objections and further verification after the draft rolls were published, another 3.9 lakh names were deleted from the rolls.At 49.1 lakh, Ahmedabad district has most voters in GujaratAhmedabad topped the state with 49.1 lakh voters in the final rolls, up from 48 lakh in the draft list. The district also recorded the highest number of additions at 1.5 lakh new electors. In percentage terms, Dang registered the highest proportional increase at 2.15%, although its total voter base stands at 1.9 lakh. Other districts with notable percentage growth were Porbandar (2.1%), Jamnagar (2%), Botad (1.9%), Chhota Udepur (1.9%) and Gandhinagar (1.8%).Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot reported substantial additions, reflecting migration patterns and youth enrolment. Surat added 1 lakh-odd voters while removing 85,734 names, the highest among cities.

MUMBAI: Even as property prices continued to rise at a faster pace – 2.2 % in the Dec quarter, rental demand declined by 2.4% quarter-on-quarter across India, indicating a market adjusting to yield compression rather than a broad-based slowdown, Magicbricks said in a report. Chennai emerged as the top market in terms of gross rental yields at 4.16%, followed by Ahmedabad at 3.98% and Hyderabad at 3.93%. Bengaluru and Kolkata reported similar yield levels at 3.88% each. “A key structural takeaway is the sustained outpacing of rental growth by capital value appreciation across cities, resulting in visible yield compression,” analysts at the firm said.

NEW DELHI: Despite the surge in gold and silver imports upsetting the trade balance, the trends for the two precious metals are very different. With the average price of gold rising nearly 25% on a year-on-year basis to $94,554 a kg during April-Dec, buyers became cautious, resulting in demand falling. Data released by the commerce department slowed gold import volume dipped 18.3% to 522 tonnes during the nine-month period. But higher unit value meant that the value of imports was 1.8% higher at $49.4 billion. In contrast, despite silver price (unit value) soaring 46.7% to $1,357 a kg, imports shot up 56% to 5,727 tonnes. As a result, silver imports more than doubled in April-Dec to $7.8 billion against $3.4 billion in nine-month period in 2024. A part of the reason is industrial use for silver, whereas gold is seen more as an investment instrument.

Salman Khan‘s father Salim was admitted to a hospital in Mumbai on Tuesday, February 17. Reports state that he was taken to Lilavati Hospital and one also saw Salman Khan arriving there to be by his father’s side. Apart from Salman, many other members of the family – Alvira Agnihotri, Aayush Sharma among others were spotted. While there has been no statement from the family on what exactly happened to him, reports suggested that the veteran screenwriter was admitted to the ICU. And now as per the latest update, as reported by journalist Vickey Lalwani, Salim Khan has been diagnosed with a blood clot. He is currently under observation in the ICU, though his vital parameters are believed to be stable. More information regarding his condition is awaited from the hospital authorities and members of the Khan family.

His Instagram post further read, “Salim Khan was feeling very giddy before Salman Khan and his family rushed him to Lilavati Hospital. At the time of going online, Salim saab was in the ICU but his viral parameters are stable”Also See: Salim Khan hospitalised in ICU: Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Alvira and Arpita rush to visit; Javed Akhtar, Sanjay Dutt drop by Salim Khan is known for his iconic partnership with Javed Akhtar and fans still remember the Salim-Javed era. They redefined 1970s Hindi cinema. Iconic films like ‘Seeta Aur Geeta’, ‘Zanjeer’, ‘Deewaar’, ‘Sholay’, ‘Trishul’, ‘Kranti’, and the ‘Don’ franchise stand as their legacy. Meanwhile, on work front for Salman, the actor will be seen next in ‘Battle Of Galwan’.