Panaji: FIFA president Gianno Infantino isn’t the first to refer to India as a “sleeping giant of football.” Well, at a current world ranking of 141, the giant continues to remain in slumber.For the first time since the AFC Asian Cup was expanded to accommodate 24 teams, India have failed to qualify for the continental showpiece. The top-tier league has 14 teams but just 13 matches for each club this season, and the national team has remained winless in 15 competitive matches, since Nov 2023.In the next three months, however, three national teams will try and achieve what has never been done before: qualify for the World Cup on sporting merit. Should that be achieved, everyone, including FIFA, the governing body for world football, will be celebrating.“I have previously spoken of India as a sleeping giant of football, and with FIFA’s ultimate objective being to make football truly global, we need to prioritise growth and development in the country,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino told TOI on Monday. “In my time as FIFA president, I have always emphasised that football starts from the grassroots level; the level from which truly sustainable development flows.”Infantino completes ten years as FIFA president on Thursday. In his manifesto as candidate to the FIFA presidency, the former UEFA general secretary said his main objective was “to put football back at the centrestage of all that FIFA does”. He wanted to deliver concrete actions for football all around the world, and with India’s undeniable strength in numbers, the country has not escaped the global body’s attention.“We have placed importance on holistic development programmes like FIFA Forward and Football for Schools, both of which India has been committed to. It is also why we identified India as an early target for the implementation of FIFA’s talent development scheme under chief of global football development Arsene Wenger. By offering access to expertise and other resources and promoting knowledge exchange, we will continue to work with the All India Football Federation and Indian clubs to enable men’s and women’s football in the country to reach its full potential,” said Infantino.FIFA said it provides support to cover operational costs of all associations, as well as funding for specific projects, and without its help, there would be no tournament football in 150 member countries, as they simply wouldn’t have the resources to develop the necessary infrastructure.In 2023, Wenger, famous for his hugely-successful stint with Arsenal in the Premier League, visited India to kick off the ground-breaking talent development scheme.“I believe that we have an opportunity to change the world of football,” Wenger said during his four-day visit to India. “Football is the number one sport in the world, and a country like India, with a population of 1.4 billion, of course has to exist in this world – and that’s why we are here.”

Former assistant coach of Team India Abhishek Nayar exposes some of the wrong calls made by the Suryakumar Yadav-led team against South Africa. Nayar explains why the batters failed in chasing. He also pointed out that the wrong step made the team management over the opening pair.

From the top part of the batting order to the lower end, there was only Shivam Dube who successfully extracted a notable amount of runs from the challenge wicket of the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Against South Africa, India’s entire batting order collapsed

Ahead of the Super 8 phase, Team India was in top form, surpassing all barricades in the group stage set by the United States, Namibia, Pakistan, and Netharlands. Riding high on a pure team game, India got to win all of their group matches and qualified for the next stage of the 2026 T20 World Cup.

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On the night of February 22, the momentum was with the Men in Blue, but a wrong call can be enough to spoil the party. The first call made by the team management was to ask Ishan Kishan to take on the opening balls over Abhishek Sharma. Ishan Kishan was the in-form batter, but his opening partner, Abhishek Sharma, sustained three back-to-back ducks in the group stage.

The team management wanted to protect Abhishek Sharma

The management’s intention might have been to protect Abhishek Sharma and use Kishan as a safeguard. As soon as Aiden Markram, who is a part-time spinner, dismissed Kishan for a duck, things started to fall for the co-host of the tournament, Abhishek Nayar says. Abhishek Sharma also departed cheaply.

“It’s going to be a very uncomfortable discussion between Ishan Kishan and Abhishek as to who takes the strike because suddenly he has passed the baton of the zeroes (Abhishek Sharma) to Ishan Kishan, someone who was in prime form”, the experienced coach opines.

“But this is a problem for India. There is definitely going to be a discussion about how they can overcome an off-spinner bowling to them because, keep in mind, when they take on the West Indies as well, Roston Chase is going to bowl in the powerplay to them”, he further added.

Abhishek Nayar’s suggestion for the Indian batters

Whether it was Pakistan or South Africa, most of the teams target the Indian national cricket team’s opening pair with a spinner. Nayar gives a gentle reminder that the West Indies also have Roston Chase, who can do the damage with his spin bowling.

To avoid similar situations in the upcoming matches, which will be against Zimbabwe and, then with West Indies, the coach suggests that the batters rethink their approach against the spinners.

“So they will want to come back with better plans. With the newer ball, when you hit the seam at times as a finger spinner, you can get that extra bounce, and that’s the tricky part. If it’s slightly slower in the air, like we saw there, and the ball hits the seam and deviates even a bit, that’s enough in T20 cricket to get you out because it creates doubt and can earn you a wicket”, Nayar further stated.

Read More: Sunil Gavaskar destroys ‘overconfident’ India batters after crushing loss vs South Africa in T20 World Cup

NEW DELHI: Team India’s road to the T20 World Cup 2026 semi-finals has become significantly tougher after a heavy 76-run defeat to South Africa in their opening Super 8 clash in Ahmedabad on Sunday. Placed in Group 1 alongside South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe, India slipped into early trouble in the second phase of the tournament.In the other Group 1 fixture, West Indies registered a dominant 107-run win over Zimbabwe to move to the top of the table. Following that result, South Africa sit second, while India have dropped to third, with their Net Run Rate taking a massive hit.

T20 World Cup Super 8s: How India lost to South Africa

Under the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav, India were outclassed in all departments. After choosing to bat, South Africa piled up an imposing 187/7. David Miller led the charge with a composed 63, while Dewald Brevis injected momentum with a quickfire 45. Jasprit Bumrah stood out with figures of 3/15, but the rest of the attack struggled to contain the flow of runs.India’s response never gathered steam. Regular wickets derailed the chase, and the batting line-up failed to build partnerships. Marco Jansen ripped through the middle order with a four-wicket haul as India were bundled out for 111. The comprehensive defeat not only handed South Africa two crucial points but also left India with a worrying Net Run Rate of -3.800.With two matches remaining, India are now in a must-win situation.

India T20 World Cup Qualification Scenario

Scenario 1 – India win both matchesIf India beat both West Indies and Zimbabwe, they will finish on four points. And if South Africa win all their matches, both India and South Africa will qualify for the semis. If India win both matches and South Africa lose one of their games, three teams could end up tied on four points. In that case, qualification would be decided by Net Run Rate.If India win both their matches and South Africa lose both their games, then India and West Indies will qualify for the semi-final. Scenario 2 – India win one matchIf India pull off only one win, then they will be eliminated irrespective of what happens in other results of the group.India’s campaign now hangs in the balance, with little margin for error.

NEW DELHI: Government on Monday unveiled the country’s first-ever anti-terror policy elevating its “pro-active and intelligence-guided” approach to the level of a doctrine, which focuses, apart from the persisting threat of “hostile neighbours” deploying terror, on the new challenges of terrorists using modern communication devices and criminal networks.‘Prahaar’, an acronym for India’s comprehensive counter-terrorism policy and strategy, aims at criminalising all terrorist acts and starving terrorists, their financiers and supporters of funding, weapons, safe havens and cyber resources.The policy rests on seven key pillars, represented by each letter of the acronym. It focuses on ‘prevention’ of terror attacks; ‘responses’ that are swift and proportionate; ‘aggregating’ of internal capacities for a whole-of-govt approach; ‘human rights’ and rule of law-based processes for mitigation of threats; ‘attenuating’ the conditions enabling terrorism, including radicalisation; ‘aligning’ international efforts to counter-terrorism; and ‘recovery’ through a whole-of-society approach.

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Stating that India has been at the forefront of the fight against terrorism, the policy refers to ‘neighbours’ which use terrorism as an instrument of the state, highlighting threats from jihadi outfits as well as global terrorist groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda.

Prahaar aims at graded police response to radicalisation

Describing the way forward, the policy hints at the scope for further collaboration among various agencies on intelligence collection and investigation. While seeking amendments in the counter-terror legal framework “from time to time”, it underlines the continual need for building capacity of state-level counter-terror mechanisms and unity in their structure, resources, training and investigation methods.Stating that violent extremists based on foreign soil are using the latest technologies, including drones, to unleash terror in Punjab and J&K, the policy flags the use of organised criminal networks for logistics and recruitment, for executing terror strikes in India.

Also, drawing attention to the use of social media and instant messaging apps for terror communication and propaganda, the policy concedes how encryption, dark web and crypto have allowed terror groups to operate with anonymity.With foreign-based terror groups relying on infrastructure, logistics and terrain knowledge of local outfits for trans-national terror attacks, Prahaar emphasises the need for international cooperation and collaboration, including to counter the misuse of information and communications technology (ICT) by terrorists, with investments in technology and partnerships with private enterprise.The counter-terror strategy aims at preventing attacks with a ‘pro-active and intelligence-guided’ approach with synergy among the central and state agencies. Similarly, it calls for pro-active disruption of cyber activities of terror groups and continuous disruption of overground worker networks by the law enforcement agencies (LEAs).For timely counter-terror response, the strategy requires all stakeholders at central, state and district level to have a uniform anti-terror structure and standard procedures. As regards “aggregating” capacities, LEAs and security agencies must be modernised with the latest tools, technology and weaponry. Prahaar also seeks to safeguard human rights with legal processes that allow multiple levels of redressal and appeal to terror accused.The policy aims at graded police response to radicalisation with legal action dependent on the level of radicalisation. At the same time, socio-economic conditions of vulnerable youths and groups must be addressed with education and constructive engagement, in addition to de-radicalisation programmes.The need to align and shape international efforts against terrorism with treaties and processes like extradition, deportation as per UN norms are also outlined.

NEW DELHI: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will pay a three-day visit to India beginning this week, Ottawa said in an official announcement. Carney will spend two days in Mumbai before arriving in New Delhi on March 2 for a bilateral meeting with PM Narendra Modi that is expected to further cement the relationship that was rocked by the killing of a Sikh separatist in 2023.Energy, trade, defence and technology, apart from security, are issues that will likely dominate the agenda for what will be Carney’s first visit to India as Prime Minister. The leaders will review efforts to reach a framework for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement.India and Canada are looking to start fresh negotiations for a trade pact that will help enable $50 billion annual trade by 2050. A 10-year agreement for uranium procurement by India from Canada is likely to be signed during the visit.Canada said that the leaders will focus on elevating and expanding the Canada-India relationship, with ambitious new partnerships in trade, energy, technology and AI, talent and culture, and defence. He will meet with business leaders to identify investment opportunities in Canada and create new partnerships between businesses in both nations.“In a more divided and uncertain world, Canada’s new govt is focused on what we can control. We are building a stronger, more independent, and more resilient economy. We are building our strength at home, diversifying our trade abroad, and attracting massive new international investment,” said Carney’s office in a statement, announcing his visit to India, Australia and Japan.“To these ends, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, announced that he will travel to India, Australia, and Japan, from Feb 26 to March 7, 2026, to unlock new opportunities for Canadian workers and businesses across trade, energy, technology, and defence. Through these visits to three of Canada’s strongest Indo-Pacific partners, the Prime Minister will deepen regional ties that are critical to our security and prosperity,” it added.

Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan (ICC Photo)

NEW DELHI: Following India’s 76-run defeat to South Africa in their Super Eights clash of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium, former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar analysed the team’s batting collapse and the challenges ahead, saying Abhishek Sharma has “passed the baton of zeroes” to the in-form Ishan Kishan.India were bowled out for 111 in 18.5 overs while chasing 188 after South Africa posted 187/7. Marco Jansen starred with 4/22 and Keshav Maharaj picked up 3/24. Despite Shivam Dube’s fighting 42, India never recovered from early blows, with Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma falling cheaply.

Nayar pointed to the unusual situation facing India’s top order and was critical of the openers’ display against the Proteas.“It’s going to be a very uncomfortable discussion between Ishan Kishan and Abhishek as to who takes the strike because suddenly he has passed the baton of the zeroes to Ishan Kishan, someone who was in prime form. But this is a problem for India,” Nayar told JioStar.He also spoke about the technical issues posed by quality off-spin and stressed the need for better planning in the upcoming matches.“There is definitely going to be a discussion about how they can overcome an off-spinner bowling to them because, keep in mind, when they take on the West Indies as well, Roston Chase is going to bowl in the powerplay to them. So they will want to come back with better plans,” Nayar said.“With the newer ball, when you hit the seam at times as a finger spinner, you can get that extra bounce, and that’s the tricky part. If it’s slightly slower in the air, like we saw there, and the ball hits the seam and deviates even a bit, that’s enough in T20 cricket to get you out because it creates doubt and can earn you a wicket,” Nayar added.Nayar’s remarks highlight India’s urgency to adapt against quality spin as they look to revive their semi-final hopes in the Super Eights.

Mumbai: Bombay HC rapped the chief officer (CO) of Mhada’s Mumbai Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board for cancelling an NOC given for redevelopment of a Tardeo building following a representation. Ten of the proposed sixteen floors of the building have been raised.“We find that there is an increasing tendency of persons to approach public officials who are vested with high powers, which can be exercised in respect of constructions and projects being undertaken which involve substantial investments and resources,” said Justices Girish Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe on Feb 17. Developer Kumar Agro Products Pvt Ltd challenged CO Milind Shambarkar’s Oct 13, 2025, order that cancelled the Sept 2019 NOC granted to two owners, Samir and Vaibhav Thakre, and directed the developer to cease all redevelopment work. The NOC was cancelled following a representation received from the advocates of Geetadevi Jadhav on June 18, 2025, who asserted 4/5th share in the property. The developer’s petition said under a Dec 1968 partition deed, the owners’ exclusive ownership rights stood crystallised in 2025.Senior advocate Vineet Naik, for the developer, said Jadhav made attempts to interfere with the construction by not filing a civil suit to assert her rights. She first approached BMC and a stop-work order was issued, which was stayed by HC. She simultaneously approached the CO. Naik said the CO’s order is patently illegal as the CO cannot wield authority to grant a declaration in respect of the legal rights of the parties and only the civil court can grant such a declaration. When Naik said it is a “recent trend” that parties do not take recourse to legal proceedings and approach such authorities, the judges agreed with him. The bench noted that the NOC was granted “far back” on Sept 20, 2019, and things proceeded under it, with construction reaching the 10th floor. “In such circumstances, it was an onerous duty of the officer concerned, before passing such drastic orders, to examine all issues and after obtaining legal opinion”, he could have appropriately exercised powers vested in him and “not such powers which a civil court can exercise...” Such an order “has set at naught” the valuable rights of the owners and the developer guaranteed under Articles 300A (property) and 14 (equality), it said. The judges said “there is wiseness (sic) which prevailed” after Mhada’s advocate, P G Lad, said the order shall be withdrawn and not be acted upon. Accordingly, they quashed and set aside the order as being withdrawn. They refrained from taking action like in a similar case where officers were directed to pay Rs 5 lakh fine. If such instances are repeated, there would be no option “for the court but to take a serious view of the matter qua the officials concerned”, the judges said.