Delhi Capitals head coach Hemang Badani has revealed that, as the head coach of Southern Brave in The Hundred, he intended to select Pakistani players in the auction but did not sign any until the very end.

The recent fiasco involving India and Pakistan players once again escalated during the Hundred. Indian owners took over several franchises in the ECB-controlled league, and hence, the media speculations stated that they might have issued a directive to restrict coaches from bidding on players of Pakistani origin.

Southern Brave is one of the franchises that has sold its stake to Indian owners. The Delhi Capitals owners have bought the stakes, and hence, Delhi Capitals appointed Hemang Badani as the head coach of the franchise in The Hundred as well.

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Delhi Capitals coach aimed to bid for Pakistani players

Ever since the Sunrisers Leeds, owned by Sunrisers owner Kavya Maran, bid for Pakistani spinner Abrar Ahmed and acquired him in ‘The Hundred auction,’ the debate over the inclusion of Pakistani players has been fueled.

Hemang Badani said that his franchise, the Southern Braves, also intended to bid for some Pakistani players and had a few names on their list, but did not end up buying them since they did not seem necessary in their aim to build the best possible squad.

“We had a few players in our list,” Badani said when asked about the possibility of signing Pakistani players.

Speaking of the squad, he said that they already had the likes of South Africa batter Tristan Stubbs and Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis, while what they needed was a lead spinner, and they got Adil Rashid for the job. The Capitals also bought Australian all-rounder Nikhil Chaudhary, who is a cricketer of Indian origin.

Hemang Badani reveals the real mantra behind a successful auction

The Delhi Capitals coach emphasized that discipline and patience are crucial during the auction, especially because plans can never go 100% on track in such a fast-moving process.

“The major thing about auctions is that you need to be disciplined and stick to your plan,” he said. “Even when you feel the auction isn’t going in the direction you wanted, you still have to be patient and adapt quickly. The minute you start panicking, things can go wrong.”

He also added that no team can ever walk out of the auction with every target they had thought of having before the start of the auction. However, if a team manages to get around 70-75% of their players, one should be happy.

Badani opens up his groundwork behind player investments in The Hundred

Southern Brave not only bought the former players, but also went on to buy the most familiar cricketer, Chris Jordan. He has been a longtime favourite at the Utilita Bowl. The head coach added that he had been a special player for the Braves, and he understands the conditions very well.

He also made a futuristic investment in English U-19 cricketer Thomas Rew, whose performance in the U-19 World Cup had impressed the Delhi Capitals coach.

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NEW DELHI: In a major departure from the existing law, The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill 2026 introduced in Lok Sabha on Friday proposed to omit the clause that allowed “self-perceived gender identity” to be the basis for self-determination and identification for approval for transgender certificate by the district magistrate.“The existing vague definition of the expression “transgender person” not only makes it impossible to identify the genuine oppressed persons to whom the benefits of the Act are intended to reach,” the statement of objects and reasons of the bill introduced by social justice and empowerment minister Virendra Kumar explained.It underlines that a transgender person “shall not include, nor shall ever have been so included, persons with different sexual orientations and self-perceived sexual identities”.“The protection and benefits that are provided under the Act are vast in nature, and therefore, care has to be taken that such identification cannot be extended on the basis of any acquirable characteristics or personal choice or claimed self-perceived identity of an individual,” it added.The govt has justified the proposed changes. “The purpose of the Act was to protect a specified class of persons socially and culturally known as transgender people who face societal discrimination of an extreme and oppressive nature,” says the statement of objects of the bill. “The purpose was and is not to protect each and every class of persons with various gender identities, self perceived sex, gender identities or gender fluidities,” it added.The bill also proposes to create specific offences with graded punishments that reflect the gravity of the harm, the irreversibility of the injury, and the particular vulnerability of child victims.A medical board headed by chief medical officer has been introduced in the bill, and if passed in the current form, the district magistrate will, going forward, issue a certificate of transgender identity, after examining the recommendation of the medical board cited as “authority” to be constituted by the central or state govts.As of now a person applies for the transgender certificate on the portal of the ministry and the application where the transgender person gives an affidavit of their self perceived identity is then taken up by the district magistrate for verification of documents and approval for certification. Since the 2019 law was enacted and implemented in 2020 after the rules came in September, just about 32448 certificates have been issued as per the latest data on the National Portal For Transgender Persons.The bill defines a trans person as the one “having such socio-cultural identities as ‘kinner’, ‘hijra’, ‘aravani’ and ‘jogta’, or eunuch, or a person with intersex variations or a person who, at birth, has a congenital variation in one or more sex characteristics as compared to male or female development:- primary sexual characteristics; external genitalia, chromosomal patterns, gonadal development endogenous hormone production or response.”“Also, any person or child who has been, by force, allurement, inducement, deceit or undue influence, either with or without consent, compelled to assume, adopt, or outwardly present a transgender identity, by mutilation, emasculation, castration, amputation, or any surgical, chemical, or hormonal procedure or otherwise will be included in the definition.The bill said that the current law also prohibits discrimination and abuse against transgender persons but its penal provision addresses only general wrongs and criminal offences and prescribes a maximum of two years’ imprisonment. The proposed amendments make room for stricter penalties and punishments.For instance imprisonment ranging from six months to two years have been prescribed for crimes ranging from compelling a transgender person to indulge in the act of forced or bonded labour, denial of the right of passage to a public place to forcing a trans person to leave home or village. Similar punishment is prescribed for cases involving cases of physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic abuse of a trans person.If a trans person is kidnaped and suffers mutilation, castration or any surgical, chemical, or hormonal procedure; or permanent or severe injury with the intent of compelling to compel the person to adopt or outwardly present a transgender identity against their will, the offence shall be punishable with 10 years to life imprisonment. In addition a fine not less than Rs 2 lakh will be levied. For the same crime involving a child the punishment will be life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5 lakh.If someone by force or threat compels any person, whether or not such person is a transgender person, to dress, present, or conduct themselves outwardly as a transgender person against the will of such person and engage them in begging or forced labour, the punishment will be between 5 to 10 years. In case of a child the punishment can range between 10 to 14 years.

Aakash Chopra has weighed in on the role of Rohit Sharma at Mumbai Indians, stating that the veteran opener should remain involved for the entire duration of a match rather than being utilised only as an Impact Player in the Indian Premier League.Sharing his views, the former India opener said that if Rohit is fully fit, it would be more logical for him to take part in the game from start to finish instead of appearing solely as a batting substitute. According to Chopra, limiting a player of Rohit’s calibre to just a few overs with the bat does not maximise his overall contribution to the team.“Logically, if you are fit, you should play the whole game and not be substituted. Especially when you are batting second, you shouldn’t come in as an impact player. An opener is not used to watching 20 overs of the match from the dugout,” Chopra told Jio Hotstar.Chopra further explained that opening batters generally prepare for a match by staying involved in the game from the beginning, which helps them get into the right mindset before heading out to bat.“Opening batters are used to staying on the field, preparing accordingly and then hitting the ground running. Rohit Sharma is the fittest, meanest and maybe the strongest at this point in time, so he should be on the ground for all 40 overs. That’s actually how Mumbai Indians will be able to make full use of Rohit Sharma,” he added.Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh also shared a similar opinion, suggesting that Rohit’s experience and leadership qualities make him far too valuable to be restricted to a substitute role. He emphasised that Rohit’s presence on the field could prove crucial for captain Hardik Pandya, especially during pressure situations.“Rohit Sharma has been used as the 12th man who just bats, but I feel that the kind of leader he has been, a player like him should be on the field. In tough matches, when you need to take certain calls, when a captain sometimes needs a shoulder to lean on, Rohit Sharma can do that for Hardik Pandya,” Harbhajan said.Rohit, who led Mumbai Indians to five IPL titles during his captaincy stint, was frequently used as an Impact Player by the franchise during the 2025 season. The move had sparked debate among fans at the time.The seasoned opener endured a difficult campaign last year, managing only 240 runs across the tournament. As the new season approaches, Rohit will be keen to turn things around and make a stronger impact with the bat.

MUMBAI: Two weeks into the war in West Asia, investors in India have lost a staggering Rs 34 lakh crore worth of wealth due to the strong selloff in the stock market.The turmoil has also shaved off a little over 5,250 points or 6.5% from the sensex, as foreign funds have doubled down on their selling in the domestic market.The ongoing war has resulted in the price of crude oil surpassing the $100/barrel mark, a multi-year high. It has also weakened the rupee to a historic low and forced foreign funds to take money out of India at a pace not seen in the last 14 months.In Friday’s market, the sensex started on a weak note with the index down nearly 500 points. It slid through the session to fall to an intra-day low at 74,455 points and closed just a tad above that level, at 74,564 points, down 1,471 points or 1.9%. On NSE, Nifty too took a similar path to close at 23,151 points, down 488 points or 2.1%.The day’s slide came on back of the price of crude oil—India’s biggest import item—trading above the psychologically important $100/ barrel mark. The rupee sank to a record low of 92.48 against the dollar.The day’s slide in the market was led by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs). At close of session, foreign investors had net sold stocks worth Rs 10,717 crore, the biggest single-session net outflow by foreign funds since Feb 28, 2025, ETIG data showed.On Friday, there were also talks of margin-related selling after several days of slide. Often, speculators borrow money to take positions in stocks against collateral, part of which is in stocks. If the value of collateralised stocks fall below a certain pre-set level, the lenders can sell off those stocks. In a falling market, such margin-based selling can aggravate the selling. “There were MTF (margin trade finance)-related selling in Friday’s session,” said people in the know.

“In addition, given the volatile geopolitical situation, traders were not willing to carry their positions through the weekend and liquidated that which pushed stock prices further down,” the people said.At close of session, of the 30 sensex stocks, 28 closed in the red, with L&T, HDFC Bank and SBI contributing the most to the day’s loss, BSE data showed.

NEW DELHI: A parliamentary panel has recommended to the finance ministry to allocate funds for fertiliser subsidy at the budget estimate (BE) stage to ensure that allocations are as close as possible to actual requirements.The standing committee on fertiliser, in its report submitted in Parliament on Friday, said the practice of parking subsidies in subsequent year’s liabilities also distorts the true picture of govt’s subsidy outgo. Taking note of higher subsidy outgo for imported urea and other soil nutrients, the panel has recommended ramping up domestic production.“The committee observed that the per-bag subsidy burden on imported urea, at approximately Rs 2,100 per 45-kg bag, is substantially higher than the subsidy of approximately Rs 1,397 per bag for domestically produced urea. The significant difference arises from the volatility of international urea prices, freight and insurance costs, port handling charges, and exchange rate fluctuations,” the report said.Similarly, in the case of phosphatic and potassic fertilisers (NPK), the subsidy outgo for imported varieties is higher than for domestically produced soil nutrients.On Friday, the fertiliser department informed Lok Sabha that the import of urea from Russia increased from 9.2 lakh tonnes in 2024-25 to 14 lakh tonnes till Feb while the import of China spiked from 1 lakh tonnes to 21.2 lakh tonnes. The NPK import from China also increased from less than 1 lakh tonnes in 2024-25 to 9.6 lakh tonnes in the current financial year.Seeking realistic, upfront budgetary allocation for subsidy, the panel noted that in FY24, against the BE (budget estimate) of Rs 1.8 lakh crore, the final allocation was revised upward to nearly Rs 2 lakh crore, and in FY26, the BE of Rs 1.8 lakh crore for fertiliser subsidy was revised to Rs 2.2 lakh crore.

AMRITSAR: The LPG crisis triggered by the West Asia conflict has not yet slowed down the world’s largest community kitchen — the ‘Guru Ka Langar’ at Golden Temple that serves nearly 1 lakh devotees every day. The shrine’s management, which requires 25 LPG cylinders daily, is expecting a fresh delivery of 100 cylinders on Friday and has over 500 quintals of firewood in reserve in case of any contingency, said a spokesperson.At the world-famous shrine, the situation is being closely managed to ensure uninterrupted service. A senior functionary at the Golden Temple, Bhagwant Singh Dangar, said the shrine consumes around 25 LPG cylinders and 1,200 units of piped gas every day to run its massive kitchen operations. In addition to one lakh devotees being served langar daily, 36 quintals of ‘karah parsad’ (the sacred pudding) is also prepared every day.

Despite the crisis, Dangar said there is no immediate shortage of fuel supplies. “We are receiving regular supplies. Tomorrow, we are expecting a delivery of about 100 gas cylinders,” he said.

However, the shrine management has also prepared a contingency plan. In case of any disruption in gas supply, the kitchen could switch to traditional cooking methods. “We have a reserve stock of 500–1,000 quintals of firewood, which can be used if required,” he added.The fuel situation has become a matter of concern not only for households but also for large commercial and religious establishments after the administration reportedly prioritised fuel supplies for domestic consumption and institutions.Apart from the Golden Temple, large numbers of devotees also visit nearby gurdwaras such as Gurdwara Shaheed Ganj Sahib, Gurdwara Pipli Sahib, Gurdwara Toba Bhai Salho Ji and Gurdwara Guru Ka Mahal, where langar services also run daily. Meanwhile, Amritsar’s most prominent Hindu shrine, Durgiana Mandir, is also keeping a close watch on fuel supplies.General secretary Arun Kumar Khanna said the temple serves langar to nearly 10,000 devotees daily, while prasad is prepared regularly at the Bhog Bhandar. He said around 10 LPG cylinders are used in the Bhog Bhandar and another 6–8 cylinders for preparing langar each day. Like the Golden Temple, the temple management has also kept adequate stocks of firewood to ensure that food services continue smoothly even if gas supplies are delayed.

Former Chennai Super Kings batter Subramaniam Badrinath made a huge statement on CSK veteran MS Dhoni ahead of IPL 2026. The legendary Indian wicket-keeper will be part of the franchise in the upcoming tournament, which will start on the 28th of March.

The veteran of the IPL, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has reached the twilight years of his career for the Men in Yellow. Ever since his retirement from international cricket, on several occasions, cricket analysts have predicted that an IPL season would be the last time for the number 7 jersey to be seen in yellow colours.

However, fans have been thrilled to watch their most beloved star play over all these years. Ever since MS Dhoni retired from international cricket, his fans have flooded the stadiums to witness the legend play live, and the CSK matches have gained immense popularity as well as a pulse.

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How will he go and tell Dhoni that you are dropped- Subramaniam Badrinath

After CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan declared Dhoni’s availability in IPL 2026, he said that any calls or decisions regarding his role in the team shall be made by the staff and not the administration. The CSK staff is headed by Head Coach Stephen Fleming, who has been in the role for 15 seasons since 2009.

Reacting to the same, former CSK batter Subramaniam Badrinath believes that it will be very difficult for Fleming to walk up to MS Dhoni and inform him of such a major decision.

“I don’t know if it is an administrative decision where he (CSK CEO) said that he (MS Dhoni) is ready to play all matches. He said that he would support the cricketing decision and stop.

“Now, will Fleming go and tell Dhoni that you don’t play this match, we are dropping you. I don’t think Fleming has a chance at all. How will he go and tell Dhoni that you are dropped? I literally feel that it is not possible,” he said on his YouTube channel.

CSK likes to back their veterans; they have backed Dhoni for all these years, as well as Stephen Fleming for all the seasons they have played in since 2009. He first came in to star in the IPL for the Chennai Super Kings under Dhoni’s leadership back in the first season in 2008.

“I don’t think any support staff in the world, be it even Fleming, can tell Dhoni you are an impact player, or you don’t play this match. There is no chance. We can take it that he is going to play all the matches,” he added.

Badrinath anticipates the CSK vs RCB rivalry as a blockbuster in IPL 2026

The IPL committee of the BCCI had announced only the 20-match schedule for the upcoming IPL season and the RCB vs CSK match is among the most anticipated clashes in the announced schedule, as per Badrinath.

“RCB have won only one trophy in 18 years and CSK have won five. So that rivalry is far. But there is some recency bias. In the last two years, we have gone to the Chinnaswamy and lost against RCB.

“CSK have honestly not played their best cricket. This is the match I am personally excited for. It’s going to be odds against CSK and a test for them,” he opined.

Will MS Dhoni play as an Impact Player in 2026?

CSK have included Sanju Samson in their squad for the upcoming season. Samson’s terrific form makes him the first choice for the playing XI; however, Samson’s ability in the field is not considered the best.

Turning 44, MS Dhoni is not likely to field in the outfield. If he is not given the gloves, then it is most likely that he might play as an Impact player. The CSK CEO informed that he is available to play every game of CSK’s campaign.

However, a possibility also remains that Samson might be the impact player with the bat, and MS Dhoni continues to star as the gloveman for the Men in Yellow.

ALSO READ: Delhi Capitals coach reveals desire to buy Pakistan players

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