The build-up to the IPL 2026 season has taken an explosive turn, not due to on-field action, but because of a heated war of words involving two of Indian cricket’s most outspoken personalities. The controversy ignited when veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin shared a blunt assessment of Arjun Tendulkar’s prospects at his new franchise, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). This prompted a fiery rebuttal from Yograj Singh, the former India cricketer and renowned coach, who has previously worked with Arjun to refine his skills. As LSG prepares for a new chapter under their revamped roster, the debate over the young all-rounder’s place in the side has become a focal point of pre-season discussions.

Ravichandran Ashwin’s tactical take on Arjun Tendulkar’s narrow path to the LSG XI

Ashwin, known for his deep analytical approach to the game, recently sparked debate while discussing the Lucknow Super Giants’ probable starting lineup for the 2026 season. After a trade that saw Arjun move from Mumbai Indians to LSG in exchange for Shardul Thakur, many wondered if a change of scenery would provide the left-arm seamer with more game time. However, Ashwin was dismissive of the idea, citing the sheer depth of the Lucknow pace attack.

“Arjun Tendulkar khelega hi nahi (Arjun Tendulkar won’t play at all),” Ashwin stated, emphasizing that the competition for spots is simply too stiff. Ashwin pointed toward a formidable pace battery consisting of veteran Mohammad Shami, the express pace of Mayank Yadav, and the reliable duo of Mohsin Khan and Avesh Khan. In Ashwin’s view, with such high-caliber options available, the tactical room to include Arjun, who has managed only three wickets in his five IPL appearances to date, is virtually non-existent. For Ashwin, the numbers and the roster depth suggest that Arjun will likely remain a bench option for the upcoming season.

Also READ: Ravichandran Ashwin slams fan agendas, questions hero worship culture in Indian cricket

Yograj Singh’s blasts Ashwin over Arjun’s omission in build-up to IPL 2026

Yograj, never one to mince words, took serious offense at Ashwin’s public dismissal of the young cricketer. Speaking to InsideSport, Yograj launched a scathing attack on the veteran off-spinner, questioning his right to pass such definitive judgments on a developing player.

He argued that Ashwin should be more mindful of how he speaks about an individual’s career and potential. Yograj remarked, expressing his distaste for experts criticizing players on television, “He should know what to talk about with somebody. Somebody is sitting on the television and talking,’ Oh, he can’t do this, he can’t do that. Who are you? What are you?”

Yograj’s defense went beyond just rhetoric; he provided a technical perspective on Arjun’s evolution. Having mentored Arjun in the past, Yograj revealed that many have been looking at the youngster through the wrong lens. He disclosed that Arjun had previously struggled with a spine issue that affected his bowling mechanics, specifically his arm path.

“He is Sachin Tendulkar’s son; that’s a different story. When he was here, I told Yuvi that all of you are concentrating on the wrong Arjun Tendulkar. He isn’t a bowler, he had a spine problem and his hands come down from 45 degree,” Yograj added, suggesting that Arjun’s true potential as an all-rounder is often overshadowed by the weight of his surname.

Despite Arjun’s modest returns for Goa in the 2025–26 domestic season, where he struggled for consistency in both the Vijay Hazare and Ranji Trophies, Yograj remains adamant that the young Tendulkar possesses untapped talent that critics like Ashwin are failing to see.

Also READ: SWOT analysis of Lucknow Super Giants: LSG’s report card ahead of the IPL 2026 

Elon Musk’s lawyers want a Delaware judge to be removed from all cases related to his companies, reports Bloomberg. The judge in question is Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick, who Musk’s law firm Quinn Emanuel claimed had liked the “inflammatory” post and thereby created “a perception of bias against Mr. Musk in these cases, recusal is necessary and warranted”. Last week, a jury concluded that Elon Musk defrauded Twitter (now X) investors in 2022 to bring down purchase prices. As per the report, McCormick ‘liked’ a LinkedIn post celebrating his recent legal defeat in California.

Lawyer says liked the post celebrating Musk’s defeat accidentally

A jury consultant in the federal case, who had worked for the shareholders, shared a post on the social media platform writing: “Sorry, Elon. Sorry, Quinn Emanuel. Thanks $2 billion for your help in this trial. It was a pleasure working against you.”As report by Bloomberg, McCormick said she was not aware that she had liked the post until “LinkedIn recently reported that I hit the heart-in-hand icon intended to show a sign of ‘support’ concerning a LinkedIn post about Mr. Musk”.In a letter to attorneys, she said “I either did not click the ‘support’ icon at all, or I did so accidentally. I do not believe that I did it accidentally”.

Who is Kathaleen McCormick

Notably, McCormick is the lead judge of the Delaware Court of Chancery. She has twice rejected Musk’s 2018 pay package from Tesla, worth $56bn, citing the Tesla board’s lack of independence from the CEO. McCormick was also the judge in a 2022 Delaware case where Twitter’s board sought to force Elon Musk to complete his deal to buy the company after he threatened to back out.Interestingly, Musk told a jury earlier this “We were unlikely to win the case in Delaware because the judge [McCormick] was extremely biased against me”. Another Musk’s case that McCormick is part of a lawsuit brought by a City of Detroit pension fund in 2020, claiming that Tesla directors had been awarded excessive compensation.

NEW DELHI: Chess fans and players have been worried about the upcoming Candidates tournament in Cyprus, mainly due to safety concerns and basic facilities like electricity. The island’s closeness to tensions in West Asia and recent attacks on nearby military bases have raised fears about whether it’s the right place to host such a major event. Some players have already reacted strongly. Indian star Koneru Humpy pulled out of the Women’s Candidates, while Hikaru Nakamura questioned the reliability of the power supply.

Meta layoffs have started. As widely speculated, Facebook and Instagram parent Meta began laying off hundreds of employees Wednesday, March 25. As per reports, Meta layoffs are said to be part of a larger company reorganization. The cuts will impact employees in the U.S. and other international markets. Earlier this month, Meta reportedly asked some managers to prepare cost-cutting plans. Also, some Meta employees in the company’s wearables and ads units received a message on Tuesday, March 24, instructing them to work from home on Wednesday. This led to speculation that layoffs are coming very soon. Commenting on layoffs, a Meta spokesperson said in a statement, “Teams across Meta regularly restructure or implement changes to ensure they’re in the best position to achieve ‌their ⁠goals. Where possible, we are finding other opportunities for employees whose positions may be impacted.” The layoffs will also reportedly affect employees across Meta’s recruiting, sales, global operations and Facebook social teams. The job cuts across these divisions are reportedly unrelated to one another. While most of the impacted workers were notified Wednesday, others might be informed in the coming weeks, depending on circumstances such as location. Some employees are being offered new roles, while others may have the option to relocate. The layoffs mark the second time Meta has trimmed its workforce in 2026. In January, Meta laid off 10% of its staff in the Reality Labs division. The new job cuts will affect fewer than 1,000 employees. Meta employed nearly 79,000 workers as of December, a 6% increase year-over-year.

Making for rise in Meta’s capital expenditure

The Facebook parent is seeking to offset rising ⁠costs tied to massive investments in artificial intelligence, having forecast total expenses of $162 billion to $169 billion in 2026, and rising employee compensation ⁠as the company spends millions to hire top AI talent.Earlier this year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg signaled more investment and a shift toward greater reliance on AI. In a January Facebook post following the announcement of the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results, Zuckerberg said that AI is going to make a significant impact on the business in 2026. “We’re starting to see projects that used to require big teams now be accomplished by a single very talented person,” he said.

Mark Zuckerberg’s January Facebook post where he hinted ‘job cuts are coming’

I just shared Meta’s quarterly earnings report. We had strong business performance in 2025 and I’m looking forward to advancing personal superintelligence for people around the world in 2026. Here’s the transcript of what I said on the call:We ended 2025 strong with more than 3.5 billion people now using at least one of our apps every day. That includes more than 2 billion daily actives each on Facebook and WhatsApp — and just shy of that on Instagram. Our business also performed very well thanks to record-breaking holiday demand and AI-driven performance gains.We are now seeing a major AI acceleration. I expect 2026 to be a year where this wave accelerates even further on several fronts. We’re starting to see agents really work. This will unlock the ability to build completely new products and transform how we work.In ’25 we rebuilt the foundations of our AI program. Over the coming months we’re going to start shipping our new models and products. I expect our first models will be good but, more importantly, will show the rapid trajectory that we’re on. And then I expect us to steadily push the frontier over the course of the year as we continue to release new models.I’m very excited about the products we’re building. Our vision is building personal superintelligence. We’re starting to see the promise of AI that understands our personal context, including our history, our interests, our content, and our relationships. A lot of what makes agents valuable is the unique context that they can see, and we believe that Meta will be able to provide a uniquely personal experience.We’re also working on merging LLMs with the recommendation systems that power Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and our ads system. Our world class recommendation systems are already driving meaningful growth across our apps and ads business, but we think the current systems are primitive compared to what will be possible soon. Today our systems help people stay in touch with friends, understand the world, and find interesting and entertaining content. But soon, we’ll be able to understand people’s unique personal goals, and tailor feeds to show each person content that helps them improve their lives in the ways that they want. This also has implications for commerce. Our ads today help businesses find just the right very specific people who are interested in their products. New agentic shopping tools will allow people to find just the right very specific set of products from the businesses in our catalogue. We’re focused on making these experiences work across both our feeds and across business messaging — significantly increasing the capabilities of WhatsApp over time.New kinds of content will soon be possible as well. People want to express themselves and experience the world in the most immersive and interactive ways possible. We started with text, and then moved to photos when we got phones with cameras, and then moved to video when mobile networks got fast enough. Soon we’ll see an explosion of new media formats that are more immersive and interactive, and only possible because of advances in AI.Our feeds will become more interactive overall. Today our apps feel like algorithms that recommend content. Soon, you’ll open our apps and you’ll have an AI that understands you, and also happens to be able to show you great content or even generate great personalized content for you. Glasses are the ultimate incarnation of this vision. They’re going to be able to see what you see, hear what you hear, talk to you and help you as you go about your day, and even show you information or generate custom UI right there in your vision. Sales of our glasses more than tripled last year, and we think that they’re some of the fastest growing consumer electronics in history. Billions of people wear glasses or contacts for vision correction. I think we’re at a moment similar to when smartphones arrived, and it was clearly only a matter of time until all those flip phones became smartphones. It’s hard to imagine a world in several years where most glasses aren’t AI glasses.For Reality Labs, we’re directing most of our investment towards glasses and wearables going forward, while focusing on making Horizon a massive success on mobile and making VR a profitable ecosystem over the coming years. I expect Reality Labs losses this year to be similar to last year, and this will likely be the peak as we start to gradually reduce our losses going forward while continuing to execute on our vision.As we plan for the future, we will continue to invest very significantly in infrastructure to train leading models and deliver personal superintelligence to billions of people and businesses around the world. I recently announced Meta Compute with the belief that being the most efficient at how we engineer, invest, and partner to build our infrastructure will become a strategic advantage. Dina Powell McCormick also joined us as President and Vice Chairman, and she will lead our efforts to partner with governments, sovereigns, and strategic capital partners to expand our long-term capacity, including ensuring positive economic impact in the communities that we operate in around the world. An important part of Meta Compute will be making long term investments in silicon and energy. We will continue working with key partners while advancing our own silicon program. We’re architecting our systems so that we can be flexible in the systems we use, and we expect the cost per gigawatt to decrease significantly over time through optimizing both our technology and supply chain.The last thing I want to mention is that I think 2026 is going to be the year that AI starts to dramatically change the way that we work. As we navigate this, our north star is building the best place for individuals to make a massive impact. So to do this, we’re investing in AI-native tooling so individuals at Meta can get more done, we’re elevating individual contributors, and flattening teams. We’re starting to see projects that used to require big teams now be accomplished by a single very talented person. I want to make sure as many of these very talented people as possible choose Meta as the place they can make the greatest impact — to deliver personalized products to billions of people around the world. And if we do this, then I think we’ll get a lot more done and it’s going to be a lot more fun.Alright, that’s everything I wanted to cover. This is going to be a big year for delivering personal superintelligence, accelerating our business, building infrastructure for the future, and shaping how our company will work going forward. As always, I’m grateful for all of the hard work of our teams and to all of you for being on this journey with us.

NEW DELHI: Alert air traffic controllers at Delhi Airport on Wednesday asked two incoming aircraft to initiate a go-around after pilots of a third aircraft which had landed on the runway the two were supposed to touch down on, had reported “an eagle very close on landing roll.” Both the aircraft safely went around and touched down safely on the second attempt. While IGIA has always seen a worrying amount of bird activity along with several other airports like that in Ahmedabad, the same increases during and after rains as the waterlogged ground means insects on the surface that attract even more birds.On Wednesday at 11.54 am, an Air India Express flight IX 1037 landed on IGIA’s runway 09 which is closest to Dwarka side. “The pilots reported an eagle very close during landing roll. Two other incoming aircraft — Air India’s AI 1892 from Patna and IndiGo’s 6E 2088 from Madurai were to land soon thereafter. To avoid bird hit, the air traffic control immediately asked them to go around. They landed subsequently in the second attempt,” said a senior ATC official. Whenever a pilot reports bird activity on the airfield, the airport takes steps to drive away the birds including bursting crackers.The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had last June summoned airport operators to discuss the continuing menace of wildlife hazards, including bird hits. Dirty surroundings and slaughter houses near airports, among many other factors, attract birds leading to bird hits. Bird hits increase during monsoon as waterlogged ground forces worms to the surface, attracting more birds that usual.The DGCA had about four years back written to airports on the issue. “We are all aware that during monsoon season wild life (birds and animals) activity increases in and around airports. Presence of wildlife in airport vicinity poses a serious threat to aircraft operational safety. All airports are requested to review their wild life hazard management plan for any gap and ensure strict implementation of strategies for wild life hazard management within and also outside the airfield,” DGCA had said in a letter to all airport operators and airport directors in June 2022.Within the airport, the steps to be taken include: “grass trimming and spraying of insecticides; frequent runway inspection for bird activities; deployment of bird chasers and bird scaring devices; Regular garbage disposal in the operational area and avoiding water concentration and open drains.”For tackling the issue outside airport premises, the DGCA had said: “Airport Environment Management Committee (AMC) meetings (should) be convened to discuss and review implementation of measures to reduce bird hazard. Frequent inspection by airport wild life hazard management team/AMC to identify sources of wild life attraction such as garbage dump, open disposal of abattoir/butcheries waste and coordination with local authorities for mitigation of sources of wild life attraction.”Rules specifically prohibit any slaughtering or flaying of animals or dumping garbage in a way which could attract animals and birds within a 10-km radius of airports. “… airfield environment management committees at airports (which are headed by chief secretaries) should take proactive measures on time-bound basis to ensure that no illegal slaughter houses, garbage dumps exist in the vicinity of airports. (these) are source of increased bird activity and may lead to wildlife strikes to aircraft during approach/take off,” the DGCA had told states a few years ago.

Arshdeep Singh played a key role in India’s epic win in the recently concluded ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. He led the Men in Blue’s pace attack alongside premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, finishing the tournament with 9 wickets in 8 matches. During the Super 8s, Arshdeep even surpassed Jasprit Bumrah (33 wickets) to become India’s leading wicket-taker in T20 World Cup history. However, former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan believes that Arshdeep is losing his ability to swing the new ball.

Arshdeep Singh is among the elite list of Indian bowlers capable of swinging the ball both ways. Although we have seen incredible improvement in his performance over the years, he often led the bowling attack in the absence of star bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Pathan notes a trade-off. While his overall consistency has improved, his natural ability to generate swing has diminished, according to the former Indian legend.

Pathan’s Technical Critique: Evolution at the Cost of Swing?

While Arshdeep’s stats remain world-class, Irfan Pathan’s observation highlights a technical shift in the youngster’s bowling. Early in his international career, Arshdeep was known for his ability to swing the ball back into right-handed batters.

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However, as he has evolved into a versatile all-phase bowler, there are signs that he is now prioritizing hitting the deck and executing variations over traditional swing.

How he bowls with the new ball is what matters

We are already aware of Arshdeep Singh’s skills with the new ball, especially his ability to swing it. Despite a considerable rise in his overall performance and accuracy, we haven’t seen much of his swing bowling in recent international games, which is a matter of concern for the Indian team, as that is what makes him stand out.

Speaking about Arshdeep Singh on his YouTube channel, former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan said, “Arshdeep, who was your highest wicket-taker, has been consistently taking wickets. One thing he will definitely need to focus on is how he bowls with the new ball. Because over the past year, or slightly less than a year, from what I have observed, he hasn’t been bowling much inswing with the new ball.”

He needs to pay attention to it

Going further, the former Indian cricketer said that Arshdeep’s stats with the new ball have slightly declined, which could be a concern going forward in the IPL and India’s upcoming ICC events. “His statistics, compared to before and after the Asia Cup, have slightly declined in terms of new-ball bowling. He will need to pay attention to that and also keep an eye on his economy rate,” Pathan added.

Arshdeep Singh’s IPL form

In recent years, Arshdeep Singh has emerged as one of the finest finds for the Indian team due to his swing-bowling ability and effectiveness in death overs. Speaking about his IPL form, it has been quite impressive. He has taken 97 wickets in 82 IPL matches since 2019, with an economy rate of around 9.

Arshdeep has been consistent for Punjab Kings since his IPL debut in 2019. He has taken 97 wickets in 82 matches for the franchise. He was retained by the Kings before the 2025 IPL auction for ₹18 crore and played a vital role in taking his side to the final, where they eventually lost to first-time winners Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

He is also India’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is, with 127 wickets in 84 matches. Arshdeep is expected to play a key role for the Punjab Kings if they aim to finish the season with a trophy. Arshdeep Singh will be seen playing his first game against the Gujarat Titans on March 31, 2026, at the New PCA International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, Chandigarh.

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