NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached movable and immovable assets of cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa, actor Sonu Sood and others. An official has confirmed that the total worth of seized assets is Rs 7.93 crore, and it is done in a case linked to the illegal offshore betting platform 1xBet.The ED had attached assets worth Rs 11.14 crore belonging to cricketers Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina earlier on October 6.

According to an ED statement, others against whom action has been taken include actresses Urvashi Rautela and Mimi Chakraborty, actor Ankush Hazra, and actress Neha Sharma. The attachment was carried out under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the official statement said.The ED began its investigation based on multiple FIRs registered by different state police agencies against the operators of the illegal offshore betting platform 1xBet.The investigation found that 1xBet and its surrogate brands 1xBat and 1xbat Sporting lines were involved in promoting and enabling illegal online betting and gambling activities across India.The ED investigation revealed that the celebrities knowingly entered into endorsement agreements with foreign entities for promoting 1xBet through its surrogate brands, the statement said.It added that these endorsements were done in exchange for payments routed through foreign entities to hide the illegal source of funds, which were linked to proceeds of crime from betting activities.The ED also found that 1xBet operated in India without authorisation and used surrogate branding and advertisements on social media, online videos and print media to target Indian users.The ED said payments for endorsements were arranged through layered transactions using foreign intermediaries to conceal the illegal origin of the funds.The agency warned that illegal betting and gambling platforms cause economic damage and are often used for money laundering and other illegal activities.It advised the public to stay away from such platforms and report suspicious transactions or advertisements to law enforcement agencies or the ED.The ED also warned celebrities and social media influencers that endorsing or promoting illegal betting or gambling platforms, including through surrogate promotions, is a punishable offence under the law.

India vs South Africa Live Score: Hello and welcome to TimesofIndia.com for the 5th T20I between India and South Africa

Today, we are at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad for the final game of the ongoing T20I series.

Shubman Gill’s injury may have come at the wrong time, but it has opened a rare window for India’s T20I selectors to reassess their depth.

With major assignments looming, the absence forces experimentation that otherwise might have been delayed. Every match now becomes an audition, allowing fringe players to stake claims and combinations to be tested under pressure.

Instead of panic, the management appears focused on long-term gains, using adversity to stress-test bench strength and build a more resilient squad for the future.

IND-SA Squads:

India: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma(w), Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar, Sanju Samson, Shahbaz Ahmed

South Africa: Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman, David Miller, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde, Tony de Zorzi, Lutho Sipamla, Kwena Maphaka

Travis Head has now struck centuries in four consecutive Tests at his home ground, following knocks of 140 against India last year and 119 and 175 against the West Indies. (Getty Images)

NEW DELHI: Danger man Travis Head smashed his fourth century in as many Tests at the Adelaide Oval on Friday as Australia surged to a commanding 356-run lead over England, moving to the brink of retaining the Ashes. The hosts reached 271 for 4 at stumps on day three of the third Test, with Head unbeaten on 142 and first-innings centurion Alex Carey on 52*, effectively putting the five-match series beyond England’s grasp.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!England must win the match after suffering heavy defeats inside two days in Perth and inside four days in Brisbane, both by eight wickets. However, the task appears monumental, with the highest successful run chase at the venue being 316, achieved by Australia against England back in 1902.

Head’s crucial 11th Test hundred came off a composed 146 balls, though he almost fell short after being dropped on 99 by Harry Brook. He has now struck centuries in four consecutive Tests at his home ground, following knocks of 140 against India last year and 119 and 175 against the West Indies.Australia had an early wobble in a tense passage before lunch after England were bowled out for 286, led by Ben Stokes’ gritty 83 in reply to Australia’s first-innings total of 371. Bryson Carse trapped Jake Weatherald lbw for one, with the batter walking without a review despite replays suggesting the ball pitched outside leg stump.That moment briefly lifted England, but Head shut the door after the interval, peppering the boundary with cuts and chops. Marnus Labuschagne departed for 13, edging Josh Tongue to Brook at slip, while Usman Khawaja, fresh from a defiant first-innings 82, fell for 40, caught behind off Will Jacks. Cameron Green followed soon after for seven.After negotiating the nervous 90s, Head reached his century with a four off Joe Root, removing his helmet to kiss the turf before celebrating. Though not as explosive as his 69-ball ton in Perth, it was a vital innings, well supported by Carey.Gutsy Stokes After a poor batting display on Thursday, Stokes and Jofra Archer revived England with a fighting 106-run stand for the ninth wicket. Resuming at 213 for 8, Stokes battled cramps and dehydration to bring up his slowest Test fifty, off 159 balls, before being bowled by Mitchell Starc with the new ball.Archer provided admirable support and was the last man out for 51, his maiden Test half-century, caught by Labuschagne off Scott Boland. Boland finished with 3 for 45, while Pat Cummins claimed 3 for 69 on his return to Test cricket.England’s troubles began earlier when Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope fell in a rapid burst, with only Harry Brook’s 45 offering brief resistance as Australia’s attack kept relentless pressure.

File Pic: India vs Australia at Adelaide Oval in 2020. (Getty Images)

Five years ago on this day – on December 19, 2020, the Indian Test team, under their charismatic captain Virat Kohli, came face to face with their worst nightmare Down Under. On the third day of the opening match of their four-match series in Australia, India batters tumbled like a pack of cards against the spirited bowling of Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins at the Adelaide Oval. They were bundled out for their lowest score ever in the history of Test cricket – 36 all out in 21.2 overs.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Such was the collapse that no Indian batter managed to touch the double-digit mark and there were three ducks, including that of middle-order mainstays Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. Cummins started the mayhem and Hazlewood finished off the Indian defence with precision as they shared nine wickets between them.

That day, India broke their previous lowest total of 42 against England at Lord’s, scored way back in 1974. And it still remains their lowest point in Test cricket, before the team came close to match the horror show four years later in Bengaluru against New Zealand, when they were bowled out for 46 in 2024 – their lowest total at home.

It was a sombre Saturday morning, India were in the driver’s seat after taking 53 runs first-innings lead at the Adelaide Oval. At stumps on Day 2, India had lost their opener Prithvi Shaw early in the second innings to Cummins and reached 9/1, a lead of 62 runs with nine wickets in hand, little did the visitors know what was in store the next day.Opener Mayank Agarwal and nightwatchman Jasprit Bumrah were on crease for India on Day 3. On the last delivery of the second over of the day, Cummins opened the floodgate by removing Bumrah – caught and bowled for 2.India were 15/2 at that stage, a lead of 68 with Pujara joining Agarwal in the middle. Three probing maiden overs followed as the pressure mounted on India batters in the middle. Cummins then forced an edge off Pujara’s bat in the 12th over and captain Tim Paine pounced on it – a 8-ball duck for India’s No.3 batter. Next over Hazlewood joined the party, removing Agarwal (9), India’s top scorer in the innings – out caught behind, before making it a double-wicket maiden by dismissing Rahane for a 4-ball duck.

Australia’s pace trio: Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. (ANI Photo)

India were in total disarray by then, 15/1 had turned to 15/5 in no time. All the advantage they generated by bowling out the hosts for 191 on Day 2 after posting 244 had vanished in thin air.It was left to skipper Kohli and wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha to steady the India innings against the two marauding pacers in Cummins and Hazlewood. Kohli had a good outing with the bat in the first innings, top-scoring for India with a composed 74 off 180 balls, which included eight fours. So, India had hopes. But, Cummins had other ideas. In what could be considered as a stunning bowling spell, Cummins made Kohli his fourth victim as the pacer returned figures of 4 for 21 in 10.2 overs.Kohli’s wicket was the last hope for India, and after that Hazlewood ran through the lower middle-order and tail to complete his five-wicket haul – a 5 for 8 in five overs which included three maidens too.India were folded for 36 with Mohammed Shami retiring, after being hit by a Cummins bouncer, for the visitors’ final wicket. Despite taking a substantial first-innings lead, India set just a 90-run target for the hosts in the end.Australia then knocked off the target on the same day, with openers Joe Burns (51 not out) and Matthew Wade (33) adding 70 in quick time as India pacers failed to replicate the exploits of Cummins and Hazlewood.The match, which saw 21 wickets in the first two days, witnessed a dramatic collapse on the third day and India started the series with a disappointing 8-wicket defeat in the series.

File Pic: Rishabh Pant celebrates after winning the Brisbane Test.

The turnaround as famous as the crumble

After the humiliation in Adelaide, the series moved to Melbourne and India were without their regular captain, Virat Kohli left the series due to personal reasons. Ajinkya Rahane led the side at MCG, and India made an emphatic comeback in it by beating Australia by 8 wickets to level the series 1-1.It was followed by a drawn Test in Sydney, as both teams reached for the finale in Brisbane with the series on the line.And Team India made sure that fans forgot what happened in Adelaide a month back, as they stunned the hosts by 3 wickets to win the series 2-1 – making it a back-to-back Test series win Down Under for the visitors. It was a turnaround to remember for Team India. They moved on from the Adelaide humiliation to script Test history in Australia.

Australia’s Travis Head reacts after scoring century in Adelaide. (AP Photo)

Travis Head etched his name alongside cricketing royalty on Friday, joining an elite club that includes Don Bradman after scoring a century in four consecutive Tests at the same venue, as Australia tightened their grip on the Ashes with a dominant display at the Adelaide Oval.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Head’s unbeaten hundred on day three of the third Test against England made him only the fifth batter in Test history to score centuries in four successive matches at a single Australian ground. More significantly for Australian fans, he became just the second player after Michael Clarke to achieve the feat at Adelaide, a venue where Head has now built a remarkable legacy.

The list he now features in underlines the magnitude of the achievement: Bradman at Melbourne, Wally Hammond at Sydney, Steven Smith at Melbourne, Clarke at Adelaide — and now Head, whose Adelaide run spans Tests against West Indies (twice), India and England between 2022 and 2025.

Hundreds in four consecutive Tests at an Australian venue

Batting on his home ground, the South Australian favourite brought up his Ashes hundred in memorable fashion, lofting Joe Root straight down the ground before removing his helmet, kissing the turf and saluting the crowd and his wife in the stands. It was a deeply personal moment for Head, who later admitted it was a childhood dream to score an Ashes hundred in Adelaide.This was not a typical Head innings built purely on aggression. Instead, he showed restraint and maturity, grinding through difficult phases before accelerating once set. His century came off 146 balls and lifted Australia to a commanding position, with the hosts closing on 271 for 4 and a massive 356-run lead, effectively sealing Ashes retention.Head’s Adelaide dominance is staggering. In his last four Tests at the venue, he has scored 175 and 38 not out against West Indies in 2022, followed by 119 (vs WI) and 140 ( vs IND) in 2024, and now an unbeaten century against England. Nine of his last 10 Test hundreds have ended in Australian victories, the lone exception being a rain-affected draw against India at the Gabba.

Travis Head in last four Tests at the Adelaide Oval

Already known as a big-match player after centuries in a World Test Championship final and an ODI World Cup final, Head once again delivered on the biggest stage. With nearly 50,000 fans roaring him on, Adelaide witnessed another chapter in a career increasingly defined by moments that matter most.

NEW DELHI: Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin showered praise on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for their astute buys at the IPL 2026 mini auction, singling out the signings of Vihaan Malhotra and Kanishk Chouhan, both snapped up for Rs 30 lakh.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!According to Ashwin, the moves underlined the franchise’s strong scouting network, and he backed Chouhan to go on and achieve big things in the future. Both Chouhan and Malhotra are currently part of the India Under-19 squad competing in the ongoing Men’s Asia Cup. The IPL 2026 mini auction wrapped up in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

“I want to praise and applaud RCB. They have snapped both Vihaan Malhotra and Kanishk Chouhan at 30 Lakhs. This is scouting of a really good order. If you do such scouting, then there will not be too much competition. Kanishk Chouhan will go on to do special things,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.Ashwin also highlighted RCB’s successful pursuit of Venkatesh Iyer for Rs 7 crore, despite competition from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and felt the franchise enjoyed another strong auction.“How are RCB so lucky at the auction? Last time they went all out for Venkatesh Iyer, if KKR had pulled out back then, RCB’s auction would have been over there itself. This time, even when KKR had the money, RCB were able to secure him for 7 crore. RCB have once again had a fabulous auction,” he added.Venkatesh Iyer entered the auction with a base price of Rs 2 crore, with Lucknow Super Giants initiating the bidding before Gujarat Titans joined in. The contest intensified once his former franchise, KKR, stepped in. While RCB and KKR went head-to-head for the all-rounder, RCB eventually sealed the deal.The MP all-rounder has scored 1,468 runs in 56 IPL innings at an average of 29.12 and a strike rate exceeding 137, including one century and 12 half-centuries. He had been bought back by KKR for Rs 23.75 crore last season but endured a lean campaign, managing 142 runs in seven innings with just one fifty.RCB also bolstered their squad depth by signing left-arm pacer and lower-order batter Mangesh Yadav for Rs 5.2 crore, making him the fourth-most expensive uncapped Indian buy of the day. The franchise further added firepower by bringing in England wicketkeeper-batter Jordan Cox.Continuing their focus on youth, RCB secured 18-year-old Satvik Deswal for Rs 30 lakh and also roped in New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy for Rs 2 crore.

Sanju Samson during a training session. (PTI Photo)

LUCKNOW: While Shubman Gill’s latest injury has disrupted India’s immediate plans, it has simultaneously created an opportunity for the team management to experiment within the T20I setup. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The toe injury, while unfortunate for the stylish opener, has inadvertently cleared the deck for the think-tank to stress-test the bench strength not just for the T20I series finale against South Africa in Ahmedabad, but crucially for the five-match T20I series against New Zealand slated for January next year.

Sources indicate that the selection committee, along with the team management, wants to leverage this enforced absence to firm up the batting combination. One selector, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the upcoming New Zealand T20Is demand a proactive approach, adding that every available game before Feb 2026 should effectively be treated as an extended trial. The primary beneficiary of Gill’s absence is likely to be Yashasvi Jaiswal. The southpaw has been waiting in the wings, his aggressive intent in the Powerplay viewed by many as the perfect template for modern T20 cricket.

However, he isn’t the only name floating. Insiders reveal that there is a strong temptation to revive the option of Sanju Samson returning to the opening slot. Samson, whose career has often been a game of snakes and ladders, offers a destructive capacity in the Powerplay that the management values highly, especially on the batting-friendly Indian tracks. Samson and Abhishek Sharma formed a potent, aggressive T20I opening pair for India, scoring 267 runs in 12 innings at a high run-rate of 9.82 (averaging 22.25). The intrigue, however, isn’t limited to the opening slot. Perhaps the most significant development brewing in the corridors of the selection committee is the potential recalibration of KL Rahul’s role. Reports emerging suggest that Rahul is being seriously considered for a middle-order wicketkeeper-batter slot. The logic is sound: with the top heavy with explosive talent, the team requires a seasoned hand in the middle overs who can arrest a collapse or accelerate at will. Sources indicate that the management is eager to see if Rahul can replicate his ODI utility in the shortest format. Rinku Singh’s name, too, is doing the rounds after his omission from the South Africa T20Is. Dropped more due to combinations than form, Rinku remains highly rated internally for his composure under pressure and clarity in finishing roles. Furthermore, the swashbuckling century by Ruturaj Gaikwad in the recently concluded ODI series against South Africa has not gone unnoticed. While he is naturally an opener, his ability to adapt to game situations makes him a dark horse in these deliberations. In contrast, the bowling department appears largely settled, offering the team management a sense of continuity. The presence of seam-bowling allrounders Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube provides invaluable balance, effectively giving the captain the luxury of choosing between an extra pacer or spinner based on conditions. Their roles also cushion the impact of batting experiments, allowing India to field deeper line-ups without sacrificing bowling options. Axar Patel’s illness, however, has briefly unsettled that equilibrium. His absence has brought another left-arm spin-bowling allrounder Shahbaz Ahmed back into the picture after a prolonged period on the fringes. Shahbaz’s domestic performances have been gritty, but the hierarchy seems clear. It is Washington Sundar who is poised to get the first look-in. Washington’s Powerplay bowling prowess and his improved batting chops make him the like-for-like replacement for the balance the team seeks.

LUCKNOW: When the IPL-2026 miniauction was on in Abu Dhabi, rightarm legbreak bowler Vishal Nishad was watching at Kanpur’s Kamla Club, at the Uttar Pradesh team’s camp for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy. The screen felt personal: one pick from any franchise could change his life.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The first round stung. “When I went unsold, I was sceptical,” he said. Then the third round arrived and Punjab Kings raised the paddle. “Punjab Kings bought me for Rs 30 lakh. This is a life-changing moment for me,” Nishad told TOI.

Nishad’s path to that IPL slot began far, far away from big-city cricket stadiums, in Jangal Ayodhya Prasad village in the Khorabar police station area in Gorakhpur. “I used to play cricket with a tennis ball,” he said. This was until his friend Vineet Pandey urged him to train with a leather ball instead. Nishad resisted for one reason: “I didn’t have any money.”Pandey refused to give up, spoke to a coach and Nishad found his way to the Sanskriti Cricket Academy in Gorakhpur. There, coach Kalyan Singh agreed to watch him bowl, of course while charging a fee.Then the coach heard about the family’s financial hardships and decided to change his mind. “When he learned about my poverty, he gave me training for three years without taking any money,” Nishad, who couldn’t even afford a cricket kit, said. “I practiced by borrowing kits, from shoes to bats, from other players.”

In 2024, the first hurdle arrived with a UP T20 League trials. A practice match in Noida implied travel he couldn’t pay for. “I borrowed Rs 2000 from my friend in the village and went to Noida and took three wickets in the first practice match.” He made the cut, stayed on for camp, and on his UP T20 debut, picked up seven wickets in four matches for the Gorakhpur Lions. The next season brought six in five.The IPL didn’t arrive by accident. Nishad went for trials, including for Punjab Kings in Lucknow, and videos of his ‘mystery bowling’ began to be circulated among franchise talent spotters. Punjab Kings scout Ankit Rajpoot, who had first seen him with Gorakhpur Lions, said, “He has great talent.”Back home, the auction price carried weight. “My father is a carpenter and mason who works on daily wages. Our family never thought that a child from our family would play IPL,” Nishad said. He knows the spotlight is still distant, but the door is open. “I will try to make my identity if I get the opportunity.”

Varun Chakravarthy (PTI Photo)

LUCKNOW: From the wilderness of being branded a “one-season wonder” after the 2021 T20 World Cup to standing atop the summit of world cricket as the undisputed No. 1 ranked T20I bowler, Varun Chakravarthy’s journey has been nothing short of cinematic. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!As the Indian team gears up for its title defense at the T20 World Cup in Feb-March 2026, the 34-year-old mystery spinner is no longer just an option; he is the most vital cog in the wheel, the banker captain Suryakumar Yadav turns to when the game hangs in the balance. His recent exploits in the ongoing T20I series against South Africa have only solidified this status, propelling him to a career-best ICC rating of 818 points. To put his dominance into perspective, Varun now holds a staggering 119-point lead over his nearest rival, New Zealand’s Jacob Duffy. Even more striking is Varun’s entry into elite territory — eighth on the all-time list of best T20I bowling ratings, placing him among T20 greats like Umar Gul, Sunil Narine and Rashid Khan.

This statistical supremacy is the fruit of a spectacular redemption arc. Since his return to the national fold in October 2024, Varun has been nothing short of a revelation. The “mystery” tag, which once seemed like a burden during his indifferent debut years, has now matured into “mastery”. What makes Varun’s impact particularly valuable to India is the duality of his role. He is not merely a holding bowler tasked with stifling run flow in the middle overs; he is often India’s primary wicket-taking threat when matches threaten to slip.

In 2025 alone, he has been a serial wicket-taker, a trait that separates him from the defensive spinners of the past. In just 17 innings, Varun has snapped up 32 wickets at a staggering average of 13.18, conceding runs at a miserly economy of 6.69 while striking every 11.8 balls. His most telling performance came in January at Rajkot, where he tore through England’s batting with a match-defining spell of 5 for 24. The secret, as teammates and analysts point out, lies not in mystery alone but in controlled, layered variation. He bowls at markedly different speeds within the same over, sometimes rolling his fingers at under 90 kmph before firing one at nearly 110. His carrom ball, slider and top-spinner are released with near-identical actions, making premeditation hazardous.

“He has got something different about him… if he gets it right, it’s very difficult to read him,” former India skipper Rohit Sharma had said about Varun. Unlike many modern spinners who rely heavily on matchups, Varun has shown he can operate against both right and left-handers with tactical ease. What makes Varun indispensable to India’s World Cup defense is the unique technical headache he poses to opposition analysis teams. Unlike traditional leg-spinners who release the googly from the back of the hand, Varun delivers both his leg-break and his googly from the side of the hand. This biomechanical quirk denies the batter the primary visual cue needed to pick the direction of the spin. Furthermore, he has added a lethal new dimension to his game: the ability to land his googly with significant over-spin. His deliveries dip sharply and skid off the surface, targeting the stumps and removing the batter’s reaction time. It is no coincidence that a high percentage of his wickets have been bowled or LBW. He takes the pitch out of the equation, making him effective even on the flat tracks that ICC tournaments often produce. “He is a game-changer. He brings an X-factor for us. He has been playing for so many years, but he’s still able to hold his own,” coach Gautam Gambhir had said. The Indian think-tank, led by Surya and Gambhir, is acutely aware of his value. There is a reason why Ravichandran Ashwin recently advised the management to “save” Varun for the big games. The logic is sound: the less exposure top teams get to his variations in bilateral games, the more potent he will be in the high-pressure knockout games of a World Cup. He provides the team with a tactical flexibility that is irreplaceable. With Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh handling the pace duties at the start and death, Varun owns the middle overs — the phase where T20 games are often won or lost.