Mohammed Siraj is an aggressive fast medium bowler and an ambitious cricketer. He thrives on needle contests, and on occasions gives an impression that he doesn’t want to play second fiddle to anyone. In recent times, India’s new ball operators have been the compelling Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, but many a time, Siraj has got the opportunity to share the SG Test, Kookaburra or the Dukes ball with Bumrah. In the ongoing second Test against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham though, and in the absence of Bumrah, he was the spearhead. He gave a rip-roaring performance taking 6 for 70 in 19.3 overs. It was the 43rd instance of an Indian seamer taking 6 wickets and more, and 27th overseas. On the third day morning he had dispatched Joe Root who nicked an on-side deflection to the keeper and then surprised Ben Stokes with a lifter. And taking the second new ball after 80 overs and after a leather-hunt by Jamie Smith (184 not out) and Harry Brooks (158), Siraj mopped up the tail to hasten England’s first innings to an end. Siraj’s best effort though is a 6 for 15 in the first innings of the second Test against South Africa at Cape Town in the first week of January 2024 and won the Test for India. With 102 wickets before the start of the series in Old Blighty, Siraj who has missed 10 Tests after his debut — he knew that he will have to bear the burden with Bumrah to miss two Tests — rose to the occasion to give his team a sizable first innings lead. Whatever may be the outcome of the Edgbaston, Siraj showed the inclination to bend his back!

The BJP has appointed Kolkata-centric and RSS-backed Samik Bhattacharya as the president of its West Bengal unit, marking a strategic departure from its previous leadership patterns. Bhattacharya, known for his clean image and strong ties with party stalwarts including outgoing state president and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar, LoP Suvendu Adhikari, and even sidelined party veteran Dilip Ghosh, is seen as the party’s attempt to build cohesion ahead of the crucial 2026 assembly polls. Political observers suggest this move is also a subtle endorsement of Adhikari as BJP’s projected face against chief minister Mamata Banerjee. With smooth coordination between Bhattacharya and Adhikari—both sharing a cordial rapport—the party aims to enter the electoral battlefield with a unified front. Sources indicate Bhattacharya’s urban, middle-class image could help the BJP strengthen its hold in key regions like Greater Kolkata and Durgapur. His long standing role as BJP spokesperson, with consistent media engagement, has lent him the acceptability required for a high-visibility opposition leader—a trait Suvendu is often criticised for lacking. His rise, however, comes after years of inner-party marginalization, reportedly due to both electoral surprises and internal resistance. Despite winning the 2014 bypoll in Basirhat South and staying loyal through political highs and lows, Bhattacharya was never fully empowered—possibly due to his independent success unsettling the power structure. His elevation comes amidst the BJP’s acknowledgment of the “Kolkata factor.” After successive non-Kolkata-based leaders like Dilip Ghosh and Sukanta Majumdar, the party now bets on the historical trend where successful state leaders like Jyoti Basu, Didi and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee all had strong urban roots. Now a Rajya Sabha MP, Bhattacharya has sounded the election bugle stating that this election is Bengal’s final chance to stop brain drain and save the identity of Hindu...

From facing throwdowns from farmhands as a kid to making two centuries in two Tests as Team India captain in England is a great journey already for someone who is just 25 years old. His dad Lakhwinder Singh who used to reward the farm boys if they got his son out says now that he saw Gill bat at Edgbaston like in his Under-16 and Under-19 days. Gill himself explained all the facets of his thinking in preparation for England by getting red ball practice during the IPL and getting his mind ready to last hours at the crease in Test cricket. A Test double hundred in England has come only once in 23 years since Gavaskar’s 221 at The Oval in 1979, Rahul Dravid’s 217 at the same ground in 2002 and now Shubman Gill 269 in Birmingham. But the most remarkable thing apart from statistical achievements like the highest ever score by an Indian captain, Shubman Gill’s knock has been rated one of the most flawless innings since CricViz began recording stats on false shot percentages in 2006. In 19 years, not too many innings may have attained the perfection rating above the 95.3% that Gill recorded in his 269 that ended with a pull straight to short square leg. Not even England run-getting legends like Alastair Cook and Joe Root ever attained perfection like this in their gigantic run making in England. “In this series, I tried to go back to my basics. I tried to bat like I used to in my childhood…” He also went on to say that he stopped enjoying his batting because he became so focussed on making runs and lasting long enough to stave off any late order collapse. With this innings, Gill has not just made history but also showed modern batsmen the way to bat in Test cricket.

Despite much excitement and buoyancy among the cadres and the average Marathi manoos about the reunion of the Thackeray brothers — Raj and Uddhav — after two decades, the road ahead seems far from smooth. Though the Thackeray brothers are yet to announce anything concrete, talking more in cryptic clues and hints, how they manage their seats adjustments will determine the future of the political breakthrough. Even if a political reunion does get announced, as is expected at their joint victory rally on July 5, ironing out the creases may not be a smooth affair. For starters, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) could be uncomfortable with the entry of Raj Thackeray. While the Congress may have warmed up and collaborated with the sober Uddhav Thackeray wing of the Shiv Sena, joining hands with the strident Raj Thackeray of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena could prove a difficult pill to swallow for them. Particularly with Bihar elections on the anvil, enlisting Raj in the opposition coalition MVA could prove difficult. Prithviraj Chavan, the party’s senior leader has already stated that they would deal only with Uddhav vis-a-vis their alliance. Be it about his anti-migrants stance or about loudspeakers in mosques, Raj Thackeray has refused to break bread or make conciliatory notes towards North Indians or the Muslim community. Uddhav’s  Sena, on the other hand, has successfully earned sizable political dividends in the last 2024 assembly elections thanks to his outreach towards the Muslim community. Of the 20 seats won by Uddhav, 10 of them were from Mumbai, particularly its Muslim dominated constituencies like Jogeshwari (E), Bandra (E), Versova and Mahim. While visuals of their cadres from Sena and MNS dining together may make for great photo op, the actual give and take of seats particularly in the Marathi-dominated belt, will determine how this plays out on the ground.

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin has proved his worth and weight on numerous fronts in these past four years. Even though it is easy to pass it off as osmosis by being trained by the political Machiavelli, dad Karunanidhi, he has honed his skills and political instincts by using every trick in the trade. Most significantly, he has been able to stand up to a powerful central government and find his own resolutions to problems. Not that charges of corruption, dynastic polity and Tamil isolationist fervour have not been thrown at him. But he has developed into a powerful leader who projects his state at every chance …and of course showcases himself. So when he showed up in the higher middle class neighbourhood of Chennai’s Alwarpet on July 3 with a clarion call “Oranyil Tamil Nadu” (TN in one formation), people were impressed. All the more when he asked leading questions …do you think the doles of my government should be continued? How is our government, what did you gain? Should we protect our “Mann, Mozhi, Manam” (our land, language, identity) at any cost? The speed brakes on our educational system, unjustified delimitation, our share of the country’s finances …should we protect our rights or blindly accept? His ministerial colleagues and all regional functionaries have been instructed to do this door-to-door feedback/survey for 45 days. Meanwhile, the Opposition parties are still getting their alliance act together. Will it be the hare and tortoise race or the early bird gets the worm case?

After 65 years, this tractor company will be a fully Indian organization. Chennai-based Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd. (TAFE) will buy out its partner AGCO Corporation of the U.S. in the company.  The American firm has 20.7% in TAFE. This will be bought for a consideration of $260 million. The two were engaged in a legal fight over Massey Ferguson brand.  The two have now hammered out a comprehensive out-of-court settlement that is sure to bring the curtain down on the spat between the two. Though TAFE holds 16.3% in AGCO, it has decided to stay out of the board and remain a long-term investor. Significantly enough, this comprehensive agreement confirms TAFE as the sole owner of the iconic Massey Ferguson brand in India and two other countries. Two things emerge out of this agreement. For one, it makes TAFE a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Amalgamation group, a 100% Indian firm at that. For another, the decision to stay out of AGCO board gives TAFE the leeway to chart its own business strategy in the international marketplace. Well, the agreement should do a world of good to both TAFE and AGCO.

After the first Test reverse in Headingley, Leeds, the Indian think tank would have mulled over a lot about the ways to take 20 wickets in order to level the series quickly in the second Test in Edgbaston, Birmingham. It’s not going to be easy at all with Jasprit Bumrah not having taken the call to take the field or not. India’s seasoned campaigner Mohammed Siraj is likely to lead the attack and the support staff led by Head Coach Gautam Gambhir would like the sprightly Hyderabadi to up his display with the ball by a few notches and take wickets. Prasidh Krishna conceded over 200 runs at Leeds and that’s hell of a lot. Allrounder Shardul Thakur was of no use and his place is likely to be taken by the left arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav. It’s not known if the team management will gamble picking left arm seamer Arshdeep Singh, who has the ability to swing the ball, but he doesn’t have to speed to unnerve the batters. It’s a five Test series, and India has to bounce back before the third Test at Lord’s which inspires cricketers the world over. A bowling combination in Bumrah (5 scalps in the first innings of the first Test), Siraj, Krishna, Thakur and left hand spinner Ravindra Jadeja did not click and took only 15 English wickets and lost the Test in the land of Freddie Trueman and Geoffrey Boycott, but a slight tweak in the bowling set and with a bit of luck, Gill’s team would be hoping to turn the tide.

It’s now an embarrassing moment for the Odisha government’s Principal Finance Secretary, Saswat Mishra IAS who took a hasty decision of dropping three major private sector banks — HDFC, ICICI, Axis — from its panel of banks authorised to handle the state government’s business. And surprisingly, he chose to reverse his decision on June 21 with a clarification that no new account shall be opened henceforth by the respective banks till the banks improve their performance parameters. Many questions have been raised over Mishra’s action. Was it the pressure from Delhi that saw Mishra reversing his decision? What went wrong in the first place for Mishra to de-empanel them? The real story, sources say, is that all these three banks, listed on the stock exchanges, fearing NPAs refused to lend small ticket loans to the weaker section of the society without collaterals, citing the danger of black money routing scam and the inability of the recipients to pay back, particularly PMEGP scheme. This seems to have upset Mishra. Though his official stance is “the action on three banks were taken because of their consistently poor performance in the banks flagship schemes spread over two years”. Clued-in observers say Mishra has opted for carrot and stick policy in dealing with the banks. At the moment the three private sector banks are in a quandary as to how to protect themselves from potential NPAs without collaterals and meeting fiduciary responsibilities amidst RBI’s continued apprehension regarding the danger of unsecured lending.

Is censorship back in India, 50 years after it was first introduced during the Emergency. Modi 3.0, which boasts of strengthening constitutional principles and opposing attempts to subvert it, is arming the Indian censor board with license to change names of central characters in a feature film. The Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Tourism, Suresh Gopi’s first film, after becoming a minister, has run into rough weather following its title.  The Malayalam movie, Janaki Vs State of Kerala (JSK), which was cleared by the local censor’s in Thiruvananthapuram a month back, has hit a roadblock at the hands of the revision committee. The committee, which previewed the movie in Mumbai, has suggested that the name of the titular character, Janaki be changed to get a certification. The CBFC revising committee has verbally informed the makers of the film to change the name of the titular character, as Janaki is another name of Goddess Sita. The producer of the film moved the Kerala High Court as they are unable to comply with the orders of the CBFC. The court has questioned the basis for CBFC order when movies like Seeta Aur Geeta, Ram Lakhan had no problems. The name Janaki is mentioned over 90 times throughout the film thereby making it impractical to change things. In fact, the trailers of the movie, cleared by the Thiruvananthapuram-based board, have been running at the theatres, TV screens etc for close to a month. Meanwhile, the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) has announced a protest march to the local Censor board office in Thiruvananthapuram. Interestingly, the name change is not a new issue in the Kerala film industry. Earlier, the film, Token Number, was cleared for release only after the female character’s name was changed from Janaki to Jayanthi.

Researchers TS Karthy and GV Gopi at the WildLife Institute of India (WLII) have slammed the Odisha government for its greed to turn chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s home district Anugul into a coal mining hub. They have urged the state government to reconsider their business decision as it will squeeze elephants out of its habitat. They say, ensuring Odisha elephants survival is important to WLII because Odisha holds the highest number of Asian elephants in the east central region of India numbering about 1,976. Anugul, CM’s home district accounts for 20% of India’s coal reserve and Majhi’s interest is to revive the closed coal mines to bring in employment and revenue to his government. This possibility has now set the alarm bells ringing at WLII asking how coal mines and elephants will cohabit together? WLII’s two researchers say “if the Majhi government green lights all the inactive coal mines into operation at Anugul, it would mean destruction of 390 sq km of forest in the protected area which is already hindering the movements of the elephants.