Tillway Talk

With the ODI World Cup just around the corner, the recent ODI series against Australia has given much food for thought to the selectors. Only the following eleven players now seem to be certainties: R Sharma Dhawan Kohli Dhoni K Jadhav H Pandya R Jadeja K Yadav B Kumar Shami Bumrah Out of these, even Dhawan's place was insecure, but he redeemed himself with a century in one of the ODIs against Australia.  Of the remaining four positions, the second wicket-keeper's slot will go to D Karthik or R Pant. The second spinner's slot seemed to have been nailed down by Chahal, but in the recent ODIs against Australia, he went for a lot of runs, without too many wickets to show in return. The Australian think-tank seems to have figured out how to play him. Bringing back Ashwin might be an option worth considering. That leaves two batsmen's slots to be filled. This is where the selectors will have the greatest headaches.  Neither Rayadu no...

Soon India will go to the elections in about a month's time. Till very recently, the ruling BJP government was still hung up on the issue of Hindutva, on the basis of which it came to power. The appeal of the right-wing doctrine of Hindu nationalism  seems to have faded. This was demonstrated in the recent assembly elections, where the BJP lost in  three Hindi heartland states. However, the Congress seems to have let the momentum slip. After the attacks at  Pulwama and the subsequent air-raid on the Balakot terror camp, the BJP seems to have the upper  hand. This, despite the fact that an Indian MIG-21 Bison pilot was shot down the next day and captured by the Pakistani forces. He was released soon, and tensions between India and Pakistan were defused. The Congress Party seems to have run out of ideas. Their leader Rahul Gandhi keeps on harping on the Rafale deal. He only seems to be flogging a dead horse. It is not likely that the 'Mahagathbandan' or grand alliance...