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Positive vibes: Smaran has credited the dressing-room atmosphere for the team’s good run. | Photo Credit: R.V. MOORTHY R. Smaran has played for the Karnataka senior side for just over 16 months. But the highs he has accumulated in this short span belies the inexperience.In Karnataka’s victorious 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign, he scored 433 runs and came up with a match-winning century in the final against Vidarbha. In the ongoing Ranji Trophy, he has totalled 823 runs, highest for his State and third-best overall.“I am very happy with the achievement,” Smaran said on Tuesday, after scoring his fifth First…

Kayaking through the placid backwaters of Kochi, flanked on either side by mangroves, is  meditative. Jumping off a cliff at about 30 feet, makes one let go of fear. And few things would compare with the thrill of navigating through foamy rapids in an inflatable raft. Kerala has developed an appetite for water adventure activities, and it definitely saw an uptick in 2025. One can try anything from stand-up paddling to surfing, rafting, kayaking, sailing, rowing, scuba diving and skimboarding in Kerala, which has a geographical advantage with its abundant lakes, rivers and long coastline. Recreational water sports has caught up as…

Rumours have been circulating that Delhi and Beijing would like to settle their Line of Actual Control (LAC); it is easier said than done. First, there exist several ‘agreements’ between India and China mentioning the LAC without ever defining it or showing it on a map; what will happen to these agreements is an issue which will need to be decided upon.To settle the LAC also means to iron out different perceptions (on a map or on the ground) and see how to reconcile the differences.STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADFor example, in Ladakh, it is said that there are twelve…

Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan celebrates his century during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Namibia and Pakistan in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. | Photo Credit: AP Pakistan rode on Sahibzada Farhan’s scintillating, maiden hundred and their spinners’ excellent display to beat Namibia by a handsome margin of 102 runs and enter the Super Eights of the T20 World Cup Wednesday (February 18, 2026).Batting first, Pakistan posted a formidable 199 for three in their must-win game.Farhan, who needed just 20 deliveries to move from 50 to 100, ended on 100 not out off 58 balls, becoming only the…

The three-hour-long drive to Liwa from Abu Dhabi airport feels unhurried. As the skyline slips away, the road opens into long stretches of sand. The second edition of Liwa Festival, the annual festival that blends motorsports, heritage and entertainment in a desert setting, is about to kick off.. Here are five highlights of Liwa where the annual festival will be in full flow till January 3.Festive fervourLaunched on December 12, 2025, the festival organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, unfolds as a winter fixture shaped by movement, sound and shared attention. Set against the golden…

Mohammed Bin Salman might keep the illusion of participation open—all the better to play into the wishful thinking of the West that does not want to acknowledge the loss of Saudi Arabia—but India should be under no illusionWhen Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the India-Middle East Economic Corridor (IMEC) at the September 2023 G20 Summit in New Delhi, there was broad excitement for the new scheme’s potential. India is the world’s most populous state and fourth-largest economy and will likely overtake Germany to move up a notch before the end of the decade. The corridor would bypass Pakistan and facilitate…

Watch: Omar Abdullah congratulates Jammu & Kashmir cricket team for reaching Ranji Trophy final Source link

“To understand wine, you must understand ‘terroir’ — the sense of place. What came before and what happens after, to truly grasp the now,” says Craig Wedge, the Australian estate manager of the newly opened vineyard hotel, Hotel Irada. It’s 4 pm on a pleasant Tuesday afternoon. Under a beaming sun, we’re standing amid the freshly trellised vines that form the mise-en-scène of this contemporary boutique retreat. Custom wall installation by Jaipur Rugs. Even after Mallya’s exit, the estate remained a working vineyard, producing Four Seasons wine. It is, fittingly, terroir — that intrinsic sense of place — that defines…

On February 12, 2026, a nation of 177 million people held its thirteenth Parliamentary Election to elect 300 members to its unicameral House of the Nation, the Jatiya Sangsad. As per the revised electoral roll published by the Election Commission, 127.71 million people (64.8 million men, 62.9 million women, and 1,234 third gender voters), i.e., 72 per cent of the total population, were eligible to vote.A total of 1,981 candidates from 59 registered parties (including 249 independents) contested the election. Polling in one constituency was countermanded due to a candidate’s death. According to official data released by the Bangladesh Election…

Afghanistan’s captain Rashid Khan during a practice session amid the ongoing T20 World Cup campaign in India. File picture | Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR When Afghanistan and Canada first met in a T20, back in 2010, they were two teams on the same boat — Associate nations scrapping it out in the backwaters of international cricket.Over the next 16 years, Afghanistan has zoomed far ahead of Canada in the global circuit, culminating in a landmark semifinal appearance at the 2024 T20 World Cup.But, on Thursday (February 19, 2026), as Afghanistan and Canada clash in a T20 World Cup 2026…