In a significant terror crackdown, the National Investigating Agency (NIA) has arrested 3 terrorists belonging to the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) module in Karnataka. Live Improvised Explosive Devices(IEDs), hand grenades and other incriminating materials have also been recovered from the terror module. A plan to bomb several places in Karnataka has been foiled by the investigating agencies.
TIMES NOW MEGA #Exclusive#Breaking | Major terror crackdown: Anti-India plot exposed. NIA busts Dhaka terror ring in Karnataka, arrests 3 conduits; recoveries include IEDs and hand grenades. | @NikunjGargN with details. pic.twitter.com/7AEWNGYtcM
The IEDs recovered by the NIA are in fully functional and assembled state, along with the other components of IEDs. The IEDs, hand-grenades and other incriminating materials were recovered from Soladevanahalli area in Bengaluru, the capital city of the Karnataka state. The NIA has seized 5 fabricated hand-grenades, 1 Timer-device, 3 electronic circuits and suspected explosives and ready-made IEDs from the location. It is speculated that NIA was fed the information of this terror ring by arrested JMB operative Habibur Rehman Sheikh.
Bengaluru has been the preferred location for the JMB terror outfit for carrying out their nefarious activities. In the past, the Bengaluru police had retrieved two live bombs from Ramanagara, 50 kilometres from Karnataka’s capital Bengaluru. The discovery of bombs came hours after a key operative of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh Habibur Rehman Sheikh (28) alias Habibur or Sheikh was arrested in Karnataka.
JMB, an infamous terror outfit on India’s eastern border, was inactive for some time, but now it has managed to regroup under their chief Salauddin Ahmed and Jahidul Aslam and once again have resumed their operations. Recently, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh was banned by the government of India under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 35 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 with immediate effect.
‘What is it you like here?, I ask seventeen-year-old Shashi, who vigorously pounds the clothes under tube-well water while her neighbour’s toddler enjoys getting wet.
With her beautiful face beaming with joy she pauses, spreading her arms across an expanse of rickety shanties, a landfill of garbage, a swamp of fetid water she responds, ‘Bas, sab kuch! Sab kuch’!
Having arrived from Pakistan just three days ago, her parents and two young brothers are living from shanty to shanty, thanks to the generosity of those who have as little like them, till they get a roof, a small table fan, one light point and one socket of their own.
For someone who had lived her young life bound within four walls, never stepping out in fear of being picked up, used and thrown by the landowner who employed her parents or by other men outside the Hindu hamlet, Shashi is breathing as free as never before in her previously oppressed life.
Shashi
Minki with the blue eyes was one of the first refugees brought to the Majnu ka Tilla camp. She etched out her boundary with branches and twigs, put up a rickety home, painted the walls & made it her own, exhaling for the first time in 50 years & now awaits to be embraced by the Indian State. “I hope by next year”.
In her neat little patch, she has her temple under a tree and a faded Tiranga fluttering atop.
“See!”, she points to a collection of idols, big and small.
Her toothless smile, priceless. ‘No one kicks it & breaks it here’.
I will confess, at that moment the recently desecrated Durga Ma Temple at Hauz Qazi immediately came to mind. But I did not have the heart to tell her it could happen here too. Yes, right here in India’s capital, the seat of our government, the haven she had escaped to from what she called living hell.
Her son sells phone covers at the traffic lights.
‘Teach him a skill please. The boy refused to go to school after a few years. He had to sit separately because he is Hindu and was being forced to learn the Kalma so, we made him work with us in the fields…’
Whereas next door Chander and Rampyaari are ready in starched uniforms for the afternoon shift at school. They came at an age when it was not too late for them.
RampyaariChander
There is an inexplicable le emotion that overwhelms you seeing human resilience and the spark of dedication, hope, aspiration among abject poverty and squalor.
Ram Pyaari tells me with the matter of fact confidence that she wants to be a teacher because teachers can guide young people & also policewomen because they have authority.
So many young girls, gorgeous with shining, happy faces, show off their embroidered bedcovers and pillowcases. A dark, hot, windowless room with several donated sewing machines is humming with quiet diligence as they stitch commissioned kurtas and salwars.
Outside a mother shows me her four-year-old boy.
‘I left him with my brother in law when he was a few months old & took my other three and crossed the border’.
Hugging a resisting child she says “he now belongs to them but at least I get to see him as they recently came across too”.
Another woman tells me of the two she left behind.
Does the wound ever heal? Does that hole ever fill up?
Most of us thankfully and hopefully will never ever experience it or know the pain of leaving a child behind to seek a future for the others.
Coming from stock, that fled home, hearth, jobs, malta orchards by train & part on foot, in the summer of 1947, to bursting refugee camps at Kingsway, Outram Lines, Reed Lines, not far from Majnu Ka Tilla, the connect is strong.
From those camp, tents rose educationists and clerks, officers and soldiers, farmers & judges who made a new life through sheer dint of hard work.
Seventy-two years later these Pakistani Hindu refugees find their way to their natural home India, with the same anxieties, the same fears and hope for a safe and secure future for themselves as those before them.
Who knows how the Phoenix will rise from these ashes…
There are, no doubt many such shanties across our metropolises- each one with different stories and different tribulations.
All, without exception, badly equipped to handle any human existence and yet they exist right outside our islands of privilege which we pass by every day of our lives, without a thought.
I’m ashamed to say that I have never ventured into one and only imagined the worst.
But thanks to Sudhanshu Singh of Human Aid International (HAI), who is is doing such commendable work with a small dedicated team.
Saurabh who oversees daily issues and liaises with municipal agencies etc.
Chanda and Anishka who are profiling every family, its members, their medical background, educational abilities, skills, aspirations.
Neetu, who runs the stitching classes.
Stitching Centre
What could have been a hopeless mass of destitution was actually a story of real people with dreams for their offsprings and a hope for the future.
So please if you have time to spare and a vocation to teach, there are eager children just waiting to learn & have a world open up to them. Older ones need tuitions in Maths, Science, English.
If you know of mechanics, plumbers, electricians, carpenters who need apprentices there are able young men looking for an opportunity.
If you know of doctors who could devote some time for a monthly checkup and an experience no expensive hospital offers, this is the place.
Besides, the more serious ailments there is the problem of untreated water causing skin ailments and kidney stones. Mosquitos bites & scabs cover arms and legs.
If you can get the MCD to regularly fumigate or if counselling is what you do well, or portacabins and toilets, solar panels, tree saplings, mosquito nets..do help.
Till these people step out to eke a life armed with Indian citizenship and other survivors trickle in, risking it all.
“We make a living by what we get. But we make a life by what we give”.
The rift within in the Mumbai Congress has been more apparent after a letter written actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar making scathing comments against trusted aides of her senior colleague Sanjay Nirupam was publicised on Monday.
Reportedly, Urmila Matondkar, who had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections from the Mumbai North constituency, had written a letter dated May 16 to the party leadership criticising the conduct of close associates of Sanjay Nirupam – Sandesh Kondvilkar and Bhushan Patil.
#Mumbai: Congress leader Urmila Matondkar on May 16 wrote to party leader Milind Deora stating ” issues like failure of party leadership at local level and infighting created hurdles and obstacles in my entire political campaign.” (file pic) pic.twitter.com/U7m9XYdEEA
Urmila Matondkar had reportedly written a letter to Milind Deora, Chief of Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) just a week before the Lok Sabha election results were announced. Milind Deora has now announced his resignation from the post on Sunday after Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s resigned from the post of party president.
In her letter, the former Bollywood actress had shared her grievance by highlighting the failure of party leadership at the local level on coordination, organising workers at grassroots, failure to provide proper resources to her by the two campaign coordinators. The actress-politician accused the duo of showing a “total lack of coordination, honesty and efficiency, ensuring a disastrous outcome”.
Urmila Matondkar also said that the joint poll rally addressed by senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and NCP chief Sharad Pawar in suburban Borivali in April was organised in an “extremely shoddy” manner, bringing huge personal embarrassment for her.
In the letter, the 45-year-old Congress politician accused Nirupam’s aide Kondvilkar of calling up her family members and asking them for money to fund her election campaign. Matondkar alleged that Kondvilkar had asked her family members to speak to Congress treasurer Ahmed Patel for release of campaign funds.
She also claimed that the close aides of Nirupam also showed disrespect to North Mumbai district Congress president Ashok Sutrale. She sought disciplinary action against Kondvilkar and Patil and demanded changes at the organisational level to ensure a better and brighter future for the party.
In her letter, she said that she managed to run a decent campaign despite such difficulties and added she had highlighted certain issues with an intention to bring positive change in the party.
In reaction to Urmila’s letter, Sanjay Nirupam has now hit out at Milind Deora indirectly. He tweeted, “Young leader who desires to stabilise party at the national level has released copies of complaint letter of an LS candidate to media houses to publish it. It was addressed to him against party workers after the election. Is this the way he is going to adapt to stabilise the party?”
Responding to Urmila’s letter, Milind Deora, in a statement, said, “A party and its ideals are bigger than one individual. Some unpleasant and unwarranted commentary from certain quarters should be ignored and not countered. The Congress party has seen many upheavals and shall overcome this one too.”
Interestingly, both Milind Deora and Sanjay Nirupam lost the Lok Sabha elections from South Mumbai and Mumbai North West, respectively in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections along with Urmila Matondkar this year.
During her election campaign, Urmila Matondkar had stoked controversy when she had said that she has joined Congress because the ‘religion which is known for its religious tolerance has turned out to be the most violent religion of them all’.
On the 30th of June, a Muslim mob went on a rampage at Old Delhi and desecrated a Durga Mandir at the Lal Kuan area of Hauz Qazi. The conflict initially began with a fight over parking but soon turned escalated into a hate crime.
There is hardly any doubt over the fact that only Hindus were the victims of the hate crime that was committed on that night and consequently, all the perpetrators of the hate crime belonged to the Muslim community. However, the so-called fack checking portal factchecker.in, an initiative of IndiaSpend, begs to differ.
What happened: Muslim mob vandalise temple in Delhi, pelt stones at Hindu houses, shout slogans like Allahu Akbar & Naara e Takbeer@FactCheckIndia: Muslim is still the victim. Tension flared because of right-wing outfits
According to factchecker.in, tensions flared in the area on the 2nd of July after bike rallies by Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad. They also classify Muslims as victims of the hate crime and Hindus as alleged perpetrators even though only a Hindu Temple was vandalized and Murtis were desecrated. The fact is that tensions were already high after the vandalism of the Durga temple on 30 June. They say the market was returning to normalcy albeit with the presence of security forces. Just because there is no visible fight among people does not mean the situation is normal.
No hate crime was committed against the Muslim community at all and yet, factchecker.in somehow managed to portray Muslims as victims in this particular incident as well where they were, without a shadow of a doubt, the perpetrators of the hate crime. It only goes on to show how agenda-driven factchecking websites peddle dubious propaganda to portray Muslims as victims using fictitious narratives.
At OpIndia.com, we have regularly demonstrated on several occasions the extremely problematic aspects of factchecker.in’s Hate Crime Watch. Swati Goel Sharma of Swarajya Mag, too, has busted the intended narrative on several occasions. There have been occasions when factchecker has deliberately twisted the facts of the matter to increase the number of Muslim victims in its database by including cases where the victim and the perpetrator both belonged to the Muslim community.
On other occasions, the organization has continued to maintain a case in its hate crime database even after it was proved that no such incident occurred merely because the alleged victim was from the Muslim community and the alleged perpetrators Hindu. According to the luminaries at FactChecker, the Pulwama Terror Attack wasn’t a hate crime either even though the Terrorist himself proclaimed that he was carrying the attack against ‘Cow-Piss drinkers’.
Despite their bigoted agenda and dubious track record, they were awarded an international prize recently for their ‘Hate Crime Watch’ database. It only shows the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the global liberal ecosystem that it not only tolerates such mediocrity, it celebrates them.
Punjabi rapper, Honey Singh has got into trouble over the lyrics of his latest song ‘Makhna’. The rapper had unveiled, what he called his come back song, in December 2018. The song was composed, written and sung by him.
The Punjab police have booked the rapper under IPC sections, 294 (obscene acts) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), under Information Technology Act and section 6 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, after it received a complaint by the state women’s commission chief, Manisha Gulati.
The case has been registered at the Mataur police station in Punjab’s Mohali district.
T-series owner and music producer Bhushan Kumar, who produced Singh’s latest album, along with Neha Kakkar, who has sung the song have also been booked.
Gulati had asked the police to file a criminal case against the Bollywood singer and sought a status report by July 12.
Gulati had written to the Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Justice), state Director General of police (DGP) and the Inspector General of police (crime), over the lyrics of Honey Singh’s song ‘Makhna’, seeking a ban on the song saying that the song is “indecent” and bound to have a “negative effect” on the society.
The song which is breaking the internet with over 200 million views in the last six months has a verse which reads:
“मैं और मेरे कलाकार सब बैठ के करें chill
पर मैं हूँ womanizer, मुझे अकेले में मत मिल
SiliconE वाली लड़की को मैं पकड़ता नही
Brown girl से मेरा दिल भरता नही
गोरी-गोरी skin के लिए मैं मरता नही
क्योंकि मैं हूँ शेर, घास चरता नही “
Honey Singh uses lyrics like “Mein Hoon womaniser (I am a womaniser)” and makes lewd remarks like “Silicone wali ladki” (referring to women who opt for artificial breast implants). He further makes racists remarks by using words like “brown girl” and “Gori-Gori skin” (fair-fair skin) in his song, which probably prompted the state women’s commission chief, Manisha Gulati, to seek a ban on the song and file a criminal case against the rapper.
Senior Superintendent of Police Harcharan Bhullar told reporters that Honey Singh’s song, has contents which are “objectionable” and the police, taking suo moto cognizance, would summon the rapper soon.
In 2013, the Punjabi rapper Honey Singh was involved in a controversy over the lyrics of his song ‘Main Hoon Balatkari’ (I am a rapist).
Mehbooba Mufti, the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, is one of many Muslim women who present a unique rebuttal to the dogma of feminism. Through her politics, she seeks to empower the most toxic men within the Kashmiri Muslim community who, in turn, subjugate and oppress the women in their society.
Her entire political career revolves around promoting an ideology the success of which will inevitably lead to the subjugation of women and relegating them to the status of second class citizens. Feminism explains away these inherent contradictions by suggesting that such women are ‘Agents of Patriarchy’. However, if Mufti was indeed an agent of patriarchy, then why is it that she hasn’t been criticized at all by feminists for her implicit support to radical Islam? Something does seem amiss here.
Recently, she had urged the Central government to hold talks with the Hurriyat, an outfit that is founded upon a very problematic set of ideas. Earlier, she had threatened that the entire country will burn should the Center decide to abolish Articles 35A and 370. When the central government had cracked down on Jamaat-e-Islami, another separatist organization with extremely problematic foundations, Mufti had again lent her vocal support for them.
Does any of it benefit women? Does any of it help combat the entrenched Toxic Masculinity in an Islamic society? Of course not, it only perpetuates the subjugation of women. And yet, Indian feminists have by and large ignored her vociferous support to toxic elements in Kashmir. Why have feminists maintained a stoic silence over the transgressions of an ‘Agent of Patriarchy’? On the contrary, on many occasions, they have actively supported her.
The same can be observed with regards to Mamata Banerjee. The Chief Minister of West Bengal is presiding over a regime where political violence is the norm and murders of political opponents has become extremely normalized. Her rule has robbed mothers of their sons, wives of their husbands, sisters of their brothers. Women have been raped because their husband joined a rival political party. And yet, she is still quite the hero in the liberal camp. Feminists haven’t yet found the time to commiserate with the misery of women whose lives have been destroyed under Mamata Banerjee’s rule. They haven’t treated her as an ‘Agent of Patriarchy’, have they?
The newfound hero in the Liberal world is Mahua Moitra, a Member of Parliament from Trinamool Congress. Apart from being an elected representative from Mamata Banerjee’s party, she was accused of assaulting a female constable at the Silchar Airport in Assam. She also once showed Arnab Goswami the middle finger on live television. And yet, she hasn’t been treated as an ‘Agent of Patriarchy’. She is a Feminist Hero.
There is an overabundance of such people. Hillary Clinton, who was accused of silencing the victims her husband raped, still continues to be a beacon for feminists. Shehla Rashid, who is great pals with Kanhaiya Kumar, who once flashed his penis at a woman for protesting against his urinating in public, has faced no flak for it. Rashid’s politics, like Mufti’s, directly helps those who wish to subjugate women. A poet of a pedestrian nature had defended her friend initially after his sexual perversions were exposed. Though she issued an apology later on, that she has hardly faced any consequences does reveal a lot about the Feminist movement.
Thus, in light of their own conduct, it begs the question, are feminists themselves ‘Agents of Patriarchy’? If Toxic Masculinity is the basis for Toxic forms of Patriarchy, is Feminism, then, founded upon the foundations of Toxic Femininity? If indeed that is the case, it makes perfect sense why female politicians such as Mehbooba Mufti and Mamata Banerjee have suffered no consequences at all for promoting and sustaining a culture which subjugates women and often, destroys their lives. It also makes sense why the feminist camp has an overabundance of Toxic Men. Toxic Femininity and Toxic Masculinity, of course, should be expected to make for perfect bedfellows.
Consider, on the other hand, the treatment Smriti Irani has received. A woman married to a person from a religious minority defeats a ‘Janeudhari Brahmin’ from one of the most powerful families of India since independence in his own den. Feminists should have hailed it as a great victory against Patriarchy. And yet, the only thing Irani has ever received from that camp is mockery and ridicule despite her stellar achievements.
Therefore, in light of their own conduct, we have to consider certain possibilities. Feminism, like Patriarchy, is a means toward the acquisition of power. It has very little to do with the welfare of women as is evidenced by the kind of female politicians feminists support. More fundamentally, there appears to be very little difference between feminist heroes and the Patriarchal ones they claim to oppose. Thus, essentially, it is a power struggle using the guise of women empowerment.
The special investigation team (SIT) probing the IMA group ponzi scam has arrested the deputy commissioner of Bengaluru urban district BM Vijay Shankar on Monday on the charges of receiving Rs 1.5 crore from absconding ‘halal’ investment group owner Mansoor Khan.
The IAS officer had allegedly taken the bribe to give a favourable report after the RBI asked the state government to probe the company’s businesses, confirmed the police.
This latest arrest by the SIT takes the total number of arrests related to the Ponzi scam to five.
Recently, the special investigation team (SIT) probing the Ponzi scheme had arrested Assistant Commissioner of Bengaluru North division, LC Nagaraj for his alleged involvement in the case. Nagaraj allegedly received a bribe of Rs 4.5 crore to give a favourable report for IMA, which was flagged by the RBI.
A corporator and a Bangalore Development Authority officer were earlier arrested in connection with the fraud.
Moreover, as the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the case simultaneously, tightened its noose on the IMA Ponzi scheme, more and more skeletons started tumbling out of the closet. Another Congress Karnataka minister, BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan was summoned by ED for questioning in the case.
Prior to this, senior Congress leader and MLA Roshan Baig’s name had surfaced in the case after he was accused by the IMA founder of taking Rs 400 crore from the latter and not returning. The absconding ‘halal’ investment owner, Mansoor Khan had released an audio clip, in which he had accused Baig of arm twisting and refusing to return Rs 400 crore.
Congress legislator from Khanapur in Belagavi Anjali Nimbalkar’s husband and Karnataka IPS officer, Hemant Nimbalkar’s name had also surfaced in the investigation as he had also given a clean chit to Mansoor Khan.
Moreover, the ED which had attached assets worth Rs 209 crore in connection with the case, including 20 immovable properties and bank deposits, has also been in the process of issuing a Red Corner Notice against Mansoor Khan and examining the possibility of invoking of Fugitive Economic Offenders Act against him.
The IMA promoter has been charged with perpetrating the Ponzi scheme, which allegedly duped 40,000 investors to the tune of over Rs 2000 crore. So far, the police have received around 42,000 complaints from investors, since Mohammed Mansoor Khan absconded on June 7.
The BJP has demanded a CBI inquiry into the case.
Khan has, however, expressed willingness to return to India and cooperate in the probe. Recently, Khan uploaded the 18-minute long video where he had offered to surrender and vowed to expose big politicians after coming back to India.
Amidst multiple reports of mob lynching and violence emanating from different parts of the city during the protests over Tabrez Ansari’s death last week, the district administration of Ranchi has created different teams to launch a probe into the matter and ascertain the veracity of the claims made. Two people have reportedly sustained injuries in the ensuing violence and are admitted to a city hospital for their treatment.
A disturbing video from Ranchi had surfaced online in which a violent Muslim mob could be seen vandalising a bus and exhorting others to set the bus ablaze. The Bus carried students of an Engineering college.
When the Bus reached Rajendra Chowk, a violent Muslim crowd allegedly stopped the Bus and some of them started urging people to set it on fire. When some students pleaded to the mob that they were from the same community, they were taken down from the bus. The voices in the mob kept shouting “Kill them”, “Set the bus on fire” but fortunately due to intervention from some elderly men, a horrible atrocity was averted.
The Jharkhand high court on Monday asked the government to submit a comprehensive report on the alleged mob attack on Tabrez Ansari and his subsequent judicial death in the Saraikela Khaswan last month. The court had also directed the government to provide a detailed report by July 17 on the violence that accompanied the rally organised on Friday over Tabrez’s death.
The police have claimed that they are collecting evidence from various sources to identify those involved in violent activities. The police are also verifying the veracity of the CCTV footage that showed Muslims attacking a bus of an engineering college. The district administration has filed an FIR against 33 known accused and 300 unknown accused persons over incidents of mob violence in the city.
Troubles mount for Congress as the tremors of Karnataka crisis are felt in Madhya Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath has reportedly asked its supporting legislators to prepare themselves for a floor test should the BJP demand so.
However, the BJP has claimed that the Madhya Pradesh government will collapse on its own. “The BJP will not topple the Congress government but the fate of Congress like in Karnataka could not be ruled out,” said Leader of Opposition (LoP) Gopal Bhargava.
Congress, as it continues to fight for its relevance and existence at the national level, is struggling to keep the power in the states it had recently formed coalition governments in. In Karnataka, Congress and JDS MLAs have resigned and the unholy coalition is now staring at an imminent collapse.
Even as people continue to lose their faith in the Congress, Kamal Nath has urged the MLAs to keep their beliefs in the grand-old party. He has said that the BJP wants to topple the government but urged his MLAs to not fall prey to it. He also asked all the MLAs to be present in the current assembly session should the situation of floor test arise.
On Sunday, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was also present in Bhopal and held a meeting with Congress legislatures urging them stay away from the BJP ‘tactics’. The ministers are also assigned duties to keep the MLAs from resigning and jumping the ship.
India and New Zealand will take on each other in the World Cup semi-final on Tuesday. These two teams never played against each other in the semis although India will be playing its 7th semi-final in which India advanced to finals 3 times while New Zealand will be playing its 8th and advanced to finals only once.
Let’s look into the five most significant semis played by these two teams in the World Cup history.
India v England, World Cup Semi-final, 1983
India, for the first time in 3 World Cups, reached the knock-out round. Against the host nation England, India chased down a target of 214 in less than 55 overs, During those days in England, ODIs were 60 overs a side affair.
England, after winning the toss decided to bat first, couldn’t score a considerable score even though the openers gave them a solid start of 69 runs. Under those conditions, Indian bowlers were much more effective, especially the medium pacers. Kapil Dev (3), Roger Binny (2) and Mohinder Amarnath (2) took 7 out of 10 wickets fell in the innings.
India batted with grit and determination to chase down the modest total of 213. Every batsman pitched in with a useful contribution and a 92 runs partnership between Amarnath (46) and Yashpal Sharma (61), put India in control. A quickfire 51 off 32 by Sandeep Patil won the game for India with more than 30 balls left in the innings.
Mohinder Amarnath won the man of the match and India reached its first World Cup final. The rest is history.
New Zealand v Pakistan, World Cup Semi-final, 1992
New Zealand was playing at home, has won almost all the games before reaching the semis and were favorites to win the tournament but alas they couldn’t.
In-home conditions, New Zealand, opted to bat first against Pakistan at Auckland. They smashed 262 runs in 50 overs with the help of their captain Martin Crowe’s 91 runs innings. During those days anything above 250 was a winning total yet New Zealand lost the game. Inzamam-ul-Haq’s 60 in the semi-final scuppered New Zealand’s dream when the required run rate was over 7.
New Zealand’s captain Martin Crowe had to decide whether to rest in the 1992 semi-final against Pakistan or risk aggravating his injury (so that he can be fit for the finals). He chose to sit out and watched in agony as it all went to pieces. Pakistan went on to win the World Cup.
India v Sri Lanka, World Cup Semi-final, 1996
Quite an absurd result for a knockout game of such a big tournament, Sri Lanka was advanced to finals due to crowd trouble.
After winning the toss, India decided to bowl in pressure game due to the result of a group match in the tournament against Sri Lanka, where Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana blasted the Indian bowlers. In the semis, both Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana got out in the very first over of the match. All looked good for India, but Aravinda de Silva’s masterclass in batting stunned India, he smashed bowlers all over the park and scored 66 off just 47 balls. Sri Lanka made 251 in 50 overs.
India was cruising when Tendulkar (65) and Manjrekar (25) were batting together; the duo added 90 runs for the second wicket before Tendulkar was stumped Kaluwitharana off Jayasuriya. That’s where the collapse began, and from 98 for 1 India was reduced to 120 for 8. The crowd at Eden Gardens threw bottles on to the outfield and set fire to the seating. Match Referee Clive Lloyd awarded the match to Sri Lanka due to crow trouble. Sri Lanka won its first World Cup title a few days later.
The most anticipated match of the World Cup 2011, when the arch-rivals India and Pakistan faced each other in the semis at Mohali. Both sides Prime Ministers were present that day in the stadium to watch the match.
India after winning the toss decided to bat first and got off to a flying start as Sehwag scored 38 off just 25 balls. But the moment of the match was when Sachin Tendulkar was given not out by the third umpire after the on-field umpire declared him LBW. Pakistan offspinner Saeed Ajmal is still clueless about the decision and has said that he is still not sure how Decision Review System (DRS) overturned on-field umpire Ian Gould’s lbw ruling against Sachin Tendulkar.
Tendulkar (85) was dropped four times in the innings, which helped India to reach a respectable total of 260 in 50 overs. India bowlers bowled tight line and length to Pakistani batsmen, which didn’t let them score freely. Pakistan bowled out for 231 runs; all 5 Indian bowlers took two wickets each and India advanced into the finals of World Cup 2011.
New Zealand v South Africa, World Cup Semi-final, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzYBR6tWtrY
Another home semi-final for New Zealand. This time they were playing South Africa at the same venue where they played the semi-final of World Cup 1992. Both these two teams have been into semis but never advanced to the Final, so it was clear that one of them will play their first World Cup final.
Batting first, South Africa started well and were cruising to a massive total before the rain-interrupted the game in the 38th over of their innings. At that stage of the game, South Africa was 216 for 3, and the match was reduced to 43 overs a side. South Africa added 65 runs in the next five overs, thanks to Miller’s 49 off just 18 balls.
In reply, chasing 299 in 43 overs, the Kiwi captain Brendon McCullum went berserk by smashing 59 off 26 balls. South Africa made a come back when they dismissed Guptill and Taylor in the space of 4 overs, but Elliot and Anderson kept the nerves by adding 103 runs less than 16 overs. With six required in the last two balls, Elliot smashed the penultimate ball out of the stadium and won the match for New Zealand.
New Zealand thus advanced to the finals for the first time in World Cup history.
