Pant returns to India squad for the 1st cricket test against Bangladesh

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Pant returns to India squad for the 1st cricket test against Bangladesh

2024-09-09 13:54 Last Updated At：14:01

NEW DELHI (AP) — Rishabh Pant is set to complete his international cricket return after being included in India’s squad for the first test against Bangladesh next week.

Pant sustained serious knee and back injuries in an auto accident in December of 2022 and was sidelined for 15 months.

He returned for the 2024 Indian Premier League, scoring 446 runs in 13 matches. He has also played one-day international cricket and was part of India’s squad that won the Twenty20 World Cup in the Caribbean and United States.

India is kicking off its 2024-25 international season with tests against Bangladesh in Chennai and Kanpur.

Rohit Sharma leads the test squad once again, with star batter Virat Kohli and pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah also included. It will be new coach Gautam Gambhir’s first test assignment.

Lokesh Rahul has been recalled after missing the majority of the last test series against England because of injury but there was no room in the 16-man squad for Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar and KS Bharat.

Besides Pant, Dhruv Jurel is the second wicketkeeper-batter.

Paceman Mohammed Shami is yet to complete his return from an Achilles tendon injury, leaving Akash Deep to partner with Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

India has also called up left-arm fast bowler Yash Dayal as it considers its options ahead of the five-test tour to Australia beginning in November.

Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav were all included in the extended squad.

India leads the World Test Championship standings, followed by defending champion Australia.

Squad:

Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Central Europe flooding leaves 16 dead in Romania, Poland, Czech Republic and Austria

2024-09-17 08:56 Last Updated At：09:01

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Exceptionally heavy rainfall pounding Central Europe has prompted deadly flooding in the region, with four new deaths reported Monday in Poland, three in the Czech Republic and one in Romania.

The flooding has swamped parts of Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania as a low-pressure system crossing the region has unleashed record-high rains for days, and it was expected to affect Slovakia and Hungary later in the week. So far 16 people have been reported killed — seven people in Romania, five in Poland, three in the Czech Republic and one in Austria.

In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk held an emergency meeting and later declared a disaster in flooded areas, a government measure to facilitate evacuation and rescues. He also said the government would provide 1 billion zlotys ($258,000) in immediate payouts to victims.

The flooding in Poland has burst dams and embankments while receding waters left streets covered in piles of debris and mud. It prompted a hospital in the southwestern Polish city of Nysa to evacuate about 40 patients.

Schools and offices in the affected areas were closed Monday and drinking water and food were being delivered by trucks. Many Polish cities, including Warsaw, have called for food donations for flood survivors.

Experts warned of flood threats due to the cresting Oder River in Opole, a city of some 130,000 residents, and Wroclaw, home to about 640,000 residents and where disastrous flooding happened in 1997.

Firefighters in southwestern Poland said flood victims included a surgeon whose body was found Monday morning in Nysa after he returned from hospital duty. The bodies of two women and two other men have been found in other communities in the region.

Police in the Czech Republic said that a woman and two men drowned in the northeast, which has been pounded by record rainfall since Thursday. The woman was found in the water in the town of Krasov and the men were found dead at different locations after water receded in the town of Krnov which was almost completely submerged on Sunday

Romanian authorities said Monday that another person died in the eastern county of Galati, bringing the total number of deaths there to seven.

One death previously was reported in Austria.

Authorities in the Czech Republic declared an emergency in two northeastern regions, including in the Jeseniky mountains near the Polish border.

A number of towns and cities had been submerged in the northeast, with thousands evacuated. Military helicopters joined rescuers on boats in efforts to transport people to safety. Waters were receding from the mountainous areas on Monday, leaving behind destroyed houses and bridges and damaged roads.

In most parts of the country, conditions were expected to improve later Monday.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala visited the town of Jesenik, one of the hardest hit places.

“The worst is behind us and now, we have to deal with all the damage,” Fiala said following the visit.

In Hungary, the mayor of Budapest warned residents that the largest floods in a decade were expected to hit the capital later in the week, with the waters of the Danube River set to breach the city’s lower quays by Tuesday morning.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán canceled his planned foreign engagements, including an address to a plenary session of the European Parliament on Wednesday where heated debates were expected over his conduct since Hungary took over the European Union’s rotating presidency in July.

“Until we reach the peak and get past the worst of it, I naturally won’t be leaving the country, I’ll be here at home,” he said.

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony wrote on Facebook that the city would use 1 million sandbags to bolster flood defenses, and asked residents to take extra care when near the river.

Karel Janicek reported from Prague. Justin Spike contributed to this report from Budapest, Hungary.