Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde resigned on Tuesday, submitting his resignation to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis just days after a close aide was arrested in connection with the murder of a village sarpanch.
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00:00:00Good evening, hello and welcome. You're with the news today, your primetime destination
00:00:05news, newsmakers talking points Tuesday night. Our big talking point is coming from Maharashtra
00:00:10where a senior minister, Anand Jai Munde has finally quit after outrage over what is only
00:00:18described as maha murder. Torture and murdered a sarpanch is what Munde's aide was accused
00:00:27of as Maharashtra's maha neta criminal nexus been exposed once and for all. Also on the
00:00:34show, Donald Trump has paused all military aid to Ukraine. What does that mean? We'll
00:00:42tell you more on the other side. But first, as always, it's time for the nine headlines
00:00:48at nine. US President Donald Trump pauses Ukraine aid hours after warning he won't put
00:00:54up with Zelensky. Russia lords the freeze, calls it the best contribution to peace. China,
00:01:02Canada, Mexico retaliate after Trump's trade tariffs, counter tariffs launched against
00:01:08America amidst escalating trade war. Sensex and markets remain volatile. Maharashtra Minister
00:01:19Anand Jai Munde resigns after his key aide is accused of murdering the sarpanch of Abid
00:01:24village. Brutal details of torture emerge in the chart sheet. The visuals of the torture
00:01:30go viral. Swanky massage chairs in Karnataka assembly, recliners for power naps. But MLAs
00:01:42demand a salary hike and 20 crore grant for a constitution club. Yogi Adityanath makes
00:01:51a big sambal declaration, says we should get what is ours. As the mosque Mandir Rao rages
00:01:58on, Allahabad High Court agrees to refer to the site as a disputed structure. Police file
00:02:06complaint against Samajwadi party's Abu Azmi for hailing Aurangzeb. Azmi apologises after
00:02:12the outrage. Amidst this, a Congress MP Imran Masood also praises Aurangzeb. Asks, how can
00:02:17a king who ruled for 49 years be cruel? Heated showdown in Bihar assembly, Mukesh Kumar tells
00:02:25Tejaswi, I made your father Lalu Yadav. The people of Lalu's caste were against his rights.
00:02:30Punjab cannot be a dharna state, says Chief Minister Bhagwant Maan. Farmers detained ahead
00:02:39of stir hours after Maan stormed out of a meeting with the SKM. Prime Minister Modi
00:02:47inaugurates the Vantara animal farm in Jamnagar, feeds lion cubs, giraffes, PM extends wishes
00:02:54on World Wildlife Day. The farm is owned by Mukesh Ambani's son. Tonight I want to start
00:03:07with a story from one of my home states, the state of Maharashtra. Now there was a time when
00:03:13Maharashtra was known for its social and political reform. We can go back to Phule, Ambedkar, Agarkar,
00:03:20Ranade, Tilak, Gokhale. So many great names have decorated Maharashtra's social and political
00:03:27culture. Unfortunately, in more recent times, the state's politics has crumbled into what is
00:03:33best described as cash and carry power games. That's right. A cash criminal politician nexus
00:03:40continues to tumble out into the open. Today, a senior minister in the Devendra Padnavi's
00:03:46government, Dhananjay Munde, finally resigned. Officially health reasons are cited by Munde,
00:03:52but truth is the minister found himself under the scanner ever since a Sarpanch in his district was
00:03:58brutally murdered in December. The prime accused is a key aid of the minister who belongs to the
00:04:04NCP, Ajit Pawar group. And while the Padnavi's government has acted against its own ally,
00:04:10the question is, will a ministerial resignation be enough to break a criminal politician nexus
00:04:17that has corroded Maharashtra's, and dare one say, this country's politics? Tonight,
00:04:23a no holds barred discussion on that subject. But first, take a look at our top story.
00:04:29A murder so gruesome, it sends shivers down your spine. Santosh Deshmukh, a Sarpanch in
00:04:37Maharashtra's Beed district, tortured and murdered in December last year for attempting
00:04:42to foil an alleged extortion bid targeting an energy company. The Mumbai police have arrested
00:04:49six accused and India Today has accessed damning details in the charge sheet that gives details of
00:04:55the photos and videos of the brutality. Santosh Deshmukh was thrashed with iron rods,
00:05:07sticks and iron chains. He was stripped and tied to a car during the assault. When the victim asked
00:05:14for water, an accused urinated on his face and forced him to sit on the ground half naked. It
00:05:20did not stop there. More images emerged of the murder accused urinating on a profusely bleeding
00:05:26Deshmukh. He endured the torture for over three hours. The murder accused showed no remorse,
00:05:32making video and audio calls and recording multiple videos of the assault. A 41-inch gas pipe,
00:05:39an iron rod with five clutch wires, wooden sticks and two sharp weapons, fighter and
00:05:46dahakati were used by the accused to torture Deshmukh. Six people have been arrested for
00:05:53the heinous murder while one is still on the run. One of the accused, Valmik Karad,
00:05:59is a close aide of NCP leader Dhananjay Munde. Under tremendous pressure,
00:06:04Munde on Tuesday stepped down as minister, citing ill health.
00:06:29NCP chief and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar ducked questions on Munde's resignation.
00:06:46The opposition claims law and order is failing in Maharashtra.
00:07:02The Maharashtra Vikas Aghari is demanding Dhananjay Munde be made a co-accused.
00:07:16The gruesome murder of the Sarpanch fighting extortion has exposed the ugly nexus between
00:07:37politicians and criminals in Beed, where many windmill power generation projects are coming up.
00:07:43Bureau report, India Today.
00:07:48Those are gruesome, gruesome pictures. Let me bring you the
00:07:51murder probe timeline to understand just why this case is so important. On the 6th of December,
00:07:58a security guard was assaulted at a windmill project site in Beed. The local strongman
00:08:05named Sudarshan Ghule and two others allegedly behind the assault. The Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh
00:08:12then intervened. A clash ensued between the villagers and the goons. Three days later,
00:08:17December 9th, Santosh Deshmukh, who was a Sarpanch of a local village, was abducted
00:08:23and murdered, and as the visuals are now showing, was brutally tortured for three hours.
00:08:29On December 11th, a windmill firm worker filed a police complaint, claiming that this was all part
00:08:35of a bid to extort two crore rupees from the company which the Sarpanch had tried to stop.
00:08:40The complainant named Valmik Karad, a close aide of the Minister, Sudarshan Ghule and Vishnu
00:08:46Chatterjee. As I said, Valmik Karad is a close aide of the Minister Dhananjay Munde. On December 31st,
00:08:52Karad was finally arrested after he surrendered. CID filed a charge sheet on the 1st of March.
00:08:58Valmik Karad is accused, number one. There are seven suspects so far, one of whom is absconding.
00:09:05I want to go straight across to our Mumbai Bureau Chief, Sahil Joshi, for more because,
00:09:10Sahil, we are leading with this story because what has happened in Beed,
00:09:15if it had happened in any other big city of this country, there would be outrage.
00:09:19A Sarpanch is brutally tortured and murdered in the manner that he was. What is the sense
00:09:27you are picking up? Is this a story that has shaken up Maharashtra, and if so, why?
00:09:36Well, first of all, yes, it has completely shaken up a state like Maharashtra because
00:09:41Maharashtra had only heard of such kind of stories from the web series like Gangs of
00:09:46Vasepur and similar such OTT content but had never actually witnessed such kind of gruesome murders
00:09:54and the pictures which were showing the distinct difference from what had happened earlier and
00:10:01this particular murder is that the murderers were actually seen enjoying it, they were laughing it,
00:10:07they were recording it in their own mobile and showing it to the person who is giving them
00:10:17patronage either political or any other way. The whole system is with them, the local police
00:10:25because Santosh Deshmukh's relatives had first of course approached the police, the local police
00:10:31actually told them that he will come back because they spoke to somebody from Valmikarad, the main
00:10:37accused in this particular case, from his office and then they were assured that Santosh Deshmukh
00:10:42will be sent back. By then, Santosh Deshmukh was already murdered. The second important thing is
00:10:47that all these things happened in a broad daylight, it is not something which has happened
00:10:53at the vias somewhere in the night where nobody could have seen it. This happened
00:10:58in the broad daylight and apparently such kind of incidences were rampant in district of Beed
00:11:06which was very highly politically active district. Even before Lok Sabha elections, it saw
00:11:13a worse kind of riots between OBCs and the Maratha communities when the whole Maratha
00:11:20agitation was stirred up in Maharashtra before Lok Sabha elections. So it is a very
00:11:23sensitive, politically and socially very sensitive district and it had many other
00:11:28repercussions as well. It is the district, the political community there, specifically
00:11:34the people related to Valmikarad and Dhananjay Munde were also involved in extortion and this
00:11:40murder happened when somebody tried to oppose this particular extortion from the companies
00:11:46who are doing business in the district. So for a state like Maharashtra which is supposedly
00:11:51highly urbanized state, which is supposedly highly invested state from the foreign direct
00:11:59investments, industrial state like Maharashtra, such kind of incidences definitely create a lot
00:12:04of ruckus and specifically when it has a political patronage as well. So that's why this story became
00:12:09very important and it actually…
00:12:13Sahil Joshi raising very important points as to why this case has shaken Maharashtra.
00:12:17Thank you very much for joining me and giving us some context to what has happened, just why
00:12:23the murder has shaken an entire state. Now I want to go to a special guest who I spoke to
00:12:31earlier today. Dhananjay Deshmukh is Santosh Deshmukh's brother. He joined me from BID.
00:12:36Santosh, you tell me, Dhananjay Munde has now resigned. Do you think you will get satisfaction
00:12:44from this, you will get justice, you will get justice? Do you hope to get justice now
00:12:49for the way your brother was killed?
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00:20:30Accused number one in the murder of Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh
00:20:32Trusted aide of NCP MLA Dhananjay Munde
00:20:36We will play shots of the two of them together
00:20:38They were all the time together
00:20:40He was known as Valmik Anna among his supporters
00:20:42Started as a worker in Gopinath Munde's office
00:20:44Has been associated with the Munde family for years
00:20:46Has been a Municipal Councillor in Pauli several times
00:20:48Faces many criminal cases
00:20:50Faces many criminal cases
00:20:52I want to go to the NCP
00:20:54Ajit Pawar group leader
00:20:56Who is joining me at the moment
00:20:58who's joining me at the moment,
00:21:00Brij Mohan Srivastava,
00:21:02you tell us,
00:21:04if Valmik Karad and
00:21:06Dhananjay Munde are business partners
00:21:08and Valmik Karad
00:21:10is going to extort money from
00:21:12the windmill company
00:21:14and then there is the death of a Sarpanch
00:21:16who wanted to stop this extortion,
00:21:18then the role of Dhananjay Munde
00:21:20will have to be investigated or not?
00:21:22Or is there an attempt to save him?
00:21:24First of all,
00:21:26the family in which
00:21:28this murder took place,
00:21:30I would like to express my condolences
00:21:32on behalf of the Rajwadi Congress Party.
00:21:34Secondly,
00:21:36I would also like to express
00:21:38that the Rajwadi Congress Party
00:21:40is not involved in any kind of crime or crime.
00:21:42In this matter,
00:21:44we fully see that
00:21:46any person of the Rajwadi Congress Party
00:21:48is not involved in any kind of crime or crime.
00:21:50So if you have nothing to do with it,
00:21:52then why did your minister resign today?
00:21:54And he also says
00:21:56that I am resigning for health reasons.
00:21:58The truth is that Valmik Karad
00:22:00and Dhananjay Munde were business partners.
00:22:02This is the truth.
00:22:04And it takes three months for a minister
00:22:06to resign.
00:22:08I agree with you
00:22:10that he was with them.
00:22:12Being with them does not mean
00:22:14that Dhananjay Munde
00:22:16has inspired them
00:22:18to do this kind of thing.
00:22:20And he is an independent man.
00:22:22The people who have committed crimes
00:22:24and on any basis,
00:22:26Dhananjay Munde
00:22:28or any leader of the Rajwadi Congress Party
00:22:30during the police investigation
00:22:32So why did he resign?
00:22:34If there is no stain on him,
00:22:36if he is completely clean,
00:22:38then why did he resign?
00:22:40Look, there are two things on this.
00:22:42One, the people who have committed crimes
00:22:44and secondly, if they are related
00:22:46to a criminal or a politician.
00:22:48These are two different things.
00:22:50Dhananjay Munde felt
00:22:52that the way the police investigated
00:22:54and found out that
00:22:56they were involved in a crime,
00:22:58as a politician,
00:23:00he felt responsible
00:23:02and resigned
00:23:04so that the government
00:23:06does not accuse him.
00:23:08I want to make it clear
00:23:10that there was no pressure on the police.
00:23:12That is why this investigation
00:23:14was completed so quickly.
00:23:16And the people who are involved
00:23:18have been arrested.
00:23:20All the people who have been arrested
00:23:22have been arrested.
00:23:24The truth of the matter is
00:23:26all those accused
00:23:28have been arrested.
00:23:30CID has filed a charge sheet.
00:23:32Even the photographs of the torture
00:23:34have been put in the charge sheet.
00:23:36In fact, that is what has shocked
00:23:38the conscience of many people.
00:23:40So in this instance,
00:23:42it appears that the Maharashtra Police
00:23:44is actually trying to track down
00:23:46Rajdeep.
00:23:48Rajdeep,
00:23:50hear me out clearly.
00:23:52By arresting these people,
00:23:54nobody is doing a favor to anybody.
00:23:56This is the most disgusting crime
00:23:58that you can see. Your blood does not boil
00:24:00watching all these pictures, all the images.
00:24:02My blood boils.
00:24:04I mean, it's heart-wrenching.
00:24:06The point here is very simple.
00:24:08I'd like to thank Mrs. Anjali Damania
00:24:10for consistently chasing this case.
00:24:12The point here is, are you trying to tell me
00:24:14that the Deputy CM of Maharashtra
00:24:16did not see these pictures?
00:24:18That Devendra Fadnavis, the Deputy CM,
00:24:20did not see these pictures?
00:24:22Suresh Das, during the winter session
00:24:24in December, very clearly kept on hinting
00:24:26there's a torture involved in this.
00:24:28Are you trying to say they did not know this?
00:24:30And let's look at the larger picture.
00:24:32Now hear me out clearly.
00:24:34The point here is very simple, Rajdeep.
00:24:36The law and order situation,
00:24:38the fear of law in Maharashtra
00:24:40is declining completely.
00:24:42A young girl is taken in the bus.
00:24:44A few days ago, a central minister's daughter
00:24:46is ev-teased while her bodyguards are there.
00:24:48You think of Badlapur,
00:24:50you see the hit-and-run case in Pune
00:24:52where pizzas were served in the police station,
00:24:54burgers were served in the police station.
00:24:56Worldly hit-and-run case.
00:24:58You are not setting an example in this state
00:25:00where all these criminals, all these goons
00:25:02who try to create a crime like this
00:25:04are not getting scared.
00:25:06Whereas the scare and the fear is on people
00:25:08who raise their voices.
00:25:10He wanted employment and jobs
00:25:12for the people of Masajog and Imbeed.
00:25:14His voice was silenced.
00:25:16Are you trying to say all of us,
00:25:18including you, me, Mrs. Anjali Damania
00:25:20who speak our voices,
00:25:22are you going to stop our voices?
00:25:24The accused have been arrested.
00:25:26A charge sheet has been filed.
00:25:30What do you want the Fundavist government to do?
00:25:32They've arrested the accused
00:25:34and the minister has now resigned.
00:25:36The Fundavist government
00:25:38has not done a favour.
00:25:40The Fundavist government is not doing a favour.
00:25:42I am saying you need to set a precedent
00:25:44and give the strictest of punishment
00:25:46to these kind of people.
00:25:48Nobody is doing a favour to anybody here.
00:25:50The point is very simple.
00:25:52The government...
00:25:54And one more thing...
00:25:56I didn't speak when you were speaking.
00:25:58I did not speak when you were speaking.
00:26:00Keep quiet.
00:26:02Keep quiet.
00:26:04I am listening to you.
00:26:06The shame...
00:26:08No, I didn't say keep quiet to anybody.
00:26:10I said I kept quiet.
00:26:12I said I kept quiet when you were speaking.
00:26:14I maintain my decorum.
00:26:16The point here is,
00:26:18Dhananjay Munde,
00:26:20so shamelessly has tweeted that he is resigning
00:26:22on health grounds.
00:26:24You don't have a heart or what?
00:26:26Your heart has died? Your soul is dead?
00:26:28After seeing this video, you are saying that I am resigning?
00:26:30Everybody in Maharashtra
00:26:32knows that Valmik Karad
00:26:34is the closest aide of Dhananjay Munde
00:26:36and they work together.
00:26:38So did he not know what was happening?
00:26:40Who are they trying to fool?
00:26:42I just want to say this.
00:26:44The video which has gone viral,
00:26:46the images are so troubling
00:26:48that we are not playing out that video.
00:26:50But Anjali Damania,
00:26:52the same question comes to you.
00:26:54As an anti-corruption activist,
00:26:56you have done stellar work in putting the focus on this case.
00:26:58But the government will say
00:27:00we have arrested the accused.
00:27:02The charge sheet has been put in place.
00:27:06What more can the Fadnavis government do
00:27:08at this stage?
00:27:10Rajdeep, let me tell the viewers
00:27:12some few facts which have not
00:27:14come before them.
00:27:16First, the fight happened on 6th.
00:27:18The murder happened on 9th.
00:27:20And this murder
00:27:22was the most gruesome murder
00:27:24that we have heard in the last
00:27:26few years maybe.
00:27:28He was beaten up mercilessly
00:27:30by 6 people
00:27:32for 3 hours.
00:27:34For 3 hours they were hitting him.
00:27:36He was falling.
00:27:38So all this was happening.
00:27:40Someone peed on his face
00:27:42when he asked for water.
00:27:44And when were they arrested?
00:27:46They were not arrested initially.
00:27:48Arrests were made in parts.
00:27:50This Mr. Valmi Karad
00:27:52who is the close aide of Dhananjay Munde
00:27:54was absconding till
00:27:5631st December.
00:27:58There was a hue and cry.
00:28:00People like us were packed in beads.
00:28:02We fought tooth and nail.
00:28:04The people of Masadu,
00:28:06the Daishmukh family,
00:28:08they all fought.
00:28:10And after that, 30th December,
00:28:12Mr. Munde has a meeting with Fadnavis
00:28:14in the evening.
00:28:16And the next morning,
00:28:18this Mr. Valmi Karad surrenders.
00:28:20Just imagine, he surrenders
00:28:22in full media glare.
00:28:24And an announcement was made
00:28:26that he will be surrendering at this time.
00:28:28How does anybody know?
00:28:30If he is absconding,
00:28:32how on earth did they know
00:28:34at what time he would be surrendering?
00:28:36Forget that. Till 27th,
00:28:38this happened on 9th,
00:28:40till 27th,
00:28:42no CID was in place.
00:28:44The SIT was set up.
00:28:46Announcement made on 9th, 17th December
00:28:48by the CM on the floor of the Assembly.
00:28:50But the SIT was set up
00:28:52in the first week of January.
00:28:54Now, in first week of January,
00:28:56the CM made an announcement
00:28:58that he is meeting Mr. Ujwal Nikam
00:29:00and appointing him as the official
00:29:02person who would fight
00:29:04this matter. His appointment
00:29:06did not happen. For another
00:29:08two months, again we had to put up
00:29:10a strong fight. The residents of
00:29:12Masajog, the Gramastha there,
00:29:14they had to do an Anya
00:29:16Tyag Andolan. Only
00:29:18after that did they appoint.
00:29:20And the chart sheet, as I said,
00:29:22was completely flawed.
00:29:24So if you say that it has been done
00:29:26by the honourable CM,
00:29:28no, nothing of that sort was done.
00:29:30You're saying it has been done under pressure.
00:29:32Either way, as of now,
00:29:34as of today, the accused have been arrested.
00:29:36But I will ask you this, Mr. Srivastava.
00:29:38I don't know if you watch
00:29:40OTT serials or not.
00:29:42We used to watch this in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,
00:29:44in a series like Mirzapur.
00:29:46The way the crime
00:29:48politician nexus has increased.
00:29:50Do you agree that this entire incident
00:29:52has caused a huge loss
00:29:54to the image of Maharashtra?
00:29:56You say you want a clean government.
00:29:58And you raise people like this
00:30:00who become municipal councillors
00:30:02and are closest to the minister.
00:30:04They have partners.
00:30:08Look, being a partner
00:30:10and committing a crime
00:30:12are two different things.
00:30:14And it is wrong to say
00:30:16that there was a nexus with Dhananjay Mundeji
00:30:18and these criminals.
00:30:20There is no criminal record of Dhananjay Mundeji.
00:30:22He has been in politics for a long time
00:30:24and he is from a political family.
00:30:26What are you saying?
00:30:28He has been accused of many crimes.
00:30:30This is the problem.
00:30:32Why do you lie on the show?
00:30:34He has been accused of many crimes.
00:30:36The accusations against him
00:30:38are personal.
00:30:40There is no such crime
00:30:42against him
00:30:44that he beat someone
00:30:46or provoked someone.
00:30:48This political perception
00:30:50is being made against Dhananjay Mundeji.
00:30:52I want to say one more thing.
00:30:54Our government will not
00:30:56let go of any criminal.
00:30:58Sir, you are saying you will not let go
00:31:00but the truth is
00:31:02that if there is no pressure from the public
00:31:04But Clyde Crasto, there is another worrying angle.
00:31:06OBC versus Maratha.
00:31:08Some of the accused
00:31:10are from the OBC community.
00:31:12The person who died is Maratha
00:31:14The caste antagonism will play out.
00:31:16I want to understand the same individual.
00:31:18Dhananjay Munde was part of NCP Sharad Pawar
00:31:20till two years ago.
00:31:22He was a close aide of Mr. Pawar as well.
00:31:24Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar.
00:31:26Now he is with Ajit Pawar.
00:31:28So you are gunning for him.
00:31:32No, no. It is not the point of gunning for somebody individually.
00:31:34A crime is a crime.
00:31:36There is no caste, religion
00:31:38or individual involved.
00:31:40A criminal is a criminal.
00:31:42A shameless statement was given
00:31:44that being a partner
00:31:46and somebody committing a crime is a different thing.
00:31:48I am trying to say that you being a partner
00:31:50with a criminal is ok.
00:31:52Let me tell you one thing.
00:31:54Dhananjay Deshmukh
00:31:56you asked him a question
00:31:58Are you ok? Do you think there will be some kind of justice?
00:32:00I don't think there will be justice. I will tell you why.
00:32:02Because if Dhananjay Munde
00:32:04can tweet saying that I am resigning
00:32:06on grounds of health, I am telling you
00:32:08these people will brush it under the carpet.
00:32:10It took so many days.
00:32:12Is that the fear?
00:32:16I get your point Clyde.
00:32:18Is that the fear Anjali Damania?
00:32:20The public memory is short.
00:32:24I am taking your point Clyde Crasto.
00:32:26One minute. Let's not have cross talk.
00:32:28Anjali Damania, the point is
00:32:30that is that the fear?
00:32:32Once we move on to the next story
00:32:34people will forget what really happened in Beed.
00:32:36Is that the fear?
00:32:38Or will it come back into politics?
00:32:40That's precisely what is going to
00:32:42pan out in the next few days.
00:32:44The way it happened with Sanjay Rathod.
00:32:46He is back in the ministry.
00:32:48Same thing might happen with Mr. Munde.
00:32:50But there is just one point which I need to bring across Rajdeep.
00:32:52And that is when I said that these two were partners
00:32:54and why we compared it
00:32:56and why Sahil also compared it
00:32:58with gangs of Vasipuris.
00:33:00There is a huge Mahajanko
00:33:02thermal plant which is in
00:33:04Parli district.
00:33:06Taluka of Beed district
00:33:08where Mr. Dhananjay Munde belongs.
00:33:10And there is a huge
00:33:12fly ash mafia
00:33:14that the two of them are running.
00:33:16And that is basically why
00:33:18the entire gang, this entire
00:33:20nexus of Valmik Karad
00:33:22is driving
00:33:24each and every business.
00:33:26They are into fly ash supply,
00:33:28into transportation, into asking
00:33:30for extortion from shops,
00:33:32from Udyogs, from every
00:33:34given business. And that has been
00:33:36the order of Beed.
00:33:38And that is really, really dangerous.
00:33:40The people there are actually thanking us
00:33:42for it. I want to also put this in
00:33:44context. I travelled to Beed during the
00:33:46Maharashtra election. And this is a district where
00:33:48maximum number of people actually,
00:33:50particularly men and women, go for
00:33:52cane cutting to other districts
00:33:54because they do not have even employment.
00:33:56And when employment
00:33:58comes in the form of a windmill,
00:34:00then the extortion business begins.
00:34:02It is an absolute shame
00:34:04what has happened. And therefore,
00:34:06for anyone who wants to know
00:34:08what has happened to this country's
00:34:10criminal politician nexus, just turn
00:34:12to Beed.
00:34:14A minister has been forced to resign only
00:34:16because of public pressure.
00:34:18But how many more will get away?
00:34:20And will Dhananjay Munday come back
00:34:22into politics all smiling
00:34:24or into the government all
00:34:26smiles after a few months?
00:34:28We will keep track of this story
00:34:30because Maharashtra is
00:34:32the industrial capital of the country
00:34:34and to allow this kind of
00:34:36criminal politician nexus to go
00:34:38on will only damage
00:34:40Maharashtra. We will be watching and we
00:34:42hope that the Devendra Fadnavis government
00:34:44acts at every stage
00:34:46against the accused. I appreciate
00:34:48my guests joining me here on our
00:34:50top talking point tonight.
00:34:52I want to turn from there to what we are calling
00:34:54the Trump tracker. That's right.
00:34:56The American president every day
00:34:58creates headlines. The latest,
00:35:00the U.S. has imposed a 25%
00:35:02tariff now on Mexico
00:35:04and Canada. It comes into effect
00:35:06from today. The U.S. has doubled
00:35:08the tariff on all Chinese imports
00:35:10to 20% from 10%.
00:35:12China has retaliated by
00:35:14slapping a 15% and 10%
00:35:16tariff on many items.
00:35:18Canada to impose over $100
00:35:20billion in tariffs on
00:35:22U.S. goods. Trump meanwhile
00:35:24has also taken another big move today.
00:35:26He has paused military aid to Ukraine.
00:35:28He's also issued a ban
00:35:30on illegal campus protests.
00:35:32So Donald Trump, making
00:35:34all the headlines once again
00:35:36and all of this coming days after that
00:35:38heated face-off between him
00:35:40and Ukrainian President Zelensky.
00:35:42Trump said that he has put a
00:35:44pause on U.S. aid.
00:35:46This while Putin and
00:35:48Russia continues to bomb
00:35:50Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
00:35:52It's another top story.
00:35:54Don't tell us what we're
00:35:56going to feel. I'm not telling you.
00:35:58Because you're in no position to dictate that.
00:36:00The explosive Trump-Zelensky meeting
00:36:02snowballs into a big diplomatic war.
00:36:04Days after the heated
00:36:06argument in the White House, Trump
00:36:08hits a pause on military aid for Ukraine.
00:36:10To pressurize
00:36:12Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
00:36:14to engage in peace talks with Russia.
00:36:16Well, I just
00:36:18think he should be more appreciative because
00:36:20this country has stuck with them
00:36:22through thick and thin.
00:36:24We've given them much more than Europe
00:36:26and Europe should have given more than us because
00:36:28as you know, that's right there, that's the border.
00:36:30I want all of those young
00:36:32people to stop being killed.
00:36:34They're being killed by the thousands every single
00:36:36week and that's not young
00:36:38people from the United States
00:36:40but it's on a human basis.
00:36:42I want to see it stop.
00:36:44Trump said Zelensky
00:36:46should be more appreciative of U.S.
00:36:48military aid in the Russia-Ukraine
00:36:50war and both countries should make
00:36:52a deal and put a stop to all the
00:36:54killings.
00:36:56Of course they have their views
00:36:58and of course they're not always going to agree with us
00:37:00but they've got to participate in the conversation.
00:37:02They weren't willing to do that on Friday
00:37:04so the President said send them home.
00:37:06The President is actually taking a much more realistic
00:37:08perspective and saying this can't
00:37:10go on forever. We can't fund this thing
00:37:12forever, the Ukrainians can't fight forever
00:37:14so let's bring this thing to a peaceful
00:37:16settlement.
00:37:18President Trump government freezes shipments
00:37:20to Ukraine including critical munitions
00:37:22such as anti-tank weapons
00:37:24thousands of artillery rounds
00:37:26and rockets which keeps the country
00:37:28afloat in its war against Russia.
00:37:30U.S. has provided
00:37:3231.7 billion dollars
00:37:34for military aid to Ukraine
00:37:36in August 2021.
00:37:38Zelensky has also got 12,000
00:37:40anti-armor systems,
00:37:42over 1,550
00:37:44anti-aircraft missiles from
00:37:46exercise. Apart from
00:37:4834.8 billion dollars for border
00:37:50control, anti-terrorism ops
00:37:52and demining operations from
00:37:54the U.S.
00:37:56U.S. in 2025 gave Ukraine
00:37:5865.9 billion dollars
00:38:00in military assistance.
00:38:0269.2 billion dollars in
00:38:04military assistance around February
00:38:062024.
00:38:10The lack of security
00:38:12guarantees for Ukraine 11 years ago
00:38:14allowed Russia to begin with the occupation
00:38:16of Crimea and the war in Donbass.
00:38:18Later the absence of security
00:38:20guarantees enabled Russia to
00:38:22launch a full-scale invasion.
00:38:24And now due to the lack of clear security
00:38:26guarantees, Russia is keeping
00:38:28this war ongoing.
00:38:30The world sees this and the whole world
00:38:32acknowledges it.
00:38:36While stopping
00:38:38military aid for Ukraine, Trump
00:38:40has decided to give relief to
00:38:42Russia. U.S. is drawing
00:38:44up a plan to give Russia
00:38:46relief from sanctions.
00:39:12India has won and reached the
00:39:14champion's trophy final
00:39:16against beating Australia
00:39:18by four wickets
00:39:20in the semi-finals. India now
00:39:22will await the winner of the match
00:39:24between New Zealand and
00:39:26South Africa that will
00:39:28take place.
00:39:30Let's go straight across to Nikhil Naaz,
00:39:32our consulting sports editor. He's
00:39:34joining us with Sunil Gavaskar.
00:39:36Let's get their quick reactions. Big day
00:39:38for India, Nikhil.
00:39:40The fact is we've avenged
00:39:42that defeat in the World Cup final 2023.
00:39:48Okay, thanks for that.
00:39:50Yes, it's a
00:39:52massive win for India, but as
00:39:54we had been saying right from the start,
00:39:56it will be a close call at the end of the day.
00:39:58This is an Australian team. They did
00:40:00have some moments, but overall,
00:40:02I think the better team came out, Trump,
00:40:04on the given day. Delighted to be joined
00:40:06by none other than Sunny Gavaskar on
00:40:08the programme. And that's the question that
00:40:10actually came from the studio. Rajdeep is there.
00:40:12He says, have you avenged the
00:40:14defeat for that 2023 World
00:40:16Cup final? No, I don't think
00:40:18we should be talking in terms of revenge and stuff
00:40:20like that. You know, sport, there will
00:40:22always be matches which one team wins,
00:40:24the other team wins. When Federer and
00:40:26Djokovic or Federer and Nadal play against
00:40:28each other, if they have lost in one
00:40:30major final, it's not that they're going to
00:40:32have a revenge for the next final.
00:40:34They just got to accept that this is just a sport.
00:40:36Just let us enjoy sport as it is.
00:40:42Not looking at it as a revenge
00:40:44match, but you know, there were butterflies in our
00:40:46stomachs simply because of that.
00:40:48What happened the last time in an ODI? Yes, you beat
00:40:50them in a T20 encounter, but I'm sure
00:40:52it must have been back of their head what happened
00:40:54in a crucial knockout game. This was also a
00:40:56knockout. I don't think so. Look, believe you
00:40:58me, these kind of things do not stay in
00:41:00the minds of the players. You know, I think
00:41:02maybe the fans think about
00:41:04it. Players are now
00:41:06so used to, I mean, a good
00:41:08player, I keep talking about a
00:41:10good batter is not going to think about
00:41:12the previous delivery, what happened, he was beaten
00:41:14or a catch was dropped. He's going to focus
00:41:16on the next delivery. He'll be careful
00:41:18about the next delivery because he's
00:41:20had that little escape. A bowler,
00:41:22if he's hit for a six or a boundary,
00:41:24he will also be just a little touch
00:41:26nervous, but he's not going to keep on thinking
00:41:28what happened the previous. So that's what happens
00:41:30with teams as well. Teams don't think
00:41:32back on what happened, you know,
00:41:34a year and a half ago. They're just focused
00:41:36on the next game and the next
00:41:38day. Okay, what do you think
00:41:40was the major difference between that
00:41:42final and this semi-final? Do
00:41:44you think it was a depleted Australian team?
00:41:46Do you think, no, it was a different mindset
00:41:48that the Indian team came? Do you think it were
00:41:50different conditions or a different tournament?
00:41:52What do you think were the major differences
00:41:54from that final? Different,
00:41:56different,
00:41:58different teams completely
00:42:00because when you have a situation
00:42:02where the Australian team is
00:42:04minus Pat Cummins, their
00:42:06skipper, who won the
00:42:08World Cup,
00:42:10there was Mitchell Stark, then there was
00:42:12also Joss Hazlewood. All
00:42:14three key players were missing
00:42:16from the attack. Now when you have three key
00:42:18players missing from their attack, it
00:42:20does mean that defending even
00:42:22285 to another 20
00:42:24runs would not have been easy. It would have been close
00:42:26again. The fact that we went
00:42:28so close, the match went so close without
00:42:30these three bowlers being available
00:42:32just tells you, yes, the Australian missed it.
00:42:34Okay, let's talk about the man of the
00:42:36moment, Virat Kohli stepping up
00:42:3884.
00:42:40The two most crucial games India
00:42:42has played in this tournament, one of course
00:42:44against Pakistan,
00:42:46it's a built-up
00:42:48contest, they are arch-rivals.
00:42:50They won against Australia, again
00:42:52modern-day rivalry,
00:42:54the greatest rivalry. What is it
00:42:56about Virat that commits
00:42:58the man? Also, I think the
00:43:00situation. The moment
00:43:02Rohit Sharma got out, he realized that
00:43:04as a senior man, it's his responsibility
00:43:06to shepherd the Indian team
00:43:08to safety, and that's exactly what
00:43:10he did. If he had got out at that stage,
00:43:12the Australian would have been all over India.
00:43:14So he realized that his wicket was
00:43:16crucial. So he tempered his
00:43:18batting. He did not take any chances.
00:43:20Yes, there was one
00:43:22lofted shot, which was, you know, maybe
00:43:24the ball didn't quite come, but it was with a straight
00:43:26bat, very safe shot, way away
00:43:28from the fielder. But the way he
00:43:30tempered, didn't go the aerial route at all
00:43:32because there was no need to, unless it was
00:43:34pitch short, and there was no fielder there.
00:43:36So, batting
00:43:38with so much conviction,
00:43:40batting with so much responsibility,
00:43:42and he took India to a position of
00:43:44safety. Frankly,
00:43:46I was surprised at the way he got out
00:43:48because, you know, maybe he got a bit
00:43:50carried away in the same over, drawled it,
00:43:52and he planned it, straight six,
00:43:54and he thought it was the wrong one. He picked the wrong one
00:43:56all right, but it didn't turn as much.
00:43:58And because it didn't turn as much,
00:44:00it went straight. If it had turned a little bit, it would have
00:44:02gone between those two fielders, and
00:44:04it would have been a boundary. But that's what wicket is.
00:44:06And guess what else is turning my hair
00:44:08because it's so breezy here.
00:44:10We've got, you know, camera shaking
00:44:12as well. There's a pole next to us shaking.
00:44:14It's quite breezy here in Dubai. Okay.
00:44:16Breezy was also Virat Kohli's knock.
00:44:18I know that, you know, if we get into
00:44:20the debate of who's the ODI batter, we could
00:44:22definitely come home. There's so many
00:44:24greats that have played the game. My question
00:44:26to you is, have you seen a
00:44:28better calculator in chase, like
00:44:30how to approach a chase and how to
00:44:32execute that than Virat Kohli in
00:44:34the ODI format? Well, there are so many
00:44:36wonderful players over the years, you know,
00:44:38and they're played in different conditions,
00:44:40different attacks,
00:44:42they're played with the red ball, with no
00:44:44restriction on the bouncers,
00:44:46and all those things. So, once
00:44:48again, you're asking for a
00:44:50comparison, and I'm not going to fall for that.
00:44:52I'm not going to fall for the comparison
00:44:54at all. But let me tell you,
00:44:56he's one of the greatest. There's no question about it.
00:44:58He's one of the greatest. I mean,
00:45:00somebody who's scored 51 hundreds
00:45:02in one-day cricket more than anybody else
00:45:04just tells you what a wonderful, wonderful
00:45:06player India is blessed to have.
00:45:08My, actually, intention
00:45:10wasn't to compare him with other generation
00:45:12batters. I only want to focus on his
00:45:14ability to chase. Correct. But the moment you
00:45:16ask, the moment you ask, is he the greatest,
00:45:18you're asking for a comparison. No, no.
00:45:20So, I think what we should
00:45:22do is, we should be very happy with
00:45:24what he's achieving for India.
00:45:26The amount of
00:45:28finals he's getting India into,
00:45:30the amount of finals that he's
00:45:32winning for India, so I think all,
00:45:34contributing to winning for India,
00:45:36that is what we should enjoy.
00:45:38I'm not, okay, not again focusing on the greatest.
00:45:40I want to know one of the finest chasers.
00:45:42I just want to focus on the fact, his ability
00:45:44to chase and calculate chases as well.
00:45:46He's called the chase master for
00:45:48a reason. Like you said,
00:45:50because he's able to calculate
00:45:52what is the pace at which he needs to bat.
00:45:54When to take a chance,
00:45:56when to maybe just play at a couple
00:45:58of dot balls, when to
00:46:00tire out a bowler, when to say,
00:46:02this bowler is going to be the danger man,
00:46:04let us play him, even if we don't
00:46:06score too many of him, there are other
00:46:08bowlers we can make up for. So, that
00:46:10kind of thinking which is required, the temperament,
00:46:12that is what he definitely has.
00:46:14Talk to us a bit about his
00:46:16adaptation versus spin, because we
00:46:18had seen this in white ball,
00:46:20especially coming into this tournament, we saw it in the
00:46:22series against England, and overall looking at
00:46:24the record as well, spinners were getting
00:46:26the better of him. But we've seen him
00:46:28in that game against Pakistan, even today, I know
00:46:30not that experienced bunch of spinners,
00:46:32but Zampa has been the one that has troubled him in the past.
00:46:34Have you seen some changes in how
00:46:36he's now playing the spinners vis-a-vis, maybe
00:46:385-6 games ago?
00:46:40He's not really
00:46:42getting a little too committed
00:46:44on to the front foot in the sense, he's not pushing
00:46:46a lot of the ball, he's waiting for the ball to
00:46:48go a little bit, and then making
00:46:50that late adjustment. So, that's been one of the
00:46:52things that we've seen from him.
00:46:54Opened his stance up just a little bit as well,
00:46:56whereby he's able to see
00:46:58where the ball is pitching on the leg stump, maybe
00:47:00then to play the sweep shot.
00:47:02He very seldom plays the sweep, we saw him
00:47:04sweep a boundary today.
00:47:06That just tells you that when it was needed,
00:47:08he was able to bring out
00:47:10a shot which was probably kept in cold
00:47:12storage, bring it out
00:47:14productively. Okay, I'm not going to
00:47:16forget the supporting cast, yes, Virat
00:47:18may have gotten the most
00:47:20amount of runs, but again,
00:47:22Shreyas Iyer chipping in last game,
00:47:24chips in with a 45, then you've got
00:47:26a Hardik Pandya chipping in towards the death,
00:47:28as he had done in the previous game. KL Rahul,
00:47:30probably one of those ones
00:47:32that had been under the radar, but plays a very crucial
00:47:34inning here. Is this actually
00:47:36demonstrating the strength of this Indian
00:47:38team? Because they don't have one or two
00:47:40match winners, from number one
00:47:42to number seven or even eight,
00:47:44you have batters that can win you the game. Yes,
00:47:46the batting depth that this Indian
00:47:48team has is one
00:47:50which gives
00:47:52everybody a comfort level.
00:47:54But despite Kohli getting out at that
00:47:56stage, and it was pretty much a run of all
00:47:58at that stage, there was the confidence
00:48:00that Hardik Pandya will come and do it
00:48:02when required, he'll hit the sixes.
00:48:04And that's exactly what happened, he hit two back-to-back
00:48:06sixes of Adam Zampala,
00:48:08the dangerous bowler. And
00:48:10therefore, you know, made the game
00:48:12look very, very easy. I am now
00:48:14taking all of our viewers
00:48:16back to the Pakistan game, because
00:48:18as the same gentleman next to me, Sunil
00:48:20Gavaskar, we were talking about the Pakistan game
00:48:22and I asked you how the Indian team is looking
00:48:24and you had said, I don't know if you remember,
00:48:26you said, we are playing the final in Dubai.
00:48:28That happened right after the Pakistan game.
00:48:30Last Sunday. Yes, and they are
00:48:32going to be playing the final.
00:48:34Just tell me, what is it that you
00:48:36saw about this Indian team that made you so confident?
00:48:38Now your prediction has come absolutely
00:48:40correct. Well, what I thought,
00:48:42saw about this team was the confidence that
00:48:44it had. What I saw about this team
00:48:46was having played against England
00:48:48in the T20, as well as the
00:48:50just before coming here,
00:48:52the combination that was there,
00:48:54where the captain had so many options,
00:48:56you know, the bowling options were six bowling
00:48:58options, the batting had depth,
00:49:00the fielding had improved.
00:49:02All in all, I think it looked like a very
00:49:04well-oiled unit and
00:49:06when required, you know, the engine
00:49:08was just purring and when required,
00:49:10you know, the engine, you know, the
00:49:12accelerator could be pressed and you
00:49:14could go even further.
00:49:16Okay, I'm going to go now to the first
00:49:18half of the inning. 260-odd,
00:49:20you had said it's a
00:49:22competitive total we discussed in the
00:49:24mid-innings. What was it? Was it
00:49:26the inexperience of the Aussie bowlers
00:49:28or do you think on the day, the pitch was good
00:49:30enough for India to chase it? I think the pitch was
00:49:32good. We saw that in the... when the Australians
00:49:34were batting. We said that
00:49:36this is a new pitch. It's the same
00:49:38square but it was a new pitch.
00:49:40The previous three matches were played on different pitches.
00:49:42This was a completely new pitch and
00:49:44where the ball was coming out to the bat a little bit better
00:49:46than it did on the
00:49:48other days and which meant that
00:49:50even the Australians
00:49:52when they were batting, we saw the way they were playing
00:49:54through the line because the ball was coming.
00:49:56There wasn't much spin for the spinners.
00:49:58There wasn't much spin for the wrist spinner.
00:50:00So the batters didn't really
00:50:02have to worry too much of the ball doing anything.
00:50:04When the ball is
00:50:06not moving around, then you can play
00:50:08through the line. So even if you don't middle it,
00:50:10you might get an inside edge.
00:50:12Very little chances of you missing the
00:50:14ball completely, getting bowled.
00:50:16Today, if we had a couple of bowls,
00:50:18it was because the ball was a little bit
00:50:20slow and there was an inside edge.
00:50:22Subhman Gill's inside edge and then
00:50:24there was, I think, Akshay Patel's
00:50:26inside edge as well.
00:50:28I'm going to continue the conversation with Mr. Gavaskar.
00:50:30But if my director is listening, I've lost the
00:50:32connection with you. So do connect back
00:50:34with me so I know how long do we carry on
00:50:36for. But meanwhile, just continuing our conversations,
00:50:38I think you're on a roll
00:50:40in terms of prediction. One
00:50:42played four spinners. They've been playing four spinners.
00:50:44They said they'll reach the final.
00:50:46Believe you me, I'd asked him to pick
00:50:48a bowler to watch out for in this game
00:50:50today and I thought that was a left field
00:50:52connection. He went with Mohamed Shami.
00:50:54Well, because his
00:50:56rhythm's been so good in the earlier matches
00:50:58and his fit is raring to
00:51:00go. When you
00:51:02get to an age in your early 30s,
00:51:04mid 30s, you want to get your
00:51:06rhythm. We saw that
00:51:08in the Pakistan game. The
00:51:10way he was running in, no no balls,
00:51:12just gently bowling, the seam position
00:51:14when the ball is leaving the hand,
00:51:16the seam is so upright. All
00:51:18that means that the man is
00:51:20in confidence. The more number of overs
00:51:22you have under your belt, the better
00:51:24you are because you're confident of your rhythm.
00:51:26The most worrying factor
00:51:28in any format of the game, but more so
00:51:30in a limited overs game
00:51:32is a no ball because
00:51:34there's a free hit. Also, apart
00:51:36from the extra delivery and the
00:51:38extra run, there's a free hit. So, bowlers
00:51:40are worried. So, the moment they get their
00:51:42rhythm right, when they know that they're going to be bowling
00:51:44within the limit,
00:51:46they can increase their speed
00:51:48as well. And once you start
00:51:50increasing your speed, the ball goes that much
00:51:52quicker. You are
00:51:54causing problems for the batters.
00:51:56Overall, the Indian bowlers
00:51:58performance, do you think
00:52:00while we look at the Indian
00:52:02team doing such a fine job,
00:52:04do you think the Indian bowlers as well?
00:52:06I'm getting some direction. We'll
00:52:08go back to the studios and come back
00:52:10and speak to Mr. Kabuskar.
00:52:14I'm going to come back to you in a moment
00:52:16Nikhil, but we've got two other
00:52:18World Cup winners, one in
00:52:201983, one in 2011 with us
00:52:22Kapil Dev, the one and only
00:52:24Kapil Dev has been listening in
00:52:26Kapil bhaji, this win as
00:52:28clinical as it gets, your thoughts?
00:52:32I think excellent
00:52:34the way they played cricket. I think
00:52:36they, Australia given
00:52:38the chance, they might get 290
00:52:40or 285, but
00:52:42they put the brakes
00:52:44there and pushed back Australia
00:52:46to the
00:52:48last end.
00:52:50I must say that, Indian bowlers
00:52:52played very well. Playing with
00:52:54a four spinner was something
00:52:56really
00:52:58you need guts to play
00:53:00with that and I think all
00:53:02the four bowlers done extremely
00:53:04well and on top of that, I think
00:53:06Indian batsmen played
00:53:08very sensible. We always
00:53:10say, till the 40th over
00:53:12top four batsmen
00:53:14one have to be there
00:53:16till the 40th and
00:53:18if he can stay later than that
00:53:20most likely they can
00:53:22win the matches and
00:53:24they played very sensible cricket
00:53:26despite of
00:53:28Virat Kohli not making
00:53:30100 when he reached so close
00:53:32it's very rare
00:53:34what a fabulous cricketer
00:53:36he is.
00:53:38In fact, that was my next question Kapil bhaji
00:53:40the chase was set up for Team India
00:53:42by Virat Kohli. I mean
00:53:44there is something about Virat Kohli
00:53:46in ODI cricket when he
00:53:48is chasing runs. He just seems to
00:53:50know how to control an innings.
00:53:54I think he has a temperament
00:53:56he take a bigger challenge and
00:53:58that's where he get
00:54:00the energy. He like to play
00:54:02like that and very
00:54:04few cricketer have that temperament
00:54:06but end of the day he has
00:54:08the talent, he has the class
00:54:10the temperament is the most
00:54:12important. How to win the matches
00:54:14we know Dhoni used to do
00:54:16that but I think
00:54:18Virat Kohli is one step
00:54:20ahead of anybody else.
00:54:22Is it safe to say then Kapil bhaji
00:54:24that India is unstoppable in this
00:54:26champions trophy on that wicket in Dubai
00:54:28New Zealand versus South
00:54:30Africa. We should be favorites whoever
00:54:32wins the other semi.
00:54:34I think till you
00:54:36don't win you don't talk about that
00:54:38you have to still play very hard
00:54:40at the moment
00:54:42it looks India
00:54:44have more chances but never
00:54:46ever rule out any team in
00:54:48champions trophy or
00:54:50one day cricket or these days in
00:54:52T20. So any
00:54:54team can bounce back
00:54:56the opposition who is coming into the final
00:54:58they also have
00:55:00that ability to beat anybody
00:55:02at given day.
00:55:04Thank you sir.
00:55:06Let me go from the great Kapil
00:55:08bhaji to another as I said
00:55:10World Cup winner Harbhajan Singh
00:55:12clinical win is that the best way to
00:55:14explain this India
00:55:16was never really
00:55:18looking like they would
00:55:20lose.
00:55:22Unbelievable this is
00:55:24so good to see the domination
00:55:26of Indian batting lineup
00:55:28how well they played against this
00:55:30unit. Australia obviously
00:55:32you can't really say
00:55:34that they were the best team
00:55:36in this competition because they
00:55:38lost three of their main seamers they were not
00:55:40playing and this was probably one of
00:55:42their weakest side but yet
00:55:44you know Australia being Australia they could
00:55:46take the game away but
00:55:48India was too good for them
00:55:50goalie was brilliant
00:55:52our bowling was brilliant I think
00:55:54India played a fantastic
00:55:56game and of course
00:55:58it was due long due that
00:56:00we beat Australia in 50
00:56:02overs format because this was
00:56:04the team which took that
00:56:06cup away from us in 23
00:56:08so now this is our
00:56:10turn so we have played really
00:56:12well and well done to each and every member of the team
00:56:14one more match to go guys
00:56:16one more match to go the cup is ours
00:56:18One more match to go the cup
00:56:20is ours India last won the champions trophy
00:56:22in 2013 but I want to go back to
00:56:24Nikhil who is with
00:56:26Sunil Gavaskar to just ask one question
00:56:28Mr. Gavaskar would you
00:56:30say that
00:56:32and Nikhil that what we are seeing really
00:56:34is a champion Indian white
00:56:36ball team and the reason I am
00:56:38saying it I saw this same Indian team against
00:56:40New Zealand a few months ago against
00:56:42Australia and Australia
00:56:44they were struggling but the moment they are in white
00:56:46ball whether it's T20 or 50
00:56:48overs they just seem unbeatable
00:56:50is that the way we should see
00:56:52we have a great white ball team at the moment
00:56:54the best in the world even if those three seamers
00:56:56were there you would reckon
00:56:58from Australia you would reckon
00:57:00advantage India with this team with the
00:57:02options and the flexibility we have
00:57:04four spinners and a wonderful
00:57:06batting line up that goes down to number 9
00:57:12we have got Rajdeep
00:57:14in the studio he has got
00:57:16couple of questions I will break them down
00:57:18first bit
00:57:20he wants to know do you reckon that
00:57:22even though we have had a few reverse
00:57:24not to use
00:57:30quick
00:57:32we have probably the best white ball
00:57:34team in the world at the moment
00:57:36certainly the way the combination is the kind
00:57:38of option that we have
00:57:40the kind of bench strength that is there you definitely
00:57:42would say that India has got
00:57:44probably the best white ball team
00:57:46in the game the T20
00:57:48format as well the Indian teams got a
00:57:50superb combination
00:57:52so many all rounders
00:57:54look at the winners
00:57:56of the
00:57:58championship the limited overs championship
00:58:00invariably the
00:58:02captain that has got so many all rounders
00:58:04in the team they have gone on to win
00:58:06the other part of his question was
00:58:08assuming and we did speak
00:58:10about a depleted bowling attack for Australia
00:58:12assuming those three fast bowlers
00:58:14were also around still
00:58:16they would have found it tough to beat this
00:58:18Indian team well that means you know if I
00:58:20not shaven today then I would have
00:58:22had a beard
00:58:24what kind of a question
00:58:26is that you know
00:58:28I mean this is just a
00:58:30question
00:58:32I mean I did say that the
00:58:34Australians were a little bit depleted
00:58:36because they didn't have their captain
00:58:38their regular captain
00:58:40Cummins wasn't there
00:58:42under him the Australians won
00:58:44the world cup
00:58:46didn't have Jos Hazlewood
00:58:48so three guys who were not there so clearly yes
00:58:52they would have caused a few problems considering you know
00:58:54the match went so close
00:58:56let's talk about India's bowling
00:58:58and not about the bowlers that aren't around
00:59:00India's bowling would you say
00:59:02that while we look at the batters and credit them
00:59:04for their performance the Indian bowling
00:59:06ensured that Australia finished with a
00:59:08below par total because at one point
00:59:10it looked like they could be touching 300
00:59:12definitely I think you know the way the Indians bowled
00:59:14was absolutely superb
00:59:16the consistency also was terrific because
00:59:18the Steve Smith dismissal was the key
00:59:20the Steve Smith dismissal was the key
00:59:22and that's where the field placing
00:59:24had an effect because he had a fielder
00:59:26in the 30 metre circle at mid-off
00:59:28and in the 30 metre circle at mid-on
00:59:30which is what forced the
00:59:32Steve Smith to go down the pitch
00:59:34and look to hit over the top
00:59:36and he missed that ball and was bowled
00:59:38so otherwise we might have had to
00:59:40change another 30-40 runs
00:59:42the way Smith was batting
00:59:44the way the Indian bowlers bowled
00:59:46the way they brought the game back
00:59:48you know you had Kuldeep Yadav also bowling
00:59:50Varun Chakravorty was terrific
00:59:52Mohammad Chami was terrific everywhere
00:59:54all bowlers as well as your spinners
00:59:56they did a fabulous job
00:59:58we're looking at ifs and buts
01:00:00again at the Australian team
01:00:02have you seen a more sloppy
01:00:04fielding performance from an Australian team
01:00:06surprising yes
01:00:08the catches that were dropped
01:00:10that's something that you don't normally associate
01:00:12with an Australian team
01:00:14free catches being dropped
01:00:16not something that you see regularly
01:00:18that was another factor
01:00:20that probably went against an Australian team
01:00:22but that is it, a team's performance
01:00:24is some of its part, everything that you put in
01:00:26whether it's fielding, bowling or batting
01:00:28as we have seen and which is the reason
01:00:30why the Indian team has now reached
01:00:32the final, looking at the
01:00:34final side, it is if I'm not mistaken
01:00:36the fifth final that India would be playing
01:00:38in the Champions Trophy
01:00:402002, 2013, 2017
01:00:42fifth final that India is playing
01:00:44in the Champions Trophy, clearly a tournament
01:00:46that suits this Indian team, we used to call it
01:00:48the mini World Cup at one point
01:00:50because it's another 50 overs tournament
01:00:52and this is where you have
01:00:54the top 8 teams
01:00:56ranked top 8 teams
01:00:58invited for this tournament
01:01:00so this is actually probably a lot more competitive
01:01:02than a World Cup where you have
01:01:04some of the associate teams
01:01:06coming in, who are ok
01:01:08not as competitive
01:01:10as you would expect, so this is
01:01:12probably a tougher competition
01:01:14also because with only 8 teams
01:01:16divided into 2 groups
01:01:18of 4, you lose one match, you're on the
01:01:20back foot, you're under pressure, to be able to
01:01:22therefore cope with it and then come
01:01:24to the final is a huge achievement
01:01:26Ok, one of the best
01:01:28team of this tournament has made it to the final
01:01:30that's the Indian team, they're undefeated so far
01:01:32who's the second best team, who's joining them?
01:01:34that we will find out tomorrow evening
01:01:36who's looked like the second best team so far?
01:01:38well the second best team
01:01:40has been South Africa
01:01:42because they again have a very good bowling
01:01:44lineup, again like India
01:01:46they've got options, they've got good
01:01:48spinners, they bat deep down
01:01:50they've got Marco Jansson batting at number 8
01:01:52or thereabouts, so they've got somebody
01:01:54deep down so that therefore
01:01:56it is going to be, in case South Africa
01:01:58do get through tomorrow
01:02:00then it is going to be a tremendous fan
01:02:02come Sunday. Alright, we'll let Mr.
01:02:04Gavaskar go, these were his thoughts right
01:02:06after the game is done, we are live here
01:02:08at the Dubai International Stadium
01:02:10it's over to Rajdeep in the studio to carry
01:02:12on our programming, we're going to be live
01:02:14for the next one hour or so and talking
01:02:16about India's win. Can you ask him how does
01:02:18he look the same? Well I think we've got our
01:02:20good news today, story of the day, I don't need
01:02:22to have another
01:02:24good news report because
01:02:26India has reached the finals of the Champions
01:02:28Trophy and the big final
01:02:30will take place on Sunday
01:02:32we all hope
01:02:34that Team India can win
01:02:36that tournament and then
01:02:38in a way hold
01:02:40two of the three major white ball
01:02:42trophies, the World T20 last year
01:02:44and this year hopefully the Champions
01:02:46Trophy. On that positive note
01:02:48I want to leave you with
01:02:50the report on India's chase
01:02:52led by the ultimate chase master
01:02:54Virat Kohli. No one
01:02:56I believe knows how to control
01:02:58a one day international innings
01:03:00better than Kohli, he just
01:03:02has that unique ability
01:03:04to simply
01:03:06win in any run
01:03:08chase. Thanks for watching
01:03:10stay well, stay safe, good night
01:03:12Shubhratri, Jai Hind, Namaskar
01:03:18Captain Rohit
01:03:20Sharma wanted to stamp his authority
01:03:22on the Aussies and so he
01:03:24decided to deal in boundaries
01:03:30Goal dragged on
01:03:32but his partner Shubhman Gill
01:03:34found it tough to get going
01:03:36as he inside edged one
01:03:38onto the wickets
01:03:40big moment
01:03:42he was good with the bat
01:03:44consolidation
01:03:46was the need of the hour but young
01:03:48Cooper Connolly dealt the second
01:03:50blow to India with Rohit
01:03:52falling for 28
01:03:54striking in his first over
01:03:56that's well played
01:03:58India then needed some
01:04:00application from Virat Kohli who
01:04:02manufactured a smart innings
01:04:04to put things on track for the men in blue
01:04:06and it's hit hard by Kohli
01:04:12good placement
01:04:14Kohli got the much needed support from
01:04:16Shreyas Iyer who continued his
01:04:18rich vein of form and displayed
01:04:20excellent fitness by running hard
01:04:22between the wickets
01:04:26again
01:04:32The India No. 3 stepped up
01:04:34on the big occasion yet again
01:04:36notching up his 74th
01:04:38ODI half century
01:04:44but Australia hit
01:04:46back as the 91 run stand
01:04:48was broken with Adam Zampa
01:04:50outfoxing Iyer
01:04:53Kohli was going
01:04:55strong and it looked like he would
01:04:57close it out for India
01:04:59but in a bid to finish things quickly
01:05:01he fell for 84
01:05:06however it didn't matter
01:05:08as India completed a clinical win
01:05:10over the defending world champions
01:05:12confirming a place
01:05:14in a third successive champions
01:05:16trophy final
01:05:18Sports Bureau, India Today
01:05:22Sports Bureau, India Today