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Gill, Rohit headline dominant second day for India in Dharamsala
Centuries from Shubman Gill (110) and Rohit Sharma (103) headlined a dominating second day for India in the Dharmasala Test, with the duo’s 171-run stand as stroke-filled as they come. The hosts finished the day on 473/8, with a lead of 255 runs.
Gill and Sharma set the tone with a rollicking morning session that saw India racking up 129 runs without losing a wicket. Both batters brought out their signature strokes with aplomb; Rohit’s pulls and cuts came to the fore frequently, as did Shubman Gill’s unorthodox short-arm jabs against pace and lofts against spin.
England needed something special to break the partnership and that was provided by their skipper Ben Stokes who struck off his first ball of the series with a peach. The near-unplayable nut castled a well-set Rohit and James Anderson then removed Gill in the next over with an inswinger as both bowlers got the ball to reverse. England’s hopes of restricting India’s lead soared with these strikes but that’s when the second significant partnership of the day came for the home side. Devdutt Padikkal (65) on debut produced a counter-punching fifty along with Sarfaraz Khan (56) who also notched up a brisk fifty.
The pair added 97 off just 131 runs with Sarfaraz in particular shifting gears considerably once set. He was severe on the spinners but also played some adventurous shots against the pacers. Padikkal started with a flurry of boundaries and while some were streaky, the other shots had that trademark left-hander’s elegance stamped all over. The duo took India to tea and both batters looked set for their respective hundreds but once again, England struck in clusters after the break. Shoaib Bashir induced a soft shot from Sarfaraz and then cleaned up Padikkal with a ripper.
Dhruv Jurel and Ravindra Jadeja hung around for a bit before another double-strike from Bashir in successive overs dented India. Tom Hartley then spoiled Ravichandran Ashwin’s 100th Test from a batting perspective by getting him for a duck. Once again, the visitors would have wanted to wrap up things and have a crack at reducing the deficit. However, Kuldeep Yadav (27*) and Jasprit Bumrah (19*) joined hands to dig in, for a partnership that’s already faced 108 deliveries. The surface did have something in it for the spinners but continued to be a largely good track for batting.
The collective batting effort from India could have possibly swelled their lead to a point of no return for England. Trailing by over 250 runs, the opposition still having two wickets left, and three full days to go, Ben Stokes’ men will have to do something extraordinary to leave Dharamsala without a defeat.
Brief scores:
England 218 (Zak Crawley 79; Kuldeep Yadav 5-72, Ravichandran Ashwin 4-51) trail India 473/8 (Shubman Gill 110, Rohit Sharma 103, Devdutt Padikkal 65; Shoaib Bashir 4-170) by 255 runs
The annual rugby encounter between Dharmaraja College and Kingswood College, played for the William Weerasinghe Memorial Trophy, is set to take place tomorrow (July 11, 2026), at 4:00 PM at the Bogambara Stadium, Kandy.
The official unveiling of the trophy took place this week at the Dharmaraja College premises with the participation of the Principals of the two schools, teachers-in-charge of sports, coaches, the Rugby teams, and several distinguished guests, including Dharmaraja College Old Boys’ Association President Mahesh Wijetunga, Kingswood College Old Boys’ Association President Muditha Abeykoon,
by S K SAMARANAYAKE
It has been reported quoting family sources that veteran singer Mariazelle Goonetilleke has passed away this morning (10) at the age of 68
She had been receiving treatment at the Kalubowila Teaching Hospital.
The US and Iran again traded strikes in exchanges that continued into Thursday, as observers reported a “dramatic” drop in the number of ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz.
The US says it hit 90 military targets, some near the Strait. Iran says 14 people have been killed in the past two days.
State media also reported that targets near the Bushehr nuclear power plant were hit, citing the deputy governor of the province. The US has not commented on the latest strikes.
Iran said it targeted US assets in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar in response. Later on Thursday, Tehran launched more strikes on sites in Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq, state-linked media reported.
Separately, huge crowds gathered as Iran’s late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was buried after six days of funeral events.
Crowds massed on the streets of Mashhad in north-eastern Iran waving Iranian flags, while some were pictured holding signs carrying death threats directed at US President Donald Trump.
Khamenei was killed on 28 February during the first hours of US and Israeli strikes against Iran.
Iran’s foreign ministry denounced the latest US strikes as a “grave war crime”, describing the US administration as “evil and psychopathic”
Bridges and a railway route connecting Tehran to the city of Mashhad, where the late supreme leader’s funeral is being held, were also damaged, the foreign ministry said.
Iran’s health ministry said 14 people had been killed and 78 people injured across five provinces.
Gulf nations reported Iranian attacks following the US strikes, with explosions in Bahrain’s capital Manama, Kuwait intercepting missiles and drones, and Qatar issuing a security alert.
Later on Thursday, explosions were heard in Iran’s southern port of Konarak, with a local official telling Iran’s official news agency a navy site was attacked by an “enemy”.
However a US defence official told the BBC it had not carried out any strikes in Iran in recent hours.
The funeral of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei is being held in the city of Mashhad [BBC]
Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is also the country’s chief negotiator with the US, said on X that America “still hasn’t learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost-free”.
“Let me put it plainly: if you strike, you’ll get hit,” he wrote, adding that the Strait of Hormuz will only open under Iranian arrangements – not “American threats”.
US Central Command (Centcom) said the most recent round of strikes was carried out to “further degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping and innocent civilian mariners” in the vital waterway.
In a statement, it said it had struck 90 Iranian military targets, which included air defense systems and military logistics infrastructure along Iran’s coastline.
“The latest strikes follow successful execution of offensive strikes in Iran the night before,” Centcom added.
Phil Belcher, marine director at Intertanko, an international organisation for independent tanker owners, said the number of ships travelling through the Strait via the southern route closer to Oman was now in “single figures” following the step up in hostilities.
Belcher added that the overall daily figure of about 30 ships was down from about 70 a week ago and well below the normal number of 130 ships that was seen before the Iran war began earlier this year.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that there had been an “exuberance of optimism” around shipping in the region following the signing of the SMemorandum Of Understanding between Iran and the US last month, but now the mood has changed.
“This cycle of violence, this cycle of up-and-down, positive-negative news, it’s having an enormous impact both on business and on the seafarers themselves,” he said.
On Wednesday night Iranian state TV reported eight explosions in Bandar Abbas, and said two missiles had hit the ports of both Sirik and Jask – also in southern Iran.
It added that two projectiles had hit the island of Abu Musa, which has been the subject of a longstanding ownership dispute between Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
The extent of damage from the US strikes is not yet known, but Iranian media have reported power cuts in Chabahar and a fire at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) barracks in Bushehr. Images on social media showed damage to a marine control tower in Chabahar.
Earlier on Wednesday, Centcom wrote in a statement that it held Iran accountable for “recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway.”
President Trump said late on Wednesday that Iran had “called a little while ago” and wanted to make a deal “so badly”.
Trump added: “I just don’t know if they’re worthy of making a deal – I don’t know that they’re going to honour the deal, that’s the problem.”
The current flare up has been the worst exchange of strikes between the US and Iran since the deal – known as a memorandum of understanding (MoU) – was signed on 17 June.
Trump said the ceasefire agreement signed last month with Iran was now “over”. He told reporters: “I don’t want to deal with them anymore, they’re scum. You know what scum is? They’re scum. They’re sick people.”
In response, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X: “We do not answer vulgarity with vulgarity, but with action: fearlessly and with great valour.”
The deal between the US and Iran included 14 points, among them a 60-day period for a ceasefire during which negotiations should continue, the safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and the US lifting sanctions on Iran.
The 60-day period for negotiations is not yet up, but Trump said he saw further talks as “a waste of time”.
[BBC]
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