From Shubman to Babar: 5 batters to watch at ODI World Cup 2023

News Network
October 5, 2023

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The stage is ready for the most coveted prize in the world of cricket – the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, a tournament every cricket-playing nation aspires to win. Ten teams are in contention to compete for the prestigious title.

On this grandest stage of cricket, only a few players from these nations will stand out from the rest with their performances for their team’s campaign. We have the dependable veterans who have proven themselves time and again, and alongside them, a handful of emerging talents who are poised to make a significant impact.

When it comes to playing on batting-friendly pitches in India, it's the skillful batsmen who are expected to shine on a grander scale. The following are five batters to watch at the World Cup in India:

Ben Stokes (England)

The talismanic all-rounder came out of ODI retirement in August and has already fired a warning to title rivals after smashing 182 runs - England's highest individual score in the format - against New Zealand last month.

Stokes, the architect of England's first World Cup triumph in 2019 and who starred in last year's title run at the T20 World Cup, has operated as a specialist batter since his return.

Stokes' ODI average of 40.50 is his highest in all three formats and his 96-plus strike rate makes him an explosive weapon in the middle order.

Shubman Gill (India)

Gill has been in stellar form and moved up to a career-high world number two in the ODI rankings having scored 1,230 runs in 20 matches this year.

The 24-year-old was the leading scorer at the recent Asia Cup as India won their eighth title and his partnership with captain Rohit Sharma will again be crucial, with the World Cup hosts looking to repeat their 2011 success by lifting the trophy on home soil.

Gill is among the handful of batters with a century in each format of the international game, which includes a double hundred against New Zealand in an ODI earlier this year.

Babar Azam (Pakistan)

Despite a lacklusture Asia Cup campaign, the top-ranked ODI batter remains a crucial anchor in Pakistan's top order as they aim to bounce back from recent disappointments.

Fast bowler Naseem Shah's absence due to injury could hamper Pakistan's World Cup campaign but Babar's brilliance with the bat means they are capable of posting imposing totals and remain a formidable team.

The graceful right-hander averages 58.16 in ODIs and has the ability to score freely despite not being a natural power-hitter.

Steve Smith (Australia)

The 34-year-old was included in the World Cup squad despite still recovering from a wrist injury sustained during the Ashes. After scoring 41 and falling for a golden duck on his return to action in the first two ODIs against India, he hit 74 in the third as Australia snapped a five-match losing run.

With opener Travis Head's injury adding to Australia's long list of concerns before the tournament, a return to form for Smith would be key to their hopes of challenging for a sixth title.

Kane Williamson (New Zealand)

The 33-year-old Black Caps skipper returned to action in this week's World Cup warm-up games against Pakistan, having ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during the Indian Premier League in March.

He will miss the opening game against England on Oct. 5 as he continues his recovery.

Williamson was named player of the tournament in 2019 after New Zealand's agonising loss to England in the final and is set to feature at his fourth World Cup. Having scored more than 6,500 runs in the format, his return to the crease will be a huge boost.
 

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News Network
November 21,2025

Bantwal: A domestic dispute appears to have led to a violent confrontation in BC Road area, where the owner of a textile shop was allegedly attacked with a knife by his wife on Wednesday evening.

Krishna Kumar Somayaji, the owner of Somayaji Textiles, sustained serious injuries in the incident and was immediately taken to a hospital for treatment. He is currently receiving care in the intensive care unit and is reported to have survived the assault, according to police.

The Bantwal Town police have registered a case against Somayaji's wife, Jyothi KT, who has since been taken into custody.

Police stated that the complainant, Namita, an employee at the shop, reported the sequence of events. She stated that around 7 p.m. on Wednesday, the suspect entered the shop, wearing a burqa and disguised as a customer, before attacking Somayaji with a knife. The employee then transported the injured owner to a local hospital via an autorickshaw.

Superintendent of Police Arun K confirmed that an ongoing domestic dispute between Somayaji and his wife reportedly preceded the attack. Police noted that Jyothi KT had previously visited the shop and issued threats.

Based on the complaint, Bantwal Town police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Indian Arms Act-1959. An investigation into the incident is currently underway.

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News Network
November 22,2025

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The Israeli regime’s forces have killed two Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip every day since the ceasefire began in early October, UNICEF has warned.

The UN children’s agency said on Friday that Israeli forces continue to attack Palestinians in Gaza even though the agreement was meant to stop the killing.

“Since 11 October, while the ceasefire has been in effect, at least 67 children have been killed in conflict-related incidents in the Gaza Strip. Dozens more have been injured. That is an average of almost two children killed every day since the ceasefire took effect,” UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires said in Geneva, reminding that each number in the statistics represents a child whose life had ended violently.

“These are not statistics,” he said. “Each child had a story, a family, and a future that was stolen from them.”

Data from Palestinian factions, human rights groups, and government bodies recorded since the US-brokered ceasefire deal went into effect on October 10 show that Israeli forces have carried out numerous attacks, each constituting a separate ceasefire violation.

UNICEF teams say they repeatedly continue to witness heart-wrenching scenes of fearful Palestinian children sleeping outdoors with amputated limbs, while others live as orphans in flooded, makeshift shelters.

“I saw this myself in August. There is no safe place for them. The world cannot normalize their suffering,” Pires said, lamenting that the UN could “do a lot more if the aid that is really needed was entering faster.”

The UNICEF spokesperson warned that with the advent of winter, the risks for hundreds of thousands of displaced children will increase.

He warned, “The stakes are incredibly high” for children as winter acts as a threat multiplier, where children have no heating, no insulation, and few blankets. He said respiratory infections rise.

“Too many children have already paid the highest price,” Pires said. “Too many are still paying it, even under a ceasefire. The world promised them it would stop and that we would protect them.”

“Now we must act like it,” the UNICEF spokesperson added.

Since the Israeli regime launched its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023, it has killed nearly 70,000 people in the territory, most of them women and children, and injured over 170,000 more, while reducing most of the structures in the enclave to rubble.

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News Network
November 24,2025

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Israeli forces have pushed over the Syrian frontier, erecting a checkpoint and stopping vehicles in the southwestern city of Quneitra, in yet another breach of the Arab country’s sovereignty.

The violation took place on Sunday, when the troops made their way across the border, setting up the outpost near the Ain al-Bayda junction in northern Quneitra, Syrian outlets reported.

According to the al-Ikhbariya paper, an Israeli detachment positioned itself at the junction, halting cars and conducting searches.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that three Israeli military vehicles then moved further into the northern countryside, deploying between the town of Jubata al-Khashab and the villages of Ofaniya and Ain al-Bayda. The agency added that a separate Israeli unit mounted a new incursion in the central region, approaching the villages of Umm Batina and al-Ajraf.

Residents said such activities have surged in recent months, pointing to Israeli advances onto farmland, leveling of extensive forested areas, arrests, and spread of mobile checkpoints.

The Israeli regime began markedly increasing its military aggression against Syria last year.

The escalation coincided with increasingly ferocious onslaughts throughout the country by the so-called Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Takfiri terrorist group, which the government of President Bashar al-Assad had confined to northwestern Syria. The HTS, however, managed to overthrow the government as the Israeli attacks would pummel the country’s civilian and defensive infrastructure.

Various reports have shown that, during the escalation, the regime conducted more than 1,000 airstrikes on the Syrian territory and over 400 ground raids into the south.

Following the collapse of the Assad government, Tel Aviv also widened its grip over the occupied Golan Heights by taking control of a demilitarized buffer zone, in defiance of a 1974 Disengagement Agreement. Earlier this month, senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visited the buffer zone, prompting expressions of alarm on the part of the United Nations.

The United States, the regime’s biggest ally, has, meanwhile, been fraternizing the HTS head Abu Mohammed al-Jolani amid the widely reported prospect of rapprochement with Tel Aviv.

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