Rasikh Salam Dar (Image Credit: BCCI/IPL)

TimesofIndia.com in Ahmedabad: Seven years ago, around this time of the year, Nadeem Dar was playing a club game in Chandigarh, where he was studying at the time. He received a call from Rasikh Salam Dar, his cousin and with whom he had trained since the age of eight.“It was the darkest day of my life. I remember him saying, ‘It’s all over, brother.’ Before I could ask what exactly had happened, he started crying,” Nadeem told TimesofIndia.com. Rasikh was banned for two years in 2019 after a discrepancy involving the submission of a faulty birth certificate to the BCCI. The ban ruled him out of contention for the 2020 Under-19 World Cup and also closed the doors to a comeback in Jammu and Kashmir cricket. After facing three rejections in the under-19 trials, Rasikh was selected ahead of the 2018 season when Irfan Pathan joined Jammu and Kashmir as a mentor.“In six months, he went on to play Under-19, Under-23, Ranji Trophy and IPL. Then one day we came to know about the ban,” he said.Nadeem said, “It was not even his fault. I don’t want to talk about it because it is a very happy moment. He played a very important role in RCB getting the title. We remember it as a nightmare.”Nadeem, who grew up in Khandipora, a village located in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, introduced Rasikh to cricket.This journey started with a tennis ball and it was here that Rasikh learned all his variations. But at the age of 13, Nadeem took him to a local club, where he bowled with a leather ball for the first time. Within a few weeks, he earned fame with his swing bowling.“Nowadays there are few turf wickets in Kashmir and they were rare a few years ago. So in tennis-ball cricket, you just need a cement wicket and even if the outfield is wet and soggy, it doesn’t matter. The back-of-the-hand slower that everyone is praising now, he learned it at the age of 14. His slowers are very difficult to pick. Even then he was difficult to pick. With Bhuvneshwar in the last few seasons (Kumar), he has also added the knuckleball to his armoury. “Without a doubt, he’s a fast learner,” Nadeem said of his brother.After completing his two-year ban and relocating to Mumbai, Rasikh suffered a lower back stress injury, which kept him out for an even longer period.“For four years he didn’t play any competitive cricket. First the ban, then the injury, but he never lost hope. He never said he wanted to quit cricket. It’s not in his blood to give up,” Rasikh’s childhood friend Mir Mortaza told this website in Dharamshala ahead of Qualifier 1.“He is very introverted. On the outside, everyone thinks he is a soft-spoken person, but inside he is very tough. We grew up together, played all our cricket together and even when he faced rejection in his early days, he never backed down. Mentally, he is very tough. We would often pull his leg for not being active on social media like other cricketers or living a simple, normal life, and he is just one The thing used to say: ‘All these things can wait.’ I want to play for India, that’s the ultimate dream,” Mortaza shared.When RCB picked up Rasikh for Rs 6 crore ahead of IPL 2025, some eyebrows were raised. He played only two matches and had only one wicket to his name.“My only aim was to improve. I continued to work with Omkar Salvi sir. I watched Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and tried to pick their brains as much as I could. I continued to bowl because that’s the only thing I know and, by the grace of God, I got the desired results,” Rasikh told TimesofIndia.com in Ahmedabad.Dar took 19 wickets at an economy rate of 9.45. In the final against Gujarat Titans, he was RCB’s most successful bowler, taking 3 for 27.“They (Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood) made my job easy. Throughout the tournament, they gave us great starts and that made my job easier. Full credit to them. I was lucky to share the dressing room with them. I have learned a lot and I can’t wait to come back next year,” Dar said confidently.but captain Rajat Patidar The 26-year-old was praised for his contributions throughout the season.“The way Rasikh has come in and performed for the team and brought success is important because you can’t win a competition or a match with just one or two bowlers,” Patidar told reporters on the eve of the final.

After the final, Patidar again praised Dar profusely.“He is very confident about his skills, his slower balls, back-of-the-hand balls and especially his yorkers. I think he supported Bhuvi and Hazlewood well. Again, it is clear that whenever I see him, he has clarity about his role and what he has to do. I always tell my bowlers that if you have something, if you have a plan, go and execute it.”For Rasikh, the aim is just to continue the process, stay fit and keep doing what he loves, running up and bowling for hours on end.“When I have the ball in my hands that’s the happiest thing for me. It’s been a long season.” I can’t wait to go home and meet my parents. I would like to dedicate this trophy to my father Abdul Salam, who always encouraged me to pursue my love for the game. Abbu ne kabhi yeh kahna ki kyun waqt bavaad kar rahe ho (My father never told me that I was wasting my time playing cricket). An emotional Rasikh said, he stood with me like a pillar in every happiness and sorrow.India are set to play around 45 T20Is over the next two years and it is unknown what the future holds for Rasikh. But with his wicket-taking ability in the middle overs, he has definitely knocked the doors of the national team. If he stays fit and continues to do what he loves, the blue jersey will not be far away for the ‘Lion of Khandipora’ (Lion), a nickname he has earned from his teammates.

Who is Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian? (Getty Images)

Serena Williams is returning to professional tennis. The 23-time Grand Slam champion, 44, has been confirmed as the wildcard entrant for the doubles event at the HSBC Championships starting June 8 at the Queen’s Club. The Queen’s Club Championship simply posted on X: “The Queen Returns.” Williams acknowledged the news on her social media with a Nike collaboration video and captioned it: “Good news travels fast.” Whether this will lead to Wimbledon or the US Open later this summer is unclear.

Is Serena Williams making a comeback to tennis?

The short answer is yes, although Serena Williams herself spent much of the last year trying to push back against that framing. After the International Tennis Integrity Agency confirmed in December 2025 that she had re-entered the sport’s anti-doping testing pool, a mandatory step for any returning professional, she took to X to shut down speculation: “Oh my God, I’m not coming back. “This wildfire is crazy.”A month later, she appeared on NBC’s Today with anchor Savannah Guthrie and remained similarly vague about her intentions.Then Sunday’s announcement came.Williams stepped back from the sport for the first time in 2022 and famously laid out her thoughts in the September issue of Vogue. “I never liked the word retirement,” he wrote. “It doesn’t seem like a modern word to me.” She described what she was doing as “evolution”, moving towards family, business and everything outside the white lines. At the time, she and her husband Alexis Ohanian had a daughter, Olympia. Their second daughter, Adira River Ohanian, arrived in August 2023.Queen’s Club has historically served as a practice tournament for Wimbledon. Whether Williams uses this as a true springboard or simply a test of where her body and game stand, Sunday’s wildcard entry made one thing clear: The development may not be over yet.

Who is Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian?

Their meeting-cute is in a movie. In May 2015, both Williams and Ohanian were living in Rome Cavalieri. Williams was there for the Italian Open. Ohanian, a tech entrepreneur and co-founder of Reddit, had come for a media conference. He sat at a pool side table that was part of Williams’ reserved section. Initially he tried to move her. He stopped. They kept talking for hours.Their first date was in Paris.id@undefined Captions not available.id@undefined Captions not available.Ohanian, now 42, was born in Brooklyn to a German mother and a father whose family fled during the Armenian Genocide. He grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC, graduated from Howard High School in 2001, and later studied history and commerce at the University of Virginia, where he met Steve Huffman on the first day of freshman year. The two created Reddit in about three weeks. Sixteen months later, he sold it to Condé Nast for a reported $10 to $20 million.Since then, Ohanian has remained a prominent figure in both the tech and venture capital worlds. He has consistently been one of Williams’ strongest supporters. When he announced he would be stepping away from the sport in 2022, he wrote: “I’ve seen over the last 7 years how much you all love my wife, what she means to so many people around the world. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”He has also made public why parental leave matters to him personally. Following the birth of Olympia in September 2017, she took 16 weeks of leave and subsequently began lobbying Congress for federal paid family leave legislation. In a 2020 New York Times op-ed, he revealed that Williams almost died during childbirth, a fact that deepened his commitment to both fatherhood and advocacy.The couple married in New Orleans in November 2017. Their second daughter, Adira, was announced at the 2023 Met Gala in the most on-brand way: “Here’s three of us,” Williams told the Vogue livestream while standing on the red carpet.

200 years of Gujarati heritage in Singapore

200 years of Gujarati heritage in Singapore

200 years of Gujarati heritage in Singapore

200 years of Gujarati heritage in Singapore

200 years of Gujarati heritage in Singapore

200 years of Gujarati heritage in Singapore

200 years of Gujarati heritage in Singapore

200 years of Gujarati heritage in Singapore

200 years of Gujarati heritage in Singapore

Ahmedabad: It is believed that the first Gujarati-speaking people to set foot in today’s Singapore were traders who accompanied British officer Stamford Raffles, who wrested Singapore from local rulers and laid the foundation of the city-state in 1819. Parul Trivedi-Shah, in her recently published book, “A Legacy in the Lion City: History of the Gujarati Community in Singapore”, writes that these traders were Parsi employees of Jumsetji Jijibhoy & Company, whose ships plied the Maritime Silk Road.As the book, supported by Singapore’s National Heritage Board, carefully chronicles more than 200 years of the community’s footprint on the city-state, what impresses is the tenacity of the early residents who built businesses, weathered the Japanese invasion of the island, and yet maintained a presence not only in business – their primary specialty – but also in the arts and literature, politics and public life, and education and philanthropy, which are closely linked with Singapore’s history.“I met with elderly community members, acquired historical records, correspondence and old documents to piece together the experiences of early residents – for example, Nagaradas Purushottamdas is believed to be the first known Gujarati Hindu to migrate to Singapore in the mid-1880s. His brothers Vadilal and Ojamshi also joined him in 1894,” says Trivedi-Shah.

200 years of Gujarati heritage in Singapore

Harakhchand Shah’s handwritten notes of 1894 describe the steamer’s route from the east coast of India to Penang in Malaysia and eventually to Singapore, strategically located on the straits linking the ‘spice islands’ to international maritime trade.History also shows that the enterprise transcended the boundaries of religion or caste: from Gujarati Sunni Muslims who arrived in Singapore in 1837 to Dawoodi Bohras in the 1860s and Banias in the 1880s, every community had a role. The Parsis, Muslims, Hindus and Jains who made the island their home base, and the Gujarati community of 4,000–5,000 members today, are a testament to the vibrancy of the culture, celebrate Diwali and Navratri and actively participate in Singapore’s social and political affairs.

200 years of Gujarati heritage in Singapore

Trivedi-Shah says, “Singapore has seen businessman Neil Parekh and academician Professor Kalyani Mehta nominated to Parliament, in addition to a number of prominent doctors, businessmen, artists and professionals, who are gaining prominence in Singapore society. The Singapore Gujarati Society serves as a hub of activities, including organizing community and social activities, while the Singapore Gujarati School teaches the Gujarati language to children.” “Gujarat is the land of lions, and Singapore is known as the City of Lions. Thus, it is a unique blend of beliefs and identities.”

200 years of Gujarati heritage in Singapore

Bobby Deol recently opened up about his childhood and revealed how his mother Prakash Kaur used to discipline him for not taking his studies seriously. Appearing in AAP Ki Adalat, Bobby shared several amusing memories of his school days, admitting that he was never fond of attending classes and often got into trouble at home because of it.Bobby and his elder brother, Sunny Deol, have often spoken about their mother’s strength and dedication in raising a family with late superstar Dharmendra. While she was a caring parent, Bobby revealed that she was also the disciplinarian at home.

‘I was beaten a lot for not going to school’

During the conversation, host Rajat Sharma commented that Bobby was reportedly good in studies. The actor immediately rejected this claim.“Absolutely not,” said Bobby.He further said, “I used to be beaten a lot for not going to school. In fact, I did not like going to school. And my problem was that when I was young, I mostly spoke in Hindi. Since the school was English medium, my mother used to get complaints from the school that if your son talks in Hindi, then you should put him in Hindi medium.”The actor said that complaints at school often led to scolding at home. However, eventually he worked hard to improve his English and became so comfortable with the language that he now thinks mostly in English.

‘My mother used to take me to school beating me’

Recalling one particularly memorable incident, Bobby shared how his mother would sometimes discipline him on the way to school while he was driving him.“So sometimes, early in the morning, fortunately my house was nearby, so my mother would beat me and take me to school,” he said.The actor also recalled an encounter he had with his school principal, which made things worse for him.“One day the principal was standing there, he looked at my mother and said, ‘Your son doesn’t want to study, take him back right now.’ I immediately realized that she shouldn’t have said that, because she took me back home, beating me again the whole way.’“She mostly used to beat me with slippers, it was her perfect weapon,” Bobby said with a laugh.

Deol family and Bobby’s upcoming films

Dharmendra and Prakash Kaur married in 1954 and have four children – Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Vijeta Deol and Ajita Deol. Later Dharmendra married Hema Malini in 1980.On the work front, Bobby will next be seen in Bandar directed by Anurag Kashyap. The action thriller is scheduled to release in theaters on June 5. He is also a part of Alpha, which stars Alia Bhatt and Sharvari in the lead roles.

Judd Brackett participates in the 2023 NHL Draft at Bridgestone Arena on June 29, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced two significant additions to their hockey operations department to strengthen their front office. The team has reportedly appointed Judd Brackett as its Assistant General Manager, Player Evaluation and Freddie Hamilton as Chief of Staff. The move is a part of the club’s ongoing effort to strengthen its front-office structure under general manager John Chayka. Earlier, the club fired head coach Craig Berube on Wednesday, dealing a major blow to the franchise after a disappointing 2025-26 season, as the Maple Leafs (32-36-14) finished the season 0-6-1, in last place in the Atlantic Division and 15th in the Eastern Conference, and missed the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2016-17.

toronto maple leafs rental root bracket And Freddie Hamilton is in a major hockey operations role

Toronto Maple Leafs strengthened its hockey operations with two key executive appointments on Monday. The hockey club has appointed Jude Brackett as Assistant General Manager, Player Evaluation and Freddie Hamilton as Chief of Staff. According to reports, Brackett will oversee the evaluation of players in both amateur and professional scouting. Let it be known that these appointments were made under the current GM of Maple Leafs John Chayka.As far as bracket experience is concerned, nhl It was reported that he spent five seasons with the Minnesota Wild as the Director of Amateur Scouting. He also served with Team USA at each of the last three IIHF World Junior Championships. Before joining Minnesota, he spent 12 seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, first as an amateur scout and then serving five seasons as Director of Amateur Scouting. Additionally, Hamilton was known as a depth forward and spent significant time in the AHL. He was drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the fifth round of the 2010 NHL Draft. He played 75 NHL regular season games for the San Jose Sharks, Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames and Arizona Coyotes between 2013 and 2018.Making the official announcement, the Maple Leafs GM said in a press release, “We are thrilled to welcome Judd to our organization. He has established one of the strongest amateur scouting and drafting track records in the NHL and has consistently demonstrated the ability to adapt and evolve his approach as the game changes. As we continue to build our hockey operations department, Judd will play a key role in integrating traditional scouting, video analytics and data-driven insights to strengthen our decision-making process.” Speaking further about Freddy Hamilton, who is also an MBA graduate from Yale University, Chayka said, “We are excited to have Freddy join our hockey operations department. During his playing career, Freddy distinguished himself through his character, professionalism and work ethic. Since retiring, he has built an impressive career in business and finance, gaining valuable experience in investing, strategy and organizational leadership.“Chayka believes his diverse background and collaborative approach will make him a valuable addition to the team as he looks to execute key strategic initiatives and strengthen alignment in the hockey operations department. The addition of Brackett and Hamilton reflects the Maple Leafs’ commitment to regaining lost traction with fresh and new organizational management practices.