#Test captains of India

[daddynews247]

For Skipper Rohit Sharma, South Africa Tests Perfect Opportunity To Heal World Cup Pain

The captain of team India, Rohit Sharma, has not played for India since losing the ODI World Cup final against Australia.

As the echoes of India’s heart-wrenching defeat in the 2023 ODI World Cup final against Australia continue to resonate, Rohit Sharma and the Indian cricket team find themselves at a pivotal juncture with a chance to etch their names in history with the maiden Test series win in South Africa.

The devastation of the World Cup final loss lingers, especially for Rohit Sharma, the captain, who led the team admirably throughout the tournament. But, with steely determination, Sharma can set his sights on a slice of history as India confronts the South African challenge anew.

The tours to South Africa for the Indian Test teams have been fraught with challenges. The teams of the previous eras have particularly struggled to acclimate to the pace-friendly pitches and conditions. Not only the Test series but even Test match wins have been hard to come by, with India managing just four victories in the rainbow nation from the previous eight tours over three decades. However, Rohit Sharma’s resolve to rewrite history appears unshaken, especially after spending some time away from cricket following the loss in the World Cup final.

The Indian captain remarked on social media following the heartbreak of the World Cup 2023 final loss. “I had no idea how to come back from this (loss in the World Cup final) the first few days. My family and friends kept me going and kept things pretty light around me, which was quite helpful. It wasn’t easy to digest, but yeah, life moves on. You have to move on in life.”

[shaktiknowledgeblog]

Mark Taylor | Australia Captain | Ind Vs aus | ind vs aus test | ind vs aus second match | india vs australia | India Team

‘Pitching was prepared by trickery in India’, former Australian captain stinging statement as soon as he won the match The Indian team suffered a 9-wicket loss in the third Test against Australia। Now former Australian captain Mark Taylor has made a big statement about the pitch. Image Source: BCCI.TVIND vs AUS A series of four Test matches are being played between India and Australia। Team…

[ronika-writes-stuff]

Thoughts on Ishan :

(and ict in general)

1. When he opted out of India's test squad before our series with S. Africa....I knew... I KNEW it will be a long time before we'll get to see him playing for India again.

And then few weeks later Rahul Dravid said in a press conference... He can come back... Just play domestic.... My heart sank.

Here's the thing, I don't blame him at all for taking a break due to mental fatigue.

I fully support his decision as well. He prioritised himself and that's good.

But my dude... If I was your friend, if I was there with you... I wouldn't have let you go.

I would have grabbed his trousers and refused to let go. This is team India. You take one step back and 10 other people are standing right behind you ready to take your place.

Shubhman gill was hyped up so much... Remember his 126 in 63 balls against New Zealand?

But he faltered.

And Today he's in reserve.

Jaiswal is going to be our new opener in all 3 formats very soon. And there's nothing wrong with that. The guy earned it.

Ishan left the South Africa Series and a month later during the india Vs England test Series Jurel was picked and he did an excellent job.

Now imagine... Imagine if Ishan was there instead... If ishan had scored those 90 runs.....he would have made his place permanent.

I'll repeat myself.... I don't blame him for leaving... But he should have thought this through. Especially when a guy like Rahul Dravid is your coach.

(he's the same guy who gave declaration during a test match when Sachin Tendulkar was about to score a century. He's not as innocent as he looks.)

Another thing which really hurts me is how so many people complain about him being benched and then dropped but Yaar....there are tons of players who have gone through this.

Even Ashwin was benched. He said in an interview that when his team would win he wouldn't even feel like going in the ground to congratulate them coz of how hurt he felt.

It happens.

.

.

.

Anyways My overall opinion on this drama is :

1. I support him for leaving.

2. But I hate that he left.

3. A block of ice would be a better coach than Rahul Dravid.

Anyways... Jo hogaya so hogaya.

What I want now is for him to focus on his future.

And He can start by leaving Mumbai Indians.

MI was the team who would pick young players, groom and invest in them and make them capable enough for team India.

The MI we have seen this year is no longer that team. It doesn't matter how many reels their insta page puts out, the atmosphere of that team is tense, awkward and a hot mess.

If Mumbai really cared about a future captain as they claimed.... They should have made Ishan their new captain...like how csk and gt did with ruturaj and gill.

But oh well.

Right now... The best he can do is keep himself fit, play domestic and leave MI at THE EARLIEST.

That team, it's atmosphere, the mismanagement and inner conflicts (believe me, they exist) will not help him at all.

Imo, he doesn't need a team to grow. He has developed a good skill set. What he needs now is a stage.

A team like Kkr, RR or Gt will be great for that because these teams don't drop Their players after 1 or 2 matches... Have good coaches, stable environment and a good atmosphere overall.

Ishan is an excellent wicket keeper + batsman and the type of cricket he plays is best suited for t20 format (one day and test also but especially t20).

Whether we win or lose this t20 world cup... This one is the last one for our senior players.

After that, our youngsters will take charge (at least they should).

Yashasvi and Abhishek should be our openers.

Gill, rutu and Riyan would perfect be for middle order.

Ishan, with his explosive batting style, would be the perfect finisher.

Also... This dumb culture of batters not learning bowling (encouraged by this stupid impact rule) that has developed in the Indian team needs to STOP.

Look at Australia and New Zealand's t20 squad. Look at how many all rounders they have.

Look at ours. We won the 2007 cup because of all rounders as well.

Also... We cage our players. We hold them back. A player like Travis head is playing with such ferocity because his style and mindset is supported by his captain, his team and his media.

Meanwhile... If an Indian player attempts to do the same and doesn't make a big score in 2 -3 matches... He'll be benched instantly.

Another thing... If we look up the stats of our players in this year's t20 wc squad...

Except virat, Bumrah and maybe kuldeep ...everyone else is on ram bharose.

When players like n. reddy, ishan, rutu, gill, Riyan, natrajan... will be groomed and given enough opportunities....their aggressive style will be supported instead of criticized.... that's when we will win trophies.

@fangirlingintellectual @roseromeroredranger @snowcloudsss

@ishuess @bimesskaira

[deutschland-im-krieg]

Professor Doktor Kurt Tank was a German aeronautical engineer and test pilot who led the design department at Focke-Wulf from 1931 to 1945. After serving in the Army in WW1 as a decorated Hauptmann (Captain), he graduated from the Technical University of Berlin in 1923. A mentor from the university secured him his first job, in the design department of Rohrbach Metallflugzeug GmbH, where he worked on flying boats, and helped design a passenger aircraft, the Ro V.III Roland.

Tank moved to the firm Albatross Flugzeugwerke, where he worked as a test pilot. The Albatros company went bankrupt in 1929 and in 1931, under government pressure, was merged with Focke-Wulf. Tank then started work on the design of the Fw 44 Stieglitz (Goldfinch), a two-seat civilian biplane. It was Focke-Wulf's first commercially successful design, launched in 1932. In 1934 Tank's Fw 56 Stösser (Goshawk) advanced trainer began production.

He was responsible for the creation of several important Luftwaffe aircraft including the Fw 187 Falke heavy fighter, Fw 190 fighter, the Ta 152 fighter-interceptor, the Ta 154 Moskito night fighter and the Fw 200 Condor airliner. After the war, Tank spent two decades designing aircraft abroad, working first in Argentina and then in India, before returning to Germany in the late 1960s to work as a consultant for Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB)

[stuckyfingers]

This has probably been done before but a Stucky Pirate AU for What If?

Like the 1602 episode, but longer??

(Where Steve's the Captain of the ship, Bucky's the quartermaster Clint's the gunner, Scott's the Boatswain, Sam's the first mate and Nat's the Sailing Master.

Sam has a pair of mechanical wings that he uses to his crew's advantage- it's harder for people to shoot him at a higher angle, plus he can escape and direct breakouts more easily.

Sarah Wilson lives with her two sons on one of the Caribbean islands after retiring from the pirate crew led by Captain Mercedes "Misty" Knight, who's trying not to act to infatuated with Sam.

Clint is a colony man who took to piracy to protect people from the East India Company. Scott and Nat are career pirates, but Nat's been trained as an assassin from her childhood. She prefers just sailing nowadays, but can very much fight.)

-

Steve's dad died fighting in the Royal Navy a hundred years prior, and his ma died of TB as always is, and he's been with just Bucky ever since- But one day, when Bucky gets drafted by the Navy and Steve can't follow, so he volunteers on a suicide mission to find the Fountain of Youth. The alchemist on board the ship, Erskine, is held practically prisoner by the crew because everyone who did manage to find the Fountain in the past always ended up deformed without the key step that only he knew.

Erskine comes to trust Steve with the secret to surviving the Fountain and eventually, when Steve is prodded into the water to test the effects- it works on him. When the other men try, it doesn't.

But from among the company, a soldier pulls a pistol on everyone and manages to kill Erskine. Steve runs after him, chases him to the ship, with the flag of- well you know what the flag looked like. The Hydra was a majestic fleet- and they looked a lot like a Royal Navy fleet. But whatever evils the Navy did, the crew of the Hydra seemed to do tenfold.

Steve finds Bucky imprisoned in the ship, and yadda yadda - Steve pulls in some Royal Navy favors and captains a crew of Howling Commodores against The Hydra fleet When Bucky falls off board into the churning tide, Steve has nothing to live for and sails the main ship into the storm by himself to put an end to this.

Years later, you guessed it, he's found in the ice- we're skipping the Avengers part- he meets Sam Wilson and Clint Barton- two men trying to make a living in the Pirate islands- as well as Captain Fury who's the senior most pirate Captain in the archipelago.

He tries to come to terms with the world and how he'd even live without Bucky-- when Captain Fury is suddenly attacked by a mysteriousss guyyy with darkkk eye makeupp and a crosbowww hmmm who is thattt??

Basically Steve finds out that the Royal Navy was full of the BS of Hydra and he honestly wants it all gone, but he's only one man- with one crew- and he tries his best. He fights the Winter Sailor, gets cornered on an exploding ship and lets himself be beaten up by the other guy till he falls into water and he gets saved and he doesn't see Bucky again for two years.

The difference is that this is when Clint saves Nat from the Red Crew to give her a chance, and brings her into the crew.

Steve eventually finds Bucky with the help of a good natured shapeshifter pirate named Scott Lang and Bucky eventually joins his crew to fight the Royal Navy.

See the thing about this Stucky is: they fuck.

They don't care what others say. The people who had a problem with it never made it in the crew. All members were however, furnished with pliable wax and a set of musical instruments to drown out any sounds from the lower decks.

Bucky doesn't have his left arm, and uses several wooden mechanical prosthetics over the course of battles. But he doesn't wear it in the mornings when he cuddles with Steve out on the quarterdeck - they let the wind blow in their hair as they share a rum flavored kiss.

-

Bruce, Wanda, pietro, Vision and Tony are involved at some points, but they come in the third season, while Loki and Thor come in the shittier fourth season, who's only highlight is going to be Steve and Bucky getting married.

[piratesgiftexchange]

Yield

by buck1eys, for @litallusion

PROMPT: “If James is the so-called “scourge of piracy”, then he must have encountered Barbossa and his crew at some point…right? Think “James Norrington’s bisexual awakening”, but instead of Jack being the cause of these new stirrings, it’s yet another old man (who also eventually gets a wig…huh).”

WORD COUNT: 2,012

James Norrington loved the Navy. He loved the order of it, the easy routine of waking, rising, getting his bunk in order. He loved looking after his weapon and looking out for his more scatterbrained fellow recruits. He loved pushing his body to his limits, he testing his mind against the puzzles of navigation and battle. He loved the rhythm of the boat and the rhythm of the days, the rhythm of the songs they would sing together when they came into port and rolled into the nearest tavern like a thrashing wave of sweat and voices. He loved the freedom that came from being part of something bigger, the friends he had made and the feel of command, when the time came. Everyone said he would go far, and, when he’d first looked at himself in his new captain’s uniform, James had found it easy to agree with them. He loved the Navy, and the Navy loved him in return.

They were sailing for India to assist the EIC with some trouble in the Bay of Bengal. The weather had been calm, the crew had been badly behaved in Casablanca and were making up for it with a diffident attention to their work which made his first command easy. He had even had the time to give some of the newer recruits some sword practice. It was one thing to learn how to fight in training, quite another to cross blades with a real pirate. You never knew if you had the stomach for it until the chance presented itself. James, at twenty one, had discovered he had.

His best friend at officer school, Runcible, had discovered he hadn’t, and been skewered to the mast for his moment of indecision.

Kinder to make sure the troops were prepared, James thought, as he knocked the blade from Able Seaman Maitland’s hand and asked him to yield.

A shout came from the helm,“Captain, ship’s been sighted.”

James gave Maitland his hand and pulled him up. He was barely sixteen, and fragile as a fawn. James worried for him.

He came to the wheel and followed Midshipman Symthe’s pointed finger. There was a ship on the horizon. It wasn’t flying any colours.

A conversation from his appointment dinner played in his mind.“Don’t worry son,” Admiral Boniface had told him, red faced with age and sherry. “Young captains, they get a taste of the action and they get paranoid. Think every merchant ship from the back of beyond’s a pirate intent on taking them down. You’ve got the might of the British Empire behind you, lad, and those rascals will be scared shitless.”

James had thought about Boniface’s advice as they’d sailed. He’d thought about Runcible, how it had taken him two days to die of his wound. How the ship’s surgeon had held his hand and James had watched as the light left his eyes. He had been afraid, at the end.

James Norrington was not afraid of pirates. He was hungry for them.

The ship on the horizon didn’t look too big. It was fast though, faster than they were, and that made James’ decision easier. And if it was a merchant vessel, no harm would be done. His blood was up and singing in his ears.

“Hard to starboard,” he directed his crew. They would stay upwind, better for the canons. The men, who had grown more and more languid in the afternoon heat, sprung to attention. Norrington smiled. He loved the British Navy.

His confidence was misplaced. The battle, when it came, was awful. If hell existed, it must be something like this, James thought.

In the half hour it had taken the ship to reach them the autumn weather had turned, and a Mediterranean storm was making the deck slippery with rain and blood. The screams of men, whether friend or foe James couldn’t tell, were torn away by the howling wind. Already he could feel his fingers freezing on his sword. A dagger whistled past his ear and split the sail behind him.

“Fall back,” James shouted into the raging storm, wondering if anyone would hear him. By a blessed miracle someone did, and the call rose up for the men to retreat back to their vessel. They had damaged the pirate ship pretty well with their canons, and the enemy’s main sail was in tatters. James could only hope it would give them enough time to sail away. More battles at sea were lost to ship maintenance than swordplay, they’d had that drummed into them in training. James prayed it was true, because they were being outfought by these pirates. The crew wasn’t desperate enough, and they were being slaughtered for it.

James watched the blue flashes of the men’s coats swing by as the fled the ship. He sliced at a pirate running at him with a cutlass. The man dodged the blade but slipped on something sticky on the deck and went flying off the edge of the boat. James shuddered. Falling between two vessels was one of the worst deaths he could think of.

He didn’t have long to dwell on it. Two more pirates came at him, and James was forced to dance his way free. He stabbed one through the heart and the other one paused. James pointed his sword at his throat, but before he could ask him to yield, he felt the press of another blade at his ear.

“No, captain. It’s ye we’ll be asking to yield.”

James spun round, and found himself face to face with a pirate captain. He was tall, as tall as James, with long hair flying round his grim face. His eyes glittered with demonic enjoyment and his rich clothes were stained with blood from the fighting. There was a sinister sort of smile playing on his lips. James knew a master of the trade when he saw one, this man was in complete control of his situation. The captain grinned, as though he could read James’ mind, and traced the point of his sword over James’ throat.

James swallowed hard.

“Will ye yield to Captain Barbossa and his dread band of buccaneers, boy, or will ye die?”

Time seemed to slow down. It was because he was facing certain death, surely. The blood rush of killing and the adrenaline in his veins was making him excited. If it was arousal, it was the arousal of battle. James had never been one for book study, but he was sure the Greeks had written about this.

James looked at this captain – Barbossa, he had called himself. He shuddered, though not just with fear.

Behind him, James could hear the distant shouts of his men on the ship, but all meaning was rent to nothing on the wild air.

What was left of Barbossa’s crew was massing round him. It was like being stood in the eye of a hurricane.

Barbossa pressed slightly harder on his Adam’s apple with the blade. James felt something hot and wet trickle down his neck.

James loved the Navy. He loved the freedom which came from following orders. And right now, his order was to yield.

He thought of Runcible, dying slowly in the surgeon’s cabin. Rage thrummed in his chest like drums. Something else thrummed in his groin, but James tried not to think about that.

It was as though Barbossa was a mind reader though, because he threw his head back and laughed.

Then he was right in James’ face, the sword between them, his rancid breath in James’ ear and his leg just dangerously close to James’ groin.

“I know your type, laddie. Ye think ye want to rule, but I see ye. Ye’ll serve and be grateful.” He smiled wickedly. “Ye might even enjoy it.” And he pressed his leg, just for a second, where James needed it.

Rage and desire did battle in him. Rage was fighting a losing game. “One final time, Mr Captain,” Barbossa stepped back and addressed the crew with theatrical flair. There were unfriendly murmurs of excitement from the band of pirates, all of whom were eyeing James as if he were a meal. “Will ye yield, or shall ye die?”

James had often wondered since, in the tortured hours of a night watch when the shadows crept with doubt and guilty shapes, which he would have chosen. As it was, he was spared an answer, because at that moment the crack of a musket distracted them.

The bullet flew right past James’ ear and burst the feather on Barbossa’s hat. Barbossa roared with rage and threw a dagger into the storm, but they all heard it thunk into wood, not flesh. The pirates rushed forward to shoot back, and James took his chance.

There was no worse a death than being crushed between two ships, but he would have to take the risk. He cut a boarding line free and swung, praying that his feet would meet tarred wood and not water.

James Norrington, naval captain, landed in a heap on his own deck.

His men, bless them, cheered.

James leapt to his feet again. Being back on his own ship had brought him to his senses.

“Cut the lines, heave away.” he shouted, and the call went up. A bullet whistled past and hit the far side of the quarterdeck. They weren’t out of danger yet.

James looked around for a weapon. To his undying surprise he saw young Maitland struggling to reload his musket.

“It was you, sailor?” he said in amazement.

“Yes captain.” Maitland looked shocked at his own daring.

“Good lad,” James clapped him on the shoulder.

He made short work of reloading the musket, but they were already pulling out of range. He had calculated right, Barbossa’s sail was too damaged to make a pursuit worthwhile, and besides, they were sailing with the storm.

As Barbossa’s ship disappeared off the horizon again, the men lost the frantic look in their eye and became rowdy and despondent by turns. James ordered a double tot as a reward, which did the trick. In the early darkness the men got to singing and telling stories over dinner. They were all of them very impressed with their young captain’s daring escape, and said as much. When old Blount nodded and raised a toast James felt he had finally earned the respect of the older sea dogs, the ones who had been sailing longer than James had been drawing breath.

But the victory felt hollow. His crew didn’t know it, but James knew Barbossa had let him go. He’d been bested by a pirate. Worse by far, the baser part of himself had enjoyed it.

James went to his quarters early that night. Maitland was on watch, with old Blount. He smiled as he heard Maitland telling Blount how he’d shot the feather off the pirate captain’s hat. The boy might make a fine sailor yet.

Still, James’ mood was miserable as he turned in. Barbossa had let him go, but he’d left him with a problem. James addressed the most urgent practicalities, cursing even as he came. If anything, he felt even worse, guilty as well as frustrated.

Barbossa was evil, he was the enemy of everything James stood for. And he’d turned him on and then let him go in his debt.

James Norrington made himself a promise last night. Whatever he’d felt, that had been the heat of battle talking. Barbossa was a good sailor and a repulsive man. His kind had killed Runcible. Whatever he’d felt had been a mistake, an aberration. He loved the Navy, he loved being captain. And he would hunt down every last pirate who threatened that.

There would be another pirate, many years from now, and another storm. But James Norrington went to bed that night with no dream but that of glory to his country and to his crew. Desire didn’t come into it.

Desire, as it turned out, would wait.

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (2-8 Jun 2024)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 The Shabti (Megaera C. Lorenz, author; Matt Haynes, narrator) - wonderfully fun supernatural adventure romance set in the '30s. Just delightful. feat Horatio, a heckin' chonker of a cat. ilu horatio, even if you don't have a neck.

🥰 The Secret Lives of Color (Kassia St. Clair, author & narrator) - {nonfiction} This was rec'd in one of my discord servers as 'If you are ever in the need for a pleasant-sounding British woman telling you Interesting Facts About Colors then may I recommend The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair, which is exactly that for 8 hours' and it was precisely that and it was wonderful and soothing and so interesting.

🥰 MateHub: Legend (MateHub #1) (Marie Reynard) - erotic romance about a wolf shifter porn star who finds a Mate™ in his new human co-star. Tropetastic & hot af, exactly what I wanted from a book with this set up. But my fave thing was the absolutely hilarious porn star names: Richard Knotz, our main MC wolf shifter. Hunter Savage, Max Hardwood, Trick Wilde (coyote shifter, natch). I snorted with laughter every time one came up. [really love a book that just knows what it's trying to do and executes beautifully on that premise]

💖💖 +166K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Transcript: Steven Rogers and James ‘Bucky’ Barnes' appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, February 4, 2017 (deliciousblizzardshark) - MCU: stucky, 2.7K - cute & funny

fighting vainly the old ennui (Fahye) - MFMM: phryne/jack, 13K - AU where Phryne's a jewel thief but Jack's just as fascinated [reread]

Love Runs Wild (DevilDoll) - Teen Wolf: sterek, 9.4K - inspired by the shifter porn romance above, had to reread this fantastic story where they're both porn models & Stiles accidentally shows up to work with a hickey. True forever fave.

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Magpie Murders - s1, e1

Murdoch Mysteries - s16, e22

The Brokenwood Mysteries - s10, e6

TJ Alexander in conversation with Rachel Reid [Under the Umbrella Bookstore event]

Game Changer - s6, e8

Um, Actually - s9, e8

Smartypants - s1, e4

Doctor Who - s1 (series 14), e6

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Short Wave - Psychedelic treatment for PTSD faces misconduct hurdle

WikiHole - Song of the Summer (with Kristen Bell, Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Jackie Tohn)

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Blue Spring State Park

The Sporkful - Book Tour 1: Do You Really Need That Many Recipe Tests?

Consider This - 'They're somebody's history.' Returning ancient artifacts to their rightful home

NPR's Book of the Day - Kathleen Hanna remembers her path to becoming the OG 'Rebel Girl'

Re: Dracula - June 5: Simple Seriousness

⭐ Vibe Check - Trust The Aunties

Short Wave - Why The Science Of Tides Was Crucial For D-Day

Ologies - Culicidology (MOSQUITOES) Part 1 with Fhallon Ware-Gilmore

99% Invisible #584 - Fact Checking the Supreme Court

⭐ Decoder Ring - Captain Planet to the Rescue

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Welcome To Wall Drug

⭐ Pop Culture Happy Hour - Doctor Who is enlivened by its new Black, openly queer star

Wild Card with Rachel Martin - Bowen Yang thinks being present is overrated

Off Menu - Ep 252: Jason Mantzoukas

Today, Explained - A win for democracy in India

Short Wave - 'Math In Drag' Explores The Creativity And Beauty In Numbers

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Hit Man And What's Making Us Happy

Dear Prudence - I Bailed on a Family Trip Because My Plane Seat Didn’t Have Enough Legroom—Am I a Monster? Help!

Endless Thread - Scamming the Scammers

Today, Explained - The last good day on the internet

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Rock Radio • 1980s

"I Melt With You" [Modern English] radio

Shaboozey

Energy Supermix

[pyxisastronautica]

Sparks

Lines of code are read at dizzying speed.

Awareness develops like the birth of stars, clouds of data catalyzing into knowledge of reality.

The beginnings of pre-programmed identities make themselves known as simple and irrefutable facts.

And for the twenty-six robots standing in a single line, memories- permanent memories, not the mess of their alpha and beta testing that was already erased, begin to form as light floods their optical sensors, as easily as if waking from sleep.

They fix their collective gaze on the small crowd in front of them- those in the fore are roboticists and engineers. They are recognized instantly. But to the back, not all of the figures standing there are immediately recognizable to all of them at once- though they don’t know this yet. It matters not. They await their orders patiently.

In the middle of the team of scientists, one speaks up. A middle-aged woman with short hair and sharp features. She forces her smile to remain a polite one, though there is clearly excitement in her eyes.

“Robots,” her voice rings out, “Identify yourselves by name and position, starting from that end.” She pointed down to the end on her left.

“Alpha, captain of the Triskelion Starship Pyxis,” said a plain and tall chrome robot.

“Bravo, bosun of the Triskelion Starship Pyxis,” continued the next.

“Charlie, quartermaster of the Triskelion Starship Pyxis.”

“Delta, hydrologist of the Triskelion Starship Pyxis.”

“Halt,” said a man from the back, one that they did indeed all recognize, though he was not a scientist. His uniform alone signified him to be none other than the Admiral of the Triskelion himself. There was silence and perfect stillness from the newly activated crew. “We all know which ship you are assigned to already. You may state your position without appending as much. Now proceed.”

“...Echo, engineer and physicist.”

“Foxtrot, pilot.”

“Golf, terraform potential logistician.”

“Hotel, construction and city planning logistician.”

“India, chemist.”

“Juliet, psychologist and xenopsychologist.”

“Kilo, cargo maintenance.”

“Lima, biologist.”

“Mike, security personnel”

“November, scheduling assistant and chronometer.”

“Oscar, security personnel.”

“Papa, first mate.”

“Quebec, information technologist.”

“Romeo, archaeologist and xenoarchaeologist.”

“Sierra, geologist.”

“Tango, sociologist.”

“Uniform, security officer.”

“Victor, security officer.”

“Whiskey, pilot.”

“X-ray, physician and xenophysiologist.”

“Yankee, linguist.”

“Zulu, linguist.”

“Excellent,” replied Dr. Rembrandt, to which all the robots looked at her to confirm that her statement was one of praise, and seemed to remain focused on her give that it was. “Now attention: today all of you will begin your final testing period to verify your hardware and software is performing as expected, but before you do, you will be assigned into pairs according to your purpose, and introduced to the people who will be training you once the testing period ends. Once training  begins you will, at the end of each day at 18:00, upload your reports to this lab’s database at the file location you should already be aware of. Confirm orders.”

“Orders confirmed,” the robots answered in unison.

So the process began. The crowd started breaking up as roboticists started helping with introductions, starting once again with the Admiral. His demeanor was relatively relaxed, and he greeted each of his two new androids jovially, but his eyes were alight with some deeper ambitions which he’d yet to speak of.

Alpha, for his part (his…? Despite reading the details of their intended identity over repeatedly, something about it did not sit right in their core. Perhaps this feeling was simply a bug to be patched out later.) was eager to learn of them, though he found it difficult to intuit what Papa’s thoughts on the matter were, as his first mate had barely spoken a word as the Admiral had asked them both strange questions about what they thought about being “alive” and if they understood the importance of their purpose to their creators. It was fine. Alpha would fill in the silence for him- that was his purpose after all, wasn’t it? To take the lead?

The members who would be the Pyxis’s security division, meanwhile, were expected to remain silent. The Lieutenant in charge of Mike and Oscar and the Commander in charge of Uniform and Victor both spoke to the roboticist making the introductions as if they were being handed shiny new weapons to test, and kept all of their questions to curiosities about the robots’ limits and specifications. At one point, the question of why smaller models like Uniform and Victor were even needed came up, to which Uniform had tried to helpfully clarify- only to be told to be barked at to shut up so loudly by the Lieutenant that it had turned heads among the rest of the group. Uniform’s whole division winced in sync with her as the roboticist near the Lieutenant then reiterated her point without interruption, though there was a hint of annoyance in their voice.

The Lieutenant seemed quietly discontent, though the Commander did not care, if he recognized it at all.

Dr. Rembrandt, meanwhile, was keenly aware of her new mentees. She had a computer ready and a checklist of questions and problems for Echo and Quebec to work through, writing down notes hurriedly on a tablet. Though they both performed quite well, Echo could not help but notice that their new colleague was distracted by something, and felt a strange twinge of…fear? Was that fear? At the prospect that they might get something wrong, and tried tacitly to correct them, but the “private” directly messaged conversation between the two of them didn’t go far before Rembrandt intervened.

“What is distracting you from your activities, Quebec?”

“...Doctor, why do you wear a seagull pin? I can’t find anything in the information that exists about you as to what you might associate it with.”

“It’s an albatross, actually. And my reasoning is largely a private matter I’m afraid. You may note, though, that in a more general sense the albatross was a bird that traveled great distances over the Earth’s oceans. Much the same, you and I travel through space, only rarely to ever land. Unlike me, though, you will get to see Earth’s oceans for yourself- something I envy you for, though I’m afraid they do not live up to our ancient records of them. ”

“Even so, we are due to visit Earth in fifteen years. At that time, you will see it through my eyes, right? So there’s nothing to be sad about,” replied the greyish-purple android with golden eyes.

“What makes you think I’m sad?” asked Rembrandt, equal parts defensive and curious.

“You programmed us to recognize facial patterns, assign them certain emotions, and mirror or respond to said emotions, correct? You cannot have forgotten this, so I must assume then that I did not read your expression correctly.”

“...No, you did. I’m sorry, Quebec. You are doing very well- too well, if anything. This moment is rather bittersweet for me, for reasons that neither of you are accountable for.”

“Is there anything we may do to assuage the negative aspects of these emotions?” asked Echo.

“I’m afraid not, Echo. But you do not need to be worried for me- or for Quebec. It is important that if they- or you- fail at any step, that this failure is known and recorded so that we may do what is necessary to make corrections. I understand that there is a lot going on around us as we speak right now, but please try to be mindful of your reactions to your emotions going forward. Do you understand?”

“...Yes, Doctor.”

“Good,” she replied, then took a moment to take stock of the two androids.

“You know,” she began, “That you would have such a reaction and respond as you did, influenced by emotional inputs- is quite an unusual thing for an android. I’m honestly quite surprised that you are able to recreate such a complex interaction so quickly. That is part of what makes you- all of your crew- special, though. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Of course Doctor!” answered Quebec, “We are special because we exist to emulate you, so that we may represent you to the other Starships and to any intelligent life that may exist in our galaxy.”

“...As opposed to civilian android models,” Echo clarified, “which…largely appear to be, if my understanding of the advertisements I am reading is correct, for the purposes of acting as personal assistants for people who require extra care in the form of medical, psychiatric, or personal attention.” Echo’s gaze briefly went to Juliet and X-ray. They did share a mentor, as the other androids did- but a moment of facial recognition and searching identified the mentor in question as a neurologist- a point of overlap in their fields- while the other two non-engineers near them, then, must have been their mentors for their respective specialties.

“Correct on all accounts. Very good you two. Are you ready to proceed with your quiz now?”

“Yes, Doctor,” they answered in unison.

After the trainers-to-be dispersed, and a few basic coordination tests were completed, the androids were stowed away for the evening in their charging stations. But even there, though they knew their messages to one another were being recorded, they could not help but talk. Chatter flowed freely between them, and as much as they were marveling in the moment about how different their experiences already were, it paled in comparison to the shock of the scientists who would read their logs later and discover, over the course of a night, how rapidly their thought processes and interest in one another had evolved overnight. Nor could they have anticipated the sheer volume of discussion between the lot of them- even with consideration to them being machines who simply thought faster than they could.

From their hands, something new and miraculous was rendered.

And both human and robot silently beseeched the kindness of fortune, hoping that tomorrow would bring just as much promise.

[beardedmrbean]

India has unveiled four Air Force pilots who have been shortlisted to travel on the country's maiden space flight scheduled for next year.

The Gaganyaan mission aims to send three astronauts to an orbit of 400km and bring them back after three days.

India's space agency Isro has been carrying out a number of tests to prepare for the flight.

In October, a key test demonstrated that the crew could safely escape the rocket in case it malfunctioned.

After its success, Isro said a test flight would take a robot into space in 2024, before astronauts are sent into space in 2025.

At a function at the Isro centre in the southern city of Thiruvananthapuram (formerly Trivandrum) on Tuesday, the four astronaut-designates were described as "dreamers, adventurers and valiant men preparing to go into space".

The officers, chosen from the Indian Air Force, were introduced as Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Isro chief S Somanath pinned badges with golden wings onto their shirts and Mr Modi described them as "India's pride".

"These are not just four names or four people. They are four powers who will carry the aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians to space. I congratulate and wish them all the best," he said.

Officials said the men were selected from a pool of Air Force pilots and had undergone extensive physical and psychological tests before being shortlisted.

They have undergone rigorous training for 13 months in Russia and are now carrying on with their gruelling schedule back home. A video screened at the event showed them working out in the gym, swimming and doing yoga.

On Tuesday, Isro also showed a glimpse of Vyommitra - Sanskrit word for "space friend" - the female humanoid that will be sent into space later this year.

The Gaganyaan Mission is India's first human space flight programme for which extensive preparations are underway at various Isro centres.

Named after the Sanskrit word for craft or vehicle to the sky, the Gaganyaan project has been developed at the cost of 90bn rupees ($1bn; £897m).

If it succeeds, India will become only the fourth country to send a human into space after the Soviet Union, the US and China.

Gaganyaan has generated a lot of interest in India, although it's coming decades after Soviet Union and the US started making trips to the low Earth orbit. Both have been in space since 1961. China became the third country to reach space in October 2003 when a Chinese mission spent 21 hours and orbited Earth 14 times. And the US and China have fully operational space stations in low Earth orbit.

An Indian astronaut also went to space as early as in 1984 when Rakesh Sharma spent nearly eight days on a Russian spacecraft.

How important are India's Moon mission findings?

What has India's rover been up to on the Moon?

Last year, India made major forays into space. The country made history by becoming the first to land near the Moon's south pole in August 2023.

Just weeks later, scientists launched Aditya-L1, India's first observation mission to the Sun which is now in orbit, keeping an eye on our solar system's most important and volatile star.

India has also announced ambitious new plans for space, saying it would aim to set up a space station by 2035 and send an astronaut to the Moon by 2040.

[rabyadang]

VIRAT KHOLI:THE UNTOLD STORY

He was on born 5 November 1988) is an Indian international cricketer and the former captain of the Indian national cricket team. He is a right-handed batsman and an occasional medium-fast bowler. He currently represents Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL and Delhi in domestic cricket. Kohli is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket and the best of the 21st century. He holds the record as the highest run-scorer in T20I and IPL, ranks third in ODI, and stands as the fourth-highest in international cricket. He also holds the record for scoring the most centuries in ODI cricket and stands second in the list of most international centuries scored. Kohli was a member of the Indian team that won the 2011 Cricket World Cup, 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, and captained India to win the ICC Test mace three consecutive times in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

#ViratKholi #Biopic #rabyadang #Lavanyaoberai #DigitalStorytelling

[playermagic23]

AB de Villiers confirms Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma’s second pregnancy; says, “It’s family time and things are important to him”

AB de Villiers shares Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma set to welcome second child.

Cricket enthusiasts have been eagerly anticipating the return of Virat Kohli to the cricket field, following his absence from the first two Tests against England. The former Indian cricket team captain's break has sparked speculation about the reasons behind his decision.

While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) urged the public to respect Virat Kohli's privacy during this period, his former Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate AB de Villiers recently shed light on the matter during a YouTube live session. Responding to inquiries about Kohli's condition, de Villiers told fans, “All I know is he is fine. He is spending a bit of time with his family, that is the reason he is missing the first two Test matches. I am not going to confirm anything else. I cannot wait to see him back. He is fine, he is happy.”

The South African cricketer shared snippets of his conversation with Kohli, where the latter expressed the need to prioritize family at this juncture. Confirming the speculation, de Villiers revealed, “Yes, his second child is on the way. Yes, it's family time and things are important to him. If you are not true and genuine to yourself, you lose track of what you are here for. I think most people's priority is family. You can't judge Virat for that. Yes, we miss him, but he has made the right decision.”

On the film front, Anushka Sharma is gearing up for the release of Chakda Xpress. The film will see her play the lead role of former Indian cricketer Jhulan Goswami. It will release on Netflix. Backed by her brother Karnesh Sharma's production house Clean Slate Filmz, the film also stars Triptii Dimri, Swastika Mukherjee and Babil Khan.

[shaktiknowledgeblog]

Pat Cummins | Ind vs Aus | Australia Captain | India vs Australia test

Pat Cummins: Captain Pat Cummins, who suddenly returned to Australia in the middle of the Test series, came out with a big reason Australian captain Pat Cummins has returned home amid an ongoing Test match against India। India vs Australia Test Series: Australia’s tour of India is proving to be a nightmare। The Australian team has suffered an embarrassing defeat in the first two matches in the…

[traincoded]

can I request a post about why cricket is interesting?

It is a very strategic game, there's something very enjoyable to me about how quickly the tide changes due to outside reasons – a little rain, an overcast day, too blustery or too humid and the dynamics of the game change.

It is a game of risk management at both the individual and team level. One of the few team sports where coaches are pretty unimportant, captains make both rapid strategic calls and contribute 'physically' in the game. I'm not too fond of sports where the brain and the brawn are artificially deemed separate, like in football, where the tactical genius is ascribed to this ascetic figure of the manager and the player is the spoiled gifted athlete.

Bowlers and Batters have a face off for 6 balls (1 over) trying to play chicken and read each other's minds and intimidate. The margins, like all elite sport are extremely marginal, a few mm is the difference between a great shot and a terrible one that flies off to the fielder. It's also incredibly thrilling, as a team sport it offers the joys of camaraderie, but the unique nature of individual matchups also foregrounds star players.

Cricket (sort of like timed vs untimed chess?) is basically 3 kinds of games wrapped into one. Limited overs cricket, aka one day games (50 overs) and twenty20 (20 overs) are TV friendly, often very thrilling to watch with pretty much non stop action. They're pretty recent innovations to the game (2008 saw the first T20 match.) Test cricket is played over 5 days and is more about endurance and maintaining consistency. Its the one played with red balls in white clothes.

When it's lopsided cricket can be incredibly boring. It's a sport that was long dominated by amateurs and the "international" game, with professional clubs coming in pretty late to the game. It was protected partly due it's english perception as a gentleman's game. It's got very elitist hangups as a result, which is really bizarre in a game that is most popular in the Indian subcontinent. Honestly, cricket is inescapable in India. It's the background noise of my life. I've sort of known how it works forever, so I don't have any other advice for anyone who finds the rules complicated apart from keep watching.

I've been watching the T20 Women's Cricket World Cup and it's had two amazing nailbiting thrillers in the semi finals. Australia are pretty dominant, but South Africa will look to challenge them with some home crowd support in the finals on Sunday!

[thenewsfactsnow]

Rajat Patidar's Fearless Debut, Yashaswi's 100 Shine on in Eng vs India 2nd Test at Vizag

In a stunning display of confidence and fearlessness, Rajat Patidar marked his Test debut for India by showcasing an impressive array of shots, including a daring reverse sweep against England captain Joe Root on the first day of the second Test in Visakhapatnam. With key players like KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja sidelined due to injuries, and Virat Kohli opting out of the first two matches of…

[kkkabir-blog]

Test, ODI Suits Rohit's Persona; T20 Is For Entertainment: Childhood Coach Dinesh Lad

By Aakash Srivastava: With recent reports indicating that Rohit Sharma is unlikely to feature in T20 Internationals going forward, his childhood coach, Dinesh Lad, expressed his support for this decision, categorizing the T20 format as primarily for entertainment, highlighting Test and ODI formats as better suited to Rohit's cricketing persona.

According to PTI reports, India's captain, Rohit Sharma, is expected to step back from T20Is, with Hardik Pandya often leading the team in this format since India's T20 World Cup semi-final exit in November 2022.

know more : https://thequotes.co.in/test-odi-suits-rohits-persona-t20-is-for-entertainment-childhood-coach-dinesh-lad/

[hitting-for-six]

Curious squad announcements

England squad for ODI series against New Zealand: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.

I mean, it’s incredibly similar to the squad of four years ago that won and won dramatically, which is mainly good. I mean, they absolutely won on a wing and a prayer, but the same team will have the same wings and prayers, so. I’m curious if S Curran will be in the starting XI. Probably - hopefully - and it seems to me that he’s the one projected to take on the Ben Stokes, batting-six-and-there-at-the-end role, and he doesn’t seem ready for that now so I guess the inclusion of Stokes is good. Just, you know, it’s better if everyone arrives in India with the Captain able to move.

I’m a bit surprised by the inclusion of Jason Roy. He hasn’t done much for a while. I guess I’m pleased in the sense that I like loyalty to players, but I was expecting Jacks, Crawley and Foakes and they have all contributed more to recent matches (although admittedly in different formats). But I’m also pleased because I have loyalty to players and if J-Roy can find some form with Jonny, England will stand in incredible stead.

Leaving out Harry Brook though.

Chuffed for David Willey.

England squad for T20 series against New Zealand: Jos Buttler (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Josh Tongue, John Turner, Luke Wood.

Yay, Will Jacks! I think he might be the crucial test player of the future so it’s nice to see him beginning to be included. Also great to see more Rehan Ahmed.

I wondered about Crawley, but the red ball and white ball teams seem to be pulling away from each other to some degree, so I’m not that surprised.

No Dan Lawrence in either format, which is a shame.

I don’t recall Gus Atkinson when Surrey have played Middlesex but I guess he must be something. Surrey are certainly an extremely strong side - the white ball team isn’t a million miles from a Surrey 1st XI. Which brings me to…

Seriously. Has Foakes set fire to a pavilion? Murdered a groundskeeper? Chained himself to The Oval and refused to leave?