#Test captains of India

[a2zsportsnews]

Tim Southee steps down as New Zealand Test captain ahead of India series

Tim Southee stepped down as New Zealand’s Test captain on Wednesday ahead of the three-match series against India, which begins from October 16. Tom Latham, who has captained the team on nine previous occasions, will lead a 15-member squad, which includes Southee, against India. “Captaining the BLACKCAPS in a format that’s so special to me, has been an absolute honour and a privilege,” Southee…

[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…

[45cementry-gates]

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)

[newblogerxxx]

Rohit Sharma Makes Captaincy Promise To BCCI In Meeting, Report Says He Will Quit After...

India's Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma has informed BCCI about the timeline post which he will quit the leadership role in the team.

Updated: January 12, 2025 11:34 am IST

Read Time: 2 min

Rohit Sharma could quit captaincy in coming months© AFP

India's Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma spoke at length to the top bosses in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and chief selector Ajit Agarkar in a review meeting held on Saturday. India head coach Gautam Gambhir was also present in the meeting as the BCCI top brass sought response from the Indian team management over the recent run of results, particularly the 1-3 Border-Gavaskar series defeat to Australia and the 0-3 home sweep against New Zealand. In the meeting, it has been reported, that Rohit expressed his intentions of remaining the team's captain for a few more 'months'.

Questions over Rohit's long-term Test future intensified over the course of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, particularly because of his form with the bat. Rohit even decided to bench himself for the final match in Sydney, though India lost that encounter too. 

During the meeting with BCCI, where Agarkar and Gambhir also expressed their views, Rohit is said to have told the board that he wants to remain the team's captain for a few more months. The BCCI, meanwhile, has been asked by Rohit to keep searching for a new captain...Read To More

[north-pole-picture-co]

Good evening friends, here's an unsolicited non-polar book recommendation. If you, like me, are into early aviation and acts of hubris that people may not survive, then you'll enjoy His Majesty's Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine by S. C. Gwynne.

This book has, in no particular order:

A career imperialist/socialist politician writing RPF about himself and his married girlfriend.

The married girlfriend in question is an honest-to-god princess and bestselling author who was friends with a bunch of famous writers, politicians, and other celebrities in Europe in the 1910s-1920s.

A guy named Scott making questionable decisions and who sometimes pulled rank and effectively took over other captains' flights.

Many other guys in charge of designing, building, and testing the airship who knew little to nothing about airships.

"Capitalist airship" vs "socialist airship" (the book explains it, I promise).

Discussion of the roles war and imperialism played in the development and function of the rigid airship. Also in the role of modern weather forecasting.

A detailed breakdown (no pun intended) of all the things that could and did go wrong in this, and other, airship disasters.

"This thing can totally fly from England to India and back in time for the Big Imperialism Conference, trust me bro."

Our RPFing friend brought over 250 pounds of luggage, including a fancy carpet, on the airship to India. Because weight isn't a problem on airships!

Oh, and they built the airship 23 tons heavier than it was supposed to be.

Don't even get me started on the gas bags.

[a-clarice-dream]

Thoughts, ramblings and a hot take from the conclusion of the Border Gavaskar trophy series:

Yes, Jasprit Bumrah is an excellent bowler who did an absolute number on the Australian side 4/5 games in the series. But I don’t think he should have been man of the series, because his side didn’t win. What he did, did not retain the trophy for his side. Yes, he put up some great stats (arguably because India over bowled him and has now lead to him being injured mid test), but one player’s stats don’t win a series, and man of the series should ultimately be about overall impact on the series.

The player of the series should have been our lord and saviour Pat Cummins. I know he’s often man of the series, and I’ll admit a personal bias to the man because I’ve always liked him as a player and I personally tipped him as the best choice for captain post-Paine scandal, but here are some facts.

This is the first time in ten years that Australia has outright won (not drawn and retained) the Border-Gavaskar Trophy

This is the first time in a long ass while that Australia has outright won a series after a first test loss

Australia won the series despite including three players on debut, including a 19 year-old opener replacing a legendary recently retired opening batsman.

They clinched the last test before tea on pink day, day 3, despite nutcase worsening pitch conditions that truly made old grown-in pitches of the SCG on day 5 look predictable

They won this series in front of record crowds, including the second year of memorial and honours for Shane Warne at Boxing Day

And, in my mind, one of the most important points:

Pat Cummins’ Australian side currently holds all 5 bilateral trophies it plays in (The Ashes, Border-Gavaskar, Trans-Tasman, Benaud-Qadir and Frank Worrell) and the World Cup in 50 over format, and the World Test Championship. The only thing they don’t currently hold is the T20 World Cup, in which they came second to India.

It’s quite literally not possible for all of those trophies to have been won in Australia. It’s truly a versatile team, held together by a well-loved leader and exceptional cricketer. Many teams placed under the pressure that Australia saw in this series would dig their heels in and not make a bid to win, but draw. His team did not give up under that pressure and adversity, and there is always, always a way forward. There’s a running line in my home that cricket is played above the tentorium, meaning, headspace and mental approach is one of the most important factors in the game, and as a captain, I think this is where Pat Cummins makes the greatest impact in his leadership of the team.

On his individual stats level, in this series, he won crucial runs for the Australian side when it mattered most, and took many, many wickets and catches, while making essentially strategic decisions with the team on fielding and preserving the bowlers to prevent injury. Despite being a self-professed bowler, his stats as of the conclusion of the Boxing Day test rank him 3rd in the world on the rankings as an all-rounder. He really is that good. His impact on this team, on Australian cricket, is palpable, and for those reasons, he should have been man of the series.

(I could also make a case for how Travis Head was an equally quality choice for man of the series for his over 448 runs in the series.)

Big props to India on the series, and extra big props for participating in pink day, unlike certain other sides that play Australia in December-January.

[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.

[myauditionfordrphil]

Do you think the BCCI should ask Rohit to retire gracefully (as in not sack/drop him) at the end of this the WTC cycle? in any other situation this kind of a series loss would have called for sacking of the captain and coach.

Is Bumrah ready to captain ICT full term? That includes him staying fit for almost all matches of a series.

And I agree with you statements on Gambhir. Now he's going to realise how hard it is to coach a cricket team. Every time that mf opened his mouth it was to spew nonsense about Dhoni, Kohli, Shastri, etc. Karma is just coming back for that man.

Thank you for the ask!!! Already apologizing because I have a lot to say on this matter and this will get very looonggg, you've been warned.

See I believe that ICT will undergo a transitional phase very soon. The seniors will hang up their boots soon after the finals (if we reach there) or in the midst of the next cycle cz I definitely don't think most of them will play another full cycle. As much I hate to see them go, it's kind of inevitable though about Rohit (and by extension Kohli) retiring, I think it's still too early to make statements like this before BGT because that will be their last chance to step up otherwise I think some harsh calls need to be made. I desperately hope that they get their form back because Jaddu and Ash are doing well tbh, they won't be dropped or asked to retire because of their performance.

And I also agree that Dhoni or Kohli would have been publicly slandered after this kind of loss but Rohit did come forward and took responsibility (atleast after the 3rd test) although the interviewers should've been sterner rather than asking about the positives and feelings (I remember clips of Atherton properly grilling MS in 2011 after 3-0 loss in England). But we also have to keep in mind that a huge series is coming up and we can't afford captaincy changes now considering Rohit is actually a good captain in most situations. Though I do think that a transition should be placed into effect with Bumrah playing a bigger role in leadership and daresay even captaining dead rubber matches. His availability will be an issue taking in point that he's India's main bowler in all formats but his fitness won't cause problems imo if he doesn't play pointless bilaterals.

Lastly on Gambhir, what do I even say? I grudgingly respect him as a player but his constant credit narrative and baseless statements do bother me a lot. I don't know about limited overs but his position as a coach in red ball cricket should be reviewed and, same as the seniors of the team, BGT should be the stage for him to perform. His performance (mind you as a mentor, Chandrakant Pandit was the actual coach who literally built the side) in IPL got him the position but he will have to prove himself.

I may be criticizing them right now but I'll definitely be the happiest if they perform well (yes even GG) and chahe jitna bhi gussa karlu at the end of the day sabse ladkar inhi ko support karungi. So to all the people sending me asks calling players names and all, pls stop. Even if they're going through a bad patch, they're still national players who have done more for India than all of you combined. Learn the difference between criticism and hate.

[bandarrrrr]

Just heard that Rohit Sharma said "12 saal me ek baar haarna to allowed hota hai"

Dude WHAT THE FUCK? What kind of attitude is this? Are you saying that letting go of your dominance in test matches is okay? We had a streak of 12 years to not lose a home Test Series and you broke it in just 2 years of your captaincy? People hate Virat a lot but everyone has to accept the fact that Virat revolutionised the Indian Test side, he is the greatest red ball captain India had, if Rohit Sharma continues to have this attitude then sorry, we are gonna lose BGT as well.

And and and, I'll like to call out our new and revolutionary head coach GAUTAM GAMBHIR as well, he laughed at Ravi Shastri for winning the BGT in 2017-18, he said "They haven't achieved anything big" and then he proceeds to lose 3-0 against Srilanka in the ODIs and a test series loss against Newzealand at home within the spam of 4 months of being the incharge of the team. I don't know where Indian cricket will go under these hands, the attitude has completely shifted from being furious over a loss to being okay with losing a series!

[thinkingofyours]

Latest Space Missions: NASA and ISRO Updates!

Exciting times in space exploration! Both NASA and ISRO are making significant strides with their latest missions.

NASA’s NISAR Mission: The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission is set to launch in early 2024. This joint Earth-observing satellite will monitor changes in Earth’s land and ice surfaces, providing critical data on natural hazards, climate change, and environmental management. Recently, NISAR successfully passed rigorous thermal vacuum tests, proving its resilience in space-like conditions.

ISRO’s Venus Orbiter Mission: ISRO is gearing up for its ambitious Venus Orbiter Mission, aimed at exploring Venus’s atmosphere and understanding its transformation from a potentially habitable planet to a hostile environment. This mission will provide valuable insights into planetary evolution and climate dynamics.

🌕 Chandrayaan-4: Following the success of Chandrayaan-3, the Indian government has approved the Chandrayaan-4 mission. This innovative lunar exploration initiative will further India’s capabilities in space exploration and contribute to our understanding of the Moon.

���‍🚀 Axiom Space Ax-4 Mission: ISRO is also preparing for the Axiom Space Ax-4 mission, which will see the first Indian astronaut in 40 years. Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is undergoing intensive training in the US to handle emergencies during the mission.

Stay tuned for more updates as these missions progress and bring us closer to unraveling the mysteries of our universe! #SpaceExploration #NASA #ISRO #NISAR #VenusMission #Chandrayaan4 #AxiomSpace

[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…

[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.