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Meet Rajiv Jain, The Asset Management Billionaire Backing The Embattled Adani Group

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The founder of Fort Lauderdale-based GQG Partners is known for making large investments in old-school industries like oil and tobacco. His latest bet—on the ports-to-power conglomerate Adani Group—might be his most daring yet.

On Thursday, Indian billionaire Gautam Adani finally got some good news. After weeks of cratering share prices in the publicly traded firms in his Adani Group conglomerate—largely caused by the release of U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research’s scathing report on January 24—the group announced a $1.9 billion investment in four of its public companies. The deal led to a stock rally that boosted Gautam Adani’s net worth by $3.8 billion to $42.7 billion on Friday, yet still a long way from his peak of $158 billion last September.

The man behind that deal is Rajiv Jain, the founder, chairman and chief investment officer of Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based asset management firm GQG Partners. Like Adani, he’s also a billionaire. According to GQG’s filings on the Australian Stock Exchange, where it went public in October 2021, Jain owns 69% of the company—a stake worth roughly $2 billion. A spokesperson for GQG did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jain founded GQG in 2016 and has grown it to $92 billion in assets under management, with several funds that hold large positions in oil producers ExxonMobil and Petrobras, as well as tobacco giants Philip Morris and British American Tobacco. If it weren’t for the recent market rout in Adani Group companies, his bet on a ports-to-power conglomerate wouldn’t seem out of place among the other firms that GQG typically invests in.

GQG purchased stakes in four Adani companies: Adani Ports, Adani Green Energy, Adani Transmission and Adani Enterprises, according to a statement from Adani Group. All four stocks rallied on Friday after the deal was announced, with the flagship Adani Enterprises rising 17%, a stark contrast from weeks of stock price declines driven by the Hindenburg report. Jain’s firm invested in the Adani companies on behalf of various pension funds and institutional clients, including nearly $480 million through its Goldman Sachs GQG Partners International Opportunities Fund, a $25 billion (assets under management) fund that GQG manages on behalf of Goldman Sachs’ asset management arm

“I am excited to have initiated positions in the Adani companies. Adani companies own and operate some of the largest and most important infrastructure assets throughout India and around the world,” Jain said in a statement announcing the deal. “Gautam Adani is widely regarded as among the best entrepreneurs of his generation.”

On Wednesday, India’s supreme court asked the country’s stock market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), to open an investigation into the Adani Group to look into allegations of stock manipulation and failures to disclose transactions with related parties. Forbes previously reported on several transactions involving offshore funds in Singapore and Cyprus with ties to Vinod Adani, Gautam’s elder brother, that appear designed to benefit the Adani Group and lend further credence to Hindenburg’s allegations of hidden leverage and accounting irregularities within the Adani Group.

The Adani Group has denied all wrongdoing. “The Adani Group welcomes the order of the honorable Supreme Court,” Gautam Adani said in a tweet on Thursday. “It will bring finality in a time bound manner. Truth will prevail.”

MORE FROM FORBESExclusive: New Investigation Reveals Gautam Adani’s Older Brother As Key Player In Adani Group’s Biggest DealsBy Giacomo Tognini

Born in India, Jain studied accounting at the University of Ajmer in the Indian state of Rajasthan, getting a master’s degree in the same field before leaving to pursue an M.B.A. in finance and international business at the University of Miami. He then worked as an international equity analyst at Swiss Bank Corporation before leaving to join Swiss asset manager Vontobel in November 1994, as a co-portfolio manager of emerging markets and international equities. Several promotions later, he became Vontobel’s chief investment officer in 2002 and was later tapped as co-CEO in 2014. During his time at Vontobel, he helped grow the firm’s assets under management from less than $400 million to nearly $50 billion.

Two years later, he left Vontobel to start GQG Partners in Florida. At GQG, he’s become known for focusing on companies’ earnings rather than following the hottest trends in the market—a fact borne out by his funds’ large positions in energy, mining, tobacco, consumer goods, healthcare and banking. (The only tech company Forbes identified in GQG’s fund disclosures was Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC.)

“We believe earnings drive stock prices, the market offers very limited opportunities to create an information advantage, and investors are disproportionately focused on the short term,” Jain said in a July 2022 interview with Toronto-based Bridgehouse Asset Managers. “Our core valuation philosophy creates an investment style that we describe as buying high-quality, sustainable businesses at reasonable prices.”

With GQG’s $1.9 billion investment, Jain has wagered that despite Hindenburg’s allegations of stock manipulation and accounting fraud—which the Adani Group has denied—the Adani firms are a good bet, at a far lower price than their peak last year. “We believe that the long-term growth prospects for [the Adani] companies are substantial,” Jain added in the deal announcement.

Besides its bet on the Adani Group, GQG also invests in several other Indian companies: 22% of its $9.9 billion emerging markets equity fund is invested in Indian companies. Those include Mukesh Ambani‘s Reliance conglomerate and the State Bank of India, as well as housing finance provider Housing Development Finance Corp, ICICI Bank and Kolkata-based conglomerate ITC. And at least five GQG funds hold positions in French energy major TotalEnergies, which owns a 37.4% stake in Adani Total Gas and a 20% stake in Adani Green Energy—which, as Forbes previously reported, was acquired from Mauritius-based firms controlled by Vinod Adani for $2 billion in 2021. (The price rally spurred by GQG’s investment in the Adani companies lifted Vinod’s estimated net worth by 12% to roughly $9 billion.)

Outside of his investments, Jain has also backed Democrats in the U.S. Forbes found that Jain contributed $81,600 to Democratic presidential and congressional candidates between 2012 and 2016, according to Federal Election Commission records. In the 2016 primaries, Jain decided to hedge his bets: he donated $2,700 to Hillary Clinton and $1,000 to Bernie Sanders.

MORE FROM FORBESInside The Offshore Empire Helmed By Gautam Adani’s Older BrotherBy John Hyatt

Additional reporting by John Hyatt.



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Exclusive: New Investigation Reveals Gautam Adani’s Older Brother As Key Player In Adani Group’s Biggest Deals

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Vinod Adani was at the heart of two massive Adani Group deals with French energy giant TotalEnergies, according to Indian filings. Forbes also found that Vinod is nearly five times richer than previously known.

By Giacomo Tognini and John Hyatt, Forbes Staff

In early 2021, Gautam Adani scored a big win. Adani Green Energy, one of eight publicly traded firms controlled by his Adani Group conglomerate, agreed to sell a 20% stake to French oil firm TotalEnergies. “We have a shared vision of developing renewable power at affordable prices,” said Adani at the time.

The deal was also a coup for TotalEnergies, now the world’s fifth-largest energy company by market capitalization. It paid $2 billion for Adani Green Energy shares that, on India’s stock exchange, were worth about $4.1 billion. As part of the deal, TotalEnergies also spent $510 million on a joint solar venture with the Adani Group.

“It’s a win-win situation for both companies,” says Haran Segram, an adjunct finance professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business and Columbia Business School. In return for a “bargain” priced slice of Adani Green, TotalEnergies improved the Adani Group’s standing with foreign investors. “A European multinational oil company investing gives a lot of credibility for Adani Group,” says Segram.

Beyond being a good deal, the transaction was unique for another reason: its unconventional structuring. Rather than directly buying the shares, TotalEnergies acquired two Mauritius-incorporated funds (which held the stock) from a third Mauritius entity, Dome Trade and Investment Limited, according to Indian financial filings.

It turns out that Dome Trade’s ultimate owner—through a web of entities in Mauritius, the United Arab Emirates and the British Virgin Islands—is Vinod Adani, Gautam’s older brother, whose offshore entanglements with the Adani Group Forbes unraveled earlier this month. While 60-year-old Gautam is the Adani Group’s public face, it’s Vinod and his offshore companies that are facilitating some of the family conglomerate’s biggest deals, including two transactions with TotalEnergies, the company’s largest European partner—and, at least until recently, one that helped give the Adani Group credibility with Western financial institutions and investors.

In its bombshell 100-page report last month, U.S. short seller Hindenburg Research alleged that 74-year-old Vinod, who holds no formal position within the Adani Group, is a central figure in the company’s alleged accounting fraud and stock market manipulation. The Adani Group has denied all wrongdoing. The company and Vinod Adani did not respond to a request for comment. The company insists in a 413-page response to Hindenburg Research that Vinod “has no role in [the] day to day affairs” of the Adani Group’s businesses.

MORE FROM FORBESInside The Offshore Empire Helmed By Gautam Adani’s Older BrotherBy John Hyatt

By April 2022, TotalEnergies’ $2 billion investment in Adani Green Energy had ballooned to over $11 billion in value as the share price soared. But now, the French company is sitting on a loss. Its shares are worth just $1.7 billion—down from $7.3 billion at the start of the year—due to the Hindenburg-driven rout in Adani Group shares.

One reason the Adani Group and Vinod may have wanted to sell TotalEnergies their Mauritius-based funds, rather than the Adani Green Energy shares themselves, was to minimize taxes, says Aswath Damodaran, a professor of finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business. In Mauritius, where there are no capital gains taxes, Indian nationals and companies have long parked assets as a way to “wash their capital gains and not have to pay taxes,” says Damodaran.

The structure of the deal also suggests tax benefits for TotalEnergies. Absent tax benefits, “It doesn’t make sense for [Total] as a company,” says Damodaran. “It creates a layer between [them] and [their] holding.”

Another possibility, says Mark Humphery-Jenner, an associate professor of finance at University of New South Wales Business School, is that both parties were wary of crashing Adani Green’s share price, given its low float. “The Mauritius funds—and Vinod Adani—might have wanted to exit but realized that if they sold in the open market, they would collapse Adani Green’s price. Therefore, a block trade via TotalEnergies would be a better option for Adani Green, and Vinod Adani,” says Humphery-Jenner.

A spokesperson for TotalEnergies told Forbes that “the purchase price of $2 billion (as disclosed in the public domain) was a reflection of the historical average share price of [Adani Green Energy] at the time of the negotiation and the fact that TotalEnergies was acquiring a non-controlling interest” and that “these transactions were negotiated between both TotalEnergies’ and Adani’s M&A and management teams.”

“We welcome the independent assessment that is being organized and we look forward to its results as well as the conclusions of investigations of the relevant Indian authorities,” the TotalEnergies spokesperson added.

Forbes found that the price that TotalEnergies paid for the Adani Green Energy shares on January 21, 2021—the day the deal closed—was 8% lower than the average price of the shares over the previous year and 62% lower than the average over the previous six months.

Vinod was also involved in the Adani Group’s first deal with TotalEnergies. The French group agreed to buy a 37.4% stake in publicly traded natural gas firm Adani Gas in October 2019. The deal closed in February 2020, with TotalEnergies paying $714 million, or $50 million less than the open market valued them at the time. Unlike the Adani Green Energy deal, TotalEnergies bought those shares directly from six different Adani-controlled entities, according to Adani Gas’ 2020 annual report. Four of those were Mauritius-based funds owned by Vinod; the others were an Indian company, owned by Vinod, Gautam and their brother Rajesh, and a trust, of which the three brothers are beneficiaries and trustees. It has also been a much better investment than Adani Green Energy: that stake is up five-fold, now worth $3.6 billion.

In a third deal, TotalEnergies bought a 25% stake in Adani New Industries Ltd.—a green hydrogen subsidiary of the conglomerate’s flagship Adani Enterprises—for an undisclosed sum last summer. Vinod’s involvement in that deal could not be confirmed, although he is a significant shareholder in Adani Enterprises. The deal “further strengthens our alliance with the Adani Group in India,” Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, said at the time. That project was put on ice following Hindenburg’s report: “Obviously, the hydrogen project, which was discussed, will be put on hold as long as we don’t have clarity,” Pouyanné said in a February 8 earnings call.

Vinod also participated in the Adani Group’s $6.5 billion acquisition of Swiss firm Holcim’s stakes in Indian cement producers Ambuja Cements and ACC last September. His Mauritius-based company Endeavor Trade and Investment Limited purchased a 63% stake in Ambuja and 57% stake in ACC. A month later, in October, Vinod used another Mauritius entity he controls—Harmonia Trade and Investment Limited—to inject some $600 million into Ambuja by purchasing warrants that convert to shares. According to the filing, Harmonia will have to pay another $1.8 billion to Ambuja when it converts those warrants to shares, which would then give Harmonia a 19.4% stake in Ambuja—bringing Vinod’s overall stake in the cement maker to 70.3%.

Given these revelations, Vinod is much wealthier than previously thought. Forbes found that he owns eight Mauritius-based firms that hold $12.3 billion of shares in Adani Group companies, plus Ambuja and ACC. Accounting for pledged shares plus the cost to buy the cement companies, Forbes estimates that Vinod is worth at least $6 billion, up from our previous estimate of $1.3 billion published less than two weeks ago. Forbes previously attributed the value of those shares to Gautam; his revised net worth is now $33.4 billion—a sharp fall from his peak of $158 billion last September, when he was the world’s third-richest person. (As of Monday evening New York time, Gautam was the world’s 38th richest, per Forbes.)

It’s likely that Vinod holds even more shares in Adani companies through opaque entities he co-owns with his brothers. The largest shareholder in the Adani Group’s publicly traded companies is the S.B. Adani Family Trust, which Forbes attributes to Gautam. But Indian financial filings show that Vinod and three other Adani brothers—Rajesh, Mahasukh and Vasant—are also beneficiaries of the trust alongside Gautam, with Gautam, Rajesh and Vinod acting as trustees. There are another two companies—Adani Trading Services LLP and Adani Tradeline Private Limited—that also own shares in public Adani firms, which Forbes attributes to Gautam. According to Indian stock exchange filings, however, Gautam shares ownership of the two entities with Vinod and Rajesh. (The exact ownership breakdown of the S.B. Family Trust, Adani Trading Services and Adani Tradeline remains unclear.)

Vinod also has a private real estate empire in Dubai, where he’s lived since 1994. According to Dubai property records, Vinod owns 37 residential and commercial properties worth an estimated $17 million in the emirate, including a 2,700-square-foot villa in the Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world. The data, which dates from 2020, was obtained by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that researches international crime and conflict. It was then shared with Norwegian financial outlet E24, which coordinated an investigation into the real estate.

The Dubai records also show that Vinod holds an Indian passport issued in 2013 and expiring in 2026—a detail that seemingly contradicts Adani public filings describing him as a citizen of Cyprus, since India doesn’t allow dual citizenship. A spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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India is becoming a hot market for investors, but it risks falling victim to its own success

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India is poised to become the world’s most important country in the medium term. It has the world’s largest population (which is still growing), and with a per capita GDP that is just one-quarter that of China’s, its economy has enormous scope for productivity gains.

Moreover, India’s military and geopolitical importance will only grow. It is a vibrant democracy whose cultural diversity will generate soft power to rival the United States and the United Kingdom.

One must credit Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for implementing policies that have modernized India and supported its growth. Specifically, Modi has made massive investments in the single market (including through de-monetization and a major tax reform) and infrastructure (not just roads, electricity, education, and sanitation, but also digital capacity). These investments – together with industrial policies to accelerate manufacturing, a comparative advantage in tech and IT, and a customized digital-based welfare system – have led to robust economic performance following the COVID-19 slump.

These investments — together with industrial policies to accelerate manufacturing, a comparative advantage in tech and IT, and a customized digital-based welfare system — have led to robust economic performance following the COVID-19 slump.

Yet the model that has driven India’s growth now threatens to constrain it. The main risks to India’s development prospects are more micro and structural than macro or cyclical. First, India has moved to an economic model where a few “national champions” — effectively large private oligopolistic conglomerates — control significant parts of the old economy. This resembles Indonesia under Suharto (1967-98), China under Hu Jintao (2002-12), or South Korea in the 1990s under its dominant chaebols.

In some ways, this concentration of economic power has served India well. Owing to superior financial management, the economy has grown fast, despite investment rates (as a share of GDP) that were much lower than China’s. The implication is that India’s investments have been much more efficient; indeed, many of India’s conglomerates boast world-class levels of productivity and competitiveness.

But the dark side of this system is that these conglomerates have been able to capture policymaking to benefit themselves. This has had two broad, harmful effects: it is stifling innovation and effectively killing early-stage startups and domestic entrants in key industries; and it is changing the government’s “Make in India” program into a counterproductive, protectionist scheme.

We may now be seeing these effects reflected in India’s potential growth, which seems to have declined rather than accelerated recently. Just as the Asian Tigers did well in the 1980s and 1990s with a growth model based on gross exports of manufactured goods, India has done the same with exports of tech services. Make in India was intended to strengthen the economy’s tradable side by fostering the production of goods for export, not just for the Indian market.

Instead, India is moving toward more protectionist import-substitution and domestic production subsidization (with nationalistic overtones), both of which insulate domestic industries and conglomerates from global competition. Its tariff policies are preventing it from becoming more competitive in goods exports, and its resistance to joining regional trade agreements is hampering its full integration into global value and supply chains.

“ India should be focusing on industries where it has a comparative advantage, such as tech and IT, artificial intelligence, business services, and fintech. ”

Another problem is that Make in India has evolved to support production in labor-intensive industries such as cars, tractors, locomotives, trains, and so forth. While the labor intensity of production is an important factor in any labor-abundant country, India should be focusing on industries where it has a comparative advantage, such as tech and IT, artificial intelligence, business services, and fintech. It needs fewer scooters, and more Internet of Things startups. Like many of the other successful Asian economies, policymakers should nurture these dynamic sectors by establishing special economic zones. Absent such changes, Make in India will continue to produce suboptimal results.

“ The recent saga surrounding the Adani Group is symptomatic of a trend that will eventually hurt India’s growth. ”

Finally, the recent saga surrounding the Adani Group
512599,
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is symptomatic of a trend that will eventually hurt India’s growth. It is possible that Adani’s rapid growth was enabled by a system in which the government tends to favor certain large conglomerates and the latter benefit from such closeness while supporting policy goals.

Again, Modi’s policies have deservedly made him one of the most popular political leaders at home and in the world today. He and his advisers are not personally corrupt, and their Bharatiya Janata Party will justifiably win re-election in 2024 regardless of this scandal. But the optics of the Adani story are concerning.

There is a perception that the Adani Group may be, in part, helping to support the state political machinery and finance state and local projects that would otherwise go unfunded, given local fiscal and technocratic constraints. In this sense, the system may be akin to “pork barrel” politics in the US, where certain local projects get earmarked in a legal (if not entirely transparent) congressional vote-buying process.

Supposing that this interpretation is even partly correct, Indian authorities might reply that the system is “necessary” to accelerate infrastructure spending and economic development. Even so, this practice would be toxic, and it would represent a wholly different flavor of realpolitik compared to, say, India’s vast purchases of Russian oil since the start of the Ukraine War.

While those shipments still account for less than one-third of India’s total energy purchases, they have come at a significant discount. Given per capita GDP of around $2,500, it is understandable that India would avail itself of lower-cost energy. Complaints by Western countries that are 20 times richer are simply not credible.

The scandal surrounding the Adani empire does not seem to extend beyond the conglomerate itself, but the case does have macro implications for India’s institutional robustness and global investors’ perceptions of India. The Asian financial crisis of the 1990s demonstrated that, over time, the partial capture of economic policy by crony capitalist conglomerates will hurt productivity growth by hampering competition, inhibiting Schumpeterian “creative destruction,” and increasing inequality.

It is thus in Modi’s long-term interest to ensure that India does not go down this path. India’s long-term success ultimately depends on whether it can foster and sustain a growth model that is competitive, dynamic, sustainable, inclusive, and fair.

Nouriel Roubini, professor emeritus of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business, is chief economist at Atlas Capital Team and the author of “Megathreats: Ten Dangerous Trends That Imperil Our Future, and How to Survive Them” (Little, Brown and Company, 2022).

This commentary was published with permission of Project Syndicate —
India at a Crossroads

More: This perfect storm of megathreats is even more dangerous than the 1970s or the 1930s.

Also read: Freeing the U.S. economy from China will create an American industrial renaissance and millions of good-paying jobs

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When a box of family treasures landed on her desk, Megan uncovered the lost history of Indo-Australian cricket

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It’s a familiar lament of the touring fast bowler in India: “I don’t mind telling you that when we reached Indore things were getting somewhat desperate,” he says. 

“With so many players unfit, and others nervy/jaded and ill-tempered, I was a bit afraid that the happy relationship that had existed was coming to a ‘sticky’ end.”

The words belong not to the current Australian captain Pat Cummins, whose embattled squad faces another daunting task this week in Indore, but Queenslander Ron Oxenham, writing as a member of the path-finding first Australian team to visit India in 1935-36.

For decades, little was known of the tour — not officially sanctioned by Cricket Australia’s forebears on the Australian Board of Control (whose most important players were forbidden from accepting a GBP 300 touring fee) and decried by the press: “The Has Beens and the Never Will Bes” was The Age’s summary of the rag-tag squad assembled by cricket impresario Frank Tarrant and his wealthy Indian benefactor Bhupinder Singh, the Maharajah of Patiala.

Frank Tarrant and his cricketing patron, the Maharaja of Patiala, could rely on runners when they batted together in one of the lighter-hearted games at the end of the tour.(Supplied: Maharajah of Pataila)

That put-down is now the title of a book, 10 years in the making and subtitled ‘A Boy’s Own Adventure of Australian Cricket and the Raj’, by photographer-historian Megan Ponsford, granddaughter of cricket legend Bill Ponsford. 

For years, Ponsford had been asked whether she’d write a book about humble genius Bill, but it was another family tie and a chance discovery that set her on 10 years of research. 

In 2005, a cardboard box was plonked on Ponsford’s desk at the Melbourne Cricket Club by a sheepish committee member. It was a trove of sporting relics donated decades earlier by Tom Leather, Ponsford’s unassuming great-uncle. 

Ponsford knew that Leather had played league football, but she was stunned by what the items revealed: Leather had also been a star all-rounder in the first Australian cricket squad to tour India, something he’d never even mentioned at family events.

“The story was instantly captivating,” Ponsford says.

“As a photographer, I was initially impressed by the ephemera — dinner menus, scorecards, letters and photographs — but it soon became apparent that it was a story not just about cricket and the more I delved, the more fascinating it became.” 

She was off and away on what proved an equally epic journey — a decade of travel, research and interviews to uncover the story of great-uncle Tom and his trailblazing cricket teammates.

‘Shunned by the Australian cricket authorities and the public’

Megan Ponsford (centre) stands with Marnus Labuschagne (left) and Steve Smith (right)
Almost 90 years on from the cricket tour that has consumed her professional life, historian Megan Ponsford has been following the current Australian tour of India, pictured here with batting stars Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith.(Supplied: Megan Ponsford)

Currently in India to speak about the treasure trove of forgotten history she has assembled — members of Australia’s current squad learned about Leather and co during a recent event at the Australian High Commission in Delhi — Ponsford says cricket enthusiasts are slowly beginning to understand Frank Tarrant’s cricketing prophecy.

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India Links Showpiece Instant Payments System UPI To Singapore, Making Cross-Border Remittances Easier

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India’s digital payments revolution notched up another win earlier this week as the country’s UPI, or United Payments Interface, was linked to Singapore’s PayNow, adding another nation to the digital network and making sending cash home a breeze for the thousands of Indians working in the city-state.

The cross-border integration between UPI and PayNow was completed Tuesday, allowing citizens in both countries to make faster digital transfers, and at a much lower cost than existing services. “The UPI-PayNow linkup will help facilitate immediate transfers that will help send money to my parents in India and I will not have to rely on third-party apps for the same,” said Kajal Verma, Associate Director of Strategy, APAC, at French advertising and PR company Publicis Groupe.

Verma moved to Singapore last year and has been using wire transfers and other services, which are painfully slow by today’s standards — taking two days or more for the money to reflect in her parents’ bank accounts in India.

India is one of the top providers of tech talent to Singapore, which has seen rapid growth in digital economy and finance, and the proportion of Indian nationals in the island nation’s foreign workforce has risen to 26% in 2020, compared to 13% in 2005.

Fintech expert Kamalika Poddar, from the southern Indian city of Chennai, told International Business Times, “Now we have an instantaneous, inexpensive mode of transferring funds, provided the other side uses either UPI or PayNow. We’re removing middlemen in the process, and making it faster, secure, and cheaper.”

Millions of Indians, like Verma, live and work abroad, forming a large chunk of the global mobile workforce that provides elbow grease to the economies of several countries. India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said last month that overseas remittances sent by these Indians were about $100 billion last year, up 12% from the previous year, making India the world’s largest recipient of such foreign remittances.

Following the PayNow linkup, the service was made available to customers of DBS Bank and Liquid Group. Participating Indian banks for receiving remittances through the UPI-PayNow linkup include Axis Bank, DBS Bank India, ICICI Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and the State Bank of India.

Several countries are already part of the UPI network, through payment facilitator partnerships, including Nepal, Malaysia, Thailand, Bhutan, the United Kingdom, the UAE and some European countries including France.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government realized early that making it easier for these workers to send money home was very important not just for the country’s economy but also to encourage cross-border mobility in a nation of more than a billion people, which would otherwise find it tough to create enough jobs to go around. UPI, part of a clutch of other digital initiatives, has worked out well to that end.

Modi, facing national elections next year and has made development the main plank of his Bharatiya Janata Party’s power ambitions, spoke of the benefits during the linkage to PayNow, “This will especially benefit our diaspora, professionals, students, and their families.”

Cross-border cash transfer made affordable, simple and convenient

UPI, facilitated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), allows inter-bank transactions through mobile applications for free. It has become ubiquitous in India, replacing cash and card transactions for almost everything from groceries to rental payments. Its vast network now includes 325 banks compared to 60 banks that help merchants accept payments through credit and debit cards and bank transfers.

The remarkably simple concept — all you need is a mobile number and a bank account linked to it via the UPI interface — behind the facility has already helped heavily reduce cash transactions in India. The cash can also be transferred instantly from one participating bank or e-wallet account to another with the help of a QR code, or Virtual Payment Address (VPA). PayNow is a similar peer-to-peer funds transfer service.

In India, various third-party apps such as Google‘s GPay, Paytm, and AmazonPay, support UPI transactions. The NPCI also has its own app, called BHIM.

It was launched in April 2016 and saw massive adoption in India when the Modi government banned currency notes of certain denominations — a controversial step whose real impact on the economy is still being debated — vastly reducing the availability of cash.

Digital payments rose to 30.19% of financial transactions in India in 2021, and more than half, 51%, of these were UPI transactions in the 2020-21 period.

“Until a few years ago, I used to keep at least some loose change with me,” said Varun George, a tech worker in the southern port city of Kochi. “Now, all my money transactions are completely digital. No one uses cash anymore. And I like it that way. We need not carry our fat wallets everywhere.”

Modi pointed out that UPI is the most preferred payment mechanism in India, adding “many experts are estimating that digital wallet transactions are going to soon overtake cash transactions (in India).”

UPI has helped India become a global leader by volume in real-time payments among businesses around the world, according to an industry report; 40% of all such payments made through 2021 originated in the country. India’s fintech industry’s total transaction value in the digital payments segment is projected to be $160.60 billion this year, according to a Statista report.

NPCI CEO Dilip Asbe told the IMF last year: “A system like UPI cannot come into any country unless the central bank and the government of that country are keen to bring in such an innovation, which democratizes the payment system to the smallest value and the most reasonable cost. UPI is nearly free today for consumers in India, and the government is providing incentives for the promotion of UPI merchant payments.”

Ajinkya Kulkarni, CEO of WintWealth.com, a platform that facilitates investments in digital assets through their mobile app, told IBT that cross-border transactions through UPI will revolutionize payments the same way communication has been transformed following the introduction of Skype/Whatsapp calling.

“Previously, it took at least a day or two to transfer funds from India to Singapore. With UPI, the time has been reduced to mere minutes,” said Kulkarni. “This is just the start of affordable, simple, and convenient foreign transfers. There’s a lot more to come.”

He added, “The UPI-PayNow linkage is a welcome move. Hoping to see more countries join in on this amazing technology that India has built.”

UPI reached its first billion transactions in October 2019. The following year saw two billion payments being processed and it has been on an upward trajectory since. A staggering 74 billion transactions worth 125.94 trillion Indian rupees (about $1.5 billion) were made through UPI in last year, up 64% from a year ago, according to NPCI’s data. The service remains free, adding to its lure compared to other options like card and bank transfers.

UPI for G-20 travelers

The news on UPI’s linkup with PayNow has come at a strategic time for India. New Delhi will host the G-20 summit, a grouping of the world’s largest economies, in September. The Indian government has extended the use of UPI to travelers from the G20 member nations, helping showcase India’s position as a global leader in digital payments at a time the world economy is in transition and there is an erosion of the West’s economic and political power.

Travelers arriving at Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi airports will be issued Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) wallets linked to UPI, with necessary operational instructions. This will enable them to make UPI payments to over 50 million merchant accounts across the country that accept QR Code-based UPI payments. Currently ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank, and two non-bank issuers – Pine Labs and Transcorp International — will issue these UPI-linked wallets, BFSI.com reported.

India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, has plans to make UPI service available to all international travelers arriving in the country in the future.

UPI is already available to non-residential Indians holding NRE or NRO accounts linked to their mobile numbers.

But while the service theoretically makes it easier, and cheaper, to transfer money across borders, some questions remain. Sitharaman has raised the tax collection at source for outward remittances from India to 20%, from 5%, starting July 1, except for education and medical purposes.

Poddar expressed concern at the implications of this move: “The honorable finance minister in her latest budget made it a lot harder and expensive for outward remittances. In that case, will we still adopt (UPI for outward remittances), she asked.

Google teams up with PayPal for Android Pay purchases. Google/PayPal

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Morning Digest | U.K. government defends BBC over India I-T raids; attempt on to shape an extremist idea of India and PM Modi, says EAM Jaishankar, and more

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Members of the media report from outside the office building where Indian tax authorities raided BBC‘s office in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Questioned on I-T survey, U.K. government strongly defends the BBC

The U.K. government was questioned by MPs in the House of Commons on its response to the income tax (IT) raids on BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai last week. Tory MP David Rutley, who is the Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), took questions on the raid and freedom of expression in India.

Ahead of UNGA resolution on Russia, France lobbies New Delhi for vote

France is in talks to convince India to shift its position on the Russian war in Ukraine a year into the conflict, urging the Narendra Modi-led government to vote for a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution due to be tabled this week that will call for a cessation of hostilities, according to diplomatic sources.

Attempt on to shape an extremist idea of India, PM: Jaishankar

The recent spate of criticism of the Modi government in the Western media and civil society, which included a two-part documentary by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on the 2002 Gujarat riots and Narendra Modi’s tenure as Prime Minister, is “politics by other means”, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Tuesday.

Coal India records 31% decline in fatalities in 2022 compared to previous year

Coal India Limited (CIL) recorded 20 fatalities in the year 2022, observing a decline 31% than the previous year. The number of fatalities recorded in the State-owned miner in the year 2021 was 29. According to the CIL, the fatality rate per million tonne (MT) of coal produced was 0.028 in 2022 decreasing sizeably by 40% against 0.047 of 2021.

India, Singapore launch UPI-PayNow linkage

India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Singapore’s PayNow were officially connected on Tuesday, to allow for a “real-time payment linkage”. The virtual launch was led by a phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong.

Confusion prevails over bike taxi services after government’s order

Confusion prevailed on Tuesday over the Delhi government’s notice against the operations of bike taxis in the city, with various aggregator platforms stating that the companies had not received any official communication from the authorities. Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), a body of several digital and app-based companies, on Tuesday requested the government to provide clarity on the matter and engage with all stakeholders before taking a coercive decision.

Uddhav questions Maharashtra Governor’s decision to swear in Shinde as CM when disqualification proceedings were pending

Former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray said in the Supreme Court that the State’s Governor had sworn in Eknath Shinde as Chief Minister fully knowing that he was facing disqualification proceedings under the anti-defection law.

NIA conducts searches to investigate nexus between gangsters, terrorists

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) searched 76 locations in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Delhi to “dismantle the nexus between terrorists, gangsters, drug smugglers and traffickers based in India and abroad”. The agency said it had registered three separate cases since August 2022 to probe the nexus.

Russia suspends only remaining major nuclear treaty with U.S.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Tuesday that Moscow was suspending its participation in the New START treaty — the last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the United States — sharply upping the ante amid tensions with Washington over the fighting in Ukraine.

Ahead of UNGA resolution on Russia, France lobbies New Delhi for vote

France is in talks to convince India to shift its position on the Russian war in Ukraine a year into the conflict, urging the Narendra Modi-led government to vote for a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution due to be tabled this week that will call for a cessation of hostilities, according to diplomatic sources. Thus far, New Delhi has refused to vote for any resolution that is critical of the war, either at the UNGA or at the UN Security Council when India was a member last year.

‘India should invest ₹33,750 cr. to achieve its lithium-ion battery production target’

India needs investments to the tune of ₹33,750 crore to achieve the government PLI target of setting up 50GWh of lithium-ion cell and battery manufacturing plants, according to an independent study released by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). The country required up to 903GWh of energy storage to decarbonise its mobility and power sectors by 2030, and lithium-ion batteries would meet the majority of this demand, it said.

Wreckage of missing plane confirmed on Philippine volcano

The wreckage of a small plane carrying two Filipino pilots and two Australian passengers was identified Tuesday on one of the Philippines’ most active volcanoes, officials said. An aerial search found no sign of those aboard the Cessna 340, which crashed into a gully on the slope of Mayon volcano in Albay province, where it went missing after taking off Saturday enroute to Manila, aviation officials said.

Japan bids teary farewell to pandas sent to reserve in China

Japanese panda fans bid teary farewells to their idols Xiang Xiang, “super papa” Eimei and his twin daughters who were sent to China on February 21 to swap their home at the zoo for a protected facility in Sichuan province.

WTA Dubai Duty Free championship | Sania Mirza ends career with first round defeat

A fairytale ending was not there but Sania Mirza bows out of international tennis after achieving unprecedented success and setting high benchmark for the next generation. Sania and her American partner Madison Keys lost 4-6 0-6 to the formidable Russian pair of Vernokia Kudermetova and Liudmila Samsonova in exactly one hour at the WTA Dubai event.

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India vs Ireland, Women’s T20 World Cup Highlights: India Beat Ireland By 5 Runs (DLS), Enter Semis | Cricket News

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India vs Ireland Live,T20 World Cup: India captain Harmanpreet Kaur (right) with Smriti Mandhana.© AFP




India vs Ireland, Women’s T20 World Cup Highlights: India entered the Women’s T20 World Cup semifinals after beating Ireland by five runs (DLS). Rain stopped play with India ahead on DLS method against Ireland. With 59 being the par score after 8.2 overs, Ireland are currently 54 for the loss of two wickets. Ireland steadied their innings after Amy Hunter was run out while Renuka Singh made short work of Orla Prendergast. Smriti Mandhana was the top performer for India with a 56-ball-87 as India register 155/6 against Ireland in their Group B encounter. Mandhana stitched together a 50-run partnership with Shafali Verma and although wickets fell in a heap at one point, she continued to play confidently. Jemimah Rodrigues ended the innings well with a hard-fought 19. For Ireland, Laura Delany took three wickets while Prendergast took two. (HIGHLIGHTS)

Here are the Highlights of the women’s T20 World Cup Match between India and Ireland straight from St George’s Park, Gqeberha







  • 21:51 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: INDIA ENTER SEMIS!

    Match abandoned and India are in the semis! India beat Ireland by five runs (DLS) and they are expected to face Australia in the knockout stage.

  • 21:23 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: WEATHER UPDATE!

    Rain got heavier but there is some sunshine right now and there is hope that play can resume in some time.

  • 20:54 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: RAIN STOPS PLAY!

    Rain has stopped play and Ireland are 54 for the loss of two wickets after 8.2 overs. The DLS par score is 59 and India will be more than happy with the stoppage in play.

  • 20:45 (IST)

    IND vs IRE: INDIA IN HUNT FOR WICKETS!

    Ireland have fought back brilliantly to reach 48/2 after 7 overs. The Indian spinners have bowled a tight length but the wickets are not coming at the moment. India need a moment of magic!

  • 20:35 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: IRELAND FIGHT BACK!

    5 overs gone and India are 33 for the loss of two wickets. Ireland have fought back well after losing two wickets early in the match and the run rate has grown considerably thanks to Delany and Lewis.

  • 20:28 (IST)

    IND vs IRE: NEAR PERFECT START!

    This has been perfection from India who are maintaining a proper line against the Ireland batters and the early wickets have made it difficult for Ireland to play big shots at the moment. 3.3 overs gone. Ireland are 19 for the loss of two wickets.

  • 20:23 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: INDIA STRIKE EARLY!

    Renuka Singh continues her brilliant run of form as she took a wicket in the very first over of the Ireland innings. Amy Hunter was run out while Renuka made short work of Orla
    Prendergast. Ireland 14/2 after 2.3 overs.

  • 20:05 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: INDIA FINISH AT 155/6!

    A good finish by Jemimah Rodrigues and India are 155/6 in 20 overs.

    Smriti Mandhana was the top performer for India with a 56-ball-87 as India register 155/6 against Ireland in their Group B encounter. Mandhana stitched together a 50-run partnership with Shafali Verma and although wickets fell in a heap at one point, she continued to play confidently. Jemimah Rodrigues ended the innings well with a hard-fought 19. For Ireland, Laura Delany took three wickets while Prendergast took two.

  • 19:57 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: PRENDERGAST STRIKES!

    Orla Prendergast strikes twice in two balls and she has taken the massive wickets of Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma. However, too little too late for Ireland as India are 145 for the loss of five wickets.

  • 19:53 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: MANDHANA NEARS TON!

    Smriti Mandhana has registered a career-best T20I score of 87 not out and she is now very close to a maiden ton. The left-hander can become the first Indian woman to score a century in all three formats of the sport! India 143/3 after 18.3 overs/

  • 19:47 (IST)

    17 overs gone and India are 126 for the loss of three wickets. Smriti Mandhana was provided another lifeline – her third of the day – as Ireland dropped yet another catch in the deep. She is batting on 75 and she will surely be looking for her maiden ton!

  • 19:43 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: HARMANPREET AND RICHA DEPART!

    It has been a bad day for Ireland but they have pulled off two massive catches to dismiss Harmanpreet Kaur and Richa Ghosh! India 115/3 after 16 overs.

  • 19:39 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: MANDHANA ON THE CHARGE!

    Another six and this is getting better for Smriti Mandhana! A massive one through the mid-wicket region and India are finally boosting their run rate. 15.4 overs gone and India are 114 for the loss of one wicket.

  • 19:34 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: FIFTY FOR MANDHANA!

    A massive six and it is fifty for Smriti Mandhana! The costliest cricketer in the WPL auction has been somewhat inconsistent off late but this half-century will be a massive boost to her confidence. India 100/1 after 14.2 overs.

  • 19:29 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: MANDHANA GOING STRONG!

    Smrtiti Mandhana slams another boundary through the cover region and she moves to 46. This has has been a good innings from the India vice-captain and they are 86 for the loss of one wicket after 13.1 overs.

  • 19:21 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: SMRITI EYES 50!

    Smriti Mandhana has been going all guns till now and the departure of Shafali Verma has not impacted her gameplay. Two boundaries for the left-hander and she is moving closer to a well-deserved fifty. India 74/1 after 11.3 overs.

  • 19:16 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: 10 OVERS GONE AND INDIA IN CONTROL!

    India 63 for the loss of one wicket after 10 overs. It has been an uneven performance from the India openers till now but Smriti Mandhana looks set and she should be looking to turn this into a big score.

  • 19:12 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: SHAFALI DEPARTS!

    First wicket goes down for India! Laura Delany dismisses Shafali Verma for 24 as Amy Hunter finished a good catch in the deep. However, Smriti Mandhana is still at the crease and India are 62/1 after 9.3 overs.

  • 19:03 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: MANDHANA LIVING DANGEROUSLY!

    Another boundary and another dropped catch – It is all happening for India! Mandhana is playing a dangerous game as she is playing lofted shots against the spinners. One of them went for a four but the second one was an easy chance but the fielder made a complete mess of it. India 53/0 after 8 overs.

  • 18:59 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: CATCH DROPPED!

    7 overs gone and Ireland are 46 for no loss. A massive chance for Ireland to get the first breakthrough but the lofted shot from Smriti Mandhana was just behind the fielder’s grasp.

  • 18:56 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: COUPLE OF BOUNDARIES!

    Ireland spinner Leah Paul is introduced into the attack and it was exactly what the Indian batters were waiting for. The ball did not spin much and both of them were able to score one boundary each in the over. India 42/0 after 6 overs.

  • 18:51 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: SLOW BUT STEADY!

    It has not been an explosive start for India but after five overs, the two openers are still out in the middle. Both Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana have looked solid and they have the perfect chance to score big. India 30/0 after 5 overs.

  • 18:46 (IST)

    IND vs IRE: MORE BOUNDARIES!

    A constant leg-stump line being maintained by Dempsey and Smriti Mandhana is not finding it difficult to score runs. A fine glance was saved at the fine-leg boundary but the next delivery went for a four through the similar region. India 27/0 after 4 overs.

  • 18:41 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: CLASSIC MANDHANA!

    The trademark off-side shots from Smriti Mandhana is here and india continue their solid start. A boundary through point and India are 16 for no loss after 3 overs.

  • 18:38 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: GOOD START FOR INDIA!

    First boundary of the innings and it is Shafali Verma with an expansive drive. Both openers have been quite comfortable against the Ireland bowlers till now and they can provide a good foundation for the rest of the batters. India 11/0 after 2 overs.

  • 18:34 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: CAUTIOUS START FOR INDIA!

    Both openers are looking to settle down before playing big shots and it was clear from the shot selection on display from Shafali Verma. India 4/0 after 1 over.

  • 18:31 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: TIME FOR THE FIRST BALL!

    The teams are out in the middle and time for the game to start. Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana start proceedings for India whole Prendergasy will be bowling the first over for Ireland.

  • 18:19 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: IRELAND PLAYING XI!

    Amy Hunter, Gaby Lewis, Orla Prendergast, Eimear Richardson,
    Louise Little, Laura Delany(c), Arlene Kelly, Mary Waldron(w), Leah Paul, Cara
    Murray, Georgina Dempsey

  • 18:12 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: INDIA PLAYING XI!

    Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues,
    Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Richa Ghosh(w), Devika Vaidya, Deepti Sharma, Pooja
    Vastrakar, Shikha Pandey, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Thakur Singh

  • 18:07 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: ONE CHANGE FOR INDIA!

    One forced change in the India playing XI as Devika Vaidya replaces Radha Yadav. 

    “We are
    going to bat first. Looks a hard and dry surface. Many of us haven’t got that
    many runs, we need to express ourselves. Devika is playing in place of Radha.
    It means a lot, I got an emotional message from my team-mates. Thanks to BCCI
    and ICC, we are able to play so many games,” Harmanpreet said.

  • 18:05 (IST)

    IND vs IRE LIVE: INDIA OPT TO BAT!

    India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has won the toss and opted to bat against Ireland in their final group match of Women’s T20 World Cup.

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India vs Australia, 2nd Test Day 2 Highlights: Nathan Lyon’s 5-Wicket Haul Helps Australia End Day 2 On High vs India | Cricket News

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2nd Test Live: India look to dominate Australia.© AFP




IND vs AUS, 2nd Test Day 2 Live Updates: Australia are one down as Ravindra Jadeja has dismissed Usman Khawaja. Travis Head has been joined by Marnus Labuschagne in the middle. Earlier, Axar Patel hit 74 runs while Virat Kohli scored 44 as India were bowled out for 262 runs against Australia in their first innings. Off-spinner Nathan Lyon claimed his 22nd five-wicket haul while Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann picked two wickets each. India had resumed at the score of 21 for 0 on Day 2. On Friday, the hosts had bundled out the guests for 263. (LIVE SCORECARD)

Here are the Live Updates of Day 2 of the 2nd Test between India and Australia from the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi







  • 16:55 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: Superb start for Australia!

    This has been a really impressive start for Australia. They are scoring over 5 runs per over. The batters are going for runs and that has been the best part of this innings so far. India need to keep a check on the scoring rate or this match will slip well away from their grip. 

  • 16:43 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: WICKET!

    Ravindra Jadeja has dismissed Usman Khawaja, but you need to give credit to Shreyas Iyer for the wicket. Khawaja tried to go for a paddle shot but Iyer at leg gully pulled off a blinder to see Australia go one down.

    AUS 263 & 23/1 (5.5)

  • 16:36 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: FOUR!

    A four from the bat of Travis Head. It didn’t come from the middle of his bat, but he is not going to mind it anyway. The southpaw had danced down the track before Ashwin bowled him onto the pads. Head flicked the ball away towards the long leg boundary.

    AUS 263 & 17/0 (4.5)

  • 16:31 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: Two fours in 3 balls!

    Travis Head has hit Mohammed Shami for two fours in three balls. This is good batting from Head. The best way to play on this surface is to keep the scoreboard ticking.

    AUS 263 & 12/0 (3.3)

  • 16:21 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: Australia’s innings underway!

    Usman Khawaja and Travis Head have started the Australian innings while Ravichandran Ashwin kick off the things for India.

  • 16:09 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: WICKET! India all out for 262!

    Matthew Kuhnemann cleans up Mohammed Shami and India are all out for 262. This means Australia take one run lead.

    IND 262 (83.3)

  • 16:04 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: WICKET!

    Axar Patel is out on his individual score of 74. India are nine down but only five runs away from taking a lead over Australia. They are 259 for 9 against the guests. 

  • 15:59 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: WICKET!

    The partnership for 8th wicket is broken! R Ashwin has been dismissed by Pat Cummins. India 253/8 after 80.2 overs against Australia (263)

  • 15:39 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: Back-to-back FOURS!

    A tad fuller from Pat Cummins outside off stump and Axar Patel has played a beautiful extra cover drive on it for a four. The second shot is equally good. It was a short ball from Cummins and Axar smashed it for a boundary on the off side.

    IND 242/7 (78.5)

  • 15:21 (IST)

    India vs Australia LIVE: Axar Patel races to fifty!

    A six from Axar Patel and that’s the third half-century in Test cricket for him. He races the landmark in 94 balls. India needed their tail to put up a good show after Nathan Lyon’s five-wicket haul razed the top and middle-order, and here is Axar Patel. A perfect all-rounder in all sense he is!

    IND 230/7 (74.5)

  • 14:57 (IST)

    India vs Australia LIVE: 200 up for India!

    A four on byes and that sees India cross the 200-run mark. They were 139 for 7 at one stage, but  R Ashwin and Axar Patel pair has kept them alive in this game. 

    IND 201/7 (68) 

  • 14:41 (IST)

    India vs Australia LIVE: 3rd session underway!

    The final session of play on Day 2 has started! R Ashwin and Axar Patel have extende their partnership to over 50 runs. India trail Australia by 71 runs.

    IND 192/7 (64.3) 

  • 14:15 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: Tea!

    That was another session that was dominated by Australia. While Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann claimed a wicket each in the session, Nathan Lyon continued his rich form and took his 5th wicket of the innings. India, who are seven down, are still 84 runs behind Australia’s first innings total.

    IND 179/7 (62)

  • 14:01 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: 4,6 – Axar Patel changes gears!

    Axar Patel hit Matthew Kuhnemann for a four before tonking the ball into the stands for a big six. The four went straight down the ground, while the six was hit to the wide of long-on fielder.

    IND 169/7 (59.2)

  • 13:52 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: India rely on Ashwin-Axar

    The ongoing partnership between R Ashwin and Axar Patel is the last batting pair for India as only Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj are the batters who will come next. The hosts would want the duo of Ashwin and Axar to stitch a big partnership so that they could get close to Australia’s total of 263.

    IND 153/7 (58)

  • 13:26 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: WICKET!

    5-wicket haul for Nathan Lyon. It is his 22nd five-for in Test cricket. Such a special bowler he is for Australia! Take him out of this game and you will find that the guests were actually reeling behind, but Lyon’s peformance has turned the tables. KS Bharat is his latest victim and with it, India are seven down.

    IND 139/7 (50.5)

  • 13:14 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: Big moment in the game!

    Virat Kohli has been given out LBW. He has reviewed it and replays suggest that the ball hit the bat and pad at the same time.  The TV umpire has concluded that it’s pad first. They go further for the ball tracking and it says that the ball would have clipped the leg stump. Kohli has to depart.

    IND 135/6 (49.3)

  • 13:03 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: WICKET!

    OUT! Here is the breakthrough Australia were eagerly waiting for. Todd Murphy has trapped Ravindra Jadeja plumb in front of stumps. Umpire is convinced but Jadeja decides to go upstairs. The ball tracker suggests that it would have hit the stumps. India lose Jadeja and a review.

    IND 125/5 (46.5)

  • 12:55 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: FOUR!

    Wow! This is a typical Virat Kohli at his very best. It was a length delivery from Todd Murphy. Kohli danced down the track and comfortably hit the ball towards the long-on boundary for a four.

    IND 124/4 (46.1)

  • 12:48 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: Kohli riding his luck!

    Virat Kohli got a thick outside edge on the bowling of Todd Murphy but the ball went through the vacant second slip region to run for a four. Pat Cummins was at first slip but the catch was well out of his reach.

    IND 116/4 (44.1)

  • 12:45 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: It was close!

    Virat Kohli had got an inside edge on the bowling of Nathan Lyon, but he was lucky that the ball passed through the gap between his legs and ran to the fine leg player. He stole a single, meanwhile. 

    IND 112/4 (43.1)

  • 12:32 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: 100 up for India!

    A single from Virat Kohli took India to 100 runs in the 40th over, before Ravindra Jadeja could hit a boundary off the last ball of the over to make it 104. The partnership between the two is now of 38 runs off 88 balls. 

    IND 104/4 (40)

  • 12:22 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: 2nd session underway!

    The second session of play has started in New Delhi. Both Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja are playing the Australian spinners quite comfortably.

  • 11:38 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: Lunch!

    It’s lunch on Day 2. What a session it has been for Australia! Nathan Lyon wreaked havoc with four wickets while India could score only 67 runs.

  • 11:27 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: Kohli, Jadeja solid at crease!

    Both Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja have played the Australian bowlers beautifully so far. The duo have added 21 runs for the fifth wicket in 46 balls. India need them to continue in the same manner to bounce back in the game.

    IND 87/4 (33)

  • 10:55 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: WICKET!

    Shreyas Iyer is gone! Nathan Lyon gets his fourth wicket. He is breathing fire at the moment. But for this wicket, he needs to give credit to Peter Handscomb for taking a superb catch at short leg. India 66/4 in 25.2 overs against Australia

  • 10:46 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: FOUR!

    Matthew Kuhnemann bowls it onto the pads of Virat Kohli and the latter brings out his trademark flick shot to score a boundary off it. Kohli’s shot went from the right of mid-wicket fielder, who had no chance to stop it. 

    IND 62/3 (23)

  • 10:36 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: WICKET!

    Out!!! Cheteshwar Pujara is gone! Nathan Lyon is making life difficult for India. The hosts are in some big trouble. They have only 54 runs on the board and have lost three crucial wickets.

    India 54/3 (19.4) vs Australia

  • 10:31 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: WICKET!

    We have a game here! Nathan Lyon is making the ball talk. He has cleaned up Rohit Sharma. 

    India 53/2 (19.2) vs Australia

  • 10:21 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: FOUR! 50 up for India!

    A sweep shot from Rohit Sharma for four. The Indian skipper has nailed it to perfection. With it, the 50 is up for the hosts. They trail Australia by 213 runs. 

    IND 50/1 (18.2)

  • 10:18 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: WICKET!

    OUT! KL Rahul is gone for his individual score of 17. Nathan Lyon provides the much-needed breakthrough to Australia. 

    IND 46/1 (17.1)

  • 10:02 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: Poor review from Australia!

    A Pat Cummins delivery hit KL Rahul on the front pad. Given the ball was caught after that, Australian players appealed in unison. Umpire was unconvinced and Cummins decided to go upstairs. The ball tracker showed that it would have bounced over the stumps. Australia lost their second review in two overs. 

    IND 43/0 (14.5)

  • 09:54 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: SIX!

    KL Rahul steps out and hits Matthew Kuhnemann for a six. This is a really good shot from the Indian opener. It came from the middle of his bat and comfortably travelled over the ropes for a six.

    IND 40/0 (13.5)

  • 09:51 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: In case you missed it

    David Warner has been ruled out of the ongoing match after suffering a concussion. Matt Renshaw has been named as his substitute. Warner was hit by a bouncer from Mohammed Siraj while batting on Day 1 and he did not take the field during India’s innings later on the day. More details HERE

  • 09:31 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: Play starts!

    Matthew Kuhnemann with the first over, Rohit Sharma is on the strike. KL Rahul is at the other end. Amid a loud cheer from the crowd at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, here we go!

  • 09:29 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: All set for the action!

    The Australian players are out to the middle of the ground. Umpires are also taking their position. Meanwhile, the duo of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul also enter the ground alongside the Australian players. It’s time for action to kick off on Day 2!

  • 09:04 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: What happened on Day 1?

    Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, Australia showed intent to fight. Usman Khawaja (81) led the way for the guests, while Peter Hanscomb (72 not out) was another star on the day for Australia. For India, Mohammed Shami returned figures of 4 for 60, while Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja bagged 3 wickets apiece. You can catch the highlights of the Day 1 HERE

  • 08:51 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: Rohit-Rahul to start for India

    The pair of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul stayed unbeaten for the nine overs the pair played after India bundled out Australia for 263. The Indian opening pair will look to continue the hosts’ dominance.

  • 08:39 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: Welcome guys!

    Hello everyone, welcome to the second day live blog of the ongoing second Test between India and Australia. Stay connected for the all the updates from New Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium.

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Cheteshwar Is Spiritual Man: Father Arvind Pujara On Eve Of 100th Test | Cricket News

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It was in 2006 when Cheteshwar Pujara had called up his mother Reena after finishing a district-level game and asked her to tell his father Arvind to pick him up from the Rajkot bus stand. On arrival at the bus stand, he didn’t see his dad but a relative who informed him about his mother’s death. Cheteshwar Pujara’s pain threshold has always been quite high. The body blows inflicted by the Australia pacers or the tragedy of his beloved mother’s untimely demise have shaken him to the core, but they haven’t been able to break his resolve.

As he stands on the cusp of his 100th Test, the quiet warrior of Indian cricket has done his ilk proud. He is one of the few determined introverts who do end up winning the race.

“In any sport, 100 matches is no mean feat. You need a lot of dedication and discipline, fitness, proper diet. All these combined help in your longevity in international cricket. And, yes, a bit of luck,” Arvind Pujara told PTI during an interaction from his Rajkot residence.

Being a father and also his illustrious son’s only coach and sounding board, Arvind bhai is certainly a proud man but would never express his happiness.

Cheteshwar is 35 now. It has been a 27-year journey that started when a former Saurashtra first-class cricketer Arvind saw a bit of spark in his eight-year-old son and started coaching him.

He also took his son to Mumbai and sought former India cricketer and respected coach Karsan Ghavri’s opinion on whether he should devote more time on his son’s development as a player. The answer was in the affirmative and the nondescript Railway Colony ground was witness to history.

“When I started off (coaching Cheteshwar), there was no target as such in mind and also it is not fair to assume anything. But, yes, he was very hardworking from the start and the discipline paid him dividends,” Arvind bhai, who played six first-class games in mid and late 70s said.

Talk about Cheteshwar the player, and the first thing that comes to mind is his mental resolve.

While working on a cricket book, which had a chapter on Cheteshwar, there was a conversation with Arvind bhai where he recollected how his teenager son had internalised his mother’s demise and didn’t shed a tear in private or public. He just went quiet.

“He never cried and just went quiet. In fact, he went to play an age-group game in Mumbai and I had to tell the team coach to keep an eye on him as I was worried,” Pujara senior had said back then.

When Arvind bhai was asked to revisit those times, there was a tinge of emotion in his voice.

“It was a difficult period. You can never replace a mother, however hard you may try,” Pujara senior said.

However, at a young age, Cheteshwar did have a spiritual streak in him and that probably has helped him in his steely resolve.

“My late wife’s Guruji, Haracharan Das ji Maharaj, took a lot of care of him. Also his aunt, who cooked food for Guruji and stayed in that ashram also took care of my son. I won’t say that only I am instrumental in shaping him; his Guruji did play a massive role in his mental make-up and development,” there was a lot of gratitude in his voice.

While physical pain can be endured to an extent with the available remedies, but what about the silent sufferings of the heart, for which there is no panacea? “Body ka pain toh dikhta hain, lekin andruni chot, dil ka chot dikhta nahi (One can tell if somebody is in physical pain, but how does one see the emotional turmoil?” Arvind bhai said.

But, then, he revealed a secret of how his son’s pain endurance increased over the years.

“A doctor friend of mine when he (Cheteshwar) was just starting out had advised him, ‘Don’t take pain-killers when you get hurt. Pain-killers don’t heal injuries quickly and the body takes time to heal. You saw him take those 11 blows on the ribs, knuckles and forearm during that Test in Australia,” said Arvind bhai, as one could gauge his heart swelling with pride.

But how did he handle emotional pain? Arvind bhai had another beautiful childhood story of his son.

“As a kid, he was hooked to video games and would always want to play. His mom would then keep a condition. ‘If you pray for 10 minutes, then I will allow you to play video games’, she would tell Cheteshwar.” “Now, I as a father, didn’t like that method as I thought it was a sort of ‘blackmailing’. I even had arguments with my wife that if you want to let him play video game, just say ‘yes’ and if you don’t then plain and simple say, ‘No’.

“In the beginning, she didn’t tell me anything. But some days later she explained why she did that.

“I want our son to have faith in God. If he prays everyday for even 10 minutes, when he grows up and is in a difficult situation, the prayer would help him. Cheteshwar became spiritual, that habit helped him and no university in the world can teach you (that) other than a mother.”

I always knew 50s, 70s won’t help, you needed big scores

Cheteshwar has three double hundreds in Test cricket and multiple triple hundreds at the first-class level.

When he got his first lessons in cricket from his father in the late 90s, the concept of Indian Premier League was still alien. Hence, if you see him stepping out to Nathan Lyon and play the on-drive on the left or right of mid-on fielder, piercing the grass, you know it has come from hours of honing his basics in that small Rajkot ground.

“When I started teaching him the basics of cricket, there was no IPL. At the age of 13, he scored a triple hundred in a BCCI U-14 tournament back in the day. I told him that 50s and 60s had no value. If you want to get noticed, score hundreds and double hundreds,” said Pujara senior.

So, which one of Cheteshwar’s 19 Test hundreds is his favourite? “Well, each hundred had a different context, a different backdrop and the need of the team was different. So it is not easy to say.

“Did he perform the role given to him by the team? If he did, then it counts. For me, when he opened his account after 53 dot balls in South Africa, that also had immense value. It was what the situation demanded.” On Friday, Arvind bhai, Cheteshwar’s wife Puja and daughter Aditi will be present at the Ferozshah Kotla to savour the momentous occasion.

No one is more deserving than this absolute devotee of Test cricket.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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India vs Australia Live, 1st Test Day 3: Virat Kohli Drops David Warner At First Slip | Cricket News

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India vs Australia Live, 1st Test: India are dominating the game.© AFP




India vs Australia, 1st Test Day 3, Live Updates: Australia are one down after Ravichandran Ashwin claimed the wicket of Usman Khawaja early in the guests’ second innings of the game. Earlier, Rohit Sharma’s 120 and Axar Patel’s 84 steered India to 400 all out, helping the side take a first innings lead of 223 runs. Todd Murphy claimed seven wickets but lacked an equally good support from the other Australian bowlers. Visiting skipper Pat Cummins had opted to bat first in the game. India had bundled out Australia for 177, thanks to Ravindra Jadeja’s five-wicket haul. (LIVE SCORECARD)

Here are the LIVE Score Updates of Day 3 of the 1st Test Match between India and Australia straight from Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur







  • 12:27 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: Lucky Labuschagne!

    A Mohammed Shami delivery hit Marnus Labuschagne on the back pad. Umpire was unconvinced with the appeal so India decided to go upstairs. Ball tracker revealed that it was clipping the off stump. 

    AUS 177 & 8/1 (2.3)

  • 12:20 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: WICKET!

    Ravichandran Ashwin strikes early to send back Usman Khawaja. This is a superb start for India who had taken an innings lead of 223 runs against Australia.

    Australia 177 & 7/1 (1.5 overs) vs India (400)

  • 11:37 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: India all out for 400!

    Axar Patel has been cleaned up Pat Cummins and that is the end of India’s innings and that of Axar. He departs for a superb 84-run knock. India found it hard to go past 300 at one stage as they were reduced to 240/7, but knocks of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar and Mohammed Shami have helped them take a big first-innings lead of 223 runs.

    IND 400 (139.3)

  • 11:14 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: SIX!

    Flight on offer from Todd Murphy. Axar Patel dances down the track and hits it over long-on for a six. He is making the batting look so easy…. Believe me, it is not! The track is having some good turn but Axar has settled himself so well that barely any delivery is troubling him. He is into the 80s now.

    IND 397/9 (136.4)

  • 11:08 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: FOUR!

    An inside out shot from Axar Patel on the bowling of Todd Murphy for a four. With the hit, the Indian batter is now not out at 76. Can he get to the triple digit score from here? Well, a lot depends on Mohammed Siraj – the batter at the non-striker end.

    IND 391/9 (135)

  • 10:59 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: WICKET!

    Mohammed Shami departs for 37 as Todd Murphy claims his 7th wicket. India 380/9 in 132.4 overs vs Australia

  • 10:48 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: Back-to-back sixes from Shami!

    Mohammed Shami is batting in a different gear at the moment. He has smacked Todd Murphy for two consecutive sixes. The first one went over the extra cover region and the following one went over the deep mid-wicket. This is superb batting from Shami!

    IND 376/8 (130.4)

  • 10:43 (IST)

    India vs Australia Live: FOUR!

    This is a really goot shot from Mohammed Shami. Nathan Lyon bowled it around off at good length. Shami rocked back and hit it for a four through cover region.

    IND 363/8 (129.3)

  • 10:20 (IST)

    IND vs AUS Live: SIX!

    SIX! This is what Mohammed Shami can do. He can hit these shots with ease. It was in the slot from Todd Murphy and Shami heaved it into the stands for a six over deep mid-wicket.

    IND 348/8 (125)

  • 10:08 (IST)

    IND vs AUS Live: Catch dropped!

    Scott Boland has dropped Mohammed Shami’s catch at long-on. Shami hit a Nathan Lyon delivery high in the air and it could have been a regular catch for Boland, but he made a mess of it. Poor Australia!

  • 09:57 (IST)

    IND vs AUS Live: FOUR!

    That’s a good shot from Mohammed Shami for a four. He got on the backfoot and cut the ball away for the boundary. These runs will definitely hurt Australia as they aim to clean up the Indian tail as early as possible.

    IND 335/8 (119.3)

  • 09:55 (IST)

    IND vs AUS Live: WICKET!

    Error in judgement from Ravindra Jadeja and he will have to depart at the score of 70. Off-spinner Todd Murphy bowled made the ball turn to the other side and Jadeja left it. The ball hit his stumps, handing the Aussie debutant his sixth wicket. India 328/8 in 118.2 overs vs Australia

  • 09:43 (IST)

    IND vs AUS LIVE: Good turn for spinners!

    Nathan Lyon got some really good turn in his first over. He beat Axar Patel’s outside edge for more than a couple of times. So, Pat Cummins has decided to not continue and hand the ball to Todd Murphy to bowl from his end. 

    IND 324/7 (116)

  • 09:33 (IST)

    IND vs AUS LIVE: Day 3 play starts!

    The play on Day has kicked off with Pat Cummins bowling the first over. Ravindra Jadeja is on the strike, Axar Patel is at the other end.

  • 09:25 (IST)

    IND vs AUS LIVE: Australia need an early breakthrough!

    The pair of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel have added 81 runs for the eighth wicket so far. They are unbeaten on their respective scores of 66 and 52. Australia need an early breakthrough to bounce back in the game, or the Indian duo will take the match further away from the guests. We are only 5 minutes away from Day 3 play. 

  • 08:51 (IST)

    IND vs AUS LIVE: How was India’s performance on Day 2?

    India lost a total of six wickets on Day 2 but comfortably took a 144-run lead over Australia. Rohit Sharma shone with his century before the pair of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel took the centre stage. The two are still unbeaten. In case you missed the action on Friday, check the highlights HERE

  • 08:29 (IST)

    IND vs AUS Live: Batting coach lauds Rohit Sharma

    Here is what batting coach Vikram Rathour had to say on captain Rohit Sharma’s 120-run knock on Friday.

  • 08:10 (IST)

    IND vs AUS Live: Welcome guys!

    Hello guys welcome to the live blog of Day 3 of the ongoing first Test match between India and Australia. India will resume at the score of 321/7 with a lead of 144 over the guests. Stay connected for all the live updates!

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