Asia

As rickshaw puller Anwar Pagla turned into the road leading to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) office in Gulshan, Dhaka, on the afternoon after the parliamentary election, a small commotion stirred. His rickshaw had a Bangladeshi flag fixed to one side of the hood and the BNP’s flag to the other. Pagla is an ardent supporter.

“They call me mad because I consider this party everything in my life. But it doesn’t matter. We have won and Bangladesh will now be better,” he told Al Jazeera.

Nearly two decades after it last governed, the BNP returned to power after a landslide victory in Thursday’s parliamentary election.

The Election Commission published the gazette of the members of parliament elected, a final official seal on the election process, on Saturday. The centre-right BNP’s alliance secured 212 of the 300 seats. The alliance led by its main rival, the Jamaat-e-Islami – Bangladesh’s largest religion-based party – secured 77.

Those elections came a year and a half after a nationwide protest movement ousted the country’s former leadership and saw 1,400 people killed in the streets. Bangladesh has been led by a caretaker government since Sheikh Hasina, who led the crackdown, fled the country.

The BNP’s Tarique Rahman, set to become Bangladesh’s next prime minister, greeted supporters on Friday, saying he was “grateful for the love” they had shown him. He promised throughout BNP’s campaign to restore democracy in Bangladesh.

Mahdi Amin, BNP’s election steering committee spokesperson, said Rahman pledged that, as prime minister, he would safeguard the rights and freedoms of citizens.

Thursday’s vote passed largely peacefully, and, despite alleging “inconsistencies and fabrications” during the vote count, Jamaat accepted the outcome of the election on Saturday.

BNP had recently lost its former chairperson, Khaleda Zia – Tarique Rahman’s mother and a two-time prime minister – who died on December 30.

Khaleda Zia had led the party to power in 1991 and again in 2001. Two decades later, her son has returned the BNP to government.

At the party’s Gulshan office that afternoon, BNP activist Kamal Hossain stood among a jubilant crowd. Visibly emotional, he reflected on what he described as years of repression.

“For so long, I felt the regime of Sheikh Hasina would never go,” he said. Referring to the July 2024 uprising that forced her to flee, he added: “Now people have given us this mandate. We have taken back Bangladesh.”

Hossain said the new government’s immediate priorities should be job creation and curbing inflation.

“Prices have been hurting us, and there are too many unemployed young people. The government must address this immediately,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, remained unusually quiet on Friday.

The calm was largely by design: the BNP chose not to hold victory processions.

The Jamaat head office in the capital’s Moghbazar also appeared subdued on Friday. A few supporters around the head office expressed disappointment.

“There has been engineering in the counting process, and the media has been biased against the Jamaat alliance,” said Abdus Salam, a supporter near the office. He argued that a fair process would have yielded more seats.

Others, like Germany-based Jamaat supporter Muaz Abdullah, said Jamaat’s defeat was a failure of organisation.

“In many constituencies, Jamaat didn’t run a good election campaign. They didn’t even have proper polling agents in several places,” he said.

Though the BNP and Jamaat were allies for years, they faced each other as rivals in this election. The campaign period saw sporadic violence and months of divisive online rhetoric.

Sujan Mia, a BNP activist outside the party office, struck a conciliatory tone. “We do not want enmity. We should focus on building the nation,” he said.

Rezaul Karim Rony, editor of Joban Magazine and a political analyst who closely followed the BNP’s campaign, said the party’s victory is likely to allay concerns of a lurch to the right in Bangladesh.

“Through this election, people have, in a sense, freed the country’s politics from that risk,” he argued.

However, Rony cautioned that the real test begins now.

“The challenge is to ensure good governance, law and order, and public safety – and to establish a rights-based state,” he said, describing those goals as being at the “heart of the aspirations of the 2024 mass uprising.”

Michael Kugelman, senior fellow for South Asia at the Atlantic Council, said a BNP victory represents “a blow to the politics of change that have galvanised Bangladesh since the 2024 mass uprising”.

“The BNP, dynastic and long saddled with corruption allegations, reflects the principles that the Gen Z protesters rejected,” he said.

The party will now face pressure from both the public and the opposition to push beyond old political habits, Kugelman added.

“If the new government falls back on repressive or retributive politics, reform advocates will be disappointed and democratisation efforts will be set back,” he said.

The outcome might be the least disruptive for the region as a whole.

Pakistan might have preferred a Jamaat win, given the party’s historical affinity for Islamabad. But Pakistan has also had strong relations with the BNP, Kugelman pointed out, as has China.

And “India much prefers the BNP to Jamaat,” he added, noting that the BNP is no longer in alliance with Jamaat, which New Delhi believes takes positions contrary to its interests.

Back at the BNP’s office in Dhaka, however, geopolitics felt distant.

Shamsud Doha, a party leader, had brought his two grandchildren to share the moment.

“Nothing matches this feeling,” he said. “We have long suffered under autocratic rule. Now it is our time to build the nation.”

Jury chair Wim Wenders said filmmakers ‘have to stay out of politics’ when asked about German support for Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.

Indian author Arundhati Roy has announced that she is withdrawing from the Berlin International Film Festival after what she described as “unconscionable statements” by its jury members about Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Writing in India’s The Wire newspaper, Roy said she found recent remarks from members of the Berlinale jury, including its chair, acclaimed director Wim Wenders, that “art should not be political” to be “jaw-dropping”.

“It is a way of shutting down a conversation about a crime against humanity even as it unfolds before us in real time,” wrote Roy, the author of novels and nonfiction, including The God of Small Things.

“I am shocked and disgusted,” Roy wrote, adding that she believed “artists, writers and filmmakers should be doing everything in their power to stop” the war in Gaza.

“Let me say this clearly: what has happened in Gaza, what continues to happen, is a genocide of the Palestinian people by the State of Israel,” she wrote.

The war is “supported and funded by the governments of the United States and Germany, as well as several other countries in Europe, which makes them complicit in the crime,” she added.

During a panel to launch the festival on Thursday, a journalist asked the jury members for their views on the German government’s “support of the genocide in Gaza” and the “selective treatment of human rights” issues.

German filmmaker Wim Wenders, who is the chair of the festival’s seven-member jury, responded, saying that filmmakers “have to stay out of politics”.

“If we made movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics. But we are the counterweight to politics. We are the opposite of politics. We have to do the work of people and not the work of politicians,” Wenders said.

Polish film producer Ewa Puszczynska, another jury member, said she thought it was “a bit unfair” to pose this question, saying that filmmakers “cannot be responsible” for whether governments support Israel or Palestine.

“There are many other wars where genocide is committed and we do not talk about that,” Puszczynska added.

Roy had been due to participate in the festival, which runs from February 12 to 22, after her 1989 film, In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones, was selected to be screened in the Classics section.

Germany, which is one of the biggest exporters of weapons to Israel, after the US, has introduced harsh measures to prevent people from speaking out in solidarity with Palestinians.

In 2024, more than 500 international artists, filmmakers, writers and culture workers called on creatives to stop working with German-funded cultural institutions over what they described as “McCarthyist policies that suppress freedom of expression, specifically expressions of solidarity with Palestine”.

“Cultural institutions are surveilling social media, petitions, open letters and public statements for expressions of solidarity with Palestine in order to weed out cultural workers who do not echo Germany’s unequivocal support of Israel,” organisers of the initiative said.

Mumbai, India — For Indian cricket fans travelling to Sri Lanka this weekend, the opportunity to watch their team take on archrivals Pakistan in the T20 World Cup has come at the cost of inflated airfares, soaring hotel prices and a long wait for matchday tickets.

But these are mere sacrifices that thousands are willing to make to witness the most heated rivalry in the sport as it unfolds on Sunday at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Fuelled by a decades-long fraught political relationship, cricket encounters between India and Pakistan are among the biggest spectacles in sport — often framed as bloodthirsty contests of national pride.

For the first time in the history of the World Cup, geopolitical tensions threatened to put the marquee contest in doubt until Pakistan’s government reversed its order for a boycott of the match.

While the near-last-minute U-turn revived excitement, it came at a price for the Indian supporters making late travel plans. Pakistan’s participation was confirmed only six days before the fixture, triggering a sharp surge in airfares from several Indian cities.

Fans who booked their air tickets weeks in advance, too, paid significantly higher fares due to the significantly higher demand surrounding any India-Pakistan match, which is commonly deemed the most lucrative fixture in cricket.

“I paid a premium of approximately 50 percent compared to the usual rates,” Aditya Chheda, a finance professional from Mumbai, told Al Jazeera. “This was despite booking a month in advance and opting for a layover instead of a direct flight.”

Flight, hotel prices skyrocket

A nonstop round-trip journey from India’s western metropolis Mumbai to Colombo, which typically costs approximately $275, went upwards of $1,000 two days before the match.

Similar fares were spotted for nonstop journeys from Bengaluru in southern India, while round-trip nonstop flights from Chennai to Colombo – a route that takes only about an hour and 20 minutes – had surged to at least $550, up from its usual fare of $165.

Planning ahead helped Bengaluru resident Parth Chauhan secure deals at a good price, but his friends accompanying him to Colombo had to pay a steep premium – three times the usual cost – after booking closer to the match date.

Accommodation costs rose sharply as well. Tariffs at five-star hotels in Colombo ranged between $400 and $1,000 per night from Saturday to Monday, when most spectators were expected to fly in and out.

Chauhan, who works in a cybersecurity organisation, had to wait a whopping four hours in a virtual queue to buy match tickets, but he insists the hassle was worth the wait, as he gears up to watch India play abroad for the first time.

“It’s an opportune moment, and there is a lot of exuberance to witness this because it’s a historic fixture,” he said.

For a lucky few, the surprise came not from the difficulty of securing tickets but from their unusually low price. Piyush Nathani, an IT professional from Bengaluru, paid only $5 for the fixture, which draws millions in broadcast, sponsor and advertising revenue.

“This is the cheapest ticket I’ve ever purchased. Just $5 to watch a World Cup match, that too of the magnitude of India vs Pakistan, is a steal,” said Nathani, who has travelled with a group of six friends.

‘More than a cricket match’

Having been part of the Ahmedabad crowd in 2023 that saw India beat Pakistan in a 50-over World Cup group game, Nathani is relishing the chance to watch Sunday’s match in a neutral venue, where fans from both countries are expected to be present.

“The feeling of beating Pakistan is something money cannot buy,” added the 29-year-old.

Like Nathani, Chheda has also travelled abroad previously to watch Team India. The 32-year-old watched India lift the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados and now wants to “pick up where I left off”.

“When there’s a World Cup, the first thing Indian fans hope for is to beat Pakistan,” he added.

“Winning the World Cup is the biggest target, but beating Pakistan feels like a moral victory – it’s more than a cricket match.”

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has claimed victory in the country’s first election since a student-led uprising that ousted longtime leader Sheikh Hasina in 2024.

Unofficial results confirmed by election officials to Al Jazeera on Friday showed the BNP winning 209 seats, easily crossing the 151-seat threshold needed for a majority in parliament.

Its leader, Tarique Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, is now set to become the country’s next prime minister. BNP officials said the party expected to form a government by Sunday.

The BNP was followed by Jamaat-e-Islami, which secured 68 seats in Thursday’s polls – its highest-ever tally.

The party, which is led by Shafiqur Rahman and contested for the first time since a 2013 ban that was lifted after Hasina’s ouster, said it is not “satisfied” with the vote count and raised “serious questions about the integrity of the results process”.

The National Citizen Party (NCP), led by youth activists instrumental in toppling Hasina and part of a Jamaat-led alliance, won just six of the 30 seats that it contested.

The Election Commission has yet to formally announce the final tally, which is expected either later on Friday or on Saturday.

Turnout stood at almost 60 percent of registered voters, according to the Election Commission, well over the nearly 42 percent in the last election in 2024.

The election featured a record number of parties, more than 50, and at least 2,000 candidates, many of them independents. The parliament comprises 350 lawmakers, with 50 seats reserved for women.

More than 127 million people were eligible to cast their votes, with many expressing enthusiasm for what was widely seen as Bangladesh’s first competitive vote in years.

An interim government led by Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, 85, has been in office since Hasina fled to India in 2024 after widespread protests led largely by young people, who were killed in their hundreds by security forces.

Tarique Rahman, who has never held government office, returned to Bangladesh in December after 17 years of self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom. The 60-year-old has yet to comment on the unofficial results but on Friday, he waved from his car as he left his house in the capital, Dhaka, for a mosque.

In a statement, the BNP asked people to refrain from large celebrations and offer special prayers instead.

“Despite winning … by a large margin of votes, no celebratory procession or rally shall be organised,” the party said in a statement.

‘Litmus test’

The 78-year-old former leader, Hasina, was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity for the bloody crackdown on protesters during her final months in power, and remains in hiding in India. Her Awami League party was barred from the election.

BNP members have said the party would formally request Hasina’s extradition from India. In its manifesto, the BNP promised to prioritise job creation, protect low-income and marginal households and ensure fair prices to farmers. Tarique Rahman has also promised to revive a stagnant economy, reset ties with countries in the region and crack down on corruption.

Abbas Faiz, an independent South Asia researcher, said the election was a test of how Bangladesh was “ready for democracy”.

“Also, a test of the political parties which have been able to take part in the elections. They have actually understood the aspirations and the wishes of the people of their country for the removal of corrupt practices in the administration and parliament,” Faiz told Al Jazeera.

He added the election is the “litmus test” which puts responsibility on the “shoulders of the new government”.

But Faiz explained that the election would have been “fairer” if all parties, including the Awami League, were allowed to participate.

“But in a way, the problem lies with the Awami League itself, because it did not reimage itself as a party that could be trusted by the general populace in Bangladesh,” he said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the US ambassador to Bangladesh, Brent T Christensen, were among the first to congratulate Rahman on his party’s victory. China’s embassy in Dhaka also congratulated the BNP over its election showing.

The election commission also said some 48 million ‌voters chose “Yes” ‌while about 23 million said “No” in a referendum on constitutional reforms held alongside the election, though there was no official word on the outcome.

The changes include two-term limits for prime ministers and stronger judicial independence and women’s representation, while providing for neutral interim governments during election periods and setting up a second house of the 300-seat parliament.

Fahmida Khatun, an economist and executive director of the Dhaka-based Centre for Policy Dialogue, told Al Jazeera that early signals support the perception of a credible election.

Although heavy security was reported across polling stations, “broadly, the voting was peaceful”, Khatun said, pointing to the voter turnout figure as an indicator of healthy participation.

“This indicates citizens wanted to exercise their voting rights and they wanted to choose their own people,” she added.

Several hundred international observers monitored Thursday’s voting, with the European Union’s Election Observation Mission expected to issue a preliminary report on its findings on Sunday.

When India and Pakistan meet in the T20 World Cup on Sunday, the match will not just be significant for its on-field cricket action but also the political climate that has shrouded the encounter and the tournament itself.

The South Asian nations share a decades-old history of wars and hostile relations. The most recent encounter came in May 2025, when the nuclear-armed neighbours were engaged in a four-day cross-border conflict.

This 78-year-old bitter history has fuelled the sporting rivalry, which has – at times – led to tournament boycotts, cancelled matches and ground invasions.

Players from both teams have often been involved in heated encounters on the field, but have also publicly shared lighter moments off it.

However, the lingering hostility of the last conflict has made a severe and long-term impact on cricket, which is the most widely followed sport in South Asia.

We look back at the deteriorating cricket relations between India and Pakistan since the May conflict and the on-field events steeped in politics:

September 14 – No handshake row

The controversy began when India’s Suryakumar Yadav opted out of the customary pre-toss captains’ handshake with Pakistan’s Salman Ali Agha, prompting fans to wonder if politics were at play.

The doubts were cleared at the end of the match when, after hitting the winning runs, Yadav and his batting partner Shivam Dube walked off the field without approaching the Pakistani captain and team for the traditional post-match handshakes.

Pakistan’s players trudged off in a group and waited for the Indian squad, but the Indian contingent only shook hands with each other before walking into their dressing room and shutting the door as the waiting Pakistan players looked on.

Later, Yadav confirmed that his team had planned to not shake hands with Pakistani players all along, linking it to the April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that preceded the May conflict.

“A few things in life are above sportsman’s spirit,” the 35-year-old said.

September 17 – Pakistan refuse to take the field against UAE

The fallout of the handshake row carried over into Pakistan’s next group game in the Asia Cup, when they refused to take the field against the UAE in protest against match referee Andy Pycroft.

Pakistan insisted that Pycroft be removed from their fixture as he was the key official in the India match and helped carry out India’s request that the captains not shake hands at the toss.

“Andy Pycroft had barred the captains of India and Pakistan from shaking hands during their match,” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement.

The Pakistan-UAE match was delayed by an hour as negotiations took place behind closed doors, and Pycroft apologised for the “miscommunication”.

September 21 – Players exchange heated words, make references to conflict

When the teams met for the second time in the Asia Cup, players from both sides were seen exchanging verbal blows in the middle of the pitch.

Pakistan’s Haris Rauf had a go at India’s batter Abhishek Sharma, who later said his match-winning innings of 74 runs was a response to Pakistani players.

“The way they were coming at us without any reason, I didn’t like it at all,” Sharma said after the match.

Rauf was also seen making gestures towards the Indian supporters while fielding on the boundary. He held up his hands to indicate the numbers six and zero, a reference to Pakistan’s claim of downing six Indian jets during the May conflict.

The fast bowler also made gestures indicating an aircraft nosediving into the ground.

Following the match, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) lodged a complaint with the International Cricket Council (ICC) against Rauf and Pakistani batter Sahibzada Farhan, who marked his half-century with a mock gun celebration.

Pakistan, too, lodged a complaint against India’s captain Yadav for using his post-match press comments to mention the Indian missile attacks in Pakistan.

September 28 – India refuse to receive trophy from Pakistani official

The controversial tournament peaked in the final when India, who beat Pakistan by five wickets, refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy because it was presented by Mohsin Naqvi, who is the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president as well as the chairman of the PCB.

Naqvi is also Pakistan’s federal interior minister.

“We have decided not to take the Asia Cup trophy from the ACC chairman, who happens to be one of the main [political] leaders of Pakistan,” Devajit Saikia, the chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said.

The final award presentation was delayed by more than an hour due to India’s refusal and Naqvi’s insistence on presenting the trophy. The Indian team celebrated by pretending to hold a trophy.

India’s captain Yadav added it was the team’s decision to refuse the trophy and “no one told us to do it”.

October 5 – Handshake row hits Women’s Cricket World Cup

When India and Pakistan faced off at the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 in Sri Lanka, the Indian women’s team followed the precedent set by the men’s side by not offering to shake hands with the opposition.

November 4 – ICC sanctions Indian and Pakistani players for on-field behaviour

Five weeks after the conclusion of the Asia Cup, the ICC said Rauf, Farhan and Yadav had been found guilty of breaching its code of conduct and bringing the game into disrepute.

Yadav and Rauf were fined 30 percent of their match fees from the September 14 match and received two demerit points each, while Farhan walked away with a warning and one demerit point.

Rauf was found guilty of the same offence in the final and handed the same punishment, which led to a two-match ban on him.

Meanwhile, Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who displayed a plane-crashing celebration of his own in the final, was also found guilty and handed one demerit point.

January 25 – Pakistan casts doubt on T20 World Cup participation

Following Bangladesh’s ouster from the T20 World Cup, Pakistan said it would reconsider its own presence at the tournament.

“The prime minister is not in Pakistan right now. When he returns, I’ll be able to give you our final decision,” PCB chief Naqvi said.

February 1 – Pakistan announces boycott of India match

In an unprecedented decision at a World Cup, Pakistan’s government said its team would not take the field against India on February 15.

A few days later, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif revealed the move was an act of solidarity with Bangladesh.

February 9 – Pakistan reverses boycott

More than a week later, Pakistan reversed its decision and said its cricket team had been ordered to take the field in the match on Sunday.

Pakistan’s government said it had “reviewed formal requests extended by the Bangladesh Cricket Board, as well as the supporting communications from Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, and other member nations”, which sought “a viable solution to recent challenges”, referring to its decision to boycott the game.

Votes are still being tallied, but unofficial results in the Bangladesh election suggest that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party is ‘clearly leading’. Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury provides an update from Dhaka.

Bangladesh’s leading political candidates have voted in a closely contested general election in Dhaka, pitting the Bangladesh Nationalist Party against a Jamaat-e-Islami-led coalition. It’s the country’s first election since the 2024 ousting of long‑time premier Sheikh Hasina in a Gen Z-led uprising.

The vote is a direct contest between frontrunner Tarique Rahman’s BNP and a Jamaat-e-Islami-led coalition of 11 parties.

Rutherford’s 76 and spinners’ control help the two-time champions beat the 2022 winners at the Wankhede Stadium.

Sherfane Rutherford struck ‌a belligerent half-century and Gudakesh Motie produced a brilliant display of spin bowling ⁠as West Indies ⁠thumped England by 30 runs in T20 World Cup Group C.

Rutherford smacked seven sixes in his unbeaten 76 off 42 deliveries to provide ⁠the bedrock of his team’s imposing total of 196-6 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Twice champions West Indies returned to choke their opponents with spin and bundled out England for 166 in 19 overs ⁠to top the group with their second successive victory.

England slipped to third place, behind Scotland, after their first defeat in the tournament.

“Disappointing. It’s never nice to lose a game, but West Indies played outstanding,” England captain Harry Brook said.

“We thought it was a chaseable total for ‌sure but it didn’t dew up as much as we expected and didn’t skid onto the bat.”

Put into bat, West Indies lost both openers in the first seven deliveries of their innings.

Shimron Hetmyer (23) and Roston Chase (34) steadied the ship before Rutherford walked in to light up the Wankhede Stadium.

He shared a 61-run stand with Jason Holder, who struck four sixes in his 33 off 17 balls, to take West ⁠Indies close to 200.

Leg-spinner Adil Rashid excelled for England, conceding only ⁠16 runs in his four overs and claiming the wickets of Chase and Rovman Powell.

England made a flying start before losing Phil Salt (30) in the fourth over.

Chase removed Jos Buttler for 21 and left-arm spinner Motie ⁠produced a double strike to turn the heat on England, who slumped to 93-4 at the halfway stage of their innings.

The ⁠situation demanded caution and Brook duly curbed his normal ⁠aggression but the West Indian spinners would not be denied.

Motie (3-33) caught Brook off his own bowling and Chase trapped Will Jacks lbw to further turn the screw.

Sam Curran made a valiant 43 not out down the order ‌but lacked support.

“I have put in a lot of work coming into the World Cup,” Rutherford said.

“I trust my process and I can score runs in the end when ‌I ‌play with a clear mind. We were maybe 10 runs behind what we wanted given England’s powerful batting but the guys bowled well.”

Who: India vs Namibia
What: ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 – Group A
When: Thursday, February 12 at 7pm (13:30 GMT)
Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi, India
How to follow and stream: Al Jazeera’s live text and photo stream begins at 10:30 GMT

Namibia will look to make the most of an illness-and-injury-plagued Indian side when they meet the defending champions in their Group A match on Thursday.

India are likely to take the field without their swashbuckling opener Abhishek Sharma after he was hospitalised with an upset stomach on Tuesday.

While Sharma was discharged on the eve of the match, his presence in the playing XI is doubtful.

The world’s top-ranked T20I batter struggled in India’s opening match against the United States.

“He has been discharged today, and he is doing well,” Indian batter Tilak Varma told reporters.

“We have got one more day for the game. Hopefully, we decide by tomorrow on how he feels, and we go with it.”

In better news for the world champions, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is expected to return after he missed the opener due to a fever.

Namibia expect ‘great spectacle’

Namibia, meanwhile, will be looking to move past their heavy loss against the Netherlands on Tuesday and register a shock win over the two-time world champions.

The African team’s coach, Craig Williams, admitted his side faces a stiff challenge against India, but they would like to pose a challenge against the pre-tournament favourites.

“Playing India in India – it’s going to be a great game for us and the spectacle is going to be fantastic for everyone back home as well,” Williams said before the match.

“As a professional team, we want to put on a good show, and hopefully, we’re going to stick to our game plan, and then we’ll see what happens at the end of the day.”

Williams said the key to Namibia’s chances will be a strong batting performance at the top of the order.

“We need someone in our top four to bat for a prolonged period of time, and then you need partnerships,” the former cricketer said.

“Playing against India won’t be easier, but if we can stick to our game plan, and take one ball at a time, hopefully, the result will then go our way.”

Form guide: India

India are on an eight-game unbeaten run in the T20 World Cup, carrying on from their title-winning campaign in 2024.

They lost one of their five T20Is against New Zealand last month.

Last five matches (most recent first): W W L W W

Form guide: Namibia

One of the biggest results in Namibian cricket history came in October, when they beat 2024 finalists South Africa by four wickets.

They have not been lucky enough to play international fixtures regularly, but can pose a challenge if one of their key players makes an impact.

Last five matches (most recent first): L W L W W

Team news: India

India’s squad has been hit by a range of illnesses and injuries, but Suryakumar Yadav’s team have plenty of power on the bench to grab another win.

Bumrah could return to the XI, replacing his stand-in Mohammed Siraj, and Sanju Samson could take Sharma’s place at the top of the order.

Predicted XI: Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy

Team news: Namibia

Namibia could field the same XI that lost to the Netherlands, hoping that the result goes the other way this time.

Predicted XI: Louren Steenkamp, Jan Frylinck, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Gerhard Erasmus (captain), JJ Smit, Zane Green (wicketkeeper), Dylan Leicher, Willem Myburgh, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz, Max Heingo

David Miller’s batting heroics in the second super over got South Africa over the line against Afghanistan in Ahmedabad.

South Africa edged Afghanistan in a second super over following a dramatic Group D game on Wednesday that was tied after regulation at cricket’s T20 World Cup.

Fazalhaq Farooqi’s runout ended Afghanistan’s chance to win it in regulation with a ball to spare, leaving both teams tied on 187.

Afghanistan posted 17 in the first super over, and Farooqi was in position to win it again, restricting South Africa to 11 runs with one ball remaining, until Tristan Stubbs plundered a six to level the scores again.

South Africa batted first in the second tiebreaker, posting 23 with David Miller and Stubbs combining for three sixes.

Keshav Maharaj gave South Africa control with a wicket and two dot balls to start the second super over, leaving Afghanistan needing 24 from four balls – or four sixes.

Enter Rahmanullah Gurbaz. With nothing to lose, the big-hitting opener – who earlier blazed 84 from 42 as Afghanistan chased South Africa’s target of 187-6 – hit three consecutive sixes to get the required runs down to six off one delivery.

A wide from Maharaj lowered the target to 5 from one delivery and raised the prospect of yet another tiebreaker, but the South Africa spinner rebounded by having Gurbaz caught at backward point on the next delivery. It was game over.

Lungi Ngidi, who took 3-26 during the match and then bowled the first of the super overs, was voted player of the match.

“I’ve lost so much weight today. I’ve never been that stressed in my life in a cricket game,” he said. “Being able to win two super overs with our hitters hitting like that … very happy.”

South Africa earlier beat Canada in their opening match. Afghanistan have lost both their group matches after an opening loss to New Zealand and are unlikely to progress to the Super Eights from a group containing three highly-ranked teams. Only the top two teams in each of the four groups will advance.

ONE of the UK’s busiest airports is getting 37 new flight routes this year – some for the first time ever.

London Gatwick Airport is welcoming eight new carriers, with some starting flights from next month.

The newest to join is budget carrier AirAsia X.

Last flying from the UK in 2012, the new route will connect Brits to Kuala Lumpur.

Flights were scrapped more than a decade ago due to high operational costs as well as a lack of demand

The new flights, operating once a day, will stop in Bahrain before continuing to the Malaysian capital.

TAKING OFF

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The new route will start from June 2026 although flight prices are yet to be confirmed.

Pierre-Hugues Schmit, CEO, London Gatwick said: “The new daily service will provide excellent opportunities to visit the city or onward connectivity across the region – ideal for holidaymakers, businesses and the many British‑Malaysian families who will now have even better options for visiting friends and relatives.”

One of the biggest new additions to London Gatwick is Jet2, which is launching its first ever flights for London Gatwick.

The first take taking off next month, with flights to Tenerife on March 26.

However, this is just one of 29 new routes from the airline connecting to Europe.

This includes flights to Spain, Greece, Portugal, Malta, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy and Cyprus.

One of the longest new Jet2 flights will be to Turkey, flying to Antalya.

It comes after they launched their first flights from London Luton last year too.

A number of other airlines are also launching flights from London Gatwick from next month.

This includes:

• Bucharest with AnimaWings from March 22
• Cologne and Stuttgart with Eurowings from March 29 and April 13
• Sharjah with Air Arabia March 29
• Paris with Air France from March 29
• Frankfurt with Condor from April 1
• Qingdao with Beijing Capital from June 24

The 37 new routes will take London Gatwick’s destinations to 57 this year.

Mr Schmit added: “AirAsia X is the latest airline to choose to fly from London Gatwick, ahead of what will be a fantastic summer for our passengers.”

London Gatwick isn’t the only airport getting some exciting new flights this year.

From March, Turkish Airlines will launch a new route between London Stansted Airport and Istanbul.

And Indian airline IndiGo launched its first UK flights, connecting Manchester to India.

Virgin Atlantic will connect the UK to Phuket and Seoul, while British Airways is starting flights to St. Louis in Missouri.

Here are all of the other flight routes launching in 2026.