India lost the World Test Championship final to New Zealand in Southampton in June, marking yet another failed attempt in a world title match.
But the next cycle is already under way and for Virat Kohli's team, there is extra motivation to put their best foot forward in the five-Test series against England which begins in Nottingham on Wednesday.
New Zealand climbed to the top of the Test rankings after their series win in England earlier in June, and before the one-off final against India. They have accumulated 126 points, nine more than second-placed India and 18 more than England, who are third.
However, the five-Test series between Kohli's India and Joe Root's hosts can change the table markedly. If India manage to sweep the series 5-0, which will be unprecedented, then they will rise to the top of the rankings table with 127 points - according to the ICC's team rankings predictor. And England will then slip to fourth in the table. Any other result and New Zealand's hold will continue.
England, on the other hand, can move to second in the Test table if they beat India by a margin of 2-0 or better.
The task will be a monumental one for India, given that they lost the last three series in England 4-1, 3-1 and 4-0.
And even though England will be without star all-rounder Ben Stokes, who has taken an indefinite break from cricket to focus on his mental health, the hosts have more than enough quality in their team to avoid a whitewash. Veteran quicks James Anderson and Stuart Broad alone should be able to ensure that.
Moreover, Indian Test team players have been out of top-level action for nearly two months, which means there is bound to be some rust when the Tests begin. Also, the visitors have had some personnel issues with batsman Shubman Gill, all-rounder Washington Sundar, and fast bowler Avesh Khan ruled out of the series.
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The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
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Barings, one of Britain’s oldest investment banks, was
founded in 1762 and operated for 233 years before it went bust after a trading
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Barings Bank collapsed in February 1995 following colossal
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Leeson gambled more than $1 billion in speculative trades,
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LA LIGA FIXTURES
Saturday (All UAE kick-off times)
Valencia v Atletico Madrid (midnight)
Mallorca v Alaves (4pm)
Barcelona v Getafe (7pm)
Villarreal v Levante (9.30pm)
Sunday
Granada v Real Volladolid (midnight)
Sevilla v Espanyol (3pm)
Leganes v Real Betis (5pm)
Eibar v Real Sociedad (7pm)
Athletic Bilbao v Osasuna (9.30pm)
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4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Roll%20of%20Honour%2C%20men%E2%80%99s%20domestic%20rugby%20season
At a glance
Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free
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UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan
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Two-step truce
The UN-brokered ceasefire deal for Hodeidah will be implemented in two stages, with the first to be completed before the New Year begins, according to the Arab Coalition supporting the Yemeni government.
By midnight on December 31, the Houthi rebels will have to withdraw from the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Issa and Al Saqef, coalition officials told The National.
The second stage will be the complete withdrawal of all pro-government forces and rebels from Hodeidah city, to be completed by midnight on January 7.
The process is to be overseen by a Redeployment Co-ordination Committee (RCC) comprising UN monitors and representatives of the government and the rebels.
The agreement also calls the deployment of UN-supervised neutral forces in the city and the establishment of humanitarian corridors to ensure distribution of aid across the country.
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Europe's top EV producers
- Norway (63% of cars registered in 2021)
- Iceland (33%)
- Netherlands (20%)
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- Germany (14%)
- Denmark (13%)
- Switzerland (13%)
- United Kingdom (12%)
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Source: VCOe
