India’s historic 0-3 whitewash loss to NZ

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Aakriti Anand & Raghav Bikhchandani

India’s historic 0-3 whitewash loss to NZ

On Sunday, India crashed to a 0-3 loss to New Zealand in Mumbai—the second whitewash in our cricket history. The previous whitewash: a two-match series vs South Africa in 2000. Having dismissed India for 121 in the second innings, the Kiwis scampered to a 25-run victory on the third day of the third and final test.

How did this happen? Here are some illuminating stats:

Rohit Sharma scored a mere 91 runs across six innings—with 52 being his highest.
Virat’s total was no less measly—93 runs, with 70 as his top score. But he managed only 23 runs in the other five innings.
In comparison, the NZ captain Tom Latham scored 145 runs—including a critical 86 to win in Pune. Player-of-the-series Will Young racked up 244—including a crucial pair of half-centuries—71 and 51—in Mumbai.
We prepared spinning tracks to favour our side—but were undone by the NZ spinners.
Mitchell Santner chalked up 13 wickets in the Pune match. In Mumbai, their spinners accounted for 16 wickets—11 from Mumbai-born Ajaz Patel.
Irony alert: Two of the Kiwi star performers were of Indian origin: Patel and Rachin Ravindra.

The blame game: The BCCI has already readied the scapegoats for the humiliating loss. According to Indian Express:

Ahead of the home Test season, the selection committee wanted top Indian players to get some match practice in the Duleep Trophy, as preparation for the home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand, but they refused to play the domestic tournament citing “lack of motivation.”

The uppity divas named by these ‘sources’: Sharma, Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Jasprit Bumrah. The ‘good boys’ who played in the tournament: Shubman Gill, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, and Washington Sundar.

Quote for the ages: After the Pune loss, Rohit told reporters: “Don’t judge us on one bad day in the office, I’m sure you guys have bad days at work, too.” Haw, sad.

Reading list: Al Jazeera has the main takeaways. Indian Express offers insider goss.

Middle East Madness: The latest update

A new Bibi scandal: A number of people have been arrested for leaking confidential military information. They include the spokesperson of PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Why this is a big deal:

While most details are still subject to a partial gag order, Israeli media has reported that the war aim in question is the release of the 101 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas. The suspects are alleged to have selectively leaked Hamas strategy documents found by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza, and manipulated or edited the material to make it seem as though the Palestinian militant group sought to smuggle hostages to Egypt, and then to Iran or Yemen.

The Guardian has the rest. No, it won’t make a whit of difference to the war.

UN’s astonishing warning: The UN has said this: “The entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence.” FYI: Israeli military strikes have killed one child per hour over the past two days. The UN says North Gaza is in an “apocalyptic” state. No, it won’t make a whit of difference to the war. (Al Jazeera)

Meanwhile, in the US: Kamala Harris promised to “do everything in my power to end the war in Gaza”—while US officials said humanitarian aid is not reaching Gazans due to “access constraints.”

Meanwhile, in Iran: The Iranian regime has given a heads-up to Arab diplomats on its plans to launch a “strong and complex” attack on Israeli military targets. This is part of the ongoing tit-for-tat strikes between the two countries over the past six months. Not doing Kamala Harris any favours, Tehran also made it clear that it preferred her over Trump. (Wall Street Journal, paywalled, Reuters)

Devastating floods in Spain

Flash flooding in Valencia has killed at least 217 people—when “several months’ worth of rain fell in a single day.” Even places that didn’t receive rain were wiped out by overflowing drainage canals.

You can see the flood waters here:

And here is a remarkable pile up of cars—revealing the damage when the waters receded:

The blame game: Most of the damage was a result of a lack of preparedness—caused by “communication failures.” The government did not issue the warning in time—and the rising waters caught residents entirely unawares. Over the weekend, thousands of Spaniards made their way to Valencia to help with rescue efforts—and express their rage at their rulers. When they visited the area, King Felipe and Queen Letizia were called “murderers” by an angry crowd—who also threw mud at them.

The Guardian has more on the outrage. CNN reports on the “horrific details” of the flooding—and Associated Press has the climate change angle.

A series of elephant deaths in Bandhavgarh

Ten elephants have died in Madhya Pradesh’s Bandhavgarh National Park—-over a 72-hour period. The reasons are mysterious—prompting contradictory explanations. There were fears that the animals were poisoned by angry farmers—punishing them for raiding crops. The initial investigation has ruled out foul play—and is focusing on the large quantities of kodo millets found in their stomachs:

What truly happened after they ate kodo and drank the water from the stream and how did it turn toxic will be determined after detailed reports are available. But prima facie, there seems to be no deliberate attempt at poisoning these elephants.

A tale of incompetence? Four of a herd of 13 were found dead on October 29. Another six elephants found in critical condition died over the next two days. The park employs only one on-site veterinarian—which meant nearby vets had to be called in when the crisis first unfolded. But none of them appear to have done any good:

The nine vets reached the spot around 12.30 pm and started treatment. “While the team was trying to do its best, as the sun began to set (later), it made the whole process for the veterinary team even more difficult,” the official quoted earlier, added. The veterinary team also called in a JCB which was used to make the elephants lie on the ground, or stand on their feet, but it did not work.

What made matters more difficult, the government official said, was that while some of the elephants were incapacitated, others that were still able to move, began to get aggressive as the forest officials tried to approach them.

The tragedy has now become a political drama—with the CM stepping in to order a special investigation. Two senior forest officials have been suspended for “negligence.” The Print has the best reporting.

Google Maps are going full-on AI

Google Maps will integrate the company’s AI model Gemini AI—and offer a 3D model of the destination. This Immersive View allows you to search for specific things to do. Example: Get something to eat.

In other updates, Google Maps will allow users to get ideas for places to go and things to do simply by asking the service. For instance, if you have a friend visiting you, you can ask Maps for “things to do with friends at night.” Gemini will then serve up a curated list of options, such as checking out a speakeasy or live music.

If you like one of the options, the AI will also summarise info on that restaurant or club—like so:

Good news for Indians: The features will first be rolled out in the US—but will soon be available worldwide. The especially useful bit for us:

Google is making it easier for Maps users to drive in unfamiliar areas with multiple lanes, forks, and exits. Google Maps will now display lanes, crosswalks, and road signs clearly on the map. Plus, it will show exactly which lane you should be in so you don’t have to merge at the last second.

Ok, maybe not the lane information lol! TechCrunch has lots more details.

Speaking of Google: The company owes $20 decillion—that’s 34 zeros—in fines to Russia. The reason: A Russian court had fined Google for blocking Kremlin-linked accounts on its platforms in 2020 and kept doubling the amount every week since then. The current figure is 10 billion trillion times the company’s value. The funny bit: The Russian press secretary Dmitry Peskov “can’t even pronounce that number”—though he admits the absurd fine is only “symbolic”. Funnily enough: The terms for 1 followed by 100 zeros would be a “googol”—which inspired the name of a certain tech company. (Washington Post, paywalled, Quartz)

what caught our eye

business & tech

Bad news for India’s stock market—foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pulled out a whopping Rs 94,000 crore ($11.1 billion) in October. The reason: more attractive valuations of Chinese stocks have emerged.
This wedding season is expected to make plenty of moolah for planners—between November and mid-December, stock broking firm Prabhudas Lilladher estimates revenue generation of Rs 4.25 trillion ($505 billion) from around 3.5 million weddings.
Say hello to Hiring Assistant, LinkedIn’s new AI agent that will play the role of job recruiters—from making JDs to interacting with applicants.
Also new in the app world: CoffeeSpace! It’s a Hinge clone to help find your co-founder.
Amazon's Alexa is struggling to integrate AI—and may have to rearchitect: its brain.
The EU has turned its regulatory eye to another foreign startup—Chinese retailer Temu faces a probe due to alleged “rogue traders and illegal goods”.
Another day, another potential media sale—Marc Benioff is in talks to sell off Time to Greek firm Antenna.
The Hindu has a lovely read by Odisha-based student Komal Panda on the inspiration behind her Novocarry invention—a portable cooler for insulin—that won her this year’s James Dyson award.

sports & entertainment

Manchester United’s new permanent manager is… Rúben Amorim! The Portuguese will join the club on November 11 after completing his notice period with his current club, Sporting CP.
Avoid the super-expensive secondary market if you’re planning to see Oasis—the band has already cancelled 50,000 resold tickets and will put them back on sale on official channels.

as for the rest

The first nine months of 2024 have seen a drop in marriage registrations in China, which is a blow to the country’s attempts to stave off its shrinking population. Check out our Big Story for more on the global ‘baby bust’.
The Guardian has a harrowing must-read on the latest UN fact-finding report detailing fears of genocide in Sudan’s Darfur due to widespread rape and torture.
Also in The Guardian: the disarray and indecision that marked the conclusion of COP16, the latest climate conference held in Cali, Colombia.
People protesting the crippling cost of living in Nigeria may be sentenced to death. The shocking bit: 29 are minors between the ages of 14 to 17.
Women going through perimenopause—the transition phase leading to and coming after menopause—are over twice as likely to develop bipolar disorder.
Brace yourselves for a milder version of the habanero, developed for those who can’t handle spicy chillies, lol!
There’s an Infinite Monkey Theorem which states a monkey will eventually type out all of Shakespeare’s work. But, but, but: new research suggests that while it’s a legit theory, the universe will die first. Oh well…

Six things to see

One: With the US election just days away, Hollywood liberals are pulling out all the stops in support of Kamala Harris. Example: Marvel’s Avengers who assembled on FaceTime.

…while Harris herself showed up on ‘Saturday Night Live’ to talk to her doppelganger Maya Rudolph.

Two: Nearly three months after winning Olympic gold—amid great misogyny—Algeria’s champion boxer Imane Khelif is on this month’s cover of Vogue Arabia. Bonus bit: this highlight reel of her photoshoot with the magazine. Read the cover story here.

Three: The Wire marked the end of DY Chandrachud’s tenure as Chief Justice with a bit of trolling—an animated vid set to a spoof of The Beatles’ song ‘Let It Be’.

Four: Hamara SRK starred in an ad for the international brand Etisalat—alongside Jason Statham, Megan Fox, and Lewis Hamilton. Our take: Maybe he needs to give that signature smile a rest—thoda sa zyada ho gaya. (Hindustan Times)

Five: At last, the trailer for Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Queer’ starring Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey is here. It is based on the semi-autobiographical novel by William Burroughs and set in Mexico City during the 1940s. The film is slated to release on November 27. Variety has more on the plot.

Six: ‘Squid Game’ fans, rejoice! The trailer for the second season of the global hit Korean thriller dropped last weekend. The winner of the game last season—Seong Gi-hun (played by Lee Jung-jae)—returns to the lethal arena to save others. The Netflix series drops on December 26. (BBC News)