Ahead of England starting their 2025 Champions Trophy campaign against Australia, premier batter Joe Root said batting in ODIs is a different thing, as he can't think of any two innings in his career that have been exactly the same.

England come into the eight-team competition on the back of losing four consecutive ODI series, latest of which was a 3-0 defeat in India. "I can't think of any two innings that I have played that have been exactly the same."

"I think the art of batting is assessing the conditions in front of you, managing the situation that you're presented with and consistently making good decisions under pressure," Root was quoted as saying by BBC Sport on Friday.

With England’s ODI fortunes on a slide after making a league stage exit from 2023 ODI World Cup, Root stated that he’s still hungry to have more 50-over success internationally. "I never retired. I have never said I don't want to play the format. I don't think there needs to be either really. I don't think any player has a divine right for selection."

Afghan police discovered more than 50 kg of illicit drugs and apprehended two alleged drug smugglers in western Afghanistan Nimroz province, the provincial director for counter-narcotics department Mawlawi Faiz Mohammad Faizani said Friday.

According to the official, police discovered more than 50 kg of illicit drugs in the Zaranj-Delaram highway, and arrested two people on the charge of involvement in the drug business, news agency reported.

Police will not allow anyone to produce or smuggle hashish, poppy, or the objects used in manufacturing heroin in the province, the official said.

The Afghan interim government, which has banned poppy cultivation, processing of drugs, and drug trafficking, has vowed to fight the menace until the once-poppy growing country becomes drug-free.

Earlier in January 2025, authorities of the counter-narcotics department destroyed 10.5 tonnes of illegal drugs in central Afghanistan's Bamiyan province, the provincial police office said in a statement.

The contraband including opium poppy, hashish, objects used in manufacturing heroin and other toxic items was burned publicly, the statement said.

Australia Test captain Pat Cummins said he is targeting a return to action from an ankle injury layoff in the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and expressed confidence over leading Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa and subsequent tour of the West Indies.

Cummins has been out of action due to a left ankle niggle following Australia sealing a 3-1 victory over India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Sydney. The fast bowler had led Sunrisers Hyderabad to a runners-up finish in IPL 2024 and was retained by the franchise ahead of the 2025 mega auctions.

"That's the aim. It's four overs in T20s. So physically it's quite a nice build up for the World Test Championship final, and then the Test matches after that. That's the aim at this stage – start bowling over the next week or so, building up, and should be right for IPL. It's probably just making sure you're still bowling quite a few balls (during the IPL)."

"The good thing about a T20 tournament is the intensity is really high, so that obviously helps quite a bit. But maybe the back half the tournament, you ball a few extra balls in warm-ups and nets, just to make sure your body's used to bowling quite a bit."

At least five people from Karnataka's Bidar district were killed on the spot, and seven others injured in a road accident near Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, on Friday.

They were travelling to Kashi after visiting the Maha Kumbh Mela and taking a holy dip at the Triveni Sangam.

The deceased have been identified as 40-year-old Sunitha, 62-year-old Neelamma, 57-year-old Laxmi, 60-year-old Kalavathi, and 45-year-old Santhosh. All of them were residents of the Ladageri locality in Bidar city.

According to police reports, seven others sustained serious injuries and were shifted to a local hospital for treatment.

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar believes vice-captain Shubman Gill gives the impression of someone who will be around international for 10-15 more years, something which Shreyas Iyer doesn't give vibes of.

Chasing 229 against Bangladesh at the Dubai International Stadium, Gill hit an unbeaten 101 off 129 balls, laced with nine fours and two sixes, and ensured India got a six-wicket win by completing the chase with 21 balls to spare.

"He (Gill) is batting at the right position to make a huge impact. When he gets a hundred, like today, it seems like there is plenty left in the tank. It was like 60% of Shubman Gill is enough to get a hundred like this and he stays till the end."

"That is the difference between Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill that Gill will take you right till the end. He is somebody who you think is going to be around for 10-15 years. Shreyas Iyer, despite his obvious talent, doesn't give you that impression," Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo Match Day show.

Manjrekar also said he was in awe of Gill’s two sixes clearing the boundary ropes with ease. "Some of the shots he played, the good-length ball he hit and it went into second tier… the big game is at his beck and call. Can he be better in 50-over cricket as a batter? I don't think so, what can be better than this?"

The Border Security Force (BSF) claims to have arrested a smuggler with 12 gold biscuits hidden inside his rectum along the Indo-Bangladesh Border (IBB) in the North 24-Parganas district of West Bengal.

The biscuits weighed 1.406 kg and are valued at over Rs 1.24 crore, the BSF claimed.

"Troops of the 143 Bn BSF, deployed at the Bithari Border Outpost, acted on a specific intelligence input regarding an attempt to smuggle gold from Bangladesh to India and started searching people moving close to the IBB. Around 5.45 pm on Wednesday, they stopped a man and moved a handheld metal detector across his body. A distinct beep was detected, though there was no metal in his clothing or exterior part of his body. The BSF personnel then escorted him to the Bithari BOP for interrogation. Initially, he feigned ignorance, but on being questioned repeatedly, he broke down and confessed that he had gold biscuits hidden up his anal cavity," said N K Pandey, DIG and spokesperson, South Bengal Frontier, BSF.

The BJP has prepared its 'Sankalp Patra' (Resolution Letter) for the civic elections and will release it on February 24.

Haryana BJP chief Pandit Mohan Lal Badoli said that the resolution letter will be released by Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini from Rohtak's BJP office.

On Thursday, in the presence of state president Pandit Mohan Lal Badoli, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, and conveners of the resolution letter committee Vipul Goyal Vijaypal Advocate and other BJP leaders brainstormed for hours to prepare the resolution letter at the BJP's office in Gurugram.

In the meeting, issues of the city and wards were discussed in detail and it was decided to prepare it in the next one or two days.

A group of 200 Chinese citizens suspected of involvement in fraud returned to China under the escort of Chinese police on Thursday after being repatriated from Myawaddy in Myanmar.

The suspects were first sent to Thailand's Mae Sot, which shares a border with Myawaddy, on Thursday, before being flown back to China on several chartered flights. They arrived at an airport in Nanjing, the capital of eastern Jiangsu Province.

The 200 Chinese citizens are the first group of telecom fraud suspects repatriated from Myanmar to China, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

It added that more than 800 other Chinese fraud suspects are expected to be repatriated in the coming period.

The repatriation of these suspects marks a significant achievement of law enforcement cooperation between China, Myanmar and Thailand against telecom fraud, the ministry said.

Mount Dukono, located in Indonesia's North Maluku province, erupted on Thursday, prompting the country's Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Centre to issue an aviation warning.

The volcano, situated on Halmahera Island, spewed a column of ash up to 2,000 metres into the sky. Thick white-to-grey clouds drifted south of the crater.

To mitigate the risks posed to aviation, a Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation (VONA) has been issued at the orange level, the second-highest warning, prohibiting planes from flying below 5 km around the volcano.

Aircraft should also exercise caution regarding ash clouds, which can disrupt flights, news agency reported.

In another breakthrough amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab safe and secure as per directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, the Punjab Police's Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) has arrested an associate of foreign-based terrorist Lakhbir Singh, alias Landa Harike, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said on Thursday.

The arrested accused has been identified as Sukhchain Singh, alias Bhujia, a resident of Matti village in Mansa.

Police teams have also recovered a .32 calibre pistol along with five cartridges from his possession.