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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed Monday to respond strongly to any future “terrorist attack”, and warned that New Delhi would not tolerate “nuclear blackmail” in the event of further conflict with Pakistan.A weekend ceasefire which US President Donald Trump said he brokered appeared to be holding Monday after four days of intense jetfighter, missile, drone and artillery attacks — the worst violence between the two nuclear-armed neighbours since 1999.Trump said Monday that US intervention had prevented a “bad nuclear war”.”We stopped a nuclear conflict… millions of people could have been killed. So I’m very proud of that,” he told reporters at the White House.Modi, in a televised address to the nation — his first since hostilities began last Wednesday — said Pakistan has chosen to attack rather than help it fight “terrorism”.”If another terrorist attack against India is carried out, a strong response will be given,” he said.The conflict followed an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir which killed 26 civilians.India accused Pakistan of backing the attack, but Islamabad denied involvement.- Spiral to war -The alarming spiral towards all-out war began before dawn on Wednesday, when India launched missile attacks destroying what it called “terrorist camps” in the Pakistan-administered part of Kashmir.Each side then accused the other of launching waves of warplane and drone strikes, as well as missile and artillery bombardments that killed at least 60 people on both sides.”If Pakistan wants to survive, it will have to destroy its terror infrastructure,” Modi said Monday.”India will strike with precision and decisiveness against the terrorist groups thriving under the cover of nuclear blackmail.”India’s stand is very clear. Terror and talks cannot go together… Terror and trade cannot go together… Water and blood cannot flow together.”His address came after the Indian army reported the “first calm night in recent days” in disputed Kashmir and along its western border with Pakistan.The flare-up in violence was the worst since the rivals’ last open conflict in 1999 and sparked global shudders that it could spiral into full-blown war.The rivals also accused each other of breaching the ceasefire just hours after it was unexpectedly announced by Trump on social media on Saturday.- Both sides claim success -Top India and Pakistan military officials held briefings late Sunday with each claiming the upper hand and warning they were ready to respond if there were fresh attacks.”We have delivered the promise we made to our people”, Pakistan’s military spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said, calling it a “success on the battleground”.”We have thus far exercised immense restraint so far and our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory,” said Indian Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai.Pakistan claimed to have downed five Indian fighter jets — something New Delhi has not commented on.On Monday, people were trickling back to Poonch, a frontier town in Indian-administered and one of the worst-hit places.But thousands of schools remained closed across Pakistan-administered Kashmir as areas were cleared of debris from strikes and firing, said local official Naveed-Ul-Hassan Bukhari.India, meanwhile, reopened 32 airports on Monday that had been closed due to the conflict, authorities said.Militants have stepped up operations in Kashmir since 2019, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government revoked the region’s limited autonomy and took it under direct rule from New Delhi.Divided Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both countries, who have fought several wars over the territory since their independence from Britain in 1947.Senior officers from Pakistan and India were reported to have spoken on Monday in order to further secure the ceasefire.Abdul Basit at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore said it would be about modalities of the ceasefire and not policy decisions.The aim is to “avoid any miscalculations, because right now one spark could quickly move towards a nuclear catastrophe,” Basit told AFP.

Expert teams on Monday defused unexploded bombs in India’s border areas with Pakistan before letting displaced Kashmiri villagers return home following a ceasefire between the nuclear-armed foes.Tens of thousands of people living on the Indian side of the divided Himalayan territory fled last week to escape intense artillery bombardment that reduced many homes to rubble.A truce announced Saturday ended four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks which killed dozens in India and Pakistan and was their worst conflict since 1999.Police had issued written statements warning people “NOT to under any circumstances approach, touch, tamper with, or attempt to move any suspicious object resembling an explosive shell or device.”Bomb disposal squads fanned out in Uri, near the de facto border with Pakistan, to ensure homes were completely safe before the inhabitants returned.”We started at homes where people had reported unexploded ordinance,” senior police officer Gurinderpal Singh told AFP.Singh declined to specify how many teams had been dispatched or where.- Delicate task -“Every piece of ordinance is unique and needs to be handled very carefully,” Singh said, adding that displaced villagers were only being allowed back into “areas that have been cleared.”Hundreds of border residents sheltering in government buildings were anxious to go home, waiting for authorities to declare their villages safe.”We were happy that a ceasefire happened and wanted to go home right away,” Mohammad Shafiq, a resident of Mohra village told AFP at a shelter around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from his house.His family of five was evacuated by the army after a bomb exploded in their village last week.”But officers told us not to return until any unexploded mortar shells were removed,” said the 47-year-old.Mareena, a 28-year-old mother of three, said she let her sheep out into the open before an army truck evacuated them to the shelter at Boniyar, around 50 kilometres from her border home.- ‘I want to go back’ -“I don’t know what has happened to my house,” Mareena said. “I want to go back but I am not confident yet. Anything can happen — we saved our lives with great difficulty.”Even those whose houses were destroyed by artillery shells were desperate to return.Basharat Hussain, 35, packed his family of nine in a car to make the journey home.”We want to go and see what can be salvaged and rebuilt,” Hussain told AFP as he waited near an army checkpoint, pleading with soldiers to let them go ahead.”We also have to look for our cows and other belongings,” he said, showing a video of his damaged home sent to his phone.Local reports said six of around 35 bombed villages in Uri were declared safe on Monday for residents to return.Videos showed authorities taking some displaced families from a shelter in buses back to their villages.Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947.They have since fought three wars over the disputed and divided territory they administer in parts. The latest fighting threatened to spiral towards all-out conflict before dawn on Wednesday, when India launched missile attacks destroying what it called “terrorist camps” in Pakistan and part of Kashmir Islamabad controls.The fighting followed an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians.India accused Pakistan of backing the attack but Islamabad denied involvement and immediately responded to the strikes with heavy artillery fire, fanning the latest conflict.Militants opposed to Indian rule in Kashmir have stepped up attacks on security forces since 2019, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government revoked the region’s limited autonomy and imposed direct rule from New Delhi.

Virat Kohli said he had “given it everything” on Monday as he followed Rohit Sharma in retiring from Test cricket, days before India name their squad for a tour to England.The batting great, one of the best players of his generation, a hero to millions of Indians and one of the top stars in world sport, scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85.But his Test form has fallen away markedly in the last two years.Since making his Test debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order.”It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the 36-year-old Kohli posted to his 271 million followers on Instagram.”Honestly, I never imagined the journey this format would take me on. It’s tested me, shaped me and taught me lessons I’ll carry for life.”As I step away from this format, it’s not easy — but it feels right. I’ve given it everything I had and it’s given me back so much more than I could’ve hoped for.”Kohli retired from T20s last year but like Test captain Rohit, who announced his retirement from red-ball cricket last week, he is expected to continue in the one-day game.An inspirational figure to Indian cricket fans, Kohli was the country’s most successful Test captain with 40 wins and 17 defeats in 68 matches before stepping down from the role in 2022. “I’m walking away with a heart full of gratitude — for the game, for the people I shared the field with and for every single person who made me feel seen along the way,” Kohli said.”I’ll always look back at my Test career with a smile.”The fiercely competitive Kohli averaged close to 55 at his peak between 2011 and 2019, but he could muster only 32.56 over the past 24 months in Tests and had come under pressure.- ‘Lion’s passion’ -Kohli’s last Test was in Sydney in January when India lost the match and with it the series 3-1 to Australia.Apart from an unbeaten century in the second innings of the first Test in Perth, Kohli managed just 90 runs from eight innings in the five-Test series.Kohli is part of the “Fab Four” quartet of batting greats who dominated Test cricket over the past decade, alongside Steve Smith of Australia, Kane Williamson of New Zealand and Joe Root of England.Nicknamed “King Kohli”, he was India’s batting backbone across three international formats and ended his Twenty20 career with a match-winning innings in the World Cup final victory in Barbados last year.Kohli then walked away from the shortest format along with Rohit.Kohli’s retirement statement generated more than 11 million “likes” on social media as fans and fellow cricketers paid tribute.India cricket coach Gautam Gambhir wrote on X: “A man with lion’s passion!””Your true legacy, Virat, lies in inspiring countless young cricketers to pick up the sport,” said Indian batting hero Sachin Tendulkar. “What an incredible Test career you have had! You have given Indian cricket so much more than just runs – you have given it a new generation of passionate fans and players.”South Africa great and Kohli’s IPL mate AB de Villiers called Kohli a “true legend”.”Your determination & skill have always inspired me,” he wrote.Pakistan’s pace bowling icon Wasim Akram called Kohli a “modern-day great”, saying, “he has written his place in the history books with golden words”.Former Pakistan captain and ex-cricket board chief Ramiz Raja said, “It’s a pity that he never played in Pakistan because he would have revved up the emotions like nobody!.””In my time playing and broadcasting no individual has done as much for Test cricket as Virat Kohli,” said former England captain Michael Vaughan.Indian selectors are due next week to name the squad for the five-Test series in England. The first match begins on June 20 in Leeds.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was set to address the nation on Monday for the first time since a weekend ceasefire with Pakistan that brought the nuclear-armed rivals back from the brink of all-out war.Modi’s office said the television address would start at 8:00 pm (1430 GMT).  US President Donald Trump announced the truce late Saturday after four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks which killed at least 60 people and sent thousands fleeing on both sides.The heads of military operations of India and Pakistan were also set to review the truce later Monday.It comes after the Indian army reported the “first calm night in recent days” in Kashmir and along its western border with Pakistan.Initially the conversation had been due to take place at 12:00 pm (0630 GMT) but Indian officials said it had been delayed to the evening.Abdul Basit at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore said it would be about modalities of the ceasefire and not policy decisions.The aim is to “avoid any miscalculations, because right now one spark could quickly move towards a nuclear catastrophe,” Basit told AFP.The flare-up in violence was the worst since the rivals’ last open conflict in 1999 and sparked global shudders that it could spiral into full-blown war.There were initial doubts as the rivals accused each other of breaching the ceasefire just hours after it was unexpectedly announced by Trump on social media.”The night remained largely peaceful across… Kashmir and other areas along the international border,” the Indian army said. “No incidents have been reported, marking the first calm night in recent days,” the statement added. India reopened 32 airports on Monday that had been closed due to the conflict, authorities said.- ‘Victory’ claims -Top India and Pakistan military officials held briefings late Sunday with each claiming the upper hand and warning they were ready to respond if there were fresh attacks.”We have delivered the promise we made to our people”, Pakistan’s military spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said, calling it a “success on the battleground”.”We re-established deterrence and neutralised key threats”, Pakistani Air Vice Marshal Ahmed Aurangzeb told reporters.”We have thus far exercised immense restraint so far and our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory,” said Indian Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai.But he added: “Any threat to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and safety of our citizens will be met with decisive force,” he added.- ‘Our worst nightmare’ -It was also the second straight night without gunfire or shelling at Poonch, a frontier town in the part of divided Kashmir administered by India. Poonch was one of the worst-hit places in India, with at least 12 residents killed and most of the estimated 60,000 residents fleeing their homes. On Sunday, people started trickling back, although many were still jittery about the ceasefire.Thousands of schools remained closed across Pakistan-administered Kashmir as areas were cleared of debris from strikes and firing, said local official Naveed-Ul-Hassan Bukhari.The alarming spiral towards all-out conflict began before dawn on Wednesday, when India launched missile attacks destroying what it called “terrorist camps” in the Pakistani part of Kashmir.This followed an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians.India accused Pakistan of backing the attack but Islamabad denied involvement and immediately responded to the strikes with heavy artillery fire.It claimed to have downed five Indian fighter jets — something New Delhi has not commented on.Militants have stepped up operations in Kashmir since 2019, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government revoked the region’s limited autonomy and took it under direct rule from New Delhi.Divided Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both countries, who have fought several wars over the territory since their independence from Britain in 1947.

Pakistan stocks surged Monday with the benchmark index nine percent higher after a weekend ceasefire agreement with neighbour India following days of confict. The benchmark KSE-100 Index opened at 117,104.11 points, up 9,929.48 points, or 9.26 percent, prompting an hour-long trading suspension because limits had been reached.”Today’s sharp surge in the stock market stems from a powerful convergence of bullish triggers that have swiftly turned investor sentiment from fear to opportunity,” Sana Tawfiq, head of research at Arif Habib Limited, Pakistan’s largest securities brokerage, told AFP.The jump also comes on the back of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday approving a Pakistan loan-programme review, unlocking around $1 billion in much-needed funds and greenlighting a new $1.4 billion bailout despite India’s objections.”We are very pleased today that the market has performed extremely well,” Ahmed Chinoy, director of the Pakistan Stock Exchange Limited, told AFP, while celebrating by cutting a cake with brokers.”This positive shift is reinforced by the IMF’s dual approvals, providing both critical funding and international validation of Pakistan’s reform path,” Tawfiq added.US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire on Saturday after four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks by India and Pakistan which killed at least 60 people.In a series of posts on social media, Trump also pledged to increase trade with both nations.”While optimistic, sustaining momentum requires ceasefire compliance, accelerated reforms, and managing global headwinds like oil prices,” senior economist Sanie Khan told AFP.A policy rate cut by the country’s central bank was also seen as a positive factor boosting equity flows.

Indian and Pakistani military chiefs were set to confer Monday as a ceasefire that brought the nuclear-armed rivals back from the brink of all-out war held.US President Donald Trump announced the truce late Saturday after four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks which killed at least 60 people and sent thousands fleeing on both sides.The phone call between the heads of military operations comes after the Indian army reported the “first calm night in recent days” in Kashmir and along its western border with Pakistan.Initially the conversation had been due to take place at 12:00 pm (0630 GMT) but Indian officials said it had been delayed to the evening.Abdul Basit at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore said it would be about modalities of the ceasefire and not policy decisions.The aim is to “avoid any miscalculations, because right now one spark could quickly move towards a nuclear catastrophe,” Basit told AFP.The flare-up in violence was the worst since the rivals’ last open conflict in 1999 and sparked global shudders that it could spiral into full-blown war.There were initial doubts as the rivals accused each other of breaching the ceasefire just hours after it was unexpectedly announced by Trump on social media.”The night remained largely peaceful across… Kashmir and other areas along the international border,” the Indian army said. “No incidents have been reported, marking the first calm night in recent days,” the statement added. India reopened 32 airports on Monday that had been closed due to the conflict, authorities said.- ‘Victory’ claims -Top India and Pakistan military officials held briefings late Sunday with each claiming the upper hand and warning they were ready to respond if there were fresh attacks.”We have delivered the promise we made to our people”, Pakistan’s military spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said, calling it a “success on the battleground”.”We re-established deterrence and neutralised key threats”, Pakistani Air Vice Marshal Ahmed Aurangzeb told reporters.”We have thus far exercised immense restraint so far and our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory,” said Indian Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai.But he added: “Any threat to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and safety of our citizens will be met with decisive force,” he added.- ‘Our worst nightmare’ -It was also the second straight night without gunfire or shelling at Poonch, a frontier town in the part of divided Kashmir administered by India. Poonch was one of the worst-hit places in India, with at least 12 residents killed and most of the estimated 60,000 residents fleeing their homes. On Sunday, people started trickling back, although many were still jittery about the ceasefire.Abdul Razzak returned after fleeing with four children and two other relatives on two motorbikes with nothing but their clothes. “It was our worst nightmare… We’ve seen our people die around us, so none of us want a war,” the 50-year-old told AFP after returning to his house.Thousands of schools remained closed across Pakistan-administered Kashmir as areas were cleared of debris from strikes and firing, said local official Naveed-Ul-Hassan Bukhari.The alarming spiral towards all-out conflict began before dawn on Wednesday, when India launched missile attacks destroying what it called “terrorist camps” in the Pakistani part of Kashmir.This followed an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians.India accused Pakistan of backing the attack but Islamabad denied involvement and immediately responded to the strikes with heavy artillery fire.It claimed to have downed five Indian fighter jets — something New Delhi has not commented on.Militants have stepped up operations in Kashmir since 2019, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government revoked the region’s limited autonomy and took it under direct rule from New Delhi.Divided Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both countries, who have fought several wars over the territory since their independence from Britain in 1947.

Batting great Virat Kohli announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket on Monday, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England.Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career.Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order.”It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the 36-year-old Kohli posted on his official feed, which has 271 million followers.”Honestly, I never imagined the journey this format would take me on. It’s tested me, shaped me, and taught me lessons I’ll carry for life.”As I step away from this format, it’s not easy — but it feels right. I’ve given it everything I had, and it’s given me back so much more than I could’ve hoped for.”An inspirational figure, Kohli was India’s most successful Test captains with 40 wins and 17 defeats in 68 matches before stepping down from the role in 2022. The next best are Mahendra Singh Dhoni with 27 wins from 60 and Sourav Ganguly with 21 from 49.”I’m walking away with a heart full of gratitude — for the game, for the people I shared the field with, and for every single person who made me feel seen along the way,” Kohli said.”I’ll always look back at my Test career with a smile.”The fiercely competitive Kohli’s declining form in the five-day game may have prompted his decision to call it a day. After averaging close to 55 at his peak between 2011 and 2019, he could muster only 32.56 over the past 24 months.- ‘Lion’s passion’ -Kohli’s last Test was in Sydney in January when India lost the match and with it the series 3-1 to Australia.Apart from an unbeaten century in the second innings of the first Test in Perth, Kohli managed just 90 runs from eight innings in the five-Test series.The 36-year-old Kohli was part of the “Fab Four” quartet of batting greats who dominated Test cricket over the past decade, alongside Steve Smith of Australia, Kane Williamson of New Zealand and Joe Root of England.Nicknamed “King Kohli”, he was India’s batting backbone across three international formats and ended his Twenty20 career with a match-winning innings in his team’s World Cup final victory in Barbados last year.Kohli then walked away from the shortest format along with Rohit.The hugely popular Kohli’s retirement statement had within an hour of being posted generated more than six million “likes” and in excess of half a million comments on social media as fans and fellow cricketers paid tribute.India cricket coach Gautam Gambhir called Kohli: “A man with lion’s passion!” on X, adding “Will miss u cheeks…”.Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar posted on social media: “Biggest brand of the modern cricket era who gave it all for cricket’s oldest format. Test cricket owes that debt to Virat Kohli.”Veteran Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle said: “I would have liked to see #ViratKohli go out of Test cricket before a packed stadium. But since that is not to be, let us applaud him wherever we are.”He told a generation weaned on T20 cricket that Test cricket is cool and aspirational. And for that, the game owes him big time.”India’s selectors are due next week to name the squad for the five-Test series in England. The first match begins on June 20 in Leeds.

Virat Kohli is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished batsmen of his generation and is a hero to hundreds of millions of Indian fans.An inspiring leader and former captain, he retired from Test cricket on Monday with 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, scoring 30 centuries and 31 fifties.The Indian great played 123 matches since his Test debut in 2011. His highest score was 254 not out.The 36-year-old Kohli was part of the “Fab Four” quartet of batsmen who dominated Test cricket over the past decade, alongside Steve Smith of Australia, Kane Williamson of New Zealand and Joe Root of England.Nicknamed “King Kohli”, he was India’s batting backbone across three international formats and ended his Twenty20 career with a match-winning innings in the World Cup final victory in Barbados last year.Kohli then walked away from the shortest format along with captain Rohit Sharma who, like Kohli, is expected to continue playing 50-over cricket after retiring from Tests.Kohli’s declining form in the five-day game may have been a factor in his decision to call it a day. After averaging close to 55 at his peak between 2011 and 2019, the figure dropped to 32.56 over the past 24 months.”Virat never played for records. They happened as he progressed,” Kohli’s biographer Vijay Lokapally told AFP.”His batting skills and work ethic combined to create magic. “Longevity leads to milestones and that is what Virat has inherited from stalwarts like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar.”- Fierce competitor -Kohli’s huge popularity among Indian and global cricket fans is reminiscent of that once enjoyed by his idol Tendulkar.The number India 18 jersey worn by Kohli is by far the most popular piece of merchandise worn around grounds across the country.He picked the number after making his ODI debut on August 18, 2008, and also to honour his father, Prem, who passed away on December 18, 2006.With more than 26,000 international runs and a total of 80 centuries across the three formats, comparisons with Tendulkar are obvious but Lokapally disagrees.”He dislikes this comparison. He has his identity, Sachin Tendulkar has his. Their styles differ,” said Lokapally.”Sachin has faced some ferocious bowlers. Virat has dominated too.”A fierce competitor, Kohli has never shied away from a battle on the field which further endeared him to Indian fans, who regularly invade the pitch to touch the feet of their icon and take selfies with him.Underlining his immense popularity, Kohli has 271 million followers on Instagram.Kohli became India’s most successful Test captain with 40 wins and 17 defeats in 68 matches. The next best are Mahendra Singh Dhoni with 27 wins from 60 and Sourav Ganguly with 21 from 49.He is also fabulously wealthy, leading India’s list of highest-paid athletes with earnings of $33.9 million, mainly from brand endorsements, according to analysts Sportico’s 2022 list.From 2021 Kohli’s form started to desert him and he went more than two years without scoring a hundred. He resigned the T20 captaincy in late 2021 and was soon after sacked as 50-over captain.In 2022, Kohli gave up the Test reins and later talked about his mental struggles as the runs dried up, including how he had been “snappy” around his actress wife Anushka Sharma.Freed from the burden of captaincy, Kohli struck his first hundred for 1,020 days at the 2022 T20 World Cup.Having won the one-day World Cup in 2011, Kohli has one ambition still to be achieved.He is yet to lift the Indian Premier League title despite having featured for Royals Challengers Bengaluru in every campaign since the competition’s inaugural season in 2008.

Batting great Virat Kohli announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket on Monday, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England.Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted the decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his Test career.Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out.”It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the 36-year-old Kohli posted on his official feed, which has 271 million followers.”Honestly, I never imagined the journey this format would take me on. It’s tested me, shaped me, and taught me lessons I’ll carry for life.”As I step away from this format, it’s not easy — but it feels right. I’ve given it everything I had, and it’s given me back so much more than I could’ve hoped for.”An inspirational figure, Kohli was India’s most successful Test captains with 40 wins and 17 defeats in 68 matches before stepping down from the role in 2022. The next best are Mahendra Singh Dhoni with 27 wins from 60 and Sourav Ganguly with 21 from 49.”I’m walking away with a heart full of gratitude — for the game, for the people I shared the field with, and for every single person who made me feel seen along the way.”I’ll always look back at my Test career with a smile.”Kohli’s lack of form in the five-day game may have been behind his decision to call it a day. After averaging close to 55 at his peak between 2011 and 2019, the figure dropped to 32.56 over the past 24 months.Kohli’s last Test was in Sydney in January when India lost the match and with it the series 3-1 to Australia.Apart from an unbeaten century in the second innings of the first Test in Perth, Kohli managed just 90 runs from eight innings in the five-Test series.The 36-year-old Kohli was part of the “Fab Four” quartet of batting greats who dominated Test cricket over the past decade, alongside Steve Smith of Australia, Kane Williamson of New Zealand and Joe Root of England.Nicknamed “King Kohli”, he was India’s batting backbone across three international formats and ended his Twenty20 career with a match-winning innings in his team’s World Cup final victory in Barbados last year.Kohli then walked away from the shortest format along with Rohit.

A commando in an elite Sri Lankan police unit, Sameera Dilshan has an unusual mission — to reclaim farms poisoned by salt, a long-standing problem now accelerating due to climate change.Increasing salinity is slowly and steadily swallowing traditional rice paddies along the island’s coastline, taking away the livelihood of generations of farmers.Two hours’ drive south of the capital Colombo lies Katukurunda –- one of the camps of the formidable Special Task Force (STF), an elite force created four decades ago to fight Tamil rebels.While his colleagues train for riot control under the humid heat of the nearby Indian Ocean, the 35-year-old non-commissioned officer and his “commando-farmer” team are hoeing, weeding, and watering.Their goal? To grow coconut palms and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables in a paddy declared dead 40 years ago due to salt water contamination.”This plantation was launched in 2022 as part of a government initiative to improve food security,” Dilshan said, with local authorities allocating out land parcels.The method — known as “sorjan”, is similar to techniques used in Thailand and Indonesia.It reshapes flood-prone land by digging ponds where rice can be grown or fish raised, with more saline-tolerant coconut trees planted.Embankments around these ponds are used for more delicate crops.”We’re tending to 360 coconut trees planted here… along with pumpkins, gourds, and cucumbers,” said Dilshan. “In two and a half years, we’ll know if it’s a success or not.”- Yields under threat -“It’s an efficient and climate-resilient production system that optimises land use and productivity, and increases farmers’ profits,” said Buddhi Marambe, from the University of Peradeniya.The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a 2024 report that saltwater from seas and oceans affects 10.7 percent of the earth’s land, making it uncultivable in some cases.It travels up rivers with the tides, seeps into soil through evaporation, and contaminates groundwater used for irrigation.Climate change -– which dries out the soil, reduces water resources, or raises sea levels –- is expected to increase the proportion of such “salty” land from 24 percent to 32 percent of the world’s surface area by the end of the century, the FAO warns.These trends “threaten agricultural productivity and reduce crop yields in affected zones”, it warns.Sri Lanka is no exception.Marambe estimates that 223,000 hectares (551,000 acres), half of which are rice paddies, are impacted by salinity — nearly eight percent of the country’s total arable land.- Seeping salt -South of the pilot plantation lies the village of Parappuwa, surrounded by abandoned land.Here, just a few kilometres from the sea, only a tiny portion of the paddy fields is still in use.”Everything is polluted by salt that comes up during high tide,” said Gamini Piyal Wijesinghe, 46, a farmer’s son who, after he left the army, went into the restaurant business instead.He pointed to a small stream, where 18 small dams were built to stop the seawater.”They weren’t constructed properly,” he said. “The water seeps through.”Other former rice farmers have turned to cinnamon or rubber cultivation.”Cinnamon is doing fairly well, but our income has significantly dropped since we stopped growing rice,” said  W.D. Jayaratne, 50, head of the local farmers’ association.The future is gloomy.”Salinity in the water is increasing and threatening our farmland,” he added. “There are also insects. Everywhere you look, there are problems.”In this district of Kalutara, local authorities are offering abandoned land to farmers to bring it back under cultivation, mostly with coconut trees.”We’ve already allocated 400 hectares and plan to increase that to 1,000 in the next two years,” said the district chief Janaka Gunawardana.”There’s high demand for coconut. It will create income for our people.”- Resistant varieties -In Katukurunda, Aruna Priyankara Perera, 55, was encouraged by the success of the STF farming experiment.”I got five acres (two hectares) next to my hotel to replicate the STF’s project,” he said standing in front of his freshly planted coconut and pumpkin field.”The land is free for two years, provided you can show it’s being cultivated.”The local staple rice is a top concern for the authorities.”Soil salinity is a major issue in Sri Lanka,” said Marambe.”We’ve successfully tested several promising rice varieties that are resistant to salinity and flooding.”The stakes are high.A recent study of the Bentota river estuary, in the island’s southwest, found that half of local rice farmers had lost all their income due to saltwater contamination.Even more seriously, Sri Lanka’s food security is now under threat. The last rice harvest, from September to March, was the country’s lowest since 2019.”If we don’t all roll up our sleeves to bring salt-polluted land back into cultivation and production,” warned Marambe, “the future will only get darker.”