A "dress rehearsal" of sorts for likely finalists India and Sri Lanka is on the cards on Thursday in their Asia Cup Super Fours game here. It could well have been so for certain but India did themselves no favours by slumping to a huge defeat at Pakistan’s hands here on Wednesday and with the National Stadium pitches showing signs of slowing down, they will be tested in the penultimate match of the semi-final league.

India’s batting may not have shown many cracks so far but against Muttiah Muralitharan and the relatively unknown Ajanta Mendis, the going will not be easy. The opposition’s quality is obviously higher and the Indians must be prepared to work the ball around rather than look for the big hits. It’s no secret that batting might has carried the two teams and it could well be time for the focus to shift to the bowlers. The eight-wicket defeat at Pakistan’s hands served to emphatically underline that fact for Dhoni.

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Fearing communal disturbances that could tarnish his image and that of Gujarat, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi is believed to have influenced the Gujarat BJP to seek special permission of exemption from the Bharat Bandh call on Thursday.

The VHP has given the Bharat Bandh call on Thursday in protest against the decision of the J&K government to revoke its order on transfer of land for the Amarnath shrine.

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In a politically significant development on Wednesday, Chief Minister Narendra Modi took a marathon four-hour class of his ministers and reviewed their half yearly performance.

Carrying a 35-page review agenda, Modi sought to know from the respective ministers the performance on various department schemes under their charge. The ministers were backed by an entourage of officialdoms to fill in details of the facts and figures that the Chief Minister demanded.

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