YSRCP leaders turn a donkey into a “two-wheeler” to protest skyrocketing fuel costs in Visakhapatnam on Monday. This bizarre “donkey-cycle” took center stage as YSRCP sounded the alarm on fuel inflation as part of their state-level protest on Monday.
| Photo Credit: V RAJU

Shivam Dube flickered brightly with a fifty of exceptional quality, but it was insufficient to prevent India’s 50-run defeat against New Zealand in the fourth T20I in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday (January 28, 2026).

The clean-hitting Dube 65 (23 balls, 3×4, 7×6) batted all but his own in India’s steep chase of 216, but the hosts eventually finished at 165 all out as the Kiwis reduced the margin to 3-1 in the five-match series.

With Ishan Kishan sitting out with an unspecified injury, Abhishek Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav were expected to lead the chase.

But Abhishek fell in the first ball of India’s innings, skying Matt Henry to Devon Conway at deep point.

Suryakumar’s meek push was converted into a brilliant return catch by Jacob Duffy as India slumped to 9 for 2.

Rinku Singh (39) and Sanju Samson (24) tried to keep India afloat but they struggled to force the pace either in the Power Play or after that.

Rinku fell leg before to Zak Foulkes and Samson, who hit a delicious flicked six off Duffy, was foxed by Mitchell Santner’s straight delivery to get castled.

Hardik Pandya too returned without any significant contribution as India further slipped to 82 for five in the 11th over, leaving Dube and Harshit Rana (9) to save the day.

Dube batted fearlessly, and hardly displayed the pressure of an ever-climbing asking rate that hovered around 14 almost all the while.

Dube, who was saved by DRS from a leg-before decision on 46, raised the hopes in the Indian camp, biffing 29 runs off leg-spinner Ish Sodhi’s third over that included a sequence of 4, 6, 4, 6, 6.

The left-hander brought up his fifty in just 15 balls with a six over square leg off Duffy. The sixth wicket of Dube and Harshit Rana added 63 runs and the latter’s contribution was a princely four runs.

But Dube’s fortune finally deserted him when Rana’s rasping straight drive shattered the stumps at non-striker’s end after taking a deflection off Henry’s hand.

That effectively signalled the end of India’s chase.

Earlier, New Zealand’s innings revolved around Tim Seifert’s blistering fifty.

Seifert (62 off 36 balls, 7×4, 3×6) was the standout Kiwi batter but he did not have enough followers to fully drive home the advantage after India produced tight bowling in the middle overs.

Seifert, who joined the team after appearing in the recent Big Bash League, did not hide his intention, smoking Arshdeep Singh for three fours in a row, although two of them were off edges.

But in the next over, the right-hander smashed Rana for a six over long-on, showcasing his muscle and timing.

In the pacer’s next over, Seifert eked out a six and four in successive balls before sending a Jasprit Bumrah delivery to the sight-screen for another maximum.

New Zealand reached fifty in the fourth over and ended the Power Play at 71 for no loss.

Seifert’s frenetic innings also helped Devon Conway (44) to settle down and then have a go at the Indian bowlers.

After meandering to 9 off 9 balls, the left-hander found his range, plundering two fours and a six off Ravi Bishnoi — a loft between long-on and mid-wicket, a square cut and a slog sweep.

Conway made 35 runs off the next 13 balls but soon holed out to Rinku Singh at deep cover off Kuldeep Yadav, as the home side snapped a 100-run opening wicket alliance.

Seifert soon completed a 25-ball fifty but India found a small creek on the door, and soon snaffled four wickets in the space of 37 runs to reduce the Kiwis to 137 for four in 13.4 overs.

The Indians did not bowl any magic spell but the visiting batters were overly eager to maintain a run rate of 12 that the Seifert-Conway combine was scoring at.

But that overzealous attempt resulted in them losing wickets in a cluster. Daryl Mitchell (39 not out, 18b) made some strong hits in the death overs to take New Zealand past 200.

Teams

New Zealand: Tim Seifert (w), Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (c), Zakary Foulkes, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy.

India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (w), Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.

Published – January 28, 2026 07:18 pm IST

Hyderabad:

Facing relentless harassment after taking a loan of Rs 2,000 from an instant loan app, a 27-year-old died by suicide in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam just 47 days after he got married.

Police officials said Narendra, who catches fish for a living, had been unable to go fishing a couple of months ago because of adverse weather conditions and decided to take a loan of Rs 2,000 from an instant loan app to tide him over. They said Narendra managed to pay back the principal amount but was hounded by people from the loan company, who wanted him to pay a big amount as interest. 

When he said he could not afford to pay, people from the company allegedly harassed and abused him. They also blackmailed him and his wife, whom he had married on October 20, by morphing a nude photo and sharing it with his friends on WhatsApp.

The officials said Narendra found it difficult to confide in anyone about the harassment and this led to him getting depressed. Unable to put up with the harassment and the trauma any longer, Narendra hanged himself on Saturday. 

His family members have lodged complaints with the police commissioner and the district collector.
 

Hyderabad:

A 17-year-old student in Visakhapatnam has died by suicide after jumping off her college building. In a long text exchange with her family minutes before she took the plunge, the student said she was sexually harassed at the college and could not complain to the institution’s authorities or the police because her harassers had taken photos of her and had threatened to post them on social media. 

In the heart-rending messages, the girl told her family that some of her fellow students in the college had also been sexually assaulted, and then addressed her elder sister, writing, “Sorry didi, I have to go.”

The teenager was a student of a polytechnic college in Visakhapatnam – name withheld to protect her identity – and her family, which lives in neighbouring Anakapalle district of Andhra Pradesh, had got a call from the institute’s authorities around 10 pm on Thursday that she had gone missing. When she did not answer her phone for some time, the family informed the police. 

Around 12.50 am on Friday, the girl finally responded to frantic messages from her family and asked them not to be tense.

“Don’t get tense, listen to me, I can’t tell you why I am leaving and, even if I do, you won’t understand. Please forget about me. I am really sorry. Mom and dad, I am grateful that you gave birth to me and brought me up. My chapter is coming to an end,” she wrote in Telugu. 

Congratulating her elder sister, who is expecting a baby, the girl also had a message for her younger sister, “Focus on your future and study whatever you like. Don’t get distracted, don’t be influenced by others, unlike me. Always be happy, and have a good life.”

Then, addressing her father specifically, the teenager wrote that she was taking the step because she was sexually harassed in college. “You may ask why I am not complaining to the faculty, but that won’t help. They (her harassers) have taken my photos and are threatening me. There are other girls as well. We aren’t being able to tell anyone and we are not being able to avoid college either. We are caught in between. If I file a police complaint or approach the authorities, they will release my photos on social media.”

“The reason I am taking this decision is that if I go away now, you will feel bad for a few years and you will forget later. But, if I am around, you will look at me and feel bad all the time,” she told her father before leaving a final message for her elder sister: “Sorry didi, I made you all tense, but I have to go”.

The family responded immediately, telling her the police were on the way and pleading with her not to make any rash decisions, but got no response. The teenager’s body was found some time later.

The girl’s father said a police complaint has been filed. “I need to know why my daughter died. I brought her up with great love and care. She got good marks in her Class 10 exams and we got her admitted to this college believing that she would get a good education here.”

‘No Men Have Access’

The college’s principal said men cannot access the women’s hostel. “We keep observing all students. Men cannot go to the girls’ hostel. There are women wardens, so there is no chance of sexual harassment,” he claimed.

A police official said faculty members and other students are being questioned and all angles are being investigated.