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Good evening, Hope you had as good a weekend as Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer did. It was grand. In the early hours of Monday morning, Iyer engineered a knock against the Mumbai Indians, an assault that will be remembered as one of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) all-time great knocks. While Iyer got going in the 13th over with 19 runs off Reece Topley, it wasn’t until the 18th over that his genius shone through. With wickets becoming imperative, Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai captain, brought on his talisman Jasprit Bumrah for the 18th over. You can sit back and watch the second ball of that over on loop and marvel at the high levels of skill on display. Bumrah unleashing his big booming yorker, tailing in late and, unlike most batters who would have merely played it out, Iyer, with his head glued to the ball, got his bat down not just in time but met it beautifully to guide it past third man for four. Insane. Iyer’s knock, with excellent assists from Nehal Wadhera and Josh Inglis, stirred the Kings to their second final, where they’ll meet the Royal Challengers Bengaluru tomorrow. This, of course, means the IPL will now have a new winner, its 8th different team in its 18th season. Bring it on! On that note, let’s dive in 👇🏽
📝 The Debrief
Russia’s war with Ukraine just took a new turn, courtesy of the latter’s potentially decisive attack deep into the former’s territory
As someone who’s tuned in and out of the Russia-Ukraine conflict (it's a long war!), I couldn’t help but take note of Sunday’s events. Ukraine launched an audacious, “large-scale” swarm drone attack on multiple Russian air bases, including one in Siberia, over 4,000 kilometres away from the frontlines. In its ‘Operation Spider’s Web’, Ukraine attacked five Russian military airbases deep inside the latter’s borders, leaving 41 bomber aircraft in flames. The attack followed Russia sending a record 472 drones into Ukraine earlier on Sunday. The operation, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described as an “absolutely brilliant result” and one that will “undoubtedly be in the history books,” was 18 months in the making, with those involved in it “withdrawn from Russian territory in time.” So, how did Ukraine pull it off, on the eve of peace talks between the warring countries in Istanbul? Intelligence success: Sunday’s events have been hailed as a significant outcome for Ukraine’s intelligence agency, the Sluzhba Bezpeky Ukrainy (SBU). Over the past 18 months, the drones were first smuggled into Russia and hidden under the roofs of small wooden cabins. Trucks were driven close to these airbases. These roof panels were activated by a remote mechanism, which allowed the drones to fly out and initiate their attack. The SBU claims to have caused $7 billion worth of damage to at least 40 Russian strategic bombers, including the nuclear-capable Tu-95 and Tu-22M3, which Russia used to carry out long-range attacks on Ukraine. Curiously, Zelenskyy stated in a Telegram post that the “office” of its operation inside Russian territory “was located right next to the FSB (Federal Security Service) of Russia, in one of their regions.” He added that Ukraine had achieved this independently, with its officials asserting that they had not informed the United States about their actions in advance. Shifting tactics: To borrow from The Economist, Sunday’s attack represented a significant change in tack from Ukraine, which had previously deployed larger, fixed-wing drones at night and targeted areas closer to its border with Russia. The use of small drones during the day and deep into Russian territory marks an entirely different approach, with its intelligence unit controlling the operation. The Economist quoted a source as saying that Russia was first “encouraged to move more of their planes to particular bases by Ukrainian strikes on other ones.” It adds, “Three days before the attack, dozens of planes had moved to the Olenya airfield in Murmansk province…It was precisely here that most damage was done.”
✍️ From our newsroom I rest my case: In a gripping courtroom drama, 65-year-old Mamta Pathak, a former chemistry professor convicted of murdering her husband, a senior doctor, via electrocution, has garnered attention by arguing her own appeal before the Madhya Pradesh High Court. Arrested in 2021 and convicted in 2022 based on circumstantial evidence, Pathak rejected legal aid and spent over a year studying her case. In a series of hearings since March 2024, Pathak has questioned the post-mortem’s assertion of electric burns, claiming that chemical tests are necessary to confirm such findings. She highlighted gaps in forensic interpretation, cast doubt on witness credibility, and cited her deteriorating health as well as her responsibilities toward her mentally ill son. After multiple appearances, she recently sought assistance from her former counsel to conclude arguments. The case, equal parts legal oddity and human tragedy, as my colleague Anand Mohan J writes from Bhopal, now awaits judgment.
🔎 Need to know Calling time: Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell announced his retirement from one-day international cricket. Maxwell, a two-time World Cup winner (2015 and 2012), first represented Australia’s ODI team in 2012. Also, calling it quits is South African wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klassen, who is retiring from international cricket. “Targeted terror attack”: Eight people were injured on Sunday when a man shouted “Free Palestine” and attacked a crowd with inflammable devices at the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado. The suspect has been identified as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman. More birds: India’s largest airline, IndiGo, is doubling down on its ambitions by placing an order for another 30 wide-body Airbus A350-900 aircraft. The latest order brings the total number of A350 jets to 60.
🎙️Expresso Playlist!
In today’s Playlist, I recommend an excellent episode from our in-house sports podcast, Game Time, where hosts Mihir Vasavda and Vinayakk Mohanarangan sit down with Sandip G to discuss Madhya Pradesh’s continued rise as a cricketing hub. One of its more familiar stars, Rajat Patidar, is on the verge of leading RCB to their maiden IPL title tomorrow.
✋🏽 One last thing
I’ll leave you with this excellent Bloomberg Businessweek deep dive on how YouTube is the TV service of choice for viewers of all ages. A quote from the story ft YouTube CEO Neal Mohan: “When people turn on the TV, they turn on YouTube.” Whoa. (Guilty as charged here.)
That’s all from me today. Thank you so much for reading this edition. If you enjoy the Evening Expresso, tell your friends to subscribe to the newsletter. You can do so by signing up for the Morning Expresso. Additionally, you can reach me via email for tips, feedback, or simply to say hello! 😀 Until tomorrow, Venkat Ananth |
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