New Delhi: The Italian team, participating for the first time in the ICC T20 World Cup, created history by winning against Nepal by 10 wickets. This is Italy’s first victory in the T20 world. The Mosca Brothers were instrumental in Italy’s victory. Both of them played unbeaten half-century innings in a stormy manner for the team, but the real hero of the team was Krishan Kalugamej. Who was chosen player of the match. In the match, Kalugamej took 3 wickets for just 18 runs in 4 overs. Due to his strong bowling, Nepal team was all out for just 123 runs in 19.3 overs.

It was not at all easy for Kalugamej, who wrote the story of Italy’s victory in the T20 World Cup, to reach here. Generally, Italy is known for its football, but with this victory in the T20 World Cup, Italy has now made an important place on the cricket map. In such a situation, let us know about the hero of Italy’s victory who created history for the team.

Who is Krishan Kalugamage?

34 year old Krishan Kalugamage lives in Lucca, Italy, but his roots are linked to Sri Lanka. Kalugamej wanted to become a cricketer since childhood and wanted to play for Sri Lanka, but his dream was shattered when his parents took him to Italy in search of work in 2007. At that time Kalugamej was only 16 years old. His childhood in Negombo, Sri Lanka was spent listening to cricket commentary on the radio with his grandfather and playing cricket with his friends in school. He was also a member of his school’s Under-13 and Under-15 teams. After reaching Italy, Kalugamej’s dream of becoming a cricketer was almost over. Because the popularity of cricket in Italy was nominal.

Crishan Kalugamage

In such a situation, it was no less than a challenge for Kalugamej to adjust himself in the new country and culture. During this time, he also worked in hotels to keep his dream alive, but his love for cricket did not diminish. Taking out time from work, Kalugamej started playing cricket with a tennis ball. Kalugamej initially started playing as an amateur, but gradually transitioned to competitive cricket. Then Kalugamej and some of his friends started playing for small clubs in Lucca. Kalugamej got his first big break in Italy in 2015-16 when he was selected for Roma Cricket Club. This is the oldest cricket club in Italy. Since then he has been associated with this club and with the help of the same club he now got a chance for Italy.

Kalugamej started as a fast bowler

Kalugamej started his cricketing career as a fast bowler. Kalugamej had told in one of his interviews that his height had suddenly increased a lot, so he thought of becoming a fast bowler. When Kalugamej got a chance to play for Italy’s A team, he played there as a fast bowler, but soon he realized that his real strength was leg spin. Then what happened was that he left pace bowling and made spin his weapon.

Crishan Kalugamage

However, injury also played an important role in his transformation from a pace bowler to a spinner. He said in an interview, “I suffered many injuries due to fast bowling, so I decided to become a legspinner in 2021. During that time, Prabhat Ekneligoda, who is the founder of Roma Cricket Club, had a deep influence on Kalugamej. He believed that legspin was Kalugamej’s real talent. The return to spin bowling not only gave a new direction to his career but also gave him hope of staying for a long time.

Kalugamej is a fan of Arvind de Silva and Jayasuriya

Kalugamage tells that he grew up watching Aravind de Silva and Sanath Jayasuriya and considered both of them his heroes. As a leg spinner, Kalugamej considers Shane Warne, Wanindu Hasaranga and Rashid Khan as his idols. During the winter session, Kalugamage spent more than a month in Colombo as a net bowler. Because at that time there is no facility of outdoor training in Italy. During this time, Kalugamej had an encounter with Hasaranga and he also gave him very important tips in bowling. After this, last year he also met Rashid Khan in Ireland. He learned to bowl googly from Rashid Khan. Kalugamage had taken four wickets in three matches in Ireland. It was because of his strong bowling that Italy won the T20 International for the first time.

Crishan Kalugamage

Left many jobs for cricket

Playing cricket for Italy has not been easy at all for Kalugamej. Kalugamej left several jobs in Italy for cricket. Because due to work, he could not get time for cricket and he also faced problem of holidays during the tournament. Currently he works at La Vita Pizza restaurant in Lucca from Monday to Saturday. On Sundays he goes to Rome early in the morning for training and returns late in the evening. In between, he takes out time for gym and running to maintain his fitness. After becoming the player of the match in the first win in the T20 World Cup, Kalugamej now hopes to focus on full-time cricket. At present he plays only part time and earns his living by working in a restaurant.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ripped the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday after an athlete was disqualified for wearing a helmet to honor victims in the war with Russia.

The IOC said Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych’s decision to continue to wear the helmet that paid tribute to more than 20 athletes and coaches who died in the war violated the organization’s policy against making political statements on the field of play.

The ruling caused massive backlash among Ukrainian athletes.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint news conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.  (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

“Sport shouldn’t mean amnesia, and the Olympic movement should help stop wars, not play into the hands of aggressors,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. “Unfortunately, the decision of the International Olympic Committee to disqualify Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych says otherwise. This is certainly not about the principles of Olympism, which are founded on fairness and the support of peace.

“I thank our athlete for his clear stance. His helmet, bearing the portraits of fallen Ukrainian athletes, is about honor and remembrance. It is a reminder to the whole world of what Russian aggression is and the cost of fighting for independence. And in this, no rule has been broken.”

Zelenskyy pinned the blame on Russia for violating “Olympic principles” with its continued wars on neighboring nations, including his own.

Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete under a neutral flag in the Olympics.

Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych, with his helmet, which features pictures of people killed in the war with Russia. Heraskevych was ruled out of the Men’s Skeleton event by the International Olympic Committee just over an hour before competition began, pictured at the Cortina Sliding Centre, on day six of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Italy on Feb. 12, 2026. (Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images)

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“And now, in 2026, despite repeated calls for a ceasefire during the Winter Olympics, Russia shows complete disregard, increasing missile and drone strikes on our energy infrastructure and our people,” Zelenskyy continued.

“660 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have been killed by Russia since the full-scale invasion began. Hundreds of our athletes will never again be able to take part in the Olympic Games or any other international competitions. And yet, 13 Russians are currently in Italy competing at the Olympics. They compete under ‘neutral’ flags at the Games, while in real life publicly supporting Russian aggression against Ukraine and the occupation of our territories. And they are the ones who deserve disqualification.

“We are proud of Vladyslav and of what he did. Having courage is worth more than any medal.”

Heraskevych met with IOC President Kirsty Coventry before he was set to compete in the first official run in skeleton. He said they couldn’t “find common ground.”

Heraskevych received word from the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), saying the helmet was “inconsistent with the Olympic Charter and Guidelines on Athlete Expression.” The IOC offered concessions to him, including wearing a black armband or the ability to display the helmet off the ice.

“I believe, deeply, the IBSF and IOC understand that I’m not violating any rules,” Heraskevych said. “Also, I would say (it’s) painful that it really looks like discrimination because many athletes already were expressing themselves. … They didn’t face the same things. So, suddenly, just the Ukrainian athlete in this Olympic Games will be disqualified for the helmet.”

Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych arrives at the finish during a men’s skeleton training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026.  (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

The IOC expressed “regret” over the decision.

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“As you’ve all seen over the last few days, we’ve allowed for Vladyslav to use his helmet in training,” said Coventry, who at times shed tears while speaking to reporters. “No one, no one — especially me — is disagreeing with the messaging. The messaging is a powerful message. It’s a message of remembrance. It’s a message of memory and no one is disagreeing with that. The challenge that we are facing is that we wanted to ask or come up with a solution for just the field of play.”

Last Updated:February 12, 2026, 19:27 IST

Chitrakoot Viral Video: A video from Chitrakoot Dham Karvi platform is becoming increasingly viral on social media. In the video, two people were seen trying to board a moving train, then both of their feet slipped, know what happened next?

New Delhi: Till now we have read about the trade relations between India and Egypt in history books, but a recent discovery has made it even more exciting. Researchers from Switzerland and France have discovered 2,000-year-old Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions on tombs located in Egypt’s famous ‘Valley of Kings’. This discovery proves that in ancient times, Indian traders not only visited the ports of Egypt, but they also had a keen interest in the tourist places and culture there.

Who was ‘Sigai Korran’? who carved his name on stones

Swiss scholar Ingo Strauch and French researcher Charlotte Schmidt have discovered and decoded these inscriptions. They found that about 2,000 years ago a Tamil merchant had visited the tombs of Egyptian kings (Pharaohs). He had scratched his name ‘Cikai Korran’ at eight different places in five of the six tombs. In Tamil, ‘Sigai’ means crown or braid and ‘Corran’ means leader or king.

According to a report published in Times of India, ‘Sigai Korran- Vara Kant’ was found written at one place, which means ‘He came and he saw’. Researchers believe that this merchant probably also understood the Greek language, because he carved his name there, imitating the style of Greek inscriptions.

There was interest not only in business but also in tourism.

Professor Ingo Strauch of the University of Lausanne said that till now we had found evidence of the presence of Tamil traders only in the coastal ports of Egypt. But the finding of these inscriptions in interior areas like Valley of Kings shows that Tamil traders stayed there for a long time. They not only came to sell and buy goods, but also traveled for miles on foot to see the architecture and history of the place.

Traces of North India also found: Confluence of Sanskrit and Prakrit

Researchers have discovered a total of 30 inscriptions in the Valley of the Kings, out of which 20 are in Tamil. The rest of the inscriptions are in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Gandhari-Kharoshthi languages. This makes it clear that at that time, not only South India, but also traders from Gujarat, Maharashtra and North-West India used to travel to Egypt during the Roman period. A Sanskrit inscription also mentions an envoy from the ‘Kshaharata’ dynasty of western India, who arrived there during the 1st century AD.

The biggest proof of two-way trade

Senior epigraphist Y. According to Subbarayalu and archaeologist V. Selvakumar, this discovery is strong evidence of ‘two-way trade’. Till now it was believed that only Roman traders came to India, but now it is clear that Indian traders were equally actively reaching out to Rome and the Egyptian empire.

A 23-year-old man charged with a hate crime has reportedly been released on bail after allegedly making antisemitic comments and stabbing a Jewish man near a New York City Jewish center in December.

Armani Charles pleaded not guilty in his first court appearance in Brooklyn and was released after posting $50,000 in bail, the Times of Israel reported, citing court documents.

Charles was charged with attempted assault, assault, aggravated harassment, menacing and a hate crime after allegedly stabbing a Jewish man in the chest on Dec. 16 in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood.

Authorities said the victim was a 35-year-old man whose injuries were not life-threatening, and he received care at a nearby hospital.

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The suspect, whom police identified as 23-year-old Armani Charles, was charged with attempted assault, assault, aggravated harassment, menacing and a hate crime after allegedly stabbing a Jewish man in the chest on Dec. 16 in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood. (NYPD)

The victim, identified as Elias Rosner, told the New York Post in December that his assailant was walking down the street while making antisemitic comments.

The suspect, Armani Charles, is pictured left in surveillance video, and the victim, Elias Rosner, is pictured right. (NYPD/Facebook/ Elias Rosner)

“I’m going to kill Jewish people, I’m going to kill a Jew today, I don’t give a f—,” Rosner recalled. “We wouldn’t be in this mess if the Holocaust had happened.”

Footage of the incident circulated on social media showing the two men squaring off in a minuteslong dispute. The eventual victim followed the suspect after their verbal confrontation initially broke off, at which point the suspect turned and stabbed at the victim.

Footage of a suspect who police say stabbed a Jewish man while making anti-Jewish statements in New York City on Tuesday, December 16, 2025. (NYPD)

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Police released images and a brief video of the suspect, who was later identified as Charles.

The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force investigated the incident.

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Charles is scheduled to make his next court appearance in April.

Fox News Digital was unable to immediately contact an attorney representing Charles.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.