3 min readHyderabadJun 27, 2026 03:23 PM IST “I do solemnly swear in the name of God that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established” Mahalakshmamma said as she stood by her son K Buchaiah at the PGRS Hall of Bapatla Collectorate on June 23.
3 min readJun 27, 2026 04:58 PM IST
Indian team in action. (Deepak Malik / CREIMAS for BCCI)Ireland made history on Friday, defeating India by 34 runs in the first T20I in Belfast. This is the first time Ireland has beaten India in any format of cricket. The lesser-known Irish batters and bowlers humbled the World Champions. Former Indian opener Sadagoppan Ramesh did not mince his words, saying the Indian team was under the impression that this tour was a picnic, and he also praised the hosts. “Ireland deserve praise for using the bigger boundaries and testing the Indian batters out with the short delivery. It was clear that India played the match casually. They thought the Ireland series was a picnic tour, which they’ll win easily and were serious only about the England series. But Ireland taught India a lesson by saying this is no picnic spot,” Ramesh said on his YouTube channel.“The Ireland series was not even originally scheduled. It was like a pickle to the main course, which was England. But India embarassingly couldn’t handle the spice of the pickle, which is Ireland. Irrespective of what excuses can be cooked up for this, it’s a shocking and terrible defeat for Team India. Overconfidence is never healthy and it’s because of that, India’s story was over last night. India must be confident but not overconfident,” he added. Ramesh noted that this loss is even more of a shock because most of the Indian players have been playing T20 cricket for about four months in the form of the T20 World Cup and the Indian Premier League.
“Yes, even an elephant occasionally slips up. But how can it happen against an Ireland? This is a shocker, especially for a team whose last T20 match was the final of a World Cup. After a month of T20 cricket in the World Cup, all the Indian players played another 3 months of IPL. To play 4 months of continuous T20 cricket and then lose to Ireland is unexplainable,” said Ramesh. “India played shockingly poor cricket. They’ve been dropping catches from the T20 World Cup to the IPL to yesterday. They seem to always drop high catches. In the IPL, you can just bat or bowl and hide your fielding because of the Impact Player option. But in international cricket, you’ve to be a good fielder to be in the 11. Many players escaped in the IPL because of the Impact Player rule by just batting.”
3 min readHyderabadJun 27, 2026 03:23 PM IST
“I do solemnly swear in the name of God that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established” Mahalakshmamma said as she stood by her son K Buchaiah at the PGRS Hall of Bapatla Collectorate on June 23. (Special Arrangement)At 94, Kondragunta Mahalakshmamma has only one wish – to die an Indian. This week, the former US citizen’s wish was close to being fulfilled when she was administered the oath of allegiance to the nation at Bapatla, her native district in Andhra Pradesh. “I do solemnly swear in the name of God that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of India and fulfill my duties as a citizen of India,” she said as she stood by her son K Buchaiah at the PGRS Hall of Bapatla Collectorate on June 23. This 94-year-old former US citizen Kondragunta Mahalakshmamma has one ‘last wish’ — to die an Indian. A video of her taking the oath of allegiance on June 23 went viral on social media. pic.twitter.com/w0wuhcSx4t — The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) June 27, 2026 A US citizen since 2000, Mahalakshmamma had approached authorities for Indian citizenship after having given up her American citizenship. A video of her taking the oath of allegiance on June 23 went viral on social media. The oath of allegiance is mandatory under Section 38 of the Citizenship Rules, 2009, to become a citizen of India. It is administered by the district collector and magistrate. In the video, Mahalakshmamma, who’s hard of hearing, is heard administering the oath in Telugu with help from her oncologist son K Buchaiah, who’s heard shouting the words to her. The oath had to be administered in Telugu because she does not follow English. For District Collector V Vinod Kumar, the oath marked a “special day”. “We asked her why she wants to get Indian citizenship at this late stage in her life. She said that she wants to die an Indian and be cremated here in Chithagumpala village of Chinnaganjam area in Bapatla,” Kumar told The Indian Express. The collector quoted the 94-year-old as having said: “I’m nearing 95. My only wish is to spend my final days in my motherland and have my last rites performed in my village”. The application has now been sent to the Home Ministry. What made her relinquish Indian citizenship in the first place? In 2000, Mahalakshmamma moved to the US to be with her son’s family shortly after the demise of her husband in Andhra Pradesh. “She lived in the US till 2018 and then returned to India. She now holds an Overseas Citizen of India card,” Collector Kumar told The Indian Express. Mahalakshmamma has been living in Bapatla ever since 2018, the collector said. “But now she wants to be laid to rest in the country of her origin,” Kumar said.Story continues below this ad Mahalakshmamma’s family declined to comment. However, Bapatla MP Krishna Prasad Tenneti told The Indian Express, “These days when somebody who has experienced the comforts of a foreign life wants to get back to India, we should appreciate it. It is not often that one hears the desire to come back to one’s homeland. I think this thought which has come to the 94-year-old mother is a noble thought”.
Nikhila Henry is an Assistant Editor at The Indian Express, based in Hyderabad. With a career spanning 17 years, she has established herself as an authoritative voice on South Indian affairs, specialising in the complex intersections of politics, education, and social justice.
Experience & Career: Nikhila commenced her journalism career in 2007 as an education correspondent for The Times of India in Hyderabad,where she gained recognition for her coverage of student politics. Her professional trajectory includes a four-year tenure at The Hindu, where she focused on minority affairs and social welfare. In 2019, she took on a leadership role as the South Bureau Chief for The Quint, where she directed reg
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