title: Indian Airlines Flight 814

text: However, instead of arresting the hijackers and the three prisoners who had been handed over to them, Taliban authorities drove them to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, to Quetta in Pakistan.


title: Indian Airlines Flight 814

text: Meanwhile, the Taliban had given the hijackers ten hours to leave Afghanistan. The five hijackers departed with a Taliban hostage to ensure their safe passage and were reported to have left Afghanistan.


title: Indian Airlines Flight 814

text: Returned to Indian Airlines in January 2000, the nearly 20-year-old Airbus aircraft was "retired" from flying (pulled out of flying operations) in early 2001, and remained at the Indian Airlines engineering base in Santa Cruz, Mumbai. Bought by Airbus in May 2002, the aircraft was then stored at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in March 2003. Three and a half years after the hijacking, the hijacked aircraft was later sold as scrap by Indian Airlines in May 2003, subsequently being broken up and scrapped in Mumbai in December 2003. The hull is believed to have fetched 22 lakh. The scrapping was handled via Metal Scrap Trading Corporation (MSTC).


title: Indian Airlines Flight 814

text: The case was investigated by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which charged 10 people (out of whom seven, including the five hijackers, were still absconding and are in Pakistan). On February 5, 2008, a special anti-hijacking Patiala House Court sentenced all three accused, namely Abdul Latif, Yusuf Nepali, and Dilip Kumar Bhujel, to life imprisonment. They were charged with helping the hijackers in procuring fake passports and taking weapons on board. However, CBI moved Punjab and Haryana High Court demanding the death penalty (instead of life imprisonment) for Abdul Latif. The case came up for regular hearing in high court in September 2012, but the CBI's application was rejected. Also, Abdul Latif's application for parole was rejected in 2015. On 13 September 2012, the Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested terror suspect Mehrajuddin Dand, who allegedly provided logistical support for the hijacking of IC-814 in 1999. He allegedly provided travel papers to the hijackers. The Punjab and Haryana High Court ultimately convicted two persons for the attack, sentencing them to life imprisonment. They appealed against this sentence to the Supreme Court of India.


title: Indian Airlines Flight 814

text: On 10 July 2020, one of the accused, Abdul Latif Adam Momin, along with 18 other persons including an employee of the passport office, was acquitted by a Sessions Court in Mumbai of charges relating to the fabrication of passports in connection with the hijacking incident.


title: Indian Airlines Flight 814

text: The ill-fated hijacked aircraft became the largest piece of evidence involved in the subsequent criminal investigation from the Punjab courts, where the hijack case was being heard, who deemed that the aircraft was vital for investigation. The detectives got fingerprints of the hijackers from it. A model of the plane, complete with seat numbers, was created to be produced in court and a court official was trained to assemble it, as it was unwieldy.


title: Indian Airlines Flight 814

text: The incident is seen as a failure of the BJP government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and IB chief Ajit Doval said that India would have had a stronger negotiating hand if the aircraft had not been allowed to leave Indian territory. Doval, the IB chief, who led the four-member negotiating team to Kandahar, described the whole incident as a, "diplomatic failure," of the government in their inability to make the US and the UAE use their influence to help secure a quick release of the passengers.


title: Indian Airlines Flight 814

text: External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh also received criticism for praising the Taliban for their co-operation after the hostages had been returned.


title: Indian Airlines Flight 814

text: Relatives of the passengers aboard Flight IC 814 also raised public protests at being denied information about the passengers' health and status, twice entering briefings and meetings of government officials by force, to demand information, and holding press conferences to criticize the government. A message from Kandahar ATC was circulated to the public, stating that the plane was being regularly cleaned, and that the passengers were being provided with food, water, and entertainment; this was later proven to be false, according to passenger accounts.


title: Indian Airlines Flight 814

text: India had started to conduct supply operations to Panjshir in Afghanistan. Arms, ammunition and aircraft were provided to the Northern Alliance. India also provided logistical support to Ahmad Shah Massoud. The leader of the Alliance had visited India on multiple occasions to fine-tune strategies to take on the Taliban. During the US invasion of Afghanistan, Indian government allowed its military facilities to be used for strikes against Afghanistan and provided intelligence information on training camps of Islamic militants in Afghanistan.


title: Indian Airlines Flight 814

text: Captain Devi Sharan (Commander of IC814) recounted the events in a book titled "Flight into Fear – A Captain's Story" (2000). The book was written in collaboration with journalist Srinjoy Chowdhury. Flight engineer Anil K. Jaggia also wrote a book specifically depicting the events that unfolded during the hijacking ordeal titled "IC 814 Hijacked! The Inside Story". The book was written in collaboration with Saurabh Shukla. The flight purser, Anil Sharma, has also written a detailed report of the hijack based on his experience in his book, "IA's Terror Trail". Indian Airlines, India's sole domestic airline up to 1993, was hijacked 16 times, from 1971 to 1999.


title: Indian Airlines Flight 814

text: The 2003 Bollywood film "Zameen" is loosely based upon the IC 814 hijacking and also Operation Entebbe of the Israel Defense Forces in Uganda. "Hijack" is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film by Kunal Shivdasani based on the hijacking and stars Shiney Ahuja, Esha Deol and Ishitha Chauhan in the lead roles. "Kandahar", a 2010 Indian Malayalam-language war film by Major Ravi is based on the hijacking. The political situation is portrayed from an Indian perspective in the film. "Payanam" (), a 2011 Indian action thriller film by Radha Mohan is also loosely based on Indian Airlines hijacking but takes place at the Tirupati Airport in Andhra Pradesh.


title: Philip Seymour Hoffman on screen and stage

text: Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967–2014) was an American actor, director, and producer who made his screen debut on the police procedural "Law & Order" in 1991. He made his film debut later in the same year by appearing in a minor role in "Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole". Hoffman followed this with supporting roles as a student in "Scent of a Woman" (1992), and a storm chaser in "Twister" (1996) before his breakthrough role as a gay boom operator in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama "Boogie Nights" (1997), for which he received critical acclaim. In the same year, he appeared in the Revolutionary War documentary series "Liberty!" (1997). Two years later, he played a kind nurse in Anderson's "Magnolia" and an arrogant playboy in "The Talented Mr. Ripley", for which he received the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor. Hoffman made his Broadway debut the following year with his lead role in "True West" which garnered him a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.


text: Hoffman received the Academy Award for Best Actor, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his portrayal of writer Truman Capote in the 2005 biographical film "Capote". He followed this by playing a ruthless arms dealer in the action spy film "" (2006) and CIA agent Gust Avrakotos in the Mike Nichols-directed "Charlie Wilson's War" (2007). Hoffman's performance as a priest suspected of child abuse in the period drama "Doubt" (2008) with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams received critical acclaim and multiple award nominations in the Best Supporting Actor category. In the same year, he played a troubled theatre director in Charlie Kaufman's "Synecdoche, New York".


text: In 2010, he made his directorial debut with the romantic comedy "Jack Goes Boating", an adaptation of the 2007 play in which he had also starred. Two years later, he played a cult leader in Anderson's psychological drama "The Master" and Willy Loman in the play "Death of a Salesman". For the former, Hoffman was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and for the latter he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. He died of an accidental mixed drug overdose on February 2, 2014, at the age of 46. In his "New York Times" obituary, he was described as "perhaps the most ambitious and widely admired American actor of his generation". Broadway theatres dimmed their lights for one minute in tribute.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: The Afghanistan men's national team (, ) represents Afghanistan in international cricket. Cricket has been played in Afghanistan since the mid-19th century, but it was only in the early 21st century that the national team began to enjoy success. The Afghanistan Cricket Board was formed in 1995 and became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2001 and a member of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in 2003. After nearly a decade of playing international cricket, on 22 June 2017, at an ICC meeting in London, full ICC Membership (and therefore Test status) was granted to Afghanistan. Alongside Ireland, this took the number of Test cricket playing nations to twelve. It is the first country to ever achieve Full Member status after holding Affiliate Membership of the ICC.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: The team is ranked 9th in Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket as of January 2021, and holds the world record for the highest ever T20I score, with their score of 278/3 against Ireland at Dehradun on 23 February 2019.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In August 2021, concerns and doubts were raised over the participation of the Afghanistan national cricket team in the future international matches ever since Afghanistan was brought under the control of the Taliban. Concerns were raised over the safety of Afghan national cricketers and their families who were still in Afghanistan during the Taliban takeover on 15 August 2021. , three of the Afghanistan women's national cricket team had evacuated to Canada, while the others were afraid of how they, as women, would be treated by the Taliban.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: Taliban spokespersons stated that the Taliban would not disrupt the men's cricket team's participation in international matches and that they would allow Afghanistan to play its first ever bilateral series against Pakistan in Sri Lanka which was scheduled to start in September 2021. The Pakistan Cricket Board announced in August 2021 that the tour would be rescheduled to 2022. As of November 2022, the tour had not taken place.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: Despite the political turmoil, Afghanistan cricket team's media manager Hikmat Hassan confirmed that Afghanistan would participate in the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: The earliest record of cricket in Afghanistan is of British troops playing a match in Kabul in 1839, though it appears that no long lasting legacy of cricket was left by the British. In the 1990s, cricket became popular amongst the Afghan refugees residing in Pakistan, and the Afghanistan Cricket Board was formed there in 1995. They continued to play cricket on their return to their home country. Like all sports, cricket was initially banned by the Taliban, but cricket became an exception in 2000 (being the only sport in Afghanistan to be approved by the Taliban) and the Afghanistan Cricket Federation was elected as an affiliate member of the ICC the following year. The cricketing style, reflecting the background of development in refugee camps in Pakistan, is like the style characteristic of Pakistani cricketing practice generally, the emphasis on fast bowling and wrist spin for example.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: The national team was invited to play in the second tier of Pakistani domestic cricket the same year, and the tour brought international media attention to Afghan cricket when the US-led invasion of the country began whilst the team was in Pakistan. The team lost three and drew two of the five matches on the tour.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: Originally the Taliban regime in Afghanistan had banned cricket as they had banned most other sports, but in early 2000 there was a change of heart and the government wrote to the Pakistan Cricket Board asking for the PCB's support for an Afghan application to the ICC. The conflict in Afghanistan shortly afterwards led to a large number of Afghan refugees fleeing to Pakistan, where some learned to play cricket, and the presence of Pakistani peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan later helped this process.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In 2001, the Afghan side took part in a four-match tour of Pakistan, visiting Peshawar and Rawalpindi, and the team also visited in 2003 and 2004. In 2004 Afghanistan played in the Asian Cricket Council Trophy in Kuala Lumpur - the regional qualifying competition for the ICC Trophy - and performed respectably, with the highlight being a surprise win over hosts Malaysia.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: They played in two Pakistani tournaments in 2003, winning their first match that year. They began playing in Asian regional tournaments in 2004, finishing sixth in their first ACC Trophy. More success began in 2006 when they were runners-up to Bahrain in the Middle East Cup and beat an MCC side featuring former England captain Mike Gatting by 171 runs in Mumbai. Gatting was dismissed for a duck.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: They toured England in the summer of 2006, winning six out of seven matches. Three of their wins came against the second XIs of Essex, Glamorgan and Leicestershire. They finished third in the ACC Trophy that year, beating Nepal in a play-off match.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: They won their first tournament in 2007, sharing the ACC Twenty20 Cup with Oman after the two tied in the final. They began their qualifying campaign for the 2011 World Cup in Jersey in 2008, winning Division Five of the World Cricket League. They finished third in the ACC Trophy Elite tournament the same year, and won a second consecutive WCL tournament, Division Four in Tanzania later in the year.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In January 2009, Afghanistan progressed to the 2009 World Cup Qualifier by winning Division Three of the World Cricket League in Buenos Aires, topping the table on net run rate ahead of Uganda and Papua New Guinea.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In the 2011 Cricket World Cup qualifying tournament, Afghanistan failed to progress to the World Cup, but earned ODI status for four years. Their first ODI was against Scotland in the 5th place playoff, having previously beaten the Scots earlier in the tournament; Afghanistan won by 89 runs.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In the Intercontinental Cup Afghanistan played its first first-class match against a Zimbabwe XI in a four-day match in Mutare. During the match, which was drawn, Afghan batsman Noor Ali scored centuries in both his innings, making him only the fourth player to do so on their first-class debut. Later, in August 2009, they played the Netherlands in same competition at the VRA Cricket Ground, winning a low-scoring match by one wicket.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: Afghanistan then took part in the 2009 ACC Twenty20 Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Afghanistan were drawn in Group A, a group which Afghanistan topped at the end of the group stages by winning all five of their matches. In the semi-finals the Afghans defeated Kuwait by 8 wickets. In the final they met the hosts, the United Arab Emirates, whom they defeated by 84 runs.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: On 1 February 2010, Afghanistan played their first Twenty20 International against Ireland, which they lost by 5 wickets. On 13 February 2010, Afghanistan defeated the United Arab Emirates by 4 wickets to make their way to the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 to be in the West Indies in April 2010. Later the same day they defeated Ireland by 8 wickets in the Final of 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier to win the qualifier. Afghanistan were in Group C of the main tournament, with India and South Africa. During their first match against India, opening batsman Noor Ali hit 50 runs, helping Afghanistan to a score of 115 in their 20 overs. Despite this they lost the match by 8 wickets. In their second match, the team were reduced to 14/6 at one stage, before a late rally from Mirwais Ashraf and Hamid Hassan helped Afghanistan post 88 all out, resulting in a loss by 59 runs.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: The team's Intercontinental Cup campaign continued in 2010, with wins over Ireland, Canada, Scotland and Kenya before they beat Scotland by 7 wickets in the final in Dubai. Also in 2010, they won the ACC Trophy Elite tournament in Kuwait, beating Nepal in the final and finished third in Division One of the World Cricket League in the Netherlands. They took part in the cricket tournament at the 2010 Asian Games in China and won the silver medal, losing to Bangladesh in the final.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In 2011, Afghanistan begun the 2011-13 ICC World Cricket League Championship. They beat Canada and drew with the UAE. In the parallel one-day league, they won two matches against Canada and lost twice to the UAE. In December once again took part in the ACC Twenty20 Cup, this time in Nepal. They went on to win all of their matches to once again take the Cup.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In 2012 Afghanistan took on new levels of competition. They played their first One Day International against a Full Member of the International Cricket Council in February 2012 when they played a match against Pakistan at Sharjah. They also took on the Australia Cricket Team in an Only ODI at Sharjah in August 2012. They fell short in both matches, but their performance showed they were continuing to make progress. Their 2012 ICC International Cup games were also challenging, resulting in a split with the Netherlands and a loss to Ireland.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: 2013 brought greater success for Afghanistan. In March, they played two T20 Internationals against Scotland in UAE and prevailed in both matches. They also won two ODIs in the World Cricket League Championship against the same opponents.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In the WCL Championship table, as 2013 dawned Afghanistan was level with Scotland in third, trailing Ireland and the Netherlands for the two automatic qualification spots for the 2015 World Cup. However, two convincing wins in spring over Scotland boosted hopes some. Then in July the Netherlands failed to take any points against Ireland, leaving Afghanistan in position to qualify if they could win their final four matches, against poorer performing Namibia and Kenya. Despite the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands both being able to win their remaining games, keeping the pressure on Afghanistan, Afghanistan handled Namibia, then defeated Kenya by 8 wickets on 2 October. With one final win over Kenya on 4 October by 7 wickets, Afghanistan secured second in the Championship with 19 points, and qualified for World Cup.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: Afghanistan also crushed Scotland in their one-day ICC Intercontinental Cup league in March in Abu Dhabi: Afghanistan (275: Shah 67*, Davey 4–53) beat Scotland (125: Taylor 48*, Dawlatzai 6–57 and 145: Coetzer 57, Dawlatzai 5–37) by an innings and 5 runs. Izatullah Dawlatzai took eleven wickets.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In July 2014 Afghanistan toured Zimbabwe to play its 1st full series against a full member. The 4 match ODI series finished 2–2 and the 2 match first class series finished 1–1.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: With their victory over Zimbabwe on 25 December 2015, Afghanistan entered the top 10 of the ICC's ODI rankings for the first time.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: Afghanistan had become an Affiliate member of the ICC in 2001. Then in 2009 it had attained one-day status till 2015. They are currently developing their domestic cricket infrastructure, and have signed a two-year deal with the Pakistan board for the development of Afghanistan cricket ahead of the 2015 World Cup.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In 2012, the Asian Cricket Council decided to nominate Afghanistan for Associate membership with the ICC, with the request being looked into at the ICC's annual conference in June. Becoming an Associate would mean higher funding (the ICC had been paying $700,000 in annual funding to Afghanistan's organization, suggested to rise to $850,000 for Associate status), and also importantly would mean more exposure for the passionate and cricket-starved players from war-torn Afghanistan.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In March 2013, Afghanistan received a further support boost when a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the development of Afghanistan cricket ahead of the 2015 World Cup.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: The PCB provided technical and professional support, including game-education programmes, coaching courses, skill and performance analysis, and basic umpiring and curator courses. High performance camps for emerging players were also organised. The PCB-regulated National Cricket Academy (NCA) helped in improving technical, tactical, mental and physical skills, and hosted lectures on doping, anti-corruption and various codes of conduct.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In April 2013, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) was also allocated US$422,000 (22,400,000 AFN approx.) from the ICC's targeted assistance and performance programme. The world governing body of cricket approved the grant at its IDI (ICC Development International) board meeting, which concluded in Dubai. The money, to be given over three years, was aimed at developing more competitive teams among ICC Full, Associate and Affiliate members. Previous countries to receive similar funding programmes included the Netherlands, Scotland, the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Ireland. An ICC statement suggested the funding was targeted towards the development of the National Cricket Academy in Kabul.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: On 26 June 2013 at the ICC's annual meeting in London, England, Afghanistan received its Associate Membership with the statement:


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: Afghanistan made their World Cup debut in the 50 over format of the game against Bangladesh at the Manuka Oval in Canberra, Australia. The match resulted in a 105 run defeat.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: The competition saw the team compete against elite cricketing nations such as Australia, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, New Zealand and England. Qualification for the tournament was a historic feat for cricket in Afghanistan, one amplified by the fact that the team included many players who picked up the game in refugee camps outside their long-suffering country.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: On 26 February 2015, Afghanistan won their first World Cup match against Scotland, winning by one wicket. The team however, lost all its remaining games and were knocked out of the tournament in the opening round.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: The team visited Zimbabwe for the second time in October where Afghanistan clinched a historic one-day international series over Zimbabwe after a 73-run victory in Bulawayo saw them win 3–2.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: Doing so, they became the first non-Test-playing country to win a multi-game bilateral ODI series against a Test side. The Afghanistan cricket team toured the United Arab Emirates to play the United Arab Emirates cricket team in December 2016. The tour consisted of three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches. Afghanistan won the series 3–0. The Afghanistan cricket team toured Bangladesh in September and October 2016 to play three One Day Internationals (ODIs) matches. This was Afghanistan's first full series against a Test-playing side other than Zimbabwe and was the first bilateral series between the two sides.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: Ahead of the ODI series there was a fifty-over warm-up game between the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI and Afghanistan in Fatullah. Afghanistan won the warm-up match by 66 runs and Bangladesh won the ODI series 2–1.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In February 2017 the International Cricket Council (ICC) awarded first-class status to Afghanistan's four-day domestic competition.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: The Afghan cricket team toured Zimbabwe between January and February 2017. The tour consisted of five One Day International(ODI) matches. Prior to the ODI series, the Afghanistan A cricket team played five "unofficial" ODI matches against the Zimbabwe A cricket team. All of those matches had been designated List A status. Afghanistan won the initial List A series 4–1 and the ODI series 3–2.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: The Ireland cricket team toured India during March 2017 to participate in a series of matches against Afghanistan, consisting of three T20 matches, five ODI contests and an ICC Intercontinental Cup match. All the matches took place in Greater Noida. The Afghan team were highly successful, emerging victorious in both the T20I series 3–0 and the ODI series 3–2. Afghanistan also won the ICC Intercontinental Cup match, by the margin of an innings and 172 runs.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: The Afghanistan cricket team completed another tour in June 2017, this time facing the West Indies. The tour marked Afghanistan's first bilateral tour against a full member nation other than Zimbabwe. (Later that month, Afghanistan itself was awarded that status). The tour was less successful for the Afghans, who were convincingly defeated 3–0 in the T20 series. They performed better in the ODI series, seizing a 1–1 draw after the final match was washed out with no result. Afghanistan registered their first win against Sri Lanka in Asia Cup.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: Afghanistan qualified for 2012 ICC World Twenty20 held in Sri Lanka as the runner up of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier and joined India and England in the group stage. In the first match against India on 19 September, Afghanistan won the toss and elected to field. India posted 159/5 in 20 overs but Afghanistan fell short of that target by scoring 136 in 19.3 overs. In the second match against England on 21 September, Afghanistan won the toss and again elected to field. England set a target of 196/5 (20 overs) but Afghanistan were all out for 80 in 17.2 overs. England and India qualified for the Super Eights and Afghanistan were eliminated as a result of this match.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: On 3 October 2013, Afghanistan beat Kenya to finish second in the WCL Championship and qualify for the 2015 Cricket World Cup, becoming the 20th team to gain entry into the tournament overall. Afghanistan secured their passage to Australia and New Zealand in 2015 by beating Kenya comprehensively for the second time in succession in Sharjah, sealing their maiden World Cup qualification. They finished second in the World Cricket League Championship — nine wins in 14 matches — and joined Ireland as the second Associate team in the 2015 World Cup, while the remaining two spots for Associates will be decided by a qualifying tournament in New Zealand in 2014. Afghanistan will join Pool A at the World Cup along with Australia, Bangladesh, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and another qualifier. On 24 November 2013, Afghanistan beat Kenya to qualify for the 2014 T20 world cup.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In March 2014, Afghanistan beat Hong Kong in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 but could not make it to the next stage of super 10 having lost the two matches to Bangladesh and Nepal.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: On 25 February 2015, Afghanistan won their first Cricket World Cup match beating Scotland by one wicket. Afghanistan participated in the World Twenty20 2016 in India. They were unable to qualify for the Semi-Finals of the International Tournament. They defeated the eventual champions, West Indies, during their final group match of the tournament.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: Their third match was against the full member test team Zimbabwe. They played exceptionally well beating Zimbabwe by 59 runs. Afghanistan qualified for the Super 10 stage of the tournament as a result of this match, while Zimbabwe were eliminated. Afghanistan progressed to the second phase of a World Twenty20 tournament for the first time. On 25 June 2016, Lalchand Rajput was named as head coach of Afghanistan Cricket Team replacing Pakistan's Inzamam ul Haq with his first outings with the team being a tour of Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands in July and August of that year. He was chosen ahead of Mohammad Yousuf, Herschelle Gibbs and Corey Collymore Rajput is in line for a two-year contract, but that decision would be finalised after the upcoming tour of Europe.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In July 2016, ACB unveiled a strategic plan and set targets for Afghanistan cricket team to be a top-six ODI team by 2019 and a top-three team in both T20Is and ODIs by 2025. In order to achieve this, ACB created a proposal to be presented to BCCI, to secure annual bilateral matches against India and teams touring India beginning the following year. Shafiq Stanikzai, Chief Executive of ACB, said the draft had been presented to BCCI president Anurag Thakur in May and further discussions occurred during the ICC Annual Conference in Edinburgh in June 2016.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: On 25 July 2016, Afghanistan confirmed its first full series against West Indies a top-8 ranked Full member. Its earlier full series came against a permanent member of ICC was against Zimbabwe. Afghanistan toured the Caribbean islands in mid-June 2017 and played 5 ODIs and 3 T20Is.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: On the same day, it was announced that Afghanistan would host a full series against Ireland at Greater Noida. Besides a 4-day intercontinental cup match, Ireland and Afghanistan would play five ODIs and three T20Is in March 2017. Afghanistan won the T20I series 3-0 and in the process set a new T20I record of 11 consecutive victories.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: On 22 June 2017, the International Cricket Council (ICC) awarded Afghanistan full Test status, along with Ireland. In December 2017, the ICC confirmed that Afghanistan were scheduled to play their first Test against India, in late 2018. According to the ICC Future Tours Programme for 2019–23, Afghanistan are scheduled to play thirteen Tests. In January 2018, both the ACB and the BCCI confirmed the Test would be played in June in Bengaluru.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In June 2018, Afghanistan lost their maiden Test match to hosts India by an innings and 262 runs, despite being able to bowl out a strong Indian team in the first innings.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In March 2019 against Ireland, Afghanistan achieved their first Test match victory in their only second Test match, becoming the fourth team after Australia, England and Pakistan to win one of their first two Tests.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In September 2019, Afghanistan beat hosts Bangladesh by 224 runs in a one-off Test tour. Rain almost resulted in the match being drawn, but finally the weather cleared, allowing the spin-unit of Afghanistan to take the final four wickets.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: Afghanistan typically did not play their home matches in Afghanistan due to the ongoing security situation and the lack of international standard facilities. Afghanistan played their 'home' Intercontinental Cup fixture against Ireland at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Sri Lanka. Following Afghanistan's World Twenty20 qualifying campaign they played two One Day Internationals against Canada at the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium in the UAE, after which the stadium was named the 'home' ground of Afghanistan.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: As plans to resurrect Afghan cricket developed, at least three international standard cricket stadiums have been built in Afghanistan. In 2016, Shahid Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida became the home ground for the Afghanistan national cricket team after they decided to shift their home ground from Sharjah. In June 2018, after acquiring test status, Afghanistan changed their home base to Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun, India. In May 2019, Afghanistan Cricket Board requested BCCI for a new home stadium. In August 2019, BCCI approved Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, India as the new home stadium for the team.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: In test matches, Afghanistan wears cricket whites, with optional sweaters and vests for cold weather, with the ACB logo on the right breast of the shirt, the manufacturer logo on the leading arm sleeve and the sponsor logo on the center of the shirt. The fielders wear a red baseball-style cap or a white sunhat with ACB logo and the batsman helmet is coloured similar, with the Flag of Afghanistan above the ACB logo. In limited-overs cricket, Afghanistan wears a blue uniform in ODI (grey was previously used from 2012 to 2013), with splashes of green, red, black and occasionally, yellow. The ACB logo is featured on the right breast of the shirt and the sponsor logo on the center, with the inscription "AFGHANISTAN" beneath the sponsor logo and the manufacturer logo on the leading arm sleeve. For ICC Tournaments, the sponsor logo goes to the non-leading arm sleeve. The fielders wear a blue baseball-style cap or a red sunhat. The helmets are also red. The current sponsor is Monarch Mart, previously Alokozay Group and the kit manufacturer was TYKA Sports.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: The national team kept using the black-red-green tricolour following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: This lists all the players who have played for Afghanistan in the past 12 months or was named in the most recent Test, ODI or T20I squad. Uncapped players are listed in "italics".


title: Afghanistan national cricket team

text: Asghar Afghan and Javed Ahmadi played in the most recent Test series but have since retired from Afghanistan cricket.


title: Fischer random chess

text: Fischer random chess, also known as Chess960 (often read in this context as 'chess nine-sixty' instead of 'chess nine hundred sixty'), is a variation of the game of chess invented by the former world chess champion Bobby Fischer. Fischer announced this variation on June 19, 1996, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fischer random chess employs the same board and pieces as classical chess, but the starting position of the pieces on the players' is randomized, following certain rules. The random setup makes gaining an advantage through the memorization of openings impracticable; players instead must rely more on their skill and creativity .


title: Fischer random chess

text: Randomizing the main pieces had long been known as shuffle chess, but Fischer random chess introduces new rules for the initial random setup, "preserving the dynamic nature of the game by retaining for each player and the right to castle for both sides". The result is 960 unique possible starting positions.


title: Fischer random chess

text: In 2008, FIDE added Chess960 to an appendix of the Laws of Chess. The first world championship officially sanctioned by FIDE, the FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship 2019, brought additional prominence to the variant. It was won by Wesley So. In 2022, Hikaru Nakamura became the new champion.


title: Fischer random chess

text: Before the game, a starting position is randomly determined and set up, subject to certain requirements. White's pieces (not pawns) are placed randomly on the first , following two rules:


title: Fischer random chess

text: Black's pieces are placed equal-and-opposite to White's pieces. (For example, if the white king is randomly determined to start on f1, then the black king is placed on f8.) Pawns are placed on the players' second ranks as in classical chess.


title: Fischer random chess

text: After setup, the game is played the same as classical chess in all respects, with the exception of castling from the different possible starting positions for king and rooks.


title: Fischer random chess

text: Usually, the players accept the conditions of the organizer to generate the starting position with software, as it was used in the 2019 World Fischer Random Championship.


title: Fischer random chess

text: If the software is not available or the players don't accept it, there are many ways to generate a random starting position with equal probability.


title: Fischer random chess

text: Select a number randomly in the appropriate range ; this number is then used as an index to the Fischer Random Chess numbering scheme.


title: Fischer random chess

text: In 1998, Ingo Althöfer proposed a method that requires only a single standard dice. (Re-roll if needed to get values in the range 1–4 or 1–5).


title: Fischer random chess

text: 960 choices can be obtained in several ways by combining polyhedral dice without re-rolling; for example 4×12×20 or 6×8×20 or 8×10×12.


title: Fischer random chess

text: Shuffling marked objects (cards, pieces, pawns, dominoes tiles, scrabble letters) and use the permutations. For example, shuffle 14 marked cards a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h, N,N,Q,R,R,R and place them, in this random order, separated into three rows:


title: Fischer random chess

text: The variant has held a number of different names. It was originally known as "Fischerandom" or "Fischerandom chess", the name given by Fischer. "Fischer random chess" is the official term, used by FIDE.


title: Fischer random chess

text: Hans-Walter Schmitt, chairman of the Frankfurt Chess Tigers e.V. and an advocate of the variant, started a brainstorming


title: Fischer random chess

text: process for creating a new name, which had to meet the requirements of leading grandmasters; specifically, the new name and its parts:


title: Fischer random chess

text: The effort culminated in the name choice "Chess960" – derived from the number of different possible starting positions. Fischer never publicly expressed an opinion on the name "Chess960".


title: Fischer random chess

text: Reinhard Scharnagl, another proponent of the variant, advocated the term "FullChess". Today he uses FullChess, however, to refer to variants which consistently embed classical chess (e.g. Chess960 and similar variants). He recommends the name Chess960 for the variant in preference to Fischer random chess.


title: Fischer random chess

text: Starting 2019, whenever the Saint Louis Chess Club hosts Fischer Random chess tournaments, their tournaments are called Chess 9LX, where '9LX' is a combination of the Hindu-Arabic numeral 9 and the Roman numeral LX (60), a possible reference to how the number '960' is often read as 'nine-sixty' instead of 'nine hundred sixty' when talking about 'chess960'.


title: Fischer random chess

text: As in classical chess, each player may castle once per game, moving both the king and a rook in a single move; however, the castling rules were reinterpreted in Fischer random chess to support the different possible initial positions of king and rook. After castling, the final positions of king and rook are exactly the same as in classical chess, namely:


title: Fischer random chess

text: FIDE's recommended procedure for castling unambiguously is first to move the king outside the playing area next to its final square, then to move the rook to its final square, then to move the king to its final square. Another recommendation is to verbally announce the intent to castle before doing so.


title: Fischer random chess

text: The study of openings in Fischer random chess is in its infancy, but fundamental opening principles still apply, including: protect the king, control the central squares (directly or indirectly), and develop rapidly, starting with the less valuable pieces.


title: Fischer random chess

text: Unprotected pawns may also need to be dealt with quickly. Many starting positions have unprotected pawns, and some starting positions have up to two that can be attacked on the first move. For example, in some Fischer random chess starting positions (see diagram), White can attack an unprotected black pawn on the first move, whereas in classical chess it takes two moves for White to attack, and there are no unprotected pawns.


title: Fischer random chess

text: It has been argued that two games should be played from each starting position, with players alternating colors, since the advantage offered to White in some initial positions may be greater than in classical chess.


title: Fischer random chess

text: However, Sesse (which used Stockfish 9) evaluated the starting positions to be between 0.00 and 0.57 with an average of 0.18 pawns advantage for White where BBNNRKRQ (SP 80) was the most unbalanced position. The standard chess starting position (SP 518) was evaluated at 0.22. With a standard deviation of 0.0955, 923 starting positions lie within two standard deviations of the mean i.e. between 0 and 0.371. Hence, on average a Fischer Random starting position is 22.2% less unbalanced than the standard starting position.


title: Fischer random chess

text: Fischer random chess is a variant of shuffle chess, which had been suggested as early as 1792 with games played as early as 1842.


title: Fischer random chess

text: Fischer's modification "imposes certain restrictions, arguably an improvement on the anarchy of the fully randomized game in which one player is almost certain to start at an advantage". Fischer started to develop his new version of chess after the 1992 return match with Boris Spassky. The result was the formulation of the rules of Fischer random chess in September 1993, introduced formally to the public on June 19, 1996, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.


title: Fischer random chess

text: Fischer's goal was to eliminate what he considered the complete dominance of openings preparation in classical chess, replacing it with creativity and talent. In a situation where the starting position was random it would be impossible to fix every move of the game. Since the "opening book" for 960 possible opening systems would be too difficult to devote to memory, the players must create every move originally. From the first move, both players must devise original strategies and cannot use well-established patterns. Fischer believed that eliminating memorized book moves would level the playing field.


title: Fischer random chess

text: During the summer of 1993, Bobby Fischer visited László Polgár and his family in Hungary. All of the Polgar sisters (Judit Polgár, Susan Polgar, and Sofia Polgar) played many games of Fischer random chess with Fischer. At one point Sofia beat Fischer three games in a row. Fischer was not pleased when the father, László, showed Fischer an old chess book that described what appeared to be a forerunner of Fischer random chess. The book was written by Izidor Gross and published in 1910. Fischer then changed the rules of his variation in order to make it different. There are games of shuffle chess recorded as early as 1852 but Fischer is generally credited with fixing the colors of bishops alongside king placement between the rooks and defining the castling process. In a later radio interview, Fischer explained his reasoning for proposing a revision of shuffle chess, rather than a game with new pieces (and a larger board), as the “new chess“:


title: Fischer random chess

text: Note: None of the Mainz championships were recognized by FIDE. Furthermore, they were all played with rapid time controls.


title: Fischer random chess

text: In 2005, chess program The Baron played two Fischer random chess games against Chess960 World Champion Peter Svidler, who won 1½–½. The chess program Shredder, developed by Stefan Meyer-Kahlen of Germany, played two games against Zoltán Almási from Hungary, where Shredder won 2–0.


title: Fischer random chess

text: TCEC has held TCEC FRC since 2019 where Stockfish has won every edition except the 2021 edition which was won by Komodo.


title: Fischer random chess

text: From February 9 to 13, 2018, a Fischer random chess match between reigning classical World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen and the unofficial Fischer random chess world champion Hikaru Nakamura was held in Høvikodden, Norway. The match consisted of 8 rapid and 8 blitz games, with the rapid games counting double. Each position was used in two games, with colors reversed. Carlsen prevailed with a score of 14–10.


title: Fischer random chess

text: 2018 – From September 11 to 14, 2018, the Saint Louis Chess Club held a Fischer random chess event, but they did not yet call their event 'Chess 9LX'. (They started next year.) The playing format consisted of individual matches, each pair of players facing the same five different starting positions, with 6 rapid games (counting 2 points each) and 14 blitz games (counting 1 point each). The players and scores:


title: Fischer random chess

text: 2020 – The playing format changed to a round robin. The event was won by both (There was no tiebreaker) reigning world (standard) chess champion Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. The reigning FIDE world Fischer random chess champion Wesley So placed fifth out of the ten players. So lost only once, namely to Alireza Firouzja.


title: Fischer random chess

text: 2021 – The playing format was once again a round robin. The event was won by Leinier Domínguez Pérez. The reigning FIDE world Fischer random chess champion Wesley So placed second out of the ten players, tied with Sam Shankland and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. So lost only twice, namely to Leinier Domínguez Pérez and Sam Shankland.


title: Fischer random chess

text: 2022 – The playing format was once again a round robin. The event was won by Fabiano Caruana who defeated Alireza Firouzja in armageddon. Firouzja had previously placed tenth out of ten (last place) in the 2020 tournament. The reigning FIDE world Fischer random chess champion Wesley So placed fifth out of the ten players. So lost only thrice, namely to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Alireza Firouzja (again) and Caruana.


title: Fischer random chess

text: On April 20, 2019, the first world championship in Fischer random chess officially recognized by FIDE was announced. It ended on November 2, 2019. In the finals, Wesley So defeated the reigning and four-time world chess champion Magnus Carlsen 13½–2½ (4 wins, 0 losses, 2 draws) to become the inaugural world Fischer random chess champion.


title: Fischer random chess

text: In the announcement, FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich commented: It is an unprecedented move that the International Chess Federation recognizes a new variety of chess, so this was a decision that required to be carefully thought out. But we believe that Fischer Random is a positive innovation: It injects new energies and enthusiasm into our game, but at the same time it doesn't mean a rupture with our classical chess and its tradition. It is probably for this reason that Fischer Random chess has won the favor of the chess community, including the top players and the world champion himself. FIDE couldn't be oblivious to that: It was time to embrace and incorporate this modality of chess.


title: Fischer random chess

text: On August 19, 2022, the second world championship was announced for later in 2022, in Iceland. This is exactly half a century after the World Chess Championship 1972 held in Iceland between Fischer and Boris Spassky. On October 30, Hikaru Nakamura won the finals by defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi who had earlier knocked out Magnus Carlsen, in the armageddon after drawing the match 2-2 (+1-1=2).


title: Fischer random chess

text: However, the current top players do not favor the game as clearly as Fischer had imagined, some of them praising it and predicting it as the future of chess on the one hand, but also criticizing it on the other:


title: Fischer random chess

text: Recorded games must convey the Fischer random chess starting position. Games recorded using the Portable Game Notation (PGN) can record the initial position using Forsyth–Edwards Notation (FEN), as the value of the "FEN" tag. Castling is notated the same as in classical chess (except PGN requires letter O not number 0). Note that not all chess programs can handle castling correctly in Fischer random chess games. To correctly record a Fischer random chess game in PGN, an additional "Variant" tag (not "Variation" tag, which has a different meaning) must be used to identify the rules; the rule named "Fischerandom" is accepted by many chess programs as identifying Fischer random chess, though "Chess960" should be accepted as well. This means that in a PGN-recorded game, one of the PGN tags (after the initial seven tags) would look like this: [Variant "Fischerandom"].


title: Fischer random chess

text: FEN is capable of expressing all possible starting positions of Fischer random chess; however, unmodified FEN cannot express all possible positions of a Chess960 game. In a game, a rook may move into the back row on the same side of the king as the other rook, or pawn(s) may be underpromoted into rook(s) and moved into the back row. If a rook is unmoved and can still castle, yet there is more than one rook on that side, FEN notation as traditionally interpreted is ambiguous. This is because FEN records that castling is possible on that side, but not which rook is still allowed to castle.


title: Fischer random chess

text: A modification of FEN, X-FEN, has been devised by Reinhard Scharnagl to remove this ambiguity. In X-FEN, the castling markings "KQkq" have their expected meanings: "Q" and "q" mean a-side castling is still legal (for White and Black respectively), and "K" and "k" mean h-side castling is still legal (for White and Black respectively). However, if there is more than one rook on the baseline on the same side of the king, and the rook that can castle is not the outermost rook on that side, then the file letter (uppercase for White) of the rook that can castle is used instead of "K", "k", "Q", or "q"; in X-FEN notation, castling potentials belong to the outermost rooks by default. The maximum length of the castling value is still four characters. X-FEN is upwardly compatible with FEN, that is, a program supporting X-FEN will automatically use the normal FEN codes for a traditional chess starting position without requiring any special programming. As a benefit all 18 pseudo FRC positions (positions with traditional placements of rooks and king) still remain uniquely encoded.


title: Fischer random chess

text: The solution implemented by chess engines like Shredder and Fritz is to use the letters of the columns on which the rooks began the game. This scheme is sometimes called Shredder-FEN. For the traditional setup, Shredder-FEN would use HAha instead of KQkq.


title: Fischer random chess

text: There are several variants based on randomization of the initial setup. "Randomized Chess, in one or other of its many reincarnations, continues to attract support even, or perhaps especially, that of top players."


title: Fischer random chess

text: The castling is not possible in any case or is possible only when king and rook are on their traditional starting squares.


title: Fischer random chess

text: In "Castling in Chess960: An appeal for simplicity", John Kipling Lewis proposes alternative castling rules which Lewis has named "Orthodoxed Castling".


title: Fischer random chess

text: ... the king is transferred from its original square two squares towards (or over) the rook, then that rook is transferred to the square the king has just crossed (if it is not already there). If the king and rook are adjacent in a corner and the king cannot move two spaces over the rook, then the king and rook exchange squares.


title: Fischer random chess

text: Unlike Fischer random chess, the final position after castling in Chess480 will usually not be the same as the final position of a castling move in traditional chess. Lewis argues that this alternative better conforms to how the castling move was historically developed.


title: Fischer random chess

text: Lewis has named this chess variation "Chess480"; it follows the rules of Chess960 with the exception of the castling rules. Although a Chess480 game can start with any of 960 starting positions, the castling rules are symmetrical (whereas the Chess960 castling rules are not), so that mirror-image positions have identical strategies; thus there are only 480 effectively different positions. The number of starting positions could be reduced to 480 without losing any possibilities, for example by requiring the white king to start on a light (or dark) square.


title: Fischer random chess

text: There are other claims to the nomenclature "Chess480"; Reinhard Scharnagl defines it as the white queen is always to the left of the white king.


title: Fischer random chess

text: David O'Shaughnessy argues in "Castling in Chess480: An appeal for sanity" that the Chess480 rules are often not useful from a gameplay perspective. In about 66% of starting positions, players have the options of castling deeper into the wing the king started on, or castling into the center of the board (when the king starts on the b-, c-, f-, or g-files). From Wikipedia article Castling: "Castling is an important goal in the early part of a game, because it serves two valuable purposes: it moves the king into a safer position away from the center of the board, and it moves the rook to a more active position in the center of the board." An example of poor castling options is a position where the kings start on g1 and g8 respectively. There will be no possibility of "opposite-side castling" where each player's pawns are free to be used in , as the kings' scope for movement is very restricted (it can only move to the h- or e-file). These "problem positions" play well with Chess960 castling rules.


title: Fischer random chess

text: The players or a tournament setting may decide on a specific position in advance, for example. Tournament Directors prefer that all boards in a single round play the same random position, as to maintain order and abbreviate the setup time for each round.


title: Fischer random chess

text: Starting with Black, the players, in turn, place one of eight pieces on White's back rank, where it must stay. The only restriction is that the bishops must go on opposite-color squares. There will be a vacant square of the required color for the second bishop, no matter where the previous pieces have been placed. Some variety could be introduced into this process by allowing each player to exercise a one-time option of moving a piece already on the board instead of putting a new piece on the board.


title: Fischer random chess

text: Once the bishops are on opposite-color squares, if the king is not between the rooks, it should trade places with the nearest rook.


title: Fischer random chess

text: Without some limitation on which pieces go on the board first, it is possible to reach impasse positions, which cannot be completed to legal Fischer random chess starting positions.


title: Fischer random chess

text: When the empty squares of one color are two and the corresponding bishop has not been placed yet and another piece is placed in one of the empty squares of that color, then the position of the bishop is determined. That's why, it is more correct to place the bishop when the empty squares of a color remain at four or three.


title: Fischer random chess

text: The Black places first because the placement of the 7th piece by him determines the position of the 8th piece. In that way, the Black places in 5 positions and seeks the best defense, and the White places in three positions and plays first.


title: Fischer random chess

text: In order for the players to share the squares equally and legal starting position setup, they have to choose alternately from the 8 pieces. Then each player places on a white square and on a black square.


title: Fischer random chess

text: When all pieces are setup, if the king must be placed between the two rooks, then it is swapped with the nearest rook.


title: Fischer random chess

text: Chess18 is the subset of Chess960 in which the kings and rooks are fixed. Chess 324 is the subset of double chess960 that is equivalent to double chess18.


title: Fischer random chess

text: As discussed above in 'Castling rules', Chess870 and Chess90 are the partitioning subsets of Chess960 in which a player, respectively, never needs or may need to give up castling rights on one side to castle on the other side.


title: You Belong with Me

text: "You Belong with Me" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, taken from her second studio album "Fearless" (2008). Swift wrote the song with Liz Rose and produced it with Nathan Chapman. Inspired by a phone call between a male friend of hers and his girlfriend that she overheard, the lyrics are about an insecure protagonist's unrequited love for an out-of-reach interest. A country pop and power pop song, "You Belong with Me" features a banjo-led production incorporating new wave electric guitars in the mix. Big Machine Records released the song as the third single from "Fearless" on April 20, 2009.


title: You Belong with Me

text: Critics lauded the song's radio-friendly appeal and emotional sentiments, though some felt that it demonstrated Swift's formulaic and repetitive songwriting. At the 2010 Grammy Awards, "You Belong with Me" received nominations for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The single reached the top ten on charts and received sales certifications in Australia, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand. In the U.S., driven by non-country airplay, it peaked at number two on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and was the first country song to reach number one on the all-genre Radio Songs chart. The single was certified seven times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).


title: You Belong with Me

text: "You Belong with Me" was ranked among the greatest songs of the 2000s decade by CMT and VH1. The song's music video, directed by Roman White, features Swift portraying two characters: an ordinary girl (the protagonist and narrator) and a popular girl (the antagonist and girlfriend); Lucas Till portrays the male lead. The protagonist secretively loves the male lead, who has an unsympathetic girlfriend. The video won Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards; during Swift's acceptance speech, Kanye West interrupted, which caused a controversy widely covered by the media. "You Belong with Me" was included on the regular set lists of four of Swift's world tours: the Fearless Tour (2009–2010), the Speak Now World Tour (2011–2012), the Red Tour (2013–2014), and the Reputation Stadium Tour (2018).


title: You Belong with Me

text: Swift became inspired to write "You Belong with Me" after she overheard a male friend of hers speaking to his girlfriend on the phone. He acted defensive as his girlfriend yelled at him, and said to her, "No, baby...I had to get off the phone really quickly... I tried to call you right back... Of course I love you. More than anything! Baby, I’m so sorry." Out of the sympathy she felt towards him in the situation, Swift developed a concept for a song. In a writing session with co-writer Liz Rose, Swift explained the situation along with her idea and conceived the song's opening line, "You’re on the phone with your girlfriend / she’s upset / she's going off about something that you said." Together, they developed a story line, which described Swift being in love with the male friend and her having the desire for him to break up with his current girlfriend for her. Swift described the song's concept as "basically about wanting someone who is with this girl who doesn't appreciate him at all. Basically like 'girl-next-door-itis.' You like this guy who you have known for your whole life, and you know him better than she does but somehow the popular girl gets the guy every time." Swift recalled, "It was really fun for us to write the line, 'She wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts'."


title: You Belong with Me

text: "You Belong with Me" was released for digital download exclusively onto the iTunes Store in November 2008, as part of the program "Countdown to "Fearless"". Big Machine Records released the song to US country radio on April 20, 2009, as the third single from "Fearless". The track was released to US contemporary hit radio on May 18, 2009, by Big Machine in partnership with Republic Records.


title: You Belong with Me

text: Musicologist James E. Perone characterized "You Belong with Me" as a country pop song. Many critics noted a prominent pop production. Jody Rosen, in a profile for "New York", categorized it as a power pop song with a "country twang" and said that Swift sings with a Southern accent. In a review for "Billboard", Chris Williams labelled it as a "country rocker with enough of a pop sheen" that is appropriate for multiple radio formats. Kate Kiefer of "Paste" thought that the song is straightforward pop, and Tom Breihan from "Pitchfork" found it to be a "gazillion-dollar middle ground" between country and radio-friendly pop. The banjo-led introduction incorporates new wave electric guitars. The bridge contains influences of rock and roll. Perone noted prominent influences of 1980s new wave rock through the tempo and repeated eighth notes in the instruments. He deemed it "highly unusual" that the country instruments such as banjo, fiddle, and mandolin "join the steady eighth-note texture".


title: You Belong with Me

text: In the lyrics, the narrator expresses her feelings for a male friend who is in a relationship with another girl. The lyrics incorporate high-school imagery; the narrator situates herself as a typical girl who sees herself as an underdog compared to the male friend's popular, more attractive cheerleader girlfriend. She tries to compete with the girlfriend to get the boy's attention. The verses contrast the two girls, "She wears high heels, I wear sneakers/ She's cheer captain, I'm on the bleachers." In the refrain, the narrator attempts to persuade the male friend to acknowledge her charm. Breihan found the narrative lyrics reminiscent of "the most fragile, heartbroken strains twee indie pop". Critic Ken Tucker in NPR observed that the lyrics and vocal performance are full of "intense ache" effectively conveying adolescent yearning. Rosen commented that contrary to Swift's status as a successful and popular figure, her self-image as an underdog on "You Belong with Me" contributed to her relatability.


title: You Belong with Me

text: In "Fearless" album reviews, Rob Sheffield from "Blender", Josh Love from "The Village Voice", and Leah Greenblatt from "Entertainment Weekly" selected "You Belong with Me" as an album highlight, noting the radio-friendly production. Love commented that the lyrics showcased Swift's "preternatural wisdom and inclusiveness". Chris Richards from "The Washington Post" praised the combination of country with new wave guitars and selected it as one of "Fearless" best tracks. Other critics were more reserved in their praise. Williams lauded the crossover appeal and contended that although the lyrics might come off as immature, the song proved resonant with Swift's core audience of teenagers as well as those who wish to relive their high-school days. In an article for "Slant Magazine" discussing nominees for the 2010 Grammy Awards, Jonathan Keefe remarked although "You Belong with Me" is not Swift's best-written song, it stood out among other contenders because of her songwriting craftsmanship. On a negative side, Johnny Davis of "The Observer" commented the lyrics' high-school imagery "may needle British ears". The "St. Petersburg Times" complained that the song was generic and similar to any of Swift's previous releases.


title: You Belong with Me

text: In retrospect, Nate Jones from "Vulture" (2021) deemed it her best song in her 179-song discography, lauding it as a "classic" song about high-school feelings and wrote: "The line about short skirts and T-shirts will likely be mentioned in Swift’s obituary one day." In a 2020 ranking of Swift's 161-song repertoire, Hannah Mylrea of "NME" placed it at number 22. Sheffield in his 2021 ranking of Swift's 206 tracks, meanwhile, placed it at number 113. Alexis Petridis from "The Guardian" said that although it is a well-written song, it was somewhat less impactful than "Fearless" lead single, "Love Story". Some critics remarked that its radio-friendly production and pop crossover appeal preceded Swift's subsequent career move from country to mainstream pop.


title: You Belong with Me

text: "You Belong with Me" featured on 2009 year-end lists by "Pitchfork" at number 69 and "The Village Voice" Pazz & Jop critics' poll at number 10. The song was ranked among the greatest songs of the 2000s decade by CMT (number eight) and VH1 (number 50). "Billboard" included "You Belong with Me" in their 2017 list of the "100 Greatest Choruses of the 21st Century", writing: "There were about a dozen moments ... you could point to as proof that Taylor Swift would one day become the biggest pop star in the world, but maybe none bigger than the immaculate chorus of ['You Belong With Me']." It ranked first on "Teen Vogue"'s 2020 list of the "91 Best Songs About Unrequited Love".


title: You Belong with Me

text: At the 2010 Grammy Awards, "You Belong with Me" received three nominations: Song of the Year (lost to Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"), Record of the Year (lost to Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody"), and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (lost to Beyoncé's "Halo"). It won Favorite Song at the 2010 Kids Choice Awards and was nominated for Song of the Year at the 45th Academy of Country Music Awards, but lost to Lady A's "Need You Now" (2009). At the 2010 BMI Country Awards, which was organized by Broadcast Music, Inc. to honor the year's most-performed country songs on U.S. radio on television, "You Belong with Me" made Swift the first songwriter to win Song of the Year three times in a row, after she had won for "Teardrops on My Guitar" in 2008 and "Love Story" in 2009.


title: You Belong with Me

text: "You Belong with Me" debuted at number 12 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart dated November 22, 2008, after its promotional single release. Following its single release, the song moved to number three on the "Billboard" Hot 100 on the week ending August 15, 2009. Driven by non-country radio airplay, the song gained the largest crossover radio audience since Faith Hill's "Breathe" (2000). The following week, it peaked at number two on the "Billboard" Hot 100, being blocked at the top spot by the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling".


title: You Belong with Me

text: It was Swift's first number-one single on the all-genre Radio Songs chart. With this achievement, "You Belong with Me" became the first country crossover single to top the Radio Songs chart since "Billboard" began incorporating Nielsen BDS-monitored data in 1990. It stayed at number one for two consecutive weeks and spent 49 weeks in total. On other airplay charts, "You Belong with Me" spent two weeks at number one on the Hot Country Songs chart and 14 weeks at number one on the Adult Contemporary chart; and peaked at number two on both the Pop Songs and Adult Pop Songs charts. The single was certified seven times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales and streaming exceeding seven million units. By July 2019, "You Belong with Me" had sold 4.9 million copies in the United States.


title: You Belong with Me

text: "You Belong with Me" peaked within the top ten on singles charts in Canada (three), Australia (five), New Zealand (five), and Japan (ten). The single peaked within the top 40 in Ireland (12), Slovakia (17), the United Kingdom (30), Hungary (31), and Denmark (32). In Canada, the song reached number one on three airplay charts: Canada Country, Canada CHR/Top 40, and Canada Hot AC. The single was certified platinum in Japan and platinum or multi-platinum in the English-speaking countries including Australia (four times platinum), Canada (double platinum), and New Zealand and the United Kingdom (both platinum).


title: You Belong with Me

text: The song's accompanying music video was directed by Roman White. In the video, Swift portrays both the protagonist ("the nerd, who is pining away for this guy that she can't have") and antagonist ("the popular girl, horrible and scary and intimidating and perfect"). Actor Lucas Till, whom Swift met while on set of "" in April 2008, portrays the male lead. In a behind-the-scene video aired on Great American Country, Swift elaborated on the concept: the protagonist wishes she could be in the antagonist's position to be with the boy. Filming took place within two days in Gallatin and Hendersonville in Nashville. In scenes which feature both the protagonist and antagonist, Swift used a body double.


title: You Belong with Me

text: The video starts with Till's character arguing with his girlfriend through a phone call. The protagonist, with big glasses and curly blonde hair, notices and the two communicate by holding up signs through their adjoining bedroom windows. The boy closes his window, not knowing that the blonde holds up a sign saying, "I love you." The blonde, while in her room, tries on different costumes associated with different high-school archetypes and bursts out dance moves without knowing that the boy is watching through his window curtain; White replaced Swift's choreographed moves with what she described as "the dumbest moves". The next day, the blonde is sitting on a bench while reading a book as the boy approaches and talks with her. The antagonist, donning straight brunette hair, arrives and kisses the boy in her car as she gives the blonde a hostile look.


title: You Belong with Me

text: At a football game, the brunette is a cheerleader and the blonde sits on the bleachers, performing in the school band (played by Swift's touring band). After scoring the winning touchdown, the boy finds his girlfriend flirting with a teammate (played by a friend of Swift's brother Austin), resulting in a heated argument as the blonde witnesses. Back at their bedroom windows, the boy and the blonde again communicate through signs; he asks her if she is going to prom, and she says no. The blonde notices the boy's disappointed look and decides to go to the prom in a white dress without her glasses. The brunette approaches the boy, but he ignores her and goes to the blonde instead. Ending the video, the boy and the blonde reveal folded signs saying "I love you" to each other and kiss. Both the football and prom scenes were filmed at Pope John Paul II High School, with the school supplying many extras, including students, band members, cheerleaders, and football players. On the video's conclusion, White explained that it is meant to portray "who she really is", and Swift thought it was a happy ending.


title: You Belong with Me

text: The video premiered on May 2, 2009, on CMT. Chris Ryan of MTV said that it has a similar plot to a rom-com and deemed it the most memorable video on MTV of the year. At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, the video won Best Female Video. During Swift's acceptance speech, rapper Kanye West interrupted her, grabbing her microphone and stating, "Yo Taylor, I'm really happy for you and I'ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time", referencing Beyoncé's video for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", a nominee in the same category. Later in the evening, during her acceptance speech for winning Video of the Year, Beyoncé called Swift from backstage to complete her acceptance speech. Public reaction turned against West; former President of the United States Barack Obama called West a "jackass". West later issued an apology which Swift accepted. Michael Deacon of "The Daily Telegraph", in the wake of the controversy, defended West and commented that "You Belong with Me" was "sappy and dull".


title: You Belong with Me

text: The video was nominated for Video of the Year at the 45th Academy of Country Music Awards. At the 2010 CMT Music Awards, the video received nominations for "Video of the Year" and "Female Video of the Year", but lost to Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova" and Miranda Lambert's "White Liar", respectively. At the 2010 MuchMusic Video Awards, the video was nominated for the MuchMusic Video Award for Best International Artist Video and the , but lost to Miley Cyrus' video for "Party in the U.S.A." and Adam Lambert's video for "Whataya Want From Me", respectively.


title: You Belong with Me

text: Swift's first televised performance of "You Belong with Me" was at a free outdoor concert on May 29, 2009, broadcast by "The Today Show". Following promotion for the song, she performed it on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno", Studio 330 Sessions, at the 2009 CMA Music Festival, at the 2009 CMT Music Awards, and at the 2009 V Festival, in the summer of 2009. Swift performed "You Belong with Me" at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards on September 13, 2009, the same day in which Kanye West interrupted her acceptance speech. She began the performance in a subway station, dressed in a brown trench coat and black beanie, and continued it in a subway, taking off the trench coat and revealing a red cocktail dress. Once the subway docked at a stop, Swift completed the performance atop a yellow taxi cab. "Billboard" critics ranked it as the 14th greatest VMAs performance of all time in their 2022 list. Swift later performed the song on "The View" and "Saturday Night Live". In the fall of 2009 and winter of 2009 through 2010, Swift commenced promotion for "You Belong with Me" countries outside of the United States; she performed the song on the United Kingdom channel GMTV, the Australian charity concert Sydney Sound Relief, and the Japanese talk show "The Sukkiri Morning Show".


title: You Belong with Me

text: Swift performed a medley, which included "You Belong with Me" at the 52nd Grammy Awards. Wearing casual white blouse and black skinny jeans, Swift performed "Today Was a Fairytale" and then announced, "It's a fairy tale and an honor to share the stage with Stevie Nicks". Following, the two performed a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon" (1976). Swift then grabbed her acoustic guitar for the third and final part in her medley, jumping into a twangy version of "You Belong with Me". Nicks stood back, tapping her tambourine and nodding, every so often stepping up to the microphone to sing with Swift. Eric Ditzian of MTV News was disappointed at Swift's and Nicks' harmonies, but said the two "made for a compelling twosome". The performance followed much backlash in regards to Swift's off key singing, which caused Scott Borchetta, CEO of Big Machine Records, to issue a statement defending the performance.


title: You Belong with Me

text: "You Belong with Me" is performed as the opening number on all 2009 and 2010 dates of Swift's first headlining tour, the Fearless Tour. Before Swift or the dancers entered the stage, a video played on the overhead screens; it showed various celebrities, including Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Faith Hill, Lucas Till and Swift herself, sharing their definitions of the word "fearless". Following the video's completion, the band and backup dancers appeared, dressed in yellow cheerleading uniforms. Swift, dressed in a white marching band uniform, then emerges from the bottom of the stage and commences singing. Swift roams around the stage singing and backup dancers perform cheerleading routines while projections of cheerleaders are shown on the stage. Midway through the performance, the backup dancers removed Swift's marching band uniform to reveal a sparkly cocktail dress; she is then handed a rhinestoned acoustic guitar and finishes the performance. Craig Rosen of "The Hollywood Reporter" believed Swift's performance of "You Belong with Me", coupled with the performance of "Should've Said No", at the May 22, 2009, concert in Los Angeles at the Staples Center made the show a success. The song was also performed on the Speak Now World Tour and The Red Tour., but was not featured on the regular set list for The 1989 World Tour, making it the first tour set list to do so. However, in several venues, she performed the song, acoustically, in place of "You Are in Love". In 2018, "You Belong With Me" returned to the regular set list during the Reputation Stadium Tour as part of a medley with "Style" and "Love Story".


title: You Belong with Me

text: In November 2009, American rock singer Butch Walker covered "You Belong with Me" for a digital single release. James Christopher Monger of Allmusic said the cover was infused "with the same karaoke glee that fueled previous installments". Bill Lamb of About.com described the composition as a "folksy almost honky-tonk sound" and "a bit more country than Taylor Swift's original". According to Mikael Wood of "Billboard", the cover's instrumentation is fueled by banjo; he claimed it was an "online success". Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine described the cover's arrangement as "fantastic" and, to him, it "emphasized the terrific melody and structure that are the song's real selling points". After hearing Walker's cover, Swift posted via her official Twitter account, "I'm losing my MIND listening to it! Blown away." "Band Hero" for consoles features "You Belong with Me" as one of sixty-five songs from "mainstream acts".


title: You Belong with Me

text: A parody entitled "TMZ" was included on "Weird Al" Yankovic's studio album "Alpocalypse" (2011). A music video for the parody, directed by Bill Plympton, was filmed in October 2010, and was included on the album's DVD. The music video was released on "Weird Al"'s Vevo on June 24, 2011.


title: You Belong with Me

text: On April 9, 2021, Swift released "Fearless (Taylor's Version)", the re-recording of her 2008 album, through Republic Records. The release was part of Swift's actions to claim the rights to her masters, following the 2019 controversy. The re-recording of "You Belong with Me", subtitled "Taylor's Version", is the sixth track on "Fearless (Taylor's Version)" track list. "You Belong with Me (Taylor's Version)" features the same core production as the original, with a smoother, more nuanced production. Upon the album's release, "You Belong with Me (Taylor's Version)" charted on the official singles charts of Australia, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.


title: You Belong with Me

text: Critical reception of the track was mainly positive, with most reviews observing the varied vocal delivery. Emily St. James of Vox was impressed by Swift's vocal delivery on the re-recorded version, describing the vocal delivery as stronger due to age and experience. St. James praised Swift's varied approach to her vocal delivery, commenting: "2021 Swift is much more comfortable settling into her natural alto range". She also opined that the perspective of the song's storytelling changes over time, calling the new version warmer and more empathetic. Hannah Mylrea of "NME" claims the song is "filled with youthful yearning", asserting that Swift revisits the song with kindness and affection. Kitty Empire of "The Guardian" deemed the production smoother and the quality of playing more nuanced with particular reference to the "interplay between the guitar and banjo".


title: Krypto

text: Krypto, also known as Krypto the Superdog, is a fictional superhero dog appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the character Superman. In most continuities, Krypto is Superman's pet dog, usually depicted as a white dog of a generic pedigree. Krypto is sometimes depicted as resembling a Labrador Retriever, a plain white Dalmatian, a White Shepherd, or even a such as a spitz-type dog such as a husky or a laika, a dingo (in Australian versions), a pye-dog (in Indian versions), or a tugou (in Chinese versions), but his specific breed is almost never specified.


title: Krypto

text: Krypto has appeared in numerous cartoon television shows and films, such as a self-titled animated series; the television series "Smallville", the HBO Max series "Titans", portrayed by dog actors Wrigley, Digby, and Lacey; and the animated film "DC League of Super-Pets" (2022), voiced by Dwayne Johnson.


title: Krypto

text: Krypto's first appearance was in a Superboy adventure story in "Adventure Comics" #210 (March 1955), and was created by writer Otto Binder and artist Curt Swan. Originally intended as a one-off character, the dog attracted positive attention from the audience, and returned four issues later and became a regular member of Superboy's cast.


title: Krypto

text: On Krypton, parallel evolution leads to the emergence of analogous species to Terran birds, felids, canids, and simians. They are domestic companion animals as they are on Earth. As explained in his first appearance, Krypto is originally the dog of toddler Kal-El dog while they are on Krypton. Jor-El, testing prototypes for the rocket that eventually sends Kal-El to Earth, decides to use Krypto as a test subject. However, Krypto's rocket is knocked off-course; the rocket drifts through space for years until it eventually lands on Earth, where Krypto is reunited with the now-teenaged superhero, Superboy. Due to the environment (Earth's yellow sun and lower gravity), Krypto possesses the same powers and abilities as his master, although his physical abilities are proportionate to his smaller size and species. Certain sensory abilities of Krypto's (senses of smell and hearing) are more acute than those of Superman, just as an ordinary dog's senses are more acute than those of an ordinary human. Krypto also has super-canine intelligence (approximately human level, though with his canine traits and interests still present); the comics expressed this via the use of thought balloons indicating what Krypto thinks.


title: Krypto

text: Krypto is drawn as a white dog of generic pedigree. The early appearances of the character in the comics usually feature exaggerated anthropomorphic facial expressions; these are replaced in later appearances by a more generic canine face. When fighting crime, Krypto usually wears a gold collar, a miniature facsimile of the famed Superman-"S" symbol for a dog tag, and a dog-sized version of Superman's cape. Whenever he is on Earth and wants to appear as an "ordinary" dog, Krypto simply pulls his collar and its attached cape off, pulling it back on when necessary. In one story, he is gifted with a collar which contains a retractable cape that can be unfurled or hidden by pressing a stud.


title: Krypto

text: When not accompanying Superboy/Superman, Krypto spends much of his time romping through space; while on Earth, however, he stays with the Kent family, posing as their pet dog, "Skip". In that identity, his guardians apply a brown dye patch on his back for a disguise which Krypto burns off with his heat vision when he goes into costume; later, the Kents devise a pullcord-activated dye applicator and other methods which Krypto can use to switch to "Skip" and back without assistance.


title: Krypto

text: Krypto has the distinction of belonging to two organizations of super-animals: the 30th century Legion of Super-Pets, and the Space Canine Patrol Agents. After the 1971 revamp of Superman by editor Julius Schwartz, Krypto makes no appearances for several years. The character returns suffering from amnesia in a 1974 two-part Green Arrow backup story in "Action Comics" #440 and #441. His memory is restored in 1975's "Superman" #287. Asked in a 2006 interview why he "liberated Krypto from the limbo kennel", writer Elliot S. Maggin said, "A man needs a dog. A superman needs a superdog."


title: Krypto

text: Krypto had his own feature in "The Superman Family" #182 (March–April 1977) to #192 (November–December 1978) and it was written by Bob Toomey.


title: Krypto

text: In the final (non-canonical) pre-Crisis Superman story, Alan Moore's "", Krypto saves Superman by biting the throat out of the Kryptonite Man. Krypto is irradiated in the process and dies with the villain.


title: Krypto

text: In "Superboy" #126 (Jan. 1966) "Krypto's Family Tree", Krypto's father's name is given as Zypto, his grandfather as Nypto, and his great-grandfather as Vypto.


title: Krypto

text: Following the 1985-1986 "Crisis on Infinite Earths" limited series, Superman's history is extensively rewritten, initially eliminating all other survivors of Krypton in the revised version of his origin, including Krypto, so as to once again make the premise that Superman is truly the "Last Son of Krypton" a valid one.


title: Krypto

text: Eventually Krypto in several forms is reintroduced to the Superman mythos, the first being as essentially an exact copy of the pre-crisis Krypto existing in a pocket universe created by the Time Trapper. In this early Post-Crisis storyline, Superman finds himself in this pocket universe in which, similar to the Pre-Crisis Earth Prime of Superboy-Prime, his teenage counterpart is the only superhuman on Earth. Combatting the genocidal forces of three Phantom Zone criminals, this alternate Superboy has an intelligent Krypto counterpart as well, who heroically sacrifices his powers for his master to provide him with gold kryptonite to defeat his enemy. This is the same pocket reality from which the "Matrix" Supergirl originates.


title: Krypto

text: The second modern Krypto is a small white pet dog, rescued, and later named by Bibbo Bibbowski. Originally, Bibbo wanted to name the dog "Krypton" after Superman's home planet. However, the engraver of the dog tag (knowing that Bibbo recently won the lottery) intentionally drops the letter "n" ("Six letters or less for 1 dollar"), so he is trying to extort more money from Bibbo; an angry Bibbo refuses to comply and renames the dog "Krypto." Soon after, the dog finds two young children who were trapped in a bomb shelter for a month following Superman's fight with Doomsday. The children are badly malnourished and dehydrated, but it is learned that they survive and recover. This gives Superman the idea to explain Clark Kent's long absence by staging a faked rescue from a similar predicament.


title: Krypto

text: Krypto is later acquired by the modern Superboy; however, this version of Krypto is an ordinary Earth dog with no superpowers. The dog and Kon-El do not get along. For a time, Krypto's friends are agent Rex Leech, Rex's daughter Roxy, a being from the genetically engineered race at Cadmus called "DNAliens" known as Dubbilex, and TV reporter Tana Moon. Krypto becomes involved in many of Superboy's adventures. The dog is eventually dropped from the series, remaining in Hawaii when Superboy returns to Project Cadmus. Superboy's friends believe him to be missing and Krypto is left in the care of Hillary, a young neighbor that he likes. After "Superboy" #69 of that series, the dog goes to live at Cadmus. Krypto, a creature called Grokk the Living Gargoyle, and a DNAlien named Angry Charlie, start an uprising against the Agenda, an evil consortium which is influencing Cadmus at the time. After battling a DNAlien named the Gene-gnome, Krypto is never seen again, his last appearance in "Superboy" #74.


title: Krypto

text: The third and more familiar version of Krypto is introduced in the early 2000s Superman comics storyline "Return to Krypton", as a dog from a false, idealized Krypton (that coincidentally resembles the pre-Crisis Krypton) that is created as a trap by Brainiac 13. Superman is able to defeat the trap, and when he returns to Earth, Krypto follows him.


title: Krypto

text: This new version of Krypto has all the physical abilities of his pre-Crisis predecessor, but with a normal canine intellect. This initially causes a great deal of trouble for his new master when, for instance, he would scratch at a door to indicate he wanted to go out and unintentionally gouged big chunks out of the door with his super strength, or inflicting grievous bodily harm when combating villains (since Krypto bites the way a regular canine would, only without being careful about his super strength). As a result, Krypto is for some time locked away in the Fortress of Solitude under the care of one of Superman's robots. This robot is programmed to emit the scent of the dog's real master. Superman has gone to great lengths to train the dog, and he now occasionally accompanies the Man of Steel on missions. Batman never misses an opportunity to poke fun at Krypto when Batman and Superman don't see eye-to-eye.


title: Krypto

text: Krypto operates on his own for a short period of time, helping out when disasters rocked the planet because of the plans of the invading Imperiex. He is shown rescuing endangered people.


title: Krypto

text: In the "" story arc, Batman uses Krypto to sniff out the whereabouts of Poison Ivy after she uses kryptonite lipstick to gain control of Superman. It also appears that Krypto has taken a great liking to Catwoman, much to her immense displeasure.


title: Krypto

text: Krypto is part of the rescue force put together late in the "Superman/Batman" storyline "Public Enemies" (#1-6). Thinking Batman and Superman needed to be rescued from President Lex Luthor, a small team of superheroes, which includes such heroes as Superboy, Nightwing, and Robin, invade the White House. Krypto destroys part of the upper floors while subduing some Secret Service agents.


title: Krypto

text: Krypto has a surprisingly violent reaction to Kara Zor-El when he first encounters her. The dog happens upon the girl while she was exploring the Fortress of Solitude and attacks, going so far as to use his heat vision and other potentially lethal attacks. Batman, who distrusted Kara at that time, pointed this out as an argument that Kara might not be who she says she is when he remarks "Doesn't it bother you at all that the dog hates her?" Superman's response was "It's his job to protect the fortress while he's here. Besides...the dog hates everybody."


title: Krypto

text: Some time later, Superman left Krypto in the care of Superboy (Kon-El or Conner Kent), saying that Smallville's open spaces were a better place for the dog, and that Superboy could use a friend (as shown in "Teen Titans" vol. 3, #7). Their relationship had a shaky start, not helped by Krypto getting Superboy in trouble with the superheroine Starfire for destroying her alien garden.


title: Krypto

text: However, they have slowly developed a close friendship, in which Krypto willingly does anything he can to protect Conner. One example of this loyalty was Krypto's quick defense of Conner from an enraged Superboy-Prime. He bit Superboy-Prime in the shoulder. Although Krypto was injured with a punch sending him bouncing down the main street of Smallville, this only strengthened his relationship with Conner. Unfortunately Superboy perishes in battle while destroying a multiverse influence tower that Superboy-Prime helped build.


title: Krypto

text: Krypto makes a brief appearance in "JLA" #87. The entity known as "Fernus" took over the mind and body of Martian Manhunter. Krypto is telepathically influenced and uses the Atom as a chew toy. Ray and the League are saved by John Stewart and his injuries are healed by the Flash.


title: Krypto

text: Later, he is mentally influenced by an alien armada being led by the space-faring villain Despero. This is seen in "Superman/Batman" #32 (March 2007). Along with other Earth-based heroes influenced by alien origins, Krypto attacks Superman and Batman after a gathering in Metropolis. The two titular heroes neutralize the alien threat, freeing the minds of everyone affected.


title: Krypto

text: "Action Comics" #850 presents the latest revision of Superman's origin, containing many subtle retcons to "", the latest major revision of Superman's continuity. The current version indicates that Krypto was indeed the El family dog from the real Krypton (as in the Silver Age), showing an identical white dog present at Kal-El's birth. Although "Action" #850 does not deal with the specifics of how this dog was sent to Earth or when he arrived (Krypto is not clearly shown in any of the brief scenes of Clark's childhood), subsequent issues of the "Superman" title have contained references to Krypto being around when he was "young". Both inclusions retconned the origin of the current Krypto hailing from an ersatz Krypton and debuting during Superman's adulthood.


title: Krypto

text: Some time later, a back-up feature in "Action Comics" Annual #11, written by Geoff Johns, finally clarified the details of the "New Earth" origin of Krypto: "The Kryptonian canine of the House of El, Krypto was sent in a small prototype rocket created by Jor-El. Lost for years, Krypto was eventually found and rescued by Clark when he was a boy." This retcon brings the modern Krypto almost identically in line with the original Silver Age version.


title: Krypto

text: Krypto goes missing for over a year following the death of his previous owner Conner Kent, but Superman is unable to devote much time to search for him, having himself been without powers for much of that time. Krypto responds to the call from Jimmy Olsen's makeshift signal watch and makes his return. Krypto is quick to defend Jimmy who, along with Superman, falls under attack and is badly injured as a result. Jimmy takes Krypto back to his apartment, and nurses the injured dog back to health. Superman later decides to let Krypto stay with Jimmy when he realizes that Krypto has always preferred the company of younger people, such as himself as a child and Kon-El. Jimmy gives Krypto the secret identity of "Pal", a play on the old "Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen" title.


title: Krypto

text: During the Green Lantern storyline "Sinestro Corps War", Robin enlists Krypto's aid in battling against Superboy-Prime, who has returned to Earth as part of the Sinestro Corps. Under Robin's command, Krypto attacks Prime with feral rage, damaging Prime's armor, but is unfortunately beaten aside, although he buys the heroes enough time for Superman, Power Girl, and Supergirl to join the fight.


title: Krypto

text: During Superman's battle with the villain Atlas, and after Atlas incapacitates such heroes as Steel and Bibbo Bibbowski, Atlas laments that he has not faced a worthy opponent. Just then, Krypto emerges vowing to "hurt this one" because he "loves man" (Superman). Krypto proves to be more than a match for Atlas, revealing Atlas' magical nature to Superman. This is the first and only story to show exactly what Krypto 'thinks', and although it is translated for readers, Krypto 'speaks' in a simplistic manner with broken English, rarely using pronouns. This story also focuses on how Superman has taught Krypto to be much calmer and well-behaved; Superman reassures Lois that Krypto loves her as well. Following the death of Pa Kent and Brainiac's attack on the family farm, Krypto arrives on the front step of the Kent Farm, to protect Martha Kent and provide companionship. A clone of Krypto made by Cadmus made an appearance in "Power Girl".


title: Krypto

text: Geoff Johns detailed Krypto's role in "Adventure Comics". The character appears alongside the resurrected Conner Kent as his companion and sidekick, with a much more amicable relationship than before Connor's death.


title: Krypto

text: Krypto is instrumental in helping Connor Kent escape the effects of a Black Lantern power ring. He later participates in the final battle against the Black Lantern Corps. The canine is again seen living calmly on the Kent farm, sitting next to Martha.


title: Krypto

text: In September 2011, "The New 52" rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Krypto appears as a normal dog with no powers on Krypton. There is mention of a white dog ghost that is protecting Clark Kent. In "Action Comics" #5 (March 2012), during Krypton's final moments, Jor-El tries to save his family by opening a portal to the Phantom Zone, when suddenly the incarcerated try to escape. Krypto bravely defends the family but is sucked into the Zone, while baby Kal-El shows anguish at losing the dog.


title: Krypto

text: The now-grown Superman rediscovers Krypto in "Action Comics" #13 (December 2012) after being pulled into the Phantom Zone by the first inhabitant of the prison. At the story's conclusion, Superman is able to bring Krypto back to Earth. With Krypto in critical condition, Superman rushes to the observation deck, exposing Krypto to the sun's radiation. Krypto is then healed at an accelerated rate and is comforted by him. The rapid healing reveals that the dog has developed superpowers just as Kal-El, Kon-El and Kara Zor-El have.


title: Krypto

text: In "Superboy" #24, Krypto is shown battling polar bears in the Arctic before deciding to join Superboy and Doctor Psycho in battling H.I.V.E. Superboy is knocked out by the Psycho-Pirate, with Krypto by his side.