Chennai and Mumbai in same Champions League group

The Chennai Super Kings, led by MS Dhoni, the India captain, have been grouped with Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians for the Champions League Twenty20 (T20) tournament.

The September 23 to October 9 competition, which will feature 10 of the world's top T20 sides, will be played in two groups of five with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semi-finals.

The tournament will be played in the southern Indian cities of Chennai and Bangalore, as well as Kolkata in the east.

Chennai will host the final and a semi-final, while Bangalore will host the other semi-final.

Seven teams from India, Australia and South Africa have earned given direct entries, while six others will play off for the remaining three spots in a qualifying tournament at Hyderabad from September 19-21.

The qualifying event will have two pools of three teams with the top side from both advancing, along with the next best qualifier.

The Kolkata Knight Riders, Trinidad and Tobago of the West Indies and the Auckland Aces of New Zealand will be joined by two teams from England and one from Sri Lanka in qualifying.

The Super Kings are the defending champions.

Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni to fly Sukhoi soon

Star Indian cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni will soon don the flying suits, with the defence ministry clearing their flights in Indian Air Force's mighty Su-30 MKI fighter jets.

"Our proposal to fly the two cricketers in the Su-30s has been approved by the defence ministry and we are looking forward to their flight in Pune soon," IAF officials said.

The proposal for flying Tendulkar and Dhoni was submitted with the government by the IAF.

They said the dates for the flights have not been finalised yet and would be done soon depending on the availability of the two cricketers.

After India's World Cup victory in April this year, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal PV Naik had said that he would seek special permission from the government so that Dhoni and Tendulkar could experience a flight in Su-30MKI.

"Tendulkar is already our honorary group captain. Once both Sachin and Dhoni are free from their cricketing engagements, I will ensure that they get to fly Su-30MKI. They have done our country proud and it will be an honour for us," he had said.

At present, Dhoni is leading India in the three match test series against West Indies in the Caribbean and Tendulkar is on a personal visit to England.

Pune-based air force station Lohegaon is the home-base of Sukhois and VIPs including President Pratibha Patil and her predecessor APJ Abdul Kalam had also taken off in the mighty jets from the air base.

West Indies tour: Pacers have to adapt to wicket with more bounce, says Dhoni

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels that for his fast bowlers length and line would be the key on a bouncy track at the Kensington Oval for the second Test against the West Indies starting on Tuesday.


Dhoni said the medium pacers have to adjust to the track to get more leg-before dismissals.


“It’s important that pacers adapt themselves for on a wicket with more bounce, they need to bowl fuller to get bowled and lbw dismissals. Length will be the absolute key,” said Dhoni.


The India captain had a close look at the pitch after a training session Sunday and said he would like to go in with three seamers and one spinner.


Leg-spinner Amit Mishra will be making way for Munaf Patel, who has recovered from his elbow injury. Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar will be the other two pacers while Harbhajan Singh will be the lone spinner.


Dhoni said that Ishant and Praveen will form the ideal combination on the bouncy track.


“Ishant has played a lot of Test matches and knows what to do to different batsmen. He is one of our main bowlers and forms an ideal combination with Praveen Kumar. They are different, for Praveen swings the ball while Ishant is a back-of-length bowler.”


Dhoni also lauded Harbhajan, four wickets away from entering the 400-wicket Test club, for his batting abilities.


“He is close to another landmark - 100 Test matches for India. He leads the spinners pack and has also done very well in batting. He is a good, aggressive character to have and when you need a breakthrough, you always find Bhajji there eager to provide one for the team,” said Dhoni.


Dhoni was happy that most of the time his players have responded well to pressure.


“I am fortunate to have such a good side. Irrespective of which format you are playing, you need 15 characters who respond to your strategy; know how to adapt themselves for the captain. I am very fortunate that players have always given their 100% to me. You can’t really win all the games. All you can do is to prepare well and do well on the field.”

MS Dhoni's cheque with wrong account number sent back by bank

Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's cheque of Rs645 to pay house tax was returned by a nationalised bank due to the wrong account number.

The cheque was in favour of Ranchi Municipal Corporation and the payment to be made towards holding tax for Dhoni's house at Harmu under Doranda circle.

"It has not bounced. The cheque dated March 15 was returned (by the bank) due to wrong account number. It's a human error," Ranchi Municipal Corporation's chief executive officer Vinay Chowbey told PTI today.

"We will request the owner of the holding tax (Dhoni) for a fresh cheque," he said without taking the cricketer's name.

Dhoni's brother-in-law Gautam Gupta could not be contacted as his mobile phone was switched off.

India can't justify Test status without a bowling superstar

It is often said that the Indian cricket public are not terribly interested in Tests. But a glance at the blogosphere suggests that they are thoroughly enjoying their team’s rise to No. 1 in the world rankings.

When a fellow English columnist (sorry, “ranting Pom”) recently scoffed at the table, suggesting that India were poor under pressure and didn’t deserve their lofty position, he was subjected to a ritual disembowelling online.

For myself, I tend to feel that India are every bit as deserving of the laurel wreath as South Africa or Australia. The problem is that we have become accustomed to the idea of a single champion team, because that is the way the game has been since the early 1970s.

In theory, the concept of three or four half-decent sides scrapping it out at the top of the table – a hung parliament, if you will – should make for greater drama than the monotony of totalitarian rule.

But that is to under-estimate our love of neatness in all things, especially sport. We like to know who the pillars of world cricket are, so that we can look for cracks in the edifice. There is no story as resonant as the fall of a dynasty (as Tiger Woods, a dynasty in his own right, has just discovered).

The ICC’s algorithm does a decent job of turning results into placings, as far as that goes. But the definition of a true champion side is that you don’t need to look at the table to know they are the world’s best.

The other issue with India is that they are a team without great bowlers (begging Harbhajan Singh’s pardon). Their batsmen do the attacking, crushing the life out of sides with the weight and the speed of their run-scoring.

Yes, the attack may be solid and professional. But it is hardly up to the level of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, nor the all-conquering juggernaut that was the West Indies’ mean machine.

You can almost see their Test cricket as an extension of their one-day skills. Virender Sehwag’s 293 was a 50-over innings that happened to go on for a whole day.

This is the modern way. But it is also an ancient way. The Indians are turning the clock back to the 1930s and 40s, decades when the giant score was the building block of every Test series win.

That was the last era when pitches were flat enough, and bowlers subservient enough, for a batsman (Sehwag now, Bradman then) to eye up the possibility of scoring 300 runs in a day.

In the modern game, we are still seeing isolated examples of bowlers (Dale Steyn, Mitchell Johnson, Ajantha Mendis) who manage to upset the established order. At least, for a while, before the combination of an overstuffed itinerary and exhaustive video analysis brings them back to the pack.

India need someone with that wow factor. Harbhajan had it at the start of his career, when he ambushed the Aussies with the slippery variation that has become known as “the doosra”. Yet his performances since then have been impressive rather than truly iconic.

Perhaps the solution is in front of us. Perhaps the combination of Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan, which performed so well against the Sri Lankans, can develop into a genuinely world-beating pairing. But until the Indians can dominate opponents with ball as well as bat, the arguments will go on.

Karthik came, saw and left in a hurry

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik came, saw and left in a hurry -- all in the span of 24 hours -- knowing his 23rd Test appearance would take some more time before materialising.

Karthik was plucked out of the Tamil Nadu Ranji team which would take on Himachal Pradesh in Dharamsala tomorrow and flown in as cover for captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who had sustained a minor finger injury during the first Test against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad.

That his injury would not jeopardise his participation in the second Test was evident in the nets yesterday when Dhoni batted with gay abandon, hitting every bowler in sight all over the Green Park.

And once done with batting, Dhoni also sent down some medium pace stuff in the nets, signalling there was nothing to worry about.

Australia beat India in one-day thriller

World champions Australia claimed a four-run victory in the opening one-day international on Sunday after India went close to reaching a daunting target of 293.

A plucky eighth-wicket stand of 84 by Harbhajan Singh (49) and Praveen Kumar (40 not out) almost gave India victory after they had slid to 201 for seven.

India needed nine off the last over from Peter Siddle but the paceman bowled accurately, conceding just four runs and clean bowling Harbhajan.

Earlier, Australian batsmen, led by captain Ricky Ponting, fed on some listless Indian bowling on a flat Reliance Stadium track to post an imposing 292 for 8 in the first of the best-of-seven-match ODI series here today.

Electing to bat, Australia suffered an early blow before recovering superbly through a near-century stand between Ponting (74) and opener Tim Paine (50).

The sound beginning was build upon by half centuries from Cameron White (51) and Michael Hussey (73) as the Indian bowling, which has struggled of late, was put to the sword in merciless fashion in hot conditions.

In the morning, the hosts struck an early blow by sending back Australian opener Shane Watson, on a high coming into the series with back-to-back hundreds in the semifinal and final of the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

The burly batsman straight-drove the first ball of the series from Praveen Kumar for a boundary but then was trapped in front by an incoming ball from Ashish Nehra in the second over to which he played back.

Watson's early dismissal left Australia at five for one after eight balls and brought in visiting team's skipper Ricky Ponting to the crease.

Ponting, on a roll in one-dayers since the best-of-seven ODI series against England with two centuries and four half centuries under his belt from his last 10 innings, and Tim Paine -playing for the first time in a ODI in India -dominated the bowlers.

The duo kept the run rate at a healthy five plus to raise the 100 of their innings in the 19th over when wicketkeeper Paine tried to slash Ishant Sharma to be caught behind for 50.

Paine, who struck nine fours in his 62-ball innings, and Ponting shared 97 runs for the second wicket in 107 balls.

Ponting looked in total command, striking the ball beautifully, and hooked left arm pacer Ashish Nehra for a six.

He looked good for a 100 when he left, trapped leg before by young left-arm slow bowler Ravindra Jadeja while trying to turn the ball to the leg.

The Australia skipper faced 85 balls and hit eight fours and two sixes, the second one off Jadeja over a leaping Nehra at long off, and his dismissal at team total of 151 in the 30th over brought down the scoring rate a bit.

But that was a brief respite for the home team as Cameron White (51) and Michael Hussey (73) again stepped up the run rate after the 35th over to help Australia reach 213 for three at the end of the 40th. They added 76 runs in 77 balls.

Australia added 54 runs in the last 10 overs to leave India with an asking rate of 5.86.

Hussey, out of form before this series and a question mark against his name for the next Test series against West Indies, departed in the last over after facing 54 balls and striking the ball cleanly to hit eight fours and a six.

Indian bowling was a mixed bag. Nehra impressed right through but Kumar was expensive though he was unlucky that twice he got the edge of Paine's bat but the ball did not carry to the slip fielders.

Kumar was hoisted over the roof of the pavilion by Hussey in the 49th over of the innings to end up with no wicket for 77 runs.

Ishant, who has struggled of late, started unimpressively but then settled down to show glimpses of what he is capable of when in rhythm in his opening spell. Coming back in the slog overs he leaked runs but picked up the wickets of Hussey and Brett Lee and ended up with figures of 3/50 from his 10 overs.

Another disappointment was spin spearhead Harbhajan Singh who bowled a poor line and was punished for 20 runs in his first three overs and 27 in his second spell of five overs. He ended up with the wicket of Adam Voges in the slog overs after conceding 57 runs.

Jadeja did reasonably well and got the prize wicket of Ponting, and ended with impressive figures of one for 39 from his nine overs.

The Indian fielding was generally below par with many slow movers in the line-up.

Earlier, India had to leave out Yuvraj Singh, who is recovering from a finger injury sustained before the start of Champions Trophy, along with Munaf Patel, Amit Mishra and Sudeep Tyagi.

Australia benched Doug Bollinger, Jon Holland, Ben Hilfenhaus and Shaun Marsh.

New Zealand humbled in one-sided Champions Trophy final

AUSTRALIA claimed their second successive Champions Trophy title, beating New Zealand by six wickets in the final at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

Australia had a huge fight on their hands at 2-6 against some inspired Kiwi bowling, but Shane Watson again kept a cool head with his second successive unbeaten century to steer Australia (4-206) side past New Zealand's 9-200.

Watson (105 not out) hit successive sixes off spinner Jeetan Patel to score the winning runs - with 28 balls remaining - and reach three figures in style.

After Australia's early wickets, Watson and Cameron White (62) restored order with a partnership of 128, and despite wickets to Kyle Mills (3-27), the world champions were never in trouble.

Australia's victory created history, as they are now the only nation to have won this event twice, following their triumph in India three years ago.

Their win also earned a major windfall, as the team pocketed $US2 million ($A2.31 million). As runner-up, New Zealand earned $US1 million ($A1.15 million).

New Zealand entered the match rank outsiders, with a view that everything needed to go right for them to topple their trans-Tasman rival.

Instead, they lost skipper Daniel Vettori to a hamstring injury an hour before the game began, and then acting skipper Brendon McCullum - the side's most destructive batsman - fell for a duck in the fourth over, to Peter Siddle.

The Black Caps' innings never really took off, as they regularly lost wickets.

Siddle bowled superbly and had figures of 1-18 from nine overs while battling illness towards the end of his last spell, until his last over cost 12 runs.

Offspinner Nathan Hauritz also had a great game with the ball, as his 10 overs yielded good control and 3-37.

But Australia also experienced an injury setback, as young batsman Callum Ferguson wrenched his right knee in the field and was assisted from the field.

Ferguson was not needed to bat, as allrounder James Hopes went in ahead of him at No.6 and finished on 22 not out.

New Zealand started brilliantly with the ball, as Shane Bond removed Tim Paine (one) in the second over and Mills had Ricky Ponting (one) plumb in the next.

But Watson and White weathered the storm patiently - Australia were 2-19 after 11 overs - and had wrestled back control when Watson hit sixes in successive overs just after their partnership passed 50.

Watson played a mature hand when White departed with 67 runs still needed, and his fourth career ton followed his unbeaten 136 in the semi-final against England last Friday.

Watson ended the tournament the competition's second-highest run scorer (265), behind only Ponting's 288, which was a remarkable achievement given he began the series with successive ducks.

Australia's players will now head home for a short break before they depart for India, where they will play seven one-dayers against Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side.

Cricket set for Champions Trophy

Cricket's second biggest 50-over event, the biennial Champions Trophy, begins in South Africa on Tuesday, as the sport's top eight teams vie for glory.

The tournament was to have been held in Pakistan last year but was postponed and moved because of security concerns.

Two teams from two groups of four will form the semi-finals, with the final to be staged in Centurion on 5 October.

England face South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka but are without star men Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen.

Group A consists of holders Australia, India, Pakistan and the West Indies.

The England team were thrashed in the recent 50-over series against Australia, with only a narrow victory in the final match preventing them from becoming the first team to lose a series 7-0.

Without Flintoff and Pietersen their chances appear remote, and they begin with a daunting day/night contest against the talented Sri Lankans in Johannesburg on Friday.

Kumar Sangakkara's highly-regarded Sri Lanka side begin the competition against the hosts in Centurion (1330 BST start).

South Africa, the world's number one side, have not been in competitive action since the ICC World Twenty20 in England in June but skipper Graeme Smith said his side were ready to make an impact.

He said: "One of our major challenges as a team going into this tournament is our lack of games, but we have really focused hard in the last three weeks to train as well as we can by making it as competitive as possible.

"We have created a lot of scenarios and challenges which will best enhance our abilities.

"The guys are motivated and excited and I think we can use the freshness to our advantage by getting in and playing good cricket up front."

Counterpart Sangakkara was in optimistic mood as his team look to win the trophy for the first time outright, having shared the title in 2002 when the final and the reserve day against India was washed out.

In the last two months they have won a five-match series against Pakistan and won triangular series games with New Zealand and India, before losing in the final to Mahendra Dhoni's side.

"Everyone here is a professional unit and whether they have played recently or not won't matter because you are always in training and up to the challenge of playing," Sangakkara said.

"It is nice to have had a bit of cricket, but the only advantage of that is that we have been competing under pressure.

"Everyone in our team is confident, but our recent wins are not going to count for anything."

The popularity of the 50-over format of the game has waned since the introduction of Twenty20 and speculation about its future is rife, with a general air of apathy surrounding a second world tournament in the space of three months, following the ICC World Twenty20 won by Pakistan.

Lessons have been learned from the torturous 2007 World Cup, which comprised 16 teams and took more than six weeks to complete its 51 matches, with only 15 games over a far more sensible two-week period in this competition.

The loss of crowd-pullers such as Flintoff and Pietersen, plus India's cavalier opening batsman Virender Sehwag, is unfortunate, however, and some big-hitting, action-packed close contests are urgently needed if the event is to continue in the long term.

India wins Compaq Cup - Cricket

Sachin Tendulkar’s century, Harbhajan Singh’s five-wicket haul and the magnitude of the target (320 in 50 overs) ensured that India won the Compaq Cup final against Sri Lanka here on Monday night.

Although India was given a fright by Sri Lanka, M.S. Dhoni’s men had but to hold their nerve; this they managed, and, despite fielding incompetently, dispelled the memory of Saturday’s mortifying defeat.

The memory hovered, however, for much of Sri Lanka’s innings. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya, both of whom are ever open to adventure, began Sri Lanka’s chase in a flurry of boundaries.

Harbhajan, introduced in the eighth over, provided the opening, quickening his pace to puncture Dilshan’s attempted stroke to off. The off-spinner then tricked Mahela Jayawardene in flight to procure a return catch.

When Ashish Nehra, unsteady under the high ball, kept his head to catch Jayasuriya off Yusuf Pathan, India had the whip hand. But Sri Lanka didn’t give up.

Although neither Thilan Thushara nor Angelo Mathews stayed long, Sri Lanka remained close to the required run rate thanks to its start. And with Kumar Sangakkara and Thilan Kandamby batting sensibly, the host wasn’t out of it.
Freak dismissal

A freak dismissal appeared to alter matters: Sangakkara lost hold of his bat, which descended in a gentle parabola on the stumps. India had an opportunity to seal the contest, but Yusuf dropped Kandamby (37) off Yuvraj Singh. The left-hander allied again with Chamara Kapugedera, raising 70 for the seventh wicket, heightening India’s anxiety with every run.

But the batsmen couldn’t sustain the partnership. Suresh Raina had Kapugedera caught behind, Harbhajan bowled Kandamby, and India’s breathing grew easy. Harbhajan soon had his fifth: Ajantha Mendis stumped by country mile.

SCOREBOARD

India: (for five wkts. in 50 overs) 319.

Fall of wickets: 1-95 (Dravid), 2-205 (Dhoni), 3-276 (Tendulkar), 4-277 (Yusuf), 5-302 (Raina).

Power Plays: One (overs 1-10): 52/0; Bowling (11-15): 24/0; Batting (35-39): 33/1.

Sri Lanka bowling: Kulasekara 8-0-38-0, Thushara 10-0-71-2, Malinga 10-0-81-1, Mendis 10-0-70-1, Jayasuriya 9-0-43-1, Mathews 3-0-15-0.

Sri Lanka: T. Dilshan b Harbhajan 42 (29b, 9x4), S. Jayasuriya c Nehra b Yusuf 36 (29b, 7x4), M. Jayawardene c & b Harbhajan 1 (5b), K. Sangakkara ht wkt b R.P. Singh 33 (37b), T. Thushara b Ishant 15 (14b, 3x4), A. Mathews c Raina b Yuvraj 14 (11b, 1x4, 1x6), T. Kandamby b Harbhajan 66 (94b, 4x4), C. Kapugedera c Dhoni b Raina 35 (42b, 3x4), N. Kulasekara (not out) 9 (9b, 1x4), L. Malinga c & b Harbhajan 0 (1b), A. Mendis st Dhoni b Harbhajan 7 (10b); Extras: (lb-3, nb-1, w-11) 15; Total; (in 46.4 overs) 273.

Fall of wickets: 1-64 (Dilshan), 2-76 (Jayawardene), 3-85 (Jayasuriya), 4-108 (Thushara), 5-131 (Mathews), 6-182 (Sangakkara), 7-252 (Kapugedera), 8-264 (Kandamby), 9-264 (Malinga).

Power Plays: One (overs 1-10): 79/2; Bowling (11-15): 35/2; Batting (45-46.4): 11/3.

India bowling: Nehra 7-0-43-0, Ishant 7-0-51-1, R.P. Singh 5-0-34-1, Harbhajan 9.4-0-56-5, Yusuf 4-0-36-1, Yuvraj 6-0-24-1, Raina 8-0-26-1.

Sachin Tendulkar returns to top 10 in ODI rankings

Riding on his fantastic performance in the tri-series in Sri Lanka, veteran Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar today returned to the top-10 of ICC one-day rankings, rising five places to seventh.

For the first time in 10 months, Tendulkar is among the world’s top 10 after scoring his 44th one-day century for India, earning his team a 46-run victory over Sri Lanka in the final of the tri-series in Colombo on Monday. Tendulkar scored 138 to lay the foundation of India’s winning total of 320.

Tendulkar, also the leading run-scorer in the series with 211 runs, had slipped out of the top-10 after the home series against England in November 2008 and had rested for the first three ODIs of the five-match series which India won 5—0.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni leads the batting table from his vice-captain Yuvraj Singh who has achieved his career-best second place in the rankings for ODI all-rounders.

Yuvraj leapfrogged Jacques Kallis of South Africa, Jacob Oram of New Zealand and Andrew Flintoff of England into second place after scoring 80 runs with the bat and taking four wickets with the ball.

Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have dropped two places each after both missed the series due to injuries. A player loses one per cent of his rating for every match he misses.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni enjoys a ride in a racing car

Indian cricket skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Sunday took a ride in a speeding car in a car rally here.

The rally was organized by the Karnataka Motor Sports Club.

After watching the whole event, Dhoni expressed his desire to drive one of the racing cars. But as per the rules of the rally, he was not allowed to drive. Instead, he went for a ride as a co-driver with the winners of the rally.

The winner of the race Arjun Baloo, along with his partner Sujeet Kumar, took Dhoni on a speedy trip. Dhoni sat on the front seat of co-driver and enjoyed the thrill.

"He enjoyed the drive very much and he was really excited going in the rally car. That's why we went for one extra round. He really enjoyed it and it was good fun," said Baloo.

Meanwhile, New Zealand Cricket Board CEO Justin Vaughan who was on a visit to Chennai for a local tournament expressed confidence of better performance by his team in the upcoming Champions Trophy to be played in South Africa.

"I think it is a good one day site. If our players come into form, I think South Africa is a good venue for us. It will be early season in South Africa. So I think the wicket will seam around a little bit," said Vaughan.

The ICC Champions Trophy will be held in South Africa from September 22 to October 5. All the matches will be held in two venues, - Wanderers in Johannesburg and Centurion in Pretoria.

A total of eight teams will take part in this year's Champions Trophy. The teams are divided into two groups. New Zealand will face England, South Africa and Sri Lanka in Group B of the tournament while defending champions Australia, West Indies, Pakistan and India are placed in the other group.

The winner will bag a total prize money of four million dollars.

India cricket captain MS Dhoni buys a 'Hummer'

Known for his passion for vehicles, Team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has added a brand new 'Hummer' worth around Rs one crore to his collection.

The H2 2009 Hummer will definitely get the pride of place among Dhoni's Toyota Corolla, Scorpio, Mitsubishi Pajero, Harley Davidson, Yamaha 650cc sports bike, Kawasaki Ninja and other two-wheelers.

Accompanied by teammate and friend RP Singh and a few of his relatives, Dhoni drove home his 'prize catch' from Delhi via Lucknow last evening.

The stylish cricketer stayed in Lucknow for a day, before hitting the road to reach Ranchi.

"We are thrilled to see the car. We read in the newspapers that film actor Sunil Shetty and singer Mika already have the car," said Abhijit of Ramgarh, one among the crowd who saw the star cricketer's latest acquisition when he made a brief halt en route.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni booed by Indian fans

Criticised by former cricketers for his tactical blunders against England, Mahendra Singh Dhoni faced the wrath of angry fans as he was booed after India's 12-run defeat to South Africa in their final Twenty20 World Cup Super Eight match here.

Dhoni was booed at the presentation ceremony after the match but the beleaguered Indian captain said it didn't affect him.

"I was told by a senior a few years ago. He said if somebody is appreciating you, don't hit seventh heaven. If you fall on floor, it wouldn't be good for you. So adopt a central path. I try to do so," Dhoni added.

India get down to business with intense training

A game of rugby and some fielding and batting drills comprised the strenuous three-hour workout that the Indian team went through ahead of the series against New Zealand that kicks off with a Twenty20 match on February 25.

The visitors practised at the picturesque Bert Sutcliffe ground.

Although Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men are the Twenty20 world champions, they will bear in mind that they had been humbled by 10 runs by the resilient Kiwis during the inaugural championship at Johannesburg last September.

Warming up with a game of touch rugby, Dhoni's men were put through fielding drills by coach Gary Kirsten before they moved to the adjacent ground for a hit at the nets.

Kirsten spent some time with Rohit Sharma, urging the youngster to get his front foot in the right place while driving the ball.


Time and again, Kirsten walked up to the middle to guide the Mumbaikar with his bio-mechanics before Rohit got his act right in the second session for a knock against Ishant Sharma and Irfan Pathan.


Sachin Tendulkar took to the nets soon after, often walking up to Kirsten and asking him to pitch the ball on a particular spot so that he could lean into his shots.


Pace spearhead Zaheer Khan chose to go for a run alongside bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad, much after his team-mates had wound up the nets.


The team arrived here on Friday after a strenuous journey, prolonged by transit layovers at Hong Kong and Auckland.


India, who play two Twenty20 matches, a five-ODI series followed by three Tests during the tour, have not won a Test series in New Zealand for the past 41 years.

Batsmen will decide the fate of the tour: Sourav Ganguly

These are testing times for Mahendra Singh Dhoni -- both figuratively and realistically. His first tour overseas as Test captain is to a country where India have always come a cropper.

The last time India crossed the Tasman Sea, they were bludgeoned into submission. The scars are fresh in the memory of many players, ask Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag or even John Wright.

So what can Dhoni do to avoid a similar pummelling from the home team this time round?

"Simple, bat well," says Sourav Ganguly, who led India in that disastrous tour of 2002-03, where India lost the Test series 2-0 and the ODIs 5-2. It is not a suggestion. It is an advice.

Ganguly himself admits the advice is not so simple, after all. "It is not easy to bat well there. But the reality is that batting will decide the fate of the tour. It would require a lot of application, concentration, perfect shot selection..." Ganguly goes on to say.

India's most successful captain ever says the playing conditions will be tough enough although India, unlike in the past, would be playing at the end of the New Zealand season.

"The ball does a lot there. It moves a lot. The pitches are very demanding. So the batsmen will have to cope up a lot." The former captain, however, is confident that Indian batsmen like Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, have the capability to come good on the tour.

Ganguly, who is the in city to judge a reality show for NDTV Imagine, thinks lack of a practice match before the Test series is not the best way to approach it. Particularly for a side that is aspiring to be the No. 1 Test team in the world.

"The Test specialists will have to do a lot of adjustments in a quick time. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman need to adjust to the conditions fast," he says.

The Bengal player, however, is not worried of team's former coach John Wright's presence in the rival camp. "It is up to the players. The coach's role is just about 10 per cent. So I'm not overtly worried that John would pass on information that can help the New Zealanders."

He, however, admitted that India have a good coach in Gary Kirsten, who has a striking similarity with Wright. "They both are good coaches but eventually it will boil down to the players."

Ganguly felt the next two years will be crucial for India. "The next two years will be important if they want to be the No. 1 side in the world. Currently South Africa look the best and Ricky Ponting's Australia are not far behind Graeme Smith's men," he said.

India, according to him, are just behind South Africa and Australia.

Dhoni and his men may play T20 in Tihar jail next week

After entertaining crowds in every part of the cricket globe, India's cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and some of his teammates may turn up in Tihar jail next week for a Twenty20 tournament involving the inmates.

According to a Tihar jail source, the jail authorities have approached Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Ajay Jadeja to turn up for the Twenty20 Tihar Winter Olympics Cricket Tournament's final next week.

Among them, Dhoni and Gambhir have expressed their interest to be part of the event, though they have still not confirmed their participation.

"We have approached these players and are now waiting for their confirmation. We can only tell you the details only after we get their approval", the source said.

The participating teams are made of Tihar prisoners and the cricketers would only play a few overs to encourage them, the source said. If the jail authorities manage to rope in the star players, each of the four participating teams will have at least one professional cricketer in its ranks.

Back in 1994, Sachin Tendulkar played cricket in Tihar while World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev has also played there on a few occasions.

Dhoni stays atop ODI batting chart, Yuvraj at six

Team India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni extended his stay at the top of the ICC ODI Rankings for the batsmen, which has his flamboyant teammate Yuvraj Singh at the number six position.

According to the latest chart issued on Monday, Dhoni has 779 points and is closely followed by Australian Mike Hussey, who is just three points adrift of the The Jharkhand marauder.

Yuvraj has 744 rating points for his sixth place and the next best Indian in the ranking chart is Sachin Tendulkar, who stands 12th with 708 points.

Among the Indian bowlers, paceman Zaheer Khan (660) and spin spearhead Harbhajan Singh (617) feature in top 20 at 11th and 20th positions respectively.

India (119) remains third in the ODI ranking for the teams, behind table-toppers Australia (131) and South Africa (119).

Meanwhile, New Zealand can now rise to the fourth place but could slip to as low as eighth as well, depending on the outcome of their five-match series against West Indies.

Daniel Vettori's side currently sits in fifth place on 113 ratings points and a 5-0 series win will put it ahead of Pakistan in fourth place on 118 points.

However, a reversal would mean Kiwis conceding 11 ratings points to the West Indies. This will put both the teams level on 102 ratings points but Chris Gayle's side will be placed higher than the Black Caps in seventh place when ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

Swann leads England fightback

England off spinner Graeme Swann grabbed three quick wickets to trigger an Indian batting collapse after lunch on day two of the second test on Saturday.

India were 356 for five at tea after losing four wickets for 19 runs in the afternoon. Yuvraj Singh was 12 not out with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on six at the interval.

Swann, playing in only his second test, led England's fightback in an unchanged 14-over spell in tandem with all rounder Andrew Flintoff, who took the other wicket after giving away just three runs in his outstanding six-over spell.

Opener Gautam Gambhir struck 179 and Rahul Dravid 136, after scoring his 26th test hundred as the pair piled up a record 314 runs for the second wicket.

Swann, who took two wickets in his first over on test debut in the six-wicket defeat in Chennai, struck in the fifth over after India resumed on their lunch score of 302 for one.

He had Gambhir and Dravid caught and then trapped Sachin Tendulkar (11) leg before, then Flintoff trapped Vangipurappu Laxman leg before for duck facing 24 deliveries.

England bowlers, who finally got on top of a slow pitch affording some seam movement, almost had a sixth wicket but Yuvraj was dropped on eight when Alastair Cook spilt a simple catch at point off Flintoff.

Fans to build Dhoni temple in Ranchi

Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will soon be worshipped. The Dhoni Fans Club Saturday announced they would build a temple in his home town Ranchi.

The temple will have a statue of Dhoni and will be built with the money collected by his fans. Construction will begin on January 14. This is perhaps the first time that a temple will be built to worship a cricketer. In south India temples have been built to worship some film stars.

"We have decided to construct a temple to god of cricket Mahendra Singh Dhoni in Ranchi. He will be worshipped like gods are worshipped in the temple," president of Dhoni Fans Club Jitendra Singh said.

He said photographs of Dhoni will also be displayed on the walls of the proposed temple, which will come up in Hawai Nagar of Ranchi.

"Dhoni is god for us. With his entry in Indian cricket, Jharkhand was put on the international map. People here are recognised due to him. We get respect in other states. Dhoni has changed the face of Indian cricket," said Rajesh Kumar, a fan.