London, October 29
He has been hailed as one of the most accomplished players in world cricket but Sachin Tendulkar still yearns to reach the “next level” as a batsman. Tendulkar, who made history earlier this month by becoming the first batsman to score 14,000 runs in Test cricket, says his desire to improve remains as intense as it has ever been.

“I’m really focusing now on how I can get to the next level as a batsman. How can I get even more competitive? How can I get even more consistent? How can I get better?” Tendulkar said, according the extract of an interview to 'The Guardian' to be published in full on Saturday.

Instead of struggling for form with advancing age, 37-year-old Tendulkar has had the most prolific year of his Test career in 2010 and he insists rather than considering retirement he has many more goals to fulfill. “Life would be flat without dreams. I think it's really important to dream -- and then to chase those dreams. I really believe in this because it's this dreaming that makes me work so hard. I want to continue doing that because I've worked very hard the last couple of years on my batting,” he said.

“(Coach) Gary Kirsten has been instrumental in this. Together we've worked hard in the last couple of years to improve my batting. He's given me the freedom to express myself, and to pace my innings as I see fit. I can slow down occasionally. Gary has helped me do this and it's because he's more a friend than a coach,” said Tendulkar who is just one short of hitting 50 Test centuries.

He described 2010 as his “sweetest year” as he won his first ICC's Player of the Year Award and returned to the top of the world batting rankings for the first time since 2002. In February, Tendulkar scored centuries in successive Tests against South Africa before becoming the first man to reach 200 in an ODI against the same opponents.

Tendulkar was the highest run scorer in IPL and also made a Test double-hundred against Sri Lanka before his remarkable performances against Australia which saw him reach the 14,000 landmark in the second Test at Bangalore while scoring 214 and an unbeaten 53 to complete India's 2-0 series victory.

The iconic but down to earth batsman conceded that his form subsided a few years ago, prompting critics like Australia's Ian Chappell to call for his retirement. “There was a little dip for me, around 2005 and 2006. But I had a lot of injuries then. I had finger and elbow injuries, and then a back injury. All these upper-body injuries may have altered my back-swing a little. But, fortunately, all that is behind me now and I've been able to put in the hours of practice that I need,” he said.

Tendulkar had earlier expressed his desire to win the 2011 World Cup and he said the cricket-mad Indian fans would be demanding to win the prestigious tournament at home. “It’s going to be massive. Everyone in India is already looking forward to hosting a mega tournament and although people haven’t started talking yet about 1983 (when India won the World Cup) it will happen soon. But, given our recent form, people have a right to be excited and have extremely high hopes for us. There are going to be big expectations.”

Tendulkar also talked about the influence of his late father, a novelist and poet, as well as his brother, Ajit, who remains his closest cricketing confidante. He also revealed the surprise identity of the bowler who has troubled him most in Test cricket and reflects on the day he and Shane Warne visited Don Bradman on his 90th birthday. — PTI

Life would be flat without dreams. I think it's really important to dream — and then to chase those dreams

London, October 28
Andrew Strauss believes England will go into the Ashes in perfect shape to end their long run of failures in Australia. Strauss's side fly out to Perth this week ahead of five Tests and a limited-over series against Ricky Ponting's team and the England captain is delighted with the way preparations have gone so far. England have struggled badly on Australian soil and last won an Ashes series Down Under way back in 1986-87.

They were thrashed 5-0 on their last trip to Australia but Middlesex batsman Strauss is confident they are in a much better frame of mind this time around. "I think so yes. We have had a lot of success over the last 18 months so confidence levels are very high," he told reporters in London today. "Our preparation has been very good. (Coach) Andy Flower has prepared us well for this tour so there is a feeling of relaxed excitement about what lies ahead. "We have an excellent chance of winning over there, we are a good tight unit, we know what to expect and can't wait to get over there.

"We have prepared as well as we can do in the time we have had available to us. "We have been thinking about this series for a long time now. It's a big challenge to go to Australia and win but we have left no stone unturned in terms of making sure we hit the ground running.

"Preparation only takes you so far, you still have to front up when it matters and win the crucial sessions but I have every confidence that our players can do that." The first Test gets under way on November 25 at the Gabba in Brisbane and Strauss knows it is essential that England stop Ponting getting into his stride early in the series.

"The great player in their ranks is Ricky Ponting," Strauss said. "As captain he has a responsibility to lead the side and his record in Ashes series is very good. "Aside from that, neither side is going to be significantly different from the last time we played so we'll know each other pretty well. "It's going to boil down to crucial periods of play and who wins them."

The pre-series mind games began in earnest yesterday as Ponting and vice-captain Michael Clarke had their images projected on to Big Ben in London with a message reminding Strauss not to forget the urn. It was a reference to the confidence of the Australian team, but Strauss took it in good spirit. "I didn't see it myself but I think it's the fun and games of the Ashes," he said.

"That's the great thing about this Ashes series. Australians and English people, they get down and support their countries. It helps to build-up the series. "In reality the series doesn't need building up but the banter adds to the atmosphere." Strauss believes the Australians will be worried about in-form spinner Graeme Swann, but played down the idea the hosts' own spin stocks are low.

"Graeme Swann's been outstanding the last 18 months so he's going to be a handful for them," he said. "I think they'll be having meetings about how to deal with him and that's a pretty good starting point. "I wouldn't underestimate their spin department. Nathan Hauritz did a good job over here, but ultimately we've got to be prepared for opportunities to get on top of their bowling attack." — AFP

Melbourne, October 29
Cricket Australia today approved overseas private investments in its revamped IPL-style Twenty20 tournament from next year, paving the way for Indian companies and individuals to become minority stake holders of the teams. Announcing the launch of Big Bash Bash Twenty20 League from 2011-12 after the Cricket Australia Board meeting here, CA chief executive James Sutherland said minority private ownership of franchisees has been approved and the process of seeking expressions of interest will start after working out the details. "The Board has approved investment of minority holdings in each of the respective teams and the details of that will be further contemplated in the coming weeks. It will, over the coming months, consider the terms under which that private investment may take place but the Board is certainly open to that," Sutherland said at a press conference.

"I think it's interesting to see the sort of values one might place on these teams based on the investor interest; certainly compared to other sporting franchises or teams around this country it puts these Big Bash teams at an all new level and as high a value as any sporting team in the country," he said. Sutherland said various models of private ownership will have to be looked into and details worked out in order to make sure it works for everyone.

"All of the teams may well have private investment, we'll see how things unfold and what expressions of interest may come through in terms of investment, but as a matter of principle the board has approved minority holdings as being the level of investment they will permit.

"There are certainly opportunities (from private investors) on the table and they are opportunities that will be explored over the coming weeks once we’ve worked through the detail," said Sutherland who had predicted that the BBL can revolutionise the game just like the Kerry Packer World Series did three decades ago. Media reports had claimed that Indian companys are waiting to take the plunge by splashing big sums of money in the eight franchisees of BBL once private investment is approved by the CA.

The reports even said that Australia's most powerful cricket states NSW and Victoria will have Indian part-owners as they have already sold shares to giant Indian corporations for around USD 60 million in return for profits from the IPL-type eight-team Twenty20 tournament. 'Daily Telegraph' said Brisbane-based Gautam Adani Group, which lost an IPL bid, is interested in buying stakes in an Australian side for the BBL. — PTI

Ferozepur, October 29
The gymnastic team of Sangrur district dominated the proceedings on the second day of Punjab Rural Sports Championship (under 16, boys), by winning all three events today.

The gymnastics team of host district Ferozepur had to content with silver and Amritsar; another border district, bagged third position in the event. The gymnasts of Sangrur district scored 17.05 points, Ferozepur scored 13, 2 points and Amritsar team could gather only 11.75 points in team events.

In Trio event, Sangrur collected gold medal by scoring 17.5 points, Amritsar got silver by getting 15.65 points and Ludhiana had to contend with bronze by pocketing 14.50 points. Jatinder Singh of Sangrur clinched gold in Individual events who gathered 11.30 points where as Amariqbal Singh of Amritsar and Moukash Gupta of Ferozepur Won Silver and bronze medals by getting 10.70 and 9.25 points respectively. Avtar Singh of Gurdaspur bagged gold in Judo 90+ weight category, Ishkaranjit of Amritsar won silver where as Bhagwant Singh of Ropar and Manmeet Singh of Tarn Taran shared bronze medal.

In 400metres race, Jaspreet Singh of Hoshiarpur clinched gold clocking 55.72s, Lovepreet Singh of Gurdaspur won silver in 56.70s and Snehpal Singh also from Gurdaspur got bronze timing 1:00.04s. In 800metres race, Lovepreet Singh of Gurdaspur bagged gold in 2:14.95s, Harpreet Singh of Tarn Taran got silver in 2:16.71s where as Manjit Singh of Sangrur got bronze in 2:16.98s. 

BRIEFLY

Gavaskar hits out at media
New Delhi: Sunil Gavaskar has lashed out at the Indian media over the speculations about his links with the IPL Kochi team and him being "dropped from the IPL Governing Council." He said that Indian media terms anyone guilty until proven innocent. "How can I help Kochi when I don’t even know the investors," Gavaskar said Gavaskar. "The media both print and electronic have already made up their minds and the angle which they are going to take. My reactions to any queries only serves to give their programme or article credibility. It does not in any way change their line of attack. In the eyes of the Indian media you are guilty till you are proved innocent," Gavaskar said. — PTI

Bopanna-Qureshi win
St. Petersburg: Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-haq-Qureshi erased a one-set deficit against Janko Tipsaveric and Viktor Troicki to storm into the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Open. The second seed Indo-pak pair came from behind to eke out a 3-6 7-6(4) 10-3 win over their unseeded rival in the quarter-finals, yesterday. They will now fight it out with third seed Slovakians Filip Polasek and Igor Zelenay, who beat Pablo Andujar and Michael Russell 6-1 6-3 in their quarter-finals of the $663,750 hard court ATP event. — PTI

Shiv Kapur tied 4th
Sotogrande: Shiv Kapur turned in a steady two-under 69 to be the highest-placed Indian golfer at tied fourth after the opening round of the Andalucia Valderrama Masters here. On a day when sub-par cards were not easy to come by, Kapur sent down four birdies against a couple of bogeys to be three strokes off the pace. Seasoned-pro Jeev Milkha Singh was a shot adrift of the Delhi golfer at tied sixth after managing three birdies and two bogeys in his opening day card. SSP Chowrasia, meanwhile, was part of the huge list which could not break par at the Club de Golf Valderrama. — PTI

Atwal slips to tied 25th
Kuala Lumpur: An erratic even-par 71 saw Indian golfer Arjun Atwal slip nine places to tied 25th after the second round of the Asian and PGA Tour co-sanctioned CIMB Asia Pacific Classic here on Friday. Atwal's overall score stood at three-under 139 after he slotted in five birdies against an equal number of bogeys in an eventful day. In his front-nine, the Orlando-based golfer, who is the lone Indian in fray at the event, gained a couple of shots but dropped an equal number of bogeys to make the turn even-par. — PTI

Hughes out of selection panel
Melbourne: Cricket Australia on Friday axed former fast bowler Merv Hughes from its national selection panel, which has been reduced to a four-member body. The decision was taken at Cricket Australia's Board of Directors meeting here. Chairman Andrew Hilditch, David Boon, Greg Chappell and Jamie Cox will continue in the panel. "During today's meeting in Melbourne, the Board reaffirmed its belief that four selectors was the most appropriate size for the NSP especially now that Australian cricket has a full-time National Talent Manager (Chappell). — PTI

Butt, Aamir leave for hearing
Karachi: Pakistan's tainted duo of Salman Butt and Muhammad Aamir, along with their lawyers, on Friday left for Dubai with the hopes of having the provisional suspensions removed at the two-day ICC hearing commencing from Saturday. The duo told media at the Lahore airport that they were innocent of the spot-fixing charges against them and confident that they would be vindicated at the hearing, to be chaired by Michael Beloff QC at the ICC Headquarters. — PTI