New Delhi, February 7
India's only World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev has some advice for Mahendra Singh Dhoni: Be aggressive as a captain and get back that ruthless batting of your early days as an international cricketer. Kapil's team, which won the 1983 World Cup to bring about a sea change in Indian cricket, wants Dhoni to be a more aggressive batsman. Kapil has paid a handsome compliment to Dhoni's side, saying they are far more talented than his Devils. He has a rider, though: They will have to work very hard to win the Cup in the tournament beginning on the sub-continent February 19.

I don't like this 'Mr. Cool' tag. A captain should be hard and strong-willed as a lot of youngsters in the team look up to him — Kapil Dev on Dhoni

"I think the current team has more capable players than we had. Even if they fall short on the bowling and fielding fronts, the batting is strong enough to make up for the relatively weaker aspects. After all, one-day cricket is a batsman's game," Kapil told IANS in an interview.

"My heart says they should win, but my mind says that it is not going to be easy and they will have to work very hard to succeed. They have everything going for them and they are in an excellent position to win it at home. They should go all out for it."

Kapil strongly feels that Dhoni should go back to his power hitting that destroyed many an attack when he first came into the Indian side.

"I am a tad disappointed with Dhoni's approach to batting. When he came into international cricket, his batting was all power hitting, there was unbridled ruthlessness about the way he went after the bowling. That is missing and today he nudges and pushes the ball more. I understand with time you change your style, but the tempo should be maintained. I want to see a more aggressive Dhoni in the World Cup.

"As for his captaincy, Dhoni has all the traits of a good leader. He is bold and is not afraid of handling tricky situations. All in all, he has a lot of plus points."

Kapil, however, is uncomfortable with the "Mr Cool" tag on Dhoni and insists that a captain should not only be aggressive but should also be seen to be aggressive. "I don't like this 'Mr. Cool' tag. A captain should be hard and strong-willed as a lot of youngsters in the team look up to him. He should be cool when handling the pressure and interacting with the media. But in the dressing room and on the field, a captain has to be aggressive," he said.

Coming to the team, Kapil is clear that there should have been an extra wicketkeeper as a cover for Dhoni. "We do not have any back-up wicket-keeper for Dhoni. Looking at the squad I get worried, what if he gets injured? In 1983 we had Yashpal Sharma and in recent years Rahul Dravid, both efficient behind the stumps."

Kapil is pretty happy with the batting line-up and feels with six big hitters they should be dominating the opposition. Batting is our strength - Yusuf Pathan, Dhoni, Virender Sehwag are all big game changers. Not very far behind are youngsters Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina. Then there is Sachin as the backbone and he knows how to pace a 50-overs game. Come to think of it, we have six big hitters who can ruthlessly go after any attack in all forms of the game," he said. — IANS 

Bangalore, February 7
India's World Cup preparations appear to have received a blow with pacer Praveen Kumar looking a doubtful starter for the forthcoming event as he hasn't fully recovered from the elbow injury sustained during the South African series last month.

The Uttar Pradesh pacer Praveen underwent a fitness test early this morning at the National Cricket Academy (NIA) here to assess his fitness but it seems the injury had not healed as fast as was expected, a BCCI source indicated. With less than a fortnight to go for the cricket World Cup to get underway, it has been learnt that the anxious Cricket Board (BCCI) has also called discarded Kerala pacer S Sreesanth to the NCA as Praveen's possible replacement for the quadrennial event, beginning in Dhaka on February 19.

Sreesanth took a fitness test in the afternoon at NCA, a move which is seen as a precautionary measure by the BCCI.

Praveen took the fitness test immediately on his return from England, where he had gone last week to consult Dr Andrew Wallace, a London-based surgeon who has treated many Indian players including Sachin Tendulkar, on his injured right elbow.

Though there was no official word yet from the BCCI on Praveen, the development has indicated that the fast bowler's dream of playing in his maiden World Cup appears to be over.

The pacer had been undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA and in an earlier communication had said that the rehab programme was on right track.

India can ill-afford to go into the mega event with an injury cloud over one of its squad members as key players Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have suffered injuries recently while the likes of Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra have returned to full fitness.

The Board is likely to take a call on Praveen before the Indian team's three-day conditioning camp at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore starting February 9. — PTI 

New Delhi, February 7
Unlike many of the past and present day international cricketers including his teammates, India's pace spearhead Zaheer Khan prefers to steer clear of playing the prediction game ahead of the forthcoming World Cup.

"Personally speaking, I don't want to predict anything," Zaheer said when asked for his take on the best team going into the quadrennial extravaganza starting February 19 in the sub-continent.

"I just want to follow the process," he added. The left-arm seamer though felt that playing with a more or less unchanged squad for the past few years is likely to benefit India in the World Cup.

"We have the same bunch of guys playing together and that is of great help in terms of building that team atmosphere in the dressing room and getting that momentum in the tournament," Zaheer explained.

As discussions turned to Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh, who will be playing their third World Cup along with the seamer, Zaheer thanked both of them for supporting him when he needed it the most. — PTI 

London, February 7
Fernando Torres endured a miserable Chelsea debut when his old club Liverpool inflicted a damaging 1-0 home defeat on the English champions on Sunday. The Spanish striker was mercilessly jeered by his former fans whose joy was completed by a 69th-minute strike from Raul Meireles which dashed Chelsea's hopes of closing the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester United.

Torres, who joined Chelsea last week in a British record deal, had two early chances but faded before being substituted after 66 minutes to the delight of the travelling supporters. "He did a good job," Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said of his 50 million-pound ($80.54 million) striker. "Liverpool defended very well with three centre backs and we didn't have the right solution to attack.

"Torres was very enthusiastic, very confident and excited but he's had a very busy week so it was right to take him off." Liverpool defended superbly throughout to record their fourth successive victory and clean sheet under new manager Kenny Dalglish. — AP

Hyderabad, February 7
What is it about speed that makes you skip a beat? That makes heads turn, fills the driver with adrenaline and the onlooker with envy? The shrieking of tyres, the calculated and at times unbelievable maneuvers… This is the world of karting, the cradle where Formula One drivers are born, bred and groomed.

As India slowly starts finding its feet in the sport, the amount of talent on display at the Amaron Karting Challenge Season 3, country’s biggest such event, was heartwarming.

The event culminated late evening yesterday on the tracks of MECO’s Ministry of Speed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here.

It was the boys from Bangalore who were firmly in control. Talented teenager Akash Gouda led convincingly from flag to flag, winning the battle and the coveted championship trophy of Season 3. As the final round of this year’s karting season became ever tighter, finishing second was Akhil Rabindra, also from Bangalore. Prakhyat Rai, another Bangalore lad, came in third.

Akash, the winner, was awarded a scholarship of up to Rs 10 lakh by Amaron Pro Racing. The scholarship means his grounding for higher achievements by professional training will be provided by Amaron Pro Racing with MECO Motor Sports.

The event has cemented his entry into avant garde motor sports in India as he stood along in the same league as P.D Nanjappa, winner of Season 2, who was also present on the occasion.

The fastest 54 racers between 12-16 years of age selected from over 300 schools across nine cities competed for the trophy. The participants were batched as per the standard Amaron Karting Challenge format into six batches of nine each.

MacKinlay Barreto, Head, Motor Sport, Amaron Pro Racing said, “We are extremely happy with the overwhelming response received by Amaron Karting Challenge in its Season 3. As we went to more cities we could feel the hidden passion many racing enthusiasts had in them.”

Jammu, February 7
In what could be termed as a ‘bad omen’ by believers, Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni could not pray at the revered Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, despite waiting here for almost two days.

Dhoni, accompanied by his wife Sakshi and teammate Sures Raina, left disappointed this afternoon as heavy rain prevented the party from flying in a helicopter from Katra town to the shrine.

Dhoni had reached Jammu yesterday morning.

He spent the night at the house of a relative at the Indian Army Headquarters in Udhampur. He took a flight to Delhi this afternoon.

Though the ace cricketer succeeded in keeping his visit a secret, he did leave questions regarding security of VIPs here.

The cricketer reportedly enjoys Z-plus security but in the terrorism-infested state of Jammu and Kashmir, he roamed around alone without any guards.

Police sources said no security request was received and they had no official information about his visit. 

BRIEFLY

Ganguly denies retirement reports
New Delhi: Sourav Ganguly today scotched reports that he has decided to retire from all forms of competitive cricket in the aftermath of IPL franchises shunning him for the fourth edition of the Twenty20 event. "I have already retired from international cricket in 2008. If I don't get to play IPL I will not be participating in any forms of domestic cricket. But if I do get an opportunity to play IPl I will play domestic cricket to stay fit," Ganguly said in a statement, seeking to put an end to the controversy. He had also clarified his position as soon as he landed at the Kolkata airport. — PTI

‘Aussies ready for title defence’
Perth: Australia cricket coach Tim Nielsen says his team is in good shape for their World Cup title defence despite injury doubts over several key players. The Australians, aiming for a fourth straight title, wound up their preparation for the tournament with a 57-run win over England in their final one-day international in Perth yesterday. It completed an emphatic 6-1 win over the tourists and Nielsen said the taxing seven-match series had been ideal for his team ahead of the World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. — AFP

Lorgat confident of clean WC
Abu Dhabi: International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat has exuded confidence that the forthcoming World Cup will be a corruption-free event following punishments handed out to three Pakistan players for involvement in spot fixing. The controversy had cast a shadow over the build-up to the game's flagship event but Lorgat said that corruption will not be part of the tournament which will be hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from February 19 to April 2. "I am confident (the World Cup will be free from corruption] for two reasons," Lorgat said. — PTI

Glad that ICC took action: Mehra
Abu Dhabi: Steve Waugh feels sorry for young Pakistan pacer Mohammed Aamer, who was handed a five-year ban for being involved in spot-fixing, but the former Australian skipper is glad that the ICC sent out a strong message by acting tough on corruption in international cricket. Apart from the 18-year-old Aamer, the ICC banned Pakistan's former Test skipper Salman Butt and pacer Mohammad Asif for 10 and seven years respectively for their involvement in the spot-fixing scandal that shook international cricket last year. — PTI

Watson wins Allan Border Medal
Melbourne: Shane Watson capped an outstanding playing year by winning Australian cricket's top individual award, the Allan Border Medal, for the second straight year today. Watson's win capped a superb night in Melbourne for the 29-year-old allrounder, who also won his second consecutive one-day international player of the year award and his first Test player of the year award. He was also runner-up to David Hussey in the Twenty20 award, which was given for the first time. — AFP

Chhetri released by Kansas
New Delhi: Sunil Chhetri has been released by Major League Soccer side Sporting Kansas City, shattering the Indian striker's great American dream after playing just one official match and without being fielded in an MLS fixture. Chhetri, who became only the second Indian footballer of post-Independence era to join a professional league side abroad -- the first being Bhaichung Bhutia -- when he signed for Sporting Kansas City in March last year, has not been picked for the 2011 season by the club. — PTI

Somdev 80 in ATP ranking
New Delhi: Somdev Devvarman jumped 30 places to reach career best singles ranking of 80 in the ATP charts following his stupendous show at the SA Tennis Open, where he ended runner-up yesterday. Somdev lost the summit clash to local favourite Kevin Anderson but earned 150 ranking points, that helped him climb the ranking ladder up. — PTI