Mumbai, April 4
He has played under six captains in a career spanning 21 years but senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar today rated current India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the best for his sharp mind and calm demeanour.

Tendulkar has played six World Cups in his career but it was under Dhoni that the iconic batsman realised his dream of becoming a part of a winning team after they beat Sri Lanka in the finals at the Wankhede stadium on Saturday.

"He (Dhoni) is the best captain I have played under. He is very sharp and always alert. He reads the situation well and is open to sharing ideas. He always has discussions with bowlers, batsmen and senior players separately," said Tendulkar.

"One more good thing is he is always calm and never shows his frustration. These are some of the human qualities which have made him such a good captain. He is a fantastic captain," he added.

Asked about outgoing India coach Gary Kirsten, Tendulkar said he wants the South African to continue. "Personally I want Gary to continue but I understand he has got commitments and he must have thought about this before the tournament. I respect his decision," he said.

"It has been a pleasure to work with him, he worked as hard as the players, he is like a bowling machine, bowling 200-300 balls to the batsmen. It has always been a fabulous experience to rub shoulder with him, we will miss him," he added.

Tendulkar feels the team peaked at the right time at the knockout stage after playing some close matches in the league stages of the tournament. "In the knockout stage, we peaked at the right time. It was most important, we knew either the batting was clicking or bowling or fielding but everything was not clicking together. But in the last three games, everybody contributed, right from seniors to the juniors in the team. Results no one can guarantee but efforts can be," he said.

Tendulkar said winning the World Cup was the biggest day of his life. "My biggest day in life was April 2, 2011. We had to pinch one another that it was actually happening in our life. I thank God for such a day, it was by his grace,” he added.

Asked how did the team deal with pressure, Tendulkar said they just tried to give their individual best. "Pressure and expectation are always there, we were thinking that as individuals we should perform our best. If bowler fails, others will take wickets. We were not thinking like that. We wanted to do our individual best and perform as a team,” he said.

“If a batsman failed, the aim was that the other batsmen should cover up for him. Pressure was of my own expectations. I won't say it was pressure but preparation," Tendulkar said.

Asked about the finals, Tendulkar said, "We planned a lot of things ahead of the final, we discussed a lot of things, but nobody was thinking about lifting the trophy. Obviously that was at the back of our minds, but we wanted to go through the process and finish the game.

"We wanted to restrict them at the minimal total and chase the total. We were focusing on the process," he said. Asked about the last lap on the shoulders of his teammates after winning the World Cup title, Tendulkar said it was a pleasant surprise and thanked his colleagues for the gesture. "I became extremely emotional and those were happy tears.

“It has never happened in my life. It was truly an amazing experience to do the lap. I was not expecting that and I was taken by pleasant surprise. I want to thank all my teammates for that gesture. What a way to end the World Cup. It was an overwhelming experience," he said. — PTI

Mumbai, April 4
The ICC today rejected reports that the World Cup with the Indian team is a replica and maintained that it is the original trophy after controversy broke out over news that it was a fake trophy that was presented to the team on Saturday.

Yuvraj Singh kisses the World Cup trophy at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai on Sunday. Media reports had earlier claimed that the trophy handed out to Team India was a fake and the original was lying with the customs. — AFP

Islamabad, April 4
Days after winning the hearts of numerous Indian fans with his remarks after his team's loss in the World Cup semi-final, Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi has said Indians are not as large-hearted as Pakistanis. Afridi also slammed the Indian media for its "very negative approach" and said the Pakistani media was a "hundred times better" than its Indian counterpart.

"In my opinion, if I have to tell the truth, they (Indians) will never have hearts like Muslims and Pakistanis. I don’t think they have the large and clean hearts that Allah has given us," Afridi said during a talk show on Samaa news channel when he was asked about relations between the two countries.

"It is a very difficult thing for us to live with them (Indians) or to have long-term relationship with them. Nothing will come out of talks. See how many times in the past 60 years we have had friendship and then how many times things have gone bad," he said as the audience in the TV channel's studio applauded him repeatedly.

"We don't want to fight with each other but a third country - everyone knows which one it is - is trying to spoil our relations. (This country) is taking advantage of Pakistan and wants to take advantage of India. I don't want to go into details but these people will not let us come together," he added.

Asked about the Indian media's coverage of the Pakistani team during the semi-final with India at Mohali on March 30, Afridi replied, "The Indian media has a very negative approach and very negative thoughts. The people may not like that but I think the media had a very dirty role in spoiling relations between us and India.

"Our media, which is criticised by people, is hundred times better than theirs’," he said.

India beat Pakistan in the semi-final, which was watched by the Prime Ministers of the two countries, who used cricket diplomacy to boost the peace process between the two sides. Afridi also criticised Interior Minister Rehman Malik for warning the Pakistani team not to get involved in match-fixing and Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who vowed to dedicate victory in the World Cup final to victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

"I think they were both very stupid comments by Rehman Malik and Gautam Gambhir... I wasn't expecting this from Gautam... This is all politics, what do you know about who carried out the Bombay attacks?" he said. The Mumbai attacks, which left 166 people dead, were carried out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba. — PTI

New Delhi: Former Pakistan skipper Aamir Sohail today slammed current captain Shahid Afridi for his comments that Indians are "not as large-hearted as Pakistanis", saying that the statement was "immaturish and untimely".Sohail said Afridi should not have made these remarks just after the goodwill generated in the aftermatch of the India-Pakistan semifinal clash at Mohali and he should respect each individual. "I think Afridi should not have made such comments. You got to respect every individual. His statement is kind of immaturish and at the same time untimely," Sohail said. — PTI

Miami, April 4
In an epic final, Novak Djokovic defeated world number one Rafa Nadal in a third set tiebreak to win the Sony Ericsson Open 4-6 6-3 7-6 on Sunday. The victory extends second ranked Djokovic's winning streak to 26 matches going back to last year and follows his victory over the Spaniard in Indian Wells two weeks ago.

"It is just incredible to win against the number one player in the world in a third set tie break," a delighted Djokovic said on court before he was handed the trophy. It was a magnificent battle that lived up to its billing as a clash between the sport's top-ranked player and the most in-form competitor on tour at the moment, producing quality, drama and tension throughout.

Nadal began strongly, breaking the Serb in the third game of the opening set to end Djokovic's remarkable streak of 41 successive service games held in the tournament. Djokovic failed to convert on two break points in the next game and then Nadal took advantage of two loose forehand shots from the Serb to break again and after holding serve, he ran out to a 5-1 lead.

But Djokovic does not buckle easily. The world number two came back fighting, winning three straight games. With Nadal serving for the set at 5-4, Djokovic worked himself into a position to break, up 30-15, but the Spaniard's big serve came out and he held to secure the set.

The Serb's rally should have been warning to Nadal that he could expect a real onslaught in the second set, and so it was - after a wonderful rally, Djokovic held his serve and then broke Nadal in the second game. There was a tantrum from Djokovic, who smashed his racket to the ground, after he gave Nadal break point in the third game but he held on to go ahead 3-0.

Nadal was trying everything to get back into the set but he came up against some inspired strokes from the Serb who twice beat him with perfectly placed lobs and was aggressive coming to the net. Djokovic served out the set to love in emphatic fashion with an ace but Nadal found reserves of energy and drew on his outstanding technique as he proved a match for the Serb throughout the third set.

The enthralled crowd lapped up every game and even though neither player could get a break point in the final set, the aggressive way that both players approached the encounter ensured there was drama throughout. A tiebreak was a fitting conclusion and in the end, Djokovic grabbed a 5-2 lead and then an outstanding forehand winner down the line gave him the comfort of four championship points.

Nadal saved the first two points but Djokovic delivered a big forehand winner and raised his arms to the air, to acknowledge the roars from a crowd who had been treated to tennis at its very best.

Djokovic still remains behind Nadal, who he beat in the Indian Wells final, in the official world rankings. "I know I had the best start of the season, no question about it. It's the best four months in my life," Djokovic told reporters.

"But it's only the start of the season. I think it's a bit early to talk about getting that top spot in the rankings. It's still quite a big difference. Rafa is definitely the best player in the world now.” — Reuters

New Delhi, April 4
Despite the International Hockey Federtion's (FIH) stern warning that it would not tolerate any unauthorised body or any tournament organised by such bodies, the rival Indian Hockey Federtion (IHF) seems to be calling the shots still.

Though the national camp for selection of the senior women's hockey team, organised by Hockey India, began on April 1, the Railway Sports Control Board has not given clearance to its playing members to attend the camp on the pretext that they have to play in the (unauthorised) Senior National Championship for Women in Bangalore, starting on April 5.

The present coaching camp for women started after the orders of the Supreme Court and it was surprising that the Railways have not released their players for the camp. A Hockey India source said the IHF had no locus standi, and therefore, no authority to conduct the Senior National Championship for women.

The source said that the IHF got relief from the Delhi High Court on recognition only for the men's body, and the FIH, with effect from March 11, 2011 had implemented its rules viz authorised and unauthorised tournaments.

By virtue of these rules, players of a country participating in any unauthorised tournament within or outside the country can/will be banned from participating in FIH authorised tournaments.

A letter of the Registrar of Societies, Tamilnadu, dated March 31, 2011, confirmed that no merger/amalgamation has taken place in the IHF, hence it is very clear that the IHF is only a men's body which was de-recognised by the FIH in 2001.

In a letter to Railway sports officer Ashok Dewan, Hockey India secretary-general Narinder Batra requested the Railways to "reconsider your decision of participating in the unauthorised tournament in Bangalore", warning that "if our request is not looked into, then any player by virtue of the FIH regulations effective fom 11 March, 2011 is barred/banned from partcipating in FIH events/national team, then the Railways will be solely responsible/liable for the same". 

Charleston, April 4
Sania Mirza qualified for the singles main draw of the Family Circle Cup, a WTA event, after scoring a straight sets win over Ukraine's Olga Savchuk. The second seed Indian beat her eighth seed rival 6-3 6-3 in the second round of the qualifying event.She has been drawn against American Alison Riske in the first round of the main event. If she manages to clear the first hurdle, she will run into 16th seed Russian Vera Dushevina, who is up against American Vania King.

In the doubles event, Sania and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina will take on second seed Americans Lisa Raymond and Liezel Huber in the opening round match.

Sania had qualified for the WTA Premier event in Miami in her previous tournament but lost to World number nine Maria Kirilenko in the second round. — PTI