Parties, travelling during IPL took a toll on fitness: Dhoni

ST LUCIA: India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni refused to blame the IPL for the team's Twenty20 World Cup debacle but conceded that after-match parties and hectic travelling during the glitzy league did take a toll on the players' fitness.

"Most of the players were fit and fresh. Players also need to be smart, not only about cricket but about other things going around in the IPL. We have to respect your body and give some time for it to recover because there is more to it than playing matches. Attending parties and travelling takes a toll," Dhoni said after India's five-wicket loss against Sri Lanka on Tuesday that knocked them out of the event.

The defeat was also India's third successive in the Super Eights stage, a disappointing low for the inaugural champions.

Dhoni said the six-week-long IPL was in itself not responsible for the debacle.

"Our performance does not have anything to do with IPL," said Dhoni.

"I wouldn't say the IPL was a set back for our preparation. In fact, it has helped us in match preparation for the World Cup. It has thrown up players like (Suresh) Raina, Rohit (Sharma), (Ravindra) Jadeja, (Pragyan) Ohja and (Amit) Mishra. It has groomed a lot of talent."

Dhoni rejected criticism of the team and said he is least affected by what is said about it.

"As Far as the sloganeering goes, I am not bothered about that. We try and do our best. We play for our country and we are more respectful to our country than those who do these sort of things. They can do whatever they want to," fumed Dhoni.

He said Indian had done their best although the results have not been too good.

"Whenever we go out there we try to do well. But you won't do well every time. We tried our best and did whatever we could have, but we still ended up being on the losing side," said a despondent Dhoni.

The wicketkeeper-batsman commended the Sri Lankans for their all-round show yesterday.

"They batted really well in the end overs. Also, they bowled very well after the 13th over and made it difficult for us to score.

"They were looking to bowl yorkers and to keep the ball outside off stump. You can't do much when someone bowls perfect yorkers. Me and Raina were out there in the middle. It was really tough. But we were looking to slog everything thing," he said.

Dhoni said he did not regret batting first on Tuesday. "I don't really regret batting first. If we had chased 150 batting second, it would not have been less than 10 runs an over which is tough. Defending 163 was difficult. We fell short by a few runs. Had we scored 180 or more, the target would have been 160-170 and that would have been a good target to defend," said Dhoni.

Dhoni said this was the best Twenty20 side that India could field.

"We are not performing to our potential. I can't say why. But at the end of the day this is the best T20 side we have. It gets tough without players like Virender (Sehwag), Zaheer Khan (he suffered a blow on the right thumb) and Praveen Kumar," he said.

Asked if the Indians' vulnerability to the rising ball proved to be their downfall, Dhoni said, "I can't comment on that as you really can't stretch a tournament for too long. It required a bit of adaptation as we have played in similar conditions quite often. I can't say the wicket was such and we didn't perform well."

He said Indian batsmen had technical problem when it came to playing the short ball.

"Most of us have the problem of playing short pitched balls. So it is not just the youngsters who had problems. We can't neglect it any more. But we don't have bowlers who consistently at 145-50 kph and most of wickets in India don't have that kind of bounce," he said.

"But we should also remember we are good players of spin. So we shouldn't be ashamed that we can't play short-pitch bowling. We have to play even against short-pitch but we can't be ducking and leaving all the time in Twenty20," he added.

On whether he was feeling the pressure of captaincy, Dhoni said, "You are always under pressure when you play for India. It is part and parcel of the game. I have not played any game till now when there is no pressure."

Notwithstanding the debacle in the World Cup, Dhoni said he had faith in his side.

"I have a side with lot of potential to do well, wherever we play. We had two or three poor tournaments. But other than that we have been consistent," said Dhoni.

T20 WC Super 8s: West Indies knock India out of World Twenty20

BRIDGETOWN: 2007 Champions India were on the brink of elimination from the Twenty20 World Cup after suffering a 14-run defeat against West Indies in their Group F Super Eight match on Sunday.

Chasing 170 to win, India made 155 for nine as their top order once against collapsed against sustained fast bowling.

Suresh Raina hit a 25-ball 32 but it was Mahendra Singh Dhoni (29) and Harbhajan Singh (14) who raised India hopes in the death overs, but some outstanding fielding and bowling by Dwayne Bravo fizzled out India's challenge.

Bravo produced an outstanding direct hit from long on to get rid off Dhoni and then held a catch in the deep off Harbhajan before dismissing Ashish Nehra at short mid-wicket by Suleiman Benn to put the last nail in Indian coffin.

Earlier, Chris Gayle butchered the Indian bowlers with a whirlwind 66-ball 98 as West Indies posted a competitive 169 for six after India skipper Dhoni put West Indies to bat.

India would need a miracle to reach the semis now as a win for Sri Lanka over Australia in the other Group F match at the Kensington Oval would mean they no longer had a chance of reaching the final four.

If Australia defeats Sri Lanka and West Indies in their next two matches and India beats the Islanders in their last encounter, then it will come down to run-rate which will be the only slight chance that India will have to make to the semis.

Earlier, Gayle slammed five fours and seven sixes and involved in three crucial partnerships with Shivnarine Chanderpaul (23), Darren Sammy (19) and Keiron Pollard (17) to take his team to a competitive score.

Gayle mixed aggression with caution to single-handedly anchor the West Indies innings on a damp but drying wicket which wasn't conducive for stroke making at the Kensington Oval here.

Gayle piously defended his citadel when the bowlers demanded respect and treated them with casual disdain when they begged to be punished.

He was calm and resolute when Harbhajan Singh (4-0-16-0) was in operation and ensured his side did not lose wickets even when the Indian had the game in control after five overs which yielded just 26 for no loss.

But the moment the off-spinner went off the attack, he opened his broad, muscular shoulders to annihilate the rest of the Indian bowlers.

He was in no hurry to rotate the strike while raising 80 runs for the first wicket with Chanderpaul.

Gayle lashed out at the bowlers with power and precision and showed scant respect to Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Ravindra Jadeja as all his sixes sailed over the pickets to the utter delight of the local fans.

The Indian fielding lived up to its billing. Ravindra Jadeja spilled Chanderpaul at 12 when West Indies had made 43 in 7.4 overs.

A little later, Gayle watched Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan collide with each other and drop what should have been a simple catch at short square. Gayle was on 46 in a score of 73 for no loss in 11.1 overs. He lived to flay the Indian attack in the death overs, adding 52 runs after the reprieve.

Forget the dropped catches, the out-fielding also left much to be desired. Jadeja seemed to have not got over his nightmare against Australia, as he floundered in the deep, letting the ball slip under his knees.

The 21-year-old was also to concede 16 runs in his first over, with Gayle and Darren Sammy slamming him for sixes.

The score could have been much more but pacer Ashish Nehra, who bagged three wickets for 35 runs, bowled a brilliant last over to restrict West Indies to 169.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt.), Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra.

West Indies: Chris Gayle (Capt.), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Wavell Hinds, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Sulieman Benn, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor.

South Africa badly need a win against Pakistan

GROS ISLET: Their title defence virtually over, a beleaguered Pakistan will be out to salvage some pride, while South Africa will hope to put their Twenty20 World Cup campaign back on track in the Group E Super Eights stage match at the Beausejour Stadium on Monday.

With none of their players featuring in the third edition of the Indian Premier League, defending champions Pakistan entered the tournament as the only side without any fatigue factor but they looked rusty and now risk an early return home after losing their first two Super Eight stage matches to England and New Zealand.

The 2009 champions looked a rudderless lot under Shahid Afridi's timid captaincy and the burden of leading seemed to have bogged down the all-rounder who looked far from his flamboyance self.

The Pakistani batting order, barring Salman Butt, has looked patchy with batsmen like Mohammad Hafeez and Misbah-ul-Haq coming a cropper while the Akmal brothers -- Kamran and Umar -- also lacking consistency.

Their inability to chase down a meagre victory target of 134 runs in yesterday's cliff-hanger against New Zealand virtually put paid to their semifinal hopes and the batsmen would have to shoulder the blame for the team's pathetic display.

In contrast, their bowlers did a better job and restricting New Zealand to 133 was a commendable effort.

Unlike Pakistan, South Africa have everything to play for as a win might clear their semifinal passage.

Having beaten New Zealand by 13 runs in their first Super Eight match, South Africa showed a batting frailty against England yesterday that would keep them worried.

Chasing 169 for a win, only four batsmen reached double digit scores before they collapsed in 19 overs for just 129.

In the match against New Zealand, the entire top order had fired in unison but the same batsmen looked helpless against England's disciplined attack and it is something the Protea think-tank would have to sort out tomorrow.

One would expect the Protea bowlers to bend their back tomorrow and come to the aid of the team.

For South Africa, off-spinner Johan Botha has been virtually unplayable, taking wickets and hardly conceding boundaries but the Protea would need a big contribution from Dale Steyn and Charl Langeveldt up front to see them through against Pakistan.

BCCI extends Lalit Modi's deadline for defense

NEW DELHI: The Board of Cricket Control in India on Monday extended the time for suspended IPL chairman Lalit Modi to respond to the show-cause notice served to him on April 26, till Saturday May 15.

Earlier on Monday, Lalit Modi reportedly sought time to respond to the BCCI to ensure that he prepares an appropriate defense. Lalit Modi has been meeting his lawyer and other consultants over the past few days, as he was preparing his defense.

Modi was given a show-cause notice by the BCCI on charges of financial irregularity. Modi has since maintained that all decisions were taken collectively by the governing council and he has nothing to hide. Even as the entire governing council seem to be pitting their guns against him.

There are five main charges against Lalit Modi ranging from receiving kickbacks for allotting TV broadcast rights to indiscipline and leveling baseless charges against the BCCI. He is also facing the charges of rigging the bidding of two new IPL teams which were eventually won by Sahara and the Kochi IPL consortium and also for being a ghost owner in three IPL teams.

But in his defense Modi is likely to have prepared a 1000 page reply document to all the charges levelled against him by the BCCI. He is also likely to present evidence of all agreements signed by the IPL, when he meets the board on Saturday.

However, the BCCI maintains that Modi is still with-holding crucial documents of the IPL. Ratnakar Shetty, CAO, BCCI laying the charge to which Modi replied said that he has been BCCI's enemy number one.

I've been enemy No.1 for BCCI for long: Modi

NEW DELHI: Suspended IPL commissioner Lalit Modi on Saturday ridiculed the BCCI's second show-cause notice for allegedly planning a 'rebel' Twenty20 league in England, saying it has become a part of life for him to be treated as "public enemy number one" by the board.

"It's a part of life. I have been public enemy number one for the BCCI for a long time now," Modi said when asked for his reaction to the notice issued to him a couple of days ago.

"I won't react to it, the world has reacted to it on the basis of which the notice has been served. I still have 15 days to respond to it. We all know what it is," he told reporters at the airport.

In the capital to consult his lawyers for a reply to the first show-cause notice issued to him for alleged bid-rigging and murky financial deals in the IPL, Modi said he would personally hand over his response to the accusations on Monday.

"I have just come to wrap up my reply to the show-cause that I have to submit on Monday. I am going to reply personally because there is nothing to hide," he said.

The IPL boss' fall has been sensational but he tried to put a brave face in front of the media and said, "I have not gone anywhere. I have only been suspended and that's about it."

Asked if the IPL would suffer due to his suspension, Modi said the league's structure was strong enough to weather the current storm.

"We have built a strong organisation. I don't think the IPL will suffer. I think we have enough competent people to run the organisation.

"It's a very strong brand. It's important to understand that IPL is a global brand and hopefully we will be able to prove it. Everybody is behind me," he said.

Modi is facing allegations of financial wrongdoings and favouring friends and family in the IPL's bidding process.

His problems have only compounded after it was alleged that he was in talks with English counties to start a parallel Twenty20 league without the knowledge of the England and Wales Cricket Board and the IPL Governing Council.

Sachin tweets, Bollywood's a fan..

Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has joined Twitter, and film personalities went all out to welcome the ace cricketer on the micro blogging site.

One of Sachin's early tweets were: "By the way this time its real me. No more wrong information..."

Soon after, many actors posted messages on their Twitter pages welcoming him.

"The original rock star is here. Welcome Sachin Tendulkar. He is here. Give him all the love he deserves," posted Arjun Rampal.

Deepika Padukone wrote: "The only record left for him to break is maximum number of followers. Welcome the one and only and my favourite Sachin Tendulkar."

Karan Johar: "A big welcome shout for the Sachin Tendulkar himself. Enjoy!"

Shilpa Shetty: "Finally on twitter, the god of cricket himself. A big welcome shout for Sachin Tendulkar himself. Spread the word."

Riteish Deshmukh: "Sachin Tendulkar is on Twitter. We want him to beat Ashton Kutcher hollow. Spread the word. Follow Sachin."

Rahul Bose: "Welcome Sachin. What a pleasure!"

Arbaaz Khan: "Amcha Sachin tendulkar aala re (Our Sachin Tendulkar has come)... Welcome India's favourite son on twitter!!!"

Even internationally popular Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur said: "Welcome Sachin."

Sameera Reddy: "Twitter got more awesome. Let's welcome the undisputed king of cricket! We Love u Sachin! Sachin Tendulkar."

Atul Kasbekar: "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my proud privilege to introduce finally to Twitter, Sachin Tendulkar, follow the King now, go go go!!! Let's get Sachin on top of the Twitter verse in world record time, how cool to have an Indian displace Ashton Kutcher."

Houghton quits as India's soccer coach, AIFF denies

NEW DELHI: National coach Bob Houghton has quit following a tiff with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) over the extension of his contract, according to sources.

"Bob has sent his resignation on Saturday and has given three months' notice," a source said on condition of anonymity.

AIFF General Secretary Alberto Colaco, however, denied that the Englishman has put in his papers.

"It is not true. There is nothing like that as yet," he said.

Colaco had only on Sunday said that the AIFF had written to Houghton's agent that the federation was willing to extend his contract beyond the Asian Cup to be held in Qatar in January next year.

"Bob's agent communicated to us Bob's willingness to extend his contract. After consulting AIFF President Praful Patel and some of the committee members we have written to the agent that we are willing to renew the contract," Colaco had said.

Houghton had threatened to resign if his contract was not renewed till 2013, besides demanding a hike of $10,000 per month after his current tenure ends in January 2011. The coach was apparently ticked off by the fact that AIFF was looking for a new coach.

Sources close to Houghton, who reportedly is earning $2,40,000 per year as salary, said it was a top AIFF official who told the English coach's agent that it was looking for a coach after his contract ends in January next year.

A miffed Houghton, through his agent, informed the AIFF that he would resign if his contract was not renewed till 2013.

Other officials of the AIFF felt that Houghton has been doing all sorts of pressure tactics to get what he wanted.

"He has been getting so many things what other coaches have not got in the past. He has been using pressure tactics for some time," a top AIFF official said.

AIFF president Praful Patel vehemently denied that Houghton had resigned and insisted that it was just a speculation.

"He has not resigned. We have not got his resignation, why are you speculating? He is still the India football coach," Patel said when contacted.

Asked if he would ask Houghton to reconsider his decision if he had resigned, Patel said, "He has not resigned at the first place and where is the question of asking him to reconsider? That is hypothetical."