Tendulkar vindicated by Dhoni's success

Instrumental in Mahendra Singh Dhoni's elevation to captaincy of the Indian team, Sachin Tendulkar says India's rich success under the stewardship of the star stumper from Jharkhand vindicated his faith in him.

After Rahul Dravid decided to step down from the captain's job soon after India's England tour last year, Tendulkar suggested Dhoni's name to then BCCI president Sharad Pawar.

Under Dhoni, India won, among others, the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa, tri-series in Australia, Test series against Australia at home before recording their first ODI series win in New Zealand and first Test series there in 41 years.

Refusing to disclose much about his suggestion to Pawar to appoint Dhoni as the captain, Tendulkar said, "I spoke to the BCCI president but I would not want to discuss everything publicly. As I said earlier, it's my principle that whatever happens inside dressing room should stay there."

Tendulkar, however, did not hide his satisfaction after Dhoni lived up to his expectation. "Talking about his captaincy, I'm extremely happy and delighted the way he has conducted himself," Tendulkar said.

"He is a balanced guy, is always on his toes all the time. Before he was made the captain, standing in the slips I interacted with him and picked a lot of things which clearly indicated that he has a sharp brain, his approach was pretty clear and not complicated," Tendulkar said. "I think he is doing a fantastic job."

Incidentally, Tendulkar himself struggled whenever he was saddled with captaincy.

Asked if he would love to have another go at it, the Mumbai run-machine was almost indignant. "Now what kind of question is it?" he asked.

"The team is doing so well (under Dhoni) and you should be proud of it," he admonished the person posing the query.

Tendulkar said he was rather happy playing mentor's role to younger players.

"To players like Harbhajan Singh or Yuvraj Singh, I'm like their elder brother. I share information not just with them but also with other members of the side. It's a terrific atmosphere in the dressing room and it's not just a one-way traffic," he said.

"We learn from each other and if someone has some issues, there is the coach. Generally it's a great atmosphere and I enjoy being part of this side," he added.

Dhoni, Harbhajan skip prestigious awards

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh find themselves embroiled in an unexpected controversy. Dhoni and Harbhajan missed the Padma awards ceremony in Delhi on Tuesday despite being in the country.

Harbhajan explained why he couldn't attend the ceremony in the Capital. He said he had pressing family commitments in his home town Jalandhar.

"I wanted to attend the award ceremony," Harbhajan said here on Wednesday. "I had some family commitments that's why I couldn't attend the awards. I have not done any mistake. If anybody thinks that I have committed a mistake, then I will come two days in advance."

Rubbishing reports that he was in the Capital for an ad shoot, Harbhajan said if this "charge" is proved he would quit cricket.

"The allegation that I was in New Delhi or was shooting for an advertisement instead of attending the Padma award ceremony is completely false," Harbhajan said. "If anyone says that I was in Delhi and proves it, I will stop playing cricket."

However, there was no word from Dhoni over him giving the awards a miss. Reports claim Dhoni missed the function because he had commercial commitments to meet.

Dhoni left for South Africa on Tuesday night to play in the IPL, but despite being in Mumbai all day failed to turn up for the ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

India's Minister of Home Affairs P Chidambaram, however, played down the duo's absence, saying there are two or three absentees from the awards often.

"Both are in South Africa," he said. "They had told us they are playing matches there and won't be available. That happens every year, one or two people don't turn because they have other things to do."

Tendulkar first time Man of the Match in IPL

Sachin Tendulkar was adjudged the Man of the Match for the first time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after he led Mumbai Indians to a victory against last year's finalists Chennai Super Kings here Saturday.

Tendulkar scored his second fifty in the competition, remaining unbeaten with 59, his first fifty plus score coming May last year when he made 65 against Kings XI at the Wankhede Stadium.

The other statistical highlights of the opening match in the second edition of the IPL:

· Mumbai Indians posted their eighth victory in 15 IPL games. They have now won two out of three contested against Chennai Super Kings.

· Mumbai Indians have won two games in succession against Chennai. They had defeated Chennai by nine wickets at Wankhede Stadium on May 14, 2008 in their previous meeting.

· Lasith Malinga (3/15) has produced his career-best bowling figures in Twenty20. His figures are the best for Mumbai Indians against Chennai Super Kings, bettering the 3 for 33 by Dhawal Kulkarni at the Wankhede Stadium on May 14, 2008.

· Manpreet Gony is the leading bowler for Chennai in the IPL. His 19 wickets at an average of 25.00 in 17 matches obliterated Albie Morkel's tally of 17 at 23.47 runs apiece in 13 matches.

· Mumbai (166/7) posted their second highest total against Chennai, next only to their 202 for seven at Chennai on April 23, 2008.

· Jayasuriya has taken his run-aggregate in the IPL to 540 at an average of 41.53, surpassing Gautam Gambhir's tally of 534 in 14 innings at an average of 41.07.

· Parthiv Patel's second-ball duck is his second in the IPL. In the first edition of the IPL, he had posted a first-ball duck against Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur.

McCullum still is IPL's highest scorer - IPL Statistics 2008

Team	Mts	Won	Lost	NR	Points	Net RR
Rajasthan Royals	14	11	3	0	22	0.632
Kings XI Punjab	14	10	4	0	20	0.509
Chennai Super Kings	14	8	6	0	16	-0.192
Delhi Daredevils	14	7	6	1	15	0.342
Mumbai Indians	14	7	7	0	14	0.570
Kolkata Knight Riders	14	6	7	1	13	-0.147
Royal Challengers Bangalore	14	4	10	0	8	-1.160
Deccan Chargers	14	2	12	0	4	-0.467

Highest innings totals

Total	Overs	For	Vs	Venue	Match
240-5	20	CSK	KXIP	Mohali	2nd
222-3	20	KKR	RCB	Bangalore	1st
221-3	20	KXIP	RR	Mohali	55th
217-7+	19.5	RR	DC	Hyderabad	9th
214-5	20	DC	RR	Hyderabad	9th
211-5	20	RR	CSK	Chennai	49th

+batting second

Lowest innings totals

(excluding shortened matches)

Total	Overs	For	Vs	Venue	Match
67	15.2	KKR	MI	Mumbai	38th
82	15.1	RCB	KKR	Bangalore	1st
87	16.1	DD	RR	Mumbai	57th

Highest individual innings

Batsman	Score	For	Vs	Venue	Match
BB McCullum	158*	KKR	RCB	Bangalore	1st
A Symonds	117*	DC	RR	Hyderabad	9th
MEK Hussey	116*	CSK	KXIP	Mohali	2nd
SE Marsh	115	KXIP	RR	Mohali	56th
ST Jayasuriya	114*	MI	CSK	Mumbai	36th
AC Gilchrist	109*	DC	MI	Mumbai	14th
V Sehwag	94*	DD	DC	Hyderabad	7th
KC Sangakkara	94	KXIP	MI	Mohali	10th
SC Ganguly	91	KKR	DC	Hyderabad	32nd
GC Smith	91	RR	CSK	Chennai	49th