Dhoni’s World Cup final bat fetches $160,500

NEW DELHI: The cricket bat used by India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to hit a match-winning six in the World Cup final has fetched a staggering 100,000 pounds ($160,500) at an auction, media reported Tuesday.

The auction was held in London on Monday to raise funds for his charitable foundation that was launched in India last year, the Press Trust of India news agency said.

The Indian captain, who scored an unbeaten 79-ball 91 with the bat in his team’s six-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the final in Mumbai in April, sealed the match when he smashed seamer Nuwan Kulasekara for six.

Dhoni said that the charity will work on “improving children’s accessibility to cricket by building a sports academy where children will be able to develop their talents across a whole range of disciplines.”

He is currently leading the side in England for a four-Test series starting at Lord’s on Thursday.

We are growing as sporting nation: Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni poses with the ICC Cricket World Cup trophy near the Gateway of India during a photo call at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai. -Photo by AFP Dawn News Updates

NEW DELHI: India plotted a new era of cricket domination on Sunday after their stunning World Cup success confirmed their status as the sport’s only superpower.

The comfortable six-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Mumbai, India’s first world title since 1983, was also being viewed as a reflection of the country’s growing commercial and political muscle.

“In the last three to four years India has done well in shooting, badminton, tennis, hockey and football,” said winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

“We are growing as a sporting nation. But cricket is special because of the infrastructure.

“It all started with the 1983 win. Then two big players, Anil Kumble and Sachin Tendulkar, came on the scene, followed by Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.

“It is due to them we are getting a lot of money and respect. We are trying to pass it on to the next generation.”

Dhoni, the son of a steel factory worker, is a multi-millionaire thanks to a career which has seen him become the first man to captain a World Cup and World Twenty20 winning side.

His team are also top of the world Test match rankings.

Throughout the six-week tournament, he was a regular on match-day TV commercials, endorsing everything from ceiling fans to mobile phones to high-end property.

But there will be little rest for his in-demand champions.

India have a packed upcoming programme, including tours of the West Indies, England and Australia before the year is out, as well as home internationals.

Yet before any of that comes the latest lucrative edition of the Twenty20 Indian Premier League, starting on April 8, with Dhoni having led the Chennai Super Kings to victory in 2010.

“I don’t think we are getting enough time off. There’s no time to realise we have won the World Cup.”

Significantly, even before the last celebratory firework exploded in the Mumbai night sky on Saturday, the team’s paymasters were keeping them sweet with rewards of $225,000 per player for capturing the trophy.

Indian newspapers revelled Sunday in victory, hailing Dhoni’s men as heroes for a new generation.

“The World At Our Feet” crowed the front page headline in the Times of India.

“The wait has ended and a new legend has been born,” the Times said, putting Dhoni’s squad on the same pedestal as the 1983 side.“Windia!” was the banner headline in the Indian Express.Not surprisingly, the mood was not so optimistic in Sri Lanka after their team lost a second successive World Cup final.“Who picked the final XI of the Sri Lanka team?” the Sunday Observer asked.It questioned the dropping of spinner Ajantha Mendis in favour of Suraj Randiv who only joined the squad as an injury replacement on Friday.

The Observer also questioned the wisdom of playing an injured Muttiah Muralitharan, the ace spinner, who was retiring after Saturday’s game.“Was it advisable playing a half-fit Muralitharan?” the state-run paper said.“Winning the mega-final is much more important than giving a farewell tribute to even a great cricketer of Muralitharan’s magnitude.”Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara insisted that Muralitharan, who retires with 800 Test wickets and 534 victims in one-day internationals, was fit to play despite having suffered from a series of knee and hamstring problems.“He’s our best bowler, even half-fit,” said Sangakkara. “But he was fine, he was almost at full fitness. I don’t think it was an issue.”On his return to Colombo, Muralitharan, who took 15 wickets in the tournament, said the final had been a letdown.“It was a little bit disappointing because my main aim was to win the World Cup,” he said.

Sri Lanka’s battered morale took a further hit when sling-action fast bowler Lasith Malinga said he won’t play in the 2015 World Cup.“I hope to be of service to my team as long as I can, but I won’t be able to play in the next World Cup, said 27-year-old Malinga, who captured 13 wickets in the tournament.Saturday’s victory for India sparked fulsome tributes to Sachin Tendulkar, the record-breaking batsman, who finally won a world title at his sixth attempt and just three weeks short of his 38th birthday.“Tendulkar has carried the burden of the nation for 21 years. It was time we carried him,” said young teammate Virat Kohli.

Team India all set to face Pakistan: Dhoni

 Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Team India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Tuesday said that his players are all set to face Pakistan in the semifinal match of World Cup 2011.

  Dhoni said everybody in the team seem to be fit.for the mega encounter.
Dhoni said Indo-Pak cricket matches tend to generate such media hype and it was important for the players not to get sucked into the frenzy and lose focus of the task at hand.

 "Well, we know the kind of hype media India-Pakistan matches generate. We are not getting involved in all this. We need to know what we are expected to do and focus on that," Dhoni said at the pre-match media conference.

"All this is part of cricket and we have to accept it.

But the key is not to get involved. We will have the biggest distinguished guests (referring to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan PM Yousuf Raza Gilani) to see the match, we have to be at our best," Dhoni said.

Asked whether the excessive hype would affect the Indians who are playing at home, the Indian skipper said, "It is not really affecting us. We all know it is a big tournament and we have prepared a lot. Our preparations have been the same like what we have done in the past few days."

Dhoni was not unduly worried about his batting form and reckoned that he had just not got opportunities to score big though he has been striking the ball well.

Asked specifically if pressure of captaincy was taking a toll on his batting, Dhoni responded: "It is only a cricketing aspect, nothing to do with form. I have been batting quite well. Sometimes the situations are not great to play flamboyant cricket. In the Bangladesh match, such a situation was there but I didn't get to bat."

 "If you are batting at No 5, 6, or 7, you don't get to bat much if the top order scores. I think the last game (against Australia) was ideal but it went straight to a fielder. It does not go your way always. Form has not been a worry," he added.

On whether this was his biggest match as captain, Dhoni said he did not believe in comparisons .

 "In a cricketer's life there will be many instances, this is no doubt an important match. After some time you forget. I have forgotten how we were feeling before the semi-final and final in 2007. Three years down the line, every game is different.

  "At the end of the day, it remains a 50 overs game, you have to be at your best. You have to maintain the intensity for 100 overs to win the game," the Indian skipper said.

Dhoni admitted that the presence of the Prime Ministers of both India and Pakistan and cricket being used as a tool for politics could serve as distraction.

 "That will be a distraction if I think of how we can help in bringing about a political change. I have been given job to lead the side and I have to do that to the best of my ability," he said.

The Indian captain said one team had to lose in the end and fans have to take the result of the match in the right spirit.

 "Somebody has to lose, irrespective of all the political talk and cricketing hype. At the end of 30th March, one team loses. It does not happen in cricket along, it happens in all sports," Dhoni pointed out.

"The good thing is we are all unaware of what is happening. Not watching the television is helping. It's a honour to lead the side. If you take it as a pressure job, you will find yourself in a pressure cooker," he said.

On the Pakistan team, Dhoni said they have a good bowling attack with their seamers and spinners doing a good job in the tournament.

 "They have a good bowling attack. Their seamers and spinners are doing a good job, the part-timers are also doing well. In sub-continental conditions, these players play a role. All-rounders like Abdul Razzak and (Shahid) Afridi give them the liberty to play extra bowlers," he said.

On the Mohali track, the Indian captain said he could not comment on the wicket as he has not seen the track yet.

 "Not seen the wicket, so I can't comment. In Mohali, most of the time it is in favour of batsmen," Dhoni said.

Dhoni also said that his Pakistan counterpart Afridi has been bowling really well in the tournament.

 "He has been bowling really well and has been the pick of their bowlers. But irrespective of the bowler, we have to treat the ball on merit and respect the good deliveries, he said.