Don’t burden Dhoni with Test captaincy, Shastri advises BCCI

Mahendra Singh Dhoni may have impressed with his leadership skills in the one-dayers but burdening him with the Test captaincy would be asking for too much from the youngster, feels former skipper Ravi Shastri.

The former all-rounder, who served as India’s interim Cricket Manager during the Bangladesh tour, said Dhoni had proved his mettle as skipper but it was not the right time to anoint him Test captain.

“It will put him under a lot of pressure. In future he may do it but not at this moment. He has a lot of talent but I think he is not ready for this responsibility now,” Shastri, also the Chairman of the National Cricket Academy, said in Mohali on Tuesday.

India have been without a Test captain since Rahul Dravid quit the post after the England tour and Sachin Tendulkar too has turned down the offer to lead the side.

Shastri advocated having separate captains for the Test and ODI teams.

Apart from Test captain, the Indian team is also without a full-time coach but Shastri, part of the Board’s coach selection committee, said it would not be wise to rush the process.

“There is no need to rush things to get a coach. We need to pick the ideal person. We just can’t take anybody and make him the coach. And the team is winning, so why the tension? “We’ll wait for the right time and the right man for the job,” he added.

Tennis-Meditation, fun and fitness the keys for Ivanovic

MADRID, Nov 5 (Reuters) – Relaxation, meditation, improved fitness and a desire to put the fun back into her tennis are the reasons Ana Ivanovic gives for her dramatic rise to number four in the world.

“The beginning of this season wasn’t great for me. But after the American tournament in Charleston (in April) I had time off, took some holiday then started preparing again,” the Serb told reporters on the eve of the WTA Championships here.

“From that point on something changed and I started putting much less pressure on myself and enjoying each game, and that worked well. I tried to work on meditation, to relax a little more.”

Ivanovic, who turns 20 on Tuesday and is the youngest player at the end-of-season event, was outside the top 15 in May.

But three tour titles, a first grand slam final at Roland Garros and a semi-final appearance at Wimbledon have helped her climb the rankings.

“Now I try to take things step by step and not do everything at once,” she said. “I played very few tournaments this year but I played them very well and that worked for me.

FITNESS LEVELS

“I just try to enjoy each match and have fun on court. I see the matches and tournaments like a reward for the hard work I put in.” 

Ivanovic said improved fitness levels and maturity were also responsible for the good results this season which have helped her become the only player other than world number one Justine Henin to record more than 10 wins over top-10 players.

“I’m very pleased with my fitness,” she said. “I’ve improved a lot in that area.

“I’m fitter and stronger and that helps me avoid injuries. I also think I’m more mature and that helps me to stay calm and perform better.”

Ivanovic’s last tournament victory came in Luxembourg in September before she got knocked out early in Stuttgart and Zurich.

“The last two tournaments were not exactly the best of my career but I was expecting too much and putting myself under too much pressure,” she said. “I’m still trying to learn how to be a top player.

“Now I’ve had two weeks to prepare and I’ve been working on my mental training. Coming here I feel much better and feel I’m in good shape.”

Ivanovic makes her debut in the event on Tuesday with a round-robin match against world number two Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Liverpool hand out record 8-0 thrashing

LIVERPOOL – Israel international Yossi Benayoun scored a hat-trick as Liverpool, winners of the Champions League in 2005 and runners-up last season, handed out an 8-0 thrashing to Besiktas at Anfield on Tuesday.

The scoreline was a Champions League record, beating the 7-0 by Arsenal against Slavia Prague last month and Juventus against Olympiakos in Dec. 2003.

After failing to win any of their opening three games in Group A, Liverpool could not afford to drop more points against the Turkish club, who beat them 2-1 in Istanbul last month.

But that never looked likely once Peter Crouch and Benayoun had scored in the first half to pave the way for a torrent of goals after the break.

Benayoun added two more and as Besiktas crumbled, further goals from captain Steven Gerrard, substitute Ryan Babel, with two, and Crouch again emphatically revived Liverpool’s chances of catching Porto or Marseille for a top two place in the group.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez had played down the pressure on his position and the financial implications of failing to emerge from the group stages.

But Besiktas have only won once away from home in 10 Champions League fixtures and defeat for Liverpool could have had serious implications for a club which earlier had received planning permission for a new 400 million pounds stadium.

However, the Turkish side wilted in the face of a Liverpool onslaught which saw them score six times in a rampant second half.

FAITH IN CROUCH

Benitez had proved reluctant to pick Crouch so far this season but with Fernando Torres only fit enough to take his place among the substitutes he put his faith in the England international.

Crouch did not let him down as he calmed Liverpool’s nerves by opening the scoring after 19 minutes on only his fourth start of the campaign.

Andriy Voronin, who had missed an earlier chance, played in Crouch with the help of a deflection of Edouard Cisse and the tall striker beat Hakan Arikan at the second attempt.

However, it was Benayoun who was the star of the show and he opened his tally in the 32nd minute by volleying in a cross from Voronin after John Arne Riise had released him with a throw-in.

Arikan had a night to forget as he spilled shots from Riise and Gerrard to allow Benayoun to follow up twice and score twice in three minutes to register his first hat-trick for Liverpool.

Gerrard then blasted home the fifth following a one-two with Voronin before Babel came off the bench to help himself to two goals in three minutes.

He flicked in the first from a Benayoun cross and then enjoyed a slice of luck as he charged down a clearance from Ibrahim Toraman and saw the ball bounce into the net.

Liverpool could barely put a foot wrong and Crouch completed the rout by heading in the eighth goal two minutes from the end.

Liverpool rampant, Rosenborg stun Valencia again

BELGRADE – Liverpool revived their hopes of reaching the Champions League last 16 with a record 8-0 drubbing of Besiktas while Rosenborg beat Valencia 2-0 to hand Ronald Koeman a disappointing start at the Mestalla on Tuesday.

Chelsea stayed on course to reach the knockout stages after a 0-0 draw at Schalke 04 left them top of Group B a point ahead of Rosenborg, who completed a remarkable double over the Spanish side thanks to a Steffen Iversen brace.

Liverpool’s best performance of the season was a Champions League record, beating 7-0 scorelines by Arsenal against Slavia Prague last month and Juventus against Olympiakos in Dec. 2003.

It was also a welcome breakthrough for manager Rafa Benitez, who came under strong pressure after a 2-1 defeeat at Besiktas a fortnight ago left his side staring at early elimination.

It was a different story on Tuesday as Yossi Benayoun’s hat-trick, two apiece for Ryan Babel and Peter Crouch and a goal from Steven Gerrard secured their first Group A victory.

It lifted the 2005 winners into third place on four points from as many matches, one point more than Besiktas.

DRIVING SEAT

Porto, who won Europe’s premier club competition in 2004, moved into the driving seat in the group on eight points after a 2-1 home win over Olympique Marseille that left the French side in second place with seven points.

Holders AC Milan eased to a 3-0 win at Shakhtar Donetsk with two second half goals from substitute Filippo Inzaghi and one by Kaka to stay top of Group D as they moved to nine points, three ahead of Shakhtar and Celtic, who beat Benfica 1-0 at home.

Inzaghi broke the deadlock in the 66th minute and equalled Gerd Mueller’s all-time record of 62 goals in European club football in injury time after Kaka scored Milan’s second.

Aiden McGeady drove home Celtic’s winner on the stroke of halftime to bring them level on points with Shakhtar ahead of a potentially decisive clash in Glasgow on Nov. 28, leaving Benfica on three points with only a slim chance of qualifying.

Real Madrid lead Group C on eight points after a goalless draw at Olympiakos Piraeus, who have five points along with Lazio following their 2-1 home win over Werder Bremen.

Keeper Antonios Nikopolidis produced a string of fine saves to keep the Greeks in the hunt for the last 16 while a Tommaso Rocchi brace gave Lazio a 2-0 lead at the Olympic Stadium in Rome before Diego pulled one back with a late penalty.

Henin makes winning start at WTA Championships

MADRID (Reuters) – World number one Justine Henin began the defence of her WTA Championships singles title with a 6-1 7-6 win over Russian Anna Chakvetadze on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old Belgian rattled through the first set in 24 minutes but had to resist a determined fightback by her opponent before winning her opening round robin match in the yellow group of the $3 million end-of-season tournament.

Maria Sharapova, who won the event on her debut appearance in 2004 but has struggled with injury problems this season, also got off to a winning start with a 6-4 7-5 victory over Daniela Hantuchova.

Sharapova looked on course for a straightforward win after dominating the first set, but Hantuchova refused to go down without a fight and saved four match points before finally relenting.

Henin, who has won a career-best nine titles this year including grand slams at Roland Garros and the U.S. Open, quickly found her rhythm at the Madrid Arena, speeding around the court to put Chakvetadze under pressure.

She broke in the second game with a neat drop volley on her way to a 3-0 lead and cracked the Russian’s serve once more in the sixth before taking the set 6-1.

PINPOINT RETURNS

Chakvetadze put up stiffer resistance in the second set when she found her range on the ground strokes and the players exchanged two breaks apiece until it boiled down to a tiebreak. 

It was Henin, however, who found another gear in the decider, unleashing a succession of pinpoint returns to extend her winning streak to 21 matches.

“It’s good to win the first match especially in a round robin,” said Henin. “It is very important and gives me a lot of confidence.”

Chakvetadze, playing in the event for the first time, said she had paid the price for her poor start to the match.

“I was very disappointed with the first set,” said the 20-year-old. “I was so sleepy, I didn’t move well, didn’t serve well. It was horrible.”

World number two Svetlana Kuznetsova meets Serb Ana Ivanovic in Tuesday’s final match.

Tendulkar says no to Indian test captaincy

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Sachin Tendulkar said on Tuesday he did not want to take on the job of India’s test captain again at present.

“Tendulkar has conveyed to Sharad Pawar (board president) that he was not in a position to accept the captaincy of the Indian team for the tests,” the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) secretary Niranjan Shah said in a statement.

Indian selectors are due to name Rahul Dravid’s successor as test captain on Thursday.

Batting great Tendulkar, 34, and one-day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni were in the frame for the job after Dravid relinquished the post two months ago, saying he wanted to focus on his batting.

“He (Tendulkar) was of the view that presently the Indian team was doing extremely well and the board must think of appointing a younger person as the captain looking at the future of the team,” the statement added.

Tendulkar has led India twice before without much success.

“I don’t feel right about it at the moment,” Tendulkar was quoted as saying by the CNN-IBN news channel.

Selectors, who postponed a decision on the captaincy last month, must now decide whether to hand the test reins to Dhoni, 26, who led a young team to success at the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.

Keeper-batsman Dhoni’s leadership abilities were lauded during the home series against Australia which the visitors won 4-2 but he has played in just 20 tests since his debut in December 2005.