ACID TEST - Tough ODI series awaits DHONI after Aussies are left wounded in the race row

For over a month now, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has stood silently behind the stumps and watched the world go by. Barring one handy partnership of 75 with VVS Laxman during the third Test at Perth he has had little impact on the series with the bat. On the controversy front, he has maintained a studied silence and largely remained insulated from the heat generated – thanks to the unflappable Anil Kumble who led from the front. But all that stands changed now. Being the captain of the one-day side in these charged-up environments his man-management skills will be tested to the fullest while leading a group of temperamental youngsters in the one-off Twenty20 game in front of 90,000 people at the MCG tomorrow and the following three-nation tournament which gets underway at Brisbane on February 3.The man from Ranchi could count himself lucky that Sachin Tendulkar’s experience will be on his side. But he’ll be the one on the hot seat. In the wake of Harbhajan Singh’s acquittal by ICC’s appeals commissioner John Hansen, the Australians have been left smarting and they will once again be at their provoking-best against Team India in the one-dayers.Aussies’ trapThere is a certain truth to the theory that Harbhajan walked into the trap laid out by the Australians when Andrew Symonds “had a crack at him” in Sydney. What happened after that will never be forgotten. A similar tactic could be used for S Sreesanth who was at his menacing best during the ill-tempered seven-match one-day series in India last year. He had on and off the field clashes with Symonds and Matthew Hayden and they have been seething in anger since, waiting for him to come here

Save Tendulkar and Ganguly, none of the Indian batsmen had a clue on how to survive the Aussie onslaught at the MCG

The cookie crumbled and how. India’s fizz on Boxing Day ended in a whimper at the MCG yesterday, much to the agony of the poor bowlers whose hard work on day one was undone by the shoddy efforts of their millionaire batsmen.Barring Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly who went in with the idea of taking the game to the opposition and found some success, none of the Indian batsmen had a clue on how to survive the Aussie onslaught.That the Australians were left licking their wounds after being dismissed for 343 was known and that they would be coming out all guns blazing was no secret. Yet the Indian batting floundered and the side was dismissed for a paltry 196.Pace TerrorBrett Lee with 4-48 and Stuart Clark 4-28 ripped the heart out of the batting with some persistent bowling which punched holes in an iron-wall of a batting line-up.The problems appeared to be in the cluttered minds, as Rahul Dravid and Wasim Jaffer got too cautious preserving their wickets instead of looking to rotate the strike.Dravid looked the Dravid of the late 90s, getting bogged down and he was given a generous hand by the MCG crowd after consuming 41 balls to open his account. He lasted for another 25 deliveries and had two lives in his painstaking stay. Still, he couldn’t convert those let-offs.Jaffer, too, looked all at sea against Brett Lee’s pace and a slow out-swinger from the pacer kissed the outside edge of the bat on its way to Adam Gilchrist.Laxman fought for a while and even scored India’s first boundary which took 20 overs coming. But a sharp bouncer from Lee saw him landing on his backside and the ball hit his gloves before ballooning towards the slips where Ricky Ponting brought out the swallow dive to swoop on the ball.Positive OutlookWith an in-form Ganguly at the other end, Tendulkar then looked to control the game with some positive shots off Lee and chinaman Brad Hogg. He mustered an impressive 62 of 77 deliveries which was peppered with seven fours and a six over long on off the left-arm spinner.But Tendulkar’s innings came to an abrupt end when an attempted cut shot off a delivery that stopped on him, crashed into his stumps.With his departure, Ganguly went into a shell and Hogg bowled a sharp flipper to hit the timber when he was on 43. Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the two young guns expected to fire, fell for ducks on both side of the tea break.Tendulkar’s tactics of going after the bowling was interesting and contrary to what one saw in England earlier this year. He was wiling to grind the bowlers down with his dogged approach and the critics soon started calling him an accumulator than a dominator.We’re not sure if the criticism affected the great man, but his approach worked in the team’s favour and gave India a series win against England.“It’s all about how I feel,” he said explaining his approach after the day’s play yesterday.“The way I am playing. Sometimes I feel I should just hang out there and play out certain spells I will do that. And it’s not that I will go bang, bang, bang. If I get good balls in the right areas, I will leave them alone. I will be pretty flexible.”Tendulkar also came out in Dravid’s defence saying it was premature to judge him as a makeshift opener after just one game. “After just one inning, I don’t think we should be passing judgements. At the end of the series it would be the right time to judge. And Rahul has done well at all numbers. Let’s wait for the series to end,” he said.After just one inning, I don’t think we should be passing judgements. The end of the series would be the right time to judge Rahul - Sachin Tendulkar

Salman Khan ushered his 42nd birthday with family and friends at Panvel. Here’s a lowdown

Salman turns 42 today. To usher in his birthday, the actor packed off his family and close friends to his farmhouse at Panvel last evening. Sallu, who had personally invited all his friends, reached the venue a day before to ensure his guests’ comfort.Surprisingly, he didn't get any gifts from his friends. Apparently, he has been following the 'no-gifts-please' policy for years now, say close friends. In fact, the generous actor is known to shower gifts on the 'chosen few' on his birthday. His close friend and producer Sajid Nadiadwala says, "He doesn't accept any gifts on his birthday. On the contrary, he is the one who hands out gifts." The dance floor attracted many guests with Salman taking the centre stage and doing his usual jumping, bouncing and dancing. Nadiadwala reveals, "With every passing year, we have cut down on our dancing. I remember dancing away till 6 am in the morning during his early 30s. Late 30s saw him imposing a deadline of 4 am. For the last two years, we are off the dance floor by 3 am." It maybe interesting to note that Salman has reconciled with his girlfriend Katrina Kaif and they couple was seen having a ball. The actor, who is riding high on the success of Partner, also invited crew members including music directors Sajid-Wajid. The other prominent guests included Ranbir Kapoor, David Dhawan, Ravi Chopra, Sajid Nadiadwala, Boney Kapoor and his son Arjun Kapoor. For the day-long affair, the Khans have taken their household cook, a specialist in numerous cuisines including Mughlai, Continental, Chinese, Thai and Mexican. A source close to the Khan family says, "They're known for their lavish dinner arrangements. Their biryani and nalli nihari (chunks of mutton in rich brown gravy) takes the cake." Backyard gear grill and barebeque stations have been installed to ensure a constant flow of vegetarian and non-vegetarian kebabs. When it comes to recreation, the guests have quite a few options - soccer, lawn tennis, table tennis, swimming. The actor is going to be on an extended vacation till January 2, 2008 at his Panvel farmhouse. He has requested his producer friends to avoid keeping any shoots over the next few days. His close aide, Nadeem says, "It is vacation time for him and he is not going to work." • He doesn't accept any gifts on his birthday. On the contrary, he is the one who hands out gifts – Sajid Nadiadwala

Sania Mirza and Shahid Kapoor were seen enjoying a cozy dinner at a five-star hotel

A few days ago, Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor and tennis player Sania Mirza were seen together at Bangalore's Windsor Sheraton. Reportedly the hotel bellboy leaked out news of the two spending time with each other in Shahid's room.Looks like Shahid Kapoor and tennis player Sania Mirza are getting closer. The two of them are spending more quality time with each other. On Sunday evening, Shahid and Sania were spotted having dinner at a suburban five-star hotel. They spent nearly two hours with each other.On Sunday evening, Shahid performed at a film award function in a suburban five-star hotel. After the function got over, he drove straight to another suburban five-star hotel where Sania joined him. Says an eyewitness, "Shahid and Sania very much looked like a couple. They were completely engrossed in each other, and were oblivious of what was happening around them."

A close friend of Shahid says, "Yes, Shahid did spend time with Sania on Sunday. They have been bonding very well with each other."Shahid's friend goes on to add that Shahid was never in a relationship with Vidya Balan, who is paired opposite him in Aziz Mirza's Kismet Connection. "That link-up was merely to hype Kismet Connection," he signs off.We informed Shahid’s sopkesperson to get his version of the story, but he remained unavailable for comment. We SMSed the actor too, but to no avail.

India’s long, tough tour of Australia kicked off with Rahul Dravid walking out to open the innings

Rahul Dravid on Thursday said he does not mind donning the role of an opener in the challenging four-Test series against Australia starting on the Boxing Day. Dravid said he has no problem facing the new ball bowlers led by Brett Lee on the bouncy wickets. “If I am asked to open in the Test matches, I will be happy to do so,” said Dravid after opening the innings with Wasim Jaffer on the opening day of the three-day warm-up match against Victoria. “I am comfortable doing any role that is given to me by the team management. I try and do the best I can, irrespective of where I bat,” said Dravid, who had opened the innings for India on several occasions. In today’s match, Dravid was unbeaten on 33 after two-and-a-half hours of batting when the rain came pouring down and building on to the start in the final session. “I just batted where the team management wanted me to,” said Dravid who, to put things in perspective, has made just 369 runs from eight games at 33.55 as an opener, including two centuries against Pakistan.THE NUMBER THREEAs against this, he made in excess of 600 runs against Australia in four Tests, including a match-winning double century in Adelaide, when India last toured Down Under for the 2003-2004 series. Dravid said India had a solid middle order which can pile up big scores. “If they feel that the best chance for us to do well in Australia is by me opening the batting, that is fine with me. We have a very strong middle-order, a constant middle-order for sometime now. But there are a lot of good youngsters coming in, and they can’t be ignored. “It is critical to get off to good starts in Australia. If you can see off the early part without losing too many wickets, then you can make it count later on.” Asked what are the major differences between batting at three and opening, he said, “at number three, though, sometimes you do come in early as well, there is a little difference. It is a little different with the mindset.” “The critical thing is the 10-minute changeover between innings. You have got to rush in and get ready in those ten minutes. You need a different mindset, that is probably the only difference.”What bounce?Dravid, however, played down the threat of bouncy wickets. "You expect the bounce here, but it is a question of getting used to it. If you get set, the bounce opens up your back foot game, it opens up a whole new range of strokes and gives you a lot more opportunities to score runs."India reach 110-3 before rain hampers tour match Melbourne: Sourav Ganguly scored a half century as India’s first day of their tour of Australia was severely hampered by heavy rain on Thursday. Torrential rain caused a delay to the start of their match against state side Victoria and thunderstorms and heavy rain later in the day forced the abandonment after tea.The visitors were on 110 for three after only 38 overs of play. Former captain Rahul Dravid, who was promoted to open with Wassim Jaffer, crafted a patient 33 off 112 balls after left-arm fast bowler Allan Wise had torn through India’s top order.Wise had Jaffer caught for a duck, then had VVS Laxman caught by wicketkeeper Matthew Wade for just one to leave India struggling at 10 for two in the fourth over at Junction Oval in suburban Melbourne.Sachin Tendulkar became Wise’s third victim when he was bowled for 19, though Tendulkar had struck one boundary and a six in his short 18-ball stay, to leave India on 38 for three.

Karisma Kapur stormed out of a press meet when asked about sister Kareena's relationship with Saif Ali Khan

We thought that only Kareena Kapoor was uncomfortable fielding questions about Saif Ali Khan. Well, her sister Karisma Kapur gets irritated, too, when asked about sister Bebo's latest boyfriend.Three days ago, Karisma created a big ruckus at Famous Studios (Mahalakshmi) when a TV reporter asked her about her sister's affair with Saif. The incident in question happened on the sets of Little Champs.To begin with, Karisma kept the media waiting for more than two hours. During a question-answer session, a reporter asked her something about the Saif-Kareena love affair. Says an eye-witness, "Suddenly, she was asked to
Kareena Kapoor with Saif Ali Khangive her take on Bebo's relationship with Saif Ali Khan. In a flash, Karisma got up from the chair and told the reporter, 'How dare you ask me that question?' Before the reporter could blink, Karisma stormed out." Karisma got so furious that she just got up from her chair and walked out saying that she was not there to answer questions on behalf of her sister. When contacted, Payaol Patel(Creative Head) did not deny the story. She said, "I saw people walking out. So, something did happen. But I don't know what actually transpired. I was not in the media room when Lolo was giving the interviews. And yes, she did come out late from her make-up room because she had some problem with the ear-rings which we had given her." However, a Zee official (on request of anonymity) confirmed that Karisma created a big scene when a TV reporter asked her about Saif and Bebo's relationship. "We had to bring her back. But she refused to talk to the media thereafter. We then assured her that no journalist would ask her anything on Karerena or Saif and only then, she completed the entire round of interviews."Meanwhile, an insider reveals that Karisma was very nervous about being in front of the camera after the hiatus. Our source says, "Karisma did not come out of her van and made the media wait for two-and-a-half hours. She refused to come out because her favourite pair of earrings was misplaced. Tired of waiting for her, mediapersons walked out. They returned only after Zee TV officials ran after them and ensured that Karisma would definitely talk to them

No show for Welcome, TZP?

Multiplex owners and producer/distributors of Firoz Nadiadwala's Welcome and Aamir Khan's Taare Zameen Par respectively are at loggerheads over sharing the profits from ticket sales. This has put a question mark over whether the films will release or not in many of the multiplexes.The producers/distributors of Welcome and TZP are demanding 50 per cent share from multiplex owners from ticket sales in the first two weeks. The multiplex exhibitors are in no mood to relent.Confirming the rift, Devang of Cinemax says, "Discussions are going on. If at all there is a loss because of losing out on the advance bookings, it'll be to both the parties." Ayaz of Fun Republic, says, "The programme is not yet finalised. It's true that we don't have advance bookings for Welcome and TZP." Sonali, Head of Corporate Communications at Fame Adlabs says, "As of now, Welcome and TZP are not being released in Fame Adlabs." About the percentage, which the producers/distributors are demanding, Sonali quipped, "I heard it was quoted as 50 per cent for the first week and 40 per cent for the second week." But you can see Taare Zameen Par in one multiplex — PVR. After all, PVR is a co-producer of TZP!