Dhoni's Remark on youngsters.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni backed his young team and outlined his vision for the 2011 World Cup after the opening game of the tri-series against Australia was washed out here on Sunday.

Dhoni was not perturbed that he has given opportunity to his men, selected in place of veterans such as Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, in conditions as difficult as in Australia.


Dhoni said "If we are looking for a team for 2011 World Cup, it's important that we have guys who have played 80-100 matches by then. I think this is the team I wanted"

The wicketkeeper-batsman said he picked Manoj Tiwary by instinct ahead of Suresh Raina even though the Bengal youngster arrived in Australia only yesterday.

Dhoni felt his bowlers did not bowl the first two overs well and his side could have also done better in the field.

Batting first in overcast conditions may have raised a few eyebrows and Dhoni admitted the decision could have gone either way.

As for his own innings, Dhoni felt if he had got out cheaply, the side could have been bundled out for 150-160 runs.

The Indian captain is not upset that Australian fans in the stands are giving Harbhajan Singh a hard time.

Sania-Mahesh lose in mixed doubles final

In India Everyone expected Sania Pair to win finlas but unfortunately Indian mixed doubles pair Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi lost to the Chinese-Siberian pair of Sun Tiantian and Nenad Zimonjic in the final on Sunday.

The Indian pair lost to the fifth seeded duo of Tiantian and Zimonjic in straight sets 7-6, 6-4.

Sania and Mahesh played good tennis in the first set giving the fifth seeds a tough fight.


The set went to the tiebreaker but Sun and Zimonjic finally won it.

However, the second set was dominated by the Chinese-Serb pair as they went on to win the match in little over an hour to lift their first Grand Slam title together.

Australian open winner:Djokovic lifts Australian Open men's singles title

Novak Djokovic stood toe-to-toe with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and soaked up everything the Muhammad Ali of tennis could throw at him before delivering a knock-out blow to clinch the Australian Open title on Sunday.

Tsonga, nicknamed Ali for his resemblance to the former heavyweight boxing champion, was the crowd favourite to win his first Grand Slam but Djokovic was too solid and too steely and it was the Serb who snatched his first major title 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6.

"I am very happy to have won my first Grand slam here," the third seed smiled to the crowd. "I hope to see you here in this position many times more.

"I want to thank all the Serbian fans who came here to support me — I am so proud to be the first Serbian to win a Grand Slam title. I think it will be crazy house back in Serbia right now."

Monica Seles won three Australian Open titles while competing under the Yugoslav flag from 1991-1993.

Unseeded Tsonga came out swinging, needing 49 minutes to clinch the opener and fuel his country's hopes he could become the first Frenchman to win the Open in 80 years.

Djokovic had dealt with world number one Roger Federer in the semis but initially he could not out-muscle his burly opponent.

Tsonga crunched aces and slammed winners, taking the match to the world number three and keeping him on his heels. But Djokovic is a determined character and kept gunning away.

His reward came in the seventh game of the second set. Djokovic earned a break point when he belted a backhand return past the Frenchman and dictated the next point before Tsonga sent a forehand wide. The World No. 3 pummelled his chest with his fist and marched to his seat.