PIETERSEN MAY MISS ASHES SERIES

London: England batsman Kevin Pietersen could miss this year’s Ashes series against Australia because of his Achilles heel injury.

According to a News of The World report, Pietersen has been asked to take another spinal injection to ensure that he is fit for today's must-win Twenty20 World Cup clash with India at Lord's.

"I'm taking the best medical advice and I'm doing everything I can to face Australia but, occasionally, Achilles injuries do flare up. If that happens on the morning of a Test then I wouldn't be able to take part," the tabloid quoted Pietersen, as saying.

He said: "I can promise you I am doing everything in my power to make sure I am OK. I've got one more injection I can have before I'm not allowed any more. That would be a cortisone epidural into the spinal cord. The Achilles injury is a nerve problem related to the back but since I had the injection last Friday I have been fine. There is still pain in the heel but I'm doing the right thing to try to eliminate as much pain as I can.”

"In order to fix an Achilles injury like this properly I probably do need two or three months out of the game,” he added. "Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. I'm a man who wants to play every game for England and as much as I can. As long as I can walk I will play," he said.

The injection into the nerve delivers a high dose of anti-inflammatory and also anaesthetizes the area and allows swelling to subside. An injection into the spine would most likely be in order to deliver the cortisone into the sciatic nerve at the base of the back or reduce inflammation in the nerve groupings that form in that area and run down the back of the leg into the heel, including the Achilles area, News of The World reports.

TENDULKAR-THE ONLY ASIAN BRADMAN

Karachi: Former Pakistan Test player and chief selector, Salahuddin Ahmed said Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar only deserves the title of Asian 'Bradman' and no one else can match up to his charisma.

"People talk about so and so is or was the Asian Bradman but to my mind there is no doubt this title only belongs to Sachin Tendulkar. The rest are like made in Taiwan," Salahuddin said.

Pakistan's former captain and batsman, Zaheer Abbas has been given the sobriquet of Asian Bradman a number of times but Salahuddin feels nobody can measure up to the feats of the little master.

"I don't think anyone can match his (Tendulkar) feats. He has just matured and mellowed over the years and become stronger and better," he said.

Salahuddin also heaped praise on Yuvraj Singh and compared the Indian left-hander with legendary Sir Gary Sobers for his brilliant display in the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup in England.

Salahuddin who has remained on the national selection committee for a record 12 times, twice as chief selector before he resigned last year, said he was highly impressed with Yuvraj's batting pyrotechnics.

"He reminds me a lot of Sir Garry Sobers when he is in an aggressive mood," Salahuddin said.

"Yuvraj has the same tendency to use both his wrists and shoulders while batting specially when he is hitting sixes," he added.

Salahuddin said that Yuvraj was also dangerous because he used both his wrist and shoulders.

"Yuvraj has matured a lot over the years for India and he is equally good at playing wristy strokes and using his powerful shoulders for the big shots," he stated.

Salahuddin said when Yuvraj smashed England pacer Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over in the last T20 World Cup, he played in similar fashion to when Sobers had smashed Malcolm Nash for six sixes in an over in 1968.

The former Test player said India had a very good chance of defending their title in the T20 World Cup but would face stiff opposition from other teams like South Africa, Pakistan and West Indies.

FEARLESS INDIAN TEAM-SACHIN

London: Sachin Tendulkar feels that the poor traveller's tag associated with the Indian team has become a thing of the past and the recent successes abroad have made the team a fearless unit capable of beating any side in the world.

Tendulkar said the process of winning matches abroad started in 2001 and since then India have beaten every team in the world "in their own backyard".

"I remember it was from 2000-01 when we started touring much better. That is when we started winning matches abroad and beating the opposition in their own backyard. South Africa, New Zealand, West Indies, England and Australia virtually all the teams in the world we have toured well and beaten them," he said.

"It did not happen overnight it was a process. But, because of that (successes) we have started having that fearless approach. So now we are in a comfort zone, we are absolutely fearless but also sensible at the same time," Tendulkar said.

"We have a fantastic team combination and that is why there have been fantastic results," he added.

Tendulkar also feels that India have the balance in batting and bowling to win the Twenty20 World Cup in England.

"We have got an explosive batting, well balanced bowling attack and a fantastic captain. We have the combination and strength it is all about execution and I hope we play well and pull it through," said Tendulkar who had voluntarily pulled out of the Indian Twenty20 squad.

Tendulkar, who owns several batting records in Test and One-day cricket, said his only dream was to play for the country and win matches, and milestones that come along were secondary for him.

"My biggest dream was to play cricket for India and play as long as possible. I did not play for records like I will score 40 hundreds in Test and 40 hundreds in ODIs. I did not think of all these things. I just wanted to walk out in the middle, score as many runs and win matches for India. I want to live that dream to the fullest."

Talking about the most memorable performances of his career, Tendulkar said, "There have been many bright points in my career. The way we played the World Cup in South Africa in 2003 was very special. Also, the (ODI) win against Australia in Sharjah in 1998 was fantastic.

"There have been many tours (where we did well). The wins against Australia in Australia and the series in England, the Test win against England at home last year in Chennai where we chased down 383 in the fourth innings were special."

DHONI APOLOGISES TO INDIAN FANS

ndon: Indian captain MS Dhoni apologised to Indian cricket fans after crashing out of the ICC Twenty20 championship on Sunday but rejected suggestions that exhaustion from playing too many games caused the failure of his top batsmen.

"We are sorry for what happened but we can say we gave our best," Dhoni told a news conference after losing to England by three wickets before thousands of Indian supporters at Lord's cricket ground in London.

"We had experienced guys who can handle the pressure. It was a day when nothing much worked for us."

"India is an emotional country," Dhoni said, adding: "We are more disappointed than them (Indian fans)."

But Dhoni denied repeated suggestions at the press conference that Indian players were exhausted from playing too many matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

"You can't blame it on tiredness. It's not an excuse," the Indian skipper said, adding playing more matches was better for players. "It is a demanding format because you play at different venues. It's not like you play three or four games at the same point," he said.

"If you see me and say he's not giving his hundred percent then hold me responsible. Performance is a different matter."

"We didn't really perform well as a team."

Dhoni, however, admitted that he was failing to fire his guns while batting, having scored only three boundaries and not a single six in a knock of 30 on Sunday that was relatively sedate by his explosive standards.

"I'm not comfortably clearing the park - that's for sure. I'm working hard on it, and hopefully I'll be back with hitting sixes."

Dhoni said he elected to field after winning the toss because the wicket plays "a bit better" under the lights.

He gave credit to England's battery of pace bowlers, who fired a steady stream of short-pitched shoulder-high balls at the Indian batsmen, working to a game plan.

"Their bowlers started well. They were aggressive and used the bouncer and the short ball well," Dhoni said.

INDIA vs ENGLAND IN T-20 WORLD CUP IMAGES

India lost to hosts England by three runs at Lords. The defeat sent the defending champions out of the Twenty20 world cup. Ryan Sidebottom was declared the Man of the Match.

India's Ravindra Jadeja, second left, celebrates taking the wicket of Kevin Pieterson with his teammate Zaheer Khan, right, during a Twenty20 World Cup cricket match against England at Lord's cricket ground, London, Sunday June 14, 2009. England's Luke Wright throws the ball in the air after taking the catch to dismiss India's Suresh Raina during their Twenty20 World Cup cricket match at Lord's cricket ground, London, Sunday June 14, 2009. India's Suresh Raina blocks a short ball from England's James Anderson during their Twenty20 World Cup cricket match at Lord's cricket ground, London, Sunday June 14, 2009. India's Rohit Sharma bowled out by England's Ryan Sidebottom during their Twenty20 World Cup cricket match at Lord's cricket ground, London, Sunday June 14, 2009. England's Owais Shah hits the ball during a Twenty20 World Cup cricket match against India at Lord's cricket ground, London, Sunday June 14, 2009.

India's Harbajan Singh, right, is congratulated by his teammates after taking the wicket during a Twenty20 World Cup cricket match against England at Lord's cricket ground, London, Sunday June 14, 2009.

England's Ravi Bopara, right, hits a ball from India's Yuvraj Singh during their Twenty20 World Cup cricket match at Lord's cricket ground, London, Sunday June 14, 2009.

India take the field for their Twenty20 World Cup cricket match against England at Lord's cricket ground, London, Sunday June 14, 2009.

DHONI LASHES OUT AT BATSMEN FOR ABORTED TITLE DEFENCE

London: A dejected India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today held his batting colleagues responsible for the team's aborted title defence in the Twenty20 World Cup and said there cannot be any excuse for their failure to chase down a modest victory target against England.

Chasing 154 against the hosts in the do-or-die Super Eight match, India eventually halted at 150 for five to crash out of title defence and Dhoni had no doubt that the batsmen let the team down.

"We failed in batting. If the opposition scores 153 and you cannot achieve that on a track like this, I don't think there can be any excuse. You just cannot explain that," Dhoni curtly said.

"We lost simply because we did not bat well. I'm rather happy with the performance of the bowlers," he added.

Dhoni, however, was candid enough to admit that England bowlers had bounced India out of the match, sending down short-pitch stuff quite consistently.

"They started really well. They looked aggressive and used the bouncers really well. All of a sudden our batsmen could not change their game plan.

"They used short deliveries very well -- bouncers and slow bouncers. That really did the job for them," he said.

INDIA OUT OF T-20 WORLD CUP

London: India is out of the Twenty20 World Cup after it lost a thrilling match to England by three runs at Lord's on Sunday.

Graeme Swann took 2-28 and Ryan Sidebottom 2-31 as India closed on 150-5 in response to England's 153-7 in its innings.

Kevin Pietersen was England's top scorer with 46, while opener Ravi Bopara made 37.

The target looked modest, but man-of-the-match Sidebottom's two early wickets put India under pressure.

The defending champion was 59-2 after 10 overs, but wickets fell at regular intervals as the run rate rose above 12 an over.

Needing 19 from the last over, bowled by Sidebottom, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan fell just short.

India cannot not now reach the semifinals, regardless of the result of Tuesday's game with South Africa.

England must beat West Indies at The Oval tomorrow to be sure of a place in the last four.

T-20 WORLD CUP-INDIA'S KEY MOMENTS

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team failed to defeat England in their Super Eights match at Lord's on Sunday, and this loss means that the defending Twenty20 World champions' run in the second edition of the tournament ends before the knockout stages. While the margin of defeat was only 3 runs, this loss is bound to rankle Team India as the media back home and fans prepare to vent out their disappointment and anger on Dhoni's men.

That's a topic for another day though. As it with any other match, this game too had its share of key moments, and we list down the six key moments that swung this all-important match in England's favour.

Kevin Pietersen's knock

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen may be doubtful for a part of the Ashes series with his Achilles heel injury, but that certainly didn't stop this swashbuckling batsman from hitting the big shots as well as running the quick singles and twos. Pietersen had conceded before the tournament that he hasn't gotten used to the Twenty20 format. But, with his half-century against Pakistan in the league stage, and a 27-balls knock of 46 against India, Pietersen has shown that he is a threat in the shortest format of the game. Pietersen dominated the Indian attack at Lord's as he and Bopara added 71 runs for the second wicket in just over 9 overs, and if it wasn't for Ravindra Jadeja trapping KP in front of the wicket, England's total of 153 for 7 would have been nearer the 170-180 runs mark.