Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha most searched Indian celebrities on web

BollywoodWorld.com, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan and newcomer Sonakshi Sinha have been named the most searched Indian celebrities on the web in a new survey by Indian movie portal.

Salman beat action star Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn in the survey carried across the metros as well as tier-II and tier-III cities. Bollywood heartthrobs Ranbir Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor wrapped up the top five.

She might be one-film old, but Sonakshi came ahead of the likes of Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif to be the most searched celebrity on the internet among the female brigade.

Sonakshi made her debut with blockbuster “Dabangg” alongside Salman Khan and will now be seen with Akshay in Shirish Kunder’s “Joker” and in “Dabangg 2″.

Priyanka came second and Sonam Kapoor followed at the third slot. Aishwarya Rai and Katrina Kaif landed at the fourth and fifth spots in the survey.

Clarke seeks respect, within and without

Michael Clarke is happy to admit he will not be completely respected as Australia's captain, within the team and without, until he can bolster his position with vital runs and major victories.

Important runs and series wins were ever present in the first part of Ricky Ponting's captaincy, but his power base began to erode from the moment the supplies of each began to thin, culminating in resignation from his post after failed Ashes and World Cup campaigns. Clarke began his tenure with a handsome enough ODI series win over Bangladesh. But he knows greater battles, and the presence he can gain by how he fights them, are yet to arrive.

"I certainly feel like I've got the support and respect as a player because I've played a lot of international cricket. For me it's about now gaining that respect as a captain and a leader and I guess the first and foremost way to do that is to have some success on the field, to get some wins," Clarke told ESPNcricinfo before his return home from Dhaka.

"Now is an opportunity for me to get home and have a really good think about what's happened over the last 12 months and where I see this team going over the next 12-24 months, and how we can set some goals and have some targets we try to achieve.

"I don't really know how the players feel, I guess they'd be happy because we got the result [in Bangladesh], we won and for me I didn't want to change too many things straight away, it was about coming here, training hard, preparing well and playing some good cricket on the filed. Now I've got this time to assess things, speak to the right people and get some guidance and some help, and assess where we're at."

Clarke's own batting is vital to the success of his leadership, and on the evidence of the summer's Ashes series he has much work to do. England's relentless line of attack around off stump left Clarke either fishing or floundering, and after nine Test matches at No.4 his average is a sick-looking 21.58, with only two half centuries.

There remains an observation of Clarke, common among former players, that his batting has lacked the knack for spinal innings in the vein of a Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, Mark Taylor or Allan Border. He has played some attractive and determined knocks, sure, but a gap exists in his CV when it comes to match and series-defining scores. In that sense Clarke's most memorable effort remains the 151 made on his Test debut against India at Bangalore in 2004, something he must transcend as captain.

"I think it is important to lead from the front no doubt," Clarke said. "Probably one of the things Ricky has taught me is that as a leader, as a senior player and certainly as the captain, you need to be standing up with the bat as a batsman, you need to be scoring runs. For me that's a big part of this team going forward, I'm now the captain and I want to stand up and make sure I'm leading from the front."

	"One of the things Ricky has taught me is that as a leader, as a senior player and certainly as the captain, you need to be standing up with the bat as a batsman, you need to be scoring runs."Michael Clarke knows he must bolster his captaincy with runs

In the field, one of Clarke's greatest tasks will be to oversee the emergence of a penetrative and balanced Australian Test attack, following the ignominy of being made to look popgun on home soil during the Ashes. Key here will be his handling of spin bowlers, a constant source of weakness since Shane Warne retired.

"The one thing we need to continue to remember though is we're never going to get another Shane Warne. He's one of a kind and I think as the Australian public and the expectation we have with our spin bowlers, things have changed," said Clarke of a stable including Steve Smith, Michael Beer, Xavier Doherty, Jason Krejza and Nathan Hauritz.

"We certainly haven't got Warney, we've moved from that, but I do believe spin bowling will play a huge part in Australian cricket's success going forward, it's just about using them the right way, supporting them and getting the most out of what they do.

"Hopefully I can set some good fields and show them good faith and support them as much as I possibly can. We've got a good mix of talent in the spin area to do a job. Again, they're not Warney, but I think they can have a lot of success in international cricket."

The Australian team will reconvene in July for a pre-season camp at Coolum in Queensland, ahead of Test and limited-overs tours to Sri Lanka and South Africa.

'He upheld all the virtues of cricket'

Gerry Alexander, who kept wicket for West Indies during the tied Test, has been remembered by his opponents in that match as a pioneer of the wicketkeeper-batsman trend, and as a man who helped ensure the game was played in the right spirit. Alexander, who died on the weekend at the age of 82, made 484 runs during that famous 1960-'61 tour, which at the time was a world-record run-tally for a wicketkeeper in a Test series.

"He was what you'd call a competitor, which lifted his performance enormously," the Australia allrounder, Alan Davidson, told ESPNcricinfo. "We used to say if we knocked over Conrad Hunte and Kanhai and Sobers and Worrell and everybody, all of a sudden in comes this bloke Alexander. He could've batted No. 3 for them, because he was that sort of player.

"He was a good wicketkeeper as well. Let's face it, he had to take Wes Hall and then keep to Ramadhin and Valentine and Gibbs and everybody. Gerry was a great mate. We had tremendous respect for them. He was one of the real friends I made out of that tour."

During the tied Test at the Gabba, Alexander made 60 in the first innings and 5 in the second, and Davidson recalled the friendly on-field banter in what was to become the most famous Test of all, and the first match in a series that revitalised Test cricket.

"I can still remember bowling to him in a couple of the Test matches," Davidson said. "I remember in the tied Test, he played it just to the off side of the wicket and took off for a single, and of course I picked it up and from five or ten yards I'd knock the stumps down 100 out of 100 times. But just as my arm was coming through to throw it, guess who ran into my arm but Gerry Alexander, and it went for four overthrows.

"I appealed to the umpire and said, 'he knocked my arm, ump!' But of course Gerry said 'you were in my running line too, don't forget!' That's the wonderful thing about playing in those Tests, there was always the friendship that more or less bore out. It didn't stop your competitiveness, but there was a relationship that is lacking today."

Neil Harvey, who also played for Australia during that 1960-'61 series, described Alexander as a "fine cricketer" and a "very likable fellow". Harvey recalled how difficult Australia found it to dislodge Alexander during that tour, when only Australia's Norm O'Neill and West Indies' Rohan Kanhai made more runs than Alexander, who made 108 in Sydney, scored a half-century in each of the other four Tests and averaged 60.50.

	He was probably one of the pioneers of this batting wicketkeeper business. He was a fine cricketer and a good bloke to go with itNeil Harvey on Gerry Alexander

"That was one of the best series that's ever been played. It resurrected the game of cricket in this country, and he was a big part of it," Harvey said. "He was a thorn in our side with the bat, actually, more than with the gloves. He was probably one of the pioneers of this batting wicketkeeper business. He was a fine cricketer and a good bloke to go with it. He was one of many West Indian blokes who we got on well with during the series."

Alexander featured in the final stages of the tied Test, when he caught Richie Benaud in the last over off Wes Hall, and four balls later he whipped the bails off after collecting a long-range throw from Conrad Hunte on the boundary to run out Wally Grout. Late last year, Alexander spoke to ESPNcricinfo about the 50th anniversary of the tied Test, and he recalled with a chuckle the chaos on the field as the West Indians made their late charge in that final eight-ball over.

However, there were tough times for Alexander as well, and as the captain on the 1958-'59 tour of India, he played a key role in having the fast bowler Roy Gilchrist sent home for refusing to stop bowling beamers.

"He was the one who had to deal with it when Gilchrist went crazy," Davidson said. "He pulled a knife on Gerry in Karachi, when he was captain. Gerry never had malice in his mind at any stage, with anyone. You knew you were playing against him and he was a great cricketer in his own right, but he upheld all the virtues of cricket."

And, as the last white captain of West Indies, Alexander also had to deal with a campaign to oust him in favour of Frank Worrell. However, even after Worrell took over as leader, Alexander remained a supportive member of the side and gave his all for the team.

"He was a very good keeper," batsman Joe Solomon, who played under Alexander's captaincy in nine Tests, said. "He always encouraged the players on the field. He was a good captain and then Frank Worrell took over, but even after that he was always a good leader and would give good advice to the players.

"He was a great friend of mine. He was a very likable person, the kind of man who you'd like to meet and be in his company."

Saved Rs 100 crore in IPL 2011 - Chirayu Amin

Chirayu Amin, the IPL chairman, has said the stripped down version of the league in 2011, compared to the extravagance of previous seasons, has helped save Rs 100 crore ($22.5 million). Amin, who took over running the IPL after Lalit Modi was ousted, also said there was no chance of expanding the tournament further from its present format of ten teams because the window in the schedule would not permit it.

"It has been a good stint [as chairman] as we have been running the league professionally. The governing council is being run like a professional company with complete transparency," Amin told theTimes of India. "Now, every decision is taken jointly after discussion, which was not the case earlier. Each and every tender is opened in the presence of lawyers and bidders.

"Apart from bringing in transparency, we made it a point to stop unnecessary expenditure and spent money more judiciously. These measures alone have helped us save Rs 100 crore in IPL 4."

One of the expenditures that has been stopped is the IPL parties, which were held after almost every game in previous seasons and worsened the hectic playing and travelling schedule of the teams. "In fact, the franchise owners are happy that we stopped the parties," Amin said. "They feel that the players will now be able to maintain their focus more on cricket. IPL is more about cricket."

Amin hoped that the revenues from IPL 2011 would be greater than in previous seasons. "The opening ceremony of IPL IV received maximum TRPs and the games have received more viewership than last year. Also, Volkswagen joined in as additional sponsor and we hope our revenues are higher this year, which means more money for state associations."

If Pakistan fails, US will also fail: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said since the fight against terrorism is a Pakistan-United States combined effort, if Pakistan fails, the US will also fail.

“By now the US is convinced that we are part of the solution to terrorism but not a part of the problem,” the web-based rt.com quoted the prime minister as saying. He added that terrorism was a global challenge and Pakistan a frontline state in a global war.

“Terrorism has neither boundaries nor ideology; it is meant only to destabilise. It has no support in Pakistan because it works for a foreign agenda and is sponsored from abroad,” the website quoted the prime minister as saying. He added that there was also drug money behind terrorism in Pakistan.

About the use of US/CIA drone strikes on Pakistani territory, the prime minister said while Islamabad had been successful in separating the militants from the local tribes that now supported the government, drone attacks which kill innocent civilians only helped create sympathy for terrorists among the locals. “It [using drones] is not in favour of either military or political strategy. Drones make Pakistan’s work difficult,” he said, adding that Pakistan can do the job itself.

The prime minister emphatically denied allegations about militants getting their hands on money allocated by the US to Pakistan. He said Pakistan’s nuclear programme was very secure and recognised as such by the international community. The country’s authorities intend to keep it that way, said the PM.

To a question about extending American military presence in the country, Gilani insisted there should be respect for the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan. He added that, “Pakistan and Afghanistan are closely cooperating in their joint fight against militants, but the border between the countries is too long and proper security is something to be desired, largely because Pakistan has been accepting refugees from Afghanistan for the last 30 years.” The PM said inter-relations of the border districts of the two countries were too complicated now.