The Indian cricket team is getting brickbats after it lost its World No.1 Test crown to England. But Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan supports the team, saying that writing them off completely after the loss is a ruthless way of dealing with the situation.

’For years and till not too far away, our cricket team and its captain (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni were the masters. One loss in England and suddenly they are incompetent. People reaction is as subtle and as ruthless as this,’ Big B posted on his blog Bigb.bigadda.com.

’It requires immense acumen to be where they put you and in some manner to maintain it. Some understand the futility and the improbability of the situation and reconcile to it. Others and many others do not. Once there, they believe they are there and nowhere else. This is not entirely an adverse situation.’

’It is quite possible that it thrives too. Others succumb to the moment, understand and accept. This is not entirely wrong too. Both can co exist, its a matter of reconciling with its complexity,’ Bachchan added.

Earlier this week, Indian team tasted humiliating defeat after they lost the series by 3-0. The newspapers and the cricket legends have been criticising their performance in foreign turf by calling it Indian team’s worst performance in recent years.

-IANS

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On Monday morning, producer-director Vipul Shah was chalking out the last days pre-release promotions for his forthcoming film, Action Replayy. That’s when a friend called to inform him that the Indian cricket team, which is currently playing in Ahmedabad, was keen to see his retro rom-com later in the night.

At the time of going to press, Shah confirmed the report, saying that he was working out the logistics. "We’re just in the midst of planning our short-term-notice trip to Ahmedabad," he smiles, adding that his team is figuring out an appropriate multiplex for Mahindra Singh Dhoni and his men in blue.

Happy to host Excited about the special request from the Indian cricket team, the filmmaker says he’s all the more pleased to play host to them because the title of his movie is a derivation of one of the game terms - ’action replay.’

However, Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won’t be able to make it. Instead, Aditya Roy Kapoor and Ranvijay Singh, who play pivotal roles in the film, will accompany Shah. "Akshay is shooting for the grand finale of his show, MasterChef India, while Ash is celebrating her birthday. So I can’t expect her to travel out of town," he explains.

Nonetheless, he asserts that the two actors will be driving around Mumbai in a vintage car on Tuesday afternoon. Initially, this promotion was planned for October 25. "The Kaun Banega Crorepati shoot was happening, so now we’re conducting the vintage car drive on Tuesday as both Akshay and Aishwarya’s dates matched," says Shah. "All the while, it was Aishwarya who was pushing us to make this drive happen," recalls a thrilled Shah.

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It's been less than two month since her marriage to Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and Sakshi Singh Rawat is already a celebrity in cyberspace. Sakshi currently has three fan pages on social networking website Facebook, and over one thousand followers on Twitter.

While Gauri Khan and Sussanne Roshan - who are married to actors Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan respectively - have many fans online, as do wives of other actors, Sakshi's popularity on the internet is a first for an Indian sportsperson's wife.

Sakshi, who joined Twitter in May, started tweeting actively only after her wedding in July. "My best frnd... the bestest boyfriend..husband still yet to sink in...n the best human being i know apart from my parents..love u loads mahi (sic)', was her first tweet after her wedding.

Sakshi also makes sure to interact with fans. "Life with him (Dhoni) is the same the way it has been for almost 3 yrs now," she tweeted to a fan, who asked about how things had changed after marriage.

In fact, she's even had a Twitter-fight. SH007, a follower, asked her to post 'personal' pictures of her and Dhoni to prove that hers is a real account. In reply, she wrote, "I don't need to prove nething to you". To this, the user replied, "Learn to be polite.. u r nothin but MS is celeb (sic)."

Her Facebook fan pages - Sakshi Singh Rawat (638 members), The Lucky Indian lady (383 members) and Celebrity Overnight - Sakshi Singh Rawat (322 members) - are updated regularly and have numerous fan photos. Having been bombarded too many messages and friend, she has notdisabled the option of adding her.

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Newly married couple Indian cricket captain M.S. Dhoni and Sakshi at the Birsa Munda airport in Ranchi on Thursday.

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The good times continue for Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who recently tied the knot with Sakshi Rawat. The duo have now been invited to honeymoon in the alpine and lake resort of Queenstown, New Zealand.

During the Indian cricket tour to New Zealand in February 2009, Dhoni had expressed that New Zealand was perfect for a honeymoon. He said, "New Zealand is one of the most beautiful places, where people are friendly and very warm.

It's definitely a place you want to visit once in a lifetime.... if not for cricket, then may be a honeymoon. Whatever it is, take some time off and come to New Zealand."

Taking a cue, the Tourism Board of Queenstown has extended an open invitation to Dhoni. Tony Everitt, chief executive of Destination Queenstown, says, "We are thrilled to invite Mr and Mrs Dhoni to Queenstown to spend their honeymoon with us. I'm sure this will be the perfect romantic getaway."

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The speed with Indian cricket skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni got married -- barely 24 hours after getting engaged to Sakshi Singh Rawat -- may have been at least partially due to astrological reasons, a source who attended the wedding said. The hush-hush affair was initially planned for 2011 but had to be preponed due to several reasons.

According to his astrologer, Dhoni, who turns 29 on July 7, has entered one of the most auspicious years of his life and both the families thought this would be the best time to formalise the couple's relationship.

Besides, the packed international schedule next year would have made it difficult for Dhoni, who's crucial for India in all three formats, to make time for a wedding. Apparently, Sakshi's family was also not comfortable with the media gossip surrounding Dhoni's link-ups with various Bollywood and south Indian actresses. Though Dhoni never commented on these link-ups that only fuelled speculation further.

Though the couple had been together for almost three years, both the engagement and wedding caught the media by surprise. In fact, even among cricketers, Dhoni's close friend R P Singh was the only one who knew about the wedding in advance. Even Harbhajan Singh got to know of it only on Friday -- a day before Dhoni got engaged, the source said.

R P Singh, who is training in the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, took leave days in advance to be there at the ceremony. The wedding, for which only a few close family members and friends were invited, was a simple affair minus any alcohol. The food served for the guests was Indian and all the arrangements were made by Dhoni's Delhi-based sister Jayanti.

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Indian Cricket Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni married Sakshi Rawat at a private ceremony in Dehradun on Sunday.

He got engaged on July 3 to Sakshi Rawat at a ceremony in Dehradun. And the couple were married on July 4 at Vishranti Resorts in the city. Dhoni wore a sherwani for the ceremony while Sakshi dressed in a salwar-kameez.

Only family and close friends of the couple, about 70 guests in all, attended the marriage ceremony. Many of Dhoni’s teammates as well as B’wood buddies were present.

The guests included R P Singh, Ashish Nehra, Suresh Raina, John Abraham and Farah Khan. Sachin Tendulkar and Virendra Sehwag were among those who missed the ceremony.

The couple are expected to have a reception in Mumbai on July 7 (which is also Dhoni’s birthday) for all their friends.

Dhoni and Sakshi have been seeing each other for two years now, and their families have known each other from even before that. Sakshi is a 23-year-old hotel management student. Dhoni turns 29 this year.

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India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday got engaged to his school-time friend Sakshi Singh Rawat at a hotel in Dehradun.

"Dhoni and his school friend Sakshi got engaged at hotel Bhagirath in Dehradun," a close family friend said.

"Besides, the family members of Dhoni, a few close friends of the cricketer were present during the engagement ceremony," he added.

Dhoni, 28, and Rawat had been school friends at DAV, Shamily in Ranchi."Their fathers worked together in MECON, and the Rawats moved to Dehradun after retirement," the friend said.

Asked whether any date for marriage has been fixed, he said, "Not yet, maybe after the Australian series."

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Grades may not be a yardstick for success, but didn't stop Australian pop star Kylie Minogue from expressing a wish to go back to school. "There's a bit of me that wishes that I went to college. What's to say I don't end up doing a stint at New York University?" said the singer in a recent interview. 

HT City asked Bollywood stars who are drop-outs, if they would like to give studies a second shot. Actor Aamir Khan, who did not pursue college after class 12, says he doesn't "believe in formal education".

However, actress Deepika Padukone, who started working after class 12, has enrolled in a correspondence course. "I promise one day I'll complete my studies," she says. Actress Prachi Desai, who became a TV actress at 17, says, "I feel unfortunate and embarrassed. I took admission in college, but was unable to attend it regularly. One day, I'll complete it, God willing."

Singer Sunidhi Chauhan adds, "I left studies for music. Though I don't regret it, I wouldn't mind completing my studies." Thanks to his busy schedule, cricketer MS Dhoni, who enrolled in St Xavier's College in Ranchi, has been unable to take exams for the past two years.

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Days after the BCCI barred the Indian cricket team from participating in an adventure TV reality show, citing 'safety' reasons ahead of the Asia Cup, skipper MS Dhoni's stunt with 10 boys on a motorbike in Jaipur, widely reported in the media, has come under severe criticism.

The stunt, performed for a motorbike commercial on Monday, has left many asking if the cricketer should've taken the risk?

"Dhoni is indispensable to the team, how can he take such a risk?" asks former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu. "He should keep the team's interest before his own." Former cricketer Atul Wassan dubs it as "just unnecessary". "Ironically, players weren't allowed to go for the reality show to avoid such stunts," says Wassan.

Mahi's fans aren't amused either. "What's wrong with Dhoni? An injury can jeopardise his career," says entrepreneur Hardeep Singh. "The timing of the shoot (just five days before Asia Cup) is ridiculous," says student Rahul Barolia.

But former all-rounder Ajay Jadeja isn't willing to read too much into it. "He [Dhoni] is responsible enough, and everyone is free to anything unless he's breaking a rule," says the former cricketer.

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Mahender Singh Dhoni, who stands to lose his captaincy after the Indian team's poor performance at the World Twenty20, has found a steadfast supporter in Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan who says he is "appalled" at the way the cricketer is being targeted.

After the Indian team's early exit from the tournament, the team, particularly Dhoni, has been facing flak from authorities, public and the media. But Amitabh feels it is not right to target a sportsperson like this.

"I am appalled at the way M.S. Dhoni has been targeted. A week ago he was the apple of your eye and within seconds, in a show smacking of frivolity, you have through deliberate and unjustifiable cut, paste technology, made him into the creator of all that ails Indian cricket.

"This is most unjust and unfair. It is easy to sit behind closed air-conditioned doors and draw up plans on how cricket needs to be played. But get on to the pitch and feel the pain and agony and stress and pressures of a game before you draw conclusions," the 67-year-old posted on his blog.

The actor, who is a self-confessed cricket fan, admits he is also disappointed with the team's performance, but doesn't believe in killing their morale by constant criticism.

"We are all very disappointed with the outcome of the T20 championships, but don’t destroy the spirit of these magnificent athletes. From the early hours of the morning, the electronic (media) has only crucified the team and done nothing else. Don’t kill their morale for god’s sake,"' he said.

"If I was heading a channel, I would repeatedly keep showing in my broadcast, the glorious victory of the year when we won the World Championships, rather than dwell on our players in their weaker moments. Come on Dhoni! You can do it. I have faith in you and your wonderful band of brothers in the team. Regroup, regain and WIN," he added.

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