Wellington, Apr. 7 : Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today praised his squad for gelling together to effect a series triumph in New Zealand after 41 years, and added that it had set a benchmark for future Indian teams to achieve.

"It''s a fantastic atmosphere [in the dressing room], can''t get better. We have set the benchmark. Next time when we come to New Zealand, people expect you to win. You have achieved something that''s big, but the tough part is to maintain it, to sustain it. It never gets easy for a cricketer," said Dhoni.

Wellington, Apr. 7 : New Zealand cricket selectors have taken a gamble by selecting injury-prone all rounder Jacob Oram in their Twenty20 World Cup squad today.

Oram played no part in the three-test series against India because of an Achilles tendon strain. He is currently playing for Central Districts in the State Championship final against Auckland at Christchurch.

The fickle English climate had presented a challenge in selecting the side.

Leh, Apr 7 : In a rare honour, the Indian Ice Hockey team was felicitated on its return from Abu Dhabi (UAE), where it participated in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Challenge Cup of Asia.

Ajit Kumar Sahu, Deputy Commissioner, Leh in Jammu and Kashmir did the honours.

This was the first time that the ice hockey team led by Tundup Namgyal had gone abroad to participate in an event of such a scale.

Lahore, Apr. 7 : The Pakistan Cricket Board's decision (PCB) to include controversial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar in the national squad for the forthcoming One -Day International series against Australia has not gone down well within former officials.

Former PCB chief Khalid Mehmood blasted the apex body for persisting with Akhtar when youngsters needed to be given more opportunity to prove their mettle.

Karachi, Apr. 7 : The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is skeptic about the International Cricket Council (ICC) giving clearance to players who sided with the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) to play in the World Twenty 20 Championship scheduled to be held in England in June.

The PCB has included three rebel cricketers Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Imran Nazir in the list of 30 probable for the T20 World Championship.

Lahore, Apr. 7 : The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has clearly demarcated the role and functions of its Director General, Javed Miandad.

"Miandad will look after the development of domestic cricket in Pakistan. He will be special advisor to the PCB Chairman and also be incharge of development of women's cricket as per instructions of PCB chief Ijaz Butt," The Daily Times quoted a PCB spokesperson, as saying.

He added that finance, international and administrative issues would not come under Miandad's work area.