Mumbai, Sept 26 : It was a ceremony meant to facilitate Team India for winning the Twenty20 World Championship, but cricket virtually took a ‘back seat’ at the Wankhede Stadium here today, as no cricketer except skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was given a seat in the front row at the dais.

At the event, organised to celebrate a purely sporting achievement, the first row on the stage was dominated by politicians and officials of the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI), even as the hoarding in the background ‘loudly’ said “Congratulations Team India.”

Rohtak/New Delhi, Sept 25 : Relatives of Indian cricketers joined the celebrations on Tuesday as the nation erupted with joy after a thrilling win over archrivals Pakistan in the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in Johannesburg in South Africa.

Medium pace bowler Joginder Sharma's family celebrated the victory at the cricketer's residence in Rohtak.

Sept.25: The war of words between former Australian leg spinner Shane Warne and his estranged wife Simone show no signs of abating.

A day after Warne accused Simone of taking advantage of his hard-earned fame to malign him through their personnel differences, Simone described her ex-husband as a "leopard who couldn't change his spots".

According to The Daily Telegraph, relations between Shane and Simone have deteriorated into verbal warfare over his latest alleged new text messaging affair scandal.

Lahore, Sep 25: Pakistan’s fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar is disappointed by his team’s defeat in the Twenty20 World Championship final.

Shoaib hailed team’s fine overall show in the World Cup, and said both the teams provided tremendous fun for the fans around the world in the nail-biting final.

Commenting on Pakistan’s loss to India at Johannesburg, Shoaib said Pakistan played commendable cricket in the tournament and came so near to winning it due to team effort.

Islamabad, Sep 25: Former Pakistan cricket captain Intikhab Alam has said that they lost the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup final match because of the reckless shot played by Misbah ul-Haq at the fag end of the play.

“Misbah put Pakistan almost close to victory, but he played a reckless shot that helped India win. Still three balls were left and he should have played sensibly,” Intikhab said.

India has just won the World Cup match. Captain Dhoni has proved that his young team can play without any pressure and can win any targets. Indian team was very confident after defeating the world champion Australians.