Paying glowing tributes to Muttiah Muralitharan, who had just retired from Test cricket, former India captain Sourav Ganguly today said that he would rate the Sri Lankan a tougher spinner to face than his long-time competitor Australian Shane Warne.

"I don't want to get into comparison but I would prefer Warne. Murali is more accurate and has more variations so tougher to face," Ganguly told reporters here.

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"I don't know how to react," said Tendulkar, named man of the match. "I'd like to dedicate this double-hundred to the people of India for standing behind me for the last 20 years throughout the ups and downs.

"I felt that when I was 175-plus and it was the 42nd over I had a chance, but I wasn't actually thinking of it (double-century). It was only when I got closer to it that I thought about it."

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Mahendra Singh Dhoni lavished praise on his fast bowling department for charting an impressive eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka and sealing their berth in the final of the tri-nation cricket series.

The Indian bowlers skittled out Sri Lanka for a meager 213 in 46.1 overs before their batting colleagues took over, guiding the team to 214 for two for a facile win that came with 17.2 overs to spare.

"This was the best fielding effort we have put up in the last one year. Everybody bowled to their potential, but the credit goes to the fast bowlers for the good start they gave to us," Dhoni said after the match.

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The reason for Kamran Akmal's poor show behind the stumps in the ongoing Australian tour could be lack of sleep as he had to take care of his infant son till late in the night.

Akmal was a huge letdown in the Sydney Test where he dropped four catches and missed a run out chance and Pakistan went on to lose the match.

Pakistan daily 'The News' quoted hotel sources as saying that Kamran was forced to stay up late for babysitting on several occasions and was often seen pacing down the corridor on the floor of the Inter Continental hotel with his baby in his arms.

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His place in the team is uncertain after the dismay performance in Sydney, but Pakistan stumper Kamran Akmal claims he has the support of his team-mates and is confident of playing in the third Test against Australia in Hobart starting on Thursday.

Akmal said he is expecting to take part in the final Test as a specialist glovesman, despite the Pakistan Cricket Board rushing Sarfraz Ahmed as his replacement for the game.

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The BCCI may be the world's richest cricket board but it doesn't seem to be the fastest in releasing money and has not yet paid the USD 2.7 million prize money to inaugural Champions League Twenty20 winners New South Wales.

The Australian side had won the tournament after beating Trinidad and Tobago in Hyderabad in October last year but Cricket NSW chief executive David Gilbert said they are yet to get the prize money.

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Continuing his tirade against Twenty20, embattled Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf blamed the proliferation of this format for his team's bizarre defeat in the Sydney Test against Australia.

Chasing 176 for a win, Pakistan imploded in their second innings for just 139 and Yousuf had no doubt that some of the players are interested only in Twenty20 and lacked the Test match temperament.

"We had a golden chance to finally beat Australia in Australia and we let it go due to poor batting. I think the target of 176 runs was perfectly gettable on the Sydney pitch on the fourth day of the Test," Yousuf told a television channel.

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