Mumbai, Feb. 18 : Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Wednesday that the forthcoming tour of New Zealand would be a tough assignment, as India has not won a series there since 1996.

Dubai, Jan. 31 : India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has reclaimed the top rank in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player rankings for ODI batsmen from the West Indies Chris Gayle.

Dhoni's 61 not out against Sri Lanka in his side's first ODI of a five-match series has enabled the 27-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman to regain his place at the head of the table. There will be ample opportunity for Dhoni to put daylight between him and the chasing pack as the rest of the series unfolds in Colombo.

New Delhi - Indian cricket team skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has received extortion threats from a local criminal that his family would be harmed if a demand of five million rupees (102,902 dollars) was not met, officials said Wednesday.

Mohammad Taslim, claiming to be a henchman of mob boss Dawood Ibrahim, allegedly sent two letters threatening to blow up Dhoni's house in Ranchi, state capital of eastern Jharkhand, if the payment was not made.

The letters also warned the cricketer not to take the threats lightly and not to inform the police about the letters.

Ranchi, Dec 30 : Security of Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was beefed up after his family expressed concern about the security provided by the State Government.

Sudhir Mahto, the Deputy Chief Minister of Jharkhand said that ''Z class security'' was provided to Dhoni after there were reports in some sections of media about the security concerns to the cricketer and his family.

"We have acted after we saw some reports in the media about the security concerns for the cricketer," he added.

Sydney, Dec 26 : Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been selected to lead the team of the year for his fighting and match winning strategies. The other Indian to make it to the team is opener Gautam Gambhir, who scored heavily in 2008.

After Deepika Padukone, Indian Cricket Team Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is again in the news for his romance with 27-year-old Telugu movie star Lakshmi Rai.

According to rumor mills, Lakshmi spent considerable time with Dhoni at the hotel where he put up for the Test match, which concluded yesterday.

Lakshmi reportedly visited Dhoni’s hotel room to join him for dinner a few nights ago, but security functionaries refused to let her in.

But, it was only when Dhoni himself explained that she was his guest that they let her in.

However, Lakshmi denied any romantic involvement, and said they are just good friends.