Tendulkar turns down India armband

LONDON, England -- Mahendra Singh Dhoni is in line to become India's next Test captain after Sachin Tendulkar rejected the chance to succeed Rahul Dravid.

The 34-year-old Tendulkar was vice-captain during the series in Bangladesh and England this year, and was expected to take over after Dravid resigned in September.

However, Tendulkar -- the third highest run scorer in Test history with 11,150 -- told Indian television channel CNN-IBN: "I am reluctant to become captain. I don't feel right about it at the moment."

The 26-year-old Dhoni was given the one-day captaincy in September and led India to victory at the World Twenty20 tournament inn South Africa.

He is now expected to lead the team for the three-Test series in Pakistan starting on November 22, having already led his side to victory in the first of five one-day internationals against their bitter rivals on Monday.

Tendulkar had three stints as India's Test captain, first succeeding Mohammed Azharuddin in 1996 and finally relinquishing the role in 2000.

He has told India's Board of Control for Cricket that he believes a younger man should be in charge of the team.

BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said: "Sachin Tendulkar has conveyed to (president) Sharad Pawar that he was not in a position to accept the captaincy of the Indian team for the Tests.

"He was of the view that presently the Indian team was doing extremely well and the board must think of appointing a younger person as the captain, looking at the future of the team."

Meanwhile, the world's leading news agencies have threatened to boycott the first Test between Australia and Sri Lanka starting in Brisbane on Thursday due to new restrictions placed upon their coverage.

Cricket Australia has demanded the surrender of all intellectual property rights to photo coverage of the game, sparking a similar situation that flared up before the Rugby World Cup in France in September.

The agencies have set up a coalition of more than 30 media organizations - including Getty Images, Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Associated Press - to oppose CA's stance.

Australian officials insist they are trying to protect CA's commercial rights, but the agencies said the request restricts the freedom of the press. E-mail to a friend

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