London, Oct.22 (ANI): Italian football club AC Milan has confirmed that it is trying to sign up former England football captain David Beckham on loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani today stated that Beckham would arrive at the San Siro. It is understood by The Independent that the 33-year-old is yet to commit to the deal.

Beckham is under contract with the LA Galaxy but their regular season finishes on Sunday.

Galliani had indicated at the weekend that Beckham would be invited to train with Milan during the coming months. However, it now seems he could sign a short-term deal in January.

Beckham had been linked with the Rossoneri before leaving Real Madrid for the United States in 2007. (ANI)

Melbourne, Oct.22 (ANI): Former Australian cricket captain Kim Hughes has advised current incumbent Ricky Ponting to be patient, and suggested that he should not change his style of captaincy because of a one-off loss to India.

Saying that he was not surprised by the Australian team's struggle in the current series, Hughes added: "It (Australian captaincy) is a huge challenge because the pressure tends to come from everywhere."

"When Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer were in peak form, Ricky was used to coming in at 1-80. Suddenly Australia is losing wickets in the first over and he is forced to face Ishant Sharma, who I reckon is one of the best young fast bowlers in the world. And the pressure there is even more because Sharma has a good record against Ricky," Hughes said. (five dismissals in four Tests).

Asked what his one line of advice would be to Ponting, Hughes was quoted by the Courier Mail as saying: "They have an old saying in Madras . . . to lose patience is to lose the battle. That's what he needs to remember."

He also said that Australia would be the best organised team and best fielding side.

"The days of the four-day Test wins are gone. We will have tougher five-day games now. With the exception of playing in India, I think, we can be competitive with anyone because you look at the other teams. We will probably lose the top spot but apart from India who is going to storm past us? South Africa will be competitive," said Hughes.

He also said that he saw Shane Watson as a better prospect than Andrew Symonds for the No. 6 slot because "hehas the better technique."

Symonds, he said, would need to perform well in four-day matches before he returns. (ANI)

Sydney, Oct 22 (ANI): Former Aussie cricket captain Kim Hughes has said that it had always been hard to beat India on their home ground, and as the second best side in the world, only India could topple Australia from its No 1 Test team position.

In an answer to a question if Australia will lose its No. 1 Test nation status, he said "We will probably lose the top spot, but apart from India who is going to storm past us? I still think we will be the best organised team and best fielding side but the days of the four-day Test wins are gone. We will have tougher five-day games now. With the exception of playing in India, I think we can be competitive with anyone because you look at the other teams. South Africa will be competitive."

He said that the present Australian side was not as strong as it used to be till a couple of years ago. He said that the great players which the team once had were no more in the team.

He also said that it has always been a difficult task to beat India on their home ground. "India are the second best side in the world and have always been hard to beat in India. Even when the great West Indian sides were dominating in my era they still had to work very hard to win in India. When you lose your great players it hurts. Great players make great teams. Ordinary players make ordinary teams. The wheels have not fallen off completely," the Courier Mail quoted him as saying in an interview.

Commenting on the Ponting-Lee spat during the Mohali Test, he said that it was like any other incident on the field but it was blown out of proportion because Australia was a losing side now. "Incidents like the one with Brett Lee might have been glossed over a few years ago when the team was going well. But they will be big headlines now that the tide has turned. And where once there was stability now there will be a steady flow of players in and out of the team."

He also advised Aussie captain Rickey Ponting to maintain his cool. "They have an old saying in Madras . . . to lose patience is to lose the battle. That's what he needs to remember. But, I have a lot of confidence in Ponting. He will handle it," added Hughes. (ANI)

Mohali, Oct.22 (ANI): Australian captain Ricky "Punter" Ponting, it seems, has no answer to Indian pacer Ishant Sharma's "unusual angles".

Since his outstanding 123 on the first day of the first Test in Bangalore, Ponting has had no answer to Sharma's nippy pace.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Sharma has defeated Ponting three times in as many attempts, meaning he has now taken the scalp of perhaps the world's premier batsman five times in as many Tests.

Ponting says in addition to being a fine pace bowler, Sharma is capable of posing questions that very few international pacers can conjure.

In Mohali, Ponting was beaten in the first innings by an inswinger that had him lbw on the back foot, and in the second he was bowled between bat and pad by an unplayable off-cutter that uprooted his off stump.

"This game, the ball he got me with in the second innings is going to get me out 95 times out of 100, I think," Ponting said.

"There's not much I can do about that and the ball in the first innings was fairly similar. He's using the swinging ball very well. He's unusual with the angles he creates as well as a fast bowler. There's not many quicks that you face around the world that swing the ball back into the right-handed batsman, so he's posing challenges for us there, and that's three innings in a row he's got me out," he added.

"All our batsmen just need to think about ways that we can make it more difficult for them, and that's all you can do as a batsman sometimes," he said.

"My challenge over the next few days is to look at some of the vision - I know the ways he's trying to get me out but I've got to find a way to combat them," he said. (ANI)