India vs England 1st ODI Review

India has won an international game after 4 months and few days.  Last game it had won was the 1st test vs West Indies and then the only game it didnt lose was the tied 4th game in England. A lot has happened since then. 

But its always good to get to the winning start and winning in own backyard is always pleasent. 

India has just lost one game in India in last 2 years or so.  And that was against South Africa in this year's world cup in Nagpur and then a little time back last year, just after that 200* game in Motera to the same team.. Perhaps that was the start of the times for India to play depleted side in ODI until the world cup 2011 and then the same practice is back this year. 

Its a pity that the world cup winning team hasnt played another game together after that memorable night in Mumbai on 4/2. Chances are that the same team might never step on the field again to play another ODI, let go a bunch of games.

India started off sluggishly to reach 4/139 in 34 overs with both rookie openers, Gambhir and Kohli out and there were signs of a collapse, but Raina and Dhoni put on some sensible partnership and India were able to get to 300 mark. 

Dhoni hit his 4th consecutive 50 in ODIs and first one in winning cause after the world cup win. It seemed that he is still in that world cup final mode and he just carried ahead where he had left in Mumbai. He played his helicopter shots, most of them came good and he was hitting balls all over the place yet again. People had criticized him for giving away his natural style of play ever since he was the captain of India. 

He has been one of the best finishers in the ODI game in last few years and his average has gone back to 50+ again.  And also he is the best runner between the wickets in the modern Indian cricket. 

He was supported by Jadeja(hate to write this) and later Ashvin and PK to help India reach 300.  Jadeja is back in the team and having him play for the world champion team is a huge insult to the world champion tag. No matter he contributes or he doesnt, he shall always remain a jinxed player and someone who always comes good in losing cause. 

He also caused collapse in the English batting lineup after Cook was gone and surprisingly he ended up with 3 wickets. Ashvin, the other IPL guy got 2. And for time being Harbhajan Singh would be continuing to left out of the team. Perhaps that might give him the time to boost himself for tougher Test challenges ahead(Read Australia). 

Its on him how he takes this drop as. Whether he takes it positively and comes back hungry for success, nothing better for himself and the team. And if he takes it in a negative sense, then again himself and the team are going to lose a lot out of it. 

Umesh Yadav was expensive, got 2 wickets and had some pace too. Vinay Kumar continued to be useless, Praveen Kumar was his usual self and the 2 spinners caused the collapse in the English ranks to win a game by 126 runs. 

England have been horrible in India for last 5 years at least in ODIs.  And Friday's game just extended that run. How do they come back in next 4 games would be very keen for every one of us to watch. Unless they play well here, no one is going to take their claim as being best in the world seriously. But then they were never good in ODIs in last 20 years. They stopped being good ODI outfit since  that World cup final loss in Australia 1992. And as usual after a series win out of nowhere, the English start some rants and this series would decide, if that rant continues for longer or meets its natural end after the series. 

As of India is concerned, they have started to show what they really are in their own backyard. 

A win after 4 months is a good thing and if it continues further, it shall just play a huge role in getting the disgruntled and hopeless fans back to watching India games after that disastrous England tour.a

Players to watch out this IPL

Players to watch out for this IPL from Indian perspective. 

1. Ishant Sharma  for the 3rd seamer in the ODIs. He leaks out runs and isnt very wicket taking bowler, yet he is better than Munaf and Freesanth, for he has a nack to get the bounce and carry. And he has got the pace to ruffle the batsmen.

2. Irfan Pathan for that # 7 spot in the ODIs. Compete with his brother. He is far better player than Yusuf Pathan and what he is billed for now. If he gets that swing back and is back to fitness, look no further than Irfan. A man who has had 90s and has batted at # 3 in both Tests and ODIs should be a lucrative prospect back in the team when fit and on the top of the game. 

3. Manish Pandey : Can he now stake a claim in the ODI team if he has a successful IPL? If the likes of Vijay and Dhawan can get their chances owing to small success they had in IPL, then this lad who'z got some tremendous knocks in IPL and Ranji should get a look ahead in the lesser significant ODI series. 

4.  Cheteshwar Pujara: The things for that # 6 spot in the Tests would hot up once again when team travels to West Indies now that Yuvraj and Raina are back in the form.  Tests are a bit too far for now, but if he proves his mettle for RCB, then he might also come in the reckoning as a backup player in the ODI setup as well. 

There are not many open spots in the world champion team at the moment except # 7 spot. Sachin Tendulkar might not play ODIs any more, so the opening shall be going back to the Gauti - Viru combo followed by Kohli and Yuvraj. And then Raina and Dhoni. 

So if there are couple of lads like Irfan or Saurabh Tiwary can get some success this IPL they can edge through the likes of tested and failed Jadeja and Fuddi Pathan. 

Ravinder Jadeja today batted like he always does in the IPL, but he fails for India.  One of those players who hit iron hot form in IPL, but flounder in the national colors.  Freesanth, Rohit Sharma, IPL Ojha, Amit Mishra, Jadeja, Fuddi Pathan are the proud members of this lot.

IPL 4 : KKR Preview

KKR are new and rejuvenated this time. They have changed almost entirely.

But the biggest downer is they dont have the icon of the city. Their best player ever. Their icon, their pride and India's greatest captain ever. Saurav Ganguly doesnt play IPL anymore, so its bit difficult to imaging KKR getting support they have got in Eden all this years.

They've got Gautam Gambhir as their skipper, the man of the finals who snatched WORLD CUP from Lankans so much reeling them that the Lankan fans are crying that government fixed the match to win Indian support. Funny.

But Lankans aint the targets here, the focus here is on KKR.

KKR has been amongst all sorts of controversy in previous 3 IPLs. They got off to a best possible start when Baz bazzed 158 runs in the IPL opener and then it was further downhill for them. Captaincy controversy happened, FIP happened and then they dumped Ganguly.

All said and done, the owners have made an attempt to begin afresh and in that they have got some big names.

Here is the preview:

Captain : Gautam Gambhir

He led DD in IPL and half in past 2 years. They ended losers last year and semis in 2009.  This time he is here for KKR and is the most expensive ever buy. He has a 100% captaincy record for India in ODIs. How shall he fare for KKR, depends to be seen.

Indian players

Gambhir, Balaji, Fuddi Pathan (Former Yusuf), Bhatia, Goswami, Iqbal Abdullah, Sangwan, Undkat, Sami Ahmed etc etc, Ladda, Bisla

Foreign Players

Haddin, Eoin Morgan, Kallis, Ryan Ten Doscheate, Pattinson, Shakib, Bret Lee

Foreign players look impressive. But Indians do not.

Gambhir, Morgan, Fuddi, Kallis, Lee and Haddin shall be the key players. 

Team Composition:

Openers

1. Gambhir and Haddin shall open the batting and Haddin shall also keep the wickets.

Middle Order:

Kallis, Morgan, Fuddi , Bhatia,  Doscheate shall play depending upon the opposition and they would need to pick their foren players well.

Bowling :

No Ishant, Ajantha Bow Wow Mendis,  Shoaib Akhtar this time around. No Dinda too.

Lee would be a sure starter if fit. So shall be Undkat.  Sangwan from DD, is at best a medium pacer.

Shakib, Pathan would be the spinners. And Kallis bhai as allrounder.

Again the foren players are too good, but the Indian stocks barring Gambhir and to an extent Fuddi Pathan aint that great. So a balanced mixup of this 2 factors and how the XI is formed shall decide how far KKR has to go this time.

A voice in favor of ICC's World cup pruning decision

A lot has been said on the decision to leave out the minnows / Associate teams out of the 2015 World cup down under.  The decision isnt that harsh given the following facts:

1. It shall make the world cup a lot competitive.

2. Easy games shall no more be an option for teams like Lanka who march all the way to the finals.

3. The length of the world cup shall be reduced from month and half to may be month or so.

4.  The world cup winner in the end shall have been tested under all situations and would be a worthy winner like India which played almost every test nation except NZ and got better of them all except SA.

5. No easy runs for minnows feasting batsmen like Mahila and Dilshan.

Development of cricket or the expansion of cricket has taken a backseat, but then how many teams really developed playing this world cups 1996 ownwards. Ireland is the best of the lot and Kenya, Canada being the worst of the lot.

Kenya have played every world cup since 1996 and their situation today is pitiful. They didnt gain a bit by playing the world cups may be after 2003.  Ireland have developed a lot, but then they dont have their own first class structure and their good players are poached upon by England. Eoin Morgan is the best example.

Bermuda, Scotland, Netherlands, Kenya, UAE etc have stalled or they have not progressed to the extent the ICC would have liked by rubbing their shoulders with the top boys.

May be the ICC could do is have a qualifier for last 2 spots and have 6 teams play for those 2 spots. The # 9 and # 10 on ICC rankings should be part of those qualifiers. If thats being done, then teams like BD and Zim shall be on edge and they would strive to perform better in the span between 2 world cups.

Gary Kirsten

Gary Kirsten has farewelled coach of India position and he is off to Capetown, SA to be with his young family. Some time later when he returns to mainstream coaching, he shall more likely than not take up job with SA and he gave a lot of feelers for the same when he departed today.

He has been a major factor responsible for the turnaround India has shown in past 4 years. He gave his everything, worked on every player, worked on strengths of players, gave them confidence, backed them up and what not. Thats why today we find players like Raina, Kohli, Zaheer and others a touch above than they were in the previous regime. He remained a backroom guy and did his stuff wonderfully well but quietly.

The results are for everyone to see. The respect he has got from every one, his contemporaries in Test side, his young lads in the ODIs and everyone have just good words for him. VVS Laxman, Kumble, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid have played against SA side of which Gary has been the part of. Even add Harbhajan, Zaheer, Nehra, Yuvraj in it.  All this players have publicly spoken high about the man.

He is definetely going to be missed and he is going to make the job of BCCI very difficult to find an able and worthy replacement for him before the West Indies tour and I just hope they can avoid the Graham Ford episode and they are able to find somebody who shall accept the position. But 2007 is different from 2011. Then we were first round crashers, today we are world champions.

Images that shall itch in memories forever

Images courtesy : www.cricinfo.com

World Champions India

What an emphatic win in the end to become the World Champions. Its still takign a huge time to sink in. That the Indians are the world champions after 28 years. The country swung into celebrations and into wild frenzy. The world cup win rejoiced India after a long long time. Every one was happy. Every one rejoiced for Indian team which amongst everything won the world cup as the most deserving team. Going through the entire campaign as almighty just makes this victory even sweeter.

There were a few jitters in the game on Saturday, but in the end super Dhoni and cool Gambhir proved that they are the best team in the world. Doesnt matter if India lose  Sachin and Viru early, there are few other guys in the hut to do the job. Yuvraj all the while and Dhoni in the final.

What a way to rise above the occasion and lead as they say by front. Setting an example, captain's innings, return to form. Call any adjective to it. Dhoni would fulfill all of that. Having had a quiet tournament with just 150 runs in 8 games and then suddenly coming at 5 ahead of man of the tournament Yuvraj was a super move that paid off in the end. It was very apt in the end that MSD hit the winning runs.

He was cool as cucumber in the entire game. He kept his nerves, he soaked the tremendous pressure for good 6 weeks and in the end emerged triumphant.  He came in at edgy 3/114 and Dilshan on fire, but he kept the score board ticking and kept pacing his innings even when Gambhir was stuck in 90s between 38 and 42nd over. 

There were wild celebrations in the entire country. And I missed being part of those celebrations. Couldnt scream, couldnt dance and couldnt shout with all the might I have fearing a ticket, but witnessing those scenes on NDTV made me almost compensate the loss. All celebrations I had were few beers in the end with friends and cursing Sangakara big time.

Sri Lanka Innings:

SL started off cautiously living up to the billing that they become minnows against strong teams. 1/31 off 10 overs was their slowest start of the tournament. Their opening pair which plundered runs against minnows and hapless Kiwis and Pommies were subdued and off color.  Dilshan made edgy 33 and Tharanga fell to Zaheer for single digit score. Zaheer had unbelieveable figures when he was done with his first spell. 1/6 in 5 overs with 3 maidens.  Munaf bowled within his limits and all the pressure they built was quickly released by typical 'I - am - nuts' Sreesanth. He somehow finds himself in the world cup winning team every time. And for this very reason he shall be rememebred in the future as a moron mongrel who figured in 2007 and 2011 World event winning teams.

He leaked 52 runs in 8 overs this time and was little less comical in the field. Sanga Nanga and Mahila continued what they do best. 62 runs for the 3rd wicket and Nanga was gone. 

Mahila continued her good innings and joined the list of elite players who made a world cup final 100. Kulasekra and Parera in the end ensured SL made 274. Zaheer messed up in the final 5 overs and those 63 runs could have been dear, but it was not to be.  274 was going to be a  difficult chase given they had Murali and Malinga in the attack. They also beefed up their pace attack getting in Kulasekra and Parera who had tormented India in past with 2 5 wkt hauls.

Also came in were Randi bhai.  They proved to be easy meat for Indians in the end.

India Innings

India couldnt have asked for more worse start than losing Sehwag in 2nd ball of the innings and that got SL into thinking that they could win the game from there. They also got Sachin in 7th over and they had a premature celebration. There on, they had no chance. Kohli and Gambhir, then Gambhir and Dhoni got them to the target good 14 balls before to spare.

The best part of the chase was India neevr lost the self belief and promoting himself to 5 ahead of Yuvraj was a master stroke.  Gambhir played equal crucial role in this chase and he lost his nerved 3 runs before a well deserved 100.

Murali, Malinga, Randi bhai, Parera and Kulasekara were rendred ineffective in the end and they blamed the loss to the wet ball. But for this they should kick Sanga Naga in his ball who controversially didnt speak anything in the toss confusion. That for you is Sri Lankan spirit. They cheat, they want to win the game by hook and crook, but they cant win it by either.

They tried hard, they spoke, they cheated and they didnt walk. In the end they ended up 2nd best. They had to be. They didnt beat any strong team except England. They couldnt get past Australia, India and Pakistan.

On the other hand India had tough games against Australia, Pakistan, England, South Africa and West Indies. Except NZ, they played almost every test playing team and got through each of them. Some through defending, some through chasing. Every one came good except Pathan and Sreesanth, they should soon find themselves out.  Raina chipped in with valuable 30s in both knock out games which are well better than all other runs he has scored in his life. Yuvraj's 362 runs and 15 wickets would give him immense satisfaction through out his life / career.

Sehwag gave starts in all games almost, though much more was expected out of him. MS if not batted well before final captained team well. He's a colossus.  Kohli got runs, though he got out many times when he should have scored big. Gambhir got 4 50s, the most valuable of them coming in the biggest stage.

In the end India ended up being world cup champions. Deservedly so.

INDIA ARE THE WORLD CUP CHAMPS

WE ARE BLOODY WORLD CHAMPIONS OF CRICKET IN ODIS AND TESTS. 

WE ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS. 

KINGS OF THE WORLD. MOVE AWAY FOLKS, THIS IS OURS. THE WORLD CUP IS OURS. A TIGHT SLAP TO THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN DOUBTING THE INTEGRITY OF INDIAN CRICKET, THIS IS PROUD MOMENT FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.ALL INDIANS ACROSS THE GLOBE, INDIA, USA ALL OVER COUNTRY.

WORLD CUP FOR SACHIN TENDULKAR. 

WORLD CUP FOR EVERY INDIAN. EVERY PROUD INDIAN. IT HAS TO BE A MOMENT WE AS ENTIRE NATION HAS TO BE PROUD OF. 

INDIA WOULD NEVER REJOICE LIKE IT WOULD TODAY,

INDIA ARE THE WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS.  WORLD CUP CHAMPS.

Lanka dahan on Saturday in Mumbai

Its time to face the Lankans in the final of the world cup in our own country. Sri Lanka, the old warhorses who play all their games at home and then come to Mumbai to play the final and claim the trophy as if its  their own without any fight. Just cos Murali is retiring, they want to lift that trophy and touch it. Get off folks.

You are in India, the land where you lost last 2 series 1-5 and 1-3. And in the last ODI you played here against India, you were so shit scared of the rising ball, that your captain got the pitch in Kotla banned for a good year.  2 victories and 8 losses in last 10 completed games is a very proud record isnt it.  I remember Sangakara making a lot of noise when they travelled to Mumbai to play NZ. And now they are saying they know the pitch well, the conditions well just cos they played one game there and Malinga played 2 IPL seasons there.

What a logic.

Sachin Tendulkar grew up playing cricket in Wankhede all his life. Most of them who play for India have played in Wankhede before in either a IPL game or ODI or a Test match.  Zaheer Khan plays his domestic cricket in Wankhede (whenever).  So do they expect on back of just 1 league game in Mumbai and Malinga's 2 IPL seasons, they have a better idea of the pitch and ground?  Cmon get real.

They have a shaky middle order with guys like Masarweera, Mathews, Chamaras (whom their own fans mock as Sir Kapu or Lord Silva), those who have not yet been tested to full. A team which rides on the top 3 is never going to succeed if they lose the 3 in cheap. Game against Pakistan is a testimony.  Even the game against Kiwis is a testimony. Plus India has played SL too often, so they know the way Lankans play their game. Spin heavy attack isnt going to work against India in India. 

They are pressing Murali beyond a point to play the final cos they know without him they cant win a single game. Test matches are examples of that.

The key to beat SL is get rid of Dilshan, Tharanga and Sangananga and they are exposed, bared in the mid sun, unable to lift their game.  They have also called Randiv back and also Vaas back cos they feel Angelo I  m Not out Always Mathews and Muttiah Murali are unfit. Randiv, the same man who looked poor man's no - bowler might not play as they have not yet applied for replacements. They are making Murali bowl on half a leg, even if he is not fit. 

SL fans are obsessed with India and they want SL to win against India to shut the f** up the BCCI. The anger and disgust feelings of Indian victory in SF is visible on SLCricket.com. They badly wanted Stanis to win cos they feel they can beat them in India.

Unfortunately they still run into rampant India who would want to win one more game emphatically and crown themselves as world champions. Besides the revenge of 1996 SF is also on cards. I just want to see how would they react to the loss in the finals.  They blamed squash ball for Gilly's 2007 final 100 and they kept calling for rematch as they felt it was cheating. Cheaters calling the world cheaters cos this time they were on the receiving end.  Think about those 1000s of wickets their bowlers have got who had suspect actions or those who have bent arms beyond 15 degrees and yet got away. Think about those buffoon umpires all this years who've given numerous horrendous decisions on fields.

India through to the finals

What a feeling it is. To be in the world cup finals beating Pakistan for the 5th time in the world cup. Its just difficult to digest. Goosebumps in the  tummy. Butterflies flew all around, screaming and abusing was a bit low key thanks to being in the foren country.

The tension to see in the finals after 8 long years and this time go one step further to lift the cup of glory in homeland was unpalpable. All superstitions were followed. Unmoved at times when things went right for India and when runs were leaked, when wickets didnt fall. Reeling Munna and Bhajji when they leaked runs. Blowing off Kamran Akamal when he showed his stupid poker face on screen during keeping and batting was all done.

Facebooking and watching cricket has been the trend this world cup. Update the status message on FB, update stats on FB, update number crunching there and put on some superstitions like Cmonnnnnnnnnnnnnn and to see a wicket tumble moments after that was all fun. Dont have the luxury to watch on TV on any channel, so have to rely on  the ISP and host of live streaming sites to watch the action LIVE.

It all happened on a day remarkable for Indian cricket, what a day it has been. Reaching 3rd world cup final, 2nd in 8 years and almost with the same group as it was in 2003.  Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Nehra are the survivors of that match India lost in Wanderers to rampaging Ponting and co. This time its a step to go further. Win the world cup in Mumbai, the hometown of Sachin Tendulkar, country's greatest sports icon and perhaps the best ever batsmen to play cricket in all times.

Thanks to Pakistan to turn up in India despite the hot and cold diplomatic relations, thanks to them for making the match living all the hype it had before this game even began. Thanks for them to provide us yet another opportunity to savior this victory. Beating Australia, Pakistan in the route to finals is amazing. The contests with this 2 countries have always been intense, thrilling and top quality. And Pakistan did go out in a proud fashion, forget what Misbah did in final overs, they have done their nation proud with almost flawless and mostly controversy less performance in the world cup. None expected them to come this far given what happened in past year in their build up to the world cup, so Afridi must be a proud man given how his men have delivered.

Sachin Tendulkar has played all 5 victorious games against Pakistan in World cups and he has been man of the match in 3 of them. He has scored 54, 31, 45, 98 and 85 in this 5 games. He has played with great Kapil Dev to Azhar to Jadeja, Mongia, Venkatesh Prasad and the great trio of Dravid, Ganguly and Kumble. Not to forget Javagal Srinath.

India won its first semi final at home. Previously it had lost its 2 semi finals, both chasing in 1987 to England and pretty controversially in 1996 to SL. This time India defended a 260 and won. 

The biggest turning point of the game was the dismissal of Gambhir in the 20th over which led to a mini-collapse in the 25th - 30 th over and a score of 350 became 260. Sehwag in his super assault on Umar Gul had set India on another huge total, but once he was out and the rest just went in the shell. Gambhir has been erractic this tournament. he has thrown away his wicket in almost every game. Something not expected from man of his stature.

Tendulkar was cratchy, scratchy and whatever, but his 85 set India to cross 250 and that proved to be the difference in the end.  MSD is excelling in captaincy, but his batting is concern.

What was too heartening to see was only 5 bowlers were used and everybody took 2 wkts each. Zahee was little bit off color, but he was made up by super Nehra and surprisingly Munaf.  Ashvin;s dropping was a debatable issue, but I still feel he will be a key man in the final and he should replace Munaf in the XI. Nehra got his rythm back in the 2nd spell and at helped him in the super final spell when he just gave few and got Riaz.

It was a day when the bowling and fielding excelled yet again and the batting was iffy.

In the end Younis and Misbah combined together to stall the stanis chase and its likely that this guys wont be part of the LoI set up in the future.  Misbah is test captain, but then who knows what happen in Pak cricket. The others -- Shafiq, Hafeez and UKumal didnt quite turnup to play long innings that could have won their team this game. Yet they came this far and thats applaudable.

For a change there was no sledging this time and there was no "war cry" on the ground at least.  Expecting Pak to react to this loss graciously back their home and not call for the people's head who featured in this tournament. They've got some very good positives in form of Riaz, Shafiq etc and once they are given chances they could come up as well finished product.

But for now lets savior the superb Indian victory and rally behind them to trounce the cheats of the world to avenge the painful defeats of 2007 and 1996. Lets burn the Lanka this time in Mumbai 8 months before the Dusshera festival.

Players and captains seen last

This are the set of players that wont be seen anymore in the international cricket post this world cup:

Pakistan:

Shoaib Akhtar

Misbah Ul Haq ((at least ODIs))

Younis Khan (at least ODIs)

New Zealand

Scott Styris

Jacob Oram

Possibly Daniel Vettori from ODIs

Sri Lanka

Chuck

Mahela (he promised he would look to the future post world cup)

England

KP

Collingwood

Andrew Strauss

Ian Bell

Captains in following countries have changed hands:

1. South Africa

2. New Zealand

3. Australia

4. Possibly England

5.  Possibly Pakistan

India vs Pakistan Preview

Finally, the big day is here.

India vs Pakistan in a World Cup semi final.

Doesnt get bigger than this.  All talks of pressure, mind games, history, cricket diplomacy, Punjabiyat, bhaichara and all would vanish in the thin air once the 2 captains walk out for the toss and the national anthems are played. After that all and sundry shall pave the way for 22 players who shall slug it out in the middle for the glory moment of the day.

Doesnt matter what Misbah said or what Rehman Malik said and backtracked. Doesnt matter what MMS and Gilani shall eat or drink or pee after the game or during the game. WHat shall matter is the battle between the bat and the ball.

4 previous wins are good to hold the psychological edge but only till the start of the game. The chaos, reputations, processes, areas, pre match talks, campaigns thus far would all cease to be important for the heroes of the 2 countries.

India's batting vs Pakistan bowling. Its a contest that has been billed as such.

Its more of the team which handles the pressure the BEST, the team which holds the NERVE BEST, the team which wins small chunks of plays in the entire 100 overs of the day shall prevail in the end. And its going to be INDIA who shall be expected to do this in Mohali, their best modern day ground.

Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh are the key men for Indian batting. Kohli, Raina and MS shall look to carry forth the work done by the top 4.  Zaheer Khan would be the key for the bowling. But it shall depend more on who is the support  cast for Zak. Will Harbhajan turn up? Would Ashvin fox the stanis ? Especially Kamran, Hafeez and Shafiq ?

Who shall tbe the 2nd seamer? Munaf or Neehra ?

Neehara should the one who should get a look in before Munaf now.

What shall Pakistan do ? Will they get in Shoaib or continue to operate with Umar Gul and Riaz? How many catches would Kakkumal drop? How shall Afridi, the bowler do? He has got pretty ordinary record against India and so has Umar Gul. Would they field Junaid Khan who had a word or 2 to say on Sachin?

Its all about who handles the pressure on Wednesday better. But before that the skies should remain clear.

The predictions are:

 

Wed Mar 30
09:00 GMT | 14:30 Local           05:00 EDT | 04:00 CDT | 02:00 PDT	India v Pakistan at Mohali, ICC Cricket World Cup, 2nd Semi-Final	17 - 30° C Forecast Sunny Click here for 10-day-Forecast

Not sure how ToI or NDTV has reported rain showers.

But here could be the possible lineups:

India :

1. Tendulkar

2. Sehwag

3. Gambhir

4. Yuvraj

5. Dhoni

6. Kohli

7. Raina

8. Ashvin

9. Harbhajan

10. Neehra

11. Zaheer

Pakistan:

1. Kakmal

2. Hafeez

3. Shafiq

4. Younis

5. Umarkamal

6. Misbah

7. Afridi

8. Rehman

9. Razzaq

10. Gul

11. Riaz / Akhtar

Will Gambhir raise his game against Pakistan?  Will MS find form against Pakistan and will Yuvraj continue his golden run in this world cup ?

And moreover shall we avenge 2007 and 1996 ? All answered tomorrow in PCA ground @ 230 PM IST

A fact on team defeating Kiwis in semifinal of a world cup

The team beating New Zealand in the semi-final has not won a world cup on 2 previous occasions.  1999 - Pakistan beat NZ and lost in the final to Australia. 8 years later SL beat NZ and lost to Australia in the final.

4 years on may be it would be SL again who would lose to the team beating Australia.

By the way its going, it seems a comfortable typical Lankan win unless they choke worse than what Saffers did.  Saffers should have been the worthy semi-finalists to halt the Lankan run at home. They choked and got kicked out,

A look at Stani batting

A look at the Pakistan batting.

Highest score : 317 / 7 vs Kenya in the first game of the world cup campaign

Lowest score : 184 vs Canada

Highest Individual score : 83 by Misbah Ul Haq

Number of 100s: 0

Number of 50s : 9

Scores : 317/7, 277/7, 184, 192, 164/3,  178/6, 113/0

Only 2 scores of over 200. In the last 3 wins they have chased after their bowlers dismissed teams for low scores (Zimbabwe game exception as it was rain affected). Last 200 score came good month ago. Since then havent crossed 200.

Opening Partnerships : 11, 28, 16, 17, 5, 12, 112*

Hafeez and Shehzad havent been able to fire together as opening pair and except the game of WI, the Akamal and Hafeez pair hasnt fired either. So the team looks soft a bit on the top.

The number 3 has got some runs for Pakistan though in form of Kamran Akamal before and now Asad Shafiq in last 2 games (124).

The middle order of Younis, Misbah, Umar Akamal and Afridi has been inconsistent too. Umar is their top scorer of the tournament with 211 runs and a match winning 47 vs Australia as his highest point.  Younis Khan hit 2 50s in the start of the tournament and since then hasnt fired the way given his experience and usability.

Misbah yesterday said that getting 20s and 30s in a winning cause is better than scoring a 50 and 100 in a losing cause. Well said mate, but he hasnt got firing in last few games:

his scorelines read 0, 7 , 37, DNB,DNB, 83.

Shahid Afridi, best said now is a tailender who can bat a bit in wild fashion.

Hafeez has been more of a bowler than a batsman in this tournament given his form. He struck form only in the quarter final, but then the quality of bowling was debatable.

From the above stats its clear that Pakistan batting has been a bit brittle and they are prone to collapses as ever in last 2 years. They had a mini collapse against Australia in mid-overs, against Canada and also against Sri Lanka.

The men India needs to be wary of :

1. Kamran Akamal : He has tendency to fire big against India.

2. Younis Khan : His past against India

3. Asad Shafiq : He is the man who has looked in form in past 2 games.

and.

4. Umar Akamal : Too unpredictable, dunno which side of him would turn up.

In form batsmen for Pakistan -- not many.

Bowling : Afridi for his faster uns that skids through to the stumps or traps lbw. Umar Gul for his exploits with old ball.

And since the last game between this 2 sides, a lot has happened and Pakistan side has gone through a major change in terms of people playing. Imran farhat, Butt,  Malik, Amin, Amir, Ajmal are no longer part of playing XI.

How SL would make it to the final

How'z it going to be an All Asian final this Saturday ?

India or Pakistan shall play cricket and the winner will go through to the final. 

And SL : "we keep our heads down and make sure we cover all the bases we have to cover".

Thats how Lankans would cross over to make it to the finals. When and if they win the semis in Colombo, their captain shall again cry, "why do we need to cover our final base in Mumbai? As co-host we should cover our final base in our home base to lay the base for upcoming slingers, cheaters and non-walkers"

Statements, statements and more statements.

John Wright

In the run up to the World Cup 2011, the Kiwis had chance to play in all 3 host countries. SL in Aug, BD in Oct and India in Dec. 

They fared poorly here. 1 victory in 11 games means a below below par run up to the world cup. None gave the chance to the team in this world cup. And when they lost to Aus and SL those critics were vindicated. And for much part of the game against SA, those critics wrote off Kiwis. 

But they turned around in this world cup. They have reached semis and just a win away from being in the finals for the first time. Only a small matter of thumping Lankan mongrels and cheats. 

Everybody's talking about Jacob Oram, Danny, Jesse, Nathan McCullum, but spare a thought for the man who is responsible for all this. The man who has known the Indian conditions for 5 years, the man who knows what it takes to succeed as coach. The man who kick started the Indian ascendancy to the top good 10 years back. The man who alongside Saurav Ganguly changed the mindset, attitude of cricket in the country. The man who coached the team through some memorable away, home wins in Tests and ODIs.

That humble man is doing his job without any spotlight, staying in the background, quiet and almost unnoticed. 

Take a bow gentlemen for John Wright. He is a master coach behind this super thumping of Saffers in quarters by Kiwis.

WATERBOY's world cup

Waterboy does it. The man who was dropped on grounds of poor form, inept attitude and fitness has showed it to the world he belonged to the top spot. What a world cup he is having. 

And now that SL are through to the semis and would make it to the finals too, the WATERBOY shall account for that humiliation and taunts in Lankan tour in July - August 2010. 

Cant wait to see revenge of 1996 and 2007 being taken in our own Mumbai next weekend. But before that small matter of getting past Pakistan.

Yuvi wants the world cup for himself, his team and moreover to the nation of 1 billion plus NOW. 

SA choke

Going going going gone. At 3/121 to 172 all out.

SA lose by 49 runs to go crashing out of the semi final race and Kiwis make yet another appearence in the semis. For the first time India and Kiwis go to the semis together. And if tomorrow its England who come up trumps its going to be India vs England final.

Mouth watering stuff.

But SA. What are they made of ? After restricting NZ to 221 and just needing 3 222s to win, they lose yet again. 121 is a dreaded # for them. They collapsed at 121 itself against England and today again they went down.

Generations have gone by but the South African dream has nt materialized.

1992 : Semi final crash, they were not to be blamed for that 21 off 1.

1996: First signs of choking with loss in QF. Thanks to Brian Lara

1999 : Epic choke to Australia 2 times.

2003 : Their own world cup, they need 1 run to go through instead they tie and go out.

2007 : Lose their way in semis to Australia

2011 : Kiwsi blast them out.

Many termed SA as fav team to win the world cup. Not to be. They choked. They had a super team this time.  Amla, Kallis, Smith, ABD and Duminy. None fired when it mattered. Amla got good starts but except 1 100 never went on to make a hundred.

Imran Tahir, their new playtoy couldnt fire against big teams.

And biggest of them all, they choked in their minds. They chased 297 successfuly against India but could not  chase 172 and 222.  There are plenty of South African coaches around, none as best as Gary Kirsten for India. And now they shall desparately want him to coach them.

No decision reviewed this game. Good

What a game Kiwis had. Both captains are going to step down post this campaign, but its Vettori who'z  got better of Smith on a venue where they lost 0-4 to Deshis. Oram, Ryder, Nathan McCullum had a super game today.

And now they travel to Colombo for their semi final against SL or England (England my favorite).

SA need some time off and may be a reconditioning program for empowering mental strenghts. This is a World Cup and it doesnt get bigger than this. They had 4 spinners, but that didnt matter in the end cos their batsmen lacked the steel resolve to conquer something which India, England and Australia have.

Its a glorious upset and what a turnaround for Kiwis.

All attributed to one man, who started it all for Indian turnaround, good 11 years back. Take a bow for John Wright.

Saffers seem to be choking again

3/121 to 7/147.

Only Saffers can do that. They have to accept that they are eternal chokers and they shall always do it. Though they are yet to lose this or win this, but a big ? is set up on their worthiness of winning this tournament, which they desparately want to.

And 8tgh gone.

South Africa cannot win the bigger games, no matter waht conditions, no matter which countries. Pity India lost to them and they couldnt get Saffa choke.

And whoz the hero of chokers? N McCullum and J Oram.

Cant stop laughing.

Dear Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi, welcome to Mohali. The super ground in Indian Punjab. You shall be playing semi final against India on 30th March, 2011 in that ground. 

We heard that you've said that you wont be short of support in Mohali? Are you banking on few Pakistanis who shall travel to India on visas and then disappear and never return? Or are you talking of few fools who cheered for Pakistan in those dark Sharjah days? Or do you feel India is still under pressure when it comes to play Pakistan ? 

I am not sure if you have arrived in Punjab or are yet to arrive or will not arrive. You are arriving in a country which has blown hot and cold over the diplomatic relations for different reasons. So given that backdrop, shall you arrive? Shall your board let you arrive without the drama and idiotic statements? Shall you keep quiet and let your play do the talk? 

I am curious to know when you say you would not be lacking support. Who shall support your team? Thats troubling me. India has gone past those days when there were few, very few who blew crackers on a Pakistani win in Sharjah. Gone are those days, that mindset and moreover  those set of players from your country. Now the players you've got are mad, idiots, clowns and jokers. Lunatic as Ian Chappell and Intikhan Alam calls them.

Do you think you are gonna stop Indians with the bowlers like Abdul Razzaq, Abdul Rehman and Wahab Riaz ? And yes Hafeez too? Do you think K Akamal would be able to pouch anything in his butery gloves  that day? You are most welcome in India after 2007. But come and play. Dont give mad statements. There is no pressure on India. Pressure is on Pakistan. They shall play before a crowd who shall want the men in blue to steamroll them and go through to the finals.

Are you ready to handle it ?