Fortune Teller: World Cup 2011

After all the drama, the big 8 made it to the knock out as expected. It is truly the time now to go crazy about cricket.

For once, I want to be a fortune teller in this post. Actually there is a fortune teller living in every man in himself. Today I would like to bring mine in public.

There would be no complicated theories. No brain picking analysis. All straight answers based on stats and few hunches.

The Quarter Finals line up are as follows.

Pak Vs WI
SL Vs Eng
Aus Vs Ind
NZ Vs SA

Many might see 7 good games from here and one good team will prevail 3 games to win the title. I donot wish to leave this to randomness. For I see a pattern to these battles. In my opinion it is the clash of Group A Vs Group B.

The Result?
Group B had more competitive games and every team had to play out of their skin to qualify for the knockout compared to Group A. So it is clearly advantage Group B. Having said that there is one game which can be called as the War of Dark Horses. You got it right. I meant the Pakistan Vs WI clash. It is very much impossible to say who will triumph. Being a fortune teller, i'm giving you an answer. It is Pakistan. Pakistan has the advantage over WI despite the due for Gayle show. The reason being Pakistan turned better opposition in the marquee games compared to WI.

Having said that here is my Semi Finals line up.

Pakistan Vs India
England Vs South Africa

The Pakistan Vs India Semi finals is to be played in India. The advantage is defintely with Pakistan. After all, a subcontinent host, never won the Semi Finals while hosting. However there is also another stat that says Pakistan never beat India in a World Cup match. I wish to go with the stat that has majority. India won more World Cup games against Pakistan than India failed in the Semi Finals hosted by them.

In the other Semi Finals, England will beat South Africa. This conclusion is based on
1. South Africa chokes in crunch games.
2. England already beat South Africa in the league game.
3. England never lost in the Semi Finals of the World Cup match whenever they qualified.

Finally the finals, India Vs England. I would like to say pl refer to the article "Who will the win the World Cup 2011".

Never mind. I've decided to save your time. If we consider 1992 World Cup for reference, which would suit this scenario the most, this should be anybody's title. Having said that, England failed in 3 finals and also in the finals held in India before. This is too compelling stat to predict I N D I A will be the winner of the World Cup 2011.

The fortune teller in me could go entirely wrong. After all, you get a chance to laugh at yourself for believing a fortune teller. Else, you give me  "The Fortune Teller of the Decade" award.

Feel free to ping me in private to know how much of fortune I made on betting in favor of the above results?

Dinesh
Cricket Lover

PS: I would be glad if you could leave your predictions in the comment sections. After all its fun right?

Dirty eyes: England Vs West Indies - Sri Lanka Vs New Zealand

Two days in a row, two bad decisions, both from the off field umpire.

England Vs West Indies

Russell was batting on 39. The scorecard read 204/6. West Indies needed another 40 runs to win the game. Exactly at this point, Russell tried to clear Swann on the ON side but ended up finding Trott at the boundary. It was a superlative catch only to be ruled not out by the off field umpire. The evidence was inconclusive and the decision went in favor of the batsman. In my opinion, Trott shoulders hit the shadow of the boundary and not the actual boundary line. However, the benefit of doubt went in favor of the batsman. Thankfully the decision did not cost the game. Otherwise it would have been curtains for England’s dream for making any progress in the World Cup.

Sri Lanka Vs New Zealand

Jayawardane was batting on 24. The scorecard read 85/2. Jayawardane tried to steer the ball to the ON side of Nathan McCullum. The bowler realizing an opportunity quickly flew to his right to take a stunner. Any professional acrobat would be proud of that effort. Once again a stellar catch went to the third eye wanting for evidence. Due to lack of sufficient proof, the third umpire once again ruled the decision in favor of batsman. In my opinion, it was definitely a clean take. 9 out of 10 third umpires would have given that out. Jayawardane went on to add another 40 runs to his tally.

Now look at it this way. We all know that Sri Lanka’s biggest worry is their middle order. The scorecard read 164/3 in 36.1 overs when Jayawardane got out. The rest of the batsmen went to add only 100 more runs to the total.  If you look at the Lankan scoreboard, it reads as 3, 3, 111, 66, 41*, 5, 3, 1, 6, 7 and 0*. Had it been 85/3, the chances are good that Sri Lanka would have bundled under 200 runs.

At this time, I don’t know the result of the game. I’m waiting eagerly like you to know if that decision has impacted the outcome of the game and altered the journey of Kiwis.

If the decisions like the above come from the on field umpire, it is acceptable. After all the on field umpire watch the action live in split seconds and then arrive at the conclusion after discussing with the other umpire, which may or may not be correct. However, the third umpire can see umpteen replays with the slowest possible motion and in variety of angles. Despite inconclusive evidence, they can still make educated guesses based on the situation and circumstances.

I’m also surprised why the magnifier technology is not being used in this World Cup.

Bottom line: Dirty eyes of the third eye needs a lot of cleansing

Dinesh

Cricket Lover

Cricket World Cup format

We are finally coming to an end of the Preliminary games of the World Cup! 6 long weeks and 45 games to eliminate 5 minnows and one of the 9 regular cricket playing teams.
This is an awful long time and far too many games to eliminate one of West Indies and Bangladesh, although England have threatened a number of times to get themselves eliminated and there is a remote chance India may be eliminated.

And then in 4 days and 4 games, 4 of the TOP 8 teams will be eliminated. This format provides no incentive to perform well in the Preliminary games. Once you “qualify” for the TOP 8, all teams are on even keel. The best team on the day will qualify for the Semi Final and the other team (even if they have won all their preliminary games) will be eliminated.

One can see the consumer disenchantment with this format with low ground attendance and low TRP ratings, notwithstanding the allegations of spot fixing and match fixing. We have also lost a number of big names to injury. Apparently, the long drawn out format is to appease the media and make the most of the media rights. I would argue that a crisp interesting format will lead to more spectators on the grounds and higher TRP ratings.

My format would be
1. Keep all the teams so we can still enjoy performances from Ireland(Kevin O'Brien), Netherlands (Ten Doeschate) and Canada (Patel) and the odd upset
2. Reduce the duration of the tournament by playing more games in parallel
3. TOP team in each group gets a direct entry to the Semi Finals
4. 2nd and 3rd team in each group play each other to determine the other semi finalists

I believe this will ensure that there is a lot of incentive for the teams during the preliminary games and also keep the consumer interest throughout the tournament by reducing the number of dead rubbers.

Sai Mahesh
Sydney, Australia

The Game Ahead: India Vs West Indies

It is quite obvious that changes are on the way.

But, what are they? First would be the playing 11. The next would be the strategy.

I chose to ink my thoughts on the playing 11 in this post.

It goes without saying that Ashwin will take a spot in the side from here on.  Debuting in front of the home crowd (Chennai) should give him a lot of confidence. He is not afraid of bowling with the new ball or power play and Dhoni has tested him sufficiently. Also Ashwin bowling early should release few overs of Bhajji at the top. After all, we witnessed Bhajji’s effectiveness when he started bowling with the older ball in the game against South Africa.

The next man to come in should be Sreeshanth. I agree that he had a bad day on the opening game against Bangladesh. But mind you, he earned that spot based on the performance in the warm up games against Australia and New Zealand. He is quicker than the rest. On top of it, if the ball seams and swings, he will be a match winner on his own. Any day he is better choice than Ashish Nehra. It is my personal opinion that Ajith Agarkar and Ashish Nehra are only the proud baggages of the Indian Team.

Finally the third man to come in should be Suresh Raina. If not now, it will be too late for the gifted left hander. Also starting his campaign in front of the home crowd (Chennai Super Kings) should boost his confidence.

While it is far easier to replace Ashwin and Sreeshanth with Munaf and Nehra, the difficult one would be the selection of Raina.

Logically, Raina should come in the expense of Gambir, Kohli or Yousuf Pathan.

Is the change warranted? In my opinion, it is definitely a YES. The Indian middle order did not live up to the standard so far. It is only wise to give a fresh outlook to the otherwise erratic middle order.

Who makes it for Raina? Had Gambir failed and Kohli succeeded in the last game against South Africa, it would have been an easier decision. Raina replaces Gambir and Kohli takes guard at No.3. That option is ruled out now.

So is it Pathan? That would be an atrocious decision in my opinion. Yousuf Pathan has the ability to win match on his own. He has demonstrated that regularly in the recent past. Infact it is for this ability he has been nurtured in the past 3 years despite his repeated failures. Chopping him, would be like pressing the button for the weapon of mass destruction.

Is it Kohli? Unfortunately the answer is YES. It will be no fault of his to lose the spot. But imagine, Kohli is expected to bat at No.4 this tournament. He delivered successfully when he got this position. However the position is not guaranteed, especially when India get off to a flyer. Thanks to Dhoni & Co for fiddling the middle order.

Raina replacing Kohli means to say that India will also have a defined batting order even after the top 3. Yuvi will come at 4, Dhoni at 5, Raina at 6 and Pathan at 7. One of the main reasons, India is suffering in this tournament is because of the volatile middle order. Raina’s technical deficiency would ideally force the management to have a stable middle order.

Originally Suresh Raina was being groomed for this grand stage. It was just an accident that Raina’s form slipped at a bad time and Kohli capitalized it perfectly. I totally agree that it is entirely unfair on Kohli to be dropped. To set the table right, some tough decisions have to be taken. Also Raina is a useful bowler under these conditions, especially when the captain is not getting the confidence on Pathan's bowling.


This would be my lineup for the game against WI

Sehwag, Tendulkar, Gambir, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Raina, Pathan, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Ashwin and Sreeshanth

Having said and done, India as a Team and Dhoni as a Captain has only under played so far.

Bottom line: Fasten your seat belt folks. You are about to witness one of the finest cricket to be played by an Indian Cricket Team.

Dinesh
Cricket Lover

The God - An article by Harsha Bhogle on Sachin Tendulkar

*An article on Sachin by Harsha Bhogle*

Remember when you failed an examination. How many people recall that, your class, friends, relatives? You failed to make it to the IITs or IIMs. Who remembers. How many times have you had the feeling of being the best in your class, school , university, state….., you failed to get a visa stamped this quarter…, you missed a promotion this year…, how did it feel when you dad told you in your early twenties that you are good for nothing…..and now your boss tell you the same...

You keep introspecting and go into a shell when people most of whom don’t matter a dime in your life criticize you, back bite you, make fun of you. You are left sad and shattered and you cry when your own kin scoffs at you. You say I am feeling low today. It takes a lot from us to come out of these everyday situations and move on. A lot??? really?

Now here’s a man standing on the third man boundary in the last over of a world cup match. The bowler just has to bowl sensibly to win this game. What the man at the boundary sees is 4 rank bad bowls bowled without any sense of focus, planning or regret. India loses, yet again in those circumstances when he has done just about everything right.

He does not cry. Does not show any emotion. Just keeps his head down and leaves the field. He has seen these failures for 22 years now. And not just his class, relatives, friends but the whole world has seen these failures. We are too immature to even imagine what goes on in that mind and heart of his. That’s why I would never want to be Sachin.

True, he has single handedly lifted to moods of this entire nation umpteen number of times. He has been an inspiration to rise above our mediocrity. Nobody who has ever lifted the willow even comes close to this man’s genius. His dedication and metal strength is unparallel. *This is specially for those people who would have made fun of him again last night when India lost.* They are people who are mediocre in their own lives. Who just scoff at others to create cheap fun. Who have lived in a small hole throughout their lives and thought they have seen the oceans.

Think about the man himself. He is 37 years of age. He has been playing almost non stop for 22 years. The way he was running and diving around the field last night would have put 22 year olds to shame. The way he played the best opening quickies in the world was breathtaking. He just keeps getting better which is by the way humanly impossible. Its not for nothing that people call him GOD.

But still I don’t want to be in those shoes. We struggle in keeping our monotonous lives straight, lives which affect a limited number of people. Imagine what would be the magnitude of the inner struggle for him, pain both mental and physical, tears that have frozen with time, knees and ankles and every other joint in the body that is either bandaged or needs to be attended to every night, eyes that don’t sleep before a big game, bats that have scored 99 international tons and still see expectations from a billion people.

And he just converts those expectations into reality. We watch in awe, feel privileged.

Well I think its time that his team realizes that enough is enough. They have an obligation, not towards their country alone but towards sachin. They need to win this one for him. Stay assured that he himself will still
deliver and leave no stone unturned to make sure India wins this cup.

This is not just a game, and he is not just a sportsman. Its much more than this. Words fail here.....



(I could not locate the source this article. I received it as a forward in email. I definitely felt, it is a must read for cricket lovers)

Who will win the World Cup 2011?

I’m sure every one of you is already busy predicting the Quarter Finals line up and then the ultimate winner. I encourage you to continue your good work but please keep the following stats in mind while doing so.

1975 was an open World Cup. WI won the edition beating Australia in the Finals. WI already beat Australia at the group stage too. Also WI did not lose any match at the group stage. Host: England

1979 – WI started as the firm favorites. They lived up to the expectation and won the World Cup beating England. WI and England did not meet anytime during the group stage as they were positioned in different groups. Also WI did not lose any game at the group stage. Host: England

1983 – Again WI started favorites. But, India won this World Cup beating WI in the Finals. India beat WI at the group stage too. India also lost to WI and Australia at the group stage. Host: England

1987 – India and Pakistan started joint favorites. However, Australia won the World Cup beating England. Australia and England did not play each other until Finals. Australia lost one group match against India. Host: India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka

1992 –Australia & England started joint favorites. Pakistan won the World Cup beating England in the Finals. Pakistan shared points with England at the group stage due to rain. Pakistan lost to WI, India and South Africa at the group stage. Host: Australia and New Zealand

 1996 – India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Australia started favorites. Sri Lanka went on to win the world cup beating Australia in the Finals. Australia walked over their group match to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka did not lose any group match. Host: India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka

1999 – South Africa, England & Australia started favorites. Australia won the edition beating Pakistan in the Finals. However Australia lost to Pakistan and NZ during the group stage. Host: England

2003 – Australia started firm favorites. They won the edition beating India in the finals. They won all their games in this tournament. Particularly, they beat India in the group stage. Host: South Africa & Zimbabwe

2007 – Australia started clean favorites. They won the edition beating Sri Lanka in the Finals. They won all their games in this edition. Australia beat Sri Lanka in the group stage too. Host: West Indies

2011 – ?

This edition has fallen into the category of Open World Cup. If your prediction is Australia, then Australia should lose one group match based on the stats from 1983, 1987, 1992, 1996 and 1999. If they don’t lose a group game, don’t be disappointed. After all there is still a minority theory of 1975 and 1996 where a joint favorite won the world cup without losing a game at group stage.

If you had predicted India, the ghost of the host nation not winning a World Cup is going to haunt you. But you should still be satisfied with the fact that a co-host has won the Trophy in 1996.

If India meets one of its pool members in the finals, the outcome could be interesting based on history.

If India meets England, it should be open finals based on 1992 stats. In 1992 England and Pakistan shared points in the group game. However, India should fancy their chances based on 1979, 1992 & 1987. After all England choked in more finals and also in the final that held in India.

If India meets South Africa in the finals, it is still not doomsday as there is a minority theory of 1999 World cup where Australia won the World Cup beating Pakistan despite losing to the same team in the group game.

If India meets West Indies, unfortunately we don’t know the result of the group game yet. However the stats of 1983 world cup should back your prediction.

If you had predicted Sri Lanka, the challenge actually comes in the Semi Finals. No sub continent team won the Semi Finals when played at home.  India and Pakistan failed in 1987, while India flunked again in 1996. This time Sri Lanka will be playing their Semi Finals at home. The Semi Finals jinx holds good for India too. However Pakistan gets a lifeline here as they will be playing their Semi Finals at a home away from home.

If the team playing finals is facing an opposition outside their group, then we have only two World cup results for guidance, 1979 and 1987. WI and Australia beat England in both these occasions, a team that wasn’t their group member. Going into the game, both WI and Australia had higher net run rate over their opposition. So, if 2011 finalists are from different groups, then the team with higher net run rate going into the game has edge over the other.

Similarly you can apply this prediction theory to your favorite team.

Bottom Line: With so much history for pointers, who would be your Winner of the 2011 World Cup?

Dinesh
Crazy Cricket Lover

PS: The article is an inspiration from a post published in cricinfo sometime before the start of the world cup

World Cup TRP Ratings

I was watching a cricket talk show on NDTV and there was a short segment about the TRP Ratings of the World Cup. Obviously a comparison was made with IPL 2010.

The stats provided are as follows

Top Ratings

India Vs Sri Lanka (2007 World Cup) - 12.06

India Vs England (2011 World Cup)    - 10.97

IPL Finals 2010                                   - 12.97

Tournament Average

2011 World Cup (so far)                   - 2.48

Non India Matches                            - 1.21

IPL 2010                                           - 4.7

It is pretty obvious to make out what media was trying to project.

Is it fair to compare IPL with ODI Cricket of World Cup?
If something warranted this comparison, it is only fair to take the global viewership into account. After all you cannot leave the “World out of the World Cup”.

Again, what are the chances of IPL to have same ratings if the IPL matches started at 9.30 am or 2.30 pm on weekdays?

The above question is good enough to lock the lips of those who doubt the survival of the format.

Bottom line: If India qualifies for the finals, that IPL 2010 Finals record will be shattered to pieces.

Dinesh
Cricket Lover

India’s loss to South Africa in the World Cup preliminary game

One may say it is just a game and someone has to win and someone has to lose. Why such a fuss! Agreed! I personally believe that there is a lot of fuss being made over the 45 preliminary games when in all probability the Top 8 teams will qualify for the Quarter Finals and once they reach the Quarters, none of the earlier results will matter.

Still, as someone who lost a significant portion of sleep over this game and as an avid cricket fan, I would like to analyse the game and present my views. Back to the original question - Why did India lose the game?

In my opinion, there are two possible reasons – one sinister and one cricketing! For the sake of this article I am going to assume that there is no match fixing or spot fixing during this World Cup and even if they did occur, they did not influence this game.

India got off to a flyer and was 120 odd for no loss at the end of 15 overs. My spontaneous reaction was India should take up the batting Power-Play immediately. This would have put the South Africans on the back foot and gotten us to say 160-170 in 20 overs just batting the way we were and effectively bat South Africa out of the game. I wasn’t expecting anyone to agree with me and was pleasantly surprised when Ravi Shastri echoed my views a couple of minutes later (I have witnesses to this)

India allowed South Africa to get back in the game with their spinners between the 16th and the 25th overs. But then Tendulkar and Gambhir played a massive role in almost taking the game away from South Africa by taking the score to 260 odd for 1 in 39 overs. Dhoni took the Batting Power-Play at this stage as expected. He then sent Yusuf Pathan ostensibly to up the ante. Once Yusuf got out, Dhoni did not back off and sent Yuvraj for possibly the same reason. Once India lost 4 wickets in succession, one would have expected Dhoni as the captain would take control of the situation. But as usual Dhoni pottered around at the crease scoring a strike rate of 50 and let everyone take a shot at scoring quickly and the rest as they say is history.

I for one went to bed at this stage (It was midnight my time) and did not follow the Indian bowling closely. But there are certain indisputable facts and questions to be asked? Nehra was playing a game after being out for injury. Why was Nehra given the ball for the last over? India’s most successful bowler of the day, Harbhajan Singh did not complete his quota of 10 overs. Why? Why was Harbhajan not given the last over? Why was Tendulkar or not given the last over? If anyone has forgotten, Tendulkar has helped India win in similar circumstances? Why is Sehwag never given a bowl these days? Who is the one person responsible for all these decisions?

It is easy to say that India lost because the middle order collapsed or maybe because Nehra bowled badly. That in my opinion is a cop out. In my opinion, based on the above facts, there is one individual who had control of the things that went wrong for India and who made wrong decisions at critical junctures of the game. Hence I believe that the reason for India’s loss is the poor captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. I rest my case.

Sai Mahesh
Sydney, Australia

India Vs South Africa, Defeat is a painful pill to swallow!!!

Defeat is a tough pill to swallow. Especially when it comes from the Indian Cricket Team. After all Cricket is THE SPORT in which many countries fear India.

We get enormous joy when our team snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The other way round is always asking for post mortem.

Today is one such day where the Indian performance demanded post mortem.

What went right?
Winning the toss. Decision to bat first. 267/1 at 38 overs. They all went right.

Fairy Tale End?
Power play from 38 to 43 overs should have yielded anywhere between 50-60 runs at the loss of 1 or 2 wickets. Yousuf Pathan coming to bat with 12 overs to spare should have done the same damage as that of Pollard's bash against the Irish. India should have finished at 375 instead of realistic 340.

What happened?
India was all out for 296 with almost 2 overs to spare. Only 29 runs scored in the last 10 overs at the cost of 8 wickets.

I'm sure this would be the debacle of the year. But these collapses are bound to happen in the game of cricket. But, this was surely an avoidable one.

There is something called law of averages in cricket. A team can score only so much. The bulk of the scoring can happen at the top, middle or end. Doing it right thru the innings usually occurs only with minnows. If that happens against the giants, it will be considered Hall of Fame.

Much as usual, this did not fall into the Hall of Fame. India missed out the last 10 overs. However India did good to score 296 against one of the best bowling attack. You can check the stats. Is there a team that scored 300 runs against SA in this World Cup?

A weak Indian bowling attack justified the total by defending it successfully till the 49th over. The score did not meet the expectation of many because of the impact created by the top order batsman.

So, what went wrong?
Definitely not the catches dropped by Yuvraj & Gambir. Not the run out opportunities missed by Zaheer/Raina. Not the LBW decision that did not go in India's favor due to the 2.5 meter rule.

If any of the above had gone in India's favor, it must have eased the situation. But not guaranteed a victory.

Then where did it actually go wrong?
The decision to bowl Nehra the last over is the one that clearly costed the game. The reasoning's are pretty straight. Nehra did not bowl any time in the slog overs. He was avoided in the batting powerplay too. Suddenly asking him to bowl the last over when only 14 runs required did not make any sense. How can the least preferred bowler get the right to bowl the most crucial over of the match? The logic defies.

At the same time, if there was one man who deserved the most to bowl the last over, it was none other than Harbhajan Singh. When seamers were struggling to bowl during the batting powerplay, it was Bhajji who applied breaks on the run rate and broke the partnership. Every time when the opposition looked to run away with the game, Bhajji chipped in with a wicket for India.

It is only fair if India won or lost the game at the hands of Harbhajan Singh.

Bottom line: Sometimes stats takes precedence over hunch. Mr. Cool should realise it.

PS: Defeat is a tough pill to swallow. Similarly, a victory can heal any wound.

Dinesh
Cricket Lover

What we also like to see...

There were times, when we used to have the camera on one end only. Since the game used to be lot slower, the TV audience also had to be lucky to catch the action of their favorite batsman playing a exquisite cover drive or their beloved bowler delivering a classical out swinger from the front facing view.

Clock moved. We started having camera at both ends. However, the viewers were still irritated when the batsman played a stroke on the onside while the camera searched the ball on the offside. The worst nightmare used to be when the fielder took a superlative catch while the camera completely missed the action. Million thanks to those commentators who gave life to the otherwise lost action.

As years rolled by, came in one of the best innovations of the game. You got it right. Day-Night Match, Colored Clothing,White Balls started occupying the ODI format. This eased the pain of the viewers. Infact it was lot easier for the cameraman to follow the trajectory of the white ball compared to the red ones.

Come this World Cup 2011, we are watching the game in High Definition with 27 different cameras. Today we are talking about terms like Stump Vision, Hawk Eye, Field Map, Hotspot, Snick-O-Meter, Motion Camera and many more to be a basic necessity to any coverage. Big thanks to the growth of technology in the past 3 decades. The audience knowledge of the game has also advanced leaps and bounds in all these years.

As an audience and cricket lover, is there something more that we could see today?

In my opinion, without a doubt, Yes. Today the Field Map is being shown to the audience only when the commentators want to talk about a particular field setup. However, it will be wise if the field map is shown to the audience at the commencement of every over, if not displayed at the corner of the screen at all times. The map should also indicate the field changes the captain make. It will be interesting if the map could be compared to that of other captains for the similar type of bowler or batsman or conditions. This should hone the knowledge of the audience and also educate the budding cricketers of the future.

Bottom Line: What we can also see could be an institution for many.

Dinesh

Cricket Lover

How to Win a Game?

It is an interesting question. It depends on who you are to answer this question.

If you are weaker side, the answer is straight. All you are expected to do is to put up a fight against your opposition. If you are able to put up a brave show, then you are the winner despite your defeat. Netherland has done it twice already in this tournament to the likes of England and India.

However if you can go on to win a game against one of those strong opposition, then you sweep billions of hearts. You give hopes to the nation. You will be the source of inspiration for many. You make the governing body to take a good look at your infrastructure. If you get little encouragement and support from the public and government, you march on to become a force to reckon in the future. India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan are classic examples. They all started minnows at some point.

If you are mediocre side, you are expected to win more games every year.  Everybody is interested to see your growth and not the survival. It does not matter how you win the game? It only matters how many can you?  An odd series victory during the course of time against a quality side can turn your fate.

If you are the best, I’m sorry to say that you are actually at the wrong spot. May be you get to enjoy the big perks, highest honors, comparison with greatest, but all of this comes with a huge price tag. You are expected to win every game. You are supposed to crucify your opposition, particularly minnows. Even your victories are subjected to criticism. You should always be on the lookout on what is happening to others, more than what is happening to you.

Finally, you should not be India. Especially when thousands of fans like us stand the whole night outside the stadium for the sake of a ticket to watch your performance (only to get stampede or latthicharged by police) you get absolutely no mercy for putting anything short of brilliant performance.

Now all is said, here I dig the India Vs Netherland game to dig you heart.

Are you upset because…

Ø  The Team did not play the game seriously (in other words complacent)?

Ø  The Team experimented?

Ø  The Team selection was not fair in your opinion?

Ø  The Team did not play to the game plan in your mind?

Ø  The Team played with a sense of arrogance?

Ø  And many more…?

As a fan, you have every right to be upset. I’ve justified the reasons already. However I request you to back your country despite your upsets.

If Dhoni thinks, with little persistence and encouragement Chawla can cause the same damage as that of Tahir or Afridi, it could be worth a gamble. After all, Chawla might peak at the right time just before the knockout.

If Dhoni believes Yousuf Pathan should bat more to have some batting practice ahead of the big games, it definitely carries merit to the thought process.

If India believes playing with 7 batsmen is the road to success, I’m sure that faith has a strong foundation.

I randomly chose to answer few questions, which could be entirely unacceptable from your point of view.

After all, Team India cannot play to the plans of the millions of followers. However, Team India can meet the single large expectation of the millions of followers. The Cup of Glory!!!  To do so, they need more encouragement and support from public and media.

Finally, when any strong side apart from our home team, makes any team a competitive opposition, we like it. I clearly mean England’s fighting performance against the likes of Netherlands and Irelands. We enjoyed those games, simply because we were thoroughly entertained.

Why don’t we hold the same thought for our home country too? After all, as a cricket lover we needed fun. Also, at the end of the day we want our team to win. When both happen, do we still have to care how to win the game?

Dinesh

Cricket Lover

THE WORLD CUP THUS FAR..

A month ahead of the world cup, there were multiple favorites to win it all. India, with its thundering batting lineup led by Sehwag at the top headed the list. A close second was South Africa, badly wanting to lose the chokers tag. Not far behind were England, fresh from their Ashes triumph, and the Aussies determined to make up for the Ashes humiliation. The always South Asian dark horses Pakistan and Sri Lanka were lurking around the corner. This set the tone for the WC to be a cracker of a tournament. Then the warm-up games prior to the start of the regular games, vaulted India above all others, thanks to their impressive victories over the Down Under rivals, the Aussies and the Kiwis. So ahead of the WC, there was India and the rest of the field.

The world cup regular games began on February 19^th and India continued its sparkling form, smacking 370 against the co-hosts, Bangladesh, though the latter did bat well chasing this huge score. An 87 run victory basically helped India stamp their supremacy and most importantly wipe some bad memories of their devastating loss (and eventual exit) against the same opponent in the 2007 edition of the tournament. The next few games that followed delivered predictable results with the minnows always losing to the test playing nations, though the Dutch did give the English a scare. It was not before match 7 did a game between equals (on hindsight maybe I should say, not so equals after all) happen. But the Proteas here were too good against the Caribbeans and strolled to an easy victory. As the matches became more and more dull and banal, all were preparing for the predictable 8 to reach the quarter finals. Then one match caught the eye of the world, when England produced a remarkable chase to almost beat the Indians in their own territory – trying to back their big words which they let out after winning the Ashes. The nerve wracking rare tie game provided a much needed shot in the arm to the tournament and left both the team fans arguably happy with the verdict. After all, it was a stellar display of overall cricket and astute captaincy where both captains capitalized on the small window of opportunity provided to them to bring their respective teams back into the game. The excitement generated by this game was dampened a little by the next 3 games. A couple of them finished even before they started. Then came the upset of the tournament or maybe the upset for ages to come. The Irish team celebrated St. Patrick’s Day early by shocking England in a thrilling chase. They pulled off what England couldn’t against India. Kevin O’Brien became an overnight hero after the blitzkrieg, knocking down the fastest century in the WC. With England reeling after the loss, it seemed like the initial lofty expectations were shattered and the reigning T20 champions were brought down to earth. This talented yet underperforming team, dying to satisfy the nation’s craving for sporting success, seemed to be still in a state of shock as they faltered their way to score 171 in their next game against SA. But the Proteas, being the chokers that they are, seemed to oblige to the English fans’ desperate prayer for a miracle and lost the game narrowly. Following this performance, England now seals itself as the team to watch because it is really going to be a nail biting experience for all English fans, no matter whom their team plays. Now the South Africans look towards the clash with India next Saturday as an all important one. Well, at least now they should not be short of any motivation to win that game. In between a new drama unfolded as the Tigers, playing under high expectations from their home fans (as expected), were a sitting duck against a suddenly charged up Caribbean team, and succumbed to their lowest total of 58. As expected violent scenes erupted, buses were stoned, glasses broken, prompting WI captain Chris Gayle to tweat if they should be expecting bullets next. But the ICC desperately wanting to showcase the venues as a safe haven, delivered a PR googly claiming that this was caused by a few pebble throwing individuals!!

As non-cricketing incidents seemed to grab headlines, Pakistan which was quietly cruising along in group A with 3 victories, suddenly were clobbered by Ross Taylor on his birthday and went on to lose the game badly. Suddenly a rejuvenated Kiwi team sits atop the table in group A. Sri Lanka and Australia are right there in the mix. The minnows did shine, but as expected it was only for a brief period. In group B, though India are sitting in the top, an enigmatic England, a desperate South African team and an erratic Caribbean squad is close on their heels.

Granted a lot more matches are to be played, but this World Cup is living up to the initial hype and analysis of being the most open World Cup since its inception in 1975.

Arvind