Last Team Standing!

India had never gone passed the semi-finals of a World Cup when played in the sub-continent. No country to have hosted the World Cup had ever managed to lay their hands on the coveted trophy. No country had managed to beat Australia in a World Cup knock-out game since 1999. No team had chased more than 250 runs in a World Cup final. But Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men chose to rewrite history rather than quote it.

Chasing 275 under lights at the Wankhede is tough. And chasing it when the two most prolific batsman of the Fabulous 7 of the Indian batting lineup are back in the pavilion is even more arduous. Sehwag was out in the first over and then soon Sachin got out leaving India reeling at 31-2. But Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli steadied the ship, and once Kohli was out, to everyone’s surprise Dhoni promoted himself up the order and played the innings of his lifetime along with Gambhir.

Gautam Gambhir was just the anchor India would have wanted in that situation, first with an 83 run stand with Virat Kohli and then with a 109 run stand with MS Dhoni. It was a magnificent knock under pressure; holding on to one end and at the same time making sure India was always up there with the required run rate. MS Dhoni had been anything but convincing in the entire tournament, but Cometh the hour, Cometh the man! He promoted himself ahead of Yuvraj Singh who had won 4 man of the match awards and kept the left-hand right-hand combination going. Gambhir and Dhoni knew what the likes of Malinga and Muralidharan could do, but if there was a ball to be hit, they made sure that they treated it with utter disdain! Gambhir eventually got out on 97, playing a knock that deserved a World Cup final 100.


In the semi-finals against Pakistan, Dhoni chose to play the struggling Ashish Nehra ahead of R.Ashwin who had a fantastic game against Australia in the quarter-finals. In the finals as Ashish Nehra was injured, he chose to play Sreesanth ahead of R.Ashwin. This probably was a really good move, since although Sreesanth struggled, Ashwin could have struggled as well had India been bowling second, since the likes of Muralidharan and Suraj Randiv found it difficult to grip the ball with the dew setting in. One will now surely admit that Dhoni is well and truly the master of his own destiny.

For Sri Lanka, Mahela Jayawardene played an incredible knock of 103 not out to guide Sri Lanka to 274 which on any other day, in a high voltage pressure World Cup final would have been a winning score. He started off cautiously but then cut loose, even Zaheer Khan, the joint highest wicket taker of the tournament taking a beating. Muralidharan was playing in his last match and had announced his retired before the tournament had begun and how he would have loved to end the tournament on a high. But unfortunately he was not at his usual best and could not stop India from galloping to finish line.


The whole nation had waited for this moment for 28 long years. Sachin Tendulkar had been chasing his dream to win a World Cup for India for 21 years. As MS Dhoni hit Kulasekara out of the park for a six to seal it for India, the whole nation that had held its breath till then got one of the best moments of their lifetime. Tears in the eyes of Sachin said it all and neither could Yuvraj Singh or Harbhajan Singh control their emotions. The moment had finally arrived. India had won the World Cup! The young guns carried Sachin on their shoulders for a victory lap. It meant the world to each and every one of them and the same for each and every Indian in any part of the globe.


Behind all this is one of the most low profile coaches that Team India has ever seen: Gary Kirsten. He along with Dhoni that started the process 3 years back, and made sure that their ultimate dream came true. Kirsten had put in his papers and had announced that he had family commitments and hence would not be continuing as the coach after the World Cup. He indeed has left the team on a high. And like Sachin, even he was carried on the shoulders by the young brigade. To be a South African and to be carried on your shoulders in India is indeed a mark of respect for the man who behind the scenes has given it all for Team India, first taking them to the pinnacle of Test Match with the Number 1 ranking, and now with the world cup glory. Almost all the Indian players have gone on record to say how he has been instrumental in their careers, Sachin Tendulkar in fact wanting him to continue as the coach. There can be no greater mark of respect when Sachin says it!

India had played all the Test playing nations except New Zealand in the tournament, but had beaten then too in the warm up match. Yuvraj Singh was clinical in all his performances and went on to get the man of the tournament. India went on to be the Number 1 side in ODI’s. Team India dedicated the win to Sachin Tendulkar. 2nd April 2011 will truly be the day that no Indian can ever forget. Every wish was answered; every prayer was heard, as Team India touched new heights at the Wankhede. It’s now time for celebrations, time to savor the well deserved victory.

'THE GAME' has finally arrived!

The most talked about game is here. Before the start of the World Cup, the question doing the rounds was whether India and Pakistan will get a chance to have a go at each other since these two teams were in differnt groups. As things stand, they do and that too in the semi-finals. Once India beat Australia at Motera, every other match that was going to be played was forgotten. The talk is now dominated by only and only of the big tussle between the arch-rivals.

The hype surrounding the game has been enormous. Every news channel is coming up with the most minute detail of the games played between these two great cricketing nations, more so of the World Cup’s. This is what the game between these two countries does. Javed Miandad reacting angrily to Kiran More’s appeal for a caught behind in the 1992 World Cup or his last ball six to Chetan Sharma, dismissal of Aamir Sohail in the 1996 World Cup, Sachin Tendulkar smashing a six over third man to Shoaib Akhtar and Virender Sehwag following suit against Waqar Younis in the 2003 World Cup, all of these providing a platform for the super built up for Wednesday’s game.

Looking at the game through the eyes of the two captains’, one can immediately feel the difference. Shahid Afridi is someone who is not scared to show his emotions on the field. Reacting angrily to a bad delivery bowled or a misfield or setting the field with vibrant hand moments. It’s all a part of his captaincy, aggressiveness written all over it. M S Dhoni on the other hand has a calm aura about him. He hardly seems ruffled by the things that go around him always looking to control what he can. If the bowler bowls a bad delivery, leave the bowler alone or give him a few words of encouragement. That’s the attitude he has carried along with him since he took over the captaincy. So we have two captains with exactly opposite behavior in the handling of the teams but with the same desire-to win the match for your country.

Shahid Afridi and his team came into the tournament as mercurial outsiders, while India was the favorite. But as the tournament has gone along, this has reversed! India struggled in the group stages but dazzled against Australia in the quarter-finals. On the flip side, Pakistan came into the tournament with all sorts of controversies with spot fixing doing the rounds and 3 quality players in the form of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir banned. Moreover it was not sure who will be leading the side, whether it would be Afridi or Misbah Ul Haq with the selectors having named the 15 for the World Cup but without a captain. But this Pakistani team has made sure that things of the past should stay in the past, living and playing every moment of the World Cup as if their life depended on it and here they are now, in the semi-finals of the World Cup. The captain himself is leading from the front with 21 wickets in the tournament so far.

The more one looks at these two sides the more one feels that it will be a battle of India’s batting against Pakistan’s bowling. India’s batting is looking in great touch with the top 6 having had a decent outing in the matches so far. Virender Sehwag & Sachin Tendulkar at their murderous best, Gautam Gambhir has looked solid at Number 3, and then followed by the elegant Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli. Pakistan’s bowling looks to be back to good old days with Umar Gul coming into his own and the spinners in the form of Afridi, Ajmal and Haffez having fired in every matched they have played. It’s the bowling that worries India with only Zaheer Khan looking at his best, and the batting that worries Pakistan with only Misbah having shown some form with the bat.

India has always had the better off Pakistan in the World Cup’s and that is some statistic that Team India would want to keep intact. Pakistan on the other hand would like to remind India that they have never gone past a semi-final of a World Cup when played in the sub-continent having lost to England in 1987 and to Sri Lanka in 1996. But then it’s a new day and a new match all together. The world will be watching and the team that is able to keep its nerves better will win the match. Promises to be yet another cracking encounter. And at the end of it all, one thing is for sure. On one side of the border there will be absolute ecstasy, on the other, utter agony!

And then...South Africa happened!

South Africa had made it to the Quarter-finals without having any real serious problems in the group stages. Yes they did stutter against England, but topped the group and played the fourth best team in Group A which was New Zealand. Everyone expected it be a stroll in the park with New Zealand looking not too convincing in the group stage matches .But then the South Africans have been given the tag of ‘chokers’ not for nothing .And at Mirpur on Friday ,they did it again. They choked and choked heavily under pressure. And instead of travelling to Sri Lanka for the semi-finals, they had to travel back home.

Coming into the quarter-finals,both teams had never won a knock out game in the World Cup's and one team had to break that jinx on Friday and it was New Zealand.Unbelievable as it is, any South African team that has played the World Cup has always come into the tournament as one of the major favorites to win it or at least make it to the semi-finals. Apart from the 1992 World Cup, where the rain rule left them to get 22 runs of 1 ball, something or the other has always gone wrong. In 2003 against Sri Lanka at Durban, they messed up with the par score, the Duckworth-Lewis method stating that the team needed to get one run more than the par score to win the match. Mark Boucher was communicated that they needed to get 229 which actually was the par score, and actually to win the match they needed 230. Once they got to 229, Boucher was very much pleased with it, in fact going on the punch the air. But unfortunately, it was only the par score and they were punched out of the tournament.

Any South African team that has played the World Cup since they got back to playing cricket in 1992 has always flattered to deceive. They have always started as being the hot favorites but have never lived up to their billing. Choke is one ‘C’ word that the South Africans won’t like to have in their dictionary, but unfortunately by the looks of it, it could very well be the first word in the dictionary even before the alphabet ‘A’.


On Friday, they could do no wrong till Kallis was at the crease. Things were just perfect, having bowled out New Zealand for a paltry score of 221 and then 108-2 with Kallis at his vintage best. And then he hit a very good shot which had 6 written all over it till it ran into Jacob Oram who probably took the most important catch of his cricketing career and it was a blinder. Kallis was back into the hut and then South Africa happened!! AB DeVillers, easily their best player of the tournament got run out, probably the only possible way that he could have got out, and then Duminy was cleaned up by Nathan McCullum. From 121-3 they went to 132-7 asking too much of Faf Du Plessis .He tried, but it was always going to be too much after that.


Daniel Vettori’s captaincy was something that we don’t get to see often these days. Once Kallis was out , the overs after that were treated like power plays with at least 5 fielders in the ring. The only way New Zealand was going to win this match was if they took 10 wickets. Vettori knew this very well and he kept on attacking with close in fielders staring at the batsman and the bowling was backed up by excellent fielding, Martin Guptill being the best of the lot. Jacob Oram showed why he is so dangerous with the ball ending up with 4 wickets and the most crucial catch of Jacques Kallis to turn the match in the favor or the Kiwis.

No one gave the black caps a chance before the match, but they came out trumps. They now face Sri Lanka at the lion’s den itself at the Premadasa and no one is giving them a chance again! That’s expected. But then the Kiwis are on a roll, they have knocked off one ‘S’ already in the form of South Africa , can they get the better of another ‘S’? . Only time will tell.

The Knockout Punch

Australia came into the quarter-finals with their halo of being unbeaten broken. India came into the quarter-finals with their ego’s battered – not a single win in the group stages of a kind that will please the Indian audience . If Australia came into the match with not too many mistakes in the group stages , it was exactly the opposite for Team India , starting off with England in a match they should have won easily but ended up with honors even and against South Africa where hara-kiri was at its supreme best losing 9 wickets for 29 runs.

But the major difference between the two sides coming into the quarter-finals was the big match exposure. Australia started off with an easy win against the Kiwis who were yet to get into the groove (as I write this , they have pulled off a stunning victory against South Africa) , then against Sri Lanka which was a washout and against Pakistan where the Australian batsman could hardly get the ball off the square when up against a terrific spin trio of Shahid Afridi , Abdur Rehman and Mohammad Hafeez and then Umar Akmal finishing off the match with a splendid innings to end the Aussie 34 match winning spree in the World Cup’s.

India on the other hand had to battle hard, be it against England or against Ireland. They edged, scratched, messed around, were miserable in the fielding department and the bowling only seemed to start and end with Zaheer Khan, but managed to get two points out of four games and one against England. Against South Africa, they deserved to win, but that was till Sachin Tendulkar was at the crease. They had committed all sorts of mistakes that one could have asked for to be corrected before entering the knock out stages. At Motera, all these mistakes were rectified.

Right from the beginning of the tournament, India’s batting has been at its supreme best, but their bowling has never complimented the batting and their fielders have never complimented the bowlers. All in all it even the hardest of optimist would have relented to the fact that if India had to win the quarter finals, the batsman had to do it and somehow hope and pray that the bowlers concede at least one run less than their opposition, meaning which it was always going to be a win the toss and bat first situation. And this did not happen. Ponting won the toss and as expected, opted to bat first.


This is where the bowlers had different ideas. R.Ashwin probably the most talked about person in the country after the World Cup has started over his non inclusion in most of the group matches was in the side and was given the new ball. It only helped that he is Dhoni’s teammate at the Chennai SuperKings and his temperament was something that Dhoni was very well versed with. And indeed he bowled like a king making Watson look like a pauper asking as if can I hit you for few runs. The answer was Watson’s stumps being castled. At the other end it was Zaheer Khan, the second highest wicket taker in the tournament who seems to be in the form of his life. Harbhajan Singh, although not amongst the wickets kept the pressure on the batsman and although Munaf Patel was clobbered around a bit by Brad Haddin, the bowlers always seemed to have in control.

And finally, the magical Yuvraj Singh, who seems to turn things into gold, whatever he touches this World Cup. His spell of 44 runs of 10 overs with 2 wickets was decisive since his first wicket was of Brad Haddin, at a time in the game when the momentum was swinging in the favor of the Aussies and then getting the better off pup: Michal Clarke who was totally beaten by the flight and ended up holing at long on.

Australia ultimately set India a target of 261, probably 20 runs less than what they would have liked thanks to some superb fielding in the outfield by Ashwin, Raina and Yuvraj. A score very much competitive in a big game and which meant the top 5 for India had to fire. Sachin set up the game beautifully for India but was out in a slightly controversial manner, Gambhir batted in a superb manner till he decided that somehow or the other he needed to find a way to get run out, Sehwag had gone early and so was Virat Kohli, but while they lasted had decent partnerships. At the other end though there was a sedate Yuvraj Singh going about doing his job , not getting affected by the things happening around him : Gambhir’s run out or Dhoni’s dismissal. And with 70 odd runs to get in about 11 overs and having Raina as his partner , Yuvraj decided to break loose and in a span of 10 minutes things changed . Pressure was eased as both Yuvraj and Raina slaughtered Bret Lee and Shaun Tait and from there on there was no looking back. Yuvraj exploded and Raina came up with a six of his own to make sure that there were no further hiccups.


The top 5 did play their part and it was the 7th batsman which is another most talked about topic in Indian Cricket came good in the form of Raina. Ashwin was in his elements and got rid of Ricky Ponting who in all probabilities has played his last World Cup game and probably his last as the captain of the Australian ODI team. It’s almost certain that the selectors will now start looking beyond Ponting to lead the side.
Ponting himself came good at a time when nothing seemed to go in his favor this World Cup by hitting a brilliant century and reminding everyone that the scratcher in him still remains. But unfortunately for the two time World Cup winning captain, his century was in a losing cause and ending the era of Australian Supremacy.

There is no road to success without any punctures. India has had its share of punctures in the group stage. It’s now time to step up the gas and hit top gear. And what better when the opposition is Pakistan in a World Cup semi-final. Mouth watering encounter in the offering irrespective of whether you love cricket or not and a Money Flowing encounter for the organizers!!

When the world spoke of the other Kevin

At 111-5 and chasing 328 to win, one would not like to put the money on the batting team. And certainly not if the batting team is Ireland. And definitely not if the opposition is a formidable English side. But then there are people who have different ideas. Kevin O’Brien did.

At the M Chinnaswamy stadium at Bengaluru, Kevin O’ Brien did what otherwise would have been something impossible for the human mind to achieve. He came out to bat there with only one intention, of winning the match. There was no point in pushing and prodding around and getting a nice little half century. What he saw and which no one of us did was what lay in store beyond that. The moment he stepped on to the field to bat, he had decided that he would go for the kill and in the process played an innings that has to go down as one of the greatest ever World Cup knocks.

Kevin certainly did not clobber the English attack. He massacred them. 13 fours and 6 sixes being an evidence of that and going on to get the fastest century ever in a World Cup off 50 balls beating that of Mathew Hayden that had come in 66 balls . The innings was something that the likes of Kevin Pietersen can only dream to play. The best part about his batting was it was a chanceless innings. His sixes were clean, the only way the boundary rider could catch it was if he was in the stands.

It doesn’t get bigger, does it? Kevin’s innings was power reminiscent of Kieron Pollard but with a calmer head and better technique. What he knew very well was as they were getting closer to victory, the only thing the Irish needed was him to stay out there and not give away his wicket. And he managed to do this till the penultimate over and got out in the most appropriate way in the form of a run out. England would not have been able to get him out in any other way.

Partnerships play a vital role in any match and in Cusack, Kevin found an ideal partner who was willing to weather the storm right till the end. The match changing partnership of 162 meanwhile also raised a totally different debate of what total is safe for the team batting first and how and when the powerplay’s should be used . The Irish pair compiled 62 runs in the 5 allotted overs of power play and this breathed life into the Irish innings. And probably life into the 2011World Cup!

England ran India close, and managed to get a point out of it. But against Ireland, they ran into Kevin O’Brien and the rest is history.

Preview:The Big Match:India Vs.England

Was it a blessing in disguise for the people of Kolkata that the India Vs. England’s match got shifted to Bangalore? People queuing up for tickets were lathi-charged. There was chaos. But all for the love of the game.The India England encounter was always going to be a huge match in this World Cup and the hype surrounding it has been enormous. For this the common man will still be ready to take a few blows if that means a ticket to today’s encounter between the two heavyweights.

Today’s match immediately brings back the memories of the 1987 semifinal that India lost to England and 2003 where the Nehra inspired Indian team raced to a victory. But today is a new day. The team that holds its nerves should come out trumps. Andrew Strauss at a press conference yesterday has made it clear that the pressure is on India. And it indeed is. There are millions watching and a loss against an English side will certainly not be acceptable.

The conditions in Bangalore are a bit damp. There has been some rain there and this raises a question whether India plays with two spinners or three seamers. With Nehra fit to play today’s game he is a certainty if India are to play three seamers meaning which Sree ‘maniac’ Sreesanth sits out . If not, Piyush Chawla comes in as the second spinner . Any which ways Sree has to sit out. The question Dhoni has to answer is whether to play to your strengths which is spin or play to the conditions. Better would be playing to your strength, and with the English having a history of struggling against spin and with the home crowd it has to work.

The big match also has its share of the battle within a battle. Stuart Broad won’t forget for his lifetime what Yuvraj did to him at the inaugural T20 World Cup by hitting him for six sixes in an over. Time to make amends Mr. Broad? And then of course Yuvraj with his dibbly-dobbly left arm spin would be looking to get the better of Kevin Peterson who again should be opening the batting today . Then there is a certain Mr.Sehwag who is a wounded tiger , after being hurt in the ribs by a local bowler . Good for India I say, bad for England!!And what’s more, he has vowed to play 50 overs!!

Strauss has been in good form and for India it’s very important to get him out cheaply and likewise, England have to get Sehwag out cheaply. No one likes the toss to be an important factor in such games , but whoever bats / bowls first , it’s up to these openers to negotiate these first few overs where in the ball might swing , and then it’s a batsman’s game. Tendulkar will be hungry for runs after having missed out against Bangladesh and England will know that very well. Also another thing England would do well to keep in mind is that Dhoni might just give the new ball to Harbhajan Singh to tackle Kevin Peterson.
And at the same time India will have to keep in mind the English pace attack who on its day can destroy the opponents single handedly. It’s GAME ON…

Beyond the Greens

‘Bounce them out’, that is what we used to hear from an Australian or a South African captain or for that matter from a Kiwi captain. Once the Indian team was on tours and by on tours I mean outside the sub-continent , down under and on the safari to Africa, the stage was set. Stage not for a great series to look forward to, but the stage for the opposition to hit India where it hurt most. A Test Series loss and that too a guaranteed one. And as time went by, as more tours went by, the very fact was accepted. We cannot win a Test Series in Australia and South Africa. Have pitches, with lots of grass and that’s it. The grass itself was timorous enough for us and before the toss itself; it was Game Set and Match for the opposition.


But then as we have in our stories. That was ‘Once upon a time’. Not anymore. First it was the bowlers who responded. At Perth, Ishant Sharma had Ricky Ponting on the mat for a good half an hour before the Aussie captain finally gave in-edging one to the slips. That led to the crumble and India going on to win the Test match at Perth, considered to be the fastest track in the world. Then we had Sreesanth’s spell at Johannesburg where his five wicket haul paved the way for India’s first victory on South African soil. His release has always been immaculate and that was something that the experts of the game sat up and took notice of, his cult always on the rise since then. And the most recent win in Durban considered being the bounciest track in the world. India missed Zaheer in the first test and the result was to be seen, beaten black and blue. But once he was back in the side, like a magic wand, he spread his charm to Ishant & Sreesanth who also responded with dream spells. Along with Bhajji and a VVS special, the mother of all battles as it was quoted in the media lived up to its expectations with India winning the Test and the series going into the decider at Cape Town with both teams at 1-1.
And during this entire stretch from Perth to Durban we always have had Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman to back up the good work by the bowlers. And of course Virender Sehwag, who has literally demolished the opposition single handedly on many a occasions.


As you read, we are into the 4th day of the Test match at Newlands with India having taken a slender two run lead courtesy the little master Sachin Tendulkar having gone on to score his 51st century and a good steady innings by Gautam Gambhir and a fantastic counter attacking knock by Harbhajan Singh. There was a time when a 300+ score by the opposition would be considered good enough and sometimes even enough for an innings win. But now foreign teams are uncertain what pitch to offer the Indians-green and seeming or flat and hard-because it’s now a double edged sword.

The Indian team would have arrived in South Africa with the mindset that every toss here would be a bowl first decision. And I am sure that some members would have come there thinking that they will be batting first in all the Test’s considering Dhoni’s recent run of luck or no luck as I would say with the toss. But then we have the ‘Law of Averages’ and Dhoni did win the toss at Newlands and put South Africa to bat , and what we had was another excellent bowling performance to keep South Africa to 360 odd runs although it is still somewhere around a 100 more than what Dhoni would have liked after winning the toss. Credit undoubtedly goes to Jacques Kallis who played yet another stunner to get South Africa there.

The Indian bowlers have complimented the Indian batsmen very well over the past few years and that’s the very reason why Dhoni’s final frontier as is said by the media which is South Africa looks very much a reality. Winning a Test series in South Africa is never easy and will never be, especially when the opposition has top quality fast bowlers in Dale Steyn and Morkel and that too in absolute hostile conditions for the batsmen. But the batsmen have very much stood up to the task and in a way confronted their own demons. As a result, the series has lived up to the expectations, and what we have on our platter is 2 days of pure, on the edge stuff coming up. This Test promises to be another humdinger as by the looks of it, we will know the winner not before the 5th day. Hope India pulls off this Test match and goes beyond the greens and conquers it in its truest sense.