Sachin holds the key : Sandhu

When the Men in Blue go to play, there are no Keralites, no Tamilians, no
Bengalis, no Biharis ! In a land of diverse languages, diverse religions and
diverse cultures, Cricket is a great national integrator !

All India will be united and hoping that their team will emulate the team of
the 1983 World Cup. The present team is more potent than the team of 1983 !
The 1983 squad consisted of bits and pieces men like Roger Binny, Kirthi
Azad, Madan Lal, M Amarnath. Nobody gave them any chance and there were
apprehensions that they may not even see the semi finals. But they won
against odds 100-1 ! The present team has many matchwinners and Sachin is
their best bet, feels Balvidner Singh Sandhu, one of the players of the
1983 victorious team.

"In our days we (bowlers) had to think on our feet, be good observers. We
had to study the rival batsmen by watching other matches where they played
and form a strategy. Now this is done by the support staff with the help of
the video analysis and the players have to implement the strategy. Talent
wise today's team is way ahead. For example, in terms of ODI experience, a
player like Sachin Tendulkar has alone played more matches than all of our
team members put together."

Remember Sachin's 200 no, the highest ever recorded in one day
internationals, against mighty SA last year. Sachin will be crucial to
India's success and Dhoni's men are far superior to the Kapil's Devils, who
created history ! Apart from Tendulkar, the Indian team has plenty of match
winners in Yuvraj, Pathan, Sehwag and Dhoni, feels Sandhu.

Considering that this will be Sachin's last WC, we can expect fireworks from
the Master Blaster. He is known to prepare well, give more than 100 per cent
and his work ethics are simply magnificent. "Others will get inspired by his
presence," Sandhu told PTI. "The guy (Tendulkar) will not allow the team to
be complacent, like Sunil Gavaskar did in 1983. There are also brilliant
players like Yuvraj, Yusuf and Dhoni who can bring the team back from a
losing position"

"Teams should be smart in using the batting powerplays which can make a big
impact. If there are too many spinners in the side when the powerplay is
taken, the team will be in trouble. I expect India to field three seam
bowlers along with Harbhajan Singh as the lone spinner with the remaining 10
overs shared among floaters like Yuvi and Raina," he said.

Sandhu feels that Australie will be the dark horse of the tournament. Look
what they did to England in the ODIs. They took revenge on the Ashes loss.
Shane Watson towered with a grand 162 no in one ODI. He can be a formidable
competitor. Aussies are well versed in Indian conditions, as most of their
players play in IPL and they can get tips from coaches in the IPL, who are
mostly Australians. Sandhu is of the opinion that India, England, Australia,
SA or Sri Lanka will enter the semi finals. He said he is not backing
Pakistan, as they do not seem to have a good captain.

Sandhu says India in 1983 got a morale boosting win at Berbice in Guyana
before the World Cup. Those who went to the West Indies (a few months before
the Cup in England) were confident we could beat the West Indies if we
played well. We were not overawed by that team.

The Berbice victory was a major confidence booster," Sandhu reminiscenced.

"We knew the West Indies panicked if they lost quick wickets. My job during
the Cup was to get an early wicket or two and, if I remember correctly, we
won all the games in which I took an early wicket," said the bowler, who
represented India in 22 ODIs and 8 Tests.

Sandhu is remembered for a magnificent in dipper he bowled to G Greenidige,
which bowled the West Indian, in the final at Lord on June 25, 1983, when
the score was 5.

Greenidge shouldered arms to the in dipper from Sandhu and was bowled neck
and crop to start a slide that ended with India shocking the West Indies by
43 runs in a low-scoring summit clash.

"Everyone talks about that ball but to me that is not the best ball I have
bowled in international cricket. That, I feel, was the ball with which I
bowled Haroon Rashid of Pakistan in a Test match. The out swinger pitched
leg and middle and took the off stump. That is a more difficult ball to
bowl," Sandhu said.

Recollecting from his vast memory, Sandhu said Kapil Dev's masterly 175 not
out, which pulled India from a tottering 17 for five in a do-or-die league
clash against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells, changed the fortunes of the team.

"Kapil's 175 not out was the turning point. After we won that game we knew
we could do it. The victory over the West Indies in the opening game was
also a big morale booster. We also won all our practice games barring one
against Sri Lanka which also gave us lot of confidence in the run-up to the
tournament."

"We knew if we played to our potential we can win. Sunil (Gavaskar), Yashpal
(Sharma) and Mohinder (Amarnath) were there to steady the innings while the
other strokemakers were there to play their shots," said India's master
cutter bowler.