The cause of Pak loss was atrocious fielding : Imran

Imran said the terrible fielding had cost Pak dear. He was commenting on the great chance thrown away by Pakistan.

260 was the target set by Aus and India overcame it. Similarly, with sound, sensible batting, Pak could have overcome it. But unfortunately, Pak choked and wilted under a WC SF pressure !

No team which dropped Sachin four times deserved to win. Sachin became the Man of the Match, top scoring with 85 and paving the way for an Indian victory !

"No team deserves to win the way Pakistan fielded," Imran said. "You cannot drop a player like Sachin four times. And don't forget the ground fielding,"

All the 22 players out there in the middle felt the pressure, said Imran.

"This was the ultimate pressure game. The Indian batting felt the pressure, except for (Virender) Sehwag, and at the end Suresh Raina. Apart from that, everybody felt the pressure.

"Pakistan bowlers, except the two -- Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal and, I think, Mohammad Hafeez too, felt the pressure.

The others, especially Umar Gul (wilted under pressure)," Imran said.

Pak faltered under immense pressure and the problem was more psychological than physiological. Despite a good start by Kamran and Hafeez, Pak could not make a match out of it, due to high pressure. High pressure makes players choke, like SA, and Pak did just that.

"The batting, after that brilliant start, just could not handle the pressure. With the fall of each wicket, Pakistan began to crumble, and halfway through, we knew the game was over."

Highlighting the importance of fielding in such high pressure situations, Imran said, "If you are anyway bad and under pressure, you will wilt completely."

Wasim Akram, former Pak skipper, felt Pak stood 70% chance to overcome India's 260. "After seeing the score, I was giving 70 per cent chances to Pakistan. It was all psychological but we know Pakistan's track record. They struggle to chase. And they were suddenly losing wickets and the ball was stopping. Younis Khan was not making runs and, as our main batsman, he did not score well in this World Cup."

Cricket turning into a mind game ?

My son, Sreejith Govind, writes this from Gujarat.

"Yes, this world cup has generated passion. But has not seen enough of quality cricket.

Where is the tear-away fast bowler? Steyn, Lee, Tait & Roach were humbled.
Zaheer, Gul and Southee have stood out, as they have tried to bowl within the stumps.
The fast bowler is now an endangered breed.

Another trend is the effective slingy action of Malinga and Wahab Riaz.
Batsmen are tentative against balls released from above the off-stump.
Maybe, this is why Munaf is effective.

Wickets have not fallen to authentic spin.

Harbhajan's wickets have all been off loose deliveries (save Akmal's wicket)
Vettori was taken to the cleaners. So were Graeme Swann & Piyush Chawla.

Cricket is losing its purity.

But on the other hand, it is developing more into a mind game.
Zaheer, Afridi, Southee, Yuvraj & others have all been deceptive."

The most exciting World Cup ever !

Undoubtedly, this is the best and thrilling WC ever !

Thrilling matches, great upsets, great batting performances, bowling performances and great catches catapult this WC as the greatest ever !

Now the whole cricketing world is now going to witness the mother of all battles at Mohali at 0230 PM sharp today !

Yesterday's Mohali SF was a super thrilling match. The fate of the match was decided in the 100th over. Fortunes fluctuated in a high pressure game. Ever since Umal Gul was hit for a four by Sehwag in the third ball of the first over , till Misbah's dismissal in the 100th over, it was a game of dire vicissitudes. It was Advantage India when Sehwag hit Gul for five fours in one over and then it was Advantage Pakistan, when Wahab Riaz ripped through the batting order. When it comes to a Pak India duel, it will always be fiercely fought, as both are more or less equal, powerful teams. It was rightly defined as the Mother of all battles. Then when Raina snatched the initiative from Pak, it was Advantage India ! 260 was not a bad score on that pitch. Gavaskar opined that chasing 260 is difficult under the lights, given Pak's ability to chase. They are chokers, as they have not handled WC pressure so far ( They have lost all 5 WC matches to India ). Again, when Pak were 100/2, it was Advantage Pak, as they neeed only 161 to win, with 8 wickets in hand. Then the pendulum swung, as Yuvraj clean bowled Shefiq and got rid of the dangerous Younus Khan. Still Pak had Afridi, Razzak and Umar Akmal and no expert could write them off. Umar showed glimpses of his genius by lofting Yuvraj for two sixes. Then Bajji clean bowled Umar Akmal and Munaf clean bolwled Razzak. Again Misbah was playing a solid innings and when Afridi joined him, the match was balanced as Afridi is a game changer. Then Bajji induced Afridi to loft one into the hands of Sehwag and then it was Advantage India. Misbah started hitting, but then it was too late. Angry Pak fans blamed Misbah for the malady and in the 100th over, the fate of the game was decided and Ind triumphed by 29 runs !

India's match against Aus was also a thriller and one of the greatest games ever. At 187/5, it was Advantage Australia, when an out of form Raina came to partner Yuvraj. Then they took the score to 261/5, in an unbroken 74 run partnership. India's match against Eng was a thriller, a tie, whose fate was decided at the 600th ball !

Thrillers and upsets generate great interest. The ICC had saved the 50 over format ! Now it is the turn of the ICC to redeem Test Cricket. Since T20 is here to stay as IPL and other matches and since ODI has been redeemed, it is our aim to redeem Test cricket ! This Game of Grand Vicissitudes should be more popular !

Providence, Jupiter in the 9th saves India !

Providence ( Jupiter in the House of Fortune ) saved India yet again. Master Batsman Sachin Tendulkar got Man of the Match Award for his blistering 85, but then he had as many as six lives.

Four Paki fielders let him off, Misbah, Y Khan, Afridi and Akmal. He survived two close calls for lbw and stumping. Today was his day.

Let us see the astrological factors.

Yesterday was Dhanishta, his kshema tara or 4th star or Lucky Star. But Dhanishta, which ruled for 57 Nadis ( 23.5 hours ) or right throughout the day was not so good for India or Dhoni. For Dhoni, it was his vipat tara, or adverse star. Hence the nervousness of the Indian spectators and viewers !

For Sehwag, this was his sampat tara or favourable star. Even though he scored only 38, he hit the premier Pak bowler, Umar Gul, for five fours in one over. He hit Gul off his length !

When we analysed, we knew that some factors were adverse and we did remedial measures to overcome those adverse factors. We knew that the Transit positions of Jove and Saturn are benign and so ultimately India will triumph. ( As for me, I fasted in the afternoon, as I badly needed an Indian triumph. I indulged in prayers and meditation right throughout the day and relief came from tension at 1000 PM ).

For Pak, the transits of Jupiter and Saturn are not so benign. Jupiter in the Tenth is Dasame Darika Vadham or adverse for their Ego. Saturn in the 4th is also disconcerting and affected their batting performance in this WC. Not even one Paki batsman had scored a century and they were reckoned formidable because of their excellent bowling !

On 25th, Mars moved over to Pisces, ending some bad luck for India. After then Indian bowling became efficient and fielding improved. Indian fans were afraid that bowlers and fielders might put Sachin & Co down ! But in the QF and SF, Indian bowling and fielding rose to the occasion. The mighty Australians were restricted to 260 in QF and in SF, Pak were bowled out for 231 !

India beat Pak, enter final !

Sehwag hit the third ball of the first over of Gul for four! Normally he hits the first ball for four but this he chose the third ball ! India are 4/0.

Sehwag hits Gul for five fours and Pak wilt under Sehwag's onslaught ! 21 runs off Gul's second over.

Sehwag is trapped lbw by Riaz for 38 and India lose their first wicket at 48!

Sachin survives two close calls, one an lbw. He was ruled out by the umpire and then the UDRS ruled him not out. The next ball was a stumping decision, but his foot was well grounded. One billion people had their hearts in their mouths !

Misbah drops Sachin off Afridi and here Sachin is leading a charmed life !

Now India cross 100 runs and are now 101/1.

Sachin is on 39 not out and he now has a tally of 418 runs, being second only to Dilshan ( 467). He overtook Sanga ( 417 ).

Sachin was a bit tentative against Ajmal, but then he hit him for 2 fours in the last over. Afridi was slightly troubling him, but then he lofted Afridi for four. He is now on 43 not out off 55 balls, a sedate knock!

Sachin was dropped four times. Y Khan dropped him again and Akmal also dropped him. He survived two close calls !

Suresh Raina was 36 not out and India scored a respectable 260. Just the total Australia made.

Wahab rips through the Indian batting order

Wahab, at good pace, bowled superbly throughout and claimed five Indian wickets. His fast yorker, which got rid of Yuvraj, was a beauty. Another Wasim Akram in the making ?

This is a challenging total in a high pressure game, in a semi final.

Let us see what happens !

Pak are 85/2. Zaheer took Kamran and Munaf accounted for Hafeez. Now the current rate is 4.45 and the RR is 5.70.

A Shefiq is bowled by Yuvraj. And Y Khan is caught by Raina off Yuvraj and Pak are choking at 113/4!

Umar hit two mighty sixes and was then clean bowled by Bajji and Pak 142/5 !

Munaf Musa Patel takes the off stump of Razzak and Pak are 150/6!

Afridi gets a full toss from Bajji and lofts it into the hands of Sehwag. Pak 184/7!

Nehra is bowling beautifully and Riaz lofts one into the hands of Sachin and Pak are 199/8 ! It seems India is going to end the Pak challenge !

If Pak choke, History had repeated itself. They had lost 4 WC matches to India and this will be the fifth !

With a reverse swinging full toss, Nehra traps Umar Gul lbw and Pak are nine down ! For 208 !

Misbah is out, finally caught by Kohli off Zaheer for a well compiled 56. Somebody jocularly remarked that he again became the hero of India. ( In the 2007 T20 WC, Misbah lofted one into the hands of Sreesanth ! ).

Pak are bowled out for 231 and Ind win by 29 runs! There are other chokers apart from South Africa !

It was a collective team effort from India. The five bowlers used - Patel, Zaheer, Nehra, Bajji and Yuvraj all responded well with two wickets each !

Kamran Akmal dropped Sachin and one wonders whether he is the keeper of wickets of the opposition batsmen !

Afridi, when he beat SL, said chasing ( Sl was chasing ) 260 under the lights is difficult, with the ball reverse swinging. Now that statement proved to be his nemesis !

Sachin was adjudged Man of the Match for his brilliant 85. Yuvraj's two wickets took his tally to 13! Will he be the Man of the Tournament? ( he has 341 runs ). Sachin with 464 runs, is only slightly behind Dilshan ( 467 ) but is ahead of Sanga ( 417).

Well played India, well fought Pakistan !

Beware of Afridi, Gul

Gul has already said that he will target the Indian top order. Indian batsmen should play him carefully and India should not lose early wickets.

Blunt Afridi and make him go wicketless, a scenario which Pak cannot face.

Let Zaheer damage the Pak top order. Give him an extended spell and let him take early wickets !

Pak have not faced much pressure during this WC. They are susceptible to pressure. The only pressure situation that they faced, were when they were 45/5. They succumbed to pressure that day.

India on the other hand have come out of many pressure situations. The two teams have not played each other for more than two years. After 2008, India has grown by leaps and bounds. India has zoomed to be the No 2 ODI team in the world, due to ICC Rankings, while Pak is sixth. Indian batting is superior, with five centuries in this WC. No Paki has ever score a century. Pak has a slight edge in bowling, but this should be blunted carefully by the Indian batsmen !

Pakis are saying that India is under more pressure because of the high expectancy of her fans. Since both teams are two matches away from the WC, pressure on both is the same. Even though Pak is not playing before home crowd, millions of Pakis are watching the match on TV, like Indians ! So saying that India is under more pressure is sheer nonsense.

India has won four WC matches in a row and is looking for the fifth win. This shows that the Indian team can better handle WC pressure than their neighbours. History has an uncanny knack of repeating itself ! So all the verbal challenges thrown by Pakis are nothing but dogs barking and barking dogs seldom bite ! No Indian player has
retaliated.

Kumble opined that those who can win the Mind can win. Mano Jaya Eva maha jaya - The noblest conquest is the conquest of Mind. He said that India has defeated more powerful Pak teams. In 2003, they had Waqar, Wasim, Shoaib at his best, Saeed Anwar and Saleem Malik and yet India defeated them !

India are 6/4 favourites, Pak 4/1, SL 8/13.

Shastri says he is concerned about the Dew Factor. Now that it had rained on Tuesday at Mohali, dew will be there after the 35th over in the second innings. After 85 overs, the bowlers will find it difficult to grip the ball. The chasing team has a huge advantage. Normally it happens afte 0800 PM and the match continues till 1030 PM. So it may be a good toss to lose !

The Castrol Predictor gives 52% chance to India and 48% to Pak. Why ? Because both Indian bowling and Pak batting are good for nothing !

SL beat NZ and enter final !

Great bowling by SL saw NZ all out for 217!

Except for Styris, none of the NZ batsmen could shine.

Malinga and Mendis picked up 3 wickets, while Murali got 2, Herath and Dilshan one each.

Unless SL choke, this may be a one sided match !

Guptill scored 39 and Taylor 36.

Now SL are 76/1, needing 142 runs off 190 balls ! Sanga has come in to partner Dilshan.

Upul Tharanga was out to a superb diving catch by Jesse Ryder. NZ is fielding well.

Now Sanga hits a four and SL are 99/1, needing just 119 runs off 162 balls. Unless a miracle happens, SL is on her way to Mumbai, which will make it an all Asian final. Sanga said yesterday that it will be an all Asian final !

Dilshan was eventually out for 73, caught by Ryder off Southee. Mahela is lbw Vettori and SL lose their third wicket. ( Kochi fans are a bit upset, that their captain is out cheap ! ).

51 needed off 88 balls. Samaraweera will be tested and anything can happen !

Sanga does an Upar Cut or upper cut and is caught at third man ! SL 164/4 !

Now SL wants 44 off 58 balls, a high pressure situation. Anything can happen and SL has now gone into their shell. Somebody should play a cameo, otherwise SL will be committing harakiri!

Jesse Ryder comes to bowl and Chamara Silva hits him for 2 fours, thus releasing the pressure. Now it is Advantage Lanka !

Southee clean bowls Chamara and SL are 185/5 !

Mathews joins Samaraweera, with Mahela as runner !

Mathews lofts Southee for six and four and now SL need only 4 runs off 18 balls! Southee claimed three wickets !

SL are on their way to Mumbai ! They win by five wickets !

NZ should not lose early wickets : Richard Hadlee

NZ entered the semi finals, making all predictions by pundits futile. NZ is the only non sub continental team in the SFs. SL is almost unbeatable in Fortress Lanka.

But when one day's form can change all equations, Advantage Lanka becomes null and void. In the group match, Lanka easily overcame the Kiwis. The pitch at Colombo will be favourable to Lanka and home ground support is also benign. Lankan stars lead in both batting and bowling in this World Cup !

Batting first and scoring 230 may not be a winning total for NZ. The adversary is not South Africa. Even though 230 was adequate against the Proteas, NZ had to take out their best to overcome powerful SA. After dismissing Kallis, the Kiwis brought in immense pressure and the Proteas wilted. In order to win over Lanka, SL will have to be very cautious in batting and should not lose early wickets. If NZ becomes, say, 20/2, then the remaining batsmen will be under pressure. John Wright, a professional coach, should teach the rudiments of ODI cricket to the Kiwis. The traditional method may be old fashioned, but it still is valuable in this WC. If 15 overs remain, with seven wickets, then the probability of the team scoring a huge total is high !

Just see how NZ massacred the Pak bowling in the last 5 overs. But then NZ will find it difficult to overcome the Sl bowlers, particulary Slinga Malinga and Murali. They have to rotate strike and take fast singles.

Meanwhile, Bridgestone will sponsor Mumbai Indians in the IPL, till 2014. This is Bridgestone's first entry into corporate cricket. Bridgestone hopes that the big audience of the IPL will give great exposure to Bridgestone.

ESPN's revenue crosses 1000 crores !

When Ind overcame the short pitched Australian balls and entered SF, Mohali is about to witness another final before the Final ! The greatest benefactor is ESPN, who have exclusive rights for telecasting this WC.

The ad charges of ESPN increased fivefold as a result. Now the ad charge for the ten second slot is 15-18 lakhs ! It was 12 lakhs in the QF and in the final it is expected to go to 24 lakhs ( if Ind plays the final ). In the league matches, it was just 3.54 lks !

The ad charges for the SF is 25% more than in the QFs. When compared to other sports, the Ind Pak semi final is topping !

But companies are not minding the high charges. They get maximum viewership for their ads. They are ready to spend crores in a match involving Ind and Pak. More than 1000 cr has been mopped up by ESPN. More than 80 companies have advertised this WC. From 2007 to 2015, the TV rights for matches organised by the ICC have been bagged by ESPN for 2 billion dollars !

The hotels in Mohali have increased their charges. Rent has gone up from 2000/3000 per room to 4000/6000 per room. There are no rooms in hotels in Mohali ! So much is the rush ! The rate of tickes have also gone up. For a 500 INR ticket, you have to pay 5500 ! Out of the 27500 tickets, only 14000 have been sold via the counter and the rest have been booked by ICC, BCCI and corporates !

Is Sachin that ' special' person ?

A one billion cricket crazy nation is kept in suspense. Who is the mystery
man which Yuvraj talked about ?

It can be Yograj Singh, his father or Sachin. It was he who inspired him in his
bad patch !

Yuvraj said his inspiration has been a 'special' person, a person who comes
to his mind in a pressure situation !

His father, Yograj says it can be Sachin !

"I would not be surprised if he meant Sachin," said Yograj. "Sachin has been
a huge influence in his life over the last 11 years or so. He has always
been there when Yuvraj was going through a difficult phase in his career."

"Sachin is not just a great cricketer but also a great human being. He has
been Yuvraj's guiding angel. My son is very close to him and shares things
he would not share with anyone else."

Injuries and poor form had Melancholy mark him for her own, but Yuvraj, the
mastermind behind India's 2007 T20 WC triumph, once again showed that he is
world class.

Yograj said it was Sachin who inspired him during his bad days. "Sachin
must have been my son in previous life or some other close relation. He has
been the best thing to happen to Indian cricket and also to Yuvraj," said
Yograj, a formed all rounder who played for India in only one Test against
NZ. "He advised Yuvraj to keep working hard and maintain focus. There was
lot of scepticism in the air but only his mother and Sachin had an
unflinching trust in my son. Frankly speaking, any cricketer who has
listened to Sachin has benefitted. When he eventually retires, the cricket
board should appoint Sachin the mentor of the Indian cricket team. He can
turn any ordinary player into a phenomenal one. "

While Indian cric cracks extoll Sachin and Sehwag, now the player who has
stolen the limelight is Yuvraj with four fifites, one century and 11 WC
wickets ! He is Man of the Match four times and may be the Man of the
Tournament !

He had donned the garb of the finisher ! Like Michael Bevan of Australia !

"Finishing a game gives me a lot of confidence going into the next match.
I'm just happy about how I am hitting the ball. My responsibility is to bat
till the end whether we are batting first or chasing a target," said Yuvraj.
"I missed quite a bit of cricket over a year and a half due to injuries and
now to come back and play my part in victories is very satisfying."

An unconquered 57 not out against Australia saw India romp home with five
wickets to spare.

One reporter asked him " Whatever you are touching are now turning to gold
?", to which Yuvi replied "I think so. Last year, whatever I was doing was
turning into mud."

It is true that Yuvraj is not the six hitter of old, having hit six sixes
against Stuart Broad in one over. Now he believes hitting the ball to the
ground and placing the ball . His strike rate is below 100 in this World Cup but his team
have understood his sheet anchor role.

He solved India's bowling problem and became India's fifth bowler ! He took
five for against IRE. "I am a part-time bowler and when I got those five
wickets I was as happy as I was when I scored my first one-day international
hundred. I think it's an achievement for a part-timer to get five wickets,"
he said. His rise was meteoric, when he cracked a brisk 84 against an
Australian attack comprising MacGrath, Lee and Gillespie in
Nairobi in 2000.

Now he comes to his home ground in Mohali. One or two performances and he
will be the Man of the Tournament ! His performance so far - 8,030 runs in 272
matches with 13 hundreds & wickets 105!.

India's impregnable batting does Dhoni proud

It was a bold decision taken by Dhoni to include the southpaw, Raina, in lieu of the big hitting Yousuf Pathan. It was a calculated risk he had taken. He had taken a technically superior batsman instead of a pinch hitter.

It is true that Pathan can score a century off 60 balls on his day. But this is the World Cup and the opposition will measure him.

The very reason that India could not make use of the Powerplay and lower order batting debacle was the 'risky' Pathan. His hit out or get out approach is not good in World Cups ! The opposition will trap him. ( Look at Gayle and Afridi. Two great hitters in the game and both could not get going with the bat in this WC ). Now with Raina at No 7, Indian batting looks, as Imran put it, impregnable !

Thunderous applause greeted the captains, Ponting and Dhoni, went they went to toss. Ponting won the toss and batted. Dhoni, in his non chalant way, announced that Raina will play instead of the big hitting Pathan.

The experts were shocked. The pundits now got a weak link in Dhoni's thinking. If Dhoni had lost the match, everybody would have blamed his decision. But the maverick Indian captain had other ideas.

After the Indian skipper's dismissal, came the hour of Destiny. India 187/5, needing 74 more runs in more or less equal no of balls ! The UP southpaw strode onto the middle, to partner an in form Yuvraj !

How Raina affirmed the faith reposed on him by his skipper was from then Poetry in motion. It was as if Dhoni had foreknowledge and foresight and had seen the southpaw steering the Indian ship on to the shores. It was as if Dhoni knew that the talented left hander is the solution to India's lower order batting problems. With a six off the first ball of the Powerplay, another star had zoomed on the horizon. The hostile Kangaroo bowling looked innocous before the Yuvra-Raina duo.

With Raina clicking at the No 7 spot, Indian batting looks formidable. With seven world class batsmen, India has nothing to fear, not even Australia ! The calmness of Raina and Yuvraj surprised every one, as India took revenge on the 2003 loss in the final to the mighty Kangaroos !

When the Indian captain took the decision, he knew he had to do it with seven technical batsmen ! Pathan may be a big hitter but is not technically equipped enough to handle the pace of Lee or Tait. He could have hit a few sixes, but his weak defence may betray him. If India was just 20/30 runs short of the target, India could have done it with Pathan. But not when 74 runs were needed ! If Pathan had played one shot too many or his weak defence broken, Yuvraj would not have been able to pick up the pieces and it would have been an uphill task for Yuvraj !

Yuvraj said that when Dhoni got out, he was happy Raina was there and that he will have a 40 run partnership with Suresh Raina. Raina also had his shortcomings, when the West Indians discovered that he cannot handle the fast, short pitched delivery. But this time Raina responded to the occasion and came out with flying colors. He was the ideal foil to Yuvraj Singh !

We can envision Dhoni standing in the dressing room after the match, happy that his decision has been graced by success , happy that his team is the best batting line up in the world !

Pak begins mind games before the Asian Super Show !

The Asian Super Show at Mohali promises to be the mother of all battles. Both Pakis and Indians highlight their plus points and ignore their own minus points. Pakis says that pressure will be on India, because of the high expectations of their fans. The betters and experts say that Ind are favourites to win this WC. Whereas nobody gave Pak a chance when the tournament started !

'If India were going to win the World Cup, this is their best chance," said Imran Khan, ex captain of Pak. "I am not trying to play mind games, but the fact that they are favourites and are playing at home will means they are under more pressure. My advice to the Indian team is to take sleeping pills, otherwise they won't be able to sleep."

But the Pakis are not going to lose the psychological battle. They know that the number of Paki fans inside the Mohali stadium will be limited to Pak cricket officials and diplomats, even though some Indians may support them.

Afridi said that Sachin will have to wait after the WC for his hundredth hundred and that Pak will not allow any Indian to score a big score at Mohali.

"He will have to wait until after the World Cup. We will make sure no batsman plays a long innings," said the formidable allrounder, Afridi. "India will have more pressure than us. With the crowd cheering every ball, they can get overwhelmed."

It looks like the mother of all battles. The match should be viewed as friendly, and not as surrogate war ( "Sport is surrogate war" - Orwell ).

However, Pakistan manager Intikhab Alam, coach of the talented Pakis, has appealed for calm.

"Let it remain as cricket and don't make us feel as if we are standing on a war front," he said.

Meanwhile, Sangakara has warned against complancency. "It is important to be confident but we should be realistic. New Zealand will be hungry for a place in the final and so are we," said Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara.

Strauss, the Eng captain, said too much cricket was Eng's undoing. "Its a huge amount to ask players to go to Australia for three months, into the highest intensity atmosphere you can get for an English team, and then go straight into a World Cup without players spending time at home," said Strauss.

India, the best team in QFs : Mark Waugh

Mark Waugh is of the opinion that it was India who was the best team to participate in QFs.

The best match in the QFs was the match between Aus and Ind. And the worst match was Pak - WI encounter. Pressure took the upper hand in the match SA vs NZ. SA were touted as a balanced side and a side fancied to win the WC. It was unfortunate that they choked.

That SL cannot be defeated in Fortress Lanka was learnt by England belatedly !

Ind was the team which withstood pressure and rose to the occasion. Everybody had written off India, when they were 187/5. But the determination of Raina and Yuvraj brought home the bacon. Four other teams, some of them reckoned as formidable, were out of the tournament. Even though Ponting played a scintillating knock, Aus were behind by 20 runs. 261 was chasable and India did it in style.

It was the second spell of Zaheer which was responsible for Aussies scoring less than 261. Yuvraj's innings was another example of Ind exploiting opportunities. Yuvraj was a bit suspect in the initial stages, but when he middled that ball and got some fours, his self confidence returned, to the discomfiture of the Aussies !

SA was reckoned as a team which could win the Cup, because of her all round ability. Particulary as the Kiwis were restricted to 221. Batting under pressure made them choke again. History repeated itself. It is of no use, doing a post mortem of the match. The curse that the Proteas cannot chase respectable scores haunt them like an old family resident spectre.

Wi performance was that of a club side. But I suspect about Pak's ability to win by ten wickets ! But this win has catapulted the Pak morale. That is why experts and bookies consider them as a force next to India !

In the Mohali match, the question is whether India can bowl better or Pak can bat better. Also the team that overcomes pressure will win the match. I believe that India will emerge victors in this match.

It is not easy for NZ to defeat Lanka easily in Fortress Lanka. The Kiwis will be handicapped by the fact that they had not won a match in SL after 2003 ! If they cannot pull off a miracle, gone will be their dreams !

Horoscope of Zaheer

He is the second leading bowler in this WC with 17 wickets. He is a master of reverse swing. He is Zaheer Khan, alias ZAK, India's premier bowler !

He was born with Scorpio rising, with Jupiter exalted in the Ninth, in the House of Fortune and Mercury exalted in the 11th.

The exalatation of Mercury gives his wisdom and intelligence. He bowled India back into the game on many occasions, against Eng, against Australia !

Transit wise, he is having Jupiter in the favourable Fifth and Saturn in th favourable Eleventh or the House of Gains. May he bowl India to victory in the coming matches !

He has Venus well posited in his own house, in Libra. He is born in Anabha Yoga, caused by Mars. He will be tough, successful and will be brilliant ( Krodhee sampat sadya suthanu kujayor anabahayam pragalbhascha ).

Mercury and Sun form Nipuna Yoga, a yoga for skill. ( budhena nipunam dhee keerthi soukhyanvitham ).

Pak PM to be in Mohali for epic Indo Pak encounter !

The Indian Prime Minister invited his Pak counterpart to watch the Mohali semi final between India and Pak. Gilani has accepted the invitation !

Somebody jocularly remarked that it saves the Pak PM one lakh rupees, as a 15 K rupee ticket is being sold in the black market for one lakh !

This high voltage match scheduled on Wednesday promises to be the mother of all battles. Pak and India are old rivals. While Pak has a better record in ODIs, India has a better record in World Cups !

Meanwhile, Sachin has been relegated to the third place. Trott leads with 422 runs and Dilshan is second at 394. Sachin has 379 runs in this World Cup.

Meanwhile, Pak has started playing mind games. Afridi said they will not allow Sachin to score his hundredth hundred. ( This is not the right thing to say. Make Love, not War !. The PM and others are trying to solve the misunderstandings between the two countries and here is Afridi saying something inauspicious, from an Indian perspective. Indians are emotionally attached to the game, as Cricket is Religion in India. Half a billion Indians would love to see Sachin score his century of centuries and that will throw India into ecstasy ). Hafeez said past records do not matter. None of the Indians have retaliated.

Intikhab Alam and Waqar Younis said this is a great battle, as both are excellent teams. One of the teams have to lose. Let the side which loses, do it gracefully !

While Sohail said India will not give green tops and he dared India to give green tops, Shastri countered that India will beat Pak, 8 out of ten, on green tops !

Meanwhile, Imran says Pak should play Akthar on Wednesday. He said he had advised Afridi about the composition of the team.

India will be playing S Raina, who is any day technically superior to Pathan. Pathan has been measured by opposition teams. With Ashwin and Raina in, India have been infused with youth energy and now they are a combination of youth and experience.

Ian Chappell opined that Ponting is like a bloodied and beaten warrior who refused to bow down. It was Aus which lost and not Ricky Ponting !

SL beat Eng comprehensively !

Strauss won the toss and batted and Eng are 95/2 off 26.5 overs. A solid start.

SL started with 3 spinners, Herath, Murali and Mendis. Dilshan opened the bowling.

Now Bopara is trapped lbw by that wily fox, Murali and Eng are 95/3 off 27 overs.

Eoin Morgan has come in and we can expect some unorthodox shots from him.

Eoin Morgan lofts Mendis into the hands of Samaraveera, which he drops ! A life for Morgan ! Morgan survives a close lbw call and he now bears a charmed life, with four lives !

Trott takes three and completes his fifty. Eng 136/3. At this stage, 240 will be a good score. And Eng will be happy with 240.

Morgan lofts Murali into the hands of Mathews and drops it !

Eng could only score 229, setting 230 to score for SL.

SL does it in style. 231 for no wicket, with Tharanga and Dilshan scoring centuries !

It was unfortunate that Eng bowed out without any resistance. Now SL faces NZ on Tuesday and mighty India take on a resurgent Pakistan !

SA prove to be eternal chokers !

B McCullum went, caught and bowled Peterson and Guptill exited to Steyn and now NZ are 34/2.

Now they are 48/2, with Jesse Ryder going great guns!

Jesse Ryder is playing magnificently, on 82, out of total of 147/3 off 36 overs. Ross Taylor played well for 43.

Styris, playing in this last WC, lofts Botha for four and NZ are 152/3 odd 36.4 overs !

Now Ryder is gone, for a well played 82 and NZ are 171/5 off 43.1 overs !

NZ scored 221 in their first innings, leaving SA to score 222.

SA proved to be eternal chokers and were bowled out by NZ for 172.

South Africans committed harakiri, after they were comfortably placed at 108/2. From 121/3, they were 126/6 and eventually bowled out for 172, thereby proving the theory that they are grand chokers !

NZ, with her bits and pieces men, proved that they are a side which can upset any other side in the world. Their fielding was exemplary and they shone as a team unit. Congrats to them !

Oram bowled well for his 4/39 and was adjudged Man of the Match. The catch which he took at the fence to dismiss Kallis was superb !

Nathan McCullum bowled superbly for his 3/24. On the Mirpur pitch, 221 was a good total and totally defensible, as NZ proved !

SA cannot overcome the semi final jinx. Now they have proved that they cannot ovecome the quarter final jinx!

SA eyeing SF : Amarnath

The Castrol Predictor gives 73% chance to mighty SA and only 27% to NZ, despite the fact that NZ is the dark horse !

Nobody gives much chance to NZ. Nobody expects any upset also. SA is far ahead of NZ in all the three departments of the game. That SA is one of the most powerful teams is proved by their performance. " We will lift the Cup" said Smith. Except for the sole match against Eng, their batting has been good. Bram Villiers with two hundreds lead their batting. Amla, Kallis, Duminy as top orders and with Peterson and Ingram as lower orders, their batting is the next best batting line up in the world, after India !

Peterson has put in a great performance. He has taken 14 wickets and has shone with the bat. Tahir with 12 wickets is not lagging behind. Instead of pace, it is the spin bowlers who have taken wickets ! But then pacers have not let them down and it was Steyn's 5/51 which turned the tables against India !But the Mirpur pitch favours spin and it is the spinners performance which will matter today !

NZ is the only team which has defeated Pak in Group A. But they lost to Aus and SL. NZ depends on their pacers. For them, Southee leads with 14 wickets. Vettori, one of the leading all rounders in the game, has not had a good WC. Ross Taylor, with a superb 131 not out against Pak, lead their batting and is their best hope. The others could not find consistency.

This may be Yuvraj's Cup !

He has got 4 Man of the Match Awards, for grand performances. He peaked at the right time. He has 341 runs and eleven wickets, with four fifites and one hundreds !

Who will be the Man of the Tournament?

Yuvraj ! How happy will his father, Yograj, be , if his son does another Saviour role at Mohali !

Yuvraj showed what determination can do. The entire Motera crowd became silent when India were 187/5. But then an unbroken 74 runs partnership between him and Raina saw India through !

He proved that Care and diligence bring luck. Previously Indians were speculating that this may be Pathan's Cup or Kohli's Cup. Yes, care is the watchword and it is care that made Sachin and Yuvraj ! Careless can break you and care can make you !

He may be the Man of the Tournament !

Meanwhile, Srikant, the Chaiman of Selectors, opined that yesterday's victory was one of the best professional victories India had for a longish time. He said the present team is the most responsible lot ever !

Experts opine that it is the youth energy which India has brought in which has changed the game for them. India fielded and bowled better yesterday. Ashwin and Raina are youngsters and they rose to the occasion !

India, hot favourites on Wednesday, 30th !

Indian batting is impregnable, said Imran. India are hot favourites, says Imran, Viv Richards, Allen Border etc !

When the WC started, Pak was an underdog. Now with some superlative performances, they topped Group A. But then India has always been their nemesis in the WCs so far. The thing is psychological. In WC, we find SL losing to Pak and Pak losing to India ! Psychologists attribute this phenomenon to fear of failure ! May be Pak has more wins in ODIs against India, but on the World Cup stage, Pak simply falter !

Imran says both Afridi and Dhoni will have sleepless nights, but the pressures is more on India, as they are playing a before a home crowd ! Pak, as underdogs, have no such pressure. ( This statement is not true. Pak is also riding on high expectations. Most of the Pak experts feel that Pak may go all the way. If Pak wins, Pak will be graced by happiness. So pressure in on both ! ).

India beat Australia in thriller !

261 was not an easy target to get. And when India were 187/5, it was Advantage Australia.

Then in walked Suresh Raina. Sachin had told Raina that he should play well, as this is a golden opportunity. And what an innings he played. He gave support to the in form Yuvraj. Yuvraj scored his fourth fifty in the WC, along with a century. He completed 300 runs in the WC. And he has eleven wickets. Most probably he will be the Man of the Tournament !

Raina finished with 34 not out. The six he hit off Brett Lee just blazoned forth his talent.

India has ended Aus's WC hopes. Now Aussies are out.

India now meet Pak in the semi final.

It was Aus who lost, not Ricky Ponting. His innings was without scintillating strokes, but was one of great character. He will be remembered for his swan song. He said his side did pretty well, till an in form Yuvraj and Raina snatched victory away from the Kangaroos.

Dhoni said Raina is technically more superior to Pathan. " With Pathan, we were not able to bat the entire 50 overs. Raina is technically better. I knew that if Yuvraj and Raina could bat the 50 overs entire, we would win" And win he did.

Can one four change the match? India were choking themselves, after Kohli and Gambhir did hara kiri and then Yuvraj hit a superb four past point. Another game changing shot was by Raina, who lofted Lee for a huge six. When the Australians were trying to take one wicket to put Ind under mighty pressure, Ind batsmen rose to the occasion, returning fire for fire !

The admirers, who thronged the Motera stadium to see Sachin's hundredth hundred, were not disappointed. They saw his 94th fifty and him cross the 18 K landmark ! Now he has 18008 runs in ODIs. He reads the WC with 379 runs ! He now has 32710 runs in international cricket, with 99 hundreds. He has scored 14692 runs in 177 Tests ! ( In ODI, Ponting is behind him. Ponting has 13288 runs ). In the World Cup, Sachin has 2175 runs, with 14 fifites and six hundreds !

Regarding Yuvraj, he has become India's talisman. This is the fourth time he is getting the Man of the Match Award. He may go on to become the Man of the Tournament ! He has 341 runs, with 11 wickets, with four fifties and one hundred !

This century may be the swan song of Ponting. He had his last WC supper yesterday. This is the end of a 15 year career. His brilliant century did not give Aus semi final berth. This is his 30th ODI hundred and fifth in the World Cup. His 104 off 118 balls, was characterised by seven fours and a six. He has 1743 runs in the WCs, with an average of 44.29. His highest score is the 140 no he made against India in the WC Final 2003. Most probably, the Aussie selectors may meet him with a Cross. They may not show mercy !

Ponting scores hundred !

Aus are now 65/1. Shane Watson was bowled by Ashwin for 25 and the first wicket fell at 40/1.

Haddin blasted Munaf for three fours and now Aus are 67/1.

Now Aus have progressed to 86/1, with Ponting and Haddin playing well.

Ponting scored a century. This is his answer to his critics, who wanted to remove him ! Australia finished with 260/6 !

Ashwin picked up two wickets, Yuvraj two and Zaheer two. Now India need 261 to win. India has seven world class batsmen and they had scored 338 against Eng, 370 against BD, 296 against SA and 268 against WI. So it is gettable.

The dew factor may be at work and it will to be to the advantage of India. Ind should not lose early wickets. Should survive the intial attack of the pace trio and batting will become easy when the dew factor comes into play !

Ahmedabad may be Ponting's Waterloo !

If India ends the Kangaroo's 12 year WC monopoly, the likely casualty may be the Aus skipper, Ricky Ponting.

The stubborn Tasmanian has been asked to step down since Aus lost the Ashes series to Eng Down Under. Furthur calls for his resignation came, after Aus went down to Pak last Saturday.

Brendon Julian, who played 25 matches for the Aussies, feels that Ponting should quit ODI cricket, but remain as Test captain.

"He owes nothing more to one-day cricket...I think it's an ideal time for him to step out of one-day cricket" said Julian. I don't think he really needs to step down and keep playing for Australia (in ODIs). I think there are good enough players out there now that can step into that spot and do it quite well."

Ian Chappell, Geoff Lawson and Doug Walters have asked Ponting to step down. Pressure has taken a toll of Ponting's physique and psyche. He was out cheap to Pak! He had always struggled for runs in this WC and was rapped by the ICC for breaking a TV in the dressing room, after he was run out in a match against Zimbabwe.

He then lost his temper during a collision with Steve Smith He glared at his team mate and then slammed the ball into the turf in an act of anger. He has managed only 36 runs in five innings of the tournament, He has not scored a hundred in the last 17 ODIs. We thought he may come near Sachin's records. What a pity ! ( Meanwhile Sachin only needs 45 runs for 18 K runs in ODIs ).

If Aus lose to India, it will mean that Aus is exiting without being a finalist for the first time since 1992.

The governing body of Aus ordered a review into the team's performance, following the Ashes defeat. Allan Border, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh have been commissioned to make Cricket Aus more competitive.

Ponting is facing increased competition from M Clarke, who led Aus to 6-1 victory over Eng Down Under.

So Ponting faces a Damocles Sword. But he remained defiant and hopes to be skipper for both ODIs and Test.

"I don't see the finish line...I want to keep playing both forms of the game as long as I think I can contribute." said the whirlwind batsman. "For some reason these retirement things keep popping up all the time. You probably shouldn't always believe everything you read in the newspaper."

Only Gilchrist has supported him, saying that he has the right to discuss his future with Cricket Australia !

Pak crush WI

WI lost Gayle for 8 to Umar Gul and then Smith and Bravo were trapped lbw by Hafeez and now WI are now 36/3.

It is a sad start and in the First Powerplay, WI could only score 18/3.

West Indies won the toss and batted. Loss of three wickets for 18 meant that it is Advantage Pak !

Except for Chanderpaul, none of the WI batsmen offered any resistance. Chanderpaul was not out with 44.

With 4/30, Afridi has become the no 1 bowler in this WC, having taken 21 wickets.

The match is not over yet. In Sharjah, I saw a match between India and Pak. Pak bowled out Ind for 125 and then Kapil & Co bowled them out for 87 ! So we cannot say that Pak has won !

Meanwhile, Clive Lloyd opined that it will be an India SA final. He feels that Aus will not retain the title. Their batting is weakened. On the other hand, India seems to be formidable in batting, with many of their batsmen bowling spin ! Let his tongue be gold !

Pak got the remaining 113 runs easily, with an unbroken opening partnership with Hafeez and Kamran !

India, the favourite team of betting syndicates still!

Despite batting collapses ( there is a Conspiracy Theory that it was done deliberately ) and sub standard bowling, India continue to be favourites with the betting syndicates.

They not only expect Ind to beat the Kangaroos, but to go all the way.

Ind take on defending Champion Aus on Thursday. The Champions' invincible aura is gone, as they holed out to Pak on Saturday ! Undoubtedly the loss to Pak will awaken them but then they are facing India in India, with Ponting in poor form and with a lower and middle order which have not clicked.

Maybe Ind wouldnt have got the 8/13 favourites tag, if the WC was played on the green tops of Aus ! Reports that Ponting's captaincy may be over after this match add fuel to the fire to the already lowered Aus morale ! Ladsbroke give India 8/13 odds. For Australia, the odds are 5/4. Williamhill tips Ind at 4/6 to beat the mighty Kangaroos !

Suddenly the chinks in the Aussie armour are exposed. It is clear that Aus have not replaced Warne, McGrath, Hayden or Gilchrist properly. Even though Aus beat Eng 6-1 after the Ashes defeat, Eng was exhausted both physically and mentally, as the Ashes series had taken a toll of their physique and psyche.

SA and SL are next favourites, according to betting syndicates. According to Ladsbroke, Ind may meet either SA or SL in the final, and the odds are 5/1 in Ind's favour !

Ladsbroke gives SA 7/2 and SL 9/2 to win the Title. Only one betting side differs. Bet365. They give the Proteas 3/1 favourites in the first place, with Ind in the second place !

What happened to the World Champions ?

The Aussie juggernaut came to a halt, when they lost to Pakistan ! After 34 consecutive WC triumphs, the World Champions have been reduced to a mere fifth rate power !

What happened to the mighty Kangaroos ? Why did they go down to Pak? If we do SWOT, we will come across some of their obvious weaknesses !

Ponting's poor form

The man who scored a blistering 140 not out against India in the final of 2003, the man who challenged the formdable Sachin, is in poor form. May be his finger injury has a lot to do with it. He now looks a shade of his former self. He wanted to get out of the rut of low scores but then in the last six matches, he has only scored 102 runs, at an average of 20.40 !

No support for Lee

In the last match with Pak, Lee bowled brilliantly but lacked support from the other end. Tait was lacklustre. And so was Mitchell Johnson. Kenya played out the entire 50 overs against them

Underperforming Middle Order

Neither Michael Hussey nor David has been amongst the runs. Cameroon had 58 runs from six matches, David 14 from 3 and M Hussey 66 in 3. With Ponting also joining them, Aus batting looks vulnerable.

Ineffective Spinners

On the subcontinental spin tracks, which are devoid of grass, even SA are opening with spinners. SA are playing 3 spinners ! Aussies spinners have failed to impress. Theirs happen to be the weakest spin attack ever. Krejza has only five wickets while Smith has only a solitary victim.

Psychic ( Astro ) beliefs in Cricket

If Sehwag sports a numberless jersey at the back, it is due to advice from numerologists. But the ploy had worked and Sehwag amasses 327 runs from five games at an average of 65.4 ! Rival bowlers, who would like to see the back of this dangerous batsman, now blame Numerology and Astrology !

These sorts of beliefs are also part and parcel of football. African nations do voodo on the football fields. They also urinate on those fields, as a part of the black magic process.

Players sport talismans and get counsel from astro scholars.

Dhoni sports number seven, as July 7th is his birthday. Yuvraj sports 12, as his birthday is Dec 12. He also sports a black thread on his wrist, to ward off evil spirits, on instructions from his mother.

Kohli opens admits the influence of Astrology in his life. "Earlier, I used to wear the same pair of gloves with which I'd been scoring. That phase has gone as now I look for comfort. Now the belief revolves
around wearing black wristbands."

Zaheer attributes much of his succes to a lucky charm he keeps with him in every crucial match - a yellow handkerchief ! Sachin puts his left pad first and is always playing with his favourite bats, and uses battered bats than new ones.

Sachin's family believes that if they watch TV when he is batting, he will get out and they rarely see his hundreds !

Fans also try to do their best to help their teams ! A Delhi radio station is urging fans to do the same things routinely when India is playing !

Based on the advice of the station, some fans drink milk before the match and stay on the left side of the sofa.

"I only eat non-vegetarian stuff while watching India play," said Pritam
Sinha, a research associate in Delhi.

"Be it fish, chicken or mutton. It brings India good luck and wards off evil
forces."


Man Singh, the Indian Manager, issued instructions for players not to move
from their seats, in 1983, when Kapil was playing that great knock of his,
175 not out against Zimbabwe.

Srikanth, who opened for India in 1983, now recalls how he could not move from his position !

"The point was I was standing outside the dressing room on a cold, windy
day, with a cup of coffee in my hand. And I didn't move for the next two
hours or so! I wanted to go to the toilet, but Man Singh (the manager) said
'no'," recalled Srikkanth of the match at Tunbridge Wells in England.

"To tell you the truth it wasn't easy. Actually, it was tougher than
battling it out there in the middle.

"Believe me, it stayed that way till Kapil walked back with a triumphant 175
not out. Not just me but the entire team stood at the same spots.

"It was one of the greatest knocks in any form of cricket, but I would like
to think that I had, in my own little way, made a small contribution."


We now invoke Divine Grace for an Indian victory.

Pls recite this mantra for success for India

Icha Shakthi Jnana Shakti Kriya Shakthi Swaroopini
Roopam Dehi Jayam dehi Yasho dehi Dwisho jahi

Jayam Dehi means give us victory ! It is directly appealing to God's Shakthi, which is the sole Doer, to give us Victory !

Prayer is Power !

Teams averse to playing Eng - Bell

Their unpredictability and their knack of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat makes Eng one of the most dangerous sides in the world, according to Ian Bell.

Eng beat mighty SA, but lost to IRE and BD. When WI were going strong 222/6 ( needing 244 for victory ), Eng took three wickets for three runs and turned around the match !

Their rivals avoid facing Eng now. They are the T20 World Champions and they beat Australia Down Under in the Ashes series.

"In the last 12-18 months, when we've had matches we've got to win we've come out well," Eng's No 4 said. "I'm sure there are a lot of teams around that don't really want to play England - because they don't quite know what they're going to get at the minute."

It is true that Eng had not played upto their full potential, but then that will be be preserved for the knockout stages.

"If we win all three matches, we'll be able to look back on one of the best (northern hemisphere) winters of all time," the formidable batsman said. "Three games, and we can win a World Cup."It's been pretty incredible, tiring and a little bit frustrating that we haven't quite put it all together. We've played six games here and still haven't got it all right at the same time."

They are still hungry after success, after defeating formidable Australia !

Matt Prior has been promoted as opener, after the exit of Piertersen. Many feel that Bell should open with Strauss.

Bell said: "One-day cricket is a great place to go up at the top of the order, with the field up. It's a good place to go out and bat, so I'd be really desperate to do that. But if I had to stay at four and keep to my role for the team, I'm happy to do that as well."

He has scored two fifties in this WC. "I feel in great touch. But it's been hard work scrapping for runs coming in in the middle when it's been turning a lot. My role has been to play spin well, and it hasn't quite happened. But I still feel very confident about my game. I don't want to die wondering at this stage of the tournament. I want to be as positive as possible."

India win by 80 runs !

Apart from Gayle and Pollard, the most dangerous batsman is Darren Bravo, hailed as the new Lara ! Now he is gone, holed out to Bajji, off Raina !

While Ashwin got the scalp of Kirk Edwards with a carrom ball early, the next wicket took a lot of time to get. Bravo lofted Ashwin for six.

India opened with a spinner, Ashwin. And with a carrom ball he had the inexperienced Edwards lbw !

Now WI are 92/2. Devon Smith has scored a 50 and is now joined by R Sarwan.

Dhoni brought his main bowlers Zaheer and Bajji, who responded well. Zaheer clean bowled Devon Smith for 81 and WI were 3 down. Then Pollard lofted Bajji and was caught at the fence by Pathan ! WI 159/4 !

Now WI have lost 9 wickets for 186 and India will be meeting Aus at Motera ! WI will be meeting Pak.

Zaheer took 3/26, Yuvraj 2/18, Ashwin 2/41 and Bajji 1/35.

It was obvious who will be the Man of the Match. Yuvraj with his brilliant 113 and his spell of 2/18 was without a rival !

Indian fans are a bit irate that India has not yet mastered the batting Powerplay. Seven wickets fell for 33 runs against Eng, against SA it was 9/29 and now it was 7/50! ( WI lost 8 wickets for 34 runs yesterday. From a commanding position of 154/2, they fell abysmally to 188 all out ).

Now with Ashwin in, Indian bowling looked better. Dhoni had many options, Ashwin and Bajji as offies, Yuvraj as a left arm spinner and again Pathan and Raina as offies. Zaheer proved that he is a master of reverse swing and it is he who is placed No 2 in the WC, with 15 wickets ( The first, is the formidable Afridi, with 17 wickets ). Baaji bowling a maiden was cheered by the 50 K crowd and it was Bajji who got rid of the dangerous Pollard ! Fielding also has improved, with Raina outstanding !

Yuvraj's brilliant century redeems India !

India won the toss and batted against WI.

The first ball by R Rampaul was a typical West Indian one. It went over the batsman and the wicket keeper for four byes.

At the moment, India are 8/0.

Gambhir and Sachin opened the batting. Sehwag is injured and wants rest. Ashwin and Raina are in. The irate Indian fan had questioned the non inclusions of these two. Let us see how they fare. Also Kohli and Pathan !

Sachin is out, caught Thomas bowled Rampaul for 2 and now India are 14/1 !

Gambhir is gone for 22 and India are 80/2. Yuvraj and Kohli are playing. Previously, there were complaints from the middle and lower order batsmen that, since the top three monopolised the other matches, the middle and the lower order could not perform well. Let us see how the middle and lower orders will perform today for India !

Now India are 148/2, with Yuvraj on 67 and Kohli on 47. Kohli has just completed his 50 ( he is on 52 ) and Yuvraj on 68 and India are 154/2 off 28 overs !

The ideal scenario for Indian spinners, as on this ground Eng defended 171 and won. Thanks to Swann & Co. Can India do it this night ?

Now India has been bowled out for 268. We will put it this way. The WI got all Indian wickets cheap, except that of Yuvraj ( 113) and Kohli (59).

India repeated the same mistakes. 7 wickets fell for 50 runs. We dontknow what Dhoni meant by 'learning curves' !

Rampaul took 5/51 in a great spell of medium fast bowling.

The Story of Yuvraj

Yograj Singh was a contemporary of Kapil Dev. He was a good all rounder. He played one or two matches for India, but was not selected furthur. Meanwhile, Kapil got selection and went on to become the WC winning captain !

Yograj was disappointed that he could not play for India. He even contemplated suicide. He put a gun to his mouth and was about to pull the trigger, but somehow he desisted. He taught his young son the intricacies of bowling and batting. That boy grew up to be ................ Yuvraj !

India to field the perfect XI in Chennai ?

Indian batting has performed and bowling and fielding have underperformed, according to her ardent fans.All media and fans were praising Dhoni before. Now they are after his blood ! Perceived complaceny and bowling frailties are criticised by its 500 million plus fans !

If the population of England is just 51 million and Aus 24 million, then its cric fans are also less. Not so the mighty Elephant ! Dhoni has to answer 500 million cric cracks, who would go to any length to see Sachin hold the coveted Trophy on Apr 2nd ! ( The overpopulation of Ind is generally described as a minus point. But, in cricket, it becomes a plus point ).

Th cric crazy Indian fan now wants Greg Chappel as coach. He is a severe critic of Ind bowling and fielding ( A nation of one billion plus cannot produce a genuine fast bowler ! ). Ashwin is a magician and should be allowed to play. Ashwin can be Ind's trump card and he can give the Cup to India ( Just like Imran said that if Umar plays well, Pak will win the Cup! ). Too much chances had been given to the leggie, Chawla ! Dhoni's intransigence is resposible for this calamity. Sidhu attacked Dhoni's stubbornness. Nehra should be replaced by Sreeshant. Raina is a good allrounder and should play. Now whether two offies are needed in the team is a factor which worries Dhoni and Kirsten. Ashwin can withstand pressure !

India began well, with Sehwag hitting the first ball of the WC for four ( he has done it five times ) and hitting two more in the first over of the WC ! A score of 370/4 is laudable. But it is not batting, it is bowling and fielding which have underperformed. Munaf and Nehra are liabilities in the field !

India is still searching for the ideal combination, which will bring home the bacon ! The Indian debacle of losing 9 wickets for just 29 runs did not go well with the public. But Dhoni said these adversities are good for the team, as they are learning curves ! Adversity is the best teacher, said Sidhu.

"It's good that everyone is getting game time and each and every batsman is
getting a go in the 50 overs so that's a big positive for us." Dhoni said.
"It's good if you play crunch games before you go to the crucial stages
where it means most of your talent will have been tested."

Despite the positive thinking of the Indian skipper, the Indian fan thinks that India has underperformed.

Meanwhile, the WI coach, Otis Gibson says WI will beat India.

"We are starting to show the resilience we are going to need," Gibson said.
"There's a stat flying around that we haven't beaten a top team in 20 months
so we would like to do that ... we are getting closer, that's all I can
say."

If new youngsters like Russell, Roach, Bishoo and Darren impress for the WI, along with the indomitable Gayle and Pollard, and if India fails to find its groove, Gibson may be right !

The greatest hit to the Indian fan is the batting debacle, in which India lost 9/29, against SA. Dhoni criticised his star studded batting lineup, who tried to blast the SA bowlers, as if they were a Club side !

"You need to curb your thinking," Dhoni said, after some quality batsmen fell to reckless shots, giving the impression that the WC is just wild slogging .( Did they emulate Afridi ? ) "Different people have
different responsibilities. You need to bat 50 overs. That's foremost. You should be able to bat 50 overs and the more you bat the more runs you get."

The Indian cric fan believes that Raina, Sreeshant and Ashwin will play well in Chennai. If they also fail, it can only add to Indian worries.

( Frankly speaking, I am not so optimistic. I have been watching Indian cricket for the last 30 years and what happens is that if you remove a fellow and bring in another fellow, he also fails ! The replacement becomes as bad as the original. Look at Eng. Pietersen was replaced by Morgan, He shone in one match and failed in the other ! ). So there is no point in chopping and changing. It can only hurt the morale of the team.As Ganguly says, in Indian cricket, two plus two is equal to twenty two. Australian selectors persist with the XI, despite failures. They know the guy who scores a century may go for a blob in the next. Such a game of chance or luck is cricket ! ).

I shudder to think what will happen if Ind does not get the Cup. The public will throw stones and commit mayhem on public property ! So much so for the gentleman's game !

Fed Bank to sponsor Kochi Tuskers !

The Federal Bank, a Kerala Bank, will be the chief sponsor of Kochi Tuskers Kerala.

The agreement was signed yesterday by P C John, the ED of Fed Bank and Mehul Shah, one of the directors of Kochi.

Tickets will be sold via the branches of Fed Bank and via their website, Federal Bank The Fed Bank authorities said that they will be launching more programs for the benefits of the cricket lovers !

The IPL schedule is out and can be accessed at
http://www.cricketastro.com/html/indian_premier_league.htm



If India win today, they will have to face Aussies. If India lose, then they will have to face SL!

There was a guy in Wodehouse who was asked by his prospective mother-in-law. " What will you do if you are confronted by a charging rhinocerus ?' To which he replied, " It is highly unlikely that I will move in such social circles as charging rhinoceri". He was asked again " What will you do if you are confronted by a puma on one hand and a python on the other ?" He replied " I will be embarassed where to look" ! Similarly India will be embarassed where to look, the mighty Lion ( SL ) on the one hand and the formidable Kangaroo ( Aus ) on the other ! Who is lesser Evil ? Nobody knows !

Meanwhile, Arun Lal has opined that both Raina and Ashwin should play today. It seems the Chennai pitch is tailor made for India. The ball will turn and it will be a spinners paradise ! If we play Ashwin, then India will be playing two offies and we have to understand that Eng were successful in experimenting with two offies ! Ashwin can also bowl in the Powerplay against Gayle. The best option for India will be to play two spinners and two seamers. Raina, being a member of the Chennai Super Kings, can shine on the Chepauk ground ! If Kohli can play a long innings, it will be good for the team. Giving rest to Pathan is not a bad idea. If Raina comes at No 7, he can attack Benn and Bishoo.

Pak end Aussies' winning streak !

Just imagine ! A team, undefeated for the last 34 WC matches, losing to Pak !

Now Pak need only 9 runs to win ! It was Aussies' batting which let them down.

Asad Shefiq and Umar Akmal have starred in the Pak win. Shefiq was out for 46 and Umar is on 43 not out. Younus also played well for 31.

Razzak pulls Krejza for four and then next ball hit it past extra cover for four and Pak win by four wickets. Umar is on an undefeated 44 not out !

So Aus has lost, which makes the Cup wide open ! We now know why Aus was never fancied as favourites, despite winning 34 matches in the WC consecutively.

Although Lee took 4 wickets, he did not get support from the wayword Tait and Johnson.

Pak bowl out AUS for 176 !

The aim of Pak is simple. They dont want to face India. ( If you look at WC records, SL lose to Pak and Pak lose to India ). So they want to top Group A to meet the B4! Most probably they will be meeting Eng or WI ! ( Afridi said he doesnt want to face India before the intimidating Ahmedabad crowd ).

Umar Gul led their superb bowling ( at 149 kph ) and took 3/30. Aus never got going and there was not a great innings from their batsmen ( In the warm up match, they were all out for 176 against India ).

Kochi fans are happy as Steve Smith ( 25 ) performed well. He is a Kochi Tusker!

But still the game is wide open, as Pak were bowled out for 184 by Canada. Pak batsmen will have to face the formidable pace trio.

Let us see what will happen !

Brett Lee has struck, sending Hafeez caught and bowled. A brilliant catch and Pak are 12/1!

BD bowled out for 78 !

England,India and WI can relax now. BD is out of the WC. They were bowled out for 78, with Peterson taking 4/12.

It was Tsotsobe who wrecked the BD top order. Tsotsobe, with Botha made BD 21/4, taking 3 wickets and the match was almost over!

Tsotsobe finished with the figures of 3/14 and that was the end of BD.

Barry Richards opined that BD have human resources, but unless that factor is supported by infrastructure and coaching, it will not bring home the bacon !

How correct he is !

SA score 284 !

SA are 96/0, with Amla on 48 and Smith on 45.

A flying start by SA and we can hope for a massive total. It seems Dhaka is a batting paradise.

Now Amla is on 50 and SA are 98/0.

Smith danced down the wicket to Mahmudullah, the spinner, missed the ball and was smartly stumped and SA are 98/1. Now Kallis has joined the in form Amla.

Amla was out for 51, clean bowled by Abdul Razzak, the left arm spinner. BD is playing three spinners, Razzak, Shakib and Naeem Islam !

Now Kallis is on 49 and du Plessis has just hit a four, taking the score to 172/3.

Kallis is gone for 69, Van Wyk for 5 and now SA are 260/6. Three fours, two by Peterson and one by Botha and now SA are 273/6. One more over to go ! Now Botha is run out and SA are 273/7. Peterson lofts Rubel for four and SA are now 277/7! NOw Parnell is bowled and SA are 280/8! Tsotsobe hits four and SA finish at 284/8 !

The SA innings was built around half centuries by Amla, Du Plessis and Kallis. Peterson played a cameo, a blistering 22 not out off 9 balls, with four fours !

Murali and Mendis spin out NZ !

Dilshan is out caught and Tharanga is run out and now SL are 60/. Sanga is playing well on 22 and Mahela, very cautious, is on 15 !

SL seem to be following the traditional method of keeping wickets in the first 35 overs and then launching a blitzkreig. You need wickets to launch blitzkreigs.

Gone are the days of Kalu and Jaya, who used to put on 100 runs on the board in the first fifteen overs. Now SL are 60/2, off 13 overs !

A great hundred by Sanga and a solid 66 by Mahela powered SL to 265/9.

When NZ batted, Murali struck, taking 4/25. He was ably supported by M, who took two wickets and NZ was all out for 153, a win for SL by 112 runs !

We have said earler in our columns that SL has the most potent spin attack in the world, with Murali, Mendis and Herath. The two Ms are the most deadly spin attack in contemporary cricket. Indian spin bowling has been extolled but somehow Bajji, Chawla and Ashwin have not clicket so far ( except in the warm up matches ). We dont know whether is a strategy, not to expose Indian spinners in the league matches and preserve them as weapons for the knockout games. If Indian spinners do not deliver, India is in for big trouble !

It seems NZ had not mastered the art of spin bowling, particularly on sub continental tracks. There were many cobras - balls which spin viciously and come in or go away - and the NZ batsmen were all at sea against them. NZ will have to sort out this problem, as even SA are playing with two or three spinners !

The Wankhede Stadium at Mumbai looked grand, as it was renovated at a cost of 375 crores. It will host the final, on Apr 2. Overall, all the major stadia of India have been upgraded at a cost of 1500 crores ! The Pune stadium, the official stadium of Pune Warriors, was built at a cost of 300 crores and it will host IPL matches this year. Kochi does not have a stadium as such, but all matches here will be played in the Kochi General Stadium ( which has a seating capacity of 70 K ) this year. Meanwhile the Kochi Cricket Stadium will be ready next year. Another glorious stadium is the stadium at New Bombay which will host the IPL matches. With India taking the lead, cricket as an industry will flourish in the years to come !

Great Stirling start by Ireland !

IRE are 86/0 at the moment. Stirling is playing a sterling knock and is now 50 not out !

Stirling got a century and is now 100 not out and the first wicket partnership fetched 177 runs for IRE. Porterfield was out, caught behind, off Cooper for 68.

This is a glorious response by IRE indeed ! In 25 overs, they were 177/1 !

IRE won by six wickets, with Sterling scoring 101. Niall O Brien was 57 not out and IRE finished at 307/4 !

All credit to IRE for the great chase !

It was a grand match, with IRE rising to the occasion, not overawed by the massive 306 posted by the Dutch. An opening partnership of 177 by Porterfield and Stirling laid the base for that mammoth 307/4 ! Sterling went on to score a brilliant hundred and others like Niall O Brien ( 57) played well to show Irish supremacy !

Tendo blasts second century to post 306 !

Netherlands is playing well, 176/4 off 32 overs, with Tendo on 69 not out.

IRE struck early, taking NEL's two wickets for 12 runs. Then Kervezee, Barresi and now Borran partnered Tendo. This is going to be a thriller of a match, as two evenly matched teams vye for supremacy at the mighty Eden Gardens !

Now NEL are 234/4 and Tendo, after playing a fantastic innings of a 106 off 104 balls, is caught in the deep, which makes NEL 234/5 !

Now Holland are all out for 306, with Peter Borren, the skipper, scoring 84.

There were four run outs in the last over. It was understandable, as the tailenders had no time to settle down !

Open with Spin : Kumble

India should open with her spinners, opined the leggie, Kumble. Remember in the IPL final in SA, Kumble opened the bowling. Gilchrist danced down the wicket, to hit Kumble for six and was stumped !

Gayle was taken in that fashion by Botha, the SA offspinner in the first over. The ball spun, Gayle edged it and was caught at slips ! But one wonders if Dhoni will ever listen to that advice !

Gary Kirsten told the Indian team to unwind. Do not listen to the opionion of experts and just go and watch comedy movies or serials !

India finds herself in a high pressure situation, with four wins needed to lift the World Cup.

There is great criticism against Indian bowling. Only Zaheer is amongst the wickets. Yesterday when Simon Hughes said Bajji should learn from Swann, Sidhu retorted ' You mean a bowler who has taken 400 wickets should learn from him ?"

This is what happens when bowlers do not perform.

The match was already in the bag and it was the ineptitude of the West Indies who lost the match. But full credit must be given to Strauss and Co. When WI needed only 22 runs with 3 wickets in hand, Strauss brought a short leg and the next ball from Swann was a magical ball. It turned and lifted and all that Sarwan could do was to give a dolly catch to short leg ! Then next ball Swann got rid of Roach and then the run out and the match was over. Just 3 runs added from then on for three wickets !

Meanwhile, Jonty Rhodes, the Mumbai coach, has said that Australia are stil champions. Their bowling is formidable and they are undefeated in this World Cup. The other teams - SA, India and SL - can lift the Cup, but he says the Kangaroos are favourites. He was speaking to newspaper reporters at Kumarakom, a health resort in Kerala. He will be flying shortly to join the IPL team in Mumbai.

Meanwhile, Shoaib has announced his plans to retire after the WC ( He has had enough ? ). He said this move is to give chance to other youngsters !

Threats to India

IF BD beats SA

and if Ind lose to WI what will happen?

Suppose, WI scores 300 in 50 overs and bowls out Ind for 200 runs ? What will happen ?

This will be the equation

(1605/282) - (1617/299)

= 0.28

Still India will be ahead of Eng in NRR, Eng having only 0.07 !

Mind you, this is the worst scenario imaginable ! The Law of Probability states that there is only a slim chance that India will be out of QF !

England win by 18 runs!

Matt Prior hit Benn for four in the second over and now Eng are 6/0.

The pull of Strauss went in the air, D Smith could have dived forward and converted that into a catch, but he didnt and Eng are 6 for none !

Eng won the toss and elected to bat. Swann may be swearing again due to the dew factor. ' Just take a towel and wipe the ball" said Benn after a chuckle, hearing the complaint of the formidable off spinner.

Luke Wright comes in for the out of form Collingwood and Trenwell, comes in for Yardy.

For WI, the leggie Devendra Bishoo comes instead of Miller. The team management must have been influenced by the success of Imran Thahir on the same ground against Eng.

Andre Russel, bowling at 145 kph, struck twice removing Prior and Strauss. Now Trott is batting beautifully and Eng are 99/2 !

Now Bishoo, bowling beautifully, got rid of the dangerous Trott, for 47. Bishoo is of Indian descent. Now Eoin Morgan has got off the mark and Eng are 123/3 off 22.5 overs!

Kemar Roach clean bowls Ian Bell ( his wicket goes for a walk ) and Eng are 134/4 !

Great bowling by Bishoo ( 3/34 ), Roach ( 2/34) and Russell (4/49) was responsible for England's debacle.

Now Sammy is gone, bowled by Bopara for a well played 41 and WI are 113/4 ! Now Thomas bowled by Bopara and WI are 118/5 !

The danger for India is that if WI is bowled out within 148, then it is adverse for India. ( Now Pollard lofts one for four and the pressure is gone) ! It is a matter of 23 more runs !

22 runs were wanted and WI had 4 wickets. Then Russell got out and then Swann took Sarwan and Roach in successive balls, sealing the fate of the match. The Man of the Match should go to Swann !

Graeme Swann had only one over to go. Three wickets to capture. And Swann bowls a great over and gets 2 wickets. One more run out in the next over and Eng win by 18 runs ! What a great thriller !

Andre Russell played a great innings of 49. He got four wickets and may get the Man of the Match Award. Tredwell took four wickets and Swann 3.

No, Tredwell with his four wickets got the Man of the Match Award.

Both Eng and India are now tied at 7 points. But then India has one more match to go. The Net Run Rate is .76 for India and .07 for Eng. So India is slightly ahead in NRR.

The Net Run Rate is calculated according to the formula

NRR = For ( [Runs Scored/Overs] - Against ( Runs Given/Overs]

India

For Runs Scored /Overs = 1405 runs /232.3 overs
Against Runs Given /Overs = 1317 runs /249.4 overs

NRR = +0.768

England

For Runs Scored /Overs = 1600/298.4
Against Runs Given /Overs = 1576/298.1

NRR = +0.072

England continue to be the most exciting team in the world, as the matches they play are all thrillers. They are as unpredictable as the Pakis, who faced elimination in 1992 and then went on to win the Cup ! No team has entertained the one billion plus viewers like England !

A far fetched possibility that India may be out of QF !

If BD defeats SA

and

If Eng beat WI by more than 95 runs

and

if India lose to WI by more than 95 runs

India may be out !


Seems like a Foxpro Coding, with lots of IFs ! But that is the equation in the WC ! But then India is at an advantage, as the last league match is March 20, when all equations are known and India can play according to the situation !

India had divided the matches into two categories, low pressure matches and high pressure matches. Now the high pressure matches start and today Eng take on mighty WI, who is in good nick!

If Eng lose today, they will be eliminated, as they have 5 points. However, if they win, they will have seven points and will be tied with India. If India lose to WI, then both India and Eng will have seven points !

If BD beat SA, then they will have 8 points and Ind and Eng will be tied at the fourth place. Then the NRR will come into play and hence the equation we have written above becomes reality !

In all probability SA will win, but then you can never know. Indian fans are always kept on tenderhooks ! ( One English commentator called Sachin, Tenderhooks Tendulkar )

Suspense is the weapon, suspense is the means, when it comes to generating interest in ODIs ! There should be upsets, there should be tied matches, the result should only be decided in the ultimate over ! Then only can cricket be redeemed !

If Test Cricket is played under floodlights, there will be more TV viewers, as they will get an opportunity to watch it at non working hours, enhancing Cricket. The one billion plus viewers of T20s and ODIs will grace Test Cricket as well and more and more nations will play the game. So the Organisers are doing the right thing, for the redemption of Cricket, which is facing immense challenge from other sports like Soccer !

It is good for Cricket that the corporates are investing 1500 crores as ads in the World Cup. It is also good for Cricket that the UDRS and high technology have come into being. It is also good for Cricket that the three formats are now established ! It is said the God contemplated playing cricket, but couldnt, as he is Alone, One without a Second ! Long live Cricket !

The dimunitive Duminy excels, Ireland out !

The dimunitive Duminy ( Spoonerism will be the duminitive Diminy ) showed his class, as he pulled SA out of a mediocre position ( 111/5 ) to a matchwinning 272.

He perished at 99, but then his innings had character. SA proved the depth of their batting. Colin Ingram scored 46.

IRE could not rise to the challenge and were all out to the formidable SA bowling. Morkel bowled at a blistering pace ( 147 kph ) and IRE were all out for 141. Morkel took 3/39 !

SA charged to the numero uno spot in Gp B with 8 points. SA and Aus seem to be the most formidable teams in this World Cup, with the subcontinental teams showing both flashes of genius and mediocrity !

Sree, Ashwin and Raina should play : Shaz

Shastri, an expert commentator on a popular TV Channel, was on TV yesterday saying that Ashwin, Sree and Raina should play at Chennai instead of Nehra, Munaf and Kohli.

Raina is an all rounder. Also Ashwin. Sree is anyday better than Nehra. Both Nehra and Munaf are liabilities in the field. Instead of giving one run, Munaf gives two runs as a fielder. Batting will be strengthened by Raina and Ashwin. Give Pathan another chance.

There are outrageous conspiracy theories that the WC schedule has been made to suit India and Pak. In the last WC, India and Pak both made inglorious exits and the WC 07 was a financial disaster. Yesterday, reports from the mighty Eden Gardens suggest that only 2500 tickets were sold, out of 1 lk tickets. The reasons are clear. Yesterday the match was between SA and IRE and Indians were not interested in watching the game.

When India play, the stadiums are full. More than 70% TV viewers are Indians ! Hence India is the Redeemer of cricket and the Organisers cannot be blamed !

Now India after playing in Chennai will be moving over to Ahmedabad, Mohali and Bombay ( unless the Indian Dream Express derails somewhere ) ! The Law states that if the co hosts figure in QF or SF, then the first seeded team should be the host ! India is the first seeded and then only SL and BD come !

Shaz went on to add that it is good that India had committed mistakes in the league matches. It is good that India had not peaked early. This team is enough, said the formidable allrounder, to get WC2011 ! Raina and Sree will bring inspiration to the team with their aggressive attitude. Ashwin had scored 2 centuries and seven fifties in first class cricket. WI has good left handers in Gayle and Darren Bravo ( who is extolled as another Lara ). So India going with off spinners will definitely bring home the bacon.

If you analyse the previous WC winners, they all had southpaws in their batting. So Raina coming in will bolster the batting, as he has scored centuries in all the three formats of the game. Shaz said he will play Pathan for Kohli, even though it is a calculated risk ( Pathan is a pinch hitter. He can either score a century or go for a duck )!

There are 'other' condsiderations. Raina and Ashwin play for Chennai Super Kings in IPL and Chennai, the venue for the Sunday, WI-Ind match is their home ground. Sreeshanth is a Keralite and all Keralites are known as Madrassis in the North. So they will have the home advantage !

SA against the WI opened with Botha and Botha got the prize wicket of Gayle in the first over, caught in the slips. SA against opened with Peterson against England. The move was sucessful as Peterson took both Strauss and Pietersen. Poets and other literary blokes had a good laugh when Peietersen was out to Peterson !

Should Dhoni open with a spinner aginst the mighty WI ? We have offspinners in Ashwin, Bajji and Pathan. Raina can also spin !

Indian fielding will improve with the 'slow in the field' Munaf and Nehra out.

Meanwhile, Sidhu said that now Dhoni is being adamant and this is not a good attitude. One fan from South India opined that the three South Indian players - Ashwin, Sree and Raina - will change India's fortunes !

Meanwhile, Mark Waugh has opined that Australian batting is now ready for WC. Australin bowling is formidable and the only question mark was the batting ( after the loss of Gilchrist and Hayden).

In the last match, the pace attack cannot be criticised. They did not get enough from the spinners.

Mahela has opined that Suspense is moving to the Zenith in the coming matches in Gp B. If Eng win and Ind lose, then they both will be tied at 7 points and then the Net Run Rate will come into play. Eng is struggling for survival. But then their chances are not yet nil. Only if they win against WI, can they hope to enter QF.

Similarly placed are India and WI. The Saturday match between SA and BD and the Sunday match between Ind and WI will be very crucial.

Sl is only aiming for the second place, having lost to Pak. We hope to defeat NZ. If the Kangaroos defeat Pak, there is chance of an Indo Pak match at QF. This will be the most closely fought match in the entire tournament.

From the Indian perspective, India should follow good strategies to get Gayle and Pollard out. Gayle showed weakness against Botha, the offie who opened the bowling. Same way Darren Bravo, the potential Lara, can be trapped. Pollard should be tied down by accurate wicket to wicket bowling and then he will try to hit out or get out and he may give you his wicket on a platter.

From the WI perspective, Kemar Roach should strike first, as Indian batsmen are a bit vulnerable against the short pitched 145 km stuff. Gayle and Pollard should lead in batting.

In the match Ind - SA, Rohini, a favourable star for India, was ruling in the afternoon and India did well, being 267/1. Then suddenly India's Death Star or vadha nakshatra, Mrigasira or Makeeryam took over. The Death Star is the worst star for a nation or individual. India floundered in the Powerplay, players were confused and they panicked. Vital catches were dropped and the last over proved to be Nemesis ! So it was all Fate and human helplessness and let us pardon the Indian performance !

One South Indian fan jocularly remarked that it was North India which lost the match to SA, not South India. Include these three S Indians and see the result !

Kolkotta gets a match after all !

SA take on IRE in a match at Calcutta. It is a must win game for IRE !

SA, riding high after the India win, believes in momentum and will be hard to beat.

Eden Gardens will be under close scrutiny, as the ENG IND game was changed to Bangalore. That match was the best in this WC.

Kallis had said that it is a privilege to play before Eden Garden's 100,000 crowd. SA naturally want to peak before this capacity crowd, whose numbers are only matched by the Melbourne Cricket Ground !

So Kolkotta makes its belated entry. Kolkotta is the Mecca of Cricket. It seems that the world capital of cricket is Mumbai, where the finals will be played. The Wankhede Stadium, with a 375 cr renovation, is ready for that mega event !

The 80 cr renovation of Eden Gardens was the cause of the match being shifted to Bangalore. ICC ruled that the renovation had not ended and that work was still going on. CA Bengal objected to this ruling !

Greame Smith welcomed the chance for SA to play against Ind, IRE and BD within the space of seven days, after a slow start, when the team had week long holidays and lost to England !

The "chokers" tag still haunt South Africa like an old family resident spectre.

"The good thing for us now is that we play a couple of games close together before the quarterfinals." Smith said. "We've got an opportunity now with a game every three or four days to really build up some momentum which is something that is important for us.It's also time for South Africa to tackle its reputation as World Cup failures head-on" said the formidable SA captain.

"To be honest, there's no point in us in trying to hide from the perception (of failing at World Cups" said the master batsman. "Our past is our past and we can't hide from it.

"We haven't won a World Cup, so there's no point in us hiding away from it. We have the opportunity to be the crop of players to change that perception and hopefully we do."

But Porterfield, the Irish skipper, pointed out that anything can happen in 300 balls !

"Four years ago, no one gave us a chance playing Pakistan " captain Porterfield said. "Obviously, we have got to go and play South Africa and South Africa are one of the favourites.

"(But) We've been playing some good cricket, so there's no reason why we can't go out there and leave everything on the pitch. We've got to go out there and play with freedom and come hard at them and you never know from there. Nothing's impossible in a game of 50-over cricket."

The SA born Irish all-rounder Andre Botha affirmed Porterfield's sentiments.

Botha said that it is imperative that IRE win both matches to progress.

"Now we have to win; we might just play with a bit more freedom like we used to," Botha said. "I think winning for us means we can probably go out with a bit more freedom and give it everything we've got without the extra pressures behind it."

Players should know their roles : Kumble

Meanwhile, Kumble has opined that if India had taken the Powerplay in the 16th over, it would have been a different story. The Powerplays can make you or break you !

That was the time when Sehwag and Sachin were going strong.

India should take the last match against WI on Sunday, as a Pre Quarter Final, opined the veteran leg spinner. In order to win the Crown, it is imperative that India win all the next four matches. India, even though leading in Gp B with seven points, cannot take anything for granted. India and Engalnd may be tied with seven points, if Eng were to win and India to lose the next matches. In NRR, India may be ahead now, but then if Eng overtake India in NRR, then India may be out ! This is only a possibility and in all probability, India will move in to QF !

India had won all four matches in a row in the 2003 WC. So this is not a new challenge facing Team India.

But then the Indian team know the drawbacks of peaking early. They had divided the WC as low pressure matches ( the matches just over ) and the next starting from Mar 20 onwards, as high pressure matches. That is why they did not give their best. Ashwin, the off spinning allrounder, will play on Sunday. WI have good left handers and it is only natural that India will play offies. But then India have other offies in Bajji and Pathan !

If Gambhir and Kohli are there as solid batsmen, donning the sheet anchor roles, then they must not go for lofted shots. Gambhir should play like Michael Bevan ! If all players fulfill their roles, then India will be on road to wearing the Crown ! Remember what Wellington said " England expects every one to do their duty".

Sending Pathan up the order can be dangerous as he is a pinch hitter like Shahid Afridi. Pinch hitters either score centuries or blobs.

A batsman, batting like Michael Bevan, is more apt to WC ODI, than wild sloggers !

It is good that the final match before QF is on March 20, as it gives India the time to do their maths ! If NRR is to be increased, then they can do it. If on the other hand, Eng lose to WI, then India can go to the ground on Sunday, devoid of pressure. It seems the format has been scheduled to aid India !