The Mother of all Matches

The mother of all matches India vs Pakistan in a world cup semi finals, the last time both these teams meet in a knock out stage was back in 1996 in the quarter finals of the Wills World Cup, which is my first memories of a world cup, though I saw that match I don't remember much and there is no way that I felt the voltage of such an high ocatain match. India vs Pakistan is the mother of all clashes, the Ashes and the India vs Australia feud comes only second and third in a long long way. Having sent the Aussies back home everybody was expecting us to defeat the Pakistanis but that did not happen with its fair amount of twit and glamor. This match broke every bodies expectations, no one would have expected the matche to be witness by both the countries prime ministers, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi was only one among other hundreds of celebrities who stormed to Mohaili, Industrialist, Bollywood actors were all there to witness this historic and high voltage match.

As the match progress I

felt that the channel should have had a warning note that its strictly not for weak hearts, that is the reason I dint watch most of the Pakistani innings though there are some superstitious reasons behind yet, though I am a rational thinker and have a positive and p

leasant outlook on everything, I don't wish to follow those when India is playing in the field and I know that I am not alone, when god him self follows superstitious in thedressing room why should I shy away and hid myself!

Tina Ambani had purchased tickets worth 4 Crores, the rest of the crowed had paid a huge price to get into the stadium, tickets were sold for 1000% the actual rate and not very surprisingly there were fair amount of takers for that too

The ever boyish Tendulkar had played all 5 matches in a world cup against Pakistan and still rejoices like a Boy, which is a sacred lesson for everyone to learn

Sehwag produced a smashing start hitting their key pace bowler all over the park and making the opponent dismantle in the first few m

inutes of the start of the play, 4 fours was hit in one of his over and Umar Gul's first 4 overs caused him 40 Runs, Sachin on the other side was rock solid and happy playing the singles and doubles and remembering the Pakistani's his batting class with occasion classic pushes to the boundaries. As Sehwag got out quickly things began to change drastically and the most frightening moment was when Sachin was give out for an LBW, I am sure that over Million people would have had their hearts in their mouth cursing everything, but then Sachin consulted with Gambhir and decided to go

for the review, the Hawk Eye show

ed that it was missing leg, Mohali erupted and the whole nation followed but the very next ball it looked like he was stumped, it was again for the third umpire to judge and it showed that his leg was in! in these two balls more people's heart would have skipped

beat than for any other occasion. What followed after a few minutes was unbelievable, Sachin was dropped 4 times in the ring, he went to make

85 falling short of his 100th Century. I hope that makes his 100th Century in the finals!! India some how managed to score a decent 260 in a slow Mohali match, frankly I dint have the guts to see the rest of the Pakistani innings and felt that when I ever I wasn't watching wickets were going for Pakistan, I decided to watch a particular channel and like some strange reason, which I call superstition the wickets kept falling when I changed the channel to check the score the difference between the runs and balls for 30. Pakistan needed around 110 to win from 80 balls, but I as I continued to see

the match, they were closing the gaps and Pakistan looked comfortable, I changed the channel again cursing myself

for watching the match and withing minutes Afridi got out, and t

hey were 7 down, now I was sure that if I continue to watch another channel wickets will keep falling. Finally When I deiced to see the match they were 9 down and I was happy and relived and enjoying but as I sensed now Misbah was batting with last man and they needed around 47 from 19 balls, the last ball was hit for a 6 by Mishab and it minded me of the very tensed moments in the T20 world cup where Mishab was the last man standing. I couldn't watch it anymore and shifted the channel to my lucky old channel was I was watching but excitement was something different and I couldn't wait to see what was happening. Then when I changed the channel and decided to see I WAS COMPLETELY RELIEVED as I heard the commentator say that now it can win 99% and something extra ordinary should happen for Pakistan to win! around 36 was needed of 4 balls and India's premium bowler Zaheer Khan bowled a wide and the ball went to the boundary now it was just 31 required of 5 balls though most o

f them would have been relived

because what they were seeing few minutes back something very bigger than this, but since I was just turning in occasionally I still was not relieved. Only when the ball was hit to the third man for a single I was relived and the next 2 balls was hit to the mid wicket region for no run, now the whole nation was celebrating and Mishan increase the joy by hitting the balls miles in the air and when India's best fielder of the season caught the ball in the deep, the whole nation rejoiced and partied till late night, its over 24 Hrs and the party still continues all over the country, Dhoni during his post match presentation in the match against Australia said that if they defeated Pakistan then no one will complain even if they loose in the finals. What he said was right no one will complain even if

we loose in finals because we have defeated Pakistan, but that will be said only till they enter finals everything will change and no one can compensate the cup for sure.

The most striking aspect in the match was the way the pace blowers proved their strength, because Ashwing who bolwed very well was rested and Nehara was brough in which many though was a wrong move but again it has proved to be a master stroke, like Yusuf

Pathan was rested and a when Raina was brough in, Raina and Yuvraj took the match from the Aussies and played a very sensible innings. In the 1999 World Cup, Venkatesh Prasad who till then did have a great game became man of the match and took 5 wickets which was the best performance by an Indian in a world cup then, later Nehara took 6 wickets and England that helped India march ahead in that world cup, now Nehara who was again not in a good form and who is playing the world cup after a gap of 8 years proved that he still can be leathel. Even Munaf Patel who was cursed by everybody including me for giving away runs easily looked dangerous, the pitch might have helped them in being slow, but hats off to the Indian pace blowers who performed well when it mattered the most, India vs Pakistan in a

world cup is certainly more than Cricket, its takes cricket to a different level, the game for both teams is a virtual war but the good thing is no one dies, as Pakistani Manger said before the that its after all a game and no one is going to die, There is some unknown chemistry which charges the players when it comes to a India vs Pakistan match, what ever it is, its happening for the good, we have continued the winning streak against Pakistan in the World Cup and defeated them for the 5th time, this is certainly more important than the cup

The Mother of all Matches

The mother of all matches India vs Pakistan in a world cup semi finals, the last time both these teams meet in a knock out stage was back in 1996 in the quarter finals of the Wills World Cup, which is my first memories of a world cup, though I saw that match I don't remember much and there is no way that I felt the voltage of such an high ocatain match. India vs Pakistan is the mother of all clashes, the Ashes and the India vs Australia feud comes only second and third in a long long way. Having sent the Aussies back home everybody was expecting us to defeat the Pakistanis but that did not happen with its fair amount of twit and glamor. This match broke every bodies expectations, no one would have expected the matche to be witness by both the countries prime ministers, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi was only one among other hundreds of celebrities who stormed to Mohaili, Industrialist, Bollywood actors were all there to witness this historic and high voltage match.

As the match progress I felt that the channel should have had a warning note that its strictly not for weak hearts, that is the reason I dint watch most of the Pakistani innings though there are some superstitious reasons behind yet, though I am a rational thinker and have a positive and pleasant outlook on everything, I don't wish to follow those when India is playing in the field and I know that I am not alone, when god him self follows superstitious in the dressing room why should I shy away and hid myself!

Tina Ambani had purchased tickets worth 4 Crores, the rest of the crowed had paid a huge price to get into the stadium, tickets were sold for 1000% the actual rate and not very surprisingly there were fair amount of takers for that too

Sehwag produced a smashing start hitting their key pace bowler all over the park and making the opponent dismantle in the first few minutes of the start of the play, 4 fours was hit in one of his over and Umar Gul's first 4 overs caused him 40 Runs, Sachin on the other side was rock solid and happy playing the singles and doubles and remembering the Pakistani's his batting class with occasion classic pushes to the boundaries. As Sehwag got out quickly things began to change drastically and the most frightening moment was when Sachin was give out for an LBW, I am sure that over Million people would have had their hearts in their mouth cursing everything, but then Sachin consulted with Gambhir and decided to go for the review, the Hawk Eye showed that it was missing leg, Mohali erupted and the whole nation followed but the very next ball it looked like he was stumped, it was again for the third umpire to judge and it showed that his leg was in! in these two balls more people's heart would have skipped beat than for any other occasion. What followed after a few minutes was unbelievable, Sachin was dropped 4 times in the ring, he went to make 85 falling short of his 100th Century

Epic Match India defeated Super Power Australia

Another Epic match in the World Cup 2011, I thought I wont be blogging for many world cup matches but looking at the way this battle has been fought its impossible to keep my self away from blogging. India defeated 4 times world champions and defeated the team which won the world cup 3 consecutive times! India has once again successfully stopped the Aussies from their juggernaut roar, it was India who stopped their consecutive Test matches victories and defeated them 2/1 in an Epic series which halted the Australian Team, India was India who defeated them in the CB series and it was the first time they were defeated 2/0, usually Australia white washes their opponents 2/0 and they have never been out of the CB series white washed! Is Australia destined to ends its magical run in the hands of India? may be, that is the reason why India managed to knock out the Australians out of the world cup in the quarter finals itself, this is an epic victory in very sense, this was the first world cup where Brett Lee faced a world cup defeat every since her successful campaign in 1999, before this defeat Australia was defeated only once in the past 3 World Cup matches that was back in 1999 against Pakistan, but they went on to trash them in finals, after that they have picked every subcontinent team in the finals and made in a no contest. That is the command they had over other teams in the world cup. No cricket team has dominated world cricket such as the Australians, India has marked the end of an Australian era, the most dominant era till date.

Congrats to the Ahamadabad Crowed, though we have lost many matches there, this time the venue was in favor of India, kudos to them for roaring throughout the match.

My first memory of dominance was Sri Lanka when the defeated every team after winning the world cup in 1996 but it was only for a couple of years, earlier it was said the West Indies during the 70's until India won its world cup back in 83 was the most dominant team ever. After 27 years it was India again which marked end of an era, though Australians winning aura was diminished even before they entered the world cup they where on a winning streak until they got defeated by Pakistan in the previous match, but it is India who proved the world the Australians can be defeated when they were defeated in their home ground the whole world stood up and believed that Australians winning aura is over, though their dominance was brought to end still they were good enough to win matches but the only difference was it was very difficult for them to white wash their opponents 5/0 or 7/0. I always felt that the Australians were still the favorites to win the world cup because inspite of the legends such as McGrath, Shane Warne, Mathew Hayden they still have the potential to defeat any opponents with solid pace attack from Brett Lee, Shawn Tait and Mitchell Johnson but I guess they dint believe in them self instead they bought others thought over their confidence, whatever it may be, yesterday's match is an epic win, its history, one of the best fought world cup matches and when the history of world cup is noted this match cannot be ignored.

Yuvraj Singh's dream run in the world cup continues, Ajay Jadeja during his analysis said the if India has to win the world cup then we need Yuvi to be in full form until now things are going according to his analysis and hopefully we will continue in the same way. Yuvraj a few months back had said that he had thought of quitting cricket since he was not picked up for the squad I said to myself it would have done a world of good for the team..lol because that is the kind of form he was in, he was terrible in every department he once excelled, Yuvi is a complete cricketer and he is proving that to the whole world that though he is a "pie chucker" he can cause damage with his bowling abilities. This is his 4th Man of Match award in the world cup and he is the top contender for Man of the Series, that will be sweet only if India wins the world cup.

Then comes the God, Sachin Tendulkar who looked in sublime form made a flute 53, everyone was waiting to see his century among century, Not because he was in 80s or 90s but now the world waits for him to score a century every time he crosses 40 Runs, yes that is the kind of form the little master is in at present. Andrew Flintoff tweeted "has Sachin got better" I don't think so because Sachin Tendulkar is a complete product, there is no need for up-gradation, he is beyond anyone. This is the best chance for Sachin Tendulkar to fulfill his dream of winning a world cup, We have entered the Semi Finals of a world cup after 15 Years and once again when it happens in India! The Best Chance to snatch the Cup, We need just 2 Wins to life the cup and glorify Tendulkar's biography

Ricky Pointing for the first time in his carrier will be watching the world cup in his home! yes that is because ever since his first world cup appearance in 1996 Ricky Pointing was always in he field during the Finals, they had lost in the 1996 World Cup in Lahore but came back strongly in 1999 under Steve Waugh's magnificent captaincy from there on it was Pointing's leadership which helped them to conquer the World Cup in South Africa and West Indies in 2003 and 2007. He is the most successful World Cup player ever, being part of 3 World Champion teams and leading the team twice, no one holds that record and it is next to impossible for anyone to replicate that. This match marks an end to Pointing's world cup carrier. He is the most successful World Cup captain with just 2 defeats in 4 World Cups!

India by defeating the former world champions has proved that we are world beaters, now we are just 2 games away from lifting the world cup, 2 games from great glory, dream, passion and every emotion that a cricketer has in himself, we are just 2 games away, every Indian is aware of that and The India knows that better. This is the best chance we ever have, this is the best chance because there is no team which has domination over the game one, 2. We are playing in our home, 3. We just helped the team which dominated world cricket for 11 years to pack their bags home, and we are closer than the previous edition of this millennium

Up Next is the ultimate battle, a game that will be watched and discussed more than the World Cup itself, its India Vs Pakistan, I don't want to say anything about this now, let the games begin

The big cup and small teams

This year's world had many empty stadiums! A world cup in India and still empty stadiums? yes blame it on ICC for inviting too many teams who are amatures in International Cricket. The so called "minos" Ireland, Netherlands, Canada and now even Kenya and Zimbabwe and Bangladesh has been added to the list, I say it only as so called minios cause often they have surprised big teams such as Pakistan, India and England in cruel games so "giant killers" would be the suitable name instead of minios. To spread the popularity of the games many teams should be added in the international circuit but its unfair to invite them to the world cup directly and expose them in front of the giants, most of the time it would end as an one sided affair and who would like to see a one sided affair in the stadiums? When I went to see the match between New Zealand and Kenya it was all over before lunch, New Zealand chased a nothing score of 87 in around 8 overs. Bangladesh though they are shaping out to be a decent team was bowled out for 57 by West Indies and things were the same when Sri Lanka hammered Canada and when South Africa thrashed Ireland. Matches like these makes the World Cup really boring and in a time when 50 Overs game becoming unpopular matches like these will kill the format, but fortunate we got some some giant killing matches when the historical arch rivals Ireland defeated England and when Netherlands almost defeated England and when Canada bowled out Pakistan for less than 185 and when Zimbabwe fought hard to score 260 against Australia. If these eventful matches had not taken place then the World Cup would have been really sleepy. It was only after 7 World Cup matches a decent match between took place, which will really affect the game and do serious damage to the reputation of world cup. Last year when Pakistan and India was out in the first round of the game the sponsors and organizers had to face heavy losses due to poor turn out of the rest of the tournament, sensing this, this year the ICC has organized the match in such a way that the match will be interesting atleast till the quarter finals. So it can be said that only after the first 3 weeks of the World Cup the real battle begins. The little teams can be surprise and upset bigger teams but too many of them will be boring at the same time you cannot avoid them too because the game has to be spread and the best option is to invite them for triangular series or arranging matches between the the Asian minos Bangladesh vs Netherlands, Canada or the others. Zimbabwe was once an emerging team in the world cup, they had defeated India and other teams, so was Kenya which managed to get into the 2003 Semi Finals, but due to some unfortunate events in their home land cricket had to take a back seat in Zimbabwe and I don't know what happened to Kenya, looks like now they are back to square one, sadly.

If there is one place where all the minios can be invited it should be the T20 World Cup or even inviting them to play T20 matches which will be spicy and will help to spread the popularity of the game, the best team that has emerged out of the minos tag this year is Ireland, the managed to defeat and send Pakistan home in the last world cup and this year they have chased 300 pulse runs against England, Kevin O Brayn became an house hold name when he scored the quickest world cup hundred and they even managed to put up a decent fight against India. Its reported that their next target is Test Cricket, which is very good to heat, because that is the real test and every little teams should be aiming for that, the ICC should up and help these teams and should help the game to spread across the globe.

In the next world cup which will be held in Australasia the ICC has planned to cut down the number of teams, instead in the next 4 years more little teams should be given standard international exposure so that the number of quality teams can be increased, in past 15 years no new teams has manged to get Test Status except Bangladesh a few yeas back but now they continue to live under the minos tag and Zimbabwe has lost their test status for not being able to be active in international cricket due to political reasons in their country.

To spread the game beyond the present boundaries the ICC should come out of their high comfort zone and must ensure that the game is popular in Europe and other parts of the world by involving them in T20 Cricket or else after 2 decades we will continue to be in the same situation where we should be baring one side matches.

Indian Pace Store

A country which stands still when Cricket is played, the most cricket crazy nation in the world, the richest cricketing board in the world, the most followed sport in the country with a Billion Pulse population yet India struggles to find a genuine fast bowler who can bowl consistently at 150 pulse Kmph/Hr, this can be called as the height of irony, tragedy or even shame! When you look at the passion this games holds in India its unbelievable to think that we are not able to find someone who can take the hell out of a batsmen with genuine pace, this topic got bigger as India lost to South Africa in the last over when 14 Runs were needed Indian "Fast bowler" gifted the match with 2 balls to spare in the preliminary game in this World Cup in spite of scoring 294, though it was a batting pitch and even 315 was told as chaseable. Though Nehra is no the only culprit, the main reason for the lose is the batsmen who got bundled out after being in a strong positing -- 260/1 but lets not go deep into it or the topic might change. This match triggered the question of Indian Pace factory, why is that when Pakistan can produce a fast bowler with solid pace regularly, India struggles to bring someone in the International podium? even countries like Bangladesh has a decent fast bowler! There are only a hand full of fast bowlers that India has produced post our world cup triumph, Kapil Dev the Legend, Javagal Srinanth one of the most lethal fast bowler in world cricket during his time

Not many people are aware that Javagal Srinath was a fast bowler but often considered as just a medium pacer, he was second quickest bowler in the world during the last leg of his carrier! even after a major shoulder operation he was quicker than McGrath! Saeed Anwar after his retirement said that it was difficult to face Javagal Srinath and India should produce more bowlers like him. Ajith Agarkar who broke Deniss Lillie's record for the fastest 50 Wickets in ODI are the only fast bowlers from India who managed to troubled the batsmen with their "Speed" along with Zaheer Khan, who is major thereat for bastmen around the world, he can swing the ball in both ways and even in a old ball, which makes him the most dangerous bowlers in world cricket today, for of course there was Debasish Mohonty who was very good for a while and Srisanth who though is the quickest Indian bowler now, is no way comparable with the others because of his inconsistency, he is the most expensive bowler in the whole world in terms of economy at the moment, there is no point in bowling quick and being the very expensive. This is the land where MRF PACE foundation headed by Denis Lille creates fast bowlers for world cricket and often the world gets trained for PACE BOWLING and yet we are still searching for a quick bowler who can be threatening in International Standards

Comming back to the world cup, I was very irritated looking at Munaf Patel and Ashish Nehra who were just bowling medium pace had to lead the Indian attack in the world cup along with Zaheer Khan who seems to be the only Indian effective fast bowler for a long time now. I remeber long time back when Munaf Patel was new into the international scene and commentator said that "he is bowling dollies at 120 Kmph" Bowlers who could bowl around 120 to 130 Kmph are generally considered as only medium pacers and most of the countries would consider them only as a one change or bowlers who could just fill the space, but sadly India is forced to use them as part of our "Pace Attack"

Though I have seen many camps which promotes and hunts pace bowlers its surprising to know what happens when the try to enter the International Level. Critics point out a number of reason one of them is the subcontinent's pitches are often spinner friendly and it is difficult to maintain a bouncy, pace friendly tracks given the conditions such as weather and soil, but in that case how come Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka successfully producing a decent pace attack? Others point out that its because of the Indian gene, which is even more funny because when our neighbors in the west (Pakistan) east (Bangladesh) and south ( Sri Lanka) have no problem in finding one from their small population it has to be a curse from the cricketing gods more than the gene factor..lol

When will the search end? no one knows as of now? why do we Indians are so incapable in producing a quick bowler when our neighbors find them with ease? no one knows? some say that it should be in the gene? when our neighbors in the East and West could find them with ease its not defendable that gene is the reason, I guess it should be a curse more than the gene factor..lol

But there is hope as I saw today in the news that a young Jarkhand bowler is "quick" and might be the answer to the great Indian Pace Search. A few seasons back there was another bowler who could bowl consistently 140 Kmps for a full day! don't know where is he now, but I am confident that the boy from Jarkhand will shine like Dhoni and will atleast be a small solution because we need more quick bowlers to be consistent in International standards

Michale Holding has said

"You can't make a fast bowler. You can't take anyone and put them in a gymnasium and give them whatever exercises and strengthen their body and turn out a fast bowler,"

that seems to be some what true, but in a country which is so immersed in cricket, India will defiantly have plenty of fast bowlers its in the hands of the board which most of the time does only little to develop the game to find the speedsters and give a high pace attack with the new ball

Another day in Chepauk

Was lucky enough to get see England vs South Africa in Chepauk, my ticket was confirmed on the previous night and after waiting for a hour outside the stadium, I made my entry to stand A upper tire to see what was my first full fledged ODI (because the previous one was all over before lunch New Zealand vs Kenya) and that too without India being part of it, but I am least botherd about India's presence because I am in their for one simple reason for the Love Of The Game!! and that is all matters to me! at the same time, I will be visiting the same venue for the India vs West Indies Day and Night match, I cannot wait to hear the loud roars!!

Coming back to the match it was filled with surprises because as England won the toss and decided to bat first both the openers Peterson and Strauss were puzzled to see SOUTH AFRICAN spinner Robin Peterson warming up with the ball, after a small chat between the batsmen they game began, to the excitement of the crowd the first wicket fell in the first over and by the end of the first over both the English openers were back in the pavilion thinking what went wrong. England was in huge pressure to perform since they had to win this match and keep their World Cup tour alive after shocking defeat against Ireland who were becoming stronger as every game they played, if they loose this match it would almost "game over" for England and a strong fight to pass through the first round of the world cup would do no good for their team's moral. As the game progased England was flirting with danger. Dale Styne who was standing near our stand made a full length dive for a catch, I have never seen things like this live, it was as if he was jumping in a swiming pool, the whole crowed appuladed his effort and cheered the replay that was shown, actually he caught the ball but the ball bounced off his hands, but it took just one more ball for Imran Thaher to taken a wicket, caught and bowled. Within the first 7 overs England lost 3 important wickets to the spinner and now Ravi Bopara was the only man standing facing the Spin attact combined with the fastest bowlerl in earth Dale Styne and Morkel's quality pace and dangerously disciplined bowling. England was all out for 180 and every one expected it to be a cake walk for the South Africans, it was easy for the South Africans though the English attack also started with Spin, Amla had little trouble in putting the ball to the boundary and finding the gaps though once there was a chance of catching him in the covers. i was making full use of the mobile camera which I carry taking pics in every possible angle of the stadium and more importantly taking pictures of myself in the stadium, I had even taken the video of the crowd roaring, when South Africa came into bat because I wanted to cherish this moment, being part of the world cup crowd in being part of history by now things went very smoothly for South Africans until smith was dismissed for a good 20 odd runs, it was a decent 20 considering the low total they were about to chase down but slowly but steadily things started to change, Amla was back in the Pavilion but still the English attack had to penetrate a very strong South African line line despite sending the technically correct Amla and the very talented Smith, Kallis, De Villers and Duminy was about to follow. No one expected the South African run chase would be a tough but as runs dried out and wickets fell regularly 186 was looking as a big total, things came down to the wire but it was advantage South Africa as they had more ball in hands. Dale Style batted solidly and stood firm hitting a boundary straight ahead of a spinner. Anderson dismissed Styne plum in front of the wicket LBW but Styne was upset and the only thing he could do was ask for the remaining review option for South Africa, it was plum in front and he started to walk as the reply was shown on the big screen in the stadium. Stewart Board bowled consistently and was among the pick of the bowlers along with Swan who turned the ball like anything. The English pacer Stewart Board will never forget this match in his life time because he took the last two wickets which stood between England and the World Cup journey. South Africa needed 6 runs with 2 wickets in hand and 2 overs to go, Board finished of the tail and in the England supporters in the crowed who were so down though out the match was in pure joy. England will never forget this match and this will be one among their best world cup victories