A load of crap from an idle brain

The final was well worth staying awake upto 2:30 in the morning.  Not to mention the hilarious tweets.  What a time for Dhoni to play the innings of his lifetime.  The stabilising innings from Gambhir & Virat meant that India didn’t feel the repercussions of losing Tendulkar & Sehwag cheaply.

The only silverware missing from Sachin’s trophy cabinet has been won.  6 attempts and what a way to sign off with a victory.  An end to another magnificent career of Murali.  Too much was made of the controversy at the toss.  Our conspiracy theorist media lapped it up.

It would not have been a well deserved win if India had won the cup the easy way.  To beat Australia, Pakistan and finally Sri Lanka en route to win the cup is probably the best written script.

Also that should settle the claim around Dhoni that he is plain lucky.  Luck only takes you so far.  Like it or not, he is a masterclass captain.  A T20 world cup win and now the 50 over World Cup and not to mention the numerous series wins both at home and abroad, Dhoni has proved to be the best ever player to have captained India.

The biggest party in the world is happening out there.  Enjoy it while it lasts.  For the next 4 years, We Are The Champions.

Above pictures courtesy: Cricinfo

+++

To win the cup, you have to beat the best.  Maybe Pakistan wasnt at their best during the semi finals against India at Mohali yesterday.  But you cant ignore the fact that they were the best in their group.  Dropped catches, misfielding, pathetic bowling by Umar Gul and the crawled batting all contributed their part to ensure that India increased its record to 5-0 in the World Cup matches against Pakistan.

So, it will be Sri Lanka vs India at Mumbai on the 2nd of April 2011. Two legends (Sachin & Murali) are playing the last World Cups of their lives.  Both are special players who have not only enriched the game but also bought happiness to millions of followers.  Both the teams would want to gift the respective players the gift of victory.  There is still lots to play.

Again, may the best team win

Above picture courtesy: Cricinfo

+++

3 Asian teams and New Zealand have made it to the semi finals of the ICC World Cup.  No one would have expected such a situation at the begining of the tournament.  Australia was destined to be in the semis and as for South Africa, they have made choking their middle name.  The nail-biting win over India in the group matches was alas, a fluke.

The India – Pakistan semi finals is almost being hyped up to a final.  Wishing that the law of averages catches up with Afridi in the semis.  But they still have enough mavericks in the team to turn the match on its head.

New Zealand is my other favourite apart from India and i would love to see them beat the Lankans, though it would be a tall order for them.  Looking at the way this tournament has progressed, anything is possible though.

May the best team win.

+++

With less than 30 days for the ICC Cricket World Cup to begin in thesubcontinent (February 19), all the 14 teams (except Canada) have announced their 15 member teams.  With so many ex-players pointing out India as the favourites to win the cup, am a bit apprehensive now.  Combine it with the hopes of a billion people and Dhoni has the biggest challenge on hands.  The Indian injury list is pretty long and hope they get ready before the tournament starts.  Also, the whole thing about India wanting to win the world cup for Sachin Tendulkar is a big hogwash.  Let’s face it.  Cricket is a team sport and yes Sachin Tendulkar is probably the best cricketer to ever have graced the sport.  But to have such priorities is ridiculous.  If India doesnt win the cup, it doesnt make a dent on Sachin’s reputation or vice versa.  So lets chuck that extra reason for pressure out and concentrate on the game.

The defending champions Australia too have a big task on hand after having slipped down the test ranking and also after having lost the Ashes.  A loss here would mean a certain end of the road for Ponting.

The perennial chokers, South Africa would be itching to get rid of the tag and so would be Pakistan (the only team to yet decide on a captain) along with Sri Lanka wanting to win the cup for a second time.

There will be the usual mismatches between the stronger and weaker teams, but some upsets would set the tournament up beautifully.

Australia
Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Doug Bollinger, Brad Haddin, John Hastings, Nathan Hauritz, David Hussey, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Tim Paine, Steve Smith, Shaun Tait, Shane Watson, Cameron White.

Bangladesh
Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Shariar Nafees, Zunaed Siddique, Mohammad Ashraful, Raqibul Hassan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riad, Abdur Razzak, Naeem Islam, Shafiul Islam, Suhrawardi Shuvo, Rubel Hossain, Nazmul Hossain.

England
Andrew Strauss (Captain), Jimmy Anderson, Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Ajmal Shahzad, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy.

India
MS Dhoni (Captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yusuf Pathan.

Ireland
William Porterfield (captain), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, Ed Joyce, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Gary Wilson, Andrew White.

Kenya
Jimmy Kamande (captain), Seren Waters, Alex Obanda, David Obuya, Collins Obuya, Steve Tikolo, Tanmay Mishra, Rakep Patel, Morris Ouma, Thomas Odoyo, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Elijah Otieno, Peter Ongondo, Shem Ngoche, James Ngoche.

Netherlands
Peter Borren (c), Adeel Raja, Wesley Barresi (wk), Mudassar Bukhari, Atse Buurman (wk), Tom Cooper, Tom de Grooth, Alexei Kervezee, Bradley Kruger, Bernard Loots, Pieter Seelaar, Eric Szwarczynski, Ryan ten Doeschate, Berend Westdijk, Bas Zuiderent

New Zealand
Daniel Vettori (captain), Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Jamie How, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Kane Williamson, James Franklin, Jacob Oram, Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee, Kyle Mills, Hamish Bennett, Luke Woodcock.

Pakistan
Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanveer, Ahmed Shahzad

South Africa
Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne van Wyk.

Sri Lanka
Kumar Sangakkara (c/wk), Mahela Jayawardene (vc), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dilhara Fernando, Rangana Herath, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Muttiah Muralitharan, Thisara Perera, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Upul Tharanga

West Indies
Darren Sammy (captain), Adrian Barath, Carlton Baugh Jr., Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle, Nikita Miller, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith.

Zimbabwe
Elton Chigumbura (c), Regis Chakabva, Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine, Sean Ervine, Greg Lamb, Shingirai Masakadza, Chris Mpofu, Ray Price, Ed Rainsford, Tatenda Taibu (wk), Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Sean Williams

Canada
Yet to announce.

The full schedule of the ICC Cricket World Cup can be found here.

+++

With India playing only 2 test matches in the next 11 months, the ranking might not hold if South Africa manage to beat England and take the crown.  Still, its a golden letter day in the history of cricket in India.  For the first time ever, the Indian cricket team takes the crown of being the Number 1 test team in the world.  Its a long day coming from the earlier decades when India was regularly beaten by rivals.  Today they travel well and have won tests in Australia, South Africa, won series in New Zealand, West ?Indies, Pakistan, England.

Few things unite India like cricket, and on December 6, 2009, millions of Indians were united in celebration as their team ascended to the top of the ICC Test rankings.

Fittingly, the victory that made it possible was marked by standout performances from the men who have played a crucial role in India’s ascent. Virender Sehwag has scored more runs than any other Indian batsman over the last 25 Tests – played over a two-year period beginning November 2007. His innings of 293 – played at a pace that left the bowlers ample time to finish the demolition job – proved pivotal as India fulfilled its destined tryst with the top slot.

Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan have been India’s highest wicket-takers during this period. Both picked up six wickets apiece for the match, with Zaheer coming up with a five-wicket haul to polish off the tail on Sunday morning and take India to a comfortable win by an innings and 24 runs.

Full news here

Pictures source: Cricinfo

+++