An Asian Final

Just as the Indian team of 1983 would have had little chance of winning it had the Cup been played in Asia,as the India- West Indies series in 1983-84 showed,New Zealand with asimilar team but for a genuine spinner in Vettori lost after gamely trying.
Much of the charm has gone out,the hoopla created by anIndia pakistan match notwithstanding.Since March 14,2001,the marquee contest has been between India and Australia.Ashes has wide following in the UK and Australia.However for the discerning Indian cricket follower an India Pakistan encounters are well normal business.
That said if India has to win the World Cup or even reach the finals,Pakistan has to be beaten.Tjhe last time they were in a World Cup semi final,they had beaten Kenya.The opposition on current form are better no doubt but the team to beat is Sri Lanka.

The Minnow in Last 8

New Zealand were supposed to be the weakest link in the last eight or atleast a little better than West Indies.However what hd gone unnoticed was how their team resembles the 1983 India team.Full of little of this and little of that,they can bat deep and have many bowlers to choose from.And South Africa were complacent.What is the point of resting Morkel and Steyn when you may have only a game left.They are a competent side but not mercurial like Pakistan.However what happened at Dhaka was not choking.It was a collpase brought about by aneedless run out.And not having Boucher at eight aws for once missed.Moreover if you have Kaliis in top six,you can't have Botha come in at number seven.You need a specialist batsman who could have guided the tail.

Business end of the world Cup

We have reached the business end of the World Cup.Only one team of the qualifiers has not defeated a major test playing nation.Even there,West Indies can have the satisfaction of having beaten a team ranked higher than them.The quarter-final line up promises good fare, if only because Pakistan by virtue of topping the group have opened a possibility of a well fought match with the West Indies which would not have happened if they were playing Australia.India Australia,Sri Lanka England also may be good matches.South africa New Zealand clash may be less enticing but Ross taylor can spice up that contest as well.
After three World Cups,we have a secondphase where a weak side has not progressed.Thereby tighter matches are expected.Zimbabwe in 1999,Kenya in 2003 and Ireland and Bangladesh in 2007 qualified and except for Zimbabwe in 1999, they provided little oppsition.Moreover a knock out Quarter final stage is more open and a fast furious spell of the kind Roach,Russel and Rampaul are capable of can rip open the tournament and before we know,India may be playing the West Indies again.

Cricket is an English Game

Those of us and Professor Ashish Nandy who in a book called "The Tao of Cricket",said that cricket is an Indian game accidentally discovered in England,should have much to chew after English performance at the World Cup, in South asia of all places.The English approach to cricket at this World Cup has been such that an Indian fan or even players cannot empathise with.While winning is a noble aim, enjoying with an honest effort is the essence of cricket.Neville Cardus would have been proud of them.

What Will be Will be

So the group of death has reached its final few days.this group was tough as number nine and eighth ranked ODI teams were there and any one of Wet Indies or Bangladesh could have qualified.However as the poet Robert Burns so aptly put it "the best laid schemes of mice and men/gang aft agley."And except for South Africa having made sure a quarterfinal position,no other team is in the safe zone.Infact, even if England were to win today,they have to wait for the India west indies Match.
The followers of the game could not have wished for more exciting set of matches even before the quarter finals.

Group B: Still wide open.

Group B is still wide open thanks to spirited efforts by Bangladesh and South Africa over the weekend.This World Cup has had its share of interesting moments and it should be rather interesting second phase.For the tournament, it would be nice to have England qualify for the next round but Bangladesh at home in a quarterfinal at Mirpur against even Australia should be a handful..A good idea for associates would be to give Full ODI status to Ireland and let top nine teams and a qualifier play in the next World Cup.

Bangladesh lives to fight another day.

Bangladesh has proved most of their detractors and those of their fans who lost faith in them and started to walk back,wrong.That the commenators failed to presume that a test centurion can rally number ten and eleven,must not take the spotlight away from Mahmuduallah.May be Kambli and Kumble could have won us the match in 1996 before Eden Gardens erupted.

Bang becoming a whimper

With the third Bangladeshi wicket having fallen,one can hope that England would now get the points required to get into what can be considered a safe zone.A defeat here and the West Indies match would be a must win one and like India not getting past Sri Lanka in 2007,elimination would loom large.However, one would hope England defeats Bangladesh as the quarterfinals should be tough.Which team can say that they would fancy england in quarter finals.Not Australia,nor New Zealand,or either of Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The Tigers are still roaring in Chattogram

Unlike the lament of last Friday,there is a real 'live' match to watch on the Friday evening.England have it in them to qualify even if they lose to Bangladesh.There is a small matter of getting across the West Indies which, given their performance against the so called better teams,would be probable.HoweverGroup B is still a little open for Bangladesh.Otherwise the minnows have been shown their places and even at their nadir Roach and Russel give to the West Indies,a firepower that most teams do not possess.

Decades later,still Leader

This was the punchline for a suitings range a couple of decades ago.Sunil Gavaskar endorsed the brand and Gavaskar morethan the brand remainedin people's memory.This thought came to me when Sachin Tendulkar and Veerender Sehwag came out to bat at the Feroze Sah Kotla,yesterday.India needed 190 to win against the unfancied Netherlands.Every person was standing and most were chanting "Sachin,Sachin".This was Delhi and Sehwag was walking alonside.Only when sehwag took guard that a smaller section started to chant ''VEERU,Veeru".Sachin was even in Delhi, the master and sehwag the disciple.
The Delhi crowd demonstrated how Cricketing intelligence in India is truly national and how Sachin holds a place in Indian cricket which is perhaps unparrelelled in the annals of international sport.

Weekend Dhamaka

The build up for the weekend Dhamaka was around the Sri Lanka-Australia game on Saturday and the India game on Sunday.But the Dhamaka happened all itself in the England South Africa game in Chennai.Weather intervened in Colombo and Yusuf Pathan brutally ended the Irish challenge at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

It was the day match on Sunday where England defended 171 that provided the weekend dhamaka.Even All India Radio did not deem it fit to broadcast the running commentary on this match.Group B remains as wide open as it was and perhaps only Netherlands are more or less certain of not progressing to next round.

The Delhi encounter between India and Netherlands will be interesting if only to see what the Indian bowlers can do.

No Match to watch on a Friday evening.

The TV ratings will take a mssive blow as there is no match for a Friday Evening.Well,actually there was a riveting contest expected between the ODI number nine and eight.Or so the schedulers thought.But as Benjamin Disraeli said "there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."Statistics did not factor in Kemar roach and also the fact that if a team which hasGayle,Chandepaul,Sarwan,Darren Bravo,Dwayne Bravo and Kemar Roach does not figure in the top half,then the reasons are not primarily cricketing.
This Friday evening,I hope that the West Indies go about completing their unfinished world Cup business when Richardson ran out of partners against Australia in 1996 semi-finals.They should have won then and they may win here and the decline which started with that match can be arrested if not reversed.

Who are the Minnows?

The first team to show that the pre tournament rankings don't matter are the West Indies.By cantering to a win in less than 30 overs thay have given a good news to people as they wake up their various nations.In the past few years there have been so many moments when one thinks that the West Indies are beginning a new phase,only to deceive.We must wait before we can come to any serious conclusion of a resurgence in the West Indian Cricket, though they may do well in this tournament.

Bangladesh are learning the hard way that it is difficult to be competitive on the big stage with any consistency.India has become competitive only from the seventies and Bangladesh are in the phase when India could only do well against New Zealand, especially at home.Banglsdehis can also compete with New Zealand at home and therefore we must give them a few more years.With tamim and Shakib with them for much of the next decade or more, they will have nucleus of a competitive team in a few years.

Group B now wide open

Wth the magnificient victory at the Chinnaswamy stadium, Ireland has opened up the group to any number of possibilities.Even to begin with, the question was Whether it would be Bangladesh or the West Indies.Now it could be Ireland and Bangladesh progressing with India and South Africa or the West Indies and England cannot be written off.So six out of seven teams are still in contention and that is a good sign.
And all the talk about not having associates from the next World Cup appears to be premature.An associate has reached semi final in 2003, another was in super eight in 2007 and at least two associates are holding their own in Group B.Group A Associates are not faring so well.When an associate manages to achieve the highest World Cup run chase,theyhave arrived.This victory over England is more significant than Sri Lanka's over India in 1979 and Bangladesh's over Pakistan in 1999.