Team India - The World Champions of Cricket

In 1983, Kapil Dev achieved it. In 2003 Sourav Ganguly gave it near miss. In 2011, Mahendra Singh Dhoni achieved it again. Now Team India is World Champions of Cricket and its a great gift to the 1.2 billion people. All the prayers and wishes heard by God and he gifted Indians with most precious gift and that is World Cup. It will remain in memory of the people for long time because it happened after the wait of 28 long years. On 25th June, 1983 I was too young to understand the cricket and World Cup but as I grew up I understood that achievement and now 2nd April 2011, I experienced that thrill and joy which I missed in 1983. It was mighty West Indies  in 1983 which tasted defeat and Sri Lanka in 2011 lost to Team India.

It is a cup of billion hopes and it will impact the psyche of the people of this country. The country which is going through tough phase where corrupt politicians and their policies haunting the public. I believe World Cup victory certainly brought smile on the faces.We must thank our heroes who made it possible for us after 28 years. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain of Team India did few mistakes in initial stages of the tournament. He was out of form and faced lot of criticism for his decisions but I must say 'Cometh the hour, Cometh the man'. Since quarter-finals he did not falter for a single moment. He learnt from his mistakes which he committed in league phase and corrected them in the knockout phase. He played crucial innings in finals and lead his team to the glory after failing with bat in entire tournament. It looked like he saved his best for this game and delivered  when it needed the most. He is a leader and perfect role model for new generation. He showed the courage to admit his mistakes and he also did not forget to mention the contribution of his seniors in this victory when he gave credit to Dravid, Kumble and Ganguly for this victory. I think he is not Captain he is a Leader.

Next comes our very own 'GOD' Sachin Tendulkar who was the inspiration and instrumental in this victory. After playing sixth World Cup he achieved what he wanted to, which show his immense patience. He waited for 22 long years and worked hard without getting disheartened from the losses in earlier World Cups and had the belief that he will achieve it before his retirement. It is this belief and hard work which has given him the status of 'GOD' in this country. He is  inspiration for this entire team and every member of this team motivated to do it for Sachin Tendulkar. Great example of motivation and self-belief indeed. Finally 'GOD' achieved what he wanted to and its great and most important news that 'GOD' will continue to play cricket even after World Cup victory and I hope he never retire. At the age of 38 he is playing like never before and it looks like we will watch him in action in next World Cup as well. 

Yuvraj Singh, gone through tough phase, dropped from the test side, future as a cricketer looked bleak, struggled with various injuries and thought of quitting cricket as well but I think whatever happened with Yuvraj was just a lesson to him from the destiny because he got everything easily before this bad phase but last one year changed him completely as a player and turned him into match-winner for Team India when it mattered the most. This also shows how bad time makes people tougher and  invincible. So bad time also have its advantages and it certainly does wonders and it is proved from the Yuvraj's life. He is declared 'Man of the Tournament'. Now I hope he returns to the test cricket as well and do wonders in longer format as well. He is one player who got the new lease of life in this World Cup and came out much improved cricketer as it also added another dimension to his skills and that is his much improved bowling. he was gifted with immense of talent and but that was not channelized. This World World Cup did that.

Apart from these 3 people there 12 people who played good supporting role and they were as important as these 3 players were. Sehwag, Gambhir, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Nehra, Munaf, Chawla, Sreesanth, Virat Kohli, R.Ashwin, Yusuf Pathan and Suresh Raina, all contributed towards this huge success and according to me they were unsung heroes of this World Cup. Each of them delivered when it mattered  and they kept the interest of team above everything. Hats-off to them for providing such a glory to this great country called 'INDIA'. Apart from players,  coach Gary Kirsten and his support team did wonders from behind the curtains and their contribution  to this victory is cannot be measured by materialistic things. Its pity that Kirsten is leaving Team India after this glory but I think he has given new heights to this Indian team and if possible, keep him with this team.

Now, Dhoni's match winning sixer will also be remembered along with Kapil Dev  catching Vivian Richards in 1983 World Cup. India needed this victory badly and it will give birth to hew hopes and aspirations. This victory also established the fact that India is driving force in World Cricket and World Cricket and ICC is nothing without India. Let's hope our team keeps winning and bring lot more glory to us. It is 'Cup of Hope' because people who made it possible, most of them came from the places which are very difficult to find in the map of this country.

Its time to grab the World Cup. Preview: India vs Sri Lanka (World Cup Final)

Lankan lions and Indian tigers will take on each other in the big finale of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Both these teams reached the finals of the World Cup for the 3rd time. India won the title in 1983 by beating West Indies and reached the finals in 2003 but lost to Australia. Sri Lanka became champion in 1996 by beating Australia and reached the finals in 2007 where they also lost to Australia.

First time in the history of Cricket World Cup, two Asian teams reached the finals. Apart from reaching the finals, India and Sri Lanka also hosted this mega-event and it is also first time in the history when host and co-host will play each other in the finals. This is going to be a great finale. Asian team reaching the finals of World Cup also shows that how much Asia dominates the World Cricket.

Talking about teams lets have a look at the journey of these teams in this edition of the World Cup.

India: India defeated Bangladesh, Netherlands, Ireland and West Indies. India tied with England and lost to South Africa in league stage and finished 2nd in its group. India defeated Australia in quarter-finals and arch-rival Pakistan in semi-finals.

Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka defeated Canada, Kenya, Zimbabwe and New Zealand. The lost to Pakistan and match against Australia washed out mid-way due to rain. Hence they ended up 2nd in their group in league stage. They defeated England in quarter-finals and New Zealand in semi-finals.

 

So tomorrow’s final is going to be a thriller looking at strengths of both the teams. Cricket pundits consider Sri Lanka as favourites in tomorrow’s match but Indian team is also upbeat after their victories over two strongest teams in quarter-final and semi-final. Sri Lanka did not face much trouble in quarters and semis and earned relatively easy victories while India won after grueling battle. India also played better teams in quarters and semis compare to Lankans. So, they passed through litmus test already and ready for any kind of situation while Lankans have to prepare themselves for the big occasion. Strength of both the team is their batting and both teams heavily rely on their top 4 batsmen for runs.

Indian batting has done well in the tournament and so is Sri Lanka. 6 batsmen are in top 10 from these two teams with Tendulkar leading the pack of batsmen in terms of runs. If we talk about Indian batting all their batsmen except captain Dhoni are among the runs and batting looks good. Tendulkar and Sehwag have provided very good starts to Team India in most of the matches and they played pivotal role in the success of Team India. Yuvraj is the star of the tournament for India because of his all-round display with bat and ball. He has already bagged four ‘Man of the Match’ award in the tournament so far, more than any other player and he is key for India’s success in the finals. Indian bowling looked vulnerable in this tournament but since quarter-finals, bowling came good and bowlers performed superbly for India. Indian fielding also improved tremendously since quarter-finals and every player is putting his heart and soul in saving runs and grabbing catches. India has all the ingredients to become ‘World Champion’ looking at their performance in the tournament. India also remember their defeat against Sri Lanka in semi-finals of 1996 World Cup and they will definitely try to take revenge of that loss. So Indian team is ready and raring to go. It’s a golden chance for Team India to win the title this time round. They will be playing in their home conditions and World Cup Trophy will be perfect farewell gift for legendary Tendulkar. Remember Tendulkar was ball boy in 1987 World Cup final and 24 years later he is playing in the team like a champion and winning World Cup will be a greatest tribute to this genius.

Lankan openers Dilshan and Tharanga are the most successful opening pair in this World Cup they are topping the charts in terms of first wicket partnership. Lankans also have great strength in their middle-order as Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Samarweera and Chamara Silva are capable enough to score big runs. One can easily estimate the strength of Lankan top-order from the fact that their lower middle-order did not batted in most of the matches of the tournament. Lankan bowling has come good on most occasions and they never looked vulnerable in any match except against Pakistan where Malinga did not play. After the return of Malinga their bowling looks great and ‘M’ factor haunted opposition badly in this tournament. Malinga, Muralitharan, Mendis and Mathews has given great look to their bowling line-up. Like Tendulkar, Muralitharan is also playing his last World Cup and Lankan team definitely wants to win the trophy for the sake of legend Murali. This is last time, when we see two fiercely competitive players playing against each other and it will going to be a treat to watch both Tendulkar and Murali playing against each other in International cricket. Both are on top of their game at the moment and this one battle will provide lot of excitement for sure.

Injury to its key players is a big worry for both the teams. Sri Lanka is far more affected because of the injuries than India because their star bowler Murali and all-rounder Mathews are injured and doubtful for the match. Lankans already called up Vaas and Randiv as their back-up. As far as Murali is concern, he is very competitive and he will surely play even if he will be 50% fit as this is going to be his last International game and he will definitely wants to leave the cricket on high note. Indians have little less problem compare to Lanka as Nehra is injured and he featured in few matches in this tournament and his absence will not going to affect much because India have enough replacement. Sreesanth and Ashwin can easily replace Nehra, so injury is not going to be a big worry for India.

Great game in offering tomorrow, as both the teams are equal in terms of resources and whichever team will play better cricket will win the contest and trophy as well.

India packed Pakistani bags ahead of finals, Lankans humbled Kiwis

There is a saying 'Catches Win Matches' but yesterday Pakistan invented new saying 'Drop Catches Lose Matches'. As many as 7 catches dropped by Pakistani fielders out of these 7, Sachin Tendulkar alone dropped 5 times. No wonder after dropping so many catches you can't expect to win. Poor Kamran Akmal's woes with the gloves continued in this match as well,  he dropped two catches and after dropping so many catches in past six months, his favourite tagline must be 'Can I drop you somewhere'. It was poor fielding effort by Pakistan which haunted them in this match. 

But I must appreciate the way Pakistan made a comeback after great onslaught from Sehwag. Even after dropping so many catches Pakistan pulled things back nicely and restricted India to the par score of 260 but I must credit pitch also alongwith Pakistani bowling, which had in it for the bowlers. Wahab Riaz was the stand out bowler for the Pakistan who picked 5 crucial Indian wickets and jolted famed Indian batting line-up. It was also a very brave decision from Shahid Afridi to include Riaz ahead of experienced Shoaib Akhtar and Riaz lived upto his team's expectation as he bowled dream spell of his life in a situation where pressure was immense on the players of both the teams. Umar Gul was the big disappointment yesterday for Pakistan as he never recovered from Sehwag's initial onslaught. It was poor fielding, catching and thoughtless batting that played important role in Pakistan's defeat. In batting Pakistan was 102 for 2 at one stage and it looked like Pakistan will register the win here but poor shot selection by Hafeez tilted the match in India's favour and after that thoughtless batting from Misbah Ul Haq and Younis Khan added the pressure on Pakistani batting and in the end Pakistan crumbled like nine-pins. Umar Akmal showed some sign of aggression but it was too late for Pakistan. It was such a tense situation that Afridi forget about the powerplay also while he was batting.

I must appreciate Dhoni's captaincy in last few matches. I think he got his thinking cap own and now looks to attack the opposition batsmen and that gives him the results in his favour. In last 3 matches he has really worked out the strategy which I mentioned in earlier posts. Now he looks in control of the situation. But Dhoni's batting has not clicked yet and that is bit of worry for the Indian camp. Sachin Tendulkar played very scratchy but important innings yesterday for India. He was lucky that he got so many chances from Pakistani fielders and UDRS also came to his rescue.  I think Pakistani fielder were in too much awe of Tendulkar's batting that they kept on dropping him. It was unfortunate that Sachin wouldn't complete his 100th century but nonetheless it was priceless innings. I think Sehwag and Raina also played important role and those 38 and 37 runs from Sehwag and Raina proved crucial in the end. With the innings of 85 Sachin became the highest run-getter in the tournament and he is one player who is now have the distinction of featuring in India's 5 World Cup victories over Pakistan.

It was heartening to see Indian bowling coming good when it mattered the most. When match started it looked like Dhoni mis-read the pitch and dropped Ashwin he admitted also in post match conference that he mis-read the pitch but he was lucky in the sense that Ashish Nehra came good when it mattered. Nehra was economical and picked up wickets as well on a pitch which was not conducive for the fast bowlers. I must mention that Nehra was pick of the fielder yesterday. he fielded very well and raised his game to another level. I think Indian team put in great effort yesterday and everybody contributed in the success of the team. Now India team is in finals of World Cup and they made it there 3rd time. They will play Lankans on Saturday in Sachin's city. I think if Indian team continue with their current from and momentum they stands with great chance to win title and that will be a great tribute to our 'GOD' Sachin. Sachin was also adjudged 'Man of the Match' for his gritty innings in this match.

Lankans humbled Kiwis:

Once again Lankans proved that Premdasa is the fort and they are kings of Premdasa. Kiwis created little panic in Lankan batting but in the end it was brilliance Mathews which helped Lankans to seal the berth for the finals in Mumbai. It was enthralling contest where fortunes fluctuated from one side to another in the end team which held its nerves end with victory under their belt.

Defending a mediocre total after a spirited batting effort had unravelled in a clatter of late wickets, New Zealand's lust for a scrap kicked in with a vengeance just when it seemed the match was finally out of their reach.  With Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara entrenched in a game-breaking partnership of 120. But then Dilshan, cruising on  and seemingly destined for his second hundred in consecutive matches, slapped loosely at Tim Southee and picked out Jesse Ryder at point, whose second catch of the innings was a far less breathtaking affair than his earlier one-handed pluck off Sri Lanka's pace-setter, Upul Tharanga. Three balls later, the new man Mahela Jayawardene was beaten in flight by a beautiful dipping delivery from Daniel VettoriSangakkara's habitually cool head deserted him, as he attempted to steer the lively Andy McKay over the keeper for four, but ended up dollying a simple chance to Scott Styris at third man.

Sri Lanka had lost three wickets for eight runs in 22 deliveries, and just as had been the case in the throttling of South Africa, New Zealand's bowlers ramped up the aggro while maintaining supremely disciplined lines and lengths. On the same worn wicket that had been used for the England quarter-final, runs suddenly became excruciatingly hard to come by as Sri Lanka's untested middle order was fully exposed to the limelight.Samaraweera, however, had the experience to see his team home. A short ball from Ryder was fetched over midwicket for four, before a wild throw from Oram gifted him another four as the ball sailed over the keeper's head. Another error lopped five more precious runs off the total as a McKay wide slipped through the keeper's grasp, and though McKay responded with a beauty to Angelo Mathews that was sent to be reviewed for caught-behind, the lack of Hot Spot meant there was no evidence available to reverse the on-field decision.

And with a smoking six off Southee in the next over, the game was finally relieved of its tension - even though it took two winning shots to seal it, after Mathew's initial carve through the covers was called a dead-ball due to a firework exploding right at the moment of delivery. Instead, Samaraweera nudged through third man to wrap up the game with 13 balls to spare. Such a nerve-jangling finale could not have seemed further from the agenda while Sri Lanka's innings was in full flow. From the moment Tharanga launched his third ball, from Nathan McCullum, straight down the ground for six, Sri Lanka were always ahead of the asking-rate. His departure  did change the tempo of the Sri Lankan innings, but neither Dilshan nor Sangakkara had any reason to rush towards a modest victory target.

Sangakkara had an early let-off when he edged Oram at a catchable height through the vacant slip cordon, while Dilshan - who had been so combative against England - took 28 deliveries to score the second boundary of his innings, and his 50th of the World Cup to date. But he went on to pass 400 runs for the tournament, en route to overtaking Jonathan Trott as the leading run-scorer, and as Sangakkara finally began to nail his trademark cover-drives, New Zealand looked to have run out of ideas. In hindsight, the Kiwis will look back on the closing stages of their own innings with regret, for a late collapse  undermined much of the good work they had put into the early part of their innings. The bed-rock was provided by Scott Styris, a centurion against Sri Lanka in the 2007 World Cup, who played responsible innings. But when he was extracted lbw by the final delivery that Muttiah Muralitharan will ever bowl on home soil, Sri Lanka responded euphorically to scythe through the tail and leave seven precious deliveries unused. Whether a 250 target would have made any difference will remain a matter for conjecture. Though they fared better than any other team in the tournament so far in taking 41 runs off Sri Lanka's bowlers in the batting Powerplay, they were ultimately undone by the depth and variety of their attack, with Lasith Malinga's yorkers scalping three key wickets at critical moments.

Too many of New Zealand's batsmen made starts without going on. Martin Guptill flicked Malinga's fifth delivery through midwicket, only for Malinga to york him superbly when he returned for his second spell, while Brendon McCullum slog-swept Rangana Herath for six, only to be bowled for 13 playing the exact same stroke. Taylor, whose ferocious hitting could have been so valuable at the death, launched a Mendis long-hop straight to deep midwicket just when he looked ready to build  his innings further.But as Vettori takes his leave of the New Zealand captaincy, he can reflect on yet another campaign in which his team rose to the challenge of the big event in precisely the manner that too many of their supposed betters - namely England and South Africa - consistently fail to do. Sangakkara and his men, meanwhile, march on to their second final in consecutive World Cups, where Muralitharan - his broken body notwithstanding - will attempt to complete his career on the highest high imaginable.

Clash of the neighbours: Preview:-2nd Semi-Final India vs Pakistan

The sub-continent will come to an halt on Wednesday when most mercurial team of the world will take on most confident team in the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 at Mohali. The battle between Pakistan and India cannot be termed as an ordinary game as it is considered as battle of nerves and prestige. It is a battle which is keenly watched by everybody including the Presidents and Prime Ministers and every minute of this game provides excitement in plenty. This is the game which set the pulse racing of its spectators because of the quality and intense cricket played in this contest. 

Every player try to give more than 100% in this game and for the spectators of both the country, victory in this game is everything. To watch this game, people try to take leave from their offices on the account of false excuses, students avoid going to schools and whoever is not interested in cricket, also watch this game. That is the kind of importance this game between India and Pakistan  holds in the hearts of the people across the borders. The Indian and Pakistani cricket teams have been long-time arch rivals and their rivalry is considered one of the most intense sports rivalries in the world. An India-Pakistan cricket match has been estimated to attract up to one hundred million television viewers according to well respected TV ratings firm Initiative, and defeat is usually unacceptable to fans of both teams. In the World Cup matches, India has a 4-0 record over Pakistan. Whichever team lose the battle in this contest, goes through lot of trauma and  winning team get all the laurels and applause in the world. It is not a simple cricket match. It is Lord of all the battles, it is India vs Pakistan. This battle hold so much importance due to volatile relations between these two South Asian countries since last 63 years. Cricket also failed to remain unaffected due to volatile political  relationship between these two countries and thats why since 1952, when Indo-Pak cricketing relationship started, these two neighboring countries have played only 59 test matches and 119 ODIs due to on and off cricketing relationship.

Now its time for another Indo-Pak battle and this battle is fought for reaching the finals of the 10th edition of  ICC Cricket World Cup. Although finals will be on 2nd April, Saturday but for the fans across the borders, this match is the final. If we look at history, then we will find that Pakistan always had upper hand in Indo Pak ties. Especially in 80s and 90s Pakistan dominated India in ODIs especially in Sharjah. Pakistan won battles in Sharjah because it was home away from home for the Pakistanis. Umpires also favoured Pakistan during those battles, hence India lost the matches on a regular basis at Sharjah and thats why India's record against Pakistan looks poor. But it started to change from mid-90s and India and Pakistan always remained even, after mid-90s. In last 10 ODIs its 5-5 for each country. No matter how poor Pakistan perform against any country but when they play against India, they raise their performance one notch higher than their performance against other countries and same goes with India.

Coming to the semi-final game, India is considered as favourite among the cricket pundits but I believe Pakistan will have upper hand in this game because of their under-dog tag. They don't feel much pressure because they will be playing away from the home and India will be playing in front of their home crowd and that will definitely add the pressure on India. It is a battle between Indian batting vs Pakistani bowling. India possess one of the best batting line-up in the World and Pakistan possess the most lethal bowling attack. If India have Sehwag and Tendulkar then Pakistan have Gul and Razzak with Akhtar in doubt for Wednesday's encounter. India have Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir then Pakistan have Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal. So its going to be a even contest.

India certainly have little edge in terms of experience. Dhoni, as a captain is also termed  better than Afridi by cricket pundits. Afridi is considered as instinctive captain while Dhoni is cool and calm customer.  But both are out of form as far as batting is concerned. Afridi is doing wonders with the ball while Dhoni is excellent behind the wickets. Dhoni have lot of experienced people around him to advice while Afridi have only Misbah Ul Haq and Younis Khan. Indian batting order is now more or less settled while Pakistani batting line-up still looks unsettled and there will be changes seen during the match against India. It will not be a surprise if Younis Khan and Misbah Ul Haq will be promoted up the order to sieze the initiative. Pakistan also possess pocket dynamo in Umar Akmal whose talent has been not utilised properly so far. I think Afridi have to move him up the order, if he wants good contribution from this talented batsmen. Pakistani openers Hafeez and Kamran Akmal showed talent with the bat in the match against West Indies but it will be interesting to see how they will perform in a pressure match.

Kamran Akmal's keeping is also under scanner because he has dropped too many catches in the tournament and he has to improve his catching in this game because Pakistan can't afford to drop any catch in this pressure match. Asad Shafiq has done well for them up the order but I think it will be better if he bats down the order in the game against India because of his inexperience. As far as Pakistani fielding is concerned, it remained up and down throughout the tournament and they have to work hard on it, ahead this crunch game. Afridi and Razzak have to shoulder some responsibility in this match with the bat because their care-free attitude will not going to help Pakistan in this match, so both have to take their batting seriously. Pakistan batting is weak compared to India but they are very unpredictable species.

As far as India is concerned they are coming in this match after playing pressure game against Australia and they know how to handle the pressure situation but looking at the unpredictability of the Pakistani side they have to be extra careful. Indian batting is in good form and every batsmen have runs under their belt except captain Dhoni. Tendulkar and Sehwag pair is the third best opening pair of this World Cup and much of India's success will rely on the performance of these two stalwarts. It is do or die game and these two have to give India,  best possible start and if they fail to do then it will not going to be easy for India to win this game. To, India's liking Yuvraj Singh is in tremendous form with the bat and ball and he is the one player whose performance will definitely have the impact on outcome of this game. Gambhir, Kohli and Raina have to contribute nicely in the match against Pakistan, if India wants to go into finals. 

If Pakistani batting is weak then India bowling is also not very strong. Except Zaheer and Ashwin, all other bowlers struggled to take wickets including star spinner Harbhajan. Harbhajan remained economical but failed to pick many wickets, which is expected from him. I think Harbhajan have to go for kill rather than containing the batsmen. It is good that Yuvraj is bowling well otherwise India would have struggled in this tournament because two bowlers can't win matches. I think Munaf Patel have to be persisted with, in this match because he has played all the games in the tournament. Cricket pundits are favouring Sreesanth and no doubt Sreesanth is very good bowler but he has not played active cricket since 20th February so it will be risky to field him in the important match like this, without any match practice. 

Mohali pitch will going to assist fast bowlers because of its bouncy nature and if there will be a grass  on the pitch then it will certainly favour Pakistani bowlers but at the same time it will suit Indian pacers as well and will definitely test the weak Pakistani batting which often crumble on the seaming and bouncy pitches due to their faulty batting technique. Dew will be a factor and I believe the team which won the toss definitely field first to take advantage of moisture in the wicket and negate the dew factor by batting second. It will going to be cliffhanger and whichever team holds the nerve in this fight-to- finish contest will emerge as winner. India are favourites and Pakistan is under-dog and as far as record is concerned it is even. We have seen lot of upsets in this World Cup, so it will will be interesting to see will Pakistan pull out the upset or India move to the finals. Whatever, both the teams done in league stages will not going to matter much in this match as this will going to be different game altogether. So if we say, Pakistan performed well in league stage or India's performance was up and down, will not have much impact on this game. Whichever team display better cricketing skills and mental strength on the ground will going to win. 

Sledging will also going to be an important part of this match and we will see lot of verbal duel between the players which will add extra spice to this contest.

Preview:1st Semi-Final - Sri Lanka favourites against jubilant Kiwis

Beating lion in his own den is not a easy task. Sri Lanka is lion and very difficult team to beat at home. England lost convincingly other night. Will Kiwis beat the  the mighty Lankans in Colombo today? Majority of the people will find the answer simple and that is 'No'. Kiwis can't beat Lankans in Colombo because they never won in Sri Lanka since 2003. But Kiwis are the same team which knocked out tournament favourites from the tournament other night at Mirpur and based on that performance Kiwis cannot be written-off easily. Also cricket is great game of uncertainties and nobody can predict its outcome.

I believe this Kiwi team has found the much needed momentum in last match against South Africa and now this team has certainly become dangerous. They are playing as a unit and their bowling has been improved tremendously under the supervision of legendary  South African fast bowler Allan Donald. Taylor, Guptill, Ryder, Williamson, McCullum, all are among the runs and batting looks far more formidable, thanks to the efforts put in by ex-India coach John Wright who is their current coach. Wright has just put in oxygen in this down and out Kiwi team and awakened the hunger to excel. Southee is their most successful bowler in this tournament with 15 wickets from 7 games and lot of Kiwi hopes depends on his bowling.

I think Kiwis are putting emphasis on basics and keeping things simple. They have simple plan which was visible against Proteas and that was just to keep attacking and piling up the pressure and they going in with the same plan against Lankans as well. I think if Kiwis beat Lankans then that won't be a surprise, however, road to the finals for Kiwis is difficult but not impossible. Daniel Vettori and his men are upbeat and confident after their victory over Proteas. But they have to play Lankan spinners well and have to attack them from the very beginning. If Muraltharan don't play due to injury than that will make Kiwi job bit easy but yet they have to face Malinga, Mendis, Herath alongwith Angelo Mathews. I believe, Kiwis play to their potential and put in little more effort than they can easily beat Lanka and make it to the finals.

As far as Lankans are concerned, they are tournament favourites and have all the ingredients to go into the finals. Conditions. pitch and home crowd are all in their favour and Premdasa Stadium is their fort where Lankans can't be defeated easily. Lankans have the team which suits to the conditions and they are heavily loaded with the spin which is the weakness of their opposition. Lankan opening pair is leading the charts in terms of opening stand in the tournament. Both Tharanga and Dilshan are in superb from and batsmen following them in Sangakkara and Jayawardene are deadly customers. They have superb allrounder in Angelo Mathews who can turn the match with the bat as well. 

Lanka bowling is by far the best in the tournament. They possess lethal weapon in Lasith Malinga who is dangerous with new as well as old ball. His toe crushers are nightmare for the batsmen. He has the great variation in his bowling and his unique action itself pose lot of problems to the batsmen. Although Lankans will suffer little bit if their master spinner Muralitharan miss this game due to injury. Lankans although have the fire power to dismiss the opposition and if Lankans beat Kiwis, then they will reach the World Cup finals for the 3rd time.

Good contest in prospect as Kiwis found some momentum and looking keen to reach finals this time after missing it for 5 times and Lankans will be determine to reach finals for the 3rd time.

Diplomacy and Cricket are not synonym.

There is no other cricket contest like it. When India plays Pakistan, more than a billion people in the sub-continent and the South Asian diaspora put their lives on hold. Not only because it is a rivalry rooted in our hearts and minds but also because India and Pakistan don't play each other enough. The compulsions of politics have ensured that cricket between the two countries has become a diplomatic bargaining chip. 

Although it is a semi-final of cricket tournament but as I mentioned it has become pitch of diplomatic discussions as well. Honorable Indian Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh has invited his counterparts to witness this match with him at Mohali. Mr. Singh sent invitation to Pakistani Prime Minister Mr. Yusuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari to join him at Mohali to watch the high-voltage semi-final game between India and Pakistan.Although Pakistani President Mr. Asif Ali Zardari will not come but Pakistani Prime Minster Mr. Yusuf Raza Gilani has accepted the invitation after lot of discussion with their Army Chief General Mr. Kayani and President Asif Ali Zardari. We all know Pakistani government is dominated by its army, so I think  Mr. Manmohan Singh made a mistake by sending invitation to only Pakistani President and Prime Minister. This will not going to serve any purpose. I think it would have been better had Mr. Singh also invited the Army Chief of  Pakistan alongwith two honorable guests. Then this invitation would have served some purpose.

In the past also, cricket used for the diplomatic reasons but nothing concrete came out of it. Late. Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India, invited Pakistani President and Army Chief Zia Ul Haq of that time to watch the Indo-Pak test match at Jaipur and Mr. Haq came to  Jaipur upon invitation. He watched the game, gifts exchanged but issues remained pending and nothing sorted out from that visit. In 2005, Indian Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh invited Pakistani President and  Army Chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf to watch the Kotla test match. Mr. Musharraf came in enjoyed the match, enjoyed the hospitality but core issues were not resolved. So in short whats the need of diplomacy through cricket when it is not serving any purpose. It will never going to help any of  the country. I think cricket has to be played between the two countries regularly at any cost but it should not be used as a stage for diplomatic negotiations. This will not going to serve the purpose. Moreover, it increases the pressure on the players of both the teams because senior politicians of both the countries watching the match and a simple game of cricket turned out to be a war as nobody wants to lose in front of their country heads.

We all are wounded with many blasts that happened in  the country in last few years. Be it Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Varansi, Delhi and the list continues, so its not the right time to rejuvenate the diplomatic relations with the country whose politicians and army, sponsors the terrorism against our country. We have to keep playing with Pakistan as we all know general public has nothing to do with terrorism. In fact public of the both the countries wants peace but our politicians don't want peace because this help them in increasing their vote bank. Pakistani population is also suffering because of their politicians and they are also victims of terrorism. I think Mr. Singh has made the mistake by inviting Pakistani President and Prime Minister. They also accepted the invitation  only to watch the game and not for any political or diplomatic discussion and this will not going to serve the purpose of the invitation and Pakistani President and Prime Minister are not empowered enough to take any decision without the permission of their Army Chief. So if Mr. Singh is thinking that by sending invitation for watching cricket match will resolve all the issues than I think he don't understand the volatile nature of all the issues pending between the two neighbours and those cannot be resolved through cricket match. 

Please keep cricket out of politics. I think cricket should not suffer because of the politics.

Thumping victory in QF over England put Sri Lanka in semis

It was one of the days which Sri Lankan cricket lovers will never forget as their team made it to the semi-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 with dominating performance. Lankan giants dominated Englishmen completely on the field and achieved easy victory which gave them much required momentum needed for semi-finals and finals. Sri Lanka will play New Zealand in semi-finals and Kiwis failed to win the match in Sri Lanka since 2003, so semis will again become easy transit for the finals as far as Lankans are concerned.

Sri Lanka did make few mistake in the field where they dropped as many as four catches of Eoin Morgan. This was  the only flaw in their performance in that game against England. Dropped catches helped England reaching partly competitive total of 229 and cricket lovers thought that this total will be enough looking at the condition of the pitch in the second innings. Moreover, other night collapse of South African batting against New Zealand confirmed that chase will not going to be easy for the Lankans. But Dilshan and Tharanga had other ideas and both these openers stamped their authority on the match by playing freely and both scored centuries which helped Lanka winning this match by 10 wickets. This clearly showed that how comfortable Sri Lanka is in their home conditions. South Africa lost the match by 49 runs while chasing New Zealand score of 221 shows the difference between the two teams and their adaptability to the pitches and conditions.

As far as England is concerned, they made it to the quarter-finals after topsy-turvy performance in the league round and everybody expected that if England is in   quarter-finals after up-down in the league stage then this time something is waiting for them but quarter-finals turned out to be a sorry state of affairs for the England. They came into the World Cup with lot of cricket behind them, so the fatigue factor also played its role in their performance. The looked tired and didn't put fight-back. They got the golden chances from Lankans yet they couldn't capitalise on those chances and got out for the  par total. Once Dilshan and Tharanga started attacking, English bowlers looked completely out of sorts and it looked like they lost all the hopes of winning the game. They were monotonous on the field and didn't look energetic enough to convert even the half-chances. English batting also failed to dominate,  they started defensively against the part-time spinner like Dilshan. There was no intent in their batting in the beginning and they also lost wickets quite quickly and also to the part-timer. Trott played well for his 80 odd but he consumed too many balls. Only Morgan showed some intent but he was also lucky because he was dropped four times by the Lankans. Such poor performance was not expected from the team which defeated Australia just two months back. I think England have to do lot of soul searching about their performance in this World Cup.

As far as Lankan bowling is concern, Muralitharan once again showed his class. He was struggling with hamstring injury, yet he bowled like a champion, no wonder why he is so precious to the Sri Lankan cricket. Malinga, Mendis, Mathews and Herath bowled brilliantly and given red alert to the Kiwis.