Worthy Champions

As Afridi scampered the winning run in Lords, I just imagine the roar which must have hit the crowds watching the match in Pakistan, a frenzy which engulfed the whole of India when Sreesanth latched onto the tame shot by Misba at the Bull Ring two years ago. What a moment it would have been for the people of pakistan who are having a tough ride for the past two years. It is extremely sad to see the common man getting entangled in the power struggle between Taliban and the overnment.

One of the worst things to happen is to live as a refugee in one's own country and that has happened to the people of the NWFP. Let's hope that things get back to normal,though the situation is worse, at the earliest because anything is possible in this world, Pakistani cricket team just showed that to all of us.

For people like me who believe the game is becoming more methodical, batsman friendly and slowly losing flair, this win has come as a respite. It was worthy to see that the finals was contested by 2 teams which were the best bowling sides and also having the most audacious talents. I can never forgot the Diliscoop nor Afridi's Top spinner which claimed Gibbs in the semi finals.
I believe this tournament has done a lot of good for the world of cricket. We have seen Pakistan and West Indies asserting their positions after some years of turmoil.

The ills which have been affecting the Pakistan cricket has been numerous, indiscpline of the players, drug issues, death of a coach, a messy cricket board, constantly changing selectors, a captain who before the tournament didn't seemt to have the backing of the entire team, the list go on. Despite these, the team suddenly came alive and went on to become the champions is something amazing, something which I believe is the essence of sport. These guys played a cricket which was entertaining throughout, AKmal, Afiridi, Younis, Shoaib, Gul, Ajmal, Razzaq lot of entertaining performers.

I don't know why but I didn't like the Sri Lankan cricket this time much except the batting of Dilshan. To me they were lacking the flair in the game and the body language was not entertaining. Tough luck to them.

Only thing which I believe that has not changed in the tournament was South Africa's exit.

Lets hope this win for Pakistan brings their glorious days back.

Same result, different screenplay for South Africa

One more chapter added to the history of The Proteas, a history which they are attempting to rewrite at every big tournament on the world stage. However hard they try, they are not able to erase the blemish of chokers tag they carry, a small exception being the 1998 Champions trophy win at Dhaka.

If it was the rain gods at Sydney in 1992, Shane Warne & Donald at Edgbaston in 1999, it was Afridi and Gul today at Trent Bridge, the result the same in all instances, only the screen play differing. Any person who saw the match or the highlights today cannot question Pakistan's victory today, for a T2o match, I would say it was absolutley clinical victory.

The way Kamran Akmal started was an indication of the things about to come on the day. Akmal's cameo was the best knock of the day, his straight drive of Steyn which landed up above the sight screen still afresh in my memory. After Akmal went over Afridi took over, certainly not fluently. He was trying to pull Kallis for consecutive balls but managed to whip the air alone. The next ball was what can be termed as one of the important points of the match. Afridi is a guy who goes all out, just like Shewag, he never cares what happened the previous ball, Kallis boosted by the 2 previous balls dug in another short one which pulled over mid wicket for a boundary, Afridi's first.

That over showed the shades of the recklessness shown by Donald in the final over of the 1999 world cup semifinal, Donald failed to see Klusner's call for the run and was sticking to the runners end, which spelled doom for South Africa. Here too, after Afridi had pulled him for a boundary, Kallis bound by recklessness or ego dug in two more short balls dispatched for a 2 and a boundary. From there was no stopping Afridi, until he himself decided that today's batting is enough and scooped a catch. Had Kallis been more resourceful, he would have frustrated Afridi and we all know that a frustrated Afridi is error prone.

Younis and Shoaib guided Pakistan to 149 after Afridi's dismissal, 20 runs short compared to their momentum during the middle of innings, which was more than enough for them.

A target of 149 would not have been a formidable one for this South African line up had they got an explosive start. However they were never allowed to bat freely from the start by Pakistani bowlers. Razzaq made sure that South Africa never slipped into top gear and he almost had Smith miscue to Gul, which Gul failed to hold on at mid-0ff. Smith didn't last long and was out to a frustrated shot the next over.

Then came Afridi into the attack with Gibbs & Kallis, the team's best players of spin batting, the contest was always going to be interesting.

1st Ball - Slightly over pitched and turning wide, driven through the covers for an exquisite typical lazy Gibbs cover drive.


2nd Ball - A typical leg spinner delivery, Gibbs committed too early and hence couldn't adjust to the ball which scurried in


3rd ball -Tapped to mid wicket for a single


4th ball - Bounce and late spin which left Kallis bamboozled.


5th ball - Single to square leg


6th ball - Outside the off stump and kicked in with bounce. Gibbs was expecting a ball like Kallis had, but this one came in and rattled the wood work. Gibbs was again at the receiving end of a beautiful ball, certainly not like this one, but good enough to catch him off the guard.

In the second over of his spell, Afridi bowled a clever delivery from the back of his hand which skidded instead of bouncing on the track. De Villers failed to spot that and tried to cut him which got an inside edge, because of the low bounce, which hit the stumps.

The spinners reined in the run rate by bowling intelligently. Umar Gul came on 13th over and bowled a spell which was mesmerizing. Ball after ball landed in the block hole offering nothing for the batsmen. The game was almost closed before it came to the last over.

One feeling which I got was at the fall of De Villers wicket, Boucher should have come in instead of Duminy. The reason is Afridi and Saeed Ajmal were bowling in Tandem, with Kallis at the other end there must be somebody who should be able to accelerate the score and also who is adept at playing spin. I bet Boucher on any day is a better player of spin than Duminy, that shuffle might have made the game more competitive.

I feel that during the crunch matches, South Africa try to be cautious and curb their aggressive instinct, perhaps they are curbing it too much. I hope to see Sri Lanka get to the finals, if they do it will be an interesting finale to this edition of T20 world cup. Sri Lanka and Pakistan are the best bowling sides in the tournament, it would be interesting to see them clash.

I would love to see Pakistan win the cup, they be raw but they are pleasing to watch.

Can Indians do it?

Nadesh and myself started this blog during the world cup. India's defeat lowered our morals and our laziness compounded it. At last I am breaking the shackles. With India touring Australia, we believe we will be writing consistently from now on.

With India touring Down under, I can't resist my temptation to see the intriguing battle between the Indians and the Aussies. Watching cricket being played in Australia is always a pleasure. The grounds will be big, each with its own aura and not to forget the nice commentary from Channel Nine (especially after watching the Pakistan series in our DD, this is a welcome change).

As everybody knows, it is going to be the last Australian tour for the glorious five of Indian Cricket (Sachin, Kumble, Dravid, Dada & Laxman). I didn't want to miss the action, that's why bought a dish tv today.

I want to watch Laxman pull Stuart Clark, Rahul Dravid leaning on his front foot to play a glorious cover drive of Breet Lee, Saching play one of the straightest straight drive of Mitchell Johnson, resurgent Dada coming down the track to loft Hogg over deep mid wicket, the scene of Anil Kumble galloping towards the pitch with one of the fiercest eyes, just like a vulture looking at its prey.

Oho, I can't wait.

But can we win the series?

Though we boast of one of the best batting line ups in the world, it is going to be quite tough. Our middle order might be robust but our 0pening is a concern. Though Wasim Jaffer was fluent against Pakistan, I doubt he will be finding it tough in Australia. The reason is Jaffer doesn't have a fluent game on off side, Flick and the jab on the leg side are the shots which Jaffer plays with ease. With bounce going to be in abundance in Australian pitches, it will be difficult for Jaffer to score. He has to settle quickly and play the waiting game which means the other opener has to attack. Can we pick Shewag? I believe we should not, Shewag was struggling against Mumbai in the Ranji trophy, so it will be a gamble to play him against the Aussie attack which seems to be lethal despite the absence of Warne and Pigeon. (Gambhir and Akash Chopra scored centuries in the same match). Dinesh Karthik had a poor patch against Pakistan, but his attitude and confidence showed in England might sneak him ahead of Shewag. Or will the go with Dravid as an opner? Any way the opening is going to be scratchy.

Its a known truth that whenever we get a good start our middle order will consolidate on it. But the Big four certainly will want to disprove it and will be batting with a determined resolve.

If a test match needs to be won, we need to bowl out the opposition twice. Taking 20 wickets against Aussies is not going to be the toughest task of all. You need to every ounce of your strength to do so and with an attack lacking a genuine swing bowler, it is going to be really difficult. Zaheer & RP Singh must come to their form of life to give India any chance of winning the series.

I will be happy If India wins the series, but the situation makes me believe its going to be a 1-1 drawn affair if our bowlers bowl their best. Or else it is going to be 1-0 or 2-0 for the Aussies.

No matter who is going to win, we can certainly see some good cricket. Buckle up to watch the series.

Pakistan - Only a miracle will take them to semi finals

I was lucky enough to watch almost the entire match between Pakistan and West Indies yesterday. I watched about 35 overs in Pakistan innings, after which i no longer could stay awake. This world cup is going to be really tough to watch here in India, since the matches get over by around 4 in the morning.

One thing was quite clear from the match, if Pakistan maintain this momentum, they stand no chance of reaching the semi finals of this World Cup. They didn't have discipline in any of the departments, be it batting or bowling or fielding. At the same time, I believe we shouldn't take away the credit from Windies who played with the spirit to win the fight.

The start to Windies innings would have been worse hadn't Younis khan latched onto a easy chance at slip from Sarwan, after the Gayle had fallen the previous delivery. Chanderpaul, who didn't get his timing right, was caught unaware by a ball which jumped a bit. Sarwan, after the initial scare, settled well into his groove and reached the fence 9 times, all in nice fashion.

Think in this world cup, we will see many persons getting a great start but failing to convert them into big scores, unless otherwise they don't get flashy. The reason is when you have played some good shots you become confident and start playing aggressively, which should not be done in this sluggish pitches. You need to wait for the odd ball which comes occasionally because the ball after pitching stays for almost a second, hence you might not get your timing right on all occasions if you go for the big ones. Sarwan did this exactly, trying to drive a pitched up on and giving an easy catch, which Younis caught this time.


Samuels who was getting the feel of the pitch earlier on, dazzled with the introduction of Kaneria, hitting him effortlessly for a six over long on. Samuels and Lara not only steadied the ship, but also increased the run rate which was moaning at just above 3 to a healthy 4. When it seemed that both of them will see the team to a score of around 240, Lara departed getting an inside edge of a sweep off Kaneria, which Kamran Akmal manged to latch on. Kamran Akmal didn't have a great day behind the stumps, he needs to improve a lot or else it doesn't augur well for Pakistan. Samuels departed soon trying to step up the run rate. I think, Samuels have to show more maturity, because hadn't Dwayne Smith played a flashy innings at the end, Windies would not have reached this respectable total.

Slow ball is an one which must be used to confuse the batsmen with the change of pace, what amused me was the way Rana Naved Ul Hasan bowled slower one after slower one for all the six deliveries in the 48th over. The last ball of the over was wide of the off stump, Smith had enough time to whack it over deep mid wicket for a six, so slow was the ball.

Once Windies posted 241, i had a gut feeling that Windies would win and they did.

Pakistan got off out to bad start after Imran Nazir got out a set piece on the third ball of the innings. Powell seemed to bowl the first two balls deliberately short and wide. The second ball was chipped to third man for a six by Nazir. Buoyed by the six, Nazir went after the next ball which was pitched up, inviting him to drive, giving a regulation catch to Ramdin. It just showed that West Indies had done some good home work.

Windies would have had some plan for Younis Khan also, but Younis never waited for them to deploy it as he tried to pull a short ball which was pitched well outside the off stump. The result, another catch to Ramdin. Hafeez showed some promises but he also got out to a bad shot, trying to go across the top of Powell. That shot made me realize why this guy is having an average just below 18.

Three down for 39, Pakistan were in trouble. I thought with pitch playing slow, Lara would bring in Gayle to bowl some off cutters, instead he trusted his medium pacers and they reposed his confidence by bowling a very tight line which sent the required run rate and the pressure soaring in the Pakistan camp. We all know that Inzy is a very poor runner, hence Lara had mid on and mid off inside the circle saving the ones. With the pitch not favoring stroke play, Inzy and Yousuf found it hard to keep the scoreboard ticking. When Yousuf got out trying to step up the run rate, the match was almost over. The asking rate was well over six, i was also sleepy and hence went to sleep.

Anybody who would have watched the match would have known that, this world cup is going to be misery for Pakistan. I think from here on, Pakistan can drop Kaneria and bring in Azar Mahmood into the eleven. He can field well, bat well and also bowl. Malik and Hafeez can take care of the spin department.

Overall Verdict :
Windies : Played well with the fighting spirit, need to show more maturity in batting
Pakistan : Only a miracle will take them to semi finals (Forget that Afridi will be coming during Super - 8).