The world cup just became interesting

After two weeks of not-so-interesting action, the world cup became interesting again with Pakistan defeating Australia and ending their unbeaten streak of 34 matches in the world cup. It is remarkable that Pakistan was the last team to have defeated them in the 1999 world cup. This will make tomorrow's match between India and West Indies very interesting. If India wins, they will play Australia in the QF, if they lose they'll play either Sri Lanka or Pakistan, depending on their net run rate after the match. This makes for an interesting situation - India has never lost to Pakistan in a world cup and has had a pretty good record against Sri Lanka. However, they have defeated Australia only twice in the world cup and the last victory against them was in 1987. The last time India played Australia in a world cup match was in the finals of 2003 world cup where they lost badly. Given this history, will India be better off losing tomorrow's match?

Hats off to the Pakistan cricket team. They have had a horrible past few years in Cricket - international teams have stopped visiting Pakistan after the attack on Sri Lankan team's bus in 2009; they have been mired in one controversy after the other - death of Bob Woolmer, ball tempering charges, doping charges, spot fixing charges and the subsequent suspension of their three top players just before the world cup. No one had given them a chance when the world cup begun but they have finished at the top of Group A. This team continues to surprise me.

Like I said, the world cup just became interesting and the real action begins tomorrow. I am confident that India will win tomorrow. If that happens, I fear for them in the QF against Australia ;)

India makes history again

India have done it again. They have won the cricket test match against Australia in Perth and have stopped Australia's victory march of 16 tests again. They did it first in 2001 in Kolkatta and again today but this time it is sweeter because this victory has come in Perth - Australia's stronghold for years. Perth is among the world's fastest cricket pitches and Australia hasn't lost a test here in a decade. Last time they lost here was to the pace attack of West Indies which boasted of stars like Ambrose, Walsh and Bishop. The fact that this Indian bowling lineup is probably the most inexperienced in years makes the victory even more remarkable.

After the debacle in Sydney, where India lost the match in the last over, this is a great victory. This will match the next test more interesting.

Go India, Go..

Hu Haa India, Haar Gaya India

I hope Pepsi does not sue me for distorting their ad-punchline "Hu Haa India, Aaaaya India". Well, even if they do, I don't care. It doesn't matter now. India is out of the world cup (unless a miracle happens and Bermuda defeats Bangladesh).

The writing was on the wall yesterday when Ganguly was dismissed. He really surprised me. Ever since he has made that splendid comeback in international cricket I have found him the most dependable among Indian batsmen. While batting, he seemed to be playing in a totally different cricket field; batting only for scoring runs without pacing his innings according to the team's requirements. After he was dismissed the only hope I had was Sehwag; he is one man who has never displayed any nerves on the big stage, for the big game. For him, every match is same, he would never change his batting style come what may. He started well and was playing very fluently before Murli got him. I went to bed after that believing that it was all over. When I woke up today, I found that Team India had lived upto my expectations and did not surprise by pulling off a highly unlikely victory.

So, what does this mean for India? Well, not much for me personally. I am not that big a cricket fan now. But for the millions of die-hard fans, this will be difficult to digest - the team which boasts of the strongest batting line-up in world cricket has not even made it to the second round. It would be a big financial loss for corporate giants like SONY, PEPSI, NIKE etc who had invested heavily in this tournament. According to estimates, SONY stands to lose out appx Rs 1500 million in ad revenues which it would have gained had India advanced. Many restaurants who had invested in big screens to attract crowds stand to lose out. The story can be extended to multiplexes, fast food manufacturers, sports good manufacturers, TV manufacturers, garment manufacturers etc. It seems like a national economic setback!!

Lets look at some positive sides of this setback. For one, again there will be cries from all corners to make cricket more professional - linking players' salaries and perks with their performances. More important than that would be to link sponsorship of team/players with performance. Today, players make much more from brand endorsements than they do from match fees, BCCI contracts etc. This needs to stop.

Second, others (like me) start losing interst in the game. It is high time that we treat cricket like a sport and nothing else. We should stop glorifying and deifying cricketers after every victory and crucifying the same people after a defeat. We should grow up.

Now that India is out, it would be interesting to see which ads will dominate the TV channels in world cup. Will the ads glorifying Indian team and urging them to win still be shown? I hope not!
Also, now I hope SriLanka wins this cup because then we will be able to say that we lost to the best team ;)
Go Lanka Go!!!! Huu Haaa Lankaaa, Aaaaya Lankaaaa...

Cricket won't be the same anymore

When i woke up today morning, the first thought that came to my mind was if I had overslept. I immediately picked up my cellphone and looked the time. It was 07:04. Shit! (I said to myself). I had overslept by 2 hours. I wanted to get up at 5 to watch today's proceedings at SCG. I turned on the TV praying that the match be still on. But it was not to be. All I could see was the presentation ceremony. I cursed myself. If only I had got up at 5, I would have seen the Australians winding up the England innings, I would have seen McGrath pick up his last wicket (also the last wicket of this ashes) and I would also have seen Langer play his last innings.

I desperately wanted to see the last acts of McGrath and Warne. I have been a diehard cricket fan since last 14 years and I have grown up seeing these two guys perform. I have been a non-partisan fan of Warne (He hasn't done well against India) but a very partisan McGrath fan. Whenever McGrath used to ball against Sachin, I would pray to God for he has this knack of picking of the best opposition batsman. I have always admired his discipline, the way he relentlessly probed batsmen outside off-stump is unbelievable. I have never seen a more disciplined and patient bowler than him. Watching him was boring at times but then he made up for his boring bowling with his continuous chatting. Warne, on the other hand never gave any dull moments. He always had too much variety. I haven't seen him bowling Gatting out live but I did see him bowling Strauss out in the last Ashes. The ball pitched well outside offstump, Strauss thrust his left pad forward to leave the ball but what happened next was unbelievable. The ball pitched in rough, turned viciously and hit his leg stump. This disbelief in his eyes was to be seen. How could the bowl turn so much! Well, if Warne is bowling at you, you better believe that he could turn the ball at will.

Today, both of them have retired from test cricket. I dare say that it would be impossible for anyone to fill in their shoes. Between them, they accounted for over 1250 test wickets. They have left a big void in world cricket. Without them, cricket won't be the same anymore.