India's chances in the world cup

                                             They will reach semi finals. this is what i believe strongly. if you look at the past, you should not expect more than this. they had a better chance in 1987, but could not win that. As i said in the earlier post, the other 5 teams (Aus,SA,SL,Pak,Eng) are tough to beat. after the league round, have to win 3 consecutive matches to lift the cup.they have to beat 3 equal opponents in a row, and there are chances that they may not be playing their quarter and semi-final matches in india. considering the past, this can be a difficult one for them. 

                                         in the batting friendly conditions, our batting department looks good (we have some flat track heroes in our team), but they are still scared of the fastest bowlers. And they have some issues in the bowling  department. even an average pinch-hitter can hit them at 12 runs per over in the last 10 overs. out of 50, only 20-30 overs are in safe hands. the remaining depends on their luck. this is going to be a big worry. they don't even defend 270+ scores.
                                                        I forgot Yousuf! he is the X-Factor, he can make it for India.

Indian Squad - World Cup'11

                                       Just 3 more weeks to go! battle begins between 6 strong teams for the mega event (we cannot expect more from the others). I believe any team from this 6 can win the cup. i don't predict any team as a favorite. The bigger question is, will this battle be exciting as much as we are expecting. because 96 world cup was a big yawn except few moments.
                                                              In the 3rd week of Jan, list of 15 soldiers has been announced. we will just go through this list, and will discuss their capabilities. We have 1 keeper-batsman (dhoni), 3 specialist spinners (harbhajan,ashwin,piyush), 4 medium pacers (zaheer,nehra,munaf,praveen), 6 specialist batsman (sachin,sehwag,gambhir,raina,virat,yuvraj), and 1 all-rounder in yousuf in the squad.
                                                                                              i really dont understand why there is no reserve wicket keeper, if some thing happens to dhoni just before a crucial match, who is going to keep wickets in his absense? do we need a 3rd spinner when we can see so many part timers in the line up. Instead of picking a 3rd spinner they would have picked up 5th medium pacer or a reserve wicket keeper.
                                                                       in the fast bowling department, we dont have much options. definitely there will be 3 pacers in final eleven. if any two bowlers are injured or out-of-form, then what happens. this is a blunder of selection.

Flash News : Sreesanth is replacing yet to recover praveen (bad news to dhoni)

Dhoni - King of flat tracks

                                                   Yes! indeed dhoni is a flat track bully. anybody can debate with me over this headline. most of the times (may be 7 times out of 10) he will struggle to bat on a live pitch. that's been proved again here in centurion sports park. He is a failure as a batsman in this series. He never looked comfortable on field while batting. if he had made at least 30-40 runs in the last match, we would have won the series also.His contribution in the entire series is pathetic as well (75 runs in 5 innings).

                                                                         Again he may score so many runs on indian dead tracks where even a deadly fast bowler cannot do any thing with ball, but,  may get a chance to score a century with bat in his hand. once again i am telling you guys what i believe to the core is DHONI MEANT FOR FLAT TRACKS. he is good only at post match press conferences.

                                                                        

One side pathetic show - other side Virat

          Once again they gifted wickets with mindless shots. The list includes dhoni, raina, yuvraj singh etc. This is really missed opportunity. they shouldn't have allowed proteas more than 180. one more wicket at that stage (SA 120/5) would have made the difference, and india would have made the history. this has been a problem since a long time. getting rid of the top order and struggling to remove the tail-enders.

                                                                                  I really would like to say few things about Virat Kohli, This young guys is improving with every passing day. Its no surprise RCB retained only this young talented ahead of established stars. He is a complete package. Nice technique, good temperament, energetic running between wickets, and moreover  is a brilliant fielder. I hope Rohit will learn few things here and there from him.  

Yousuf Pathan - Brutal force with calm mind

            wow! what a match it was! a perfect nail biting one. India once again proved that they are the come back kings. Off late they won several  matches by coming from behind, and don't forget the recent Bangalore match where we have seen big Yousuf hammered the kiwis brutally. Once again he did similar kind of stuff, but in alien conditions against a giant.

  

                                  In the process, he showed a great patience, and taken several blows on to his body. He waited for the balls to be dropped in his comfort zone and hit them with brutal force. He has shown us how somebody can cover up his weaknesses by staying calm, and unleash  power in his time. It's very simple, respect the toughest bowlers and hammer the ordinary.

                                                Thank god! There was no Ravindra Jadeja at no.7, I  really don't know what would have happened to the match if he were there.

India's world cup squad - analysis

Hi folks!

      get ready for the biggest cricket feast. The mega cricketing event is going to start in one month in the Indian sub continent followed by mouth watering IPL.  The biggest question raises in our mind again is, can our heroes grab the cup this time after 27+ years. I do agree, its not so easy to stand up to the expectations of 1.2 billion people.

        Yesterday, Srikanth & Co announced a team of 15 members with few surprises in it. In the coming posts, we will discuss whether this team is able to carry the hopes of our nation or not. Keep visiting this space for more analysis!