is 338 not enough to defend?

           Blunders from the both sides forced this match to end as a tie. Everybody criticizing India for their poor fielding and bowling skills. but, in the first place, it is English who allowed India to make 338, though being a better fielding side. no side deserved to win this match.

      India were never been in this match in the second half till the batting power-play. After taking 5 wickets in 6 overs, they allowed tail-enders to hit 3 sixes in the space of 6-7 balls. prior to those 3 sixes, India were about to win the match. Same thing applies to England also, they had the match in their pocket till the 43rd over. India were almost set to loose the match. Then, suddenly they collapsed. 

                 In this flawed match, we saw two special innings from sachin and strauss. Sachin's was a flawless one. becuase, strauss caught by dhoni off zaheer when he was on 13, but nobody appealed. They might not have heard the sound of nick because of that noicy crowd.

Note: Ian Bell was plumb out, but got life. thanks to flawed UDRS!

India - Good start

             India put 370+ on the score board, there is no surprise in that! Because sehwag played till the 48th over. That is the biggest surprise, and damn good news for the India. If sehwag maintains  the same intention through out the tournament, then cup is ours!! And, young virat played another excellent innings, and along with sehwag, has thrown bangla out of the match. As long as the delhi trio(viru,gauti, and virat) are in good form, we will not have much issues with batting. 

                                                       But the bowling still worries. Srisanth's 50+ runs in 5 overs is not acceptable even though its a batting friendly wicket. They allowed bangladesh to cross 280, and if it was not bangladesh, the match would have been very tougher. For bangladesh, they dont have to  worry too much, and their fielding skills have been improved a lot. they are no more one of the worst fielding sides. In the coming days we have so many boring matches are to be played, and you can predict the winners straightaway right now.

Sri lanka - can repeat 1996

                  Playing in the home conditions will be a big advantage for Sri Lanka, they are very threatening in their own yard. I think they can repeat the magic of 96. They are nicely balanced team, and this will be the last world cup for Murali. So they will try to put some extra effort for him.The biggest strength of Sri Lanka lies in their middle order which comprises Mahela and Sanga along with samaraveera. After that they have all rounders in the form of Mathews and perera. And, at the top, Dilshan (he might be off-color off late, but still dangerous) and taranga can make a good opening pair.

                                                                Even their bowling looks good with the likes of Murali, Lasith, Kulasekhara, Mathews, and mendis. Fernando is a wicket taking bowler at crucial times. So, this is the best chance for them to win their second cup.

England - at least this time?

             I think this is the better team from England in the last 20 years. can they make it now? They have already won 20-20 world cup. can they repeat that magic in India? England does not have a good record here in the last 25 years. when they visited last time in 2008, have been thrashed badly.

                                They have less or more chances to reach semis. But, definitely will make it to the knock-out stage. They have very good batting line-up that comprises strauss, trott, peterson, bell, and all rounders bopara, collingwood, and luke wright. wicket-keeper prior can make useful 20-30 runs just like mark boucher of SA. Unfortunately they are missing morgan.Otherwise this could have been very dangerous batting line up.

                In the bowling department, we can see anderson (english zaheer), broad, and other slow medium pacers like collingwood and wright. Currently world's best spinner swann can be their trump card. Let us see whether this bunch of guys are able to down the curtains to the 36 years old waiting.

The best sledging

England's James Ormond had just come out to bat and was greeted by Australia's Mark Waugh : Waugh from the slips: 'What are you doing out here? There's no way you're good enough to play for England.' Ormond: 'Maybe not, but at least I'm the best player in my family.

Sunil Gavaskar  of India and West Indies' Viv Richards: Gavaskar, normally an opener, had decided to bat at number four, but Malcolm Marshall dismissed Anshuman Gaekwad and Dilip Vengsarkar for ducks, setting the stage for Gavaskar to walk in at 0-2. Richards said: 'Man, it don't matter where you come in to bat, the score is still zero.

(Courtesy : yahoo)

South Africa - again sour grapes?

                       In 1992, the Rain God made them to leave the tournament, in 1996, it was Brain Lara's superb century. in 1999 they had a real good chance, both Gibbs and  Donald spoiled that in different situations. in 2003 pollock's wrong calculations, and in 2007 Australia were in a great form not given a chance. South Africa are really strong on paper, especially in India they have a good record. But they will choke (tired of using this word for SA) in crucial matches (remember Titan cup in 1996?).

                                                                                 This time also, i don't think they will make it. They have to wait for the next world cup. Their bowlers can be threatening in SA, but in India, i have some doubts on their capabilities. Except Steyn (morkel upto some extent), other bowler look very ordinary. They may click here and there but cannot win matches for the team with their bowling efforts. They made a mistake by not including Albie. And, they are no more a great fielding side.

                                                                       Batting worth mentioning. Smith (but having moderate success in India), Kallis, Amla, AB, and duminy - all can play according to the situation. Especially amla is having an excellent record in India, and he is in superb form right now. Like India, SA have to depend a lot on their batsmen to fulfill their dream.

Australia - Can they defend this time?

     The biggest difference between the australian teams of 2007 and current one is, they are missing mcgrath, gilly, and hayden this time. But still australia is one of the strongest contenders. Shane watson is in good form, Haddin is dependable keeper-batsman, big-hitting david hussey and cameron white can race the score board in the last 10-15 overs. Pace men Lee, Michel johnson, Bollinger, and Shaun tait - all are wicket taking bowlers. so, at least they will reach semi-finals. 
               But ponting is coming from an injury, and michel clark is inconsistent. this may be a concern for them. and moreover they are going to miss big hussey. This makes the batting line to look a bit average. On top of that they dont have a quality spinner. Clearly its visible that they are missing x-factor. Unlike the 2003 and 2007, they have to fight really hard to retain the cup.

Pakistan - dark horse

            In my previous post we discussed about the India’s chances of winning the cup, now will look at our neighbors. Personally i never supported Pakistan team (except the match between Aus vs. Pak in the Champions trophy 2009), but i never under estimated that team irrespective of their internal issues. I will bet on Pakistan that they will reach semis. They really have a nice bowling attack comprising akthar, gul, sohail tanveer (was the best bowler in ipl 2008), ajmal, cunning razzaq, and afridi. Even their batting line up looks impressive with younis (very good record in India), talented umran akmal and misbah, hard hitting kamran, and most dangerous afridi, razaak at no 7 & 8. These players can play under any conditions. Afridi and razzaq can destroy the opponent in last 10 overs. Their biggest problem is inexperienced openers. Moreover they are not disciplined (don’t forget the match fixing). If they can settle these issues, they can be the real threat to others.