Axing Harbhajan From The One Day Team Is A Step In The Right Direction

                      The selectors deserve a pat on their back for dropping Harbhajan Singh, at last from the Indian squad that is to play the first two ODIs against England. It would not be out of place to mention that the decision came rather late as Harbhajan has not been performing to appreciable levels for almost a half decade now. Strangely enough, Harbhajan had full backing of the captains in this period of below-par performance. Harbhajan performs only when the opposition is under pressure, like when the opposition is batting on the fourth and fifth days of the test match, gazing at often huge targets set by the strong batting line up or for that matter when other bowlers especially Zaheer Khan gets early wicket or make crucial breakthroughs and put the opposition under pressure. In the recent times, we have seen even Ricky Ponting playing Harbhahan with such ease in test matches. In fact, Ricky Ponting has had better off Harbhajan in the 2003 World Cup Final when he hit him for huge sixes.

                   I do not see anything menacing in Harbhajan's bowling. Bishen Bedi was accurate when he called that Sehwag was the best spinner in the Indian team. Even Yuvraj may perform better if he bowls as many overs as Harbhajan does in test matches. It is no wonder that Yuvraj was the best Indian spinner in the World cup and the best Indian bowler after Zaheer Khan in the World Cup 2011.

                The new guy, whoever it may be, should be given a good stretch in the Indian team to prove his mettle and establish himself in the Indian team. I wonder why Murali Karthik does never get a look. I found him very competitive and skillful whenever I saw him playing. Indian selectors can also try the likes of Iqbal Abdullah. Ashwin has proved that he is better than Harbhajan at this time.

India Is Not Grooming Rohit Sharma Properly

                                 Rohit Sharma is one player among the young generation of cricketers who can replace senior Indian batsman Tendulkar in the Indian team. Not only does Rohit Sharma possess an array of strokes in his repertoire, he can score runs at a rapid pace. He also looks the most stylish batsman that one has seen in the Indian team after Mohammad Azharuddin.

                                 Rohit Sharma performed exceedingly well when he first emerged on the International scene. In fact, he played a crucial part when India emerged the champions in the first edition of IPL. As the time passed, the changes in the Indian team and changes in his batting positions affected his performance and now he is on the fringes of the Indian team. Rohit Sharma is yet another player who has not handled properly by the Indian team management, selectors, and particularly Dhoni. Dhoni has not handled a few players efficiently, including Irfan Pathan and Rohit Sharma.

                          Rohit Sharma could be equally efficient for all the three formats of the game. He should be played continuously irrespective of his performance and he would emerge a force to reckon. By playing Rohit Sharma continuously in all formats of the game, the Indian management can ease out Tendulkar as  the senior batsman is heading for the retirement.

Trent Copeland Could Be The Next McGrath For Australia

                    Trent Copeland and his bowling action reminds one of one of the finest bowler of all-time Glenn McGrath. Trent Copeland is tall, lean and mean like Glenn McGrath. His bowling action is closely similar to that of Glenn McGrath. Trent Copeland could be next big thing in world cricket in fast bowling. Australia has dearly missed the services of Glenn McGrath since his retirement and Trent Copeland's entry into the Australian national squad could fill the vaccum created by McGrath's retirement.

                  Addition of Trent Copeland to the Australian team together with the addition of new batting talent could help Australia regain their powers and pride in world cricket even if not completely dominate the world cricket like they did for more than a decade-and-half. Marsh is a great batting talent. Khwaja looks a great prospect, at least in the longer version of the game. There is Phillip Hughes who promised a lot, but could not keep up to his extraordinary debut in South Africa. If these youngsters can keep up to the promise, the return of good days may not be too far away from Australian cricket.

Sachin's Performance Was Poor In The Depleted Indian Team Against England

 Sachin's performance in the first two tests of the current series between India and England shows it takes something different to perform being part of a weaker unit. It is something like performing under pressure. It also goes onto show how immensely Sachin benefited over the years the extent to which Sachin benefited being part of a strong batting line-up. His performance in the recent years also supports that fact. Sachin's performance in the recent year has been tremendous and we all know Indian batting line-up in the recent year is probably the best batting lin-up India has ever produced.

One could see the same phenomenon with the performance of Ricky Ponting in the last couple of years and his performance before these couple of years. Ponting's performance has dipped in the last couple of years after the retirement of the core of the Australian team, which was formed by some of the outstanding players of all time. Ricky Ponting was one of the leading batsmen in the world when he was part of the strong Australian unit, but his performance is affected adversely in the recent years with the decline of the Australian team.

This fact proves that a certain Brian Lara was phenomenal as he performed being part of a weaker team. Brian Lara was probably part of the weakest West Indian team of all time and one of the weakest team in the world. Yet, he was the leading batsmen for most part of his career and has some phenomenal feats to his credit. Neither Sachin, nor Ponting could have performed anywhere near to Brian Lara if they were part of the West Indian team that Brian Lara was part of or for that matter any weaker team.

India Should Play Four Fast Bowlers And Drop Harbhajan For The Third Test Against England

India needs to make slight changes to their team, which can make a great difference to their fortunes in the third test against England. The first and foremost action they need to take is drop Harbhajan Singh and play four seamers. Hopefully, Zaheer Khan will be fit for the third test and when Zaheer Khan comes back, Harbhajan should be dropped instead of a seamer.

Harbhajan Singh has been ineffective and has no impact on the series so far. Instead a fourth seamer could create problems for the England batting line-up in seamer-friendly condition. The Indian team is having some great part-time spinners, capable of claiming crucial wickets whenever needed. Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, and Sehwag if he comes back for the third test can be handy as part-time spinners and may prove better than the regular Indian spinners.

With the likely return of the regular Indian openers and Zaheer Khan India will get back to their full strength and if they drop Harbhajan in favor of the Fourth spinner, India can present a strong challenge to the England team in the Fourth test. 

Zaheer Khan And Sehwag Are The Main Reasons For India Being No. 1 Test Team

The defeat of the Indian team at the hands of England in the First test of Four-match test series provides ample proof that Zaheer Khan and Sehwag makes the Indian team No.1 in test rankings. If one looks back at the test series that India has won in the recent times or for that matter drawn, one would find that it is either Zaheer Khan or Sehwag who have played a significant role most of the time with Laxman playing such roles besides Zaheer Khan and Sehwag. These three players in Zaheer Khan, Sehwag and to a bit lesser extent Laxman makes the difference to India for being the No. 1 test team in the World.

Zaheer Khan has often played a major role in getting the top-order wickets of the opposition. Even though he would not run through the batting orders very often, but he provides crucial breakthroughs most of the times that would put the opposition team under immense pressure and help the other Indian bowlers to run through the batting orders.

Similarly, Sehwag has been a key component in India retaining the top position in ICC ranking. His blitzkreig innings of 87 on the evening of the Fourth day of the test match against England at Chennai when India was challenged to chase down a mammoth score of around 400 in just session, which India eventually did. That victory would have never been possible had it not been for Sehwag's blitzkreig innings. Similarly his innings of more than 200 at Galle in the second test after India had the lost of the first test of the series and so on. 

Harbhajan Does Not Deserve A Place In The Indian Team

Certain players can continue playing in the Indian team even if they do not perform for prolonged periods of time. Harbhajan is certainly one of them. For the last four to five years, Harbhajan has been ineffective most of the times, but nobody challenges his position. Bowlers like Murali Karthik, Ashwin, Iqbal Abdullah, Pragyan Ojha and others are surely better than Harbhajan, at least in the last five years time duration.

Harbhajan's record abroad has been particularly pathetic in general and in the last five years in particular. It is a high time that the team management and the selectors look for alternative to Harbhajan Singh. I am not sure if the selectors, team management and Harbhajan himself has set himself certain target for record in test cricket irrespective of his form and contribution to the team.

Certain players seems to have great understanding with each other and support each other to the hilt. Harbhajan always seemed to have good rapport with the top players who matter in the team and the team management. Similarly, there is no questions raised on the retirement plans of Rahul Dravid despite his poor form in the past four to five years. There seems to be no need for discussing the possible replacement for Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. 

Iqbal Abdullah Should Replace Harbhajan Singh In The Indian Team

Who is the best spin bowler in the IPL. It is certainly not Harbhajan. Who was the best Indian bowler in the World Cup 2011. It was not Harbhajan. Of course, the part-time spinners like Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Hafeez did a much better job than Harbhajan Singh. Who is the best India spin bowler in the IPL. Of course, Iqbal Abdull who has a better economy rate and average than Harbhajan Singh and if not for that one game where Harbhajan has taken five, then he has not done much in the rest of the games so far. Who are the best Indian spin bowlers  in all the IPL tournaments. Pragyan Ojha was the leading wicket-taker in the IPL 2010 and took three more wickets than Harbhajan Singh, both appearing for same number of games. In the 2009 edition, Anil Kumble and Pragyan Ojha were leading wicket takers among the Indian spinners. Certainly, it was not Harbhajan. Still, Harbhajan is a permanent member of the Indian team. Why?

In the last five years, if not more, I have not seen Harbhajan win a game on his own. He takes wickets only after the fast bowlers perform well and put the opposition in pressure or in a situation when the opposition is facing a daunting task in the Fourth innings often set by the formidable Indian batting line up. I have not seen Harbhajan turning a match on his own in the last five years, at least if not more, but he still continues to be part of the Indian team unchallenged by any other spin bowler. Why?

It is high time that Indian selectors give the other Indian spinners their due credit. Ashwin and Iqbal Abdullah are more impressive than Harbhajan Singh and should promptly be included in the Indian team. In fact, given a chance, both Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan can do better than Harbhajan Singh as a bowler in the test team if they bowl as many over as Harbhajan does in the test team. Additionally, they are regular batsmen. It would not be out of place if Yuvraj place instead of Harbhajan Singh in the Indian team. Yuvraj was much better bowler than Harbhajan in the World Cup and if Yuvraj bowls longer spells, he cannot do worse than Harbhajan Singh.

It is high time that the Indian selectors realize the facts and get the most deserving man for the spinners slot in the Indian team.

Yuvraj Singh:Greatest Indian One-Day And T20 Batsman

Yuvraj Singh is the greatest Indian batsman of all-time in One Day and T20. Also, Yuvraj is the greatest match winner India has produced. In fact he is one of the five or eight greatest One-Day or T20 batsmen of all-time in the World. Yuvraj Singh in top gear is a lovely sight to watch, more amazing than an imperious Sehwag and a certain Sachin Tendulkar. If you take Yuvraj Singh's bowling and fielding into consideration, he is the greatest ever Indian cricketer in Shorter formats of the game, may be save the greatest Indian all-rounder of the all-time Kapil Dev.

When a batsman hit six sixes in an over bowled by a fast bowler, and a bowler of the class, it speak volumes about the ability of the batsman. In fact the most notable fact is that Yuvraj Singh is the only batsman to have hit six sixes in an over off a fast bowler. The other one in Hershelle Gibbs who have scored six sixes in International cricket has scored against spin bowler. The two other guys who have achieved this feat of scoring six sixes in an over, not in International cricket, but in domestic cricket are Gary Sobers and Ravi Shastri  who have hit those six sixes against a spin bowlers. So Yuvraj Singh is the only cricketer who has scored six sixes off the fast bowler.

I have never seen Sachin Tendulkar do such amazing things like Yuvraj Singh when he batted in the middle order. It was during the initial years his career that Yuvraj Singh has forged a historic partnership with Mohammad Kaif secure one of the rare wins in finals of a tournament, and it was achieved after India had lost five wickets for hundred odd runs chasing a mammoth 325 set by England. I have never seen Sachin Tendulkar play such innings in his initial career when he batted in the middle order. Yuvraj Singh has secured many such wins when his team was in trouble forging partnerships with players like Kaif during his initial career and Dhoni in the last two to three years.

Yuvraj Singh is particularly destructive against fast bowlers. He can destroy spinners as well, but looks more susceptible against them.

Yuvraj Singh is also a selfless cricketer and to some extent a humble guy. Mohammad Azharuddin was a selfless cricketer and gave least importance to his records, a trait I find in Yuvraj Singh in the recent times. He never questioned selectors decision to drop him from the test team throughout his career. I think Yuvraj Singh is definitely better than Sourav Ganguly as batsman and would have added more value to the test team as a fielder and a handy part-time spinner. In fact at this time, I think Yuvraj Singh can be picked in the Indian team instead of Harbhajan Singh as a bowler because Yuvraj Singh has been a more successful bowler than Harbhajan Singh in One Day format and T20 format of the game and that could have been true had he bowled as much as Harbhajan did in test cricket, and can you ever neglect the batting and fielding of Yuvraj Singh.

Why Yuvraj Singh has not been part of Indian test team is the greatest dilemma I ever faced in Indian cricket after Mohammad Azharuddin being singled out in match fixing scandal. I distinctly remember him playing a great counter-attaching innings against Pakistan after an upcoming Umar Gul had ran through the Indian batting line up. Yuvraj Singh was one of the key player for India in that series and despite those amazing efforts he never cemented a place in the test team. If I was a selector I would have definitely gone with Yuvraj Singh instead of Sourav Ganguly.

I think India should include Yuvraj Singh in the test team and stick with him for a long time. He should also be tried as a bowler as much as a regular spinner and I believe he will be more successful. I have the instinct that given Indian selectors give Yuvraj another chance and stick with him for a long time, and also use him as a bowler regularly, he could be an asset to the test team as well. I had picked Yuvraj Singh as to be the man for India if India had to win the World Cup and that has come true.

Kolkatta Knight Riders Emerge A Force To Reckon With Sans Sourav Ganguly

I always felt Sourav Ganguly was overrated as a batsman and as a captain. The Indian media tries to create heroes according to their own whims and fancies. Religion, creed, and region becomes the important factors in determining the value and fan following of a particular player. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason the number of players from Bengal that have represented India have been negligible and that made Sourav Ganguly a bigger hero than his caliber.

Sourav Ganguly was a very good player, but he was projected as a great player. I always rated Vinod Kambli higher than Sourav Ganguly. His career saw a boost after he was promoted to open the innings in One Day cricket. Otherwise he would have struggled to retain his place in the national team.

Similarly, I thought Sourav Ganguly was a good captain. He was never a great captain and not the least the best Indian captain of all time. Mohammad Azharuddin, Pataudi, and Mahender Singh Dhoni are the better captains than Sourav Ganguly for sure even if one is not sure of others.

Because Sourav Ganguly was part of a strong Indian team, his flaws were rarely noticed. If was a great captain, he would have got the Kolkatta Knight Riders to the semi-finals, at least in one of the three editions. Kolkatta Knight Riders is the only team that never made it to the Semi-Finals in any of the first three editions of the IPL.

Kolkatta Knight Riders looks a totally different team without Sourav Ganguly. The fans should be realistic and accept the truth. Let us hope Kolkatta Knight Riders wins this edition of the IPL and bring joy for their fans.

Goggles And Caps Costs Catches And Thus Matches.

Catches wins matches is probably the most popular saying in cricket. In fact the dropped catches often cost as much as a World Cup trophy. The famous saying from Steve Waugh after Hershelle Gibbs dropped him at a crucial stage in the knockout game of the World Cup 'How does it feels to drop the World Cup' has become part of the cricket folklore.

The game between India and Pakistan in the 2011 World Cup semi-final saw as many as five catches of Sachin Tendulkar dropped by Pakistan fielders. During this time, one thing I noticed is that the players who dropped these five catches of Sachin Tendulkar in the Semi-Final of the World Cup 2011 were either wearing goggles or caps in most of the instances. Misbah spilled the first catch of Sachin Tendulkar and that was not hard to take. Misbah was wearing a glass. Yunis Khan and Umar Akmal were among the players who dropped Tendulkar at different stages of his innings. Umar Akmal is a brilliant fielder, but dropped Tendulkar and he was wearing a goggle when he dropped Tendulkar.

Since then I have observed that most of the time the players are dropping catches, they are either wearing a goggle or a cap or both of them. So I think players would do well to avoid Goggles and Glasses while they are on the field.

Indian Cricket Team Deserved To Win The World Cup 2011 Even Though They Were Helped By The Opposition Teams in Knockout Stage

The presence of all-time great cricketers like Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan (For the kind of role he has played in India's success in the recent times and in the World Cup), Dhoni, Sehwag, and Sachin itself make India worthy of a World Cup win. The rest of the team composed of competitive and talented cricketers.

Very few teams in the history of the game had as many great cricketers as India had during the World Cup 2011. Yuvraj is definitely one of the all time great one day batsmen. Dhoni has orchestrated many Indian chases and has played the type of role for India that Javed Miandad played for Pakistan or Bevan played for Australia. Moreover, on his day, he could prove to be the fiercest hitter of the cricket ball.

Sehwag and Sachin definitely makes one of the greatest opening pair in One Day cricket. There have been just a couple of opening pairs as formidable or stronger than Sehwag and Sachin. You just require superficial knowledge of the game of cricket to tell which pairs I am talking about. Haynes and Gordon Greenidge is one and Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist is another. Saeed Anwar and Aamer Sohail are not too far behind. I think Majid Khan too formed a good pair with couple of players at the top of the order for Pakistan.

Zaheer Khan is probably the best bowler that India has produced. Certainly, I am not talking in terms of the sheer number of wickets that he has taken, but I am the kind of impact he has for whatever number of wickets  he has taken in the games he has participated.

Now you are talking about five all time greats or for that matter few of them nearly all-time greats in one team in an era when the Australian team is on steady decline. No other team that participated in 2011 World Cup had as many number of all-time greats or for that matter match winner as India had, may be save South Africa, which certainly was the second best team in the tournament.

The very special facet of this Indian team is the history they made by winning at home. No other team in the history of the One Day Cricket World Cup has won a World Cup tournament while hosting it. Then the pressure was huge on the Indian team

You just cannot imagine what kind of pressure that this Indian team was under. Every News Channel was cheering for them from the time when there was a month to go for the start of the tournament.

There was additional pressure for winning it for Sachin Tendulkar because all the claims to his greatness would have taken a beating if he did not have a single World Cup to his name despite participating in most number of World Cup tournaments, a record he shares with Javed Miandad. In fact this Indian team would have won the World Cup even without Sachin Tendulkar.

Australia and Pakistan lost the games that they had virtually won by their own mistakes. Sri Lanka too could not capitalize on the luck they had to march to the Final of the World Cup as they got easy opponents in Quarter-Final and Semi-Final and then in the Final they won the toss and had the opportunity to bat first in a high pressure game with greater amount of pressure being on India. If Sri Lanka could not win the World Cup despite all the luck, they actually did not deserve the World Cup.

I still think Pakistan was the worthy of a spot in the Final. In fact Pakistan played the best cricket throughout the tournament and a few miscalculated decisions cost them the World Cup. Had Pakistan realized under how much pressure Indian team was, they would have easily won against India.

Kudos to the Indian team members, especially Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Dhoni, and Gambhir who held their nerves at the crucial moments of the game. If we had a couple of more bowlers even of the caliber of Zaheer  Khan, this Indian team would have ranked right up there with the all-time great teams.

Zaheer Khan In Particular And Indian Bowlers In General Won The World Cup 2011 For India

Indian bowlers in general and Zaheer Khan in particular won the Cricket World Cup 2011 for India. It is the bowling unit under ever-improving Zaheer Khan that made the difference for India between winning the World Cup and just being one of the teams to get to the knockout stages.

The disciplined bowling from the Indian bowling unit restricted Australia in the Quarter-Final to a moderate total that India could chase down with some huff and puff. Zaheer Khan struck vital blows at the most crucial stage of the game against Australia. He turned the game in India's favor when he got Michael Hussey cheaply midway through the innings. Otherwise Australia would have gone onto get a big score that would have been difficult to chase down. After Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj was the best Indian bowler on view besides being the best Indian batsman in the tournament. Munaf Patel too played a crucial role by bowling good line and length. Most importantly, the Indian bowlers conceded least possible extras, which had a huge bearing on the result of the games.

Similarly, Indian batting unit had a difficult time against Pakistan. Sachin got as many as seven lives during the match against Pakistan including five dropped catches, and still the Indian batting line could manage a modest 260. Pakistan got to a sensational start and Kamran Akmal was threatening to take the game away from India. Zaheer Khan once again came to India's rescue and got India first breakthrough in the shape of Kamran Akmal. Still, Mohammad Hafeez was unperturbed by Kamran Akmal's dismissal and was marching towards the target when Munaf Patel induced Mohammad Hafeez to make a mistake. The Indian bowlers bowled an excellent line and length throughout the Pakistan innings and finally India triumphed over Pakistan.

Most importantly, Zaheer Khan gave India an excellent start in the Final when India was on the back-foot after losing the toss. India won the game during the first 15 overs of the Sri Lankan's innings. The bowling of Zaheer Khan was quite reverse of his performance during 2003 World Cup Final against Australia. Had Zaheer Khan been not as good in the first 15 overs, Sri Lanka could have got a bigger total and the Indian batting might not have chased down the target.

The Indian bowling unit hence deserve a greater share of credit for India's triumph in the World Cup 2011.

Younis Khan And Misbah-Ul-Haq Should Only Play Test Cricket And For Just Another Year

Yunis Khan and Misbah should be picked for test cricket only and slowly they should ease out of the test cricket as well in an years time once the youngsters are ready to take charge at test level. Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, and Umar Akmal will make solid batting order. Umar Akmal should be given freedom to play his natural game irrespective of situation of the game.

Yunis Khan is just a good batsman of shorter format of the game. Misbah too does not have much to offer in shorter format of the game. Mohammad Yusus instead of Yunus Khan would have done a better job for India during the World Cup 2011.

Pakistan should seriously think of promoting Umar Akmal to open the innings in all formats of the game, especially in shorter formats of the game. Umar Akmal can open the innings in shorter formats of the game and play at #4 in test cricket as well. Umar Akmal could turn out to be the most lethal batsman in World Cricket today.

Sachin, Dravid, And Harbhajan Should Retire And Make Way For Youngsters

If not for records, it is high time Sachin and Dravid quit International cricket and make way for young and upcoming Indian cricketers. It is understandable that Sachin and every Indian cricket and Sachin fan has his eye set on Sachin 100th International hundred and 50th One Day hundred, but that will not take Sachin too long a time to complete. Beyond that I do not see Sachin's presence in the Indian team making much difference.

This One Day team well be better without Tendulkar. Tendulkar's absence will not be felt at all in One Day format of the game. So it is high time that once he gets those two hundreds to complete his half century of centuries in One Day format of the game, he should not hesitate in saying goodbye to International cricket.

If Sachin decides to continue playing International cricket, it would be just because of his own records.

Rahul Dravid has struggled for the last three years and during that time his average has dropped from the best by any Indian batsman 58 to 52. I do not see Dravid doing anything exceptional for Team India that he has not done in the past and hence it is high time that Dravid goes before Tendulkar so the man coming in for Dravid settles himself in the position while Tendulkar is around. Tendulkar can then plan his own retirement.

We have seen Harbhajan struggle in the past three years. I think Ashwin is a better prospect than Harbhajan at this time.

Inefficient Format Of Cricket World Cup And The Price Paid By South Africa

The format of cricket World Cup is inefficiently laid and a bit of a gamble. The league stage had little bearing on the outcome of the tournament. What is the significance of playing seven teams for four spots when three out of seven are incapable of making it to the next round. That also means out of the eight teams that had made it to the quarter-finals, whoever will win one quarter-final game will progress to the semi-final.

The Semi-Final spot is decided just on a single game. Imagine a situation wherein a team has won a fewer games during the league stage, and just sneaked into the top four and quarter. There is another team, which has won all the games in the league stage and topped the group. If the team that just managed to sneak into the top four produces their best cricket and with a bit of luck beats the other best team from the other group, it makes to the Semi-Final at the cost of one of the best team in the tournament.

Something similar has happened in the game between South Africa and New Zeeland. South Africa played great cricket during the league stage and emerged one the best teams. The problem for South Africa facing a team like New Zeeland is that South Africa has all the pressure and New Zealand has nothing to lose.

In other words, if the format was different and each team has to play another team in the league stage, and the top four teams had to make it to the Semi-Final stage, then a team like New Zeeland would not have made it to the Final Four. We would have got the best four for the Semi-Final. The results could have been different altogether.

Look from another angle. Imagine had Sri Lanka won the Final. They had been beaten by Pakistan in the league stage and their game against Australia was washed out. They had to play England in the quarters, which is an easier game for Sir Lanka in their home conditions. Then they had to play New Zealand in the Semi-Finals. Another easy game. Sri Lanka had to just beat a few minnows in the league stage, England in quarters and New Zealand in the Semis to reach the Final. With a bit of luck and application, they would have won the Final.

Pakistan and South Africa were by far the better teams than Sri Lanka in the tournament if not on the paper. A more efficient format might have seen one of Pakistan or South Africa in the Final. Even though India emerged the winner with some good performances and a great deal of luck, a more competitive format could have produced at least partially different Semi-Finalist and Finalists in the World Cup.

A competitive and efficient format should have each team participating in Cricket World Cup playing with every other team participating in the tournament. The best four teams or the top four teams after each team has played every other team in the tournament should play the Semi-Finals. That will entail the best four teams in terms of quality as well performance would make it to the Final four and the two of them would go to the Final.

Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, And Luck Wins India Cricket World Cup 2011

Zaheer Khan should have been the man of the series or player of the tournament for playing the main protagonist in India's triumph in Cricket World Cup 2011. At least, both of them, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh should have been awarded the man of the series.

I had picked Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan to be the two players from India to stand out if India had to win the World Cup. Both my picks performed brilliantly, but Zaheer played a more crucial role than Yuvraj Singh. The other players performed in patches on different occasions. Following would be the list of players in the order of their contribution and importance of contribution towards winning Cricket World Cup 2011 for India.

1. Zaheer Khan
2. Yuvraj Singh
3. Gautam Gambhir
4. Mahender Singh Dhoni
5. Virat Kohli
6. Munaf Patel
7. Virender Sehwag
8. Sachin Tendulkar
9. Suresh Raina
10. Harbhajan Singh
11. R. Ashwin
12. Aashish Nehra
13. Yusuf Pathan
14. Piyush Chawala
15. Sreesanth

What was most befitting was the fact that two of the greatest Indian One Day batsmen of all time Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh were at the crease when the winning runs were scored.

Cricket World Cup 2011 And Mediocre Cricket Experts

The cricket enthusiast these days savor many programs on cricket apart from full days of cricket. A day of cricket is often accompanied by post-match and pre-match shows wherein cricket experts throws light on various aspect of the match and the game. It was no different during cricket World Cup 2011. The official broadcasters of the Cricket World Cup organized the program with Harsha Bhogle and various cricket experts before and after the match, and between the innings. Media channels too had their expert analysis programs. These experts were often found wrong in their predictions and they often changed at various stages during a single day. Let us have a look at some of those instances.

Let us start with the most enthusiastic expert Navjot Singh Sidhu. Many times Sidhu went wrong with his prediction and pre-match analysis. Before India Vs England game, Sidhu predicted India to be winner. He said it is 80% India and 20% England. Most of the other cricket experts too predicted India to win easily. England almost chased down a mammoth target before they ended up with a draw. During innings break between India Vs Pakistan Semi-Final, Sidhu opinionated the match to be in favor of Pakistan so did Ian.

Let us now have a look what the other most opinionated cricket expert Ian Chappell has to offer. When asked about the possible topper of Group 'A,' Chappel said he would like to wait till Sri Lanka Vs Australia game to predict the possible topper for the Group 'A' implying that Sri Lanka or Australia will top the group. Instead it was Pakistan, which came on top of group and on their way defeated both Australia and Sri Lanka.

On slightly different note, let us talk about Imran Khan. There were reports that Imran Khan called Shahid Afridi and lended him with valuable expert advice. He has supposedly emphasized on the need for Yunis and Misbah to bat high in the order. Imran Khan, despite all his cricketing brilliance was wrong here. It was because of Yunis Khan and Misbah in the middle order together that Pakistan lost the match against India. Yunis Khan and Misbah are excellent batsmen, but they cannot rotate strike and score rapidly. In short format of the game, they cannot be together at the crease, especially when they are chasing big score. Misbah is an asset late in the order in short format of the game. He can play a waiting game as well as hit the ball to cleaners at will. Imran Khan did not seem to pick that simple fact. He could have instead advised Shahid Afridi to follow Yunis Khan and bat at #5 with Misbah at #7 following Umar at #6, it could have made a huge difference.

Boria Majumadar is a journalist cricket expert who seems to have his opinion. Boria counted on Indian batsmen and said that Dhoni had Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Gambhir and so on fall back upon and Pakistan has only Yunis Khan to fall back. I think he forgot or chose to forget Umar Akmal who is the most talented batsman in the World today and Misbah who played some match winning and match saving innings in the recent past. None of these Indian batsmen actually performed except Sehwag. Sachin scored as long as Pakistan allowed him to. It was India's bowling that won the match. Otherwise Sachin would have been the most embarrassed person on earth after playing that chancy innings had bowlers not won the day for India.

Sourav Ganguly is another highly-rated, mediocre cricket expert. Many times he went wrong in his predictions. On the eve of India Vs Pakistan cricket match he kept on emphasizing that Pakistan will need at least 280 runs on the board to beat India. What all India could manage is a chancy 260. In other words, India scored as much as Pakistan allowed them to. 

Sachin Tendulkar Could Not Score A Hundred After Four Drops And Getting Reprieve Off Two Close Calls

An innings of substance, not style reads the heading of an article on cricinfo referring to Sachin's innings against Pakistan in Semi-Final at Mohali. How long and how far someone would go to defend Sachin Tendulkar. Indian media always try to hide shortcomings of Sachin Tendulkar and hype the talent and achievements of Sachin Tendulkar. His inability to stand pressure is well known. There is no other cricketer in the history of the game that was as well supported and protected as Sachin Tendulkar, but still he fails when the occasion demands the best out of him. For what reasons is he called the 'God Of Cricket' when he cannot be at his best at the biggest of the occasions. After this nervous innings of Sachin Tendulkar against Pakistan in Semi-Final, I do not think anyone right in his head would call him 'God Of Cricket.'

If there is something that got India going against Pakistan, it was Sehwag's innings. Had Sehwag not scored at that pace, Sachin would not have survived. In fact, he was dropped four times and got two close reprieves. Had Sachin got out, someone would have taken charge of the innings, but with Sachin's presence at the crease and the way he was playing under pressure, it put a lot of pressure on the other youngsters around him.

If there is anything that won India the game, it was their bowling. Bowlers bowled perfect line and length. Indian bowlers showed great discipline and conceded negligible extras. That is where India won the game. But the jury decided to give the Man Of The Match to Sachin Tendulkar for crawling to 86 after getting record number of reprieves in one innings.

Luck Is In India's Favor

Congratulations to Team India for making it to the Cricket World Cup 2011, but luck has played a huge part in team India's progress to the Final of Cricket World Cup 2011. The Indian team was under immense pressure, but they were let off the hook by the opposition. Sachin never looked comfortable batting against Pakistan. Had Umar Gul not bowled on the pads of Sehwag and Sachin, Indian innings would not have taken off. Sachin again proved that he is the most susceptible batsman under pressure. India won the quarter-final on the back of yet another bad performance from Shaun Tait. Shaun Tait did not deserve to be in team. I still do not understand why he was selected in the Australian team. You could say Australia lost the quarter final against India because of Shaun Tait and greater blame lies with the selectors who picked him for the Australian team and the team management who included him in the Playing XI.

India was under more pressure than Pakistan going into the Semi-Finals. If Umar Gul had not bowled on legs and Sehwag had not got going, I wondered what Sachin could have done. Pakistan could not capitalize on the situation. The media hype took a toll on Umar Gul. He was afraid of committing mistakes as expectations were lurking around him, and eventually he did what he was apprehensive about during his innings. Wahab Riaz brought them back into the game with wickets of Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni, and Zaheer Khan. The match was in Pakistan's pocket and it was their own choice to lose or win the game from there onwards.

Yunis Khan was the main culprit. I guess, Mohammad Yusuf, instead of Yunis Khan would have done the trick. Pakistan board has done injustice to a player of the caliber of Mohammad Yusuf. When you do injustice to your own people, you cannot expect justice from the Almighty. Yunis Khan thinks himself to be a greater batsman than what he is and tries to go overboard. Yunis Khan's irresponsible shot together with a few loopholes in strategy cost Pakistan the game and eventually India won.

Shahid Afridi And Misbah Should Exchange Places In Pakistan Batting Line Up

Afridi and Misbah can exchange their current batting places to make more efficient use of the batting resources. Asad Shafiq and Yunis are perfect choices for #3 and #4. The strike rate could take a beating if Misbah follows Yunis and the batting becomes monotonous. If Shahid Afridi bats at #5 he can give impetus to the innings from other end. So far Pakistan is playing all the steady batsmen like Shafiq, Yunis, and Misbah in a sequence followed by all the aggressors like Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, and Abdul Razzak one after other.

Pakistan can strike a good balance by playing Shahid Afridid at #5 and Misbah at #7. Having all the aggressors and big hitters down the order will not be productive either.

Experts are claiming that the Pakistan does not have a strong batting line up, but I think against the bowling attack that is left in the rest of World Cup 2011, Pakistan has the best batting line up. 

If Shoib Akhtar has to be given a chance he must be strictly told not to bowl on legs, short balls and full tosses.

India Should Play Three Fast Bowlers And Drop Harbhajan Against Pakistan

India dropped non-performing member Yusuf Pathan against Australia and found it beneficial. India must drop the other non-performing member of the Indian team. Harbhajan has done nothing of significance in this World Cup and in fact that has been true for the last four to five years. Harbhajan Singh must be replaced with a third seamer. Sreesanth must play instead of Harbhajan.

Harbhajan has been particularly ineffective against Pakistan. Pakistan batsmen are adept at playing spin. Harbhajan Singh is unlikely to cause any trouble for Pakistan batsmen. It would be ridiculous to persist with Harbhajan and play him further in the World Cup. Bishen Singh Bedi or Maninder Singh at this time would be more effective than Harbhahajan Singh has been for a long time.

Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Munaf/Nehra should be playing against Pakistan. Ashwin will play as the specialist spinner and India has multiple part-time spinners who are as much capable as specialist spinners. 

Sachin Tendulkar Is The Special Person That Yuvraj Said He Is Playing For In World Cup 2011

Speculations are rife after Yuvraj Singh said that he wants to win this World Cup or something like that for a 'Special Person.' The Special Person is Sachin Tendulkar. The whole nation wants the World Cup for Sachin Tendulkar. By stating he wants to win the World Cup for a special person, Yuvraj Singh is reflecting the mood of majority of the Indian cricket fans. Once again cricket experts are not spot on. Everyone is making their guess, but none of them has mentioned Sachin Tendulkar.

Sachin Tendulkar despite all the records could not win a World Cup for the team. A fact realized by everyone including Yuvraj Singh.  Everyone of them also realize that this is going to be the last World Cup, including Yuvraj Singh and the other teammates. Yuvraj realizes the greater importance in winning this World Cup because Sachin Tendulkar will not be there around for the next World Cup. Yuvraj Singh will be still around in the next World Cup and win it if he does not do it this time, but Sachin will not be there in the next World Cup. Yuvraj Singh, other teammates, and whole lot of Indian cricket fans wants this World Cup for Sachin Tendulkar who does not have a single trophy despite having featured in most number of World Cups along with Miandad.

Senseless Shaun Tait Wins Quarterfinal For India By Doing A Shoib Akhtar

Kudos to Yuvraj Singh for holding his strong nerves and kudos to Zaheer Khan for another brilliant and timely performance with the ball and keeping India in the match. Yuvraj Singh once again proved that he is greatest Indian one day batsman of all time and one of the greatest match winner of all time. Kudos to the Indian team for edging Australia out of the World Cup 2011.

Shaun Tait's performance won the quarterfinal for India more than the brilliant individual performances by Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Gambhir, and Ashwin. A billion of cricket crazy Indian fans must be grateful to Shaun Tait for bowling the way he bowled. Australia has the game in their pocket after winning the toss and then doing the needful in posting 260 runs on the board. An ever aggressive Sehwag was subdued and the frowns were developing on Sehwag's forehead faster than his strike rate. India was under so much pressure that Gambhir created two opportunities for running himself out, and did succeed in the second attempt. Cool-like-cucumber Dhoni lost his nerves and returned back to pavilion in no time. All these demonstrated that Indian team had lost half the battle midway through the match. The one way for India to win this match was for Australia to lose it.

The only thing Australia were required to do was to contain the runs. Bret Lee was reasonably good, but Shaun Tait was not. Shaun Tait did not have the sense of occasion. He did not know what was required of him. Speed was not the primary requirement. The requirement was to stop the runs. Shane Watson instead of Shaun Tait would have done the job, and Smith should have played instead of Shaun Tait.

When you have someone like Sehwag frowing and apprehensive, the only way for Australia to lose the game was to self destruct. Shaun Tait did that precisely. It was reminder of India Vs Pakistan quarterfinal of 2003 World Cup. Shoib Akhtar bowled short, wide, and fast in that game feeding Sachin and Sehwag with ample opportunities to hit the ball for sixes and fours and providing momentum to the Indian innings. Shoib Akhtar though produces some brilliant performances when he avoids those short balls and full tosses, but I have rarely seen Shaun Tait performing well.

What was funny was the fact that Shaun Tait was showing his anger on the Indian batsmen. First, he is feeding them with the short stuff and getting hit for boundaries, then he is abusing them with that F word for hitting him for boundaries. Had he bowled a proper line and length, he would not have required to show his frustration on the Indian batsmen.

But more than Shaun Tait, I feel pity on the Australian management who plays him in the Australian team. If those Shaun Tait overs had been bowled by Shane Watson and other part-time spinners, Australia would have won the game. This game also demonstrated Ricky Ponting as a great batsman and ordinary captain.

The bottom-line is that Australia did not deserve to win this World Cup. They already have four, which is one more than what should be a justifiable tally for them. They had a bit of luck in 1987 when Pakistan and West Indies were better teams and England was a bit unlucky, and luck played a bigger role in their title triumph in 1999. A fifth World Cup for Australia would have reflected poorly on the overall strength of other teams and and balance between different teams.

Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan were brilliant. I had picked Yuvraj Singh as the player to watch out for India before the World Cup. I predicted Yuvraj will be the man for India if India goes all the way. I also picked Zaheer Khan and Sehwag to determine the Indian fortunes at the World Cup. I also predicted that Yusuf Pathan would fail. I am very happy that my picks have performed brilliantly and I did better than the cricket experts here.

The defeat for Australia also meant that cricket-crazy fans all over the World in general and subcontinent in particular will be treated to an India Vs Pakistan Semi-Final. At the same time, I am slightly disappointed that India and Pakistan are not playing in the Final. I hope and wish, whichever team wins the game between India Vs Pakistan Semi-Final goes on to win the World Cup.

Younis And Misbah Should Be Separated By Umar Akmal And Shahid Afridi

Pakistan has found a perfect balance to their team after the loss against New Zealand and eventually defeated Australia quite convincingly. The did strike the balance between aggression and stability by dropping Ahmad Shahzad and retaining Asad Shafique for the Australia game. Pakistan is the most versatile team in this tournament and the only thing they needed to do is to use their resources judiciously.

There is still one issue that the Pakistan team management needs to address. The needed to rethink the batting position of Yunis and Misbah. Yunis and Misbah coming to bat after each other would not work in most of the situations, especially while chasing the target. If both of them are at the wickets together, they will find it difficult to rotate the strike, and would give up their wickets as they have done in the game against New Zealand and Australia. The role of Yunis and Misbah would be stay at the wicket rather than up the ante. So there has to be one of them at the wicket with some aggressive bat, while the other one is waiting in the dressing room to take charge if there is further batting  collapse.

Yunis Khan should be followed by Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal. While Yunis Khan play the game at his own pace scoring on easy balls, the batsmen like Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal can take a few risk. That would also mean that Pakistan have a proper batsman in Misbah-Ul-Haq down the order, and there is Abdul Razzak who can score briskly at the other end if needed.

The bottom-line is that Yunis and Misbah should be separated by Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal. Misbah can be quite handy down the order as he can bat according to the situation.

1. Kamran Akmal
2. Mohammad Hafeez
3. Asad Shafique
4. Yunis Khan
5. Shahid Afridi/Umar Akmal
6. Shahid Afridi/Umar Akmal
7. Misbah
8. Abdul Razzak
9. Umar  Gul
10. Rehman/Wahab Riaz/Shoib Akhtar given that he does not bowl short balls and full tosses
11. Saeed Ajmal

Shoib Akhtar can be given a chance if he gives the assurance that he will not bowl full tosses and short stuff. Whenever he has bowled short and full tosses, he has been hit for a lot of runs. If Shoib Akhtar can bowl straight on the wickets and hit unplayable spots, he could provide Pakistan extra edge in Semi-Final and Final and help Pakistan in their mission to win the World Cup.

Every Pakistan Cricketer Participating In 2011 World Cup Is Better Than Ramiz Raja

It was disgusting to listen to ridiculous comments from Ramiz Raja on STAR CRICKET after the match between Pakistan and Zimbabwe. He says Pakistan should not disturb their opening combination and should persist with Ahmad Shahzad. He says that Pakistan made changes in their opening pair three times in World Cup  1992 and lost on all three occasions. Ahmad Shahzad is a fine talent, but his confidence is shattered on the back of failures in the World Cup. His low confidence could rub on the rest of the team and there is no guarentee he would come good in more crucial games ahead. It is much better to open with tried and tested Kamran Akmal. He also goes onto say Kamran Akmal should be persisted at #3. If you look at the history Kamran Akmal has failed in the middle order and has been only effective as an opener or late in the middle order.

Effectively, he is asking Pakistan to repeat the failures. That is persist Ahamad Shahzad and let him fail and play Kamran Akmal at the number where he has failed. He also makes comparison between Asad Shafiq and Umar Akmal. Umar Akmal is the most talented in the whole World today. If Umar Akmal comes good, he can alone win the game for India. Asad Shafiq has to come into the Pakistan team, but at the cost of Ahmad Shahzad. Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez should open the innings and Asad Shafiq should bat at #3. Yunis Khan should bat at #4, but Misbah should be pushed down the order as he can wait a stabilizing game in the wake of middle order collapse or can go after the bowlers towards the end of the game.

Pakistan has the greatest versatility in their team in terms of the talent. If Pakistan utilize their talent appropriately, they are easily the best team in the tournament.

Ramiz Raja then goes on record saying Pakistan missed a trick by dropping Shoib Akhtar. After the game against New Zeeland, even if Shoib Akhtar did not deserve a drop, he at least needed a rest to perform in crucial games ahead in the tournament. Shoib Akhtar gave away those runs at the end as he was a bit tired and bowled short balls and full tosses. There could not have been a better opportunity to rest Shoib Akhtar than resting him today in the game against Zimbabwe. Shoib Akhtar is a great asset if he bowls straight with good line and length. But Shoib Akhtar is a liability if he goes astray and bowls short, which he does often.

Pakistan Should Drop Ahmad Shahzad, Open With Kamran Akmal And Play Asad Shafiq

Kamran Akmal should open the innings with Mohammad Hafeez at the top of the order. Ahmad Shahzad should be dropped to draft Asad Shfique in the side. Asad Shafique could provide the much required stability for Pakistan at #3. Umar Akmal should bat between Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq. Pakistan is the most balanced side in this World Cup.

Pakistan need to identify the right position for each of their player, their weaknesses and strengths. Misbah will be more productive down the middle order at #6 than in the middle order. These are very simple tactics, and you need not be a rocket scientist to identify these strengths and weaknesses. There is a fallacy that this Pakistan team cannot chase down big target. I think Pakistan has the best arsenal in their tank to chase down any kind of target. They just do not seem to plan well. I do not see Intikhab Alam being of any use in the team think tank. Waqar Yunis seems to be a good coach, but he too, like many former Pakistan cricketer miss finer details of their teams game, and most often do not use the natural talent of their cricket players.

The following batting order would be the best batting order for Pakistan

1. Kamran Akmal
2. Mohammad Hafeez
3. Asad Shafique
4. Yunis Khan
5. Shahid Afridi/Umar Akmal
6. Misbah
7. Shahid Afridi/Umar Akmal
8. Abdul Razzak
9. Umar Gul
10. Rahman
11. Shoib Akhtar

Drop Harbhajan And Win The World Cup

It is pity that the cricket experts often do not pick up the finer nuances of the game. There is nothing special about Harbhajan Singh's bowling. I have never seen Harbhajan Singh turn a game by himself. What Harbhajan's does at his best is pick wickets when the opposition is under immense pressure. His performance against Australia in 2001 is more due to incompetence of Australian batsmen at playing slow bowling than Harbhajan's expertise with the ball. Sachin Tendulkar has bagged five wicket hauls against an almost similar Australian team in One Dayers. Who knows if Sachin had bowled as many over as Harbhajan did, Sachin would have picked more wickets than Harbhajan. I could not agree more with Bishan Singh Bedi when he claimed that Sehwag is the best spin bowler in the Indian team. Did Harbhajan ever turned a ball like a Shane Warne or a Muralitharan.

I have seen Harbhajan struggled badly in the last three to four years as I have been watching cricket ever more than I did before. This Indian team has many specialist batsmen who are better spin bowlers than Harbhajan. If Yuvraj and Sehwag are used as much as Harbhajan, they would produce more results than Harbhajan. In the presence of that many permanent Indian batsmen who are so good at turning their arm around, India needs only specialist spinner.

The only task ahead of everyone who matter is to identify the best spinner in the India. At this time I think Ashwin is the best Indian spinner. In fact I always thought that Murali Karthik was a more potent spinner than Harbhajan even though he is a leg spinner. I do not know what keeps Harbhajan going in the Indian team. Dhoni never seems to show concern about Harbhajan's indifferent form.

In fact I would rate Harbhajan's batting skills above his bowling skills. I think it is a high time that Harbhajan makes the way for a more talented spin bowler in the Indian team. How now and then come with good bowling performance and retain his place till he comes with another one. Most of the times he gets wickets simply because the batsmen are going after him and trying to score runs quickly.

Ashwin Should Replace Harbhajan And Suresh Raina Should Replace Gautam Gambhir Or Yusuf Pathan

India needs only one spinner with the all rounders like Yuvraj, Sehwag, Yusuf Pathan, and Sachin Tendulkar being more than capable options. Suresh Raina too is a potent bowler on the subcontinental pitches if he gets to play. India needs to pick their best spinner. I think at this time Ashwin is the best specialist Indian spinner.

 Harbhajan has not performed for the last four to five years. Ashwin will do better than Harbhajan. There is no place for 2nd spinner in the Indian team with so many part time spinners and some of them like Sehwag and Yuvraj looks more capable than Harbhajan on most of the occasions.

Harbhajan has performed for India whenever there is immense pressure on the opposition. It is like opposition losing the wickets under pressure and Harbhajan being the biggest beneficiary. For analogy you could compare it to Sachin performing almost every time whenever there is no pressure, but you could be almost certain of Sachin failing whenever there is pressure. There seems to more support for certain players in the Indian team management, especially Dhoni seems to back some players to the hilt and Harbhajan is one of the beneficiary.

Similarly One has to pick three from Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, and Yusuf Pathan. Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli can be categorized into similar category. Similarly Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan resemble each other in their capabilities. Which combination would be better out of these three options. Between Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir is a established cricketer, but Virat Kohli is in a better form at this time. Gautam Gambhir is better as an opener, but he has not been as effective in the middle order.

With the opening slots sealed by Sehwag and Sachin at this time, Gautam Gambhir has to bat in the middle order. But the fact is that with a middle order that boast of the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni, and Yusuf Pathan or Suresh Raina, you do not need both Gambhir and Virat Kohli. There has to be only one from Gambhir and Virat playing in the middle order. If you have to talk about the middle order, Virat has an edge over Gambhir on his recent form. That means if one has to select three from among these four one has to decide between stability in the top middle order or aggression down the order. Virat Kohli has to be retained for his recent form. That would mean you have to bring in Raina for either Gambhir or Yusuf Pathan. Raina could be more aggressive than Gambhir at #3 or more dependable than Yusuf Pathan at #7. These are some simple facts that our cricket experts do not seem to understand.

Ridiculous Post Match Commentary On India Vs South Africa Encounter On Indian News Channels

Boria Majumdar suggests on Times Now during the analysis of India Vs South Africa that Harbhajan should have bowled one of the last overs.  There were suggestions on various platforms that Harbhajan should have bowled the last over instead of Nehra. The result would not have been different even if Harbhajan had bowled the last over. It would have been much easier for the South African players to achieve the target. If that had happened these people would have been criticizing the same move even sharply citing that Harbhajan has not done anything significant in the recent times and they would have suggested that Nehra should have bowled the last over instead of Harbhajan and they would have insisted Nehra's heroics against Pakistan to win a game in the last over when Pakistan was almost cruising.

Expert comments on television are ridiculous most of the time. Neither Harbhajan, nor Yusuf Pathan deserve a place in the Indian team. Harbhajan has not done anything significant in the last three to four years. Yusuf Pathan is a great T20 player, but he is a bit and pieces player in One Day format. If he clicks, he can destroy the opposition, but that does not happen consistently because he lacks the technique to stay at the wicket scoring consistently or for that matter without scoring. Sachin Tendulkar scored a hundred batting at the top and helped his own record, but he might have also failed if he arrived in the situation that the other middle order batsmen failed.

There has been talk of bringing Ashwin in for another bowler and Suresh Raina for Gautam Gambhir. That is completely ridiculous suggestion. Ashwin should be brought in for Harbhajan and Suresh Raina should be brought in for Yusuf Pathan or Gautam Gambhir. That would provide the best balance to the Indian team. The perfect eleven for India would be as follows. One of Nehra or Sreesanth should be played in the XI.

1. Virender Sehwag
2. Sachin Tendulkar
3. Gautam Gambhir
4. Virat Kohli
5. Yuvraj Singh
6. MS Dhoni
7. Suresh Raina
8. Ashwin
9. Zaheer Khan
10. Sreesanth
11. Munaf Patel

OR

1. Virender Sehwag

2. Sachin Tendulkar

3. Virat Kohli

4. Yuvraj Singh

5. MS Dhoni

6. Suresh Raina

7. Yusuf Pathan

8. Ashwin 

9. Zaheer Khan

10. Sreesanth

11. Munaf Patel

India will not lose even a single game with this combination

.

What Changes Pakistan Should Make

It was good that Pakistan captain lost the toss today and got a feel of how his current team would fare batting second. If Pakistan makes a few changes in their team and batting line up, they are capable of chasing down any score. Pakistan should elect to bat whenever they win the toss, but they should be well prepared to chase down if they lose the toss and have to do the chasing. It is good for Pakistan team that they had a loss midway through the league stage. They could not have afforded to lost a game at a better occasion than today. The collapse for good has come in the league stage rather than in the knockout stage. Pakistan team though should learn a few lessons from this game and should not repeat the same mistakes in the games to come if they had to bat second in the wake of losing the toss.

There are certain changes Pakistan has to make and some reforms they needed to reinforce. First and foremost, they need to change their opening pair at the top. Kamran Akmal should open with Mohammad Hafeez. In my earlier columns I wrote that Kamran Akmal is not effective in the middle order. He is best either down the order or as an opener. Pakistan can drop Ahmad Shahzad for Wahab Riaz or Junaid. A pinch hitter can be promoted to bat at #3. There have to be at least two batsmen separating Yunis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq. Pakistan cannot effort to have both Yunis Khan and Misbah coming after each other in one day game especially when they are chasing a big score. I would have liked a bit more imagination from the Pakistan management or Pakistan captain.

Umar Akmal or Afridi or both should come between Yunis and Misbah. What a waste of talents like Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi at 6 and 7. Umar Akmal can win Pakistan a game on his own if he bats for at least 25 overs. Misbah should rather bat at #6 as he is capable of switching gears according to situation. If lot of wickets fall Misbah can stay at the wicket letting other batters play their own game. Or if needed he can himself capable of hitting big sixes coming down the order. Pakistan should identify the best spot for their batsmen. Umar Akmal can also be an asset as an opener is shorter formats of the game.

Shoib Akhtar has gone back to his old ways  in his second spell in this match against New Zeeland. He is at his best when he bowls good line and length. Whenever he bowls short, he goes for lot of runs. Shoib Akhtar will be liability if he bowls short. If he cannot improve on his biggest weakness in all these 10 years, it is pity on Shoib and the people concerned. I distinctly remember it was Shoib Akhtar's short bowling that provided momentum to the Indian innings in the quarter final of World Cup 2003 against Pakistan. Shoib Akhtar bowling short stuff and Sachin and Sehwag fully capitalizing by just guiding those fast balls to the audience is a memory etched in everybody's mind. Shoib Akhtar should totally avoid bowling short. I have never seen Shoib Akhtar picking a wicket on a short stuff. The best batting line up for Pakistan would be as follows.

1. Mohammad Hafeez
2. Kamran Akmal
3. Yunis Khan
4. Umar Akmal
5. Shahid Afridi
6. Misbah
7. Abdul Razzak
8. Umar Gul
9. Wahab Riaz
10. Rehman/Saeed Ajmal
11. Shoib Akhtar

Pakistan's Defensive And Timid Approach Against Canada

The reason for Pakistan's timid and defensive approach against Canada is hard to fathom. Ahmad Shahzad is still unable to come to terms with a big stage like World Cup and has failed to express himself. He is one of aggressive players in the tournament, but has so far been the most subdued player on view in this World Cup. Mohammad Hafeez tried to be a little more aggressive than his natural capability, and could not last long. Kamran Akmal has not played his natural game so far. Kamran Akmal is least effective in the middle order. Kamran Akmal is more effective as an opener and in the late middle order, more so in the late middle order.

After the fourth wicket fell in form of Younis Khan, Misbah and Umar got together in rearguard action. You cannot blame Misbah for playing a sedate innings when the team was in dire straits. Pakistan is absolutely wasting Umar Akmal at #6. Pakistan should learn a few lessons from India and recently England. India has reaped huge rewards by promoting Tendulkar as an opener. England too realized the importance of having a talented and aggressive player like Kevin Pieterson at the top of the order. Pakistan should open with Akmal brothers or swap the positions the two Akmal brothers are batting currently. Umar will be more effective than Kamran Akmal at #3 where Kamran Akmal is batting currently. Whereas Kamran will be more dangerous at #6 where Umar is batting.

The best of Kamran Akmal has come when he batted in the late middle order. He has often provided Pakistan with killer punch in the late middle order that has won them many games. The second best of Kamran has come when he opened the innings. Kamran is least effective in the middle order and these facts should be realized by Pakistan before they cost them a possible World Cup title. Pakistan can swap places between Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal.  

Afridi Could Emulate Imran Khan In World Cup 2011

Few would dispute the fact that Afridi is the most exciting cricketer to have played One Day format of the game. Afridi, Sachin Tendulkar, and Jacques Kallis are three most deserving cricketers to hold the World Cup 2011 trophy in their hands. Afridi cannot be put in the same class as Imran Khan, but he has been an impact player for Pakistan for as long as he has been part of Pakistan cricket. He has been as integral to Pakistan team as was Imran Khan during his time. We have not seen a charismatic cricketer like Imran Khan may be save Waseem Akram. If there is one cricketer who can match the charismatic traits of Imran Khan, it is Afridi. Afridi also has a realistic chance winning the World Cup 2011 for Pakistan and emulating Imran Khan.

Afridi has emerged as leading player in this World Cup grabbing as many as 14 wickets in three games and ended up man of the match twice out of these three games. If Afridi continues to perform in similar manner for the rest of the tournament, it will boost the performance of other extremely talented Pakistan cricketer, and if that happens, nothing can stop Pakistan from going all the way during the 2011 World Cup.

If Pakistan wins the World Cup 2011, it will be a fitting achievement for a unique and most exciting cricketer of this format of the game. The most exhilarating cricketer of the format deserve to hold the most coveted trophy of the format.

This World Cup Could Be A Diamond In Sachin's Bejeweled Career

Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, and Shahid Afridi deserved most to be part of the World Cup winning squad than any other single cricketer in this World Cup, and I firmly believe that of the three teams being represented by these three fabulous cricketers will win the World Cup. The World Cup winner will be one among India, Pakistan, and South Africa.

Sachin has had a fabulous career. I do not agree with the claims of Sachin being the greatest batsman of his time. Among the batsmen I have watched a lot, I would rate Lara and Adam Gilchrist as more capable batsmen than Sachin Tendulkar and among Indians, Sehwag, Yuvraj, and Dhoni are as much capable batsmen as Sachin if not better than him. I also feel there have been at least five batsmen in the past who were better than Sachin and as many who were equally as good. What sets Sachin apart from all these cricketers is his maturity beyond his years that he displayed during his entire career that began at the tender age of 16. The way Sachin has handled the super stardom is a material of a fantasy book. Just see how his equally talented colleague Vinod Kambli went into oblivion. Kambli was no less than Sachin as a batsman, and of course scored a couple of double hundreds in test cricket long before Sachin achieved the milestone. Kambli averaged better in one day format of the game when both were playing in the middle order. Still, Just see the difference between Kambli and Sachin. Kambli is not even spoken about when people talk about great Indian batsmen of all time, while Sachin's admirers often hail Sachin as whatever they like.

If one has to pick a single cricketer in this tournament who deserved the World Cup most, it probably has to be Sachin Tendulkar. Apart from holding records that come from talent and longevity and his talent, Sachin also deserved the World Cup because the number of people that want the World Cup for Sachin are far greater than the number of people who want the World Cup for any other single cricketer in the whole World. 100 One Day International hundreds are also in offing for Sachin Tendulkar. If Sachin scores his 100th hundred during this World Cup tournament and India goes onto win the trophy, I would assume it will be national holiday for at least one week in India. He should bid adieu to cricket if he manages 100 hundreds during the World Cup and India goes onto win the World Cup, which will not only be a great farewell to one of the outstanding careers, but it will also mean opportunities for the players waiting in the wings.

Does Anyone Still Think One Day Cricket Is Boring

There have been calls for abandoning One Day Cricket to preserve test format of the game. The calls for doing away with One Day cricket increased after the advent and huge success of T20. Many cricket experts believe that One Day format of the game should be sacrificed.


The World Cup is only into its second week and we have been treated to some spectacular entertainment. We have already been treated to a handful of close games and the two of the latest were cliffhangers to say the least. Experts have already been proved wrong on more than one occasion. Everyone was picking India to be clear favorites against England. It proved out to be the tightest game of the World cup and ended up in a tie. Expert seemed to be being proved right when India won the toss and went on their business with the bat. But the game turned out to be a thriller in the end swinging between the two sides all the time.


After the game between India and England I thought the best game of the tournament has already been played, but I was proved wrong the very next day. As one can expect of the experts, they are no better than an amateur in predicting the result. Everyone picked England as the out and out favorite. Nobody would have thought Ireland would beat England and not the least when England compiled as many as 327. To make it an absolute fantasy material, the Ireland lose their first wicket in form of their captain with nothing on the board. They kept on losing wickets and were down to 111 for the loss of five wickets. The sixth wicket partnership between Kevin O'Brien and Alex Cusack saw the Ireland total jump from 111/5 to 273-6. Kevin O'Brien's innings was embedded with exquisite hits to the boundary and over  the rope.


After what we have seen today from Kevin O'Brien's bat people should stop listing the greatest batsmen of all time. You may be able to set apart the likes of Viv Richards, Brian Lara, and Gilchrist, but there are some much talent in the World that you can never make a list.


Coming back to our original topic, people should stop talking about the survival of the One Day format of the game. The number of One Day games being played these days can be truncated, but you can never do away with One Day format of the game completely. 

Pathetic To See Cricket Analysis On Indian News Channels

Rubbish is the word that sums up the analysis of cricket World Cup and cricket related issues on Indian news channels. The Indian media goes overboard on cricket-related discussions. There is exaggeration of praise for some players when they do something brilliant. Some players are called 'Gods' who are not as mighty as many of the human beings or their contemporaries. Whenever something goes wrong, the news channel simply go overboard in criticizing the players. The so called experts, most of whom are former cricketers too sound immature most of the time in their analysis.

It is a festival whenever India achieves a victory, and that is well and good. But it is an absolute doom whenever India performed badly and this World Cup is no exception. Before the contest between India and England, there was so much hype around the game. The prediction of the experts rarely come true. I did not see many experts picking England favorites for the game. Sidhu gave India 80% chance of winning the game between England and India. In fact England came very close to winning the contest despite losing the toss and having to chase a big total. Eventually they managed a tie.

The scenes were contrasting on the News Channels after the tie between India and England. The cricketers who were being celebrated in advance as likely heroes who would won India the game till before the match began were heavily criticized after the contest concluded. If Indian cricketers have watched the the program in which their performance Versus England was evaluated and criticized, I cannot imagine the kind of effect that would have on these Indian cricketers and how it would effect their performance in rest of the World Cup tournament.

What is more painful is the way Indian media started celebrating an Indian victory even before the start of the World Cup 2011. Some people want it for Sachin Tendulkar. Steve Waugh sharply criticize the very need to win the World cup for an individual cricketer. He rightly said that India should win it for the county and not for an individual cricketer. How can India call a cricket as a God who could not get a single World Cup for his country despite being one of the few to represent the country in as many as five edition. Moreover if one has to celebrate an Indian victory in advance why is the competition held and what  is the purpose of other teams participating in the tournament.

Being patriotic and ambitious is one thing, but you got to be rational in your thought process and approach. It is often embarrassing to see the Indian media asking some irrational questions to the foreign cricketers. These foreign cricketers are more professional and from an entirely different culture. The Indian media being ridiculously obsessed with their cricketers during the analysis involving the foreign cricketers makes one feel abashed.

UMAR AKMAL And Darren Bravo Will Rule The Cricket World In This Decade

Umar Akmal is the most talented batsmen in the World today. There is a reflection of Kamran Akmal, Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Azharuddin, and Dean Jones in his batting. Darren Bravo is another immensely talented young batsmen. You can see the shadow of Brian Lara in Darren Bravo. Everything about Darren Bravo reminds you of Brian Lara. There is no cricketer similar to another cricketer as much as Darren Bravo is similar to Brian Lara.

One has to see more of Darren Bravo in order to make concrete judgement about caliber. If he can play like he did against South Africa consistently, we might in for the second Brian Lara. As for Umar Akmal, the first time I saw him, I told to the people sitting around me watching the game that Umar Akmal has the talent to be the greatest batsmen of all time. He played all kind of shots in that particular innings. He rarely played a false shot. He played all the clean shots that easily cleared the boundaries.

What is affecting Akmal's games is the state of Pakistan cricket. I feel that Umar should open the innings in all formats of the game, especially in shorter format of the game. Just see the way Tendulkar rose to another level of stardom after being promoted as an opener. If younger Akmal is promoted as an opener and lasts the entire innings he can score a double hundred every time he plays for the entire innings.

Tendulkar has never scored a hundred before he was promoted as an opener for the first time in his first 79 games. It took only a couple of games for Akmal to register his first one day hundred batting in the middle order. Umar Akmal is definitely a more capable batsman than a Sachin Tendulkar and can match Brian Lara with his performances.

I am looking forward to many delightful and entertaining innings from both Umar Akmal and Darren Bravo. They will be the biggest stars for this entire decade-and-half. I hope the overall states of these two teams Pakistan and West Indies improve so we can see the best of these two extremely talented batsmen in Umar Akmal and Darren Bravo.

Another Great Start By Yet Another Top Contenders To Cricket World Cup 2011

When South African captain Graem Smith won the toss and elected to bowl, one would have been a bit unconvinced about his decision. South Africa could have been at the receiving end of calling it right at the toss as it happened many times throughout the history of the tournament. The doubts looks taking the shape of reality when Darren Bravo got going. But as it happened during the time when a certain Brian Lara was around, the West Indian team collapsed once Darren Bravo went back to the pavilion.

Darren Bravo was absolutely in the mould of Brian Lara. The style of holding the bat, the stance, the looks, the movement of the bat, most of the shots or for that matter all of the shots were similar to Brian Lara. The collapse was also similar to what used to happen whenever Brian Lara used to get out. Darren Bravo is an absolute clone of Brian Lara. The fans who might have been missing Brian for sometime will have a reason to cheer and rejoice. We will soon see Brian Larasque feat and will have definitely experience the sense of nostalgia. Had Bravo stayed at the crease for a longer time, things would have been quite different for West Indies and Graem Smith might have ended up ruing the decision.

There was an even spectacular performance on the field coming from someone making his debut in the World Cup. Imran Tahir captured the imagination of billions of cricket followers, the expert and the amateur alike, with his excellence in debut. Imran Tahir could be handy for South Africa in the coming game and for the tournament. The kind of beginning South Africa made could be termed as perfect at the least. Their two best batsmen did not contribute in the first game meaning that they will be due in the games ahead. It was also great that the two middle order batsmen, particularly De Villiers came good in this game. It will provide him confidence for the forthcoming matches.

Characteristic Beginning To Pakistan's Campaign In 2011 World Cup

Where there is Pakistan, there will be drama. They must have caused a few heartbreaks, but as usual, they can heal the wounds as well as nobody else could. Pakistan has a rather cautious beginning to their innings after wisely electing bat on winning the toss. Cricket fans all over the world would have expected as aggressive approach from the openers especially from Ahmad Shahzad after what we have seen of him during the New Zealand series. I think the fact that Pakistan is being picked as the top horse dark by many experts and by some as favorites to win the title, Pakistan players seems to have come a bit under pressure.

All the Pakistan fans must have felt disappointed after that rather slow start and loss of two wickets in quick succession. If that was unexpected, the resurrection might have been surprising for many. That is Pakistan cricket in a nutshell. Pakistan should be happy about the fact that all their players found playing some degree of rule in this victory and that would boost confidence of overall team. The real satisfaction for them is the form-finding knock by Umar Akmal. Umar Akmal is the most accomplished batsmen today in the World. The unrest in Pakistan cricket probably has not helped his cause in the recent past after a grand entry into International cricket.

 I think Umar should come in between Younis and Misbah so there is balance between aggression and stability. I believe Umar will emerge as the best batsmen in the World out of this tournament. The only thing I would like to change or for that matter Pakistan need to change from this game is the short balls from Shoib Akhtar. He bowled one short and was promptly dispatched to the boundary. He should not bowl more than three overs in one spell.

Australian Are Getting It Right

The way Australia went today with the game augers well for them in this World Cup. First of all, Ricky Ponting did well to bat first on calling it right at the toss. It gave the Australian batsmen a chance to have an easy time at the crease. They could bat themselves in and hit the form. It was good that they steadily went about the job rather than hitting every other ball. The instint for the batsmen at the crease will give the Australian batsmen immense confidence going into the bigger games. If they hit some form during the initial stages of the tournament, it will help them peak at the right time in the tournament. Most of the batsmen found themselves among runs. If they keep on scoring runs during the initial stage of the tournament it will boost them and they will be able to deliver at the most crucial time in the tournament.

Their most important batsmen Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting are already among the runs. Michael Clarke too has hit the form. David Hussey showed his utility in the late middle order. Once all their batsmen find themselves among the runs and secure a place in the quarter finals, they will be close to the Australian sides of the past and would be as good as any other team going into the knockout stage of the tournament.

Australia also has one of the best fast bowling line ups in the tournament. They only department where they are behind the other top teams in the tournament is in the spin department. If Australia play their normal game, neither their best nor bad, they should be able to make it to the knockout stages easily and it will help them get on the top of their game in the knockout stage of the game. 

Obsession To Call Sachin As The Greatest

Rajdeep Sardesai asking all the cricket experts on Kings Of Cricket program to compare Bradman and Tendulkar made me laugh. Why people are so obsessed with calling Sachin as the greatest. What made me laugh even more was Border's reply. Border said "look Bradman average is  around 100 and Sachin averages in 50s with many other players.

Before turning to Allan Border, he asked Imran Khan and Vivian Richards for comparison. Imran Khan has recently commented when he was in India a couple of months back to unveil the World Cup trophy that he has not seen Bradman and that Vivian Richards was the best batsman against pace bowling and Inzimam the second best. If a general cricket enthusiast like me knows that, I do not think that a senior journalist like Rajdeep Sardesai does not. Rajdeep Sardesai still went ahead and asked Imran to make a comparison between Tendulkar and Bradman. On the same program, a couple of days back, Rajdeep told Imran during a conversation that he will not ask him to make comparison between Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar and just the other day he defies his own statement and asks the same question. What a pity. If you yourself have a doubt if Sachin Tendulkar was the greatest batsman, then why ask the expert who have picked other batsman as the greater batsman. An embarrassed Imran Khan tried to salvage the situation by saying that Sachin is probably the best of his time just for the amount of runs he scored. It looked to me as if Rajdeep Sardesai want to make all these expert to pronounce Tendulkar as the greatest batsmen.

Vivian Richards had maintained in an interview to Nasser Hussain a couple of years back that Gavaskar, Javed Miandad, and Greg Chappell are the three greatest batsmen that he has ever seen. Now he also says that Sachin is the best on being asked by the Indian media.

Another interesting fact is that the media often asks Lara as to who was a better batsman between himself and Tendulkar. Lara has always been generous in heaping praise on Sachin and said that Sachin was best or Sachin is the Bradman of our time. The media never asks Sachin Tendulkar as to who is the best batsman of his time or all time. For that matter the media never asks Sachin if Lara or himself was a better batsman. Lara has often called Sachin as the best, but Sachin has never called Lara as the best. I do not know who was better of Bradman and Sachin. One thing I know is Lara was unique and the best of his time.

Does that mean Sachin and his fan wants Sachin to be called as the greatest batsman of all time at any cost. Is it the reason why Sachin always keeps on building on records. Is it the reason why Sachin never misses a series against Bangladesh. My guess is as good as any other cricketing enthusiast.

Misbah Can Make A Difference To Pakistan's Fortunes In Cricket World Cup 2011

Misbah is one player who can make a difference to Pakistan fortunes in Cricket World Cup 2011. Misbah is a unique player of his type. Misbah may not be the batsmen of the class of certain Sachin Tendulkar, but when it comes to playing under pressure and orchestrating the innings he beats everyone and beats Sachin Tendulkar by miles. There is no other batsmen in the World in Misbah's mould.

You can compare the Pakistan bowling attacks to other top bowling lineups in the World as well as you can compare their batting to any other batting line up in the World. But please can anyone show me a better batsman for crisis than Misbah-ul-Haq.

Misbah can provide much needed stability to an explosive and rather unpredictable Pakistan batting line up. If Misbah comes good in his role as he did in New Zeeland recently, against India a couple of years ago, and what he did in the 20-20 World Cup 2007, then Pakistan can go all the distance with the kind of explosive batsmen they have in their order. Yunis Khan who should look to play an anchor role rather than going for too many shots himself. If either Misbah or Yunis comes good with the ammunition in their tank, it will be quite difficult for the opposition teams. For One Day side, I think Pakistan has the perfect balance. India may be a strong team than Pakistan in terms of the number of top notch batsmen, but Pakistan is most versatile and most balanced team in the tournament. I would be happy to see India and Pakistan in the final with South Africa being my third favorite team to win the World Cup 2011.

Cannot Wait To See Pakistan In Action

I am desperate to see Pakistan in action in World Cup 2001. Pakistan is the most exciting team in the tournament and my favorite to win the World Cup apart from India. Sehwag gave ultimate entertainment in the first game, but the excitement of watching two Akmal brothers, Shahid Afridi or Abdul Razzak in full flight is quite different. The two Akmal brothers are clean hitters of the ball. Particularly the elder Akmal can hit the ball to any distance when required the most. He has finished some close games for Pakistan. The younger Ukmal is the more talented batsman than the elder and in fact he is most talented batsman in the World at this time. The problem with Umar Akmal is he does not seem to realize his own potential. He does not seem to have an stable mind in his head. If Umar Akmal comes good, I do not see any reason why Pakistan cannot go all the way. I firmly believe that India and Pakistan are the two best teams in the tournament at this time. I would not rule out a final between India and Pakistan if they do not meet in Quarter Finals and Semi Finals. Currently the cricketers who excites me the most while batting are the Akmal brothers, Afridi, Razzak, Sehwag, Yuvraj, and Christ Gayle. In the past I used to like watching Brian Lara, Adam Gilchrist, Imran Nazir, Saeed Anwar, and Azharuddin the most.

Many people, including the pundits have chosen India, South Africa, Australia, Sri Lanka, and England as favorites in that order labeling Pakistan as the dark horse. I think Pakistan is the favorite team to win the World Cup. In my opinion, Sri Lanka is not the favorite team to win the World Cup. It was Jaysurya who gave the Sri Lankan team x-factor with Muralitharan and De Silva being very close to Jaysurya in terms of value to the team. They will make it to the quarter final and semi final, but they will not go beyond that. Only one of the three teams India, South Africa, and Pakistan will win this World Cup with Pakistan and South Africa having an edge over India just because of reduced expectations. The hype and high expectation on the Indian team make them a lesser favorites than Pakistan and South Africa. Otherwise any one team from India, Pakistan, and South Africa should be able to win this cup with Pakistan being my top favorites.

All Round Performance By Team India In The Opener

India could not have asked for a better start to their World Cup campaign. More than the win itself, the individual performance of most of the players will hold India in good stead for the rest of the Tournament. India will take a lot of encouragement from the performances of their pace bowlers Munaf Patel and Zaheer Khan. Now India should be able to get their bowling combination absolutely right. Ashish Nehra should come in the side for Sreesanth. I think there is also case for Piyush Chawala who can come for either Harbhajan or Yusuf Pathan. The other way is to have two pacers in Zaheer and Munaf and bring in Chawala for Sreesanth.

It was a very good toss for India to lose. I think for the coming games Mahender Singh need not ponder before opting bat on winning the toss. Fielding first has not been a fruitful decision traditionally in the World Cup and Indian captain should have a sense of history. It also remains to be seen as to how India performs when they are required to chase a big total. This World Cup has started on an spectacular note with India avenging their 2007 loss against Bangladesh. Bangladesh on the other hand would have done well had they opted to bat first on winning the toss. Had Bangladesh batted first and posted the same total as they did chasing, I think they would have had India under some kind of pressure given they caused India's elimination in the 2007 World Cup.

An Apt Beginning To World Cup 2011 For Top Contenders India

Sehwag became the first to achieve most of the milestones in the World Cup 2011. Sehwag kicked off India's campaign for the World Cup 2011 by hitting the first ball of the World Cup 2011 for a four in his indomitable style. You could see a lot of nerves in the young Bangladesh bowlers at the beginning of the World Cup. Sehwag not only hit the first four of the prestigious tournament, but also hit the first six of the tournament, and most notably the first hundred of the tournament. He was also involved in the first run out of the tournament. He could have also become the first man to score a double hundred in any edition of the World Cup had Kohli given him more strike. He will be of course the first man of the match of this edition of the extravagant piece.

It turned out to be a bad decision by Bangladesh captain to have fielded first. He went according to the past record on the ground and the expected due today. But when the overall difference between the two teams is as big as between these two teams, it is always better for a weaker team to bat first to have any chance of emerging the winner. They had different bowlers in 2007 edition, which contained and dismissed the Indian team and then chased down a manageable total. It was probably a good toss for India to lose and I expect Dhoni will admit the same in the post match conference.

Bangladesh bowlers were nervy in the beginning and bowled wayward making the job of the Indian batsman much more easier. The veteran of the five World Cups, Sachin Tendulkar too was feeling the nerves. Had the Bangladesh batsmen hold on to their own, they could have got the better of Sachin Tendulkar early in the innings. Sachin was hitting only the bad balls to the boundaries.

Despite the great start by India, I think a lot of Indian fans will be disappointed for the fact that Sachin did not get a big innings here. The fans must have been hoping as he must himself that Sachin gets the first of those three hundreds that will get him to the hundreds of hundreds. Nonetheless, he will be able to play more comfortably on the back of team's performance in the opener.

Sachin's fans would have expected Sehwag to sacrifice himself when Sachin run-out was in the offing. I think it had to do more with the nerves than anything else. I did not see a run there so did Sehwag. Sehwag cannot be blamed even if someone would be optimistic about him sacrificing his own wicket for someone whom he proclaimed as his guru. If not for himself, it was important for Sehwag to stay at the crease than Sachin Tendulkar. A sehwag among runs is a great sign for the Indian team for their prospect in the 2011 World Cup.

Sehwag played according to his own reputation, fearless and attacking all the time. He also fulfilled his desire and aim to bat long. This innings will go a long way for Sehwag's performance and India's chances in this World Cup. I would have loved to see Sehwag getting 200, which would have made him the only batsman in the history of the game to have scored a triple in tests and double in one dayers.

Virat Kohli's outing also augurs well for India. Gautam Gambhir and Tendulkar too got among runs. India will play much more comfortably in their next encounters. They have got the Bangladesh monkey off their back and have dealt with initial nerves. From now onwards India will be a difficult team to beat.

Bangladesh too deserves credit for putting up the fight chasing a mammoth target of 371. Sreesanth, I guess, is getting too much excited for one's liking. After all, India were playing against Bangladesh and they were defending a mammoth score. Sreesanth went overboard and bowled rather wildly. It would have been better for Sreesanth to maintain his line and length and get into his rhythm early in the tournament as there was no pressure. It was good to see Munaf getting his rhythm back. I personally feel Ashish Nehra would be more handy than both Sreesanth and Munaf. Nehra is a wicket taking bowler and produces wicket taking deliveries more than Sreesanth, if not, Munaf.

The signs for other teams are ominous as most of Indian batsmen have struck form. The only concern is Yuvraj Singh, but Yuvraj Singh need just a good innings to come back and he is India's greatest match winner in this format of the game. If Yuvraj Singh strike form during the league stage, I do not see anybody stopping India from winning the World Cup.