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.