Showing posts with label World Cup 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World Cup 2011. Show all posts

Thursday, 17 March 2011

Why Ashwin should play this Sunday

With the world cup reaching its second phase in a really short while, teams are looking to get past the small mistakes that have made them look like clowns (Indian team in mind). One should keep in mind that all stadiums have had their first round of matches and there has been a good amount of wear and tear. That definitely means that spin will become all the more important. For a team that has been known for its deadly spin bowling attack in the last decade, this is the time they should start proving themselves to be good at their home turf.

Already, the ball has been tossed up to the spinners in the early overs and power plays. Zaheer, Nehra and the like are not getting their first spell quota of 5 overs apiece. With the pitches looking to appear more abrasive than earlier, it is important to bring the young man into the fray and experiment his "so-called-confidence". Enough is enough. We have done more than required in giving a good number of games to Chawla in order to increase his confidence levels. Chennai, being ashwin's known battle ground, he is definitely the choice, given his familiarity of the conditions at the M.A Chidambaram. You don't need to be too intelligent to deduce that it means R Ashwin, happy to use the new ball, must play. It also means that Piyush Chawla must make way, and that is where Dhoni's selections have baffled many.

 Dhoni is showing signs of losing the plot and I think he has just enough time to get the combination right before the second phase kicks in. The quarter finals and further will be different ball game each time the team goes into the field. The slow bowlers' wit will definitely become all important and wicket taking abilities will pay off. It would be great if Ashwin can spring a surprise when he gets a chance against the Windies. I am going to be there to witness the magic. And i totally think this is India's last chance to throw the hat in the ring and show the glitters.

 Please bring on the guy. He was player of tournament on his biggest stage till date - the T20 Champions league!

Wednesday, 2 February 2011

ICC should ban any references to 1983 and the Indian Cricket Team in the run up to World Cup 2011

For the good of mankind and to restore public sanity by and large, may I launch a formal request to the International Cricket Council asking them to ban the following two things in the media?
1. Any reference to the 1983 world cup victory
2. References to the chances of India winning this edition of the world cup.

It is just too tiring to see every Tom, Dick and Harry (not to mention the Bhajjis, Dhonis and Kapils) talking about India being a front-runner for world cup victory this year. The media is going all gaga over the 1983 world cup win and asking all and sundry from the Indian squad of 15 about the chances of winning the event. I wholeheartedly wish the ICC issues notices to all journalists suiting this description, at large in this country to stop working for a while, till the completion of the 2011 mega event. They should be given a quarter off and should be packed off to some place like Egypt for tourism. :P.

People seem totally off their minds when answering stupid questions during the conferences. For instance, Kapil Dev feels that the toss could hurt the Indian team's chances in this world cup. Can somebody give me a sleeping pill? He went on to say that Dhoni's win loss record as captain has been attractive at something like 78-48 while his toss record in the same set of matches looking like some 68-74 or some such number. How does it matter Kapil? Is the toss even something to talk about at this juncture? Are you hinting at some toss practice for Dhoni besides practicing with the bat and the gloves?

Aakash Chopra..who is a former Indian opener..for people who are caught unawares at this point, please check this out. Aakash who thinks India have the potential to lift the world cup this year. "I am an optimist and I believe India have the potential to win the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011." Yes sir. We realize you are an optimist and thanks for the information. It would add to our knowledge kit. Chopra who is an optimist hurray!!!!

India had a disastrous world cup in 2007 - they were dumped out of the tournament after the first stage where they lost to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, defeating only Bermuda in the competition. So keeping these facts in mind, shall we ask the media to shut the F up and concentrate on some other important thing like the 2G or the Adarsh or the Egyptian crisis? Or if you are bent upon cricket in general, talk about the team's injury crisis and give us updates on how Sehwag/Praveen Kumar are shaping up rather than ranting about Dhoni's confidence, Tendulkar's last chance or Kapil Dev's last night's dream.

We cricket fans are here to watch it and we shall get to know what will come out of this edition, set to start in a fortnight's time. We do NOT want any predictions, speculations or forecasts about the end result whatsoever. And lastly, before I forget, is it possible to ask the ICC to ban astrologers and soothsayers for the period starting now till the end of the world cup apart from banning the list of people/communities mentioned earlier? We are tired of statements like these -- "jupiter will be transiting in 11th house from dhoni's moon sign and india's lagna"...or some such equally stupid thing.


Thanks