2nd Semi Final: More Than a Match

In this cricket-infested country there is virtually nobody who is indifferent to the game but there are many who, if I can politely say it, have a restricted understanding of it. There also are a plenty who might not understand the technicalities of the game and would not consider the cricket world cup as something of immense importance. Yes, there is a large variety of people in India. However, when it comes to an India-Pakistan game, there is no pair of eyes in either of the countries that fails to have a glimpse. I have seldom seen folks, disinterested in the game of cricket, discussing it with such remarkable fervour. Moreover, when the stage is as big as the semi-final of the world cup, the craze is just indescribable.

Mohali was the stage for a game that was second in magnitude only to the final of the world cup. For some, it was even bigger than the final. As we often see in both India and Pakistan, there is no impure opportunity, that is missed by the politicians and the media. Unfortunately, the pristine match between the old rivals was no exception. And amidst the chaotic blend of fanatical spectators, opportunistic politics, and air-tight security started a game that was watched by a number of people that could easily outnumber the population of most of the countries on the planet - even that of a few continents if I'm not making a miserable mistake in geography.

The vital toss that was won by India was followed by an Indian innings that started with Sehwag's exuberant stroke-play. He smashed 5 fours to amass 21 runs of Umar Gul's second and the third over of the innings. As a result, Umar Gul, arguably Pakistan's best bowler in the tournament, endlessly struggled for line and length. Every bit of confidence in him was shattered by that merciless assault by Virender Sehwag and India quickly set off to a flier.

The violent cameo ended with a beautiful delivery from an unknown Wahab Riaz that hid the swing on it till very late before snatching an lbw that led to sighs of relief across Pakistan. At the other end, as usual, was the master in the run for another finely placed knock. Gautam Gambhir joined the king in an attempt to carry the Indian innings forward. All went fine for India as they looked to be marching towards at least 300 on a pitch that many had misread to be a belter.

It was an over by Sajeed Ajmal that brought the rarest of the moments in the game. Sachin Tendulkar - yes, Sachin Tendulkar - was deceived twice in two consecutive deliveries and survived a lethal lbw appeal followed by an appeal for an unimaginably close stumping. The first one was the regular off break which the master failed to read the turn on and was struck on the pads. The very next one was an attempted wrong one or the doosra - which did not turn at all - which Sachin treated like an off break. After this, started one of the shakiest knocks I have ever seen from the master. Nonetheless, he hung in there and also played a few fantastic strokes in between but offered chances to the fielders fairly regularly which they failed to grab on four occasions. Dropping someone of Sachin Tendulkar's stature four times was a sin that the Pakistanis eventually paid for. A Sachin who was far from his fluent best finally gave it up after scoring a trembling 85 (Mind you, he still top-scored in the match). His struggle was a clear indication of the fact that the pitch was far from being a belter.

After the first 10 overs, the wicket had slowed down and was allowing a lot of turn. Before Tendulkar got out, Gambhir was stumped on 27. Kohli and Yuvraj were gotten rid of in two consecutive deliveries - both carrying some late swing on them and the second one, the one that bowled Yuvraj out on the first ball he faced, gently reminding us of Wasim Akram. Dhoni offered some resistance and played a wise yet unmoving knock of 25 to offer Raina some company. Suresh Raina, however, seemed to be a different batsman since his memorable knock against Australia and played a superb unbeaten knock of 36 from 39 to push India to 260.

Pakistan should have been delighted to have not allowed India to reach even 275 and could have been bustling in confidence at the innings break but the other half had a different story to tell.

Kamran Akmal started off in a Sehwagish manner with a boundary through the covers and Pakistan looked well placed at 44 for no loss before he fell to Zaheer Khan. At 70-1, Mohammad Hafeez played the most irresponsible shot of the world cup to get caught behind off a Munaf Patel delivery. Asad Shafiq formed a decent stand with Yunis Khan to carry the Pakistani innings forward but was left with broken stumps in a poor attempt of cutting a quicker one from Yuvraj Singh. The Indians were fielding like the South Africans and were bowling tight as Glenn McGrath. As a result, the asking rate was slowly increasing. Yunis Khan was stagnated at a poor 13 from 32 deliveries and was forced to play bad shot in a desperate attempt to score runs only to get caught by the fielding livewire called Suresh Raina. With him, fell many Pakistani hopes of a maiden world cup win against India although a fighter called Misbah was still at the crease.

The talented Umar Akmal showed some flamboyance with the bat as he launched onto some Indian spin and looked to be in fine shape to rebuild the Pakistani innings with Misbah before he fell to what was the ball of the innings to me. Harbhajan Singh, coming around the wicket to the right hander for the first ball of his new spell, bowled a quicker one that pitched on length and knocked Umar Akmal's off stump off. The incident left Pakistan struggling for momentum as Misbah, at one point, was batting on an inexplicably slow 10 off 30 balls. The mindless hitters in Razzaq and Afridi were to follow but the former was bowled out by a slower one from Munaf Patel that had hints of swing and the latter went for a hopeless slog only to get caught by Sehwag. The tail had little role to play as Misbah watched from the other end. He then accelerated and also played a few good shots that must have gently threatened the Indians but by that time, it was too late and all over for Pakistan.

India surprisngly found their criminals bowlers - Munaf Patel and Aashish Nehra - on the delightful side of the game as they bowled out of their skin. Nehra gave just 33 away from his 10 and picked up 2 wickets and Munaf gave just 40 in 10 to pick up his 2. Only 5 Indian bowlers bowled and picked up 2 wickets a piece to bowl Pakistan out for 231 with one ball to spare.

India improved their already perfect record by making it 5 world cup wins against Pakistan in 5 matches. Sachin Tendulkar, who has played in all those 5 games, won the man of the match award for his shaky - and probably the worst in recent times - inning of 85. As a result of this epic drama, India have booked a place against Sri Lanka to play their 3rd world cup final and the first on home soil.

The win was celebrated through every corner of the Indian street as crackers went off and their flashy light mixed with frenzied cheers of most of those whose sole objective was to see India beat Pakistan in a world cup match. Bars and restaurants were flooded with people. The tri-colour was being flaunted prodigiously and the people - rich or poor, fair or dark, dumb or smart - were celebrating the event with an unmatchable zeal. I, for one, led a rather quiet celebration to rejoice in one of the most special moments in the 15 passionate years of my love for cricket, hoping that Saturday could just be the most special one.

Man of the Match: Sachin Tendulkar

Pre'match'ure Take: Sri Lanka Vs Australia

One of the biggest and the most anticipated league clashes of this tournament is the game that's scheduled to start in 30 minutes as I write this. The country of Ravana will battle against the country of Jason Gillespie. I have never seen Ravana but imagine him looking similar to Gillespie.

The last time these two met in a world cup was in a mismatched final dominated by the Australians and particularly by the legendary wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist. That, however, is a story of the past and Australia are definitely not the world-beaters they used to be back in the day. Yet, Australia are a great team, one of the best in ODIs even to this day, and shall have many reasons to believe that they can beat Sri Lanka in Colombo. Although, this time they will have to work real hard, stick to the strategies, and keep it as tight as possible when it comes to bowling. Ricky Ponting will have to get some runs and lead from the front. Shane Watson, the in-form opener, will have a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. Michael Clark must have to strengthen the middle-order. Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, and Mitchell Johnson should try and get one of the openers along with Kumar Sangakara in the first 10 overs. Australia are still the world champions and stand a superb chance to win the battle of Colombo.

Sri Lanka, too, have a fair chance of winning the game this time since they are playing at home, and, as I just saw, they have won the toss and elected to bat. I believe Premadasa is not a great cricketing venue since the results here depend too much on the toss. The team batting first invariably has an edge here. The Lankans should expect either Sangakara or Jaywardhane to bat through the innings. I tend to feel that Sangakara will play a larger role today since he is a better player of pace than any other Sri Lankan. A lot will depend on Dilshan-the gambler and Tharanga. However, the biggest factor of the match will be spin and the player to watch out for is a person who can turn even on cement let alone at Premadasa - Muttiah Muralitharan. Murali will play with all his heart since it is his lats world cup and beating Australia is something precious to every player in his generation.

The only time Sri Lanka have ever beaten the Aussies in a world cup was in the final of the '96 cup and they would be desperate to improve that. The first ball is about to be bowled and I sign off to watch the action. My prediction - since the match is at Premadasa and since Sri Lanka have won the toss - is a thriller of a game. I'd give a 55 to Sri Lanka and a 45 to Australia.

Shahid Afridi - The Bolwer

The world cup continues to amaze us in many ways as after 19 matches that have been played so far, the highest wicket-taker is Shahid Afridi. Afridi has picked up 14 wickets in 3 matches - 5 against Kenya, 4 against Sri Lanka, 5 against Canada - which is awesome by all standards. Afridi has undergone a remarkable transformation over years. From being an aggressive opening batsman to being an aggressive pinch-hitter to being an aggressive lower-middle-order batsman to being only aggressive at one point was the first phase of his career. Afridi could be deadly with the bat on his day but his days are so far spaced from one another that I could barely appreciate him as a batsman. Afridi knows virtually no batting technique and that adds to the reasons for me not calling him a good batsman. This, however, was, and pretty much is, the story of Afridi - the batsman.

In the last few years, he has been giving enough importance to the role that he played his first ODI in - that of a leg-spinner. Few would know that Afridi made it to the Pakistan side as a replacement for Mushtaq Ahmed. However, fate had it that he were to create the record of the fastest hundred in ODIs - which still stands - only in his 2nd ODI when he was sent in as a pinch-hitter. This made him forget the ball in the former half of his career and play as a batsman.

Shahid Afridi is now again a bowler, and to be honest, a remarkably consistent and a surprisingly clever bowler. Talking only of this world cup, Afridi has varied his pace and the flight on the ball beautifully in all the three games that he played. He has also worked on his googly, and has the habit of bowling a fast wrong one - clearly different from a top-spinner - to people who cannot read him. In fact, a spinner who can occasionally bowl so fast and vary his pace so well could always be dangerous. On a turning track, this gets worse for the batsmen because Afridi has the ability to turn his faster ones as well. And when the ball turns rapidly into the right-hander (in case of Afridi's googlies) the batsman better read it well, else he might be gambling with his wicket.

Although I'm not too fond of the term, Shahid Afridi is also a partnership-breaker. And I think, the reason for that is the batsmen do not play him with the respect he deserves. Not many expect Afridi to bowl a stunner of a delivery all of a sudden and the prejudice of the batsman is what costs him his wicket. This, however, does not take any credit away from Afridi who has been the best bowler of the tournament so far and I don't say this only because he is the highest wicket-taker.

Afridi is also a passionate captain though not the best of the strategists. He has always been passionate and always been aggressive as a cricketer. But I feel, the best thing that has happened to him in the recent years is that he has learned to apply his aggression and direct it well as a bowler, something he could never really manage as a batsman in a career that spans 15 years.

The Ill-fated

If after India there is any losing team I have felt really sorry for then it was South Africa in 1999, and the player I felt miserable for, as anybody could guess, was Lance Klusener. He was spectacular in that season. He seemed to have both the courage and the determination it takes to be a fighter of a cricketer. Klusener repeatedly outperformed himself by scoring 281 runs at an average of 140 and a strike-rate of 122, having been dismissed only twice in his 8 appearances with the cricket bat. He also claimed 17 wickets in the tournament, constantly turning games away from the opposition with his sparkling all-round performance. And for the record, he deservedly was the Man of the Tournament too. But he lost. He and Allan Donald - who, as we often forget, had picked up 4 wickets in that gem of a semi-final - together showcased the worst piece of running in the history of World Cup Cricket to tie the match and consequently exit the tournament. As he ran towards the non-striker end, Klusener's woe was beyond reach of any facial expression he could sport, and hence he kept walking towards the pavilion with an impassive face.

If Klusener was a survivor in '99 then Martin Crowe was an innovator and a great leader in '92. He led a bunch of decently talented Kiwis to an unexpected top slot in the league in a world cup where each team played the other. Martin Crowe's 100 not out in Auckland upset Australia by 8 wickets in the very first game of the tournament. Martin Crowe gave the new ball to the spinner in Deepak Patel to produce fascinating results at home. He also promoted Mark Greatbatch as a pinch-hitter to take advantage of the new rule of having just 2 fielders inside the circle in the first 15 overs. Martin Crowe had captained New Zealand to win 7 of the 8 matches they had played in the tournament, including the last loss against Pakistan before his side met Pakistan once more in the semi-final at Auckland. Martin Crowe's 91, well-supported by Ken Rutherford's 50, had almost taken New Zealand to their maiden World Cup final when Pakistan were 140-4, chasing New Zealand's 262. But Crowe's fancy dreams were destroyed by an unknown Pakistani youngster called Inzamam Ul-Haq, who scored a sensational 60 off 37 deliveries to see his team in the final of the cup that they were to win. Crowe was left with a staggering 496 runs in 9 matches, the pride of being arguably the best captain in the tournament (in close competition with the victorious Imran Khan), and with the Man of the Tournament award - which was given for the first time in a cricket world cup. His innovations were later used by many - both successfully and unsuccessfully - in their own ways, and Crowe later retired from one-day cricket in '95 leaving behind him a glorious memory of the best World Cup performance New Zealand have ever produced.

I know that nobody's - leave alone mine - words will suffice to describe what we had seen then. Yet, this is my small tribute to Lance Klusener, Martin Crowe, and all those ill-fated performers who could not take their team through to the ultimate glory, but stunned the world with their magical performances and forced themselves into the golden pages of the history of World Cup Cricket.

A Few More Men

Although Cricket is a team sport and no individual is greater than the team, there are a few who can make a difference - a few who can largely single-handedly take games away from their opponents. World Cup Cricket, too, has had its share of such memorable performances. Clive Lloyd scored an elegant 102 in the final of the first world cup to beat Australia; Sir Vivian Richards smashed the English bowlers all over the place in the final of the smallest world cup - in 1979 - in his blistering knock of 138; Kapil Dev scored a career-best 175 against Zimbabwe to see India through to the next round in a world cup that they eventually won, and covered a distance of about 22-yards to take Viv Richard's catch in the final; Sachin Tendulkar crushed a star-studded Pakistani attack at Centurion in Cape Town in 2003 to retain India's record of beating Pakistan every time the two teams faced each other in the World Cup; Wasim Akram had swept through the British tail in the final of The Benson & Hedges Cup in '92; Lance Klusener, almost, pulled off a fascinating African win in the semi final in '99 which would have changed the history of world cup cricket; Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist scored a hundred respectively to decide the result of two consecutive world cup finals in the first fifty overs itself. These, and many others, have been performances that have left strong impressions on the history of the game.

When the cup is a few days away, let me bring you to who I think would be the men to watch out for in this tournament. I have already written a separate article on Sachin Tendulkar since nobody else can ever belong to the same league as him. Apart from the master, Virender Sehwag, Hashim Amla, Jack Kalis, Kevin Peterson, Kumar Sangakara, Gautam Gambhir, Chris Gayle and Ricky Ponting would be worth a watch with the bat. Among the bowlers, Daniel Vettori, Harbhajan Singh, Mutthiah Muralitharan, Zaheer Khan, Dayle Steyn, Andy Morkel, James Anderson could be lethal.

Alistar Cook, Virat Kohli and Michael Clark might come out to be the unsung heroes. Watch Ajantha Mendis too.

We shall analyse some players in greater detail as this blog grows a few days older. There are also a few new polls that you may want to vote on. Keep an eye or two wide open. The distant image of the world cup is getting brighter by the day.

Quote, Unqoute and The Second English Renaissance

The World Cup is often preceded by boastful speeches, erratic quotes, and many heated exchanges among players and ex-players. Such was a scathing comment by the ex-English fast bowler, Darren Gough, that one could easily believe he has led an austere life after being let go of (Indians are known to be polite) by the English national team. Being let go of by a team like England, in the times Gough played, is one of the greatest cricketing insults I could think of.

However, Darren Gough has been dancing a bit of late and has found something worthwhile to do off the pitch. He is also widely quoted and the most recent of his ludicrous quotes is one of the driving forces behind this article.

"For me, we're the best team in the world at this moment. I've watched the South Africa-India series and I see nothing to worry about. India is fantastic in their own country and have some great individuals, but I'd fancy this England side to beat them every day of the week." - Darren Gough

Well, all being said, and without taking the incredibly absurd element away from this quote, for all you know, England may have a significant role to play this time. They have undergone a transformation since Andy Flintoff pulled off that historic Ashes win in 2005. Although they were humiliated in Australia by Australia - who saw all-time greats like McGrath and Warne, and an elegant Justin Langer playing their last Test Series for the country - in the very next Ashes, the English team has since then been learning. They have been working hard, and for one, they have stopped resorting on those Adam Holiokish, good for nothing, half-hearted all-rounders. They have realised that to be the best in the world you need real batsmen and real bowlers, the ones who can perform not only against the counties in the British isles, but also across the Atlantic. England have found discipline in their game after decades of being deprived of it, they have a few individuals in Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood who can work hard to produce good results for the team, and in Kevin Peterson and James Anderson who would boast about being two of the very few world class players England have produced in the last twenty years.

All in all, English cricket has undergone a renaissance, but would this help England establish a superiority in the world - in a different sense, of course - as the one that lasted a span of three centuries did? England are in with a chance here, certainly their best chance since 1992. Yet, I would not count them as the top favourites. The conditions in the Indian subcontinent are far from the comfort of their country. Let alone, India, I'd tend to think that if England happen to meet a devastated Pakistan in the quarter-finals, which is a possibility, then Pakistan would be in with a greater chance to reach the semis, and at worst, playing at home, even Bangladesh might upset England in the group stages. I say this purely because how much ever batting-friendly do the pitches get, spin will remain an unavoidable factor in the subcontinent.

When England meet India, against a crowd of 90,000 frenzied devotees growling at them at the Eden Gardens, on the 27th of February, it would be interesting for Darren Gough to note which day of the week it is.