bAndaz fiNaL '07 picKs -> reMatcH oF tHe niNetiEs...

tiMe flies by faSt...it stiLL seEms very freSh in soMe of the minDs about the banNEd semi-fiNaL at the eDen garDens when a weEping Kambli had to be guided ouT of the ground with iNDia well in dumps @ 120/8 and the crowD tRoUnble not letTing any play posSiblE. iF that maTcH had a dramatic start with the laNkAns down by 2 wikKets for no score on the board and later a controLLed knock by Aravinda and Ranatunga piLe uP a healtHy 251 and the litTle masTeR in cRuise mode on 65 with iNDia on a healtHy sCore of 90/2 in 15 oveRs, what foLLOweD this was equaLLy dramatic with iNDia losing anoTHer 6 wikKEts for 30 runS!!! yes...tHis was the unForgetTablE iNDia - laNkA semiS at the edEn gaRdeNs in '96. wHat foLLowed this was one of the besT fiNaLs ever witnNesSed baRRing the '75 final when the caRRibeAns sneakEd home by a mere 17 runs oveR the ausSies, and in '87 when the ausSiEs ran homE with the tropHy beating the enGlisH by a mere 7 runs! thE '96 fiNal was difFerent in the senSe that no teAm has won the trophY chaSinG tiLL theN! thE laNkAns with their new eXplosiVe branD of crikKEt had re-wRitTen the recoRd boOks all oVer again!!! iT is interestinG to noTe that the ausSiEs figured ouT in all thosE 3 inTerestinG finaLs!

11 yeaRs is a lonG time in crikKEt and a loT of thinGs chanGeD. eVer sincE that deFeat, thE ausSiEs emeRged the unheraldeD and unChallenGed champions by crusHinG the paKisTan suLtaNs in '99 fiNaLs and the iNDiaN lagaAns of 2003! laNkAn crikKEt has takEn a beaTinG in the meanwhile with theM not makinG to the second round in '99 and loosinG out in the semiS to the unstopPablE ausSiEs in 2003. bUt the laNkAn reviVal has starTed with their appoinTment of the new coaCH Tom Moody in comparison to their iNDiaN counteparts where the iNDian team has lost a good 1-2 yeaRs witH their appointment of the "greaTer than liFe imaGe" coacH Greg Chappell. Watch out for an articLe eXclusiVe on Coaches in the may 2007 with your favoriTe blogGeR!

aLL saiD and doNe let us now anAlyse in a difFerent perspEctive about the prosPectiVe winNer of the debatable 2007 eDitioN of the cUP!


tHe ausSiEs play thEir crikKEt with a metHodicAL aggresSion. This has been the strOnG point witH their teAms of the pResenT and the paST! miXinG systematic approacH with calCulaTed agGresSion leaDs to good resulTs! This approach makes a player think with a cooL heAd and go forward. heaD plays a main paRt in this kind of approaCH and would yield good results 95% of the times! conSistenCy is the keY here!


on the oTHeR hanD the preSenT laNKan bRanD of crikKEt has a lot to do with unBriDled enthusiasM bundled with a calcuLated approacH! This makes the players give their hearT out while playinG for thEir country! This kind of approacH miXed witH some calCulateD risKS does make the teaM reaLLy danGerous! This approacH yielDs very high resulTs 70% of the times! tempERamenT is the key here!

this is the niNTh eDitioN of the cUP and onLy twicE (the iNDiaN teaM in '83 caMe ouT of nowherE to wiN the cUP and the paKisTani teaM in '92 caMe ouT of nowherE to win it aLL) tempERamenT has takeN over conSistenCy in the paST.

thE lankAns have a chanCE to topPLE the ausSiEs if they baT fiRsT!

i haVe 2 kinDs of pickS this timE!

bAndaz (conSistenTaL)picKs witH the heaD ->
ausSiEs : 56%
laNKans : 44%

bAndaz (tempERamenTaL)picKs witH the hearT ->
laNKans : 50.5%
ausSiEs : 49.5%

waTcH ouT for Jayawardene, Murali and Chamara in the laNKan teaM!
X-faCTor : Malinga special!

waTcH out for Ponting, Mc Grath and Symonds in the ausSie teaM!
X-faCTor : Hayden special!

uNtiL laTeR... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for the seMiS of '07

iT has beEn a rolliking month and a halF and we are reaching the enD of the so-calleD worLD cUP! The cUP started with gReaT expectations but did not liVe up to them. iN many waYs this eDition of the cUP is a biG faiLurE!

anyWay the teaMs in the seMiS are very much wortH of their seMis berth!. The 4 best teams at the moment in the order of their form are the ausSiEs, the kiWis, the laNkAns, the pRotEas.

thE fiRst sEmIs betweEn the laNkAns and the kiWis should be a closely fought game. aT the enD the laNkAns would just sneaK thru'!
laNkAns -> 51%
kiWis -> 49%

waTcH out for the laNkAn captain Jayawardene and Murali.
waTcH out for the kiWi captain Fleming and Bond.

x-FacTor -> Malinga and Styris.

thE seconD seMis betweEn the rampanT ausSiEs and the chokErs pRoteAs is interesting for many reasons. There are a few eGos hurT, a feW things to be proVen, sweEt reVenGe, priDe @ stAke! The tosS coulD be a vital thing here! Both the teams have very good batTing line-ups. The teaM that baTs first should win it aLL! the pRoteAs might just sneak thru'!
pRoteAs -> 53%
ausSiEs -> 47%

waTcH ouT for Gibbs and Hall in the pRoteAs team!
waTcH ouT for Hayden and Bracken in the ausSiEs team!

x-Factor -> Smith and Symonds.

uNtiL laTeR... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

tHe leGeND caLLeD - sACHiN tENDULkAR

It was a hazy winTer afternoon on the 16tH day of noVEMber in 1989 at Karachi...the little master has first entered the cricket field in the internaTional teST aRenA. India are 4 down for 41 in a test match, though the little master survied only for 15 runs, it was enoUgh to show the crikKEt world that a leGenD was born! The entry of the little master into the ODI arena was dramatic. A foggy day on the 16tH of decEMber in 1989 at Peshawar, the 50 over game was reduced to a 20 over a side and the paKisTanis made a handsome 157. The Indian chase started modestly and with 3 wickets down for 88, the little master entered the field and played a blinder of 53 runs in just 18 balls! eVeR since then tHe naMe is enOUgh to creaTe teRRor in any boWleR on the crikKEt field! It was moRe than 17 yeaRs that the little master has dominated the crikKEt world and is still going sTronG.

It was a testimony to the littlE masTer's sheer dominance on the gamE that the DON of crikKET, Sir Donald Bradman himself quoted to the crikKEting world that sACHiN reminds of him in his playinG daYs! This coMMent from thE DON was enough for the crikKEting world to recognisE the little masTeR as a leGeND! Time and again the crikKEting world has seen many greaTs play this beautiFul game but leGeNDs are a raRitY! sACHiN stands out from the curRent geNeration of playeRs and is the only leGeND. The otHer leGeNDs who have played the game are Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Viv Richards, Sir W G Grace to name a few!

There have been instances in the past when bowlers around the gloBe in the crikKEting worLD had niGhtmaRes thinKinG about the littlE geniUs. It was a tribuTe to the masteR's geniUs that the boOkies were afraiD to bet agAinsT iNDia or fix a matCH unTiL the liTTle maSTeR was out!

It shoWs thE sheER deDicaTion of the litTle maSteR on the game wHen he reTurnEd back to plaY in the '99 worLd cUP after his fatHer's suDDen deMisE! It was the tiMe when teaM iNDia was on the bRinK of eLimiNaTion from the '99 woRLD cUP anD the masTer's geniUs reneWEd the spirIT and vigOUR of the beleaGueREd teaM and toOk theM to the neXt rounD!

All thinGs said and donE a few people doNOT reAlisE that sACHiN toO is huMAn and he toO can brEak down oncE in a whilE! The injUriEs as weLL took a good toLL on the masteR's body!

For anyone oUT there, writE oFF the liTTle geniUs at youR owN peRiL! Donot forget that foRm is tempOraRy and cLasS is perManeNT! Watch out for the liTTle masTeR to boUnce back with venGeanCE and bReaK a few moRe recoRDs arounD befoRe he caLLs it a dAY!

I wish the maSTeR retIrEs in thE gRanD fiNalE at the 2011 woRld cUP plaYinG on his home soiL wiNNinG the worLD cUP!!!

sTay tuNeD for the seConD paRT oF the thE mASteR's achievements in deTaiL!
uNtiL laTeR... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!