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!