buzZ - it'S aLL iN tHe nUmbErs!!!

uMPirinG anD tHe huMAN eLEMent.

2009-10-09T21:33:00.000-07:00

wHAT is the moST thankLESS joB in cRikKEt? yeS...it is the mAN standinG in the whiTE coat! ofCourse timES have chanGEd and the fast paced t20 introduced coLOR clothinG to the moST importanT man in the cRikKEt fielD...tHE uMPire.

eveR since the evoluTION of interNATIonal cRikKEt, it is the uMPire that has the sole authoriTY to makE the decisions on the cRikKEt field about the leGAlity of a delivery, the aPPEal of a wicket, conDUCT of the gaME etc....does it look stuPID to make this staTEment? ofcourse things are changing and yes we have the thirD eye looking for us and making the decisions! tHe concePT of introucinG the thiRD uMPire for the first time in an iNDia - souTH aFriCA match in 1992 has changed the way decisIONs are made on the 22yard strIP! cRikKEt never remaiNED the samE and the beauty of the game starteD waNING! tHe beauTY of the genTLEman's game lies in the uncertaiNTy of a dismissal!

techNOLOGY has impacted spoRTS a lot in the last 2 decADEs or so and cRikKEt is no exCEPtion! iF the sCHool of baTTing, bOWLing, fielDING, coaCHING, capTAIning and evEN cRikKEt jourNALism has improveD a lot, uMPiring was always put in the back seat! tHe reasons are manyfold!! theRE was nevER a real bOOSt for attracTING taLENt into the sCHool of uMPiring!!! aParT from the kanGAROO natION, the bRIT isLAND and the cHOKEr land there were never any real good facilitiES or trainING prograMS for unEARthing the neW taLENT in uMPirng. so muCH for havinG to raise youR finGER and walk to the sQUAre leG? iT is infact truE that a lot of fitNESS is required to assiSST the cRikKEt uMPire in foCUS and concENTration aPARt from a keeN aCUMen for the gaME!

a posITIVE proPOSItion was the introduction of the eLITE panEL of uMPires since 2002. currENtly there are 11 members in this panel and for a better uMPiring fuTurE towards an expanDING and demanDING cRikKEt caLENder, this needs to increase manyfold! The fuEL for grOWth has to come from the graSSroot organizations like the sTATe assoCIAtions and the cLUBS. A posITIVE iMPACt should happEN thru' the t20 leaGUEs like tHe iPL, the chaMPIONs leaGUE etc. I doNOT see this happeninG yet, but wisH that drives the growTH of an uMPire!

alAS...and the more woRRyinG factoR is the conCEPt of referralS!!! iF the introDUCtion of the third eYE (I prefer this name to the thiRD uMPire) was absurD, the aDDITion of the team's cHALLEnGe (I prefer this name to reFFeraL conCEPT) suPPOSed to haPPEn sooN is definiteLY aTROCious! This would further reduce the huMAN eLEment involveD in the genTLEMAN's game and the unCErtainitY factor is missinG! moRE thaN this, the depenDANCe on techNOLOGY is redUCIng the perFORMANce of an uMPire on the fielD! Hope beTTer senSE prevails in the cRikKEting fratERNITY beFORE new changes are made. I doNOT say that the cRikKEtinG boDY is duMB, but aLL i saY is to sTRIKE a balanCE between the huMAN elemENT and the involveMENT of techNOLOGY. iF someTHIng is not completeLY fOOLprooF, beTTer noT use it than end UP in unWANTED conTROVERsies!

enouGH has been said and wriTTEn about the uMPiring blunDERs like the sYdnEY fiasCO, the laTEST asHES in engLAND etc.

sTAY tunED for my next artiCLE on the doMINance of SPINners in woRLD cRikKEt!

uNtiL laTeR... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

tHe muCH neeDED kicK to cRikKEt

2009-10-04T22:53:00.000-07:00

itZZ beeN 632 daYs and 9hrs and 30mins for mE to comE bacK to the bloGGIng world. iF the eFFecTs of controvERSies, heiGHTs of sleDGIng, biASEd umPIRing put me away for a while, the new waVE of t20, IPL, competiTIVE test and ODI ranking chanGES had spur back the lost enthusiaSM!

reWINd back the last yeaR and halF and wE seE a shift in the ODI and the teST supremacy! the kangaroos of the eaST, tHE auSSieS no longer commanD the same respect with the retirements of their greats! noW the playing field is even with the rise of the souTH africans and the Indian tigers of the eaST to compete with the mightY auSSieS.

tHE chamPIONs trophY though depICTs a different picture with the short formAT! It is meant to be a low profile tournament anyways with the amount of cRikKEt being played all around the yEAr. ponTINg is definitely one of the greaTEST players to have played cRikKet but when the chiPs are down, veTTori the most undeRRated player in the woRLD cRikKET stanDS amid the ruiNS to deliVER the neeDED bOOSt!

banDAz picks for the 2009 chAMPS final -> kiWIs 51% and the kanGARoos 49%
waTCH out for ponTING againST boND and veTToRI, mc Cullum anD taYLOR againST lEE!

Stay tuned for my next impendinG article on uMPirinG anD thE huMAN eleMENT!

uNtiL laTeR... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

tHe auSSie pRIDe...thE iNDIan rePLY.

2008-01-11T13:46:00.000-08:00

It is hard to noT notice the fact that the auSSie pRIDe has been dented! The aussies were always known for playing it hard and playing it with the utmost clinial professionalism. The current aussie team is no less in that regard with the aussie teams of the past! The only additional factor which fuelled the current SYNDEY FIASCO is WIN AT ANY COST. This has really made things worse for the aussie pride!

Let us rewind and go back in the past. It was in the 1930s when there were only 2 teams competing for the best, the auSSies and the engLISH! The other teams were still learning the naunces of cricket! The bodyline series of the 1930s can never be forgotten when the auSSies were at the receiving end from the english! Things never remained the same!

It was during that time the auSSie mind set has changed and kept on changing to the better. The 1950s saw the greats like the Sir Don Bradman and Neil Harvey and the others who had instilled the never say die attitude in the auSSie blood and win from any position. But sledging was never encouraged. The great Don once replied to a question posted to him what he thinks of sledging and he shot back saying that I never approve of it. He said "I would tell him once not to sledge and if he still continues, I would make sure he's out of the team". Such was the attitude of the auSSies of the 50s!

Things changed differently in the 70s and 80s and we can never forget the famous underarm bowling episode of the Charming Chappell brothers against the Kiwis! Though it was not appropriate, it was acceptable according to the law books!

Later came the invincible auSSies of the late 90s and 2000s under the inspirational leader Steve Waugh. Waugh came up with his own concept of "mental disintegration" called sledginG. The rest of the world did not agree but had to accept it since the law books did not talk about it!

It is good to have the attitude to win at any cost but it should not drive the whole cause. The current auSSie team under Ponting has gone up another level in notching up the wins with their WIN AT ANY COST!

It is not wrong but is it ethical? Is it really needed? Alas it is just a sport...not WAR!!! Where can we have a STOP on this? There is a saying, "YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE". This leads to the question...are the auSSies noT capable of taking the talK from the oPPositioN? I don't care who is the culprit Bhaji or Symonds! It is always the game which is greater than the individual! So leave the crap and MOVE FORWARD. Do whatever it takes to resolve the iSSue at hand in the mosT aMicaBLE way! GROW UP FOLKS...CRICKET IS A LOVELY GAME!

Let us think about the days of the greats like Sir Don Bradman, Tiger Pataudi,the great Colin Cowdry, Sir Gary Sobers when crikKEt was played like a real GENTLEMAN's game!

Stay tuned for my next article on uMPirinG anD thE huMAN eleMENT!

uNtiL laTeR... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

fAtE oF uMPirinG anD the ausSie cheAtinG.

2008-01-06T00:28:00.000-08:00

Its been a longtime that I have blogged on cricket. Now I feel it is the right time to get back to blogging. The Cricket arena is never the same. The once so-called GENTLEMANs game is no longer supposed to be...i would rather call it the mightY cheaters game. Yes, that is true. The team who has the might to sledge and cheat has a bigger say in the things. It also looks like such teams even bribe the umpires in biased decisions.

For a longtime, I had such a respect in cricket that I donot have in games like the NBA,NFL and MLB in the USA since in these games the home team always has the advantage in the umpiring (referee) decisions. But atleast in these games,you have the option to challenge a decision but..alas in our biased game of cricket we donot have this!!!

I agree the aussie team was good in the early 2000s...but now that after the retirement of the greats like Steve Waugh, Justin Langer, Mc Grath and Shane Warne, the ausSie team still wants to live that dream despite unhealthy measures and the one form they have adapted is to bribe the uMPires. This is such a big scam that the whole of Cricket Australia is involved and the stupid idiotic BCCI just keeps quiet! The ICC is driven and controlled by CA and only GOD can save the cricket world!

I hope the cricket GOD SACHIN TENDULKAR comes out and makes a statement both with his bat and mouth!!!

BAN playing in australia...and ban the corrupt uMPires.

Hope the Indian team comes back from the 0-2 loss and make it 2-2.

GO INDIA GO.

uNtiL laTeR... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz columN -> thE ePic fiNaLe...

2007-09-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

iT is beeN close to 5 mOntHs thaT I havE stopPed blogGing on criCket...onE of the main reasonS being the mesSed uP forMat of the ODI WC whicH hapPened in the first quarter of this yeaR!!!

iS iT surpRising to seE the sub-continenT teaMs iNDia and pAkiStan play the finals of the first ever twenTy20 world cup? nO...nOT really. It was due to the messed up ODI WC format that these 2 teams did not get into the second round. noW that we had the ePic final, it is very much clear how much a format plays into a big tournament!

the wHole criCKeting worLd agrees thAt the better teams made it to the finaLs.

i herebY comE out of my bloG sTrikE and stAy tuNeD for more.

onCe aGain the betteR teaM woN...if it was the invincible ausSiEs who had the last laugh @ the 2007 ODI WC...it is iNDia in the 2007 tWenTy20 WC!

uNtiL laTeR... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

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

2007-04-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-06T13:05:00.001-07:00

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!

tHe so cAllEd sUpEr8 tEeeamS...bAndaz sUpEr8 picKs anD The anAlysIS!

2007-03-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

aT thE tiMe of tHis wriTing, 8 oF the 24 matCheS in the sUpEr8 are alreAdY played. So let us anAlyse the sUpEr 8 teAms at this stage! ofCourse the '07 woRlD cUP already lost it'z charm with 2 of the sub-continent giAnTs facing an early exit...thanks to the iCC for it'z iNNovative foRmAt!

The invinciBle ausSiEs and the ever impRovinG kiWis are playinG their besT crikKEt at the moMent!

It was only 4 weeks back that many crikKEting greats commented that the ausSiEs are a spent force and how they are loosing their hold on the ever changing one day cricket! But oh boY...now it looks like a longtime back...the ausSiEs have proved yeT again that they are the best in the businEss when it comes to the biG ocCasSion. Hayden and Mc Grath are having their best time with Hussey and Symonds waiting to prove a point or two. There is always the Ponting factor which works at the cruncH time! I hope the sub-continent teAms iNDia and paKisTan take a leaf out of the ausSIE booklet! I rate the ausSies number 1 favorite on the curRent WC form!

The other teAm to watcH out for is the kiWis...this is a well knit team with a lot of utility players in Oram, Styris, Vettori and Mc Millan with the coGitative captaincy of Fleming! If there is any team that can beat the ausSies on a consistent basis, it is the kiWis! I would rate the kiWis higher than the next ranked team the pRoteAs. I rate the kiWis number 2 favorite on the curRent WC form!

The pRoteAs and the laNkAns are equally good with a good mix of youth and experience! If it is Kallis, Smith, Gibbs and Langevedth for the soUth aFricAns then it is Jayasuriya, Murali, Malinga and Jayawardene doing the joB for the laAnkAns! I rate both the pRoteAs and laNkAns a the number 3 favorite on the curRent WC form!

The other teAm capable of winning the coVeted tropHy is the enGlisH. They have been a revelation in the past few weeks and are always improvinG with each matcH. Peterson, Colly, Monty and Freddie are doing the joB for the enGlisH with good support from the others like Bell, Bopara and Vaughn(juSt for the capTainCy)! The enGlisH are the only other team capable of de-throning the ausSiEs!

The carRibeAns though a good uNit are not good enoUgh to pass tbe sUpEr8 stage of the tournaMent but for the one greAt man Lara! Anything is posSible with this great man!

The iRisH and the banGlAs are just filling in the numbers for the second stage of the tournament like in the '99 and '03 when zimbaBwe and kEnYa snEaked thru'!

My favorites to reach the seMis are the ausSiEs, the kiWis and two ouT of the three from the pRoteAs, the laNkAns and the enGlisH!

uNtiL tomMorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

**bAndaz sUpEr8** picKs.
Date	Match	Teams	Winning chance	Winning chance	Actual Result
mAr 27th	sUpEr8-Match1	ausSiEs vs carRibEans	ausSiEs 65%	carRibEans 35%	ausSiEs
mAr 28th	sUpEr8-Match2	pRoteAs vs laNkAns	pRoteAs 60%	laNkAns 40%	pRoteAs
mAr 29th	sUpEr8-Match3	kiWis vs carRibEans	kiWis 60%	carRibEans 40%	kiWis
mAr 30th	sUpEr8-Match4	enGlisH vs iRisH	enGlisH 75%	iRisH 25%	enGlisH
mAr 31st	sUpEr8-Match5	ausSiEs vs baNglAs	ausSiEs 80%	baNglAs 20%	ausSiEs
aPr 1st	sUpEr8-Match6	laNkAns vs carRibEans	laNkAns 60%	carRibEans 40%	laNkAns
aPr 2nd	sUpEr8-Match7	kiWis vs baNglAs	kiWis 65%	baNglAs 35%	kiWis
aPr 3rd	sUpEr8-Match8	pRoteAs vs iRisH	pRoteAs 90%	iRisH 10%	pRoteAs
aPr 4th	sUpEr8-Match9	laNkAns vs enGlisH	laNkAns 55%	enGlisH 45%	laNkAns
aPr 7th	sUpEr8-Match10	pRoteAs vs baNglAs	pRoteAs 90%	baNglAs 10%	baNglAs
aPr 8th	sUpEr8-Match 11	ausSiEs vs enGlisH	ausSiEs 50.5%	enGlisH 49.5%	ausSiEs
aPr 9th	sUpEr8-Match 12	kiWis vs iRisH	kiWis 80%	iRisH 20%	kiWis
aPr 10th	sUpEr8-Match13	pRoteAs vs carRibEans	pRoteAs 60%	carRibEans 40%	pRoteAs
aPr 11th	sUpEr8-Match 14	enGlisH vs baNglAs	enGlisH 60%	baNglAs 40%	enGlisH
aPr 12th	sUpEr8-Match 15	kiWis vs laNkAns	kiWis 52%	laNkAns 48%	laNkAns
aPr 13th	sUpEr8-Match 16	ausSiEs vs iRisH	ausSiEs 90%	iRisH 10%	auSSiEs
aPr 14th	sUpEr8-Match 17	kiWis vs pRoteAs	kiWis 49%	pRoteAs 51%	kiWis
aPr 15th	sUpEr8-Match 18	baNglAs vs iRisH	baNglAs 60%	iRisH 40%	iRisH
aPr 16th	sUpEr8-Match 19	ausSiEs vs laNkAns	ausSiEs 53%	laNkAns 47%	ausSiEs
aPr 17th	sUpEr8-Match 20	enGlisH vs pRoteAs	enGlisH 51%	pRoteAs 49%	pRoteAs
aPr 18th	sUpEr8-Match 21	laNkAns vs iRisH	laNkAns 80%	iRisH 20%	laNkAns
aPr 19th	sUpEr8-Match 22	carRibEans vs baNglAs	carRibEans 49%	baNglAs 51%	carRibEans
aPr 20th	sUpEr8-Match 23	ausSiEs vs kiWis	ausSiEs 58%	kiWis 42%	ausSiEs
aPr 21st	sUpEr8-Match 24	enGlisH vs carRibEans	enGlisH 65%	carRibEans 35%	enGlisH

based on the curRent woRld cUp fOrm of the teAms!
uNtiL laTeR... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

tHe woRld cUp foRmaT!!!

2007-03-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

thE gRoup round is over and here are the resUlts to get inTo the sUpEr8!!! It is sad to see the crikKEting gianTs iNDia and paKisTan to be knocked oUt. b4 discusSing the teaMs in sUpEr8, let us talk about a few facts about the woRld cUp tournaments of the past and the present.

It was only since the '99 ediTion that the tournament was desiGneD into having 2 rounds beFore playing the semiS. There are a lot of merRits atTached to this nEw forMat if implemented properly! In the '99 there were a toTal of 12 teams participating in the tournament divided into 2 groups of 6 each! The top 3 from each group went on to play in the sUpEr6. unFortunately better teams liKe enGland and sRilanKa gave way for zimbaBwe to progResS into the sUpEr6! tHe forMat was thus comMented to leaVe out the biG teams but there was not much to blaMe since each teAm had played 5 group games beFore progresSing into the next round.

If the '99 ediTion had left out 2 of the biG teams out of the sUpEr6, the '03 ediTion was even worse! This time there were a toTal of 14 teaMs participating in the tournament divided into 2 groups of 7 each! tHe tOp 3 from each group progressed to the sUpEr6. This ediTion saw betTer teams like enGland and paKisTan from group A knocked oUt and zimBabwE entering the sUpEr6. similaRly soUth aFricA and wesTinDies from group B were knocked oUt and kEnYa entering the sUpEr6. There was a lot of complaining about the tournament format without 4 of the maJor teams not progresSing into the super6! This was still better thaN the curRent 2007 ediTion since each team got to play 6 group games in the 2003 ediTion before the sUpEr6 were decided!

The curRent 2007 ediTion has the woRst forMat designed till date! There are now a toTal of 16 teaMs participating in the tournament with 4 teams in each group! The top2 from each group proceEd to sUpEr8. So this gives only 3 games for a team before their sUpEr8 faTe is decided!!! is thiS valid...is tHis acCeptable...i aM sure iT is nOT. any best teaM in the world can have one bad day and that is what happened to the crikKeting gianTs iNDia and paKisTan to be knocked out of thE woRld cUp without a sUpEr8 berth! I hope the iCC wakes up from the deep slumber and design a betTer format for the fortH cominG worlD cUP tournaments! a woRld cUp should have the best teaMs playing with each other atleast for half the time! iT does nOT make anY senSe for the one OFF teams like banGladesh, kEnYa, zimbaBwE or iRelanD making it to the second rounD!

If the '99 ediTion of sUpEr6 was a sUpEr5, the '03 ediTion of sUpEr6 was even worse...it was a sUpEr4. The iCC improved fuRthEr making the '07 ediTion of sUpEr8 into a virtUal sUpEr6!!!
God only can help crikKEt...to maKe the iCC come up with betTer forMats for the woRld cUps of the futuRe! If this does not change, the woRld cUp would defintely loose its charm!

The '75, '79, '83 and '87 ediTions had no flaws since there were only a toTal of 8 participatinG teams with 4 in each groUp. Each of the teams played twicE within themselves before the toP 2 from each groUp played the seMis!

The '92 ediTion of the world cUp had the beST forMat only to be comparable with the '96 ediTion! If the '92 ediTion had a round-robin format where each teaM played with all the other teAms before the top4 played the seMis, the '96 ediTion introdUceD an inNovatiVe way of quarteR fiNals being played before the seMis. I personally like the '96 ediTion...thouGh there are a toTal of 12 teams, each group had 6 teaMs each. The top4 from each group played into the quarTers and so ON...

now tHat the 2007 format is messed up, I hope the iCC gives a betTer thinkinG into this subJeCt!

as pEr the curRent world cUp form of the teaMs, the ausSies, the lanKans, the chOkers...am sorRy the proTeas and the kiWis should make the semiS! Don't be sUrprisEd if the milleaniUM warRiors...the ausSies or the maRauDers...the lanKans lift the 9th ediTion of the world cUp...thanks to iCC for their inNovative waYs to twEak the forMat tiMe and agAin!!!

bAndaz picKs for mAr25th...

2007-03-23T18:09:00.000-07:00

banGladesH shud wiN over berMudA comfortably!
banGladesH -> 85% winning chance
berMudA -> 15% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!
Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr24th...

2007-03-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

soUth aFricA shud wiN over ausTrAlia very narrowly!
soUth aFricA -> 55% winning chance
ausTrAlia -> 45% winning chance

enGlanD shud wiN over kEnYa comfortably!
enGlanD -> 80% winning chance
kEnYa -> 20% winning chance (surpRise element!)

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!
Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr23rd...

2007-03-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

iNDia shud wiN over sRilankA very narrowly!
iNDia -> 55% winning chance
sRilankA -> 45% winning chance

wesTindiEs shud wiN over iRelanD comfortably!
wesTindiEs -> 80% winning chance
iRelanD -> 20% winning chance (surpRise element!)

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!
Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr22nd...

2007-03-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

scOtlanD shud wiN over neTherlanDs in a close game!
scOtlanD -> 52% winning chance
neTherlanDs -> 48% winning chance

newZealanD shud wiN over caNadA comfortably!
newZelanD -> 90% winning chance
caNadA -> 10% winning chance (surpRise element!)

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!
Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr21st...

2007-03-20T19:47:00.001-07:00

paKisTan shud wiN over ziMbaBwe comfortably and nicely!
paKisTAn -> 90% winning chance
ziMbaBwe -> 10% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

sRilankA shud wiN over baNglAdesh comfortably!
sRilankA -> 75% winning chance
baNglAdesh -> 25% winning chance (surpRise element!)

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!
Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr20th...

2007-03-20T00:43:00.000-07:00

soUth aFricA shud wiN over scOtlanD with a huge margin!
soUth aFricA -> 92% winning chance
scOtlanD -> 8% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

newzEalanD shud wiN over kEnyA narrowly! bUt there is a possibility that the match could go either way!
newzEalanD -> 59% winning chance
kEnyA -> 41% winning chance (surpRise element!)

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!
Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr19th...

2007-03-19T09:16:00.000-07:00

iNDia shud wiN over berMudA with a huge margin!
iNDia -> 95% winning chance
berMudA -> 5% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

wesTindiEs shud wiN over zimbaBwE comfortably!
wesTindiEs -> 85% winning chance
zimbaBwE -> 15% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!

Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr18th...

2007-03-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

ausTraliA shud wiN over neTherlanDs with a huge margin!
ausTraliA -> 97% winning chance
neTherlanDs -> 3% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

enGlanD shud wiN over canAda comfortably!
enGlanD -> 92% winning chance
canAda -> 8% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!

Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr17th...

2007-03-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

iNDia shud wiN over banGladesH comfortably!
iNDia -> 85% winning chance
banGladesH -> 15% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

paKisTan shud wiN over iRelanD with a huge margin!
paKisTan -> 95% winning chance
iRelanD -> 5% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!

Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr16th...

2007-03-15T17:46:00.000-07:00

soUth aFricA shud wiN over neTherlanDs with a huge margin!
soUth aFricA -> 99% winning chance
neTherlanDs -> 1% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

enGlanD should win a close game against newZealAnd
enGlanD -> 52% winning chance
newZealAnd -> 48% winning chance

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!

Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr15th...

2007-03-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

sRilanKa shud wiN on berMuda with a huge margin!
sRianKa -> 99% winning chance
berMuda -> 1% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

irElanD shud lOOse this game very narrowly over zimBabWe!
iRelanD -> 49% winning chance
zimBabWe -> 51% winning chance
based on the team form since the last 3 months!

Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr 14th...

2007-03-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

thoUgh the result of the opening matcH looks one sided with the caRRibeans winning by over 50runs, it was not that way! The matcH did provide a lot of excitement until Shoib Malik was out! The presence of a certain Shahid Afridi who was baNNed for 2 matcHes would have given a diFFerent result!

ausTraliA vs scotLanD

eXpect the auSSies to wiN comfortably. watch ouT for Gilly, Ponting and Hussey in the baTTing and Tait and Mc Grath in the bowling. eXpect an all-round performance from Watson if he gets to play!
watch out for the scoTs captain Craig Wright!

auSSies -> 95% winning chance
socTs -> 5% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

kenYa vs canAda

thiS is going to be an inTeresting matcH with both the minnows trying to prove a point!
kenYa should win a hard fought match.

watcH ouT for Steve Tikolo and Thomas Odoyo in the kenYan side and John Davison and Ashish Bagai in the canAdian side!

kenYa -> 60% winning chance
canAda -> 40% winning chance

Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr13th...

2007-03-13T09:38:00.001-07:00

wesTindiEs shud wiN this game very narrowly over paKisTan!
wesTindiEs -> 55% winning chance
paKisTan -> 45% winning chance

based on the team form since the last 3 months!

Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

soUth aFricA...cHokeRs tO tHe cOre.

2007-03-08T20:47:00.000-08:00

soUth aFricA...play their best cricket always, the only difference being they cHoke at the big occasion. It was on march 12th 1889 that the soUth aFricAns played their first test againsT the then touring enGlisH side becoming only the 3rd test playing nation. It was until 1970 that soUth aFricA played international crikKEt during which time they were the third best after the enGlisH and the auSSies! In 1970, the ICC voted to suspend soUth aFricA from international cricket indefinitely because of its government's policy of apartheid, a policy which led them to play only against the white nations (England, Australia, New Zealand), and field only white players. The ban of the soUth aFricAns saw the caRRibeans rise and the rest is history about how the caRRibean kinGs dominated the cricketing world!

Ever since the soUth aFricAns were welcomed back to international cricket in 1991, they became a driving force on the crikKEt field played anywhere in the world! It has to be noted that the caRRibean downfall already started in the late 80s...a coinciDence...ofcourse noT!

soUth aFricA always produced some of the best crikKEters like the great Graeme Pollock, the agile Allan Lamb (later played for enGlanD due to the ban on soUth aFricA), shrewd leader Kepler Wessels (later played for ausTraliA due to the ban on soUth aFrica), aggresive captain and all-rounder Hansie Cronje (banned from crikKEt due to alleged match fixing scandals and later died in a plane cRasH!), the fiersome Allan Donald, the consistent all-rounder Shaun Pollock, the accumulator Kallis to name a few!

Since the soUth aFricAns returned back to international crikKEt they can be termed as under achievers missing on the crunCH situations many a times! The current soUth aFricAn team is well balanced with a good blend of experience and youth to break that jinX. The baTTing at the toP is in the hands oF their aggreSSive young leader Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers. The middle order boasts of the trio of Gibbs, Kallis and Prince, followed by the pinch hitter Kemp. The explosive wicketkeeper-batsman Boucher and the all-rounders Pollock and Hall make up the lower middle order! There is not much of a tail in this current soUth aFricAn team! The bowling is in the experienced hands of Pollock and Ntini. The support cast is excellent with Hall and Nel. Additionally Kallis, Kemp and Smith support equally good with the bowling options.

It remains to be seen if this soUth aFricAn team who chased a record 434 in march 2006 can break the jinX by winning in the moTHer of all tournaments to remove their tag of cHokeRs once and for all! It might take a few matches for these soUth aFricAns to get used to the slow pitches in the caRRibean islands but keep your fingers crossed, I would rate them to make it to the finals!

All said and done, I would rate them 1st favorite in my list to win this 9th edition of the coVeted tropHY!

Keep coming here for every day picks from the march 13th until the tournament ends...goOd eVening and gOoD luCk until our next meeting!

enGlanD...tHe genTlemen oF crikKEt.

2007-03-07T22:44:00.000-08:00

enGlanD...it is the place where evrything started! This beautiful game of crikKEt was first played by the kings in 1212AD!. Yes this is true. It took a few centuries to evolve and finally the first official game was played as a timeless test match between the briTisH and the auSSies on march15th 1877. This was a timeleSS test match which lasted for 4 days and the auSSies had the last laugh!

A game of cricket should be watched in the enGlisH summers in enGlanD. That is when you get the real taste of the genTlemen's game.

The enGlisH dominated this game for much of the last century most of which was in the longer format...the tesT crikKEt. It was the auSSies first and the caRRibeans later that showed the world how to beat the once unbeatable enGlisH. The enGlisH had a very strong presence in the first 5 editions of the world cUP! Ever since they lost the finals against the paKisTan sultAns @ melbourne under the captaincy of Ian Botham, they were never the same! The enGlisH have a unique distinction of playing in 3 world cUP finals and never winning on a single occassion!

enGlanD produced many cricketing legeNds like Ian Botham, Mike Gatting, Geoff Boycott, David Gower, Sir W G Grace, Graham Gooch to name a few! There is one common factor between the enGlisH players of the paSt and the preSEnt...they show professionalism in their approach to the game.

The current enGlisH team is very much capable of breaking the jinX and finally wiNNing the coveted trophy which denied their cricketing legeNds of the paSt! The baTTing has a stable look at the top with the shrewd leader Vaughn and the young gun Ed Joyce followed by the stable Bell at one down. The middle order boasts of the ever consistent Collingwood, the pocket dynamo Petersen and the reliable all-rounder Flintoff. The tail is seperated by the veteran wicket-keeper batsman Nixon and the in-form all-rounder Dalrymple. The bowling looks with the opening combo of Anderson and Jon Lewis. The support cast is good with Sajid Mahmood and Liam Plunkett. The spin department is spearheaded by the sensational Monty Panesar! The all-rounders Flintoff, Dalrymple play a major role in the bowling department as well! Added to this Vaughn is widely applauded for this shrewd and tactical captaincy!

If the enGlisH believe in themselves, I would rate them to make it to the finals! All said and done, I would rate them 2nd favorite in my list to win this 9th edition of the coVeted tropHY!

We will discuss about the 1st favorite team to win the cUP tomorrow...until then goOd eVening and gOoD luCk.

iNDia...tHe tiGers oF thE easT.

2007-03-06T14:04:00.000-08:00

iNDia...the heroes of the '83 cUP! This is what comes to mind when you first talk about tHe iNDian team's world cUP chances. Ever since that elusive victory @ LORDS, the mecca of crikKEt grounds happened, crikKEt has evolved in a biG way in iNDia. It would not be wrong to say that cricket is a religion in iNDia! You take a casual stroll on any of the internal roads in any part of the country and you would definitely get a sighting of crikKEt being played!

It was after '83 that the iNDian crikKEt team started believing in themselves that they can beat the best in the shOrter verSion of the gaMe as well! kuDOs to the team of '83 led by the legenDary Paaji Kapil and ably supported by Jimmy Amarnath, Yashpal Sharma, Sandeep Patil, Madanlal, Krish Srikanth and others! It has become customary to compare any iNDian team, wheTHer goOd or bAd to the herOes of '83. I would not discoUnt the victory of '83 which was hard fought and a well deserving win but comparisons should not be done for many reasons......1) the teaM of '83 had no pressure or expectations 2) the number of competing teaMs at the highest level were not manY 3) crikKEt was just a gaMe...not anything else like now-a-days it is termed more as a priDe! 4) though one day cricket evolved in the 70s it was not much popular by '83...only the auSSies, the enGlisH and the caRRibeans got a hanG of it by that time! The rest of the loT iNDia, paKisTan, new zeaLanD and the others are still learniNg the nauNces of crikKEt!

The current team led by the soliDary Dravid and his larGer tHan liFe deputY Tendulkar has a good mix of experience and youth going into the cUP. The baTTing at the tOp is good with the return of the Dada Ganguly and the explosive Veeru followed by the sensational Uthappa. The middle order is potent with the greatesT living leGend Tendulkar, followed by the reliable Dravid and the dashing Yuvraj. The bridge between the middle order and the tail is filled in by the pocket dynamo Dhoni. The boWling looks good with the return of the resurgent Zaheer and the agile Agarkar. The support cast is good with the promising Munaf and Sreesanth. The spin department is well balanced with the tireless magician Kumble and his wily partner Harbhajan. Let us not forget the young all-round sensation Irfan in the ranks as well who would be the trump card!

It is to be seen wheTHer these great names discussed above would take the preSSure within themselves and live to the expecTations! All said and done, I would still rate them 3rd favorite in my list to win this 9th edition of the coVeted tropHY!

We will discuss about the 2nd favorite team to win the cUP tomorrow...until then goOd eVening and gOoD luCk.

sri lanKa...the marauD eRs of crikKEt.

2007-03-05T15:32:00.000-08:00

sri lanKa...rewind back to the paaaAAAst...how can one forget the huGe impaCt made by this team in the '96 cUP. Until then they were mere passengers in the world of crikKEt! It was the agressive captaincy of Ranatunga and his able deputy Aravinda De silva ably supported by the trio of Jayasuriya, Kaluwitharna and Murli which made this happen. Ever since then, the sri lanKans were never the same! They went on to become one of the cricketing power houses! If it was Martin Crowe who adopted the strategy of utilizing the first 15 overs by promoting Greatbatch in the '92 edition, it was Ranatunga who has fine tuned the strategy of how to clinically destroy the opposition in the first 15 overs by employing the marauD ers Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharna to the task, who has done the job to perfection!

Ever since the marauD eRs have claimed the trophy in '96, the team has improved to the better.The sri lanKans in the '99 cUP have witnessed a shock elimination from the suPer 6 but they have done much better in the next edition (2003) reaching the seMis. It is not wrong to quote that the sri lanKans dominated the first part of the seMis with the mighty auSSies in the 2003 edition! On a given day, sri lanKa is tHe team which is very much capable of beating the best on a consistent basis. It remains to be seen how the 2007 edition folds up for the marauD eRs!

The present teaM is very much capable of repeating the feat of '96 taking into consideration the balance of the team which has good blend of experience and youth. The batting at the top is in the able and trusted hands of the veteRan Jayasuriya and an able ally in Tharanga, followed by the trio of Jayawardena, Sangakkara and Attapattu. It is good to see Arnold back into the batting ranks of the middle order which would be very handy. Dilshan is an all-rounder who can bowl his skiddy off-spinners and bat with elan! The lower order boasts of the hurricane all rounder Maharoof and Vaas who too can bat a bit. The boWling looks more promising with the agile Vaas and the wily Muralitharan. The support cast is good with the pacy Malinga and the consistent Kulasekhara.

Now it needs to be seen how quickly this sri lanKan team can adapt on the tracks in the caRRibean(which suits them very well) to repeat their '96 performance! All said and done, I would still rate them 4th favorite in my list to win this 9th edition of the coVeted tropHY!

We will discuss about the 3rd favorite team to win the cUP tomorrow...until then goOd eVening and gOoD luCk.

austRaliA...tHe warrioRs oF thE miLLeniUM.

2007-03-04T23:35:00.000-08:00

austRaliA....a name which brings to mind the sheer passion with which they play cricket! In my view austRaliA is for crikKEt like what braZil is for soCCer...the standard to be compared...in the moDeRn aGe! For over a decade, austRaliA have been the un-conquered leadeRs in both forms of the game. It is in '87 that austRaliA has won the first world cUP under one of their greatest leaders Allan Border! Though they have not done well in the next edition in '92 held in their own backyard, they have been consistent ever since reaching 3 consecutive finals in '96, '99 and 2003 and winning on 2 of these occassions!

It is not wise to write OFF the auSSies owing to their recent 5 game loosing streak! You have to discount the fact that 5 of their top players are missing either with injury or break. It is the same auSSies who have an an unconquered record of 18 consecutive wins since the '99 cUP (7 consecutive wins in '99 an 11 consecutive wins in 2003). The core nucleus of the winning auSSie team of the 2003 is very much alive in this edition as well barring the feaRsome Lee!

The batting is good with the return of Gilchrist and Hayden at the top followed by Ponting, Hussey, Clarke and Shane Watson or Brad Hodge. The bowling though in-experienced, is lethal with a lot of talented young pacers like Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait, Nathan Bracken. To top it all, the ever reliable and consistent Mc Grath is out there to prove a point or two before quitting from the great game of cricket! If all is well and Symonds recovers back in time for the crucial match against soutH aFrica, there is no reason why the auSSies cannot make it 3 in row to win the cUP!

It is to be seen how well the injury hit auSSies can bounce back and held on their nerve in tenSe matcH situations! All said and done, I would still rate them 5th favorite in my list to win this 9th edition of the coVeted tropHY!

We will discuss about the 4th favorite team to win the cUP tomorrow...until then goOd eVening and gOoD luCk.

wesT inDies...the undisputeD kinGs oF the 70s.

2007-03-03T18:03:00.001-08:00

wesT inDies...the name was enough to create terror on any cricket field in the 70s. How can one forget the feaRsome fOur...Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding and Malcom Marshall. The wesT inDian batting boasted of all-time greats like Clive Llyod, Alvis Kalicharan, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes and the flamboyant Sir Vivian Richards in the same era. This was enough to see them thru' the first two editions of the world cUPs(1975 and 1979) with the highest honors. Make no mistake about it, the austRaliAn and the enGlisH teams were equally good in that era but the caRRibean kinGs had the last laugh!

It took an underdog team like India to de-throne the caRRibean kinGs from their world cUP winning streak in '83. Ever since then, the wesT inDian kinGs were never the same! It was only in '96 that the wesT inDians managed to reach the semiS. It is been over 2 decades that the caRRibean kinGs are de-throned from the highest honor of cricket...the coveted world cUP!

The tale of the current wesT inDian team is very different. Here is a talented young brigade building up and playing their best ODI cricket in the last few months under their veteran chief commander Brian Charles Lara. It is a testimony to their improved performance to see them playing the champions trophy finals with the invincible ausTraliAn warriors!

It looks like the captaincy of Lara is doing a lot of good to this young caRRibean team. Lara is out there to prove a point or two before his retirement from this wonderful game of cricket!

The batting is very settled with Chanderpaul and Gayle at the top followed by Samuels, Sarwan, and the great Lara. Then you have the dynamic all rounder Bravo followed by the stable wicketkeeper-batsman Ramdin. The bowling looks in-experienced but shows a lot of potential in the young Jerome Taylor, the consistent Bradshaw, the ever improving Smith and the competent Colleymore. A lot needs to be seen how consistently this young team can perform under the brilliant Lara!

All said and done, I would still rate them 6th favorite in my list to win this 9th edition of the coVeted tropHY!

We will discuss about the 5th favorite team to win the cUP tomorrow...until then goOd eVening and gOoD luCk.

nEw zeaLanD..kiWis..the most underRaTed bunch

2007-03-02T12:09:00.000-08:00

kiWis are the most underRaTed bunch of crikKeteRs. nEw zeaLanD was the first team who started utilizing the 15 over fielding restrictions (imposed since the '92 world cUP) intelligently. The dynamic captaincy of Martin Crowe in the '92 cUP saw him promoting Mark Greatbatch to open the innings for nEw zeaLanD who tore the bowling apart (time and again) and has shown the world how to utilize the first 15 overs...and the rest as you all know is hiStorY. It was during the same time that the great nEw zeaLanD leader showed the world how to utlize spin bowling in the first 15 overs effectively by opening with Deepak Patel. ofcourse the game has progressed much more in the last 15 years but it was heartening to see how nEw zeaLanD made an impact at that world cUP. The last 15 years has seen a rejuvenated nEw zeaLanD cricket team with a good crop of multi dimensional players.

If it was Sir Richard Hadlee who put nEw zeaLanD on the cricket map of the world with his bowling exploits in the 70s and 80s, it was Martin Crowe who got them competing with the toP teAms of the crikKet world with his batting exploits and radical captaincy in the late 80s and early 90s. In the later part of 90s, nEw zeaLanD saw a true leader in Stephen Fleming who many a times led the team from the front.

I was fortunate to meet with Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle in '95 at a Bangalore pub on a weekend. The nEw zeaLanD team was visiting iNdiA at that time! I had a long chat with the 2 great men. It was really sad to see Astle retire before the world cUP! The cricketing world does miss him a lot...who can forget the fastest double century ever hit in a test match in just 155balls! I forgot to mention that I met with Martin Crowe as well in '95 on a different occassion. Watch out for a complete story on these in the coming days!

The current team has a good blend of youth and experience and the important thing is that they have quite a few all rounders in the form of Scott Styris, Jacob Oram(he's the one who wants to play even with a broken finger or amputating his finger!), Craig Mc Millan, Daniel Vettori. The batting looks good with Lou Vincent and Fleming at the top followed by the new exciting talents Fulton and Taylor in the middle order followed by Styris, Mc Millan and Oram(if he'z fit to play). Brendon Mc Cullum is the explosive wicket keeper batsman who is the bridge between the top order and the tail. The bowling looks good with the fiery Bond and the agile Vettori supported by Franklin and the other all rounders! Fielding is one of their greatest aSSets!

It looks to be seen how fast the nEw zeaLanDers can adapt to the pitches on the other side of the world in the caRRibean. All said and done, I would still rate them 7th favorite in my list to win this 9th edition of the coVeted tropHY!

We will discuss about the 6th favorite team to win the cUP tomorrow...until then
goOd eVening and gOoD luCk.

PaKisTan...tHe suLtaNs oF reVerSe sWing

2007-03-01T12:36:00.000-08:00

paKisTan is one of the 8 teAms to waTch ouT for in this edition of the world cUP. Though this team would be sadly missing out on the services of the rawalpindi express Shoaib, the immaculate Asif and the dashing allrounder Abdul Razzaq, they are still a formidable teaM with a lot of talent. Infact this is the first time in a world cUP competition that paKisTan has a relatively in-experienced and weaker bowling attack!

Pakistan is a team which has excellent bench strength of good bowling attacks in the past. Nevertheless they can still boast of a good breed of young fast bowlers. It looks like the batting is finally coming to terms with the trio of Yusuf, Younis Khan and Inzamam lending solidity to the middle order followed by the mercurial keeper Kamran Akmal, the pocket dynamo Shahid Afridi and most probably the long forgotten dashing allrounder Azhar Mahmood!

There have always been problems with the paKisTan teams (in terms of integrity) of the past and present except for the times when Zaheer Abbas was an integral part and later when Imran Khan took over as the captain! It remains to be seen if Inzamam and coach Woolmer can instill the missing team spirit and unity within their 15players...which can make wonders. On their day, paKisTan is the only team capable of beating any of the top teams on a consistent basis!

All said and done, though pakistan has an equal chance of winning the cUP, I would still rate them 8th favorite in my list to win this 9th edition of the coVeted tropHY!

We will discuss about my 7th favorite team to win the cUP tomorrow...until then
goOd eVening and gOoD luCk.

thE impaCT oF thE veterRanS

2007-02-28T12:35:00.000-08:00

aT the time of this writing most of the tEams are reachinG the caRRibeaN for the caRniVal of cRikKEt due in 2 weeks!

moSt of the teams at this woRld cUP have a few players who would be playinG their lasT woRld cUP. Let us talk about the veteRanS and their impaCT in this tournament.

The teams from the sub-continent (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) have a few players who would want to leave their mark in most probably their last world cup appearance. The famous FOUR from India -> Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly and Kumble in all probability might be playing their last world cUP. It might be argued that Tendulkar and Dravid might make it to the next world cUP but it is 4yeaRs away and any discussions about that may not be valid at this juncture! Watch out for some sizzling performances from these wounded Tigers from India! Sri Lanka as well have players like Jayasuriya, Muralitharan, Vaas and Attapattu who would want to make it a point in their last world cUP appearance. Jayasuriya and Murali have the earlier experience of winning the cUP in '96 and that would mean a lot in crunCH situations @ this cUP! On any day they can be 4Some to any oppostion! Pakistan on the other hand have players like and Inzamam, Mohammed Yousuf and Shoiab Aktar(if he'z cleared and fit to play now!) who would be playing their last world cup. Watch oUT for these old war-horses!

Teams from the Australian sub-continent have a lot of players who may be playing their last world cUP. The New zealanders are an under-rated team at the world cUP always just because of the number of all rounders in the team! Fleming and Bond are definitely playing their last world cUP with Mc Millan and Styris might have a long shot to make it to the next world cUP. So the under-rated team would want to make a definite impaCT! Watch out for the fiery Bond and the ever-determined leader Fleming! The situation from their trans-talisman neighbors, the Australians is worse with players Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Mc Grath, Symonds, Hayden and Hussey being on the wrong side of the 30s. It might be argued that Hussey, Ponting and Symonds may stretch it out until the next world cUP but is not worth discussing now! Watch out for the wading and the hungry kangaroos!

This leaves us with the English, the African and the American nations. The English leader Michael Vaughn with the history of his injuries and age catching up would be playing his last world cUP. It might be also argued that Collingwood who'z already 30 might be a doubtful starter for the next world cUP with the amount of all-round responsibilities he'z shouldering now a days! It definitely takes a lot of toll on the body! Watch out for the shrewd leader Vaughn who might still have a trick or two left in his hat! The West Indies which is a part of the American nations have one player Brian Charles Lara who is definitely playing his last world cUP. Chanderpaul who'z already in his 30s might be also playing his last world cUP. These guyz might definitley want to re-write the history books with a host nation winning the title! Watch out for these Lions in their own den!

Now coming to the African nation, South Africa has players like Pollock, Gibbs, Boucher and Kallis definitely playing their last world cUP. These guyz have a point or two to prove that South Africa are no longer chokers when it comes to cruCH games and major tournaments! Watch out for these methodical determined lot!

Starting March 1st watch out for a new story evryday unTiL the D-DAY....the start of the inaugural match at the cUP!

tHe tEeeamS...The anAlysIS!

2007-02-23T10:18:00.000-08:00

It is 16dAys and 16 more hOurs to go b4 the world cup starts with 16tEams competing for the coveted trophy! Who'z gonna win it and who'z gonna miss it?

This is the 9th world cup edition and this is the first instance when there is no clear favorite to win this cup. All the previous editions had a stand out favorite to win the cup, ofcourse it is a different story all together if the favorites really win the cup or not! Let us now analyze all the teams competing for the world cup glory.

Let us first take a look at the bottom 8 teams in the competition. Scotland and Netherlands with Australia and South Africa in Group "A". It is tough to see any surprise upSet in this group though Scotland might be a team to watch out for the future! Bangladesh and Bermuda with India and Sri Lanka in Group "B". It is tough to see any surprise upSet in this group either but I would bet Bangladesh giving a tough fight with Sri Lanka! Now in Group "C", there might be a surprise upSet with both Kenya and Canada playing well in the ICC cricket League. Kenya and Canada are pooled with England and New Zealand. A surprise upSet is a possibility! In Group "D", Zimbabwe and Ireland are pooled in with Pakistan and West Indies. A surprise upSet is a possibility but not very much a likelihood since Zimbabwe is not doing very well either! It depends on how bad Pakistan or West Indies can play on a given day!

Now that the bottom 8 teams are analyzed, let us talk about the top 8 teams. Unlike the previous editions, I would say all the top 8 teams would be qualified for the SUPER "8" stage. Infact here is where the real competition fires up!

I would count on South Africa, England, India and Sri Lanka to make the Semis. Australia and West Indies have a distant shot to make it to the semis. I donot give Pakistan or New Zealand any chance to make it to the semis just for the fact that Pakistan do not yet have a decided bOwling combination(with dOping and inJury concerns) and New Zealand do not have good sloW bowlers! This edition of world cup does give a chance to the teams with good sloW bowlers and meDium paCers since the pitches in West Indies are kept very low and slow(unless this changes very drastically). I have put Australia and West Indies as a distant shot to make it to the semis for the reason being most of the Australia's top players are either rEtired or inJury hit! Symonds and Brett Lee are a doubt and Ponting is just coming back from a back injury! But they do have the fire power to come back strong against all odds. West Indies on the other hand is very uN-predictable and that is thE reason which stands against them. They have good batting line-up but the bowling is relatively in-experienced!

Now coming to my favorite 4, India are a well balanced side with a good mix of youth and experience in both the batting and bowling departments. FieldinG is deFinitely an area of coNcern...if addressed properly, they have the potential to be thE wInners. Sri Lanka on the other hand has good blend of youth and experience and is also a good fielding side. It needs to be seen if their famed bOwling can stand uP to deLiver! England is a team which is very in-cOnsistent but is the team to watch out for. They are the dark horses in the tournament! With a relatively second string team they were able to win against the mighty aussies and the kiwis in their own backyard. With Peterson back into the team and a fit Vaughn they have evry chance to win the cup! Getting eleVen fully fit experienced players day-In and day-OUt is the only thing which goes against theM! South Africa is the team to watch out for in this tournament. They have a well balanced side with good bowling and batting talents. Their fielding is exceptional as always. Their tag of cHokers and deLivering in cRunch situations is the only thing going against them!

So let's keep our fingers crossed to see who wins the most coveted cup in cricket!

My favorites are South Africa or England to win the CUP with India and Sri Lanka following close behind having equal chance as well if things fall in place on a given day!

my India 15 for the meGa eVent

2007-02-09T14:20:00.000-08:00

sO tHe worLd cUP is fast approaching here is my 15 for the Indian team....

Batsmen:
Uthappa
Ganguly
Sehwag
Tendulkar
Dravid
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Kaif/Kaarthick

Bowlers:
Anil Kumble
Harbhajan Singh
Zaheer Khan
Ajith Agarkar
Irfan Pathan
Munaf Patel
Ranadeb Bose/Sreesanth

I would still consider Kaif ahead of Kaarthick just because he has the experience in the international arena and he'z a great fielder. ofcourse he'z handy with the bat and he has a decent track record on the west indies soil as well! There is no need for a second wicket keeper like Kaarthick in the team since Dravid and Uthappa can act as the back-up keepers if need be! If Kaarthick is considered solely as a batsman, I am sure even Gambhir and Raina would come into contention! But I would still consider Kaif ahead of Kaarthick for the carribean islands!

On the bowling front, Sreesanth doesn't figure in my list, since he is very wayward! Sure he does have raw pace but still needs some supervision, guidance and maturity to get in to the ODI team. It is very important to be economical while bowling in the ODIs. I picked the Ranji star Ranadeb Bose, a surprise inclusion (who is not even listed in the 30 probables) into my 15. The reason being both Bose and Uthappa are in their best ranji form and this would definitely give good results @ the international level. If Munaf is match fit, which can be confirmed only when he fields for 3hrs and bowls his full quota of 10 overs in the Sri lanka series, should he be considered for the carribean islands!

anyWay...it'z only 2 more days before the final 15 is announced for the carribean islands!

so...nOw WhaaaT!!!

2007-01-27T00:22:00.000-08:00

the Indian team...
It was a rather rollicking ride for the Indian team in the last 1 year or so. Looks like finally things are falling in place for the Indian team....hope so, but nothing can be said so soon? There are few things which need to be sorted out in the selection process and I guess Vengsarkar would definitely take the right approach.

The batting looks very good on paper but it still need to be more consistent. Probably Sehwag in the middle order would give that killer punch. Though Gambhir plays well on the sub-continent pitches, it might be wise to take Uthappa to the world cup?

The bowling dept is more to worry with only Zak and Agarkar hitting it right. Munaf is good but it needs to be seen if he has the match fitness to sustain for 3hrs in the field and bowl the full quota of 10 overs! Sreesanth has too much of young-blood aggression which makes him not very consistent atleast for the time being in the one-dayers! Irfan Pathan is still to be tested out if he'z back to being an average bowler if not the best!

elsewhere...

teams like England, Pakistan have their own problems either due to injuries or scandals. But these are 2 teams which need to be watched @ the worldcup...they can be back to their very best when they have a full rung team!

On the other hand, teams like WestIndies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand boast of a good mix of youth and experience with a lot of all-rounders. But it needs to be seen...on a given day these teams can be very effective.

South Africa and Australia, I would say are the 2 best teams playing their best cricket @ the moment.

let's wait and watch...

thE reasOn!!!

2007-01-13T22:34:00.000-08:00

So....another series is gone and the Indian team is back at the drawing board. With the world cup fast approaching, it is high time that the team management comes up with a settled 15 players.

Let us keep the tEsT matches aside for a while and let's look into the ODI scenario onLy. To attain a winning combination there are a few things which are to be done but somehow our indian cricket team management keep making the same mistakes! Is anyone listening...is the BCCI or the Indian team management listening?

yeS...finally ganGULY is back in the ODI team but should he not have been considered for the ODI team longtime back....ofcourse he was onlY one of the 4 who made more than 10,000 ODI runs! yes....he should have been picked for the SA ODI series. There is no loGic in picking up a player like Wasim Jaffer for the ODIs since he'z not going to be considered for the world cup anyways!!! Atleast a player like Robin Uttappa or Gautam Gambhir shud have been picked for the SA ODI series. I donot know why Kaif and Raina are persisted in the SA ODI series. Raina is a very good young talent but he does need to go play some domestic games before making a comeback! As with Kaif....he definitely needs to do some introspection. He needs to convert the starts into big scores.....ofcourse he'z to take Dravid's responsiblity in future for the Indian cricket team.

coMing to the bowling department, things are really not good. Except Zaheer and Sreesanth, Indian team does not have a good 3rd fast bowler on the SA ODI tour. Munaf is too brittle...frequently out on injuries (is he going the Nehra route???), VRV has yet to mature as a consistent bowler and Irfan Pathan, the poster boy of Indian cricket not manydays back is seriously down on confidence. Ajith Agarkar has always been an enigma for Indian cricket. Even after more than a decade of international experience he'z still not a permanent fixture in the team, just because he bowls a "4"ball in evry over he bowls! So what should be in the planning for the world cup???

The spin bowling department is the only one which looks healthy ON and OFF the paper. Kumble has a perfect partner in Bhajji....but should the Indian team also not consider a 3rd bowler like Ramesh Powar as a back-up?

Hold on until next week for some of the solutions to the above problems.