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!
Monday, September 24, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007
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!
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
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!
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!
Friday, April 6, 2007
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!
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
tHe so cAllEd sUpEr8 tEeeamS...bAndaz sUpEr8 picKs anD The anAlysIS!
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!
based on the curRent woRld cUp fOrm of the teAms!
uNtiL laTeR... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!
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!
| 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!
Sunday, March 25, 2007
tHe woRld cUp foRmaT!!!
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!!!
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!!!
Friday, March 23, 2007
bAndaz picKs for mAr25th...
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!
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!
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