India is out !! Who is responsible ?!!

The title reflects the frustration of Indian fans, who've waited four years for another glimpse of an Indian victory... But little did they know what was in store !! Let's here it from one amazing fan, who happens to be one of the prime followers of Indian Cricket...

India is out of the world cup leaving millions of disappointed fans and few suicides. The discussion in drawing rooms, chats, mails, etc continues to be cricket as it has been for the past month in the buildup of world cup.

However the topic has now shifted from "whether India would win" to "who should be blamed for the defeat". Discussions range from Dravid’s flawed captaincy to Chappell’s experimentation to Sachin’s no show in the two crucial games to the hundreds of ads the cricketers are doing nowadays.

But what are the real reasons? Perhaps the answers are not so easy. All over world top sports persons earn more money single-handedly than the whole Indian team. Eg. Ronaldinho, Federer, Woods and Beckham. And their performance on the field does not seem to vary with their brand commitments.

One factor the Indian public seems to ignore for the debacle is BCCI itself. No doubt that BCCI has always given best of facilities to the Indian team but that has got more to do with the money involved in cricket rather than anything else.

But this involvement of huge money along with the glamour quotient is what is causing the involvement of politics & politicians in BCCI. Since India has failed to make it to super 8, the people in BCCI have been blaming the captain and coach and players, but they are careful not to raise anything on the way BCCI is run. A good case in point here is that even before there is a review meeting on 6th and 7th April on the debacle, Sharad Pawar has unilaterally announced that India would have 2 teams now India seniors and India blue (reference to Pepsi??) so that youngsters would get enough experience. This decision not only seems to be an arbitrary and knee jerk reaction, but an immature one too. After all who is Sharad Pawar (a man who has not played cricket at any level) to decide how the team is run. There are scores of other examples where the involvement of BCCI is seen. For example Indian team has a new manager on every tour and it is a prize posting to people who are in good books of BCCI ruling junta. BCCI president was supposed to leave for WI with 30 other officials (had India made it to super 8’s), ostensibly to cheer team India up. One can only wonder why such a large contingent is needed and whether the cricketers would really have been interested to party with board officials. Also, all major cricket boards have their headquarters at one place or the other. BCCI meetings are held all over the country and sometimes abroad also. I don’t know how much does all this cost.

90% of the money in world cricket is generated from subcontinent. Therefore is it not little confusing that the best stadiums and facilities for the practice are found in Australia and England. Why can’t we have all the giant replay screens and better stadiums like they do?

In any field, the best way forward is to look at the leader and benchmark your practices against theirs. Indian team and board can hence, look at the Australian system and see what makes the Australian team better than ours. A robust domestic system, better pitches and more international exposure for domestic players by allowing 2-3 members in a Ranji team to be foreign players would serve Indian cricket better by making Indian cricketers better experienced and mentally tough (one area in which Indian team seems to lag miles behind Australian team).

Guest Editor : Vivek Gawri
(Thanks Vivek, for this lovely article, and for keeping the blog alive :))

SriLankan Surprise !!

© AFP : Lasith Malinga... Four sure !!

When all thought that South Africa were cruising along in their tie against Sri Lanka on Wednesday... SriLankan pacer Lasith Malinga had other plans !! Before he came on to bowl the 45th over of the innings, South Africa were comfortable at 206/5, with only a boundary needed to reach the victory target of 210 ! Pollock was on strike, and as Malinga rushed in, he gave himself room to loft it over the cover boundary to seal a South African victory.. But Malinga bowled a slower one, right up there, to have Pollocks stumps scattered !!!

South Africa were now 206/6, as Andrew Hall walked in.

One ball to go in the 45th over... Hall on strike... Malinga comes up with another slower one, and all Hall can do was loft it straight into the hands of Tharanga at cover... another one gone !!

South Africa : 206/7. Next man in : Peterson

The next over only saw one run being scored... So, that sets up Kallis against Malinga in the 47th over, with 3 more runs to win. Jacques Kallis batting on 86, and looks easy for him - And what's more... Malinga is on a hat-trick.. Here he comes rushing in with full steam - And the ball is full outside off stump... And Kallis managed to knick this one to Sangakkara behind the stumps - Can you believe it ?!!? Malinga has taken a hat-trick in a World Cup game against South Africa !!! 3 in 3 balls now for him...

South Africa have always been termed "chokers" - Could this be yet another example ?? They are now 207/8 - Just two more wickets and Sri Lanka could pull off an extraordinary win here !! Next in : Makhaya Ntini.

Malinga comes in, with full fire in his eyes... The next ball to Ntini is full and straight - Dead on the stumps, swinging in. And Ntini had a swat at it, but misses... There you go !! Stumps all over, and Malinga gets four in four !!! A magical spell here from the Sri Lankan pacer, only to see South Africa stunned !! Just one wicket remains now, as Langeveldt walks in and 3 more runs to get !! It now looks like an uphill climb..

But South Africa played calm and cool, and Peterson edged one to the boundary, to seal victory for their team... The South African dressing room was tensed, and the Sri Lankans were dancing along... Malinga had changed the course of the game, but South Africa made it in the end.. To a much deserved win against the dreaded team of the tournament :)

Super(b) Eights !!

Ok... So the news is finally out ! India is going back home.. There might have been a few optimistic fans, who would've hoped for a Bermuda win in their encounter against Bangladesh yesterday. But coach Dav Whatmore has made sure that Bangladesh are a much more confident side, and are much serious at their World Cup outings than they seem to be.

India, with one of the most pathetic performances in their cricketing history, will be returning back home. They actually deserved to be beaten with the body language they portrayed on the field in both their encounters against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. No one seemed too interested to play seriously, and after every tournament prior to the world cup, you could hear the captain say, "We are 'preparing' for the World Cup !". Little did the country know that they were only preparing for three games, only to lose two of them :)) Wow !

I was watching a show hosted by Harsha Bhogle on ESPN, which also stars Sunny Gavaskar and Pat Symcox - Who provide their bit of analysis about the tournament. On a point being discussed about the fan reactions back home, Sunny was surprised at the harsh reactions by fans in India to the defeats against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He commented that the fans should understand that this is only a game, and it was basically two bad days that the team had. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka just played much better cricket on those particular days. But is an Indian fan ready to buy that argument ?? Well, as a cricket fan, I'm not ! Sure they had two bad days... But what I see right now is India is ousted out of the tournament - A tournament that is most important for cricket, and one that happens once in four years !! They claim to be preparing for this tournament months before it starts, and now that their claim is over, they can't just say that they had a bad day out ! I'm sorry !

And to the fact that Indian fans over-reacted... Does any one person among the 'expert' group comment on an over-reaction when India wins a match ?? Fans over-react that time as well - They just take the players to unimaginable heights, and treat them as 'gods' !! No expert sees an over-reaction in that. Is an over-reaction only visible when fans are angry and create a mob-like environment ? Maybe the fans are not correct in doing what they are, but such a reaction is expected in a cricket-crazy country like India - Where cricket is more than just a game !

The fact that the Indian team is out, is not good news for sponsors too !! They would be loosing out on hundreds of crores of rupees. Tour operators are already crying since most Indians have already cancelled their trip to the West Indies. The match tickets are selling at dirt cheap rates ! April 15th was expected to be an "India-Pakistan" encounter. It will now be a "Bangladesh-Ireland" encounter :)) And you expect people to flock the stadium and pay hundreds of dollars for that one ??

But looking at the game in general, we now have eight teams moving on to the next stage... And fighting it out for a place in the semis. Australia and New Zealand already have 2 points each, and they would both be playing Ireland and Bangladesh - Which virtually gives them 6 points each - And an entry into the semi finals. It is upto the rest of the teams to showcase their strengths, and prove that they're the best !!

Let's see what's in store for us in the next stage of the Cup !!!

(Seh)wagging on towards the next stage...

After a humiliating collapse against Bangladesh, no one would have imagined India to stage this kind of a comeback... Yes, any Indian would've imagined that we would win this game, and that by a big margin, but little did we know that India would stage the highest ever total in Cricket World Cup history !!

India's 413/5 is the highest ever total in a World Cup game, surpassing Sri Lanka's 398 against Kenya at Kandy in the 1996 World Cup. Also, this is just the fifth instance of a team touching 400 in One Day international cricket ! With Sehwag returning to form, it was always going to be a big total for India - He reached his 100 in 81 balls, to score the third fastest century in WC history. He looked ominous, and his trademark cut shots were back !! He creamed the off-side, and went on to make 114 off just 87 balls... Ganguly provided able support at the other end, and took charge as Sehwag departed. He has been just magical after his comeback to ODIs, and this is his 5th fifty in six innings - With the non-fifty inning fetching him 49 :) Ganguly and Sehwag added 202 runs, which was the eighth highest partnership in World Cups.

Dhoni contributed a bit, before Yuvraj and Sachin let the ball rolling. India were 289/5 in 42 overs, and went on to make 413/5 in 50 !! They just set the ball rolling all over the park ! The last 5 overs saw 9 sixes from the India batsmen, with the last one from Dravid, equalling the 18-sixes-in-a-innings record just created by SA in the World Cup...

Bermuda could only manage 156 in reply, but Hemp played a gutsy knock. Having been reduced to 110/8, they sure did a great job of it !

A big loss to the game...

I never imagined I would be writing something this eventful in my blog on the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007. But this truly is a shocking moment for World Cricket, and I thought it was my prime responsibility to bring this out to the cricket fans, who did not already know about it.

Bob Woolmer, the coach of the Pakistan cricket team, passed away yesterday in a Jamaican Hotel, after being found unconscious on the floor of his hotel room. The most incidental thing was the timing of this incident - It all happened a day after Pakistan's exit out of this World Cup !

How many of us know where this great man was born ?!! Well, he was born in Kanpur, India, and made his first-class debut for Kent in 1968 scoring an unbeaten 50. In August, 1972, he played his first one-day international against Australia, claiming 3 wickets for 33. He was a member of the 1975 England World Cup squad, but never got an opportunity for play for England in that tournament, since he broke his hand just before the tournament started. However, later in the same year, he made his test debut against Australia at Lord's. Just a year later, he was named one of five Wisden Cricketers of the Year !! In July, 1981, he played the last of his 19 tests against Australia, again at Lord's.

His claim to fame, however, started when he became coach of the South African Cricket Team in 1994. Till the end of the World Cup in 1999, South Africa won 21 tests out of 44, and were victorious in 10 test series out of 15. In the one-day version, South Africa became known as one of the strongest sides, winning 83 out of 111 matches.

In June 2004, he joined as the coach of Pakistan, and gave up his life for Cricket ! Coaching was something that he loved doing, and has he done a good job at that !! The World Cup 2007 would've been his dream, but that received a setback when Pakistan were thrown out of the tournament as they lost their first two matches.

Bob will always be remembered as one of the best coaches in world cricket, and as an innovator for the game. We'll miss you Bob !!
(Image Courtesy : www.hinduonnet.com)

Blastin' the sub-continent !!

India and Pakistan... Two of the favourites for the World Cup, have now become 'favourites' for the World cup !! No one would have imagined that Ireland would oust Pakistan, and send them packing - But that's what they exactly did ! They dismissed PAK for a paltry total, and then sealed a win with a six off the last ball that they faced !! Pakistan is no longer in the tournament, and it seems there's more to their team than just a bad day out in the field... Centered around controversies and 'injuries', they seem to be losing a lot of shine, despite having probably the BEST middle-order line-up in the world today !

India... The land of a billion cheerleaders, as they say, were literally thrashed by their neighbours on Saturday. Dravid won the toss, and elected to bat, on a pitch which he 'thought' would help the batsmen to score big ! Probably he was trying to compete with South Africa, who set records rolling yesterday, but only to forget that they need to win the match in the first place... But anyways, his team did set a lot of records rolling :)) No batsman seemed to be comfortable against a new-looking Bangladeshi attack ! Only Ganguly and to an extent Yuvraj looked comfortable enough, but Ganguly proved to be very very slow. It seemed more of a tedious knock, than a resilient one. Despite a pathetic start, when they were crawling at 157/4, we might have thought of a total close to 220 - Which would atleast give them something to bowl at. But our ever-so-experienced line-up had other thoughts in mind - They decided to lost the next 5 wickets for a mere TWO runs ! Gosh... Isn't that lovely, condidering the already bad start they had received ?

People said that we have players who've scored more number of runs than any other player in the world, the total matches played by our players is more than any other team competing in this tournament, we have players who have loads of experience with fourteen-thousand-something and ten-thousand-something runs behind their belt... But the expert forgot a simple thing - That experience doesn't really count in cricket unless you have the passion to perform ! And that passion could be seen in the fighting Bangladeshi tigers...

Seems that almost every player in the team only plays now to save his position in the side, rather than to do a job he's actually sent out there to do... He'll earn a name for himself in the advertising world, you see.. Otherwise, how do you expect him to do more ADs ?!?! A selection in the India team is way beyond a matter or pride now... It's all about money, honey :) The Indian Cricket Board would be the most disappointed with their defeat against Bangladesh... Naaah ! Not because they did not perform well, but because probably now they might have to spend some extra money to get India into the Super Eight... Well, just kidding... But, you never know ;))

Adding to the World Cup History...

© AFP : Ireland, with their lap of honour, after the tied game against Zimbabwe

It was always destined to be a competitive match, but no one imagined it would turn out to be only the third tied game in World Cup cricket history !! That's what happened when Ireland took on Zimbabwe in their opening group encounter. Zimbabwe were chasing 222 for victory, and the match had its own swings. Zimbabwe needed 7 to win off the last over, and 2-2-1-1-2 was what they managed from the first five deliveries. This meant that they needed ONE run to win off the last ball... With Matsikenyeri on strike, and 73 runs to his name, it looked probably and very much possible. But as he tried to drive the ball, he missed and his partner was short of his crease as they tried to steal a single. The Irish jumped in delight, and celebrated with a lap of honour around the ground !! This resulted in only the third tie, and incidentally all three have involved an African nation...

In the other group match, Sri Lanka literally walked over Bermuda, with mammoth 243-run win. They put on a 300+ total on board, which was always going to be impossible for Bermuda to chase. But the Sri Lankan attack made sure that they were all out inside half their alloted overs. At 29/6, there was a speculation if Bermuda would even make it to 50, but they reached a pretty 'respectable' 78. India face Bermuda on Monday (19-March), and all eyes would be on India batting first... And the crowd-favourite Dwayne Leverock (who looks more popular than Dhoni himself !).

Ireland vs. Zimbabwe, Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
Ireland : 221/9 (50 overs)
JP Bray : 115(137)
AR White : 28(48)
E Chigumbura : 6-2-21-2
GB Brent : 10-1-40-2

Zimbabwe : 221 (50 overs)
V Sibanda : 67(84)
S Matsikenyeri : 73*(76)
WK McCallan : 9-1-56-2
KJ O'Brien : 2-1-8-1

Man of the Match : JP Bray (Ireland)

Sri Lanka vs. Bermuda, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
Sri Lanka : 321/6 (50 overs)
DP Jayawardene : 85(90)
KC Sangakkara : 76(83)
LPC Silva : 55(45)
S Mukuddem : 10-0-50-2
KAD Hurdle : 9-1-61-2

Bermuda : 78 all out (24.4 overs)
DL Hemp : 14(18)
LOB Cann : 28(32)
MF Maharoof : 7-1-23-4
SL Malinga : 5-2-10-3
M Muralitharan : 6.4-0-28-2

Man of the Match : DP Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)

Aussenya on a roll !!!

It was Australia's first game, and they sure made it big !!! Ponting had a very interesting comment to make at the toss... He said that even though they are no longer world champions, they still are the favourites to win the cup... Which might be true from his line of view, but the only difference this time is that there are a lot of teams capable of causing a biiiiiiig dent to that thought of Mr. Ponting :)

Kenya, on the other hand, started off very calmly and on a positive note. They had Canada on the backfoot in all domains of the game, dismissing them for just under 200. That was never going to be a tough chase with the now-vastly experienced Kenyan batting attack.. So, Kenya open their account in the points table as well...

Australia vs. Scotland, St. Kitts
Australia : 334/6 (50 overs)
ML Hayden - 60(73)
RT Ponting - 113(93)
GB Hogg - 40(15)
RM Haq - 7-0-49-2

Scotland : 131 all out (40.1 overs)
CJO Smith - 51(76)
GD McGrath - 6-1-14-3
GB Hogg - 7.1-1-16-1

Man of the Match : RT Ponting (AUS)

Kenya vs. Canada, St. Lucia
Canada : 199 all out (50 overs)
GEF Barnett - 41(50)
IS Billcliff - 34(63)
JK Kamande - 10-1-25-2
SO Tikolo - 9-0-34-2

Kenya : 203/3 (43.2 overs)
MA Ouma - 58(89)
SO Tikolo - 72(76)
AC Cummins - 8-0-32-1

Man of the Match : SO Tikolo (Kenya)

Some caribbean magic to start with !!

© AFP - Dwayne Smith reacts after dismissing Mohammad Yousuf in their first group game on Tuesday

West Indies vs. Pakistan, Kingston, Jamaica
West Indies have announced their presence in the World Cup after beating Pakistan at Kingston, Jamaica in true Caribbean style. They have now cleared the biggest hurdle of the group stage, and almost confirm a berth now in the Super Eight. They wobbled a bit in the first half of their innings, but Sarwan and Samuels made sure they post a respectable score. Smith chipped in with a very useful 32 (off 15 balls), and Corey Colleymore provided the icing on the cake with a six off the last ball of their batting innings :)

Pakistan started off from where West Indies had left... With Imran Nazir hitting a six of the very first ball of the innings... But he, and a lot others, never showed promise after that. Inzamam and Yousuf tried to resurrect the innings, but were too slow in doing that, only to see Shoaib Malik lurching in the dark, after a valiant effort to get close to the target. His was the last wicket, as the West Indians won this match by a comfortable margin of 54 runs.

Pakistan will now need to make sure that they win the remaining two matches in their group, but they have lost the advantage of carrying extra points into the Super Eight (assuming WI and PAK make it through from Group D).

What the scores say...
West Indies : 241/9 (50 overs)
RR Sarwan 49(65) (4s : 9, 6s : 0, SR 75.38)
MN Samuels 63(70) (4s : 5, 6s : 3, SR : 90.00)
DR Smith 32(15) (4s : 3, 6s : 2, SR 213.33)
Umar Gul : 9-1-38-2
Iftikhar Anjum : 10-3-44-3

Pakistan : 187 all out (47.2 overs)
Mohammad Yousuf 37(72) (4s : 1, 6s : 0, SR 51.38)
Inzamam-ul-Haq 36(65) (4s : 4, 6s : 0, SR 55.38)
Shoaib Malik 62(54) (4s : 6, 6s : 1, SR 114.81)
DB Powell : 10-1-42-2
DR Smith : 10-0-36-3
DJ Bravo : 9-0-42-3

Man of the Match : Dwayne Smith (WI)

The official ICC Cricket World Cup song !

Here's the official song of the tournament... It's composed and performed by Jamaican Shaggy, Barbadian Rupee and Trini Faye-Ann Lyons. And the song is titled, "The Game of Love and Unity"... Enjoy it !
(Courtesy : YouTube)

World Cup... OPEN now !

It was 00.12 GMT, when Sir Garfield Sobers came on the stage, and declared the World Cup officially OPEN. With fireworks in the sky, and all the teams on the ground, it was truly a colorful display of the true West Indian spirit of happiness at the Trelawny stadium in Montego bay, Jamaica !! That defined the Opening Ceremony of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007...

Sixteen teams, distributed in 4 groups, will play a total of 51 matches across the duration of the tournament, across nine different Caribbean nations. The final is expected to take place in Barbados on the 28th April, 2007. This is the first time that a World Cup is being staged in the islands, and every body - from the organizers to the fans are really happy about it ! Their excitement showed on Sunday evening, as they took part in the grand celebrations !!

Grenada Prime Minister Keith Mitchell said that the nine caribbean countries has shown they could "come together as a harmonious and committed unit". Music defined the evening, as reggae legend Jimmy Cliff and Shaggy entertained the crowds (You can check out the official song of the ICC Cricket World Cup in my next post).

After that beautiful start to the World Cup, all eyes are on the on-field action starting with the hosts taking on the mighty Pakistanis on Tuesday on this same ground... That should be SOME start to this tournament !!!

(Image courtesy : bbc.co.uk)

The last leg of the Warm-up matches

© AFP : A fan feels sleepy as she watches the proceedings on Friday :)

I can bet you it would not have been this boring... Unless you were witness to the India - WI encounter :)) Got back home just in time from office, and I switch on the TV only to see that India is batting second - "Shucks ! India should've batter first. That's what I am here for". But nevertheless, I thought WI would set a target of atleast close to 250, and we would be in for a late night entertainment. But alas !!! Entertainment was redefined yesterday :)

And hence, I could not get a better pic than the one I just put here :) The final leg of warm-up matches is now over, and just about a day to go for the World Cup to officially kick off with the grand opening ceremony scheduled to take place on the very same ground that India challenged Holland on !! Let's look at a snapshot of the day's proceedings...

Australia vs. England
Result : Australia won by 5 wickets
Brief Scores :
ENG : 197 (48.3 overs)
MP Vaughan 62(73), IR Bell 56(79), SW Tait 4-33, SR Clark 3-16
AUS : 200/5 (40.5 overs)
AC Gilchrist 72(82), SR Watson 55(68), PD Collingwood 1-15, MS Panesar 1-16

Australia were playing for pride, after having suffered a 2-0 whitewash down under. Experts commented that the loss was just consequential, and AUS were definitely out to prove that right ! Vaughan and Bell gave England a very good start and took them to 122/1, when Bell got out to Hogg in the 26th over. 9 runs later, Vaughan fell too, and that spelt problems for England. They could only manage 60 more runs in the next 20+ overs, and that more or less closed the English chapter in this warm up game. for AUS, Gilchrist and Watson looked amazing with their strokeplay, and added 140 runs for the first wicket. ENG were never in the chase to victory after that. AUS reached the target in the 41st over, and that brought about an easy win for the baggy greens !

New Zealand vs. Sri Lanka
Result : New Zealand won by 18 runs
Brief Scores :
NZ : 285/8 (50 overs)
L Vincent 70, SP Fleming 65, PG Fulton 59, SL Malinga 2-26, MF Maharoof 1-23
SL : 267 (48.2 overs)
WU Tharanga 106, LPC Silva 40, JDP Oram 2-26, SB Styris 2-44

Having lost out to Bangladesh in their earlier warm-up game, New Zealand were definitely expected to pose a comeback in this one... And did they stage one ! Vincent and Fleming set the stage for a big score for the Kiwis... A nice late strike by Fulton made sure they reached a handsome total of 285. This was always going to be difficult for Sri lanka, after Muralitharan was trashed all around, conceding 64 off his 10. Tharanga started beautifully and went on to score a wonderful 100 ! But he did not get too much support from the other end, considering some lovely medium-pace bowling by NZ, in the form of Oram and Styris who took 4 wickets between them. The match got close enough, but SL lost all their wickets within 19 runs of the target with 10 balls to spare ! But SL is one team to watch out for, in this World Cup !!

Pakistan vs. South Africa
Result : Pakistan won by 7 wickets
Brief Scores :
SA : 199 (48.3 overs)
LL Bosman 53(57), AG Prince 35(55), M Sami 2-13, U Gul 2-20
PAK : 200/3 (44.3 overs)
Y Khan 79, M Hafeez 49, M Yousuf 48*, A Nel 1-21, CK Langeveldt 1-21

South Africa has not experienced the best start to this world cup, and certainly not the best start in any match in the prelude to this World Cup so far !! In this match too, they were reduced to 93 for 5. Boucher chipped in a bit of support to Bosman who was the key anchor for SA to help them get to 199. But this was never going to be enough against the formidable Pakistanis. The men-in-form, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf rolled on, and made sure Pakistan reached the target comfortably, with lots of balls to spare. Pakistan play the first match of this WC against West Indies on 13th March... Watch out for that one !!

West Indies vs. India
Result : India won by 9 wickets
Brief Scores :
WI : 85 (25.5 overs)
BC Lara 22(35), MM Patel 4-10, IK Pathan 3-25
IND : 86/1 (18.3 overs)
KD Karthik 38*(67), AR Uthappa 35*(43), DB Powell 1-21

When Brian Lara got out on 22, he would have never thought that his would be the highest individual score for his team that day... When he was creaming those boundaries that he DID hit, the crowds thought they were in for some high quality entertainment from the master batsman. But, when he was in two minds about playing a shot on a Pathan delivery, he had to walk back towards the pavilion, dejected. West Indies were 53/3, and they somehow managed to succumb to 62/8, before India completed the formalities to roll them up for 85. A target of 86 never seemed to be a problem for India. It would have just meant lesser practice time in the middle for them. Sehwag got out yet again - Caught behind to a tame delivery outside off. But Karthik came in next, and got some good practice knocking the West Indian bowlers for singles and twos and the occasional boundary. Uthappa and Karthik managed to sail India home to the target in just the 19th over, and announcing their readiness for the World Cup !!

The damage has already been done !!

The World cup is an 11-kilogram (24-pound) trophy, made in England at an estimated cost of $80,000. But little did they know that it is pretty sensitive to take the rounds of India :) While on display in Kolkata (India), this trophy has undergone a damage, when the gold ring below the coins depicting previous winners of the Cricket World Cup got detached from the wooden base of the trophy...

The trophy is now not available for public view, and is in the process of being shipped for repairs to England before being taken to the Carribean. This trophy was on display in New Delhi before being taken to Dada's own Kolkata ! It will be presented to the victorious team at Bridgetown, Barbados on 28th April, 2007.

(Image courtesy : Getty Images)

Warming up a li'l more...

© AFP - "That's out !" - Simon Taufel raises his finger against the appeal of Bangladesh's Abdur Razzak, in their match against Scotland on Thursday.

As we entered the second stage of warm-up matches, it was the opportunity for minnows to prove their mettle... After having experienced the pleasure of playing against the top teams in the world, they now went out to settle it between themselves - Where we had the bottom 8 teams fighting against one another. They would have seen these matches as much more competitive, and hence each one would have given their best... Let's capture how the action unfolded on 8th March, 2007...

Bermuda vs Zimbabwe
Result : Zimbabwe won by 6 wickets
Brief Scores :
BER : 136 (50 overs)
JJ Tucker 56, AJ Ireland 3-22, KM Dabengwa 2-5
ZIM : 137/4 (29 overs)
SC Williams 72*, CJ Chibhabha 30, RDM Leverock 2-54

Zimbabwe would definitely have been favourites for this encounter - assuming that they have had much more experience of one-day cricket than Bermuda. After restricting Bermuda to a very modest 136, Zimbabwe made a shaky start... They lost two early wickets, but Sean Williams made sure that there were no further hiccups... And they posted a comfortable 6-wicket win !

Canada vs Ireland
Result : Ireland won by 7 wickets
Brief Scores :
CAN : 115 (32.5 overs)
GEF Barnett 27, Extras 24, D Langford-Smith 4-41, WK McCallan 2-0
IRE : 116/3 (26.5 overs)
JP Bray 41*, AC Botha 22*, AM Samad 1-11

Ireland won the toss, and put Canada in... And did they do a good job of it !! Canada could only manage a meagre 115, not even getting close to completing their alloted 50 overs... Ireland looked comfortable from the start, with JP Bray leading the Irish fightback. He was the main anchor, and remained unbeaten on 41, as Ireland posted an easy win over Canada.

Bangladesh vs. Scotland
Result : Bangladesh won by 7 wickets
Brief Scores :
SCO : 152/9 (50 overs)
NS Poonia 32(34), DF Watts 28(57), Abdur Razzak 3-25, M Rafique 2-16
BAN : 156-3 (34.1 overs)
H Bashar 57*(87), S Hasan 45(55), PJC Hoffman 1-19

No points for guessing who were the favourites for this one... After their confidence-boosting win over New Zealand, Bangladesh would be feeling on top of the world before going into this match. Scotland would have been an easy opposition for them, as this match proved exactly that ! Scotland were dismissed for 152 with Razzak and Rafique leading the Bangladeshi attack... 153 was never going to be a touch target for Bangladesh, considering the experience thay have now had in international cricket. They reached their target in under 35 overs, with captain Habibul Bashar leading the charge with an unbeaten 57.

Kenya vs. The Netherlands
Result : Kenya won by 9 runs
Brief Scores :
KEN : 274/8 (50 overs)
TM Odoyo 73, SO Tikolo 51, AO Suji 47, DLS van Bunge 3-41
HOL : 265/9 (50 overs)
DJ Reekers 75, B Zuiderent 65, SO Tikolo 5-48

Easily the closest match of the day, Kenya and Holland battled it out till the last few overs. The only match that resulted in a total of 200+ on that day... Kenya posted a very decent 274 in their alloted 50 overs, thanks to a half-century by captain Steve Tikolo, and a very significant 73 by Odoyo. A target of 275 would have been near-impossible for Holland, but they delivered a very impressive performance. An opening stand of 142 (in 29 overs) set them as front runners in the race... Even at 256-4 they would have been the favourites... But the next 2.2 overs only saw them making 8 runs, for the loss of 4 wickets, which really darkened their chances of beating Kenya... But nevertheless, Holland should be in a position to take many positives from this game, and they should look a more confident side post this one !

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All in all, a great day for cricket, with 4 matches played between the not-so-great teams... But the cricket played was definitely good !! Bangladesh continued to prove their supremacy, with a 2-on-2 from their warm-up matches, one against the biggies New Zealand... Although the matches against the minnows might look easy to other teams, you never know when we can see a turnaround :)

Kapil grabs the catch (or the WC ??)

Kapil Dev can be easily termed as the most important India cricketing personality ever ! A lavish batsman, an outstanding bowler, and a very active fielder. But apart from just the core traits of cricket, he had the traits of a true leader ! He captained India to a historic win in England against the mighty West Indies, when people thought that the fact that India had reached that far in 1983 was in itself an achievement for us.

Here's an article by Sambit Bal (Editor of Cricinfo and Cricinfo Magazine), which captures the moment very avidly... An article worth reading for every Indian who loves cricket...

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/wc2007/content/story/284315.html

Image : © AFP - Kapil Dev launching the official perfume of the 2007 Cricket World Cup !

PAK, SA : Hot(el) Fire !

© AFP : Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal sit outside their hotel after the fire alarm at Port-of-Spain

Pakistan and South African cricket teams underwent an evacuation from their hotels in Port-of-Spain on Wednesday, 7th March, following a suggestive gas leak. They were the two out of a total of four teams staying at the Hilton hotel, with the other two teams (Ireland and Canada) out for practice.

Shahid Afridi had a comment on the situation, "We were planning to go to the beach but we left our shorts in the room". Well, because of this incident, they never could go the beach in the end :) An interesting episode, but hopefully the players will take it in the right spirit, and get on with their practice games (and the beach sessions, of course !).

India's first in the warm up games...

The one that was much awaited was finally here... India @ The ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 !! In their new jerseys and lighter shades, the are the dark horses of the tournament... With one of the best batting line ups in the world (on paper, of course - They still need to perform !), they finally set out for their first outing on West Indian soil this year...

Here are the warm-up matches which took place on 6th March, 2007...

India vs The Netherlands
Result : India won by 182 runs
Brief Scores :
IND : 300-9 (50 overs)
R Dravid 74(92), SR Tendulkar 61(59), RN ten Doeschate 5-57, PW Borren 2-45
HOL : 118 (37.5 overs)
B Zuiderent 32(73), RN ten Doeschate 31(39), Y Singh 4-12, A Kumble 2-14

India, fresh out of a series win, did not look very confident, but the important thing was they were much more confident than the opposition !! The opening three looked to get starts, but could not hang on. It was Dravid and Tendulkar who led the team to more than a respectable total, with cameos by Dhoni and Pathan. The Netherlands never looked impressive in the field, and lost out to India, who looked much more comfortable than the minnows.

Australia vs Zimbabwe
Result : Australia won by 106 runs
Brief Scores :
AUS : 290/7 (50 overs)
MJ Clarke 82, SR Watson 81 (Opening the batting), SC Williams 2-48
ZIM : 184/7 (50 overs)
SC Williams 44, S Matsikenyeri 35, SR Clark 2-33

Australia has ruled world cricket for a long time now... But this world cup looks at AUS in the absence of Shane Warne, and injuries to Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds (who might end up playing most games) and a few more key players. AUS is therefore, not looking at it's best, which could spell problems for them. The start was easy, and they scored 290 with ease. Zimbabwe, who are never the same team without Andy and Grant Flower, tried to fight hard, but the Aussie pace attack was too good for them, with Clark claiming 2 and Bracken and McGrath claiming 1 each...

Canada vs Pakistan
Result : Pakistan won by 77 runs
Brief Scores :
PAK : 273/8 (48 overs)
Mohammad Hafeez 61, Inzamam-ul-Haq 59, S Dhaniram 2-26, H Osinde 2-41
CAN : 196 (46.4 overs)
Qaiser Ali 37, AA Mulla 31, M Hafeez 3-10, I Anjum 3-23

Pakistan is another strong contender from the subcontinent, but with lead bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif involved in controversies about their fitness / drug tests, they look a shade below their capabilities... But Mohammad Yousuf is in the form of his life (Easily the best, and the most consistent player performing in current times). Canada did not pose too many problems for PAK, as they rolled of to an easy win with Hafeez leading the attack with both bat and bowl.

Bangladesh vs New Zealand
Result : Bangladesh won by 2 wickets (Yeah !! You read that right !)
Brief Scores :
NZ : 226 (47.2 overs)
JDP Oram 88(107), BB McCullum 46(54), A Razzak 4-26, M Mortaza 4-44
BAN : 230/8 (49 overs)
T Iqbal 46(48), J omar 45(86), D Vettori 3-38, JEC Franklin 2-54

The first upset of the World cup, and definitely not the only one expected... This World Cup has the largest number of teams participating... And hence, we can expect a lot of upsets !! Bangladesh caused NA to drop their heads, after the latter thrashed AUS to a 3-0 series win on home soil. NZ got off to a bad start, when Macmillan was the sixth man to depart with the total score on 75. Oram and McCullum, the major stakeholders in their 3-0 series win came to their rescue yet again, and made sure they reach a good enough total of 226. Bangladesh, however, had other plans. With an excellent opening partnership of 85, they just went along the chase very positively. But as most minnows do, they faltered just before the end, and were reduced to 199 for 8. 28 more runs to win... But only 2 wickets remain... They stood their ground giving NZ a run for their money, and managed to sneak in a win, causing the first upset of the tournament ! NZ now needs to get their act together, to come back fiercefully into the tourney !

India beware... Bangladesh is in your group !!!

Warming up to the World Cup !

Just before teams take a dash at the others in their group, there are a couple of warm-up matches scheduled for each one. Let's take a look at how the action unfolder on March 05, the first 'unofficial' day of the World Cup ...

West Indies vs Kenya
Result : West Indies won by 21 runs
Brief Scores :
WI : 268/6 (50 overs)
Chris Gayle 75, MN Samuels 100 ret., TM Odoyo 2-26
Kenya : 247/7 (50 overs)
RD Shah 41, CO Obuya 54*, DB Powell 2-23, CD Collymore 2-42

When WI and Kenya play one another, thoughts go back to the historical defeat that Kenya imparted on the WI in an earlier version of the World Cup. Would they have been able to do that again ? Difficult, since WI is a much better team now...

Bermuda vs England
Result : England thrashed Bermuda by 241 runs
Brief Scores :
ENG : 286/8 (50 overs)
IR Bell 46(55), K Pietersen 43(55), J Dalrymple 76(79), DC Borden 3-71
BER : 45 (22.2 overs)
DL Hemp 11, J Lewis 3-7, J Anderson 2-8, A Flintoff 2-3

Well played, England ! Just back from a 2-0 whitewash of the Aussies in the finals down under - They are one team which should be right UP there on confidence (regardless of whatever happened in the rest of the series). Pietersen is one of my personal favourites... He keeps the game alive ! (Even if that is only through his hairstyle) ;)

Ireland vs South Africa
Result : SA won by 35 runs
Brief Scores :
SA : 192 (50 overs)
AJ Hall 67(98), RJ Peterson 29(66), DT Johnston 4-40, D Langford-Smith 3-30
IRE : 157 (44.2 overs)
WTS Porterfield 37, AC Botha 40, CK Langeveldt 4-31, AJ Hall 3-26

Ireland almost had the reigning World Champions choking yet again !! SA, batting first, collapsed to 91-8, but thanks to a splendid knock by Andrew Hall, they managed to reach a respectable total. As Ireland went out to bat, their confidence would have been high up, which they took even higher when they reached 139-4. However, Langeveldt and Hall struck gold, and made sure that SA rule the roost !! Ireland then lost the next 6 wickets for a meagre 18 runs... But they made sure that they are a team to watch out for !

Scotland vs Sri Lanka
Result : SL won by 169 runs
Brief Scores :
SL : 294/7 (50 overs)
ST Jayasuriya 77(62), WU Tharanga 70 (114), KC Sangakkara 81(87), JAR Blain 2-51
SCO : 135 (41.2 overs)
GM Hamilton 25(51), TM Dilshan 2-8, ST Jayasuriya 2-19

Pretty much a one-sided match, with SL clearly ruling over Scotland. SL is slated to be one of the favourites for this WC - A lot of expert panel discussions have led to this opinion... Let's see how they gear up in their other warm-up match, and in the matches to follow (The most interesting proposition for SL is that India is in the same group as them... And since India are the other favourites for the WC, the IND-SL encounter will be something to watch out for !!!)

Carribean Magic... Defined !

Hi guys !

Welcome to my space, where I'll share my interests surrounding cricket... And what better a time than the biggie - The Cricket World Cup 2007 !

16 teams... Huge hopes... Tough competition... And fierce battles : That's what defines this Cricket World Cup... And what a place to have it on - The beautiful West Indies - Which is one place where the excitement wins over the game itself ! And hence the title of this blog, Carribean Magic (Also spelt as Caribbean Magic) ! Coz I want everyone to experience that magic as they go through this blog :)

On this blog, you can expect to see...
> Interesting Articles, Comments, Expert Opinions
> Coverage of EVERY MATCH played - Including score briefs of each one !
> Pictures, defining interesting moments
> And lots more................

I would like to thank cricinfo, since that is one place which I never fail to visit... And a lot of articles and pictures here would be referenced through that site !

Image : ©AFP - Mello, the 2007 World Cup's mascot, in the background as Keith Mitchell (Prime minister, Grenada) addresses the media