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M for Mirupur : India beat Bangla Desh M for Motera : India beat Australia M for Mohali : India beat Pakistan M for Mumbai : India beat Sri Lanka ?? India won against Pakistan . An enjoyable match yet in many respects intriguing. Pakistan had all the chances but it seem they were determined to let hosts take the cake. When I look at this match, I find some moments that could have changed the outcome : When Dhoni Came to bat, Afridi still persisted with defensive field. It appeared Afridi was happy was convinced that India cant be bowled out in 50 overs. He didnt keep spinners and Dhoni's edge went past keeper not just once but twice. Dhoni was opposite that of Afridi, everytime new Pakistan batsman came to crease, he would employ first and leg slip and even have an audacity to pull thir man inside to tempt batsman to go for cut. Misbah wanted to emulate Javed Miandad or Inzaman but somewhere he lost a plot by losing partners. When Afridi came and hit few fours gap had come to 20 ru...

For Indian television and print media, the world seemed to have ceased. Every TV channel is competing with another in screaming vociferously about India Pakistan Semi Final at Mohali . No Japan, Bahrain, Libya. Everything is match centric. Life will be standstill from 230pm. Where do I watch a match? In Pub or at home. I would rather do both. If India goes great guns, pub atmosphere is exhilarating. If the match is absorbing, home TV is the best. India’s collective and individual happiness revolves around the outcome of Cricket Match. So far, India has not tasted defeat in the world cup from Pakistan. Would this trend continue? Greg Chapel – ex coach of India, was impatient in making changes in the team and the batting order while Gary Kirsten – is making change only if they have reasonable degree of success. Which way Dhoni would go? This is the only chance and any of his decision that back fires would be scrutinised, dissected and pilloried for rest of his life. During 1996, India P...

If any country needed the T20 cricket world cup the most, it is Pakistan. Sri Lanka winning a war over LTTE is on a high adrenalin of national spirit. Pakistan on the tenterhook of 'national collapse' needs this world cup to bring together a nation of chaos tattered by war with the Taliban. The world cup win would also be great palliative soothing for the wounded and bruised Pakistan cricket aficionados, shunned and shunted by ICC and other cricketing nations. I do want to see the self effacing and modest Yunus Khan lift the trophy after blistering stroke play of Shahid Afridi but not without seeing wily Arjuna Mendis and Muralidharan choking the flow of runs for Pakistan. A match decided anything before a ball to spare or a scampering run on the last ball, will not be a fitting tribute to this pulsating game of cricket that is vying to emulate popularity of soccer. I am yet to pen my experience of my visit to Karachi and perhaps this win of Pakistan could trigger me t...

Adrenalin flows rapidly; heightened curiosity reaches its crescendo as I hear the rapturous roar of thousands of people. Excitement engulfs me and make my strides go longer, increasing in its pace. Sights of verdant expansive lawns with animated protagonists in colorful attire under bright luminance of metal halide lamps makes me transfixed until a wave of people who are equally excited, push and jostle me to go ahead. Journey from that point until my reserved seat often invites a justified annoyance from those disciplined spectators who have taken efforts to arrive early. ‘sorry’ ‘excuse me’ are profusely offered as I trample their feet while adjusting my gait – whose position is precarious with head at 90degrees from torso. Be it cricket match at Wankhede in Mumbai, or Soccer at Sheikh Zayed in Abu Dhabi, a journey from the main gate of the stadium to the reserved seat is same at all the sporting venues MCG at Melbourne was no exception to this phenomenon but it added extra fervor ...

I was in J’burg when Australia took on their arch rival S Africa in semi final of the world cup. I had planned to be part of boisterous crowd in a sports pub but when I heard the scorecard 25 for 5, I decided against it. Had South Africa started well, I am sure I would have had enough dose of jabs, digs of verbal warfare from South African every time ball would hit by Protease batsman. In Sydney bars, it would have been far more caustic. After all Aussies are inventors of this art. In today’s The Star Newspaper – an article ‘Wicked Wicket Words’ list some of the famous ‘ chirping’ or ‘sledging’ quotes – An art of insulting your opponent to break down his concentration : Ian Botham arriving at crease and is greeted by aussie wicket keeper Rod Marsh : ‘ Hi, how is your wife and my kids ‘ Glen McGrath asked Zimbabwean Eddo Brandes ‘why he had become fat’ . Brandes reply “McGrath’s wife gave him a biscuit each time he made love to her”!! When Daryll Cullinan arrived at the wicket, Shane Wa...

Seeing Brabourn stadium in Champions trophy brought memories of my early days of seeing live cricket matches. My first experience was Mumbai v/s Baroda. Mumbai team had Ajit Wadekar, Dilip Sardesai, Ajit Pai, Saeed Hathia. On that day, Baroda opted to bat and Vijay Bhosle scored a century. My second match was West Zone v/s South Zone Duleep trophy final. West Zone started with Niranjan Shah, Madhu Gupte followed by Ajit Wadekar, Dilip Sardesai, Vijay Bhosle, Ashok Mankad, Ajit Pai. South had Jayantilal, Govindraj, Krishnamurthi etc. Ajit Wadekar would get the rousing welcome he would enter to bat one down. In later years, Sunil Gavaskar, Sandip Patil and Sachin Tendulkar got similar applause. I remember a catch of the bowling of Govindraj. Second slip fielder dived and scooped the ball up, first slip fielder lifted it up and the ball was caught by the wicketkeeper. Kulkarni brothers – Vijay and Sunil, our second floor neighbour in Govt colony – both ardent cricket fans and players took...