ICC World Cup 2011 - Semi Finals 2: India Vs Pakistan

Funny that Dhoni needs a leggie who can pick wickets and Afridi needs a wk who can hold on to the ball. Eh?

   The tournament has had its highs, lows, Canada et al. But, cricket fantasy is set to come true in Mohali during the second semi-final of the ICC World Cup with the mother, father, Godzilla of all battles!! Arch rivals India-Pakistan to battle it out for pride, glory, world peace and tumbling stock markets. This is what the whole world umm.. Shiv Sena ummm... Hon. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ummm... cricket crazy fans have been expecting. Its an early Christmas for the sponsors, their prayers have come true. This match is "HUGE", for most people across the borders of the two countries winning this match means more than winning the World Cup. No wonder if the productivity dips by a few levels during the match, the players will have to pay back in blood and tears.

TEAM NEWS:
   PAKISTAN
   They blew the Windies out the competition in the QF. Afridi has been their strike bowler. He has done nothing wrong with the ball , which has been compensated by doing nothing right with the bat. Gul has been top notch, both with the new ball as well as the old one. Pakistan's batting has been a bit wobbly with the reliability of Muammar Muhammad al-Gaddafi. Umar "Leprechaun" Akmal has been their 'go-to' man. Razzaq has gone un-noticed with the bat/ball this time, Afridi has used him only as a stock bowler. Afridi will be tempted to play Akthar in place of Razzaq to hurt the Indians. Its good to see Akthar tone down his bowling as well as his attitude and play with the team rather than playing against them which he is always used to. He would like to peak in against India like any other guy in the team . Their fielding has been mediocre, thanks to the one man army behind the wickets.

   INDIA 
   India started off their campaign as favorites and  then they were the punching bag for most critics. But, in the QF they knocked out the defending champions Australia, ending their 12 year old reign over the World Cup. With the heroic win against Aussies, hopes of 1billion + hearts stay afloat. India's bowling was their main weakness, no one except for Zaheer standing up to the occasion. Now with the entry of Ashwin, it seems to have got a combination going for them. Though, MSD would be tempted to play Nehra/Sree in Mohali, he would  play the same winning combination against the Stanis. After all, his dil-logical  decisions have been successful. Indian batting has looked good, except in the batting powerplay where they seem to get a "brain freeze". Those maddening 5 overs have cost them a lot. Again Raina's entry as the finisher has helped them stabilize. Indian fielding, though it was looking rough in the group stages improved exponentially against the Aussies. Or as MSD says, they could do no better.

Head-to-Head 

Sachin                Hafeez
Sehwag              K Akmal
Gambhir             Shafiq
Kohli                  Younis
Yuvraj                Misbah
Dhoni                 U Akmal
Raina                 Afridi
Harbhajan          Gul
Zaheer               Riaz
Ashwin               Ajmal
Munaf                Akhtar
Nehra*(12th)      Razzaq* (12th)

  Man to man the teams look well balanced. Although, the tons and tons of runs and experience of the Indian top-order and the depth and variety in Pakistani bowling will be the key battle to win the war.

Key Encounters:

• Sachin-Viru Vs Akthar-Gul

    Mouth watering clash on the cards, if the Pakistani think tank decide to bring Shoaib out of the wilderness. He may have announced his retirement plans but, Sachin n Sehwag will be eager to make him pay!

• Gambhir Vs Afridi 

   Gambhir and Afridi have history. Afridi has picked 21 victims already. Gambhir has been among the runs. These two on the field would spark emotions as easy as butter melting on a hot pan.

• Zaheer-Ashwin Vs Pakistan Openers

   Zaheer has been the strike bowler whenever MSD needs a wicket. Ashwin has been the answer to India's bowling woes. Akmal, Hafeez know to play in only one gear, attack! It will be exciting to see this mini-battle among the several high voltage conflicts on the centre stage.

• Yuvraj Vs Umar

   Umar Akmal's green sunscreen should come handy when he faces UV's rays!

Not so much Trivia
-Yuvraj has won 4 m.o.m awards so far in the world cup.
-Pakistan have never beaten India in world cup competitions.
-India have never beaten Pakistan at Mohali.
-India has never crossed the Semis in world cups held in India (sub-continent).
-SRT is on 99 international centuries & yet to win a world cup (in case you missed. haha!).

   Both India and Pakistan will be on a high beating some good teams and reaching the WC semis. It's "war time" for the 22 players, do-or-die would never have sound more apt. Its not just a "game" for the two countries,  its a question of superiority, pride, everlasting glory and endorsement deals. Well of course!

My Name is Nehra and I am not Alone

    Ah, there's been a lot of hue and cry regarding the final over of the India-South Africa match, that Nehra bowled. People slamming the captain for opting for Nehra over Harbhajan for bowling the 50th over. Harbhajan may or may not have restricted the runs, you never know. Losing was always on the cards when Indians faltered throughout the day. Poor Nehra is being made a punching bag because the match went close(13 reqd off 6 balls). Mainly thanks to the slow cautious batting by Saffers. If you guys remember, Pakistan once required 6 of the last over, chasing 340+ and Nehra bowled really well India won. Again, in this match the first ball was an in-swinging yorker which unfortunately went for four. The second ball was a mighty slog by Peterson. I have compiled a list of duels where similar things happened wherein the best of bowlers got the stick treatment from unknown entities carrying a bat.

• Harbhajan & Aamir – Asia Cup – Akthar got into Bhajji's nerves and he showed the anger on poor Aamir by hoicking him for a huge six.

• Balaji & Akthar – India Tour of Pakistan – The hot guy of India Pakistan (L Balaji) went crazy and smacked Akthar over the long on boundary, broke his willow et al.

• Sreesanth & Nel  – India Tour South Africa – Who can forget the smooth dance moves he showed in front of Nel after that epic six.

• Symcox & Srinath – Titan Cup – Trace walk to the 1990's. Symcox hit Srinath for a 6 so hard that it struck the electronic scoreboard.

• Nayar & Flintoff – IPL – Freddie was the most expensive buys of that season (along with KP) and he was put to shame when Abishek Nayar sent the ball screaming to all parts of the ground. 

Symcox giving it the full treatment.
© Action Photographics

 
    "Cometh the hour, cometh the man." this was certainly not true in any of the cases if you had the ball in hand. In this T20 age of slam-bang cricket brutal hitting, slog shots, or even thick edges helping the ball to the ropes you have to cut some slack for the bowlers and eat the humble pie. For pointers even the slogan (theme song) for the 2011 world  cup is "De ghuma ke" and not "Gilli uda de", its a brutal world and crowd want to see the bats do the talking. Or like MSD would aptly say, "Well of course!".

p.s. - If you guys have some upset moments that you cant seem to forget so easily, feel free to add them in the comments section. Cheers!

ICC World Cup 2011 - SWOT Analysis : PAKISTAN

   Even God can't predict the outcome of the match, when Pakistan is playing. They can thrash Goliath convincingly and get whacked by David at the same time . Entertainment is guaranteed when the  team is on the field and nowadays, off the field issues have overshadowed their on-field performance. Fitness issues , disciplinary issues have haunted the team for long. PCB is the most active board among all the countries as they are always in action.This country has tonnes and tonnes of talent and its a sad to see  players falling prey to unethical issues. Keeping them aside, the board has finally decided the final 15 but the captain hasn't been announced. Wonder what's the issue with them again! The bowling attack looks strong, would have liked to see Md. Sami. The batting has just been pieces put together, Md. Yusuf again left out and no genuine opener as well. There is Younis, Misbah, to provide the solidity followed by Umar Akmal who has impressed one and all with his sheer talent, and then there are Afridi, Razzaq to go bezerk. So the final 15 looks like this :

 Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal (wk), Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanvir, Ahmed Shehzad.

STRENGTHS:

• The team is a good mixture of experience and youth.
• Their bowling has always been their strength and this time its not a different story either . They have a good vareity of pace and probably the strongest spin attack at present.
• Razzaq and Afridi.Period.
• Very well aware of the sub-continent pitches.  

WEAKNESS:

•  Their strengths can prove to be the weakness too, you never know.
• In the sub-continent teams will depend heavily on the start the openers provide. In Hafeez and Kamran this doesn't seem to be a confident bet in any circumstance. 
• They have showed enough faith on Kamran Akmal and he has flopped big time behind the wickets. Lack of a backup might hurt them. Only, backup being the other Akmal donning the gloves. 

OPPORTUNITIES:

• Misbah might be handed over the captaincy from Boom Boom Afridi, and its a very good opportunity for him to lead the team .
• Return of Tanvir, seems to be positive. Most players take a while in understanding his variations.
• Saeed Ajmal is one of the best spinners at the moment. Add to that Afridi, Hafeez and Rehman will make life miserable for most batsmen in spin friendly conditions. Gul is almost always at his miserly best.

THREATS:

• Shoaib Akhtar. Period.
• Who's the captain???  Less than 4 weeks away from the WC and the team doesn't know who's going to lead them.
• Hate to say this, with MATCH FIXING and player controversies it will be difficult for this Pakistani team to focus on the game. Hopefully, they finish the tournament without any black marks.

   This team has all the requirements to make it to the top. With Pakistan you can never predict anything. So, we zip our mouths and wait for time to say if they are good enough or not .

Match Update - Pakistan Vs Srilanka

The fight for the King of Cricket in Asia has started . The first match was between the ever predictable Sri Lanka and the never predictable Pakistan.This match marked the entry of the Rawalpindi Express for the n'th time and ofcourse Mr.Sania Mirza, oops Shoaib Malik.Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat.Murali was back into the team after getting his groin repaired ;).The SriLankan innings was yet another boring encounter.Shoaib Akthar was the star of the innings for Pakistan as he picked 3 wickets giving away 41 runs in his quota of 10.He has to definitely improve on his fitness . You could see him limping after bowling 7 odd overs. Jaya scored yet another classy half century before getting out to a bad decision. Mathews anchored the innings till the end and got a half century to his credit . Nothing else worth mentioning . Pakistan had to chase down 243, which was kinda tricky target on the snail slow Dambulla pitch. Hasan and Butt took strike for Pakistan. It seemed like they had no idea about the target . Their scoring was slower the cricket pitch. They were struggling to the bolwers away . They were in deep shit as the third wicket fell with just 32 on board after 13 overs. Enter Afridi. The match turned upside down.He started smacking the ball left right and centre.All his sixers were clean. SCREAMERS!!. He played a magical knock.It was a single man battle as the other players kept falling .

Cramps were holding him, but he kept on going . Reminded me of Fat Smith :).He deserved a century and got it in style . Finally Murali got the better of him and it ended one of the best innings of Boom Boom . It was a very mature knock.Razzaq was holding the the team after afridi's departure until Slinga Malinga came and wrapped up the innings in a jiffy. Pakistan lost by 16 runs . Malinga with his unplayable swingers and Afridi with his clean hitting were the real stars of the night :).The Man of the Match was undoubtedly Boom Boom.
Next up is the Indo-Bangla encounter.Considering the form of both the teams , I suggest the Punters to place the money on Bangladesh. Aint it Obvious! :)


P.S- 1 )Can some tell me if its Mohammed Aamer/Amir/Aamir/Ameer ?Why are the names in Pakistan so complicated ?
2) How do Umar Akmal manage to get sunscreen matching the jersey ? Is it Custom made ?:P


Trivia- Afridi successfully ran out both the brothers < Umar and Kamran Akmal>

Celebrating Cricket - Continued

The celebration continues, we see few CLASSICS!

The Awesome twosome! Warner man-handled.

Unforgettable moment this for KP, after English finally solved the puzzle to glory.(Get the foreign recruits to do the job)

Who can leave out Lee in celebrations.. his famous fist punches and other variations such as:

This one thanks to Achettup. (not really a celebration though, it demands its space here)

And this coming courtesy Purna, describes the feeling Sreesanth is going through personally. You can't really blame him.

But, why run when you can FLY!


Wah are not done with that, Wah will be back with more "Celebrating Cricket". Keep tuning in, till then say "Wah! Cricket".

World T20 champs, Unbeaten side of the summer & Chockers

Announcing a list of 30 probables may not be fair on most teams. Where India, Pakistan, Australia, England will be sad only 30 probables are allowed. West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Bangladesh will have to run a nation-wide talent hunt to choose 30 cricketers.

Pakistan have shown exactly why the format is tailor made for them. Runners-up in the first edition and champions in the second. They have talent in heaps as the match gets over in 40 at the most 42 overs!
This meaning they dont get bored to death fielding and start biting balls or get run-over by human trucks or want to have a dope in between overs. This is how their 30 list looks like : Imran Nazir, Imran Farhat, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Hafeez, Salman Butt, Shahzaib Hassan, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Naveed Yasin, Hasan Raza, Kamran Younis, Misbah-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Fawad Alam, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Yasir Arafat, Hammad Azam, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Sami, Saeed Ajmal, Raza Hasan, Abdul Rehman, Kamran Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Zulqarnain Haider.
No Shoaib Akhtar! No Tanvir. Too many new names, I cant comment anything. Strong team nevertheless.

The once mighty Aussies now running a 3-legged race with Ind and Saf for the top spot have had a phenomenal year. Barring the Ashes and the world T20 they won everything infact every game! Unbeaten until the last T20 against the Kiwis they seem to have now finally settled into a T20 combination.
The Pace attack looks the quickest set in a long time and hitters are no less. Aggression seems to be the key once again in the Aussie camp and dont be surprised if they manage to conquer the world T20 in their 3rd attempt.
Michael Clarke (capt), George Bailey, Travis Birt, Doug Bollinger, Nathan Bracken, Daniel Christian, Ben Cutting, Xavier Doherty, Brad Haddin (wk), Ryan Harris, John Hastings, Nathan Hauritz, Moises Henriques, Brad Hodge, James Hopes, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Andrew McDonald, Shaun Marsh, Clint McKay, Dirk Nannes, Tim Paine (wk), Steven Smith, Shaun Tait, Adam Voges, David Warner, Shane Watson, Cameron White.
Graham Manou lost out its sad, Hodge is still considered is a big news in itself. Looks like a very strong and high profile list of contenders. Must be very difficult to get down to the final squad.

The Chockers oops.. Saffers have long proven to be the ultimate no.2 team in the world. They work hard, play well, win and when it comes to earning rewards they choke. That's what they do for a living basically.
Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Abdulla, Hashim Amla, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Colin Ingram, Justin Kemp, Rory Kleinveldt, Charl Langeveldt, Ethy Mbhalati, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe, Johannes van der Wath, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Morne van Wyk.