ICC World Cup 2011 *Dream Team*

   Well of course, the World Cup 2011 is over and well of course you know who won it. Well of course Team India. April 2, 2011 will be etched in every Indian's heart. Kapil's Devils wont be shown on TV lifting the cup anymore or not as frequent. The Blue men have shoved up the critics's ___ in style. We couldn't have asked for a better climax. Dhoni's helicopter hit meant that he will feature in the PEPSI ads for lifetime. Anyways, back to business. This world cup had everything a cricket lover would want. Its time for us to pick the dream team, i.e a team which every captain would love to have.
WARNING: Selection criteria purely based on World Cup performance .

Openers

• Dilshan (SL):- Scoring the most runs in this world cup (500), he is in by default. Not to forget  his attacking batting, more than handy bowling and brilliant fielding .

• Tendulkar (Ind):- "In God We Trust" However well the team may perform, they always believe in GOD, so do we. Also with 482 runs under his belt and 2 top notch centuries, Sachin pairs up with Dilshan in the opening slot.

Middle Order

• Trott (Eng):- He has been the mainstay of English batting. Consistent, calm, courageous. 5 fifty's in 7 innings, his lack of 3-digit score was the only flaw in his WC campaign. Its only because of him (and some Irish luck) England reached till the quarters at least. His almost perfect technique, cautious approach makes him a perfect no.3.

• De Villiers (SA):- He's one man who can up the ante anytime. His batting is a mix of caution and aggression. Brilliant fielder at any position of the field. He scored at a S.R. more than 100 and averaged 88.25 only second to King Kumar. It was tough to choose between Sangakkara and ABCD  so, we had to toss and since there was no cheating re-toss De Villiers was our pick.

• Yuvraj (Ind):- Coming into the world cup with negative confidence, his performance in this edition shut the mouths of many. Chipping in with the ball initially, his confidence meter improved with every match and it showed in his batting and mainly on the field. We got glimpses of Vintage UV on the field during the finals. He pinned down the other nominations of the  Man of the Series hands down.

• MS Dhoni © (Ind):- Do you need any explanation on why he features in the Dream Team? Moving on...

• Afridi (Pak):- Yes, his batting was dud but he overcame it with his magnificent bowling where he ran through the middle order of the opposition in most of the matches. 2 5-wicket hauls and 2 4-wicket hauls his strike rate was 21.2 balls per wicket and averaged 12.85. Also, Pakistan's only safe pair of hands this world cup.

Tail-enders Bowlers

• Southee (NZ):- Wonder kid of New Zealand. He made wonders with the ball picking up 18 wickets @ 17.33 per wicket. He picked up wickets in all the matches and his economy rate was also exceptional.

• Zaheer (Ind):- He was Dhoni's 'go-to' man this world cup and he never disappointed . He has improved a lot on his control of the ball. He was instrumental in breaking partnerships in the power plays or applying brakes to the scoring he's done it all.

• Malinga (SL):- He's a captains dream. He picked up wickets whenever he bowled.Again was tough to choose between Umar Gul but, the sheer accuracy and consistency of hitting the block-hole in the world cup earned Slinga Malinga a spot here.

• Tahir :- South Africa's import find of the decade. An almost perfect leg spinner with lot of varieties and mainly tons of confidence. With an average of 10.71 per wicket and Strike Rate of 16.9 he would be leader of the spin pack  perfect support to Afridi in this team.

12th Man
Sangakkara (SL):- Averaged 93 with the bat. Was the third highest run accumulator getting 465 runs. Was amazing behind the wickets as he was in front. Captaincy wasn't 100% though. And he lost out to AB De Villiers.

Close Calls
Andrew Strauss, Umar Akmal, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Upul Tharanga, Robin Peterson, Umar Gul, Muralitharan, Kemar Roach, Brett Lee, Jacob Oram, Graeme Swann, Dale Steyn.

ICC World Cup 2011 *Champions*

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!

ICC World Cup 2011 - Quarter Finals 2: India Vs Australia

   After a lame first quarter finals effort by the Windies we move on to Ahmedabad for the next encounter which involves co-host India taking on the defending champions and four time winner Australia. Its the battle of the #1 ranked ODI team against the #2 ODI team. Yes, its HUGE!!! No matter how badly you want to ignore it you cant. Once again it will be tough to shift focus from statistics, records, support, dreams, desires to the actual on-field act. Which one of these two will go one step ahead to the final 4? The build up has already grabbed the attention across the cricket crazy folks.

Australia Report:
   Australia chasing yet another world cup victory and under the captaincy of Ricky Ponting this would be the third. The number that eluded even the great Clive Llyod and the indomitable Windies. Funny that, it was India that put an end to Lloyd's team in '83. Ozzies have worries of their own, they haven't been able to find a spinner who can do half the job Warney was capable of. But, then they did manage to win the world cup with Brad Hogg as their spin force. This cup being played in the cub-continent has emphasised the importance of spinners more than the earlier cups that Australia won quite easily. Already, they have faced the impact when the finally lost a world cup game to Pakistan. Afridi clearly used Rehman at the start with Gul and the fire & ice combo was just too much for the Ozzies. Add to that Afridi and Hafeez were capable enough to bowl 20 more tight overs to strangle them further. And the Lankans never tested them. Come the Indians in the quarters, the number of slower bowlers will only mount. Bowling has clearly been India's weakness, Ozzies can take a sigh of relief from that. They will need to be on top of them right from the start and let the home pressure do the rest. Ahmedabad has not been sweet to the Indians in the recent past and the team from down-under will hope that happens one more time in the Quarters. Ponting has shown a lot of faith  in Smith and Krejza but against the Indians he might still be tempted to go back to their default seam attack. Batting wise Ponting will want to send a strong message to all who believe he is in his farewell trip. Haddin Watson have done bulk of the scoring for them and the batting has never been pushed far enough, except against Pakistan where they came a cropper.

India Report:
   Sachin. Any report on India has to start with the mention of the not so little master. In fact, the saving face for Dhoni's boys has been that Sachin has looked in the pink of his form, cracking 2 centuries already against top sides. Unfortunately the results and the way the results have come for India has been a heart-break for their fans. Most believe that this time also the team will fall short of the goods. But, they will still cheer for every run scored, every wicket earned by the men in blue. The bowling will once again come under the scanner for the Indians playing against no push-overs, the #1 ODI team. Indians will be hoping the match does not stretch as far as 100 overs, and hopefully the end result is in their favor as well. Concerns in team selection does not seem to end at all. We are already in the knock-out phase of the tournament and India does not know who their starting xi will be. Even the bowling attack has changed in almost every game giving no certain picks before the crunch game. Once again selection issues will plague the team, whether Raina & Ashwin will retain their spots in the side. Batting in the death has really meant suicide for the team. Not so long ago they relished the final overs. So, it takes just one good match for fortunes to change. Dhoni will be hoping that day comes before their world cup journey ends. It will not be easy but, they  will have to take what ever comes their way and fight for glory. Pressure will mount at every pit stop during the match, this Aussie side is very much beatable. And that faith has to be restored in the team. There will be no excuses this time!

Watch Out For:  

• Sachin-Sehwag Vs Lee-Tait
• Ponting Vs Harbhajan
• Hussey Vs Zaheer

   Man to man both teams are well matched. Its very hard to pick a winner. Its sure to get exciting in the second quarter finals. If Sachin-Sehwag get going, the front-line attack will be reduced to some college team in no time. Whether the Indian bowlers continue to suffer the treatment they have been receiving of late? Will the fate of India's batting in the death change? Or whether aussies will finally end a world cup in the quarter finals itself? Needless to say I would kill if required to get passes for the game. So, if anyone needs a hand to do the messy work. Leave a note in the comments section.

Sloshed Prediction-Indian WC'2011 squad.

The big daddy of all the ODI tournaments is just round the corner and its time for their cricket board to send their best 15 to the sub-continent .The strategic,head breaking decisions must have done already and its time for all the boards to announce it in the following week. We have already done it and its time for us to announce it ;). Here's a look at the pick of the top most players from the 30 probables who shall make it to the final 15 . 

OPENERS-Virender Sehwag,Sachin Tendulkar,Gautam Gambhir and Murali Vijay.

Undoubtedly,the opening pair would be Viru and Sachin with Gauti batting 1 down.Considering the recent injury to Sachin means Gambhir shall come back to open with Sehwag.We don't see Murali Vijay making the cut as there are 3 openers already.

MIDDLE ORDER- Virat Kohli,Yuvraj Singh,Rohit Sharma,Suresh Raina,Yusuf Pathan.

I think except for Rohit Sharma, everbody else shall make the cut . Rohit Sharma has't proved much in the recent times for India. Maybe , he loves playing for Deccan Chargers . Yuvi has been useful bowling his pie chuckers and his half century in the previous match made his position strong. Yusuf too has been pretty good with his bowling , though not much with his bat ,except for his blazing ton against the Kiwis at B'lore.Kohli has been in supreme touch of late . Raina, by default is in . 

WICKET-KEEPERS - Mahendra-Captain Cool- Dhoni,Parthiv-Mini bullet-Patel,Wriddhiman-Buddhiman-Saha.

Nothing to say about MSD. There will be a toss up between the other two.Parthiv Patel grabbed the oppurtunity with both his hands scoring consecutive half centuries and impressive keeping , while on the other hand,Saha did not impress with keeping and batting at all. Patel's batting is flexible as he can open and also bat in the middle order.

SPINNERS - Harbhajan-Bhajji-Singh,Pragyan Ojha,Ravichandran Ashwin.

Considering the spin options which the part timers provide , the chance of 2 front-line spinners playing is very less,unless played at very slow tracks .Chances are that , only 2 spinners will be picked in the squad. Bhajji, being an offie, and the off-break options provided by Yusuf and Raina ,chances of Ojha making the cut is more . Sorry Ashwin, not this time around . 

PACERS-Zaheer Khan,Praveen Kumar,Ashish Nehra,Sreesanth,Munaf Patel.

Zaheer has been the leader of the pack. No doubt about him being in the squad . Praveen Kumar has always been consistent. Ashish Nehra has been pretty good in the recent past too, although he has had his fair share of screwups.There is a stiff competiton between Sree and Munaf . Sree was excellent against the Kiwis and ofcourse , in the tests against Saffers . Munaf has been pretty consistent , picking up a wicket or two in every match . But ,we feel Sree might just sneak through.

So that is it . The 15 players have been shortlisted and this is how it looks -

1)Sehwag

2)Sachin

3)Gambhir

4)Kohli

5)Yuvraj

6)MSD

7)Raina

8)Harbhajan

9)Zaheer

10)Nehra

11)Praveen Kumar

12)Parthiv Patel

13)Sreesanth

14)Ojha

15)Yusuf Pathan