1st Two Quarter Finals

The real WC begins now, as expected top 8 teams will fight it out for the 4 semi-final spots. Each game is a mouth watering and no cricket lover will miss it for anything.

Pakistan Vs West Indies
I expect Pakistan to win this one unless one of the sleeping player from WI decides to wake up and turn it on. Those players will be Gayle (destructive knock), Roach (exploding opening spell) or Darren Bravo, oh yes he is one hell of a talent, I have only seen him once but has convinced me that he has great potential, he is in the similar mold of Lara. He hasn't done anything yet but great players need a big stage hopefully he proves me right. If he gets going he is a real treat to the eye. WI had done similar thing in 1996 WC where Lara completely blew away unbeaten SA. Or completely wrong Pakistan team shows up on the field, the one we witness versus NZ. I think Pak should play Shoaib since he has nothing to prove to anybody and if he gets into his stride boy it will be curtains to WI and makes Pak chance of winning the cup very high. I think he still has it in him.

India Vs Australia
I am willing to stick my neck out and say that India will beat Aussies. Aussies haven't really been tested so far and I am yet to see their A game even in matches against minnows. I see them struggling against India, apart from Lee and Watson and till a certain extent Haddin nobody looks really threatening. Ponting is not really fluent and bears the burden of the team since he does not posses world class players he had in past WC. Clarke & Hussey too are struggling. Tait has not done much so far as well as Johnson. Their spinners are really mediocre against spin-fed strong Indian batsman. Bowling for India is still a problem but there are signs of improvement. Last game against WI doesn't reflect truly that we bowled great, it was more like WI losing the game rather than India truly winning it. There is talk about weak middle & lower order batting but I do not think there is anything to worry about apart from batting powerplay. No matter who the batsman is we screw up in the powerplay, I think it is mental problem here which I am sure will be sorted out. All the batsman so far have had good knocks apart from Dhoni, Pathan & Raina (had only one game). I expect Raina to play ahead of Pathan if Sehwag is playing which I am sure he is.  Bowling line up will be same as the last game.

In all my guess is, it will be India vs Pakistan in Mohali, what game will it be.... Whats your guess let me know by polling on the right hand side of the page?  

More on Bowling

Every time I look at India's bowling in every game, I feel bitterly disappointed with it. Yes last game v/s SA middle & lower batting order should be blamed but I had sensed that batting failure was around the corner when it is expected to perform exceedingly well in the face of weak fielding & bowling. Well I will still not worry too much about batting failure but bowling will definitely give me sleepless nights.

Bowling is all about outsmarting/out thinking the batsman especially in ODI's where batsman is looking for runs all the time against say Test Match where you really have to earn your wickets. There are two objectives as a bowler
1. Taking wickets which will automatically take care of containing runs
2. If wickets are not coming then contain runs which will build up pressure and result in fall of wickets

In all this avoid bowling gift balls to which no captain can set a field to but makes the captain look really stupid and no extras. There are two kinds of batsman 1) one who plays conventional (plays on the merit of the ball) cricket 2) one who goes after the bowling and looks to attack the bowling.
As a bowler if you are bowling to a conventional batsman the trick is not bowl bad balls and create pressure by drying up runs and he will fall, if you know his weakness create a plan for him and execute it.
If you are bowling to a batsman who goes after the bowling you will get hit a couple of times but a good bowler will quickly learn and not bowl where the batsman wants it which will result in a wicket. As a bowler you have to be proactive and be ahead of the batsman else you will be hit around the park. I guess it is okay to be hit once or twice but how you come back shows how good a bowler you are and also a reflection of good bowler is how well he bowls at crucial junctures of the game when the pressure is on and those moments define the outcome of the game. In the end it is very much like a chess game going on between batsman and bowler. I am not sure if Munaf, Nehra or Sreesanth have this thought process while bowling which is really hurting India's chances because Zak and Bhajji alone can't pull it off and it is stupid to expect Ashwin to perform miracles, the onus of taking responsibility has to fall on experienced else they do not justify their position in the team.
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Will write about batting but at a later time.
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Last weekend my team lost defending a fighting total, I agree we did not bat well but we could have won the game bowling well but we made same mistakes as mentioned above.
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We are all aware about the catastrophic turn of events which has rocked Japan but amidst all I came across a very positive article - http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/15/why-is-there-no-looting-in-japan/?iref=allsearch left me wondering if we will witness such a deed in India during a catastrophic event (No, I don't wish that such an event should happen in India but was just a thought)
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For US folks did you do your taxes?

India's Bowling

After looking at Indian team's performance at the WC till now, I think we have lost the tag of clear favorites which is fair and we shouldn't have had it from the beginning. There was never a doubt that we will not make it to the QF but manner on which we reach would determine how far we go ahead. Yes, bowling and fielding have come under the hammer from all quarters. Well there is not much improvement we can do on fielding front apart from making sure we do not drop catches but there is a huge scope of improvement in the bowling department.
Factors led to believe why Bowling is an issue:
- Unable to defend 300+ score on a belter of a track. (I believe smart bowlers will defend 300+ no matter what the track is because no batsman can hit you for extended period time unless you bowl bad)
- Unable to run through mediocre batting lineups by our frontline bowlers (Bangladesh, Ireland & Netherlands)

Apart from Zak no one looks part of winning WC bowling unit. Munaf bowls well only in patches which is simply not good enough if you are the 2nd seamer. I think going forward team will stick with Nehra unless he performs bad which will mean India chances will suffer. I do not think Sreesanth will get a chance unless someone gets injured and then it will be toss up between him and Munaf. I really think Sreesanth has all things needed to be a world class bowler and a perfect foil for Zak to open the bowling in the country only if he has his mind set straight. I really don't understand what is all the fuss about dropping Chawla, he is just short of confidence and all he needs is the support which he is getting from his captain. Dropping him now will mean loosing him for some time since it will severely dent his confidence. He too is a terrific talent and bowling leg-spin in batsman friendly era is not easy. I do not think Ashwin's confidence will falter for not getting picked because he will get his opportunity. The real disappointment has been Bhajji, team expects him to lead the spin attack and pick wickets which is not happening.  I really do not understand the role of Eric Simmons (Bowling coach), it is him who really should be under the fire rather than bowlers.

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 Minnows of cricket
So far all that minnows have done is provide match practice to the teams except for England, but as a real cricket lover I want more exciting games like Eng-SA. I believe the best way to go forward is to have two divisions in World Cricket, top 8 in Div1 and rest in Div2 and allow relegation and promotion at the end of year. This is the best way to have strong cricket program is the respective countries. I think Ireland, Netherlands & Bangladesh will be knocking on the door of World cricket if correct path is shown by ICC. You do not learn anything if you get hammered down by the strong team it is analogous to a weak student appearing for a hard Math exam which will do him no good but to break his confidence.

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My team 99ers(club for which I play for) has got off to a wining start to the new tournament in style hopefully we keep winning.