| Username |
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| krishna |
Posted
on 15-Jan-03 05:08 PM
As we all know that the World Cup Cricket is at the door and teams are preparing for their final practice sessions before the world cup. Here is some of my personal favorites to life the trophy.
The defending champion Australia are by far the clear favorites to win second time in a row. Though not with the services of the dynamic duos, the Waugh Brothers, they are still the outright favorite. Captain Ricky Ponting is in marvellous form and so is the openers the fiery Adam Gilchrist and the classy Matthew Hayden. With the accurate Glenn McGrath leading the bowling department and the cool man under utmost pressure Michael Bevan batting in the middle, and with South African fast tracks that suit them very much, its hard to see Australia go down until the Semifinal or the Final.
Another contender to lift the trophy has to be the Host nation South Africa. Its amazing that given the history, South Africa started their One-Day campaign only in the early 90' s and they have massively developed into one of the dangerous side in World Cricket today. Captain Shaul Pollock leading from the front and the every dangerous White Lightening Alan Donald striking the bowling, South African class comes most definitely in the bowling and fielding department. With fielders like who can forget Mr. Jonty Rhodes absolutely parallel to the ground to remove dangerous Tendulkar at Durban and then his fabolous run out to Inzamam in the 92 wold cup will go down in the history as one of the all time greats of Jonty Rhodes. Opener Herschelle Gibbs has shown in recent years what he can do with his destructive batting and the all round services of Jacques Kallis have helped South Africa massively in recent years. Kallis is probably the only class batsman in South Africa and with him coming in the middle to support the openers, and his finishing abilities in the final overs, the abosolute support of the home ground and supporters, RSA has to be the second favorite.
The countdown cannot end leaving the indefinite Pakistan. Pakistan have always been the contender to lift the trophy and I can't see why they are not this time around. Pakistan's bowling is I think the best in the world. Captain Waqar Younis heads the field. They have recalled Mr. reliable Wasim Akram the highest wicket taker in the one day game, and the fast and furious the Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar pace and accuracy can turn the game anytime. With the destructive ability of Saeed Anwar in the frontline batting and the big guy, the dangerous Inzamam coming in the middle one cannot argue that Pakistan dont' have class in the batting like they have in bowling. I think from Pakistan two other players will be very important to the Pakistan winning the World Cup. They are the youngsters Abdur Razzaq and Yousuf Youhana. They both have turned out to be the matchwinner for Pakistan so many times in the recent years. Yousuf Youhana has both the ability to anchor the innings and finish at the death. He was in blistering form against Zimbabwe and he followed it with a run of good innings in the Pakistan loss to South Africa. The all rounder Razzaq can destroy wicket as well as score handy runs. Pakistan are once again the favorites to win.
More Later...
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| oys_chill |
Posted
on 15-Jan-03 05:27 PM
aanch krishna bro ko analysis ghacchi cha j bhaye ni...
well, South Africa and Australia are the clear favourites and they play at a higher level than other teams and are much more consistent in one dayers... But i have always been a pakistan cricket fan. Much of it owes to their UNPREDICTABLITY...their batting is always out of the blues.........but its their bowling that's so captivating.......I'd rather see pakistan bat first in all the games, and i think this is their best bet as always :) Waqar has been my personal favourite for a long long time......and he's still bowling well..and to compete with aussie and SA's.....they need to bowl their heart out which they usually do...
As for other teams, Don't count out the Black Caps..if chris cairns gets it going, the entire team does :).....
As for the loosers, there's nothing like for me to see INDIA GETTING TRASHED :).....nothing to do with any kinda biases..just personal preferences......but still they advertise themselves as the champions of the world, little champion and whatevers..eheh..
Wish i could watch some of those matches :( :( :( :(
oys
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| ruck |
Posted
on 15-Jan-03 05:54 PM
Hey Krishna,
Where does India stand? I haven't a clue about the world cup this time? is there any way we could watch live, maybe on the internet?
Whats happening with Pakistan and Sri Lanka?
Cheers!!
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| noname |
Posted
on 15-Jan-03 06:07 PM
For Indians, this is something sort of National Event. JITEGA BHAI JITEGA HAMARA INDIA JITEGA is the only thing they chant till Indian team is knocked out. I heard that MITHAIS were free for one day when India won world cup last time and the only time. It's something of national pride and it matters much to lift their moral. Though I am not a die-hard Indian fan, why not India where the winning has some importance at national level?
KIWIS are countable underdogs. I am hopeful about their performance too!
SA. They are well composed and well organized team. The law of average coupled with bad luck had made them leave the field in last WCs. And furthermore, being a host country, my sympathies are with them too.
BUT
Being a die-hard fan of WEST INDIES........., I pray for them!
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| oys_chill |
Posted
on 15-Jan-03 07:19 PM
ehhe noname.....
west indies bhane ki i remember my friend.......now that west indies have lost their stance of invincibility :)
"Lara, Kya mara, phir bhi haraaa " eheh....(jus for fun, pheri naya avatar le attack nagarisyos) :P
oys
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| Krishna |
Posted
on 16-Jan-03 05:44 AM
Ruck,
India, given the batting line up they have, can also have an outright chance to be victorious, why not? Virendar Shehwag was in blistering form in NZ when the Kiwis thrashed India 3-0 in the Tests and I think the final one-dayers are still running but India are I think down to the wire right now. If captain Ganguly holds team together from the front, and they have the best batsman in the world Mr. Sachin Tendulkar, if he gets going, there is no bowling that can stop the little man from making a huge contribution with the bat. Rahul Dravid can anchor the innings anytime in the middle and they have got some youngters who can fire at the depth. The only thing India lack on my opinion is the bowling but who knows if Srinath and Zaheer Khan can hold themselves together, they can definitely beat any side in the world. Its cricket for you and its very unpredictable, lucky at times.
I think you can watch live World Cup broadcast on wisden.com. You have to pay $4.00 a match. I will look at the schedule first and watch important matches. But I think the match starts at 2-3 am ET. I might think of it during the weekends and from the semifinal onwards, I think I won't miss it. RSA vs. AUS in the semifinal at Johannesburg, who knows?? The one at lords was a thriller and I am pretty sure its going to be another encounter that will go down in the cricket history if those sides meet.
Chill bro, do you remember the WI vs. India early this year. WI came out victorious in the One-dayers. So you never know, the new boy Sarwan, is class and they have other very attacking batsman, and its cricket.
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| noname |
Posted
on 16-Jan-03 06:48 AM
OYS....that statement was just a casual remark...DHARODHARMA kehi anarhta hoina...kya serious bhaidiya...bhanya! :) (avatar +...syos aauda ta ma ta SENTIPLAT ni ho!)
Yeh...WI definitely does have a chance. Under captaincy of that old dude HOOPER, WI does have the chance to revive the past. Though, as our on the screen commentator Krishna says, its cricket!
India...boys have to work more on cricket than on ad! They spend must of the time thinking of the script in ad than the next game. Their batting too is doubtful and bowling dept. is hopeless. Regarding batting, Sidhu's comment is worth noting "Indian batting is like bi-cycle in the cycle stand. If one fails, all do"
Regarding bowling Ganguly himself agrees that because of the pitch they are habitual of playing in domestic cricket, fast bowlers never get sharpened.
And, captain! Does not Ganguli look like suffering long from constipation? Azahar was the best! More resolute, composed and capable. Ganguly has to improve in all departments: batting, fielding, captaining and expressing!
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| ruck |
Posted
on 16-Jan-03 07:42 AM
Thank you Krishna... will check out on that...
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| VillageVoice |
Posted
on 16-Jan-03 10:35 AM
I would be rooting for India, folks.
Alas :)!!! Going by the recent history (they lost the New Zealand Test series: 0-2; one-dayers 2-5), their chances of making it to the final four look slim.
The NZ tour badly exposed that they are flat-track bullies, always a suspect in swinging and seaming conditions. Suddenly, it's their bowlers who look worldclass--none of the Magic Trio, comprising Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid, found their footing in NZ, and it was left to young Shewag, only bastman from either side to score a century (in fact he had a couple) in the entire tour, to save their blushes.
Srinath finished as the leading wickettaker in the One-day series, with 18 wickets--at a phenomenal average of 12 runs apiece! But then even NZ cricket chief has conceded the pitches were below par -- a subtle shift from a desperate Indian fan :)?
Khyal-thatta aside, I would not dissmiss the Indians. Tendulkar, Shewag, Dravid, and Ganguly after all are proven matchwinners. I only hope the South African wickets are a bit on the placid side, if not the subcontinental flat-tracks, dustbowls favoring none but the batsman.
Oys, I agree with you there - Pak attack *is* awesome. Akram, the warhorse, showed as recently as last month (?) that he can single-handedly demolish a batting line-up.
Sultans of Swing, the ageing WWs, are still a force to reckon with--Waqar's swinging yorkers when he gets them going are a sight to behold. Any side would take Pakistan lightly at their own peril. They are mercurial. You just can't tell anything about them.
My money's on Australia, though, provided their bowling lynchpin--McGrath and Warne--regain (hundred percent) fitness by the time the World Cup gets underway. I would put SA in a close second position--and home's home.
What about a third contender from the subcontient--Sri Lanka? Never know with Murli around--after all Wisden's best bolwer of the Century (?).
But don't dissmiss NZ--bereft of superstars, all right, but they play the law of average. And in Stephen Fleming, they arguably have the shrewdest captain in contemporary cricket.
West Indies? They did show flashes of brilliance in the recent Indian tour. But going by one's form in the Indian wickets could be slightly misleading, esp. when you are playing in the bouncy tracks of South Africa. Ask "Sorrow Ganguly," to quote a recent RK Laxman cartoon on the Indian skipper. The Prince of Kolkata has just 10 days to sort out his problems before he heads for what will probably be his last World Cup.
Talking about WI, there was a time in the 80s when just about any player in the team could turn the game around. Greenidge, Haynes, Gomes (not quite flaymboyant as others), Richards (the king himself!!), Lloyd (Big Cat), Dujon (acrobatic wickie who would dive like a goalkeeper to take catches)--in the batting department. And Marshall, Holding (Rolls Royce of a bowler), "Big Bird" Garner, and Roberts in the bowling department.
I remeber a frustrated Indian captain, Sunil Gavaskar once saying, "Come on, with players like that even a donkey can captain West Indies." I agree.
Bur it's pretty much that way with Australian now. That's why Stephen Fleming is my man of the moment. Kee an eye on him, folks.
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| VillageVoice |
Posted
on 16-Jan-03 10:46 AM
krishna, tks for the cricket thread. I hope we carry it through the Cup :) Ambitious, you may say. But then it's cricket.
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| ruck |
Posted
on 16-Jan-03 10:53 AM
I hope I won't be dissapointed this time.. India should make it... God..I miss watching World Cup with my brothers around.. shouting and betting...
Gone are the days !!
:-((
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| littlejhonny |
Posted
on 16-Jan-03 11:20 AM
hey guys ..... why forget sanath jai surya .......... and his team .... one who will keep cool during the matches will win this time ....... and this time competation is intense ........ we all should have a great time ..... and this world cup shewagh....... is the danger man ..... man to watch
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| Papra |
Posted
on 16-Jan-03 03:58 PM
My favourites are Aussies:
Their department for now lacks nothing.
The batting line up with Hayden, Ponting, Gilchrist, all the way down to even Shane Warne and Bret Lee who can smack few sixes seems awesone. The bowling of McGrath, Warne and Lee.. Bret Lee has a potential to create havoc in the fast south african pitches. And McGrath is always accurate. Shane Warne can be a big time match winner. Remember the semi-final of last world cup, how he turned the game around for Australia with one bowl he bowled to Gibbs? And also the Finals too. He scared the hell out off Paki guys. Same thing in the semi-final in the world cup before the last one. He took four weekets with his "flipper" against West Indies. And the fielding, come on Ponting is as good as Rhodes if not better with his accurate throwing. Even the tall McGrath, chubby Shane Warne take great catches. So Australia are in full power this time. This is a side that had no place for cricketers like Steve And Mark Waugh who would have been easilty the first three picks on any team.
Oh boy, India, they just don't have the killer instinct in their playere. They should learn from Akram, Donald, Ambrose, Steve Waugh, McGrath about the killer instinct. Indian team looks like a "bhusia" kookor in front of good breed dogs like German Shepard, Doberman, Pitbull when they face other teams. Anyway, good luck for them
And I am not supporting Srilanka this time. When they won the world cup 7 years ago, man, they became so arrogant. They were like,"yeah we are the chams" to all other teams. I would rather watch Akram and Younis bowled them out with yorker and reverse swing.
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| krishna |
Posted
on 16-Jan-03 04:45 PM
VillageVoice and Papra, nice analysis there. As we keep on saying Aus and RSA are in different class but you never know on this unpredictable game. For example WI defeats in the hands of Kenya in the '96 world cup or for that matter ZIM reaching the super six's on '99, Bangladesh beating the Pakis on '99 are some of the examples of it and I bet its going to continue as long as cricket remains popular among millions and millions of fans around the world watching it.
As for the sub-continent cricket, we cannot argue that the Sub-continent slow tracks that suits spin is a major reason why the Sub-continent side fail to succeed overseas. We have seen both RSA, AUS or for that matter WI come to their terrotory and play unbelievable cricket throughout the decade. If its a series thing then yes, I would say AUS, RSA have an outright chance to beating the team because even one game they loose, they are bound to coming back and pulling off the series from the throat. But its the matter of one day bad luck and you are out.
For example, RSA was the most successful side coming out from the league phases winning every matches they had in the '96 world cup down in the subcontinent. During the knockout phases, who would have thought that the out of form Brian Lara could produce a sublime innings to deny the clear favorites. His magnificent 111 was the wall of defeat to the South African side who were looking in genuine touch.
But having said that, its the World Cup and the matter of being the World Champions so every team will be giving their best in all departments. So I would say all the test playing nations have a chance. Except for Zim, who have looked absolutely out of touch this year. But if making a choice of being the favorities, I will go with the Aussies, though Pakistan are right there. But It is not the unpredictability that can lead a country to being the world champions but the consistency and Aus have taken cricket at a different level in this era with captain Steven Waugh leading the foundation.
I salute Mr. Steve Waugh for his tactical as well as consistent captaincy to lead Aus to where they are right now. They are definitely the team to beat. I support Pakistan like Oys bro but if I have to put my money on the Final between if it happens between Pak and Aus. I will go with the Aussies.
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| VillageVoice |
Posted
on 17-Jan-03 12:12 AM
Pls read (in my above posting), Wisden has named Sri Lanka's Murli "best bowler in Test history."
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| papra |
Posted
on 17-Jan-03 12:30 AM
Well, I do not agree with Wisden's decision about the Best Bowler in History.
First of all, Murali's bowling action even though has been cleared by ICC still has doubts. So he has some advantage from his bowling style which is why he gets so much spin. His tremendous spin is not what he has created but is an adventageous result from his action.
Shane Warne created wrist-spin. He defined spin bowling not only as turns but as variations, aggression, and aslo attacking. When blowing was mainly dominated by fast bowlers like, Malcom Marshall, Lelee, Imran Khan, Holding, spin bowlers were treated more like just a part-time bowlers but not real match winners. So Shane Warne changed that entire view about spin bowling. He introduced, Flipper, Top Spin, Back Spin and refreshed Googlee. He has single handedly won many matches for his team.
Samething goes for Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Ambrose, and even Donald. Imran Khan introduced swinging yorker, reverse spin, and many alterations you can do with fast ball. They brought something new to cricket. They used their creativity, and hard work to create amazing things with cricket balls.
So now here stands Murali, who has double wrist bone. His action is doubtful, and the spin he gets is from his bowling action. I would've admired him, if the case had been difeerent where he created his present arm action to generate a lot of spin. But it was someting he already had. So I do not agree with Wisden's chosen all time bowler of test cricket.
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| krishna |
Posted
on 17-Jan-03 05:51 AM
I agree with Papra and completely am against the wisden's decision of voting Muralitharan the best bowler in History. Maybe he is one of the best but to call him the best is a very unjust to bowlers like the class of the Wasim Akram, Richard Hadlee, Michael Holding, Alan Donald, Shane Warne, Glen McGrath, Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev and many others.
My personal favorite though is Wasim Akram. He has served Pakistan untirelessly for a long time. Akram started at a very early age at 1989 when Imran Khan introduced him to the international arena. From then on, he has produced a spellbinding bowling throughout his career knocking the stumps of many world class batsman. I remember him free-flowing in the '92 Final where he produced two unplayable deliveries to remove Alan Lamb and Chis Lewis to single-handedly win the match and the cup for Pakistan. The likes of Botham, Tendulkar, Lara, Waugh, Kallis, and many other world class batsman fear Akram because of the completely different deliveries he can produce in a six ball over. You never know whats coming next from the hands of Akram. Is it a yorker, an inswinger, or an outswinger, or is it the bouncer??? The batsman guesses in vain until their stumps are discarder. That is class, and that is why he has taken most number of one-day wickets then any other bowler in the world.
Muralitharan is a class act, no doubt about that. But he is still going on. He has many years left on him to play for Srilanka and I am sure as long as Muralitharan bowls for the Lankans, the Lankans will be regarded as the force to reckon with. In the sub-continent wickets, he is just unplayable and is he is starting to vary his bowling a lot, which makes it even more difficult to play him. He has the ability to turn the bowl on any tracks.
Ok, I agree with papra that it is his actions that creates lots of spin, but whose isn't it?? Isn't the action of Glen McGrath that helps maitain his accuracy? Isn't the action of Shaun Polluck mostly unplayable for many world class batsman?? Wasn't the action of Courtney Walsh most definitely destructive? The action is just a minor mishaps and it doesn't count when people 50 years from now look at the figures of Muralitharan.
more later...
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| PremPujari |
Posted
on 17-Jan-03 07:23 PM
aaanch Kishne jyyyyu,
Ek taka khoob heriyo cricket ani Khoob kheliyo pani.
We still play here in USA, afno Indian-paaki saathi haru sanga, Summer ma.
Always been Paki ra Srilankan Fyaan ni. Wasim Akram, Jaisurya, Inzamam-ul-haq ....
I miss the game yaar... yeta ta aaudaina... Zee le dincha ki jhukkiyera...
Would be more than happy if PAKIS wins.
My bet on PAKIS, natra Srilankan...
hehe.
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| krishna |
Posted
on 19-Jan-03 12:41 AM
I continue with the countdown to the some of the teams that have an outright chance to win the world cup.
The former world champion in 1982 World Cup, India, are right there with the big boys to snatch the victory. Though one might argue that the 1982 Indian team was one of the finest if not the finest that India have produced but I cast my vote on this team that can lead to be the world champions without doubt. Opener Virendar Shehwag showed what he is capable of in the recent India tour to NZ. He produced that matchwinning innings in the one-dayers to save India from the worst defeat for the sub-continent side ever. Rahul Dravid, when he is in form, nothing can go wrong. Followed by one of the best batsman in cricketing era, Sachin Tendulkar, his figure speaks volumes. He has scored 33 one day tons, the most by any player and have scored most number of one day runs. When he is in form, you can watch the little man all day. He regards his magnificent back to back hundred to win the Sharjah cup against the Aussies as his best innings in his career and boy wasn't it fun?? His huge towering sixes lessoned the others that it doen't require sheer power for them to come but the perfect timing and it can cross the boundary line with ease. The bowlers Javal Srinath and Zaheer Khan are technically sound and can disburse the stumps of any batsman. Without further a due, I regard India the contender to win the World Cup.
NZ, though rated not highly, are one of those teams that can destroy the hopes of the favorites. Captain Stephen Fleming is stylish in batting and captaincy. He has lead NZ to many a victories. Nathan Astle showed his class when Aussies toured NZ a year back. His sublime double ton in only 150 deliveries assured NZ victory in one of the test matches. Anything against Aussies is great, but that was one of the best innings any NZ batsman have produced against them thashing most of his second day runs with some towering sixes I have ever seen and most of them in cracking boundaries. The wonderful Chris Cairns is back in his best touch for the Kiwis. If he stays in the crease for half an hour, boy what can he do?? Ask Prasad, Srinath and Kumble what he did when India toured them couple of years back. They will be able to explain you better. His swashbuckling knock of a 115 lasted only above an hour with 42 of his runs crossing the boundary line with ease. That is one of his best innings and I tell you he has produced some of the finest for NZ. No side in the world is going to take them easily.
More coming later.....
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| krishna |
Posted
on 20-Jan-03 05:55 PM
Please visit the site,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/cwc2003/
for world cup updates and everything on world cup.....
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