Time to turn this one down

Well I have highlighted this in the past as well regarding the introduction of the quarter finals into the world cup which brings luck to some teams and an obvious bad luck to others. Earlier world cups since 1999 had something known as the super sixes and super eights which gave every team another chance to set right their earlier mistake while every team played every other team once before entering the knock out stage of the tournament. This time, all eight test playing nations barring Bangladesh have qualified to the quarter finals. But, there will be just 4 games before the semis would start.

taking on England. Prediction would always go in for Pakistan over West Indies and Pakistan will be taking on the West Indies tomorrow at Mirpur with India scheduled to play Australia day after. That would be followed by the Kiwis taking on the Proteas and Sri LankaSri Lanka over England. Anything might happen in the remaining two games. But that is not we are here for now. There should have been a super eight stage instead of a quarter final which would reduce chances of the cup going into the wrong hands. Consequently, the tournament would end up as a failure though one emerges victorious.

Pakistan will not be facing India, South Africa and England and the situation is the same for the remaining 7 teams as well. Despite four teams emerging victorious and moving on to the semi-finals, questions would definitely be raised regarding that particular team's performance against those teams which they have not played. West Indies and England are the least preferred teams and it would be a cakewalk for both Pakistan and Sri Lanka who would be facing them in the quarter finals in the next four days to come. The same Pakistan would have flunk had they faced South Africa-may be.

It would be tough for Sri Lanka to have an upper-hand against India and their chances would be made slim had there been a super eights stage. Had there been a super six stage, both England and West Indies would not have crossed the initial stage of the world cup. Australia's chances might be high against West Indies, South Africa and England. In case they lose to India day after, fingers would definitely point towards the format. Australia have faced a similar fate in the world T20 at England in 2009 when they were teamed up with Sri Lanka and West Indies with the other groups consisting of two strong teams and one weak opposition.

So it is time to save the lost at any cost.

India to get chokers tag?

Well in the beginning of the tournament, India were ranked as favorites to at least be on top at the end of the league stage matches putting them ahead of South Africa, England and West Indies. But, with two out of the three matches slipping away from their hands, the only game left over is against the West Indies. It should not be a surprise if India win against the West Indies but all is hidden in the way they win and chances of losing are also on a high. India have most of the times been on the receiving end in big games and tournaments.

India should have won against England after there were big scores from the blades of Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir. At one stage, it was as though England would get away with a win when equation read England needing 67 runs from 60 balls which were gettable with 8 wickets in hand. Finally, India should be relieved to have got away with a tie than to lose after faring so good with the bat if not the ball. India's wins against Netherlands, Ireland and Bangladesh can hardly be relished considering their loss against South Africa and England against which they were expected to win.

If one could take pains to go through the match Bangladesh, it was a one man show from Virender Sehwag though towards the end even Virat Kohli got a hundred. It would be tough to say whether Sehwag would have reached the magical figures had he not been gifted with a runner. Moreover, Bangladesh managed to score 283 which was not acceptable considering the caliber of both India and Bangladesh. Neither was the score satisfactory nor were the Indian bowlers able to take all ten wickets from the Bangladeshi side. I just happened to go through emanon, road to the unknown after seeing India's plight.

One can go through India's performance in the recently concluded world tournaments namely the world T20 2009 and 2010 and the ICC champions trophy 2009. India were successful initially in both world cups. In 2009 India as expected won the group stage matches against Bangladesh and Ireland and flunk in games against South Africa, England and West Indies in the super eights. So was the case in 2010 where India won games against South Africa only to lose in the super eights to Sri Lanka, West Indies and Australia. In the champions trophy 2009, India had a win only against a depleted West Indies with loss to Pakistan before the match against Australia was abandoned.

The only word that comes to my mind with all these facts is "CHOKERS".

New Zealand break the jinx

Despite the world cup going on so smoothly, god knows what on earth made me to go for Bare & Barren. But, that didn't take much time before I could switch back to blogging about cricket which is now going through its all time high with the 10th edition of the world cup keeping all eyes glued to the television sets. Yesterday, there was a rare match between Pakistan and New Zealand which needless to be said New Zealand won convincingly by 110 runs. This would not have been the case had the match been played somewhere in Pakistan rather than at Pallekele.

I just can't last remember when New Zealand had defeated Pakistan in a cricket world cup. I have been watching the event since 1992 and since then, the teams have met on five occasions, all of which have been pocketed by Pakistan. The jackpot struck twice in 1992 and 1999 world cup when Pakistan had two wins against New Zealand, the former being responsible in seeing Pakistan lift their maiden world cup and the latter their second entry into the finals of a world cup. In 1999, it can be said that Pakistan had their maiden runners-up tag which is not too bad.

If anyone comes to the decision that Pakistan are lucky in case they encounter New Zealand in the knock stages of the world cup, I'd like to add an exception citing Pakistan's loss to the Kiwis in the champions trophy 2009 when the Kiwis ran the Pakistanis out of the contest as well as the trophy when they beat them at Johannesburg by 5 wickets. If not for that, all is well for the Pakistanis for they beat them in two world cup semifinals and in the world T20 2007 at South Africa. But, this time things have been different compared to the last 5 world cups.

It was way back in the 1983 world cup that New Zealand had last beaten Pakistan at Birmingham by 52 runs. Pakistan didn't face the Kiwis in 1975, 1979 and 1987 world cups. And, the last they played each other was in 1999 and since then it has been three world cups since they have met each other. Things may be or may not have been different had they played in those world cups as well. But, the victory would have been a delight for the Kiwis which saw them beat Pakistan after 28 years or 7 world cups including this edition.

Holland a nightmare for England?

The Netherlands have always known to be a nightmare for England since the two teams first met in the league stages of the world cup in 1996 held in the sub continent. That was the match where England won the match by just 49 runs as against the expectation of more than a 100 run margin. In that particular match, England scored just 279 runs which was way behind keeping in mind the opposition they were facing and what was expected out of them. Though the total of 279 was a decent in those days, as mentioned above the opposition also matters a lot.

Netherlands winded up with 230 on the board losing just 6 wickets en route to the same when demands asked England to get all ten wickets from the Netherlands' side. At the end, as the saying goes "all is well that ends well", England got away with Graeme Hick being awarded the man of the match award unlike what happened yesterday against the same opposition when the man of the match was awarded to RN ten Doeschate for his contribution with both the bat as well as with the ball. That match saw two batsmen from Holland score half centuries.

Their next meeting was in the 2003 world cup which England did win but once again it was the margin that mattered and England once again lacked that when they lost 4 wickets en route to their successful run chase of 144. That can be considered a decent run but something that can never be forgiven would be their next meeting in the world T20 2009 played in England where England enjoyed being the hosts. England became the first test playing nation to have lost to a non test playing nation in a T20 world cup. Of course, if Bangladesh is considered as a test playing nation, they have lost to Ireland.

That was the 1^st match of the tournament and what a start it was for the big event! Now, coming to yesterday's match, England had almost lost its way before they realized what to do and undid what India failed four years back in the game against Bangladesh. It would have been another disappointment had Holland won that match for, that would make England's chances of entering the quarter finals considering they lose to India and South Africa. One has to indeed appreciate the efforts of RN ten Doeschate who shone with the bat first scoring a hundred and topping the bowling charts by scalping 2 wickets.

Let us meet tomorrow and yes, if you want to Copy Ipod Music wait for the world cup to get over so that you don't do what England has seen doing yesterday.

World T20 in the same boring format

Well today the first T20 game of the third edition of the same will kick off with the first match scheduled between New Zealand and Sri Lanka on one side with Bangladesh set to play Pakistan on the other. However, keeping all excitements apart, one has to adjudge as to how far is the tournament which is a major one as far as the game of cricket goes is a justified one! Since the past three years since its inaugural edition the format of the game tournament has found to remain the same for reason I doubt known to even the ICC.

Since its inaugural edition, the format of the world T20 is filled with the same first round robin stage where there are four groups with three teams in every group. And each group consists of one non test playing nation or Bangladesh grouped with two other comparitively stronger teams. And 8 teams move on to the next round namely the super eight stage which is once again divided into two groups consisting of 4 teams. And in each of these groups, each of the four teams play each other once to qualify to the semi finals which has till date never changed and will never change.

The semi finals as usual consists of four teams divided into two where two teams out of four fight it out for a place in the final which decides who the winner is. This is just boring as it can get. The initial round robin stage of the tournament is fine. But, the super eight stage needs some refinement where instead of having two groups each of which having four teams can be combined to a single general group with each team fighting it out with other teams barring the team which it has encountered earlier in the round robin stage.

One can imagine the super six stage of the world cups in 1999 and 2003 which was further promoted to super eight stage giving the teams an optimum chance to correct their mistakes. There, the teams used to play games against every other nation barring the team against which it has already played a game earlier in the tournament. But, this has not been the case in world T20 tournament. In 2007, the winners India didn't play matches against Sri Lanka, Australia and England in the super eights which would have shown their real talent. Similarly, in 2009 Pakistan didn't play games against India, South Africa and West Indies.

Such ifs and buts need to be eliminated in case the winner has to rejoice the victory and also the teams have to be given an optimum chance to correct its mistakes without shutting the doors permanently. Don't you think so???

Is the Aussie tour still haunting Pak?

Sharjah was the place where once upon a time a Pakistani win was confirmed even before the series started. However, it has been more than a decade since the last Sharjah cup was held. I remember a Sharjah cup held somewhere in 2003 just after the world cup got over in South Africa. That particular series was scheduled to be played between Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka. But, with the 2nd Gulf War still in progress, South Africa backed out and were replaced by two other teams in Zimbabwe and Kenya. After that, I cannot recall any instance of a Sharjah cup being held.

But, security fears in Pakistan have forced the matches that were originally scheduled in Pakistan to be held in nowhere but Abu Dhabi or UAE. And recently, Pakistan hosted England for a two match T20 series. Opposite of what was expected by the Pakistan team, they had to settle down for a level 1-1. It was the same England that beat Pakistan in the 2^nd edition of the T20 world cup held in England. And England should not have been a tough opponent for Pakistan to fight. All eyes were looking for a 2-0 whitewash by Pakistan which never happened.

Can anyone of you imagine a world champion team in Pakistan settling down with score of just 129 on the board? Of course, they have failed to chase down 128 against Australia in the only T20 game that was played. But, England is the opposition that Pakistan should hardly fear. And that too, Pakistan's track record in the Gulf has been exceptional. Is it because of the absence of Shahid Afridi that the Pakistan team fared so badly? The entire Pakistani innings consisted of just 2 sixes, out of a team that boasts of hard hitting despite all odds and any situation.

None of the Pakistani batsmen were found taking risks of any sort whatsoever. Not to mention that the English team also had just two sixes in their innings. But, that shouldn't matter as far as they have ended up victorious. Though Pakistan won the 2^nd T20 international, their body language never supported the scoreboard. If not for the 5 sixes hit by Abdul Razzaq towards the fag end of the Pakistani innings, Pakistan were nowhere in the game. He was the only player in the Pakistan side to have maintained a strike rate of 200+ or even 150+ by scoring 20+ score. This time despite the presence of Afridi. This on one side suggests that the Pak players have still not come out of the Aussie trauma.

Finally Whom Does Afridi & co want to blame?

Well no one on earth would have tolerated the insult what the Pakistani cricketers Shahid Afridi and co had to bear on the first day of the auction for the 3rd edition of the Indian Premier League. It is not an unknown fact that none of the Pakistani players were bought and more the less not even bid for on the first day of the auction. And no one would have also supported such a treatment to anyone let alone Pakistani players. But, the other side of the coin is also to be given a closer look at I suppose.

After the Pakistan team made it to the finals of the second T20 world cup, which was their second such feat and a much better one when they won the championship, I remember reading in one of the leading newspapers-The times of India that the Pakistani players should never settle for something less by giving a nod for a throwaway price by the IPL sponsors. But, none of them including the then Pakistani captain Mohammed Yusuf would have thought that Pakistani players will not even have to feaure on the sponsors' hit lists for the auction. May be that the ICL returnees would be kicking themselves after they decided to leave the rebel league hoping of a better prospect in IPL.

Pakistani players namely Naved Ul Hassan Rana, Abdul Razzaq and others ditched ICL to get back to their international team and so to the IPL but, the result is quite in front of us. Things worked out well for New Zealand's Shane Bond but not for Pakistani players. If the BCCI or the IPL considers the ICL as a rebel league, the Pakistani players should have anticipated that the same BCCI considers Pakistan as a rebel country. So, in a way, it has to be Pakistani players who could not anticipate even such things and feature themselves for the auction and then come out cursing.

Likewise, every T20 team would like to have someone like Afridi in their team. But, what is the guarantee that Pakistani players will turn up for their respective franchisees? Moreover, taking into consideration the impression that the Pakistani players have in the minds of the Indian people, is it worth the risk to-be-taken by the sponsors which might see them lose viewers' interest in their teams and products? A little bit of bitter relationship between the two countries might end up in all the Pak players called back from the IPL half way through. Who is going to take the blame for that? And last but not the least, IPL has had a good run in 2009 when there were no Pakistani players featuring and things might not get worse this time as well.

An Irish Cricketer Who made It To The Cricinfo HL

A couple of days ago, cricket avatar was found highlighting the way Bangladesh cricket has advanced over the years and more so in the recent past after their entry into the super eights of the world cup 2007 held in the Caribbean. Now, though, the world has seen a lot of cricket in and by Ireland, hardly was there any Irish cricket player who had made news for either setting up a victory for his side or for announcing retirement from international cricket. Now, Ireland can feel proud that a cricket player from the island nation has made it to the headlines when he quit international cricket today.

This is Jeremy Bray for you. The Irish batsman who played 15 one day internationals and two T20 matches for Ireland from the ICC world cup 2007 quit from all forms of international cricket today. May be the way Ireland made it to the super eights of that world cup would be written in his autobiography one can suppose. The player under consideration is one such player who made his international cricket debut at the age of 33. May be, this is the second time Irish cricket has hit the headlines of a leading sports website whatsoever. The first time being in 2007 after Ireland beat Pakistan to enter the super eights.

The day a player retires from international cricket, all applause starts pouring upon him. However, this can never ever be the case with any Irish player atleast in the near future. And Bray is no exception. Statistics suggest that the player held the record for the highest first class score for Ireland when he scored 190 against UAE in the intercontinental cup 2005 for two years. The player also has a century for a tied cause against his name and also a man of the match award for the same when he scored an unbeaten 115 against Zimbabwe in the same world cup 2007.

May be hardly anyone would have noticed that Ireland are the only non test playing team in the world to have had one day wins against three test playing nations when they beat Zimbabwe (who have a history of playing test cricket atleast), Pakistan and Bangladesh in the 2007 world cup once again. Added to this would be the 304 run partnership against UAE and the 146 runs he scored against Canada in the finals of the intercontinental cup the same year. This can be considered as a golden era for Irish cricket at present. And Jeremy Bray should consider himself lucky enough to have been in the squad during this golden era. So, the theory behind this is that, in case a player's achievements should come to light, he's to retire from the game.