Lack of desire from the WICB evident

It is still alive in cricket fans' minds the way the West Indies team surrendered to Bangladesh on their home soil some two years ago, when West Indies made headlines despite the Ashes going on in full bloom on the other side of the cricketing world. West Indies lost three one dayers and two tests to get into the record books for the wrong reasons. If anyone of you would cite the absence of key players to be the reason for their debacle, then I think they have to go through the recently concluded world cup where West Indies had wins only against Bangladesh, Ireland and Holland.

In a way, those wins for the West Indies proved to be of much joy for, despite not deserving to be there, they made it to the quarter-finals of the world cup and they missed losing out to Ireland and Bangladesh to be fortunate unlike England. The immediate decision from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) was to drop players like Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderapaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan. I doubt whether the West Indies cricket board was inspired by the BCCI whop dropped senior players like Dravid, Ganguly and Anil Kumble from the squad citing reasons that youngsters be given a chance.

This happened to work well for the BCCI for, the Indian team since their drop happened to win two major titles namely the ICC world T20 2007 and the recently concluded ICC world cup. But, if the WICB also follows suit and does what the BCCI did, one can expect the West Indies to be lined along with class 2 teams like Ireland, Kenya, Canada and co. It would be hard to make anyone believe that the highest individual score in test cricket is a West Indian cricketer. It would be hard to convince anyone that West Indies have won two world cups and were the strongest team in those days.

What has happened for Gayle is something that he might have thought to be and liked as well at the same time when he can enjoy the shortest version of the game and earn ten times the amount what he'd earn had he been the part of the squad that would be hosting Pakistan. If Gayle's words are to be believed, he seems not to have got a call from the WICB among the group of players selected for the training camp in Barbados. I wonder what made the WICB give a NOC to Gayle only to condemn him for not preferring his nation above self.

Was it because Gayle was injury hit and his chances of performing against Pakistan was freak that the WICB gave him a NoC? Now that Gayle has received a call from RCB, the WICB have got more furious and come out to condemn Gayle? Stop this nonsense and look out for some No Police State Girls blog.

India-Sri Lanka in world cups..A review

With India set to play Sri Lanka in the final of the world cup, a look at the history between the two teams especially in world cup tournaments would be worth I suppose. If things are seen in the world cup tournaments that include the ICC champions trophy and the T20 world cups, Sri Lanka have been at the delivering end with India losing the plot on almost all occasions. The latest one being in the world T20 held at West Indies where Sri Lanka beat India to move to the semi-finals in West Indies. Of course, India had lost all games in that tournament.

A win against Sri Lanka for India would have been just a consolation after their loss to Australia and West Indies. Before that, India failed to get past the round robin stage of the last world cup after they lost to Sri Lanka and of course Bangladesh before that. Prior to the 2007 world cup, India had won a bilateral series against Sri Lanka at home 2-1 but could not repeat the same a month later. India have beaten Sri Lanka in world cups 2003 and 1999. This time it was India's turn to enjoy with them being responsible for Sri Lanka to go without a win against a major opposition in 1999.

In the 2003 world cup, it was after their win against Sri Lanka that India reached the semi-finals. But, India managed to win all three games in the super sixes which would not have made any difference. However, India's win over Sri Lanka in 1999 and 2003 didn't prove anything worth for India and Sri Lanka managed to reach the semis in 2003 despite being thrashed by India as mentioned. But, India's loss to Sri Lanka in 1996 and 2007 kept India totally out of the tournament. India's world cup campaign in 2007 lasted barely 2 weeks after they first lost to Bangladesh before losing to Sri Lanka.

India's win over Sri Lanka have just aided India's advancement to the next round or has been just another win. But, whenever India has lost to Sri Lanka, the match has made headlines. Previously India-Sri Lanka match in 1979 made headlines for India losing to a Sri Lankan team which was until then not been granted test status. India and Sri Lanka were set to play the finals of the ICC champions trophy 2002 which was abandoned with just one innings possible when rain interrupted the game twice. Since then, India has never played Sri Lanka in an ICC champions trophy. But, things need not be the same this time for both teams.

Well its time to check out some forex trading stuff before the finals.

Is Mohali (India) the right venue to host semis?

Well as an Indian and an avid cricket fan, I am also eagerly looking forward to the fifth India-Pakistan match in world cups (barring T20 world cups and ICC champions trophies). This will be the second time Pakistan will have to tour India to play a match against the hosts after the famous 1996 world cup quarter finals played at Bangalore which was Javed Miandad's last show on the international stage. Needless to be said, India won that battle by 39 runs despite a threatening start from the Pakistani openers namely Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail who saw Pakistan reach 113/1 after 13 overs.

Anyway, that is history and then things were not that serious as is the case now. Things were not anticipated then in the match at Bangalore, with India winning the match unlike what happened in the semi-finals against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens. Now, Pakistan is once again cursed to tour the venue which he last prefers to. So would be the case for India, for whom the ghosts of the 1996 semi-finals might haunt again in case they give a sign a being defeated. This has happened earlier in a tri nation tournament with Pakistan having a high upper hand and people start hurling bottles on Pakistan players.

Luckily for captains of both teams, there was no India-Pakistan match until 1992 which averted something similar in 1987. In 1996, though there was nothing unexpected in the quarter-finals at Bangalore, what happened in the semi-finals was nothing compared to what would have happened had India won that semi-finals against Sri Lanka. The finals of the 1996 world cup was held at Lahore which might have made the then India captain Mohammed Azharuddin think many times before winning the semis. Anything might have happened had India toured Pakistan for the finals in case India managed to do so. Though this was not the reason for the defeat, it cannot be completely ruled out.

Since then, Pakistan has never been a venue for any world cup tournaments be it the world cup, the T20 world cup or the ICC champions trophy. Pakistan has been canceled to host an ICC champions trophy in 2008, which was canceled completely with the ICC not deciding on the venue to host the tournament that year. And then, this time Pakistan was denied to host any matches of the ongoing world cup which would have made Indians smile to a greater extent compared to other countries. Afridi may just think upon going back to Pakistan rather than be the target for bottles and paper rockets gifted by angry fans for having his team trounce India.

One can just see paint colors in Afridi's face with dilemma whether to go in for the kill or save his life from people's anger.

What is so gr8 in it?

Yesterday, Pakistan beat Australia by 4 wickets to stop their 35 match winning streak that included one tied match against South Africa in the semi finals of the 1999 world cup and one match abandoned with the match against Sri Lanka being called off due to rains. May be this world have come before for Australia, had that game taken off. But, despite all these facts, I personally don't regard this as a major victory for Pakistan or any team to have managed it. Not because that I'm an Indian and turning down Pakistan's achievements is my birth right that I am into such statements.

But, beating a team that was once an unbeatable team is not a major achievement. Only a handful of players from the Australian side are found playing cricket though not at their career best of form and fitness. Only Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson and Brett Lee are found making it to the squad since 2003 when the Aussies were unbeatable. And for the matter, Ponting is at his best only in smashing LCD sets rather than the ball which has was known to be. There is no Gilchrist, Hayden, Martyn, Symonds and Mike Hussey to take the batting charge with McGrath, Nathan Bracken and Brad Hogg to bowl.

Added to that, the current Aussie team lacks a match winner like Michael Beaven who could take his team out from the clutches of defeat despite his team reeling at 135/8 against England in 2003 and Andy Bichael who was a replacement for Jason Gillispie and proved much more than what Gillispie would have been. Australia never finished with a run rate less than 6.0 an over in the 2007 world cup batting 1^st and got all its opponents all out with Bangladesh being an exception in the 2007 world cup. Coming close to such a team was also a tough task let alone winning.

It would be no tough task to fight a 90 year old man when thinking about the same when the person at his young age would have made him pay the price. In the current cricketing world, Australia is as good as any other team and winning against them would be just another win against a normal opposition. New Zealand could have done this for, they were the 1^st decent team to have faced the Aussies in 2011 WC. Since the 2007 triumph, the Aussies have made news only for bad reasons though they won the ICC champions trophy in 2009 and were the runners-up in world T20 2010.

It would be nice to think about ways to make money online, online business guide than cheering a pseudo-record by Pakistan I'd suggest.

Broad as a batsman

Well more than anybody else, it looks as though my yesterday's post has been read by none other than the English captain Andrew Strauss and then decided not to gift their nation to Pakistan. The last time anybody could see such a mindblowing performance from the England side was in the Ashes last year when they hosted Australia. England came back from nowhere to win the ashes 2-1 after being 1-0 down in the initial stages of the tournament. The match that England lost to the Aussies was by a whooping innings margin after escaping from the clutches in the first test.

From then onwards, it was England all the way when they didn't lose a single game from then onwards. They drew one test and won two out of the remaining three against Australia all unexpectedly. Of course, England did win the title in 2005 by the same margin with the situation being the same almost. England were 1-0 down after losing the first test by 239 runs. But, that was just a fluke which is justified by the margin itself with the English team winning the second test by 2 runs and the fourth test by 3 wickets to take home the ashes after 20 long years.

England were chasing a total of just 125 in the third test at DASH and en route to their successful run chase lost 7 wickets in between. One can guess the situation had there been 30 more runs added to the target. So, according to me that performance does not go down as England's best performance till date. Instead, last year's Ashes win against an Australian team minus Shane Warne and Gilchrist was a better one and a deserving one too. The performance by the England team yesterday was even more worth cheering when not only did England rise from 102-7 at one stage but also it was Stuart Broad who settled the issue for his team.

Stuart Broad was until then known to be a bowler and remembered for the wrong reasons for getting belted by Yuvraj Singh for 6 sixes in an over in the inaugural world T20 in 2007. Still, it would be wrong to rate him as an under achiever as a bowler. The century by Broad went on to become a 150 by a tail end batsman. Scorecard suggests that Broad came in at number 9 in the batting order and for him to do the job on a pitch that suits bowlers is indeed praise worthy. Broad might not be able to bowl the way he batted yesterday. I compare Broad with gadgets that does something efficiently for which it was not designed.

Was the resting of players justified?

I can still remember the way India lost the second one dayer to Bangladesh in 2005 when the then captain Rahul Dravid decided to rest most of the experienced players by underestimating the Bangladeshi players and paid the price for the same by losing the match by 11 runs. In fact that was India's first ever defeat at the hands of Bangladesh. And now once again, the Indian selectors did the same mistake by resting all the players who are experienced thinking that it can bring out the best out of the youngsters. As a result of this, once again India paid the price.

India not only lost their final match against Sri Lanka but also lost two matches rather unexpectedly to Zimbabwe, the team against which a victory was assumed before hand by the Indians and failed to make it to the finals of the tri nation tournament. Until now, team India was ill fated when they used to enter the finals of a multi nation tournament and lose there. But now, they have failed to get past the league stage itself. All thanks to the selectors who not only gave the youngsters a chance but also gave Zimbabwe a chance to enter the finals of the tri nation tournament which it rarely deserves.

Despite not deserving to be there, Zimbabwe was seen in the super sixes of two world cups in 1999 and 2003. Anyways, with that being secondary, the matter of the hour is that the BCCI did nothing good by resting the seniors starting from Sachin Tendulkar to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The team should have seen atleast a few of the experienced lads making it to the squad like yuvraj Singh, who would be making it to the playing XI after a long time snce he has battled injuries off late. So would have been the case with Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag for whom this could have been a refresher series after their absence recently.

Following the series under discussion, there is a mega event scheduled with India taking on Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Asia cup which happens once in every two years since it was decided in 2008. With the BCCI resting the experienced players, there is every possibility that the Asia cup may turn a nightmare for both the players as well as the BCCI in case India lose to either if the strong teams or not to be surprised, even Bangladesh. Added to this would be the T20 world cup ghost that would continue to haunt the Indian team wherever they go until they find a breakthrough.

The PCB corrects itself

Well before anybody would term the PCB as mentally sick, it is a good news to the entire cricket world and especially Pakistan cricket that the bans and fines on the Pakistani players that included Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan among the eight has been finally scrapped not by anyone else but by the PCB itself. Needless to be said, the aforementioned Pakistan players were imposed hefty fines and unimaginable bans after their disastrous tour of Australia where Pakistan returned home without even a single win from three tests + 5 One dayers + 1 T20 game that was played.

Recently, the ban of one year and a fine of a whooping 2 million rupees on Shoaib Malik was lifted by a tribunal which reduced the fine by half which has now entitled Shoaib Malik to pay just rupees 1 million. The word just is far from being justified here when the matter involves sums upto rupees one million. But, the comparison here is done with 2 million and needless to be said is far greater than 1 million rupees. And, with Pakistan being winners of the world T20 last year, the amount should not be as big as it is thought to be.

The poorest of poor performance by the Pakistani players should and can never be forgiven no matter what. It does not matter that it was Australia whom Pakistan were facing in their own den and a victory is far from being achieved. But, even a defeat in all matches is far from expected as far as Pakistan is considered. The Pakistani players deserve a harsh punishment but not a crazy one like it has been done by the PCB. However, when the ban on Shoaib Malik has been revoked and fine reduced, it looks like the PCB is rethinking on its decision which is rather crazy as mentioned.

Now, the PCB has revoked the bans and reduced fines for other players as well long before the Pakistan cricket follows the West Indies team. There is the multi team starer Asia cup to be stared in the coming month and with most of the Pakistani players facing the axe, there might be a major disaster waiting to happen in case the PCB does not turn up. A hint regarding the same has been felt in the recently concluded ICC world T20 when Pakistan lost games to England and New Zealand in the super eights after losing the group stage encounter with the Aussies.

Tribunal lifts crazy ban on Malik

Well no fool on earth would have upheld the one year ban on Shoaib Malik which in addition was also supported with a fine of Rs2 million all for coming back empty handed in the tour of Australia earlier this year where Pakistan lost 9 games to Australia which included 3 tests, 5 one day internationals and one T20 game. But, this should not mean any sort of crazy action like what the PCB has been seen doing. One has to wonder what does one mean by a fine of 2 million rupees. Not even a burglar would have been made to pay this much fine.

Condemnations have come in from all corners of the globe regarding the PCB's ban on eight Pakistani players and as mentioned above the fine of 2 million rupees. If the performance of the Pakistani players in Australia were shocking, more shocking was the way their cricket board reacted to that performance. The PCB should have gone mentally sick when such a crazy fine and punishment was imposed on the players. This condemnation does not mean that the bad patch created by the Pakistani players need to be given a go ahead. Such poor performance does not deserve any sort of pardon no matter what.

The PCB was never found taking any such decisions towards the Pakistani players when they were omitted from the world cup in 2007 after losing their matches against West Indies and Ireland, which Pakistan was expected to win effortlessly. However, the PCB was found taking a similar decision when Pakistan failed to get past the initial round after losing their round robin games to Australia, England and India in the 2003 world cup held in South Africa. This was just another bilateral series by Pakistan and a loss should not have been dealt with so crazily. But, forgiving such a hapless performance is totally out of the way.

In case the court had upheld Shoaib Malik's ban, people's thinking towards the court would had to change for the wrong reasons. It is not Pakistan alone who have returned with an empty hand from Australia. Even teams like South Africa, India and England have failed to win a test series in Australia. Their performance might have been better than Pakistan in 2010 but not satisfactory. Pakistan did everything they could to get into the semis of the world T20 and also tried enough to enter the finals which by bad luck didn't happen. And coming to the end, even the ICC should ban Pakistan from playing cricket for failing to host any cricket matches in its country since past 3 years that is if at all PCB's action in justified.

Improvement from the West Indies

One can imagine the fate when a bugler steals a less amount of money after he was advised not to do so when he had stolen a fairly large amount. And the situation is no different from the one mentioned above if the performance of the West Indies team in the second T20 game against South Africa is considered. West Indies had lost the first T20 game against South Africa by a margin of 13 runs just a couple of days ago. And the one they lost on that day was just a couple of days after Chris Gayle warned his team mates of a severe consequence in case they failed to perform upto the mark.

So, in the second T20 game against the Proteas, the West Indies team redefined the meaning of a better performance when they declared that a better performance means a smaller margin of defeat, which was until then meant in making up for a loss in the previous game. I wish one should have watched the game which is referred to as a thriller by most of them commentating right there. But, once again, even the word thriller is being redefined when there are many such thrillers involving the West Indies team. And these thrillers are most of them shared by South Africa over West Indies.

Most of the so called thrillers between South Africa and West Indies are won by the Proteas and still the word "thriller" is being repeatedly used by major cricketing sites, TV channels and commentators. One can see the scorecard of the match to find how stupid it would have been to come across such a game. If the West Indians are weak, then that should have seen the South Africans thrashing them the way they decide. But, all that the South Africans could do was to pile up 120 runs at just 6 runs an over. May be that is the reason why the Proteas failed to make it to the semis of the world T20 last week.

It would be nice to highlight from the match that both the team played for 20 overs each and lost 7 wickets in their batting innings. Both the teams out there had their opener getting out for a duck when Loots Bosman from the South African side joined hands with the West Indian opener Chris Gayle to return back to the pavilion for naught. There were 9 bowlers from both the sides to have bowled their complete quota of 4 overs. It is stupid to say that a couple more from the West Indies would have seen them through the game for, that is obvious.

Finally, the West Indies team showed some improvement when they reduced the margin of defeat.

Are Warne's words justified?

Well the latest from the world of cricket is that the Australian retired spin wizard - Shane Warne has not only complimented the England team that a couple of days back lifted their maiden international trophy when they won the third edition of the world T20 in the Caribbean, but in addition also gave them an undeserving applause by saying that England are not scared of playing Australia. The point is, who on earth is scared of playing any team when the least happens is that they may lose the game or the series or whatever but still go back alive saying "better luck next time"?

Anyways with that being a different issue here, the point here is whether Shane Warne's words are completely justified? Shane Warne is believed to have made the statement after England's victory over Australia in the finals of the T20 world cup and also taking into consideration the 2-1 victory over Australia in the Ashes last year. Is that completely enough to justify Shane Warne's words? Likewise, another retired Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath had predicted a 5-0 whitewash for Australia in the last Ashes played in England. But, forget about whitewashing, Austraia couldn't even win or defend the title they had won two years ago.

Australia generously gifted England the series, first when they drew the first Ashes test which they should have won after having a major lead in the first innings and then by losing two out of the 3 matches that were played after Australia won the second. However, coming back to Shane Warne's words, if England's world cup victory is given a close look at, no doubt, England did deserve to win the title, but winning a test series against Australia and that too on its home ground needs some special consideration. With the shortest format of the game still being a fluke, the results can go either way.

I don't have the patience to go back to cricinfo and search for the last time when England held the Ashes in Australia. I remember a series of 4-1 loss in the Ashes by England when Steve Waugh was the captain, with the latest one being in 2002-03 played in Australia. Australia have always been a predictable team for the right reasons with most of the time being victorious while England on the other hand having a 2005/2009 Ashes sort of thing or a world T20 2010 thing once in a lifetime. The only team that England can beat is the West Indies in today's cricket and they still need not fear Australia or any other team whatsoever.

How much money did you betting freaks lose?

Well the result of last night's encounter between Australia and England would have sent shocking waves to all those cricket lovers and more so to those freaks who would have gone on to have a bet on their favorite team Australia. It would not be wrong to say that the only supporters for England would have been the ones who hate Australia for their dominance in world cricket and who cannot digest the fact that Australia are the most unbeatable team in world cricket at present. And the other bunch of England supporters would be the people from Great Britain who can never support any other team but their own nation.

Well that is not anyone's mistake for, it would be a disaster well in advance for all those who would have had their bet on England rather than Australia. People would hardly have their bet on any team that would face Australia for reasons no necessary here and needless at the same time. With much people betting on Australia, people who would have bet on England would have made an exceptional killing no matter what. However, if anybody would ask me, it should have been Australia to walk away with the honors and not England. It was Australia who overcame all hurdles enroute to the finals.

The match of Australia against Pakistan in the semi finals of the world cup can never be forgot and they deserve all sorts of applause available in the world for that. Australia had not lost a single match enroute to the finals of the world cup with England on the other hand having lost to West Indies in the initial stages of the tournament and would have had to make a grand exit from the tournament in case the match against Ireland in the group stage happened to take off smoothly. But, destiny had totally different plans and England took home their first honors.

This is one of the rare instances where history has not found to repeat itself. If one goes by India - Pakistan encounters in world cups, India have won all four matches against Pakistan tough outside the world Pakistan has won more matches against India than it has lost. And so has been the case with Brian Lara who got to thr highest individual score in test cricket when he scored an unbeaten score of 400 against the same opposition on the same ground. But, if England's history in the finals of the world tournament is considered, England have lost all the finals despite being in winning situations against Australia in 1987 and the West Indies in the 2004 ICC CT.

Rare case where the best two qualify for the finals

Well with the finals of the world T20 about to begin in a few hours from now onwards, there is of course a lot to be seen and thought about the tournament finals which have been sealed by Australia and England that is needless to be said. One other aspect that is evident is that both Australia and England are the number 1 and number 2 teams in this tournament though one requires a thorough search in the points table to find England. Australia are yet to lose in this tournament and England have lost only one game to the West Indies in the initial stages which showed the bad fortune of the England team.

England were bowled out for a partly score of just 120 in the group match against Ireland which happened to be abandoned for reason needless to be cited specially. And since then onwards, England have never looked back no matter what. England won their matches against Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa when odds had voted against England. Odds would have surely predicted a white wash for England with all the three teams mentioned above being far ahead in the international rankings for world T20. For the first time in T20 or may be after a long time England are found making their presence felt in world cricket.

On the other Australia as expected defeated each and every team that it encountered starting from Pakistan in the group stages to the same Pakistan in the semi finals. This is a rare case where the top two teams from the mega tournament qualify for the finals. This has happened in the one day world cup on last two occasions with India in 2003 and Sri Lanka in 2007 qualifying for the finals after being placed in the 2nd position. In 1999, the finals should have been South Africa and Pakistan if the ratings in that tournament is considered. And in 1996, the finals should have been between Sri Lanka and South Africa.

In the 1992 world cup, the finals should have taken place between New Zealand and may be South Africa or England, with both the teams being equally eligible for the slot. Coming to the world T20 tournaments, in 2007, the winners never ever stood a chance to even come to the finals in the beginning of the tournament and the finals should have been between South Africa and Pakistan. So should have been the case in the 2009 edition of the T20 world cup where Pakistan should have lost to South Africa in the semis and finals should have been between Sri Lanka and South Africa. But this has not been the case with any of the tournaments.

This should be considered as the right combination to play the finals of a mega tournament with no bad luck playing its part.

Pakistan's 11th loss to Australia

Last night I had written a post regarding the bad luck that the Aussies were bound to witness the coming day which happened to be true for reasons best said by the scorecard of yesterday's semi finals between Australia and Pakistan. Though Australia won the match which was a thriller, the match almost took the breath away from the Aussies until the last run had been scored. This would not have been the case if Australia had been teamed up with any of the other two teams namely England and Sri Lanka. This will surely go down as one of the most fascinating thrillers that the cricketing world has ever seen.

The match showed all the signs that Pakistan would make it to the finals of a T20 world cup yet another time making it the only team to have done so. Right now also, Pakistan are the only team to have made it to the semi finals of a T20 world cup on three occasions and the only team to have made it to the finals of a T20 world cup on twice. Until yesterday's semi final match between Australia and Pakistan, the highest aggregate team total was 195 scored by Sri Lanka against the West Indies in the super eight of the same.

Now, the highest team total in this edition of the world cup is pocketed by Aussies and another fact that needs to be applauded is that they did it batting second which is great. This reminds me of the match between Australia and South Africa where South Africa chased down 434 to become the team that boasted for the all time highest total (at that time) in one day internationals by batting second. The first and the third highest team totals of this world T20 are now scored in the same match. This could have been another tight finish for Pakistan given their earlier ones against England and New Zealand.

Both Australia and Pakistan would have never wanted to face each other in any part of the tournament. Pakistan would have welcome any team to face in the semi finals but not Australia and Australia on the other hand would have been ready for any team but Pakistan. But, destiny had different plans which scheduled the semis that both the teams last sought for. Finally, justice was done when a team which at one stage ddn't even look like making it to the semis not only made it there but also threatened to walk away with the honors. It would not have been a tough choice to predict Pakistan as winners of the world T20 tournament had they won the semis.

Famous 5 on the cards for England?

Well last night, England moved on to the finals of the world T20 tournament by beating Sri Lanka by 7 wickets. But, the real nightmare for England have so far been the finals of a world tournament wherein it has made it to the finals of a mega tournament on four earlier occasions but to no avail. They were forced to be satisfied with the runners-up tag. The list includes West Indies, Australia, Pakistan in world cups and once again the West Indies in the ICC Champions trophy 2004. It was in 2004 that they made it clear to the world that they can never win a mega tournament no matter what.

Since 1992, after so many cricketing greats like Mike Gating, Ian Botham and others retired, the English team have not at all recovered. The best example for this would be the way England played the 1996 world cup with wins only against Holland and UAE before they finally lost to Sri Lanka in the quarter finals of the same. England then had losses against Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand not to mention. So was the case in 1999 world cup when they had only one sarisfactory win against defending champions Sri Lanka that eventually proved out to be wrong.

managed was a win against West Indies in the super eights of the same. Putting it simple, in every world cup after 1992, England have been able to manage just one win against a major cricketing oppposition. And in the 2003 world cup, if not for their win against Pakistan, they had nothing to take home which happened to be worse when they didn't even make it to the super sixes, something which Kenya and Zimbabwe had no problems in doing. And in the 2007 world cup, all EnglandAnd coming to the other mega event namely the ICC champions trophy, the only time when England have crossed the round robin stage was in 2004 where they ended as runners up.

One can still remember the ICC Champions trophy 2004 where England entered the finals by surprisingly beating Australia in the semis. England were the favorites to win the tournament for two reasons namely one for beating the all conquering Australian side in the semis and two for facing the West Indies team which can gift the match to any opposition including Bangladesh. No matter that West Indies did enter the finals by beating South Africa who were still a decent opposition. But, people's favorites were England and only England. Following suit, England reduced the West Indies to 149/8 only to see the West Indies no lose any more wickets but also end their match by hitting a four.

The last thing what Australia needed

Well with the super eights finishing on a high note, the stage is needless to be said set for the grand semi finals no doubt which would be not grand than the finals of the tournament. No semi finals has so far been more grand than the finals of the tournament and this is no exception. However, as far as Australia is concerned, this is the last thing that they needed atleast in a world T20 tournament. By someone's grace in addition to their own efforts, Australia have so far been unbeaten in this tournament. But, as everyone is aware of, the semi finals of a mega tournament is altogether a different game altogether.

Not only in the world T20 tournament but also as far as the shortest version of the game is concerned, Aussies have so far found to have taken a set back which happened to be worse when the most successful Australian captain Ricky Ponting decided to quit from the version but continue to play in the other two formats of the game. Australia are the only team to have lost a match to Zimbabwe in a T20 world cup. No matter that there have been the West Indies team which have lost to Bangladesh in the initial stages of the inaugural world T20 tournament.

The world can never forget the way the Aussies were at the receiving of the West Indies and Sri Lanka in the group stages of the second world T20 held last year which was shocking to the entire cricketing world needless to be said. And this year for the Aussies to have come out without losing a single match on its way is indeed excellent. This is all the more expected for, it was their bad time that made life miserable in T20 world cups. One can recall the way the Australian team was bundled out for 163 in Champions trophy 2002 by Sri Lanka and they not only emerged victorous in the world cup that followed in 2003 but also thrashed their opponents.

But, Ausses will always consider it unfair to face Pakistan in the semi finals. England or Sri Lanka would have been preferable but of course not Pakistan. Australia might have defeated Pakistan in the only T20 game that was played as a part of the Commonwealth Bank series late last year and more recently in the initial round robin stage of this world T20. But still, Pakistan are not at all welcome as an Aussie for me. If at all there is any team in the tournament to beat the Aussies and in the process stop the unbeatable streak of the same, it can be none other than Pakistan and for Australia to face the same Pakistan in the semis is an uninvited guest one can say. So boring!

Oh! no..not again

One has to really pity the team which won the tournament two editions back in South Africa only to not only fail to make it in the remaining two editions but also return without a single victory in the forthcoming editions of the same. And that is team India for you. This is the second time in succession that team India has had to return back home without even a single victory in the super eights of a T20 world cup. India is the only team to have enjoyed this which is even more interesting. Throwing the expectations apart, one can have a bet that no cricket fan might ever have his bet favoring India.

Atleast as far as a T20 world cup is concerned, the bet would be favoring any other team but India. India is the only team to have won a world cup and on the other hand fail to come out with a victory in the next editions of the same. Recalling team India's fate in the previous edition of the world T20, India won their two games in the first stage against Ireland and Bangladesh only to lose the plot in the super eights in the games against South Africa, England and West Indies. If not for South Africa, no other team stood a chance to beat India but, the results had different plans whatsoever.

And this time, needless to be said, India had no reasons to lose against Sri Lanka and West Indies. Both Sri Lanka and West Indies teams were of no match to the Indians only to be proven wrong after their last match in the super eights against Sri Lanka. The moment Sri Lanka crossed 143, India failed a chance to move further in the tournament but, then there was some hope that India would come out with a victory in its hand which was once again proved wrong. And, the match coming till the ultimate delivery made it all the more interesting and exciting.

India failed to become another Pakistan when it lost the match against Sri Lanka unlike Pakistan who won the same against the Proteas day before yesterday. Had India made it to the semi finals, there could have been a repeat of the 1987 world cup wherein the semi finals happened to be Australia vs Pakistan on one side with England taking on India on the other. The loss against Australia can be accepted but not the ones against Sri Lanka and West Indies. It was the series of wrong decisions that saw Pakistan losing their match against New Zealand. But, that could be forgotten when they made it to the semis of a world T20 for the 3^rd consecutive time. And what about India?

Lucky Pakistan

Well as usual, South Africa have always been at the receiving end of the bad luck, ill fate or mis fortune - whichever you call. But, this time in addition to the Proteas being unlucky, the opposition namely Pakistan were found to be lucky when they made it to the semi finals of the world T20 tournament despite losing two matches in the super eights of the mega tournament. Luck struck Pakistan twice on the same single day, first when they won the game against South Africa and second when England beat New Zealand by 3 wickets (the margin of victory or loss being of little importance here).

Though South Africa were considered as favorites before heading to the match against Pakistan, there is no reason as to why the Pakistanis should not beat them. In fact, Pakistan stood a better chance of wining the game than the South Africans not only for beating them in the previous world cup last year but also owing to the fact that Pakistan stand a better position when it comes to big hitting compared to the Proteas. This is evident from the fact that South Africa still rely upon the age old Jacques Kallis who no doubt falls short when it comes to making the crease while stealing a single.

Though there are the likes of A B Devilliars and Graeme Smith in the South African team, they can make contact with the ball only once in every bluemoon. No doubt that Devilliars is gifted with the ability to hit big shot out of the ground but with the condition that the bat makes contact with the ball which is a rarity in Devilliars' case. Scorecard suggests that Devilliars hit 2 sixes enroute to his 53 which eventually proved to be the highest individual score in the South African innings. But, rather than calling it a decent contribution, it can be referred to as a result of a blind swing of the bat by Devilliars.

Of course, the Pakistani hard hitting batsman Shahid Afridi also belongs to the same category and more than that can be considered as the daddy of them all. But, the other side of the coin also suggests that Shahid Afridi has the ability to spin the ball equivalently like any genuine spinner like say Saqlain Mushtaq or Harbhajan Singh. As a matter of statistics, this is the first time that in a T20 world cup South Africa are eliminated from the world cup not for losing their first match. One can remember the way the Proteas crashed out of the tournament earlier when they lost to India in 2007 and Pakistan in 2009, both of which were their 1^st losses in the series.

Unlucky Rohith!

Well it is really difficult to decide whether Rohith Sharma is to be considered unlucky or is the ICC rightly justified in fining the mentioned Indian batsman for showing dissent towards the umpires' decision. As far as my memories go, this is the second time that Rohith Sharma has been fined for showing dissent towards the umpires' decision. The first time I remember Rohith Sharma showing dissent towards the umpires' decision was way back in late 2007 in the Commonwealth Bank tri series involving Sri Lanka, India (obvioulsy) and Australia (which is obvious as well). That was in the game against Sri Lanka at Brisbane.

Then, Rohith Sharma was fined 10% of his match fees when he showed reluctance in heading back to the stands when the main umpire raised his finger against the batsman regarding which Rohith Sharma was far from being convinced. And suporting Rohith Sharma, the video replays showed that Rohith Sharma had not even touched the ball in that particular encounter. That was the initial stage of Rohith Sharma's career and that match would have been a full stop in his career had the Indian batsman not shown reluctance in heading back to the stands. This was even worse than the 10% fine imposed on him.

One such poor performance by a youngster is more than enough for his cricket board's selection committee to sack him with dozens of other youngsters more eager to make it to the playing eleven. And, one can quite understand Rohith Sharma's anxiety when he was shown the doors with no mistake of his. And, this time once again Rohith Sharma has found himself in shambles when he once again did the same mistake by not willing to head back to the stands despite the onfield umpires raising his finger against the wishes of the batsman. This time as well, the umpires were more than convinced by their error than the batsman's doubt.

This is one such area in the game of cricket where the benefit of doubt does not go to the batsman. Instead, the benefit of the human error of the onfield umpires most of the times favors the bowlers who would be having a wicket against their name and the fielders who would be having a catch or a run out against their name. However, hardly any batsmen are found to be punished like it has happened for Rohith Sharma or may be that I have hardly come across a batsman being unlucky one for falling prey to a wrong decision and two for facing a penalty. If you readers come across such a scene please let me know.

A mini SCG affair

Well I hope all of the ones reading this post would have thoroughly enjoyed the last ball thriller between Pakistan and New Zealand yesterday which was finally won by New Zealand. It doesn't matter if New Zealand did it by hooks or by crooks. But, the eventual result says that New Zealand wins the match by 1 run and keeps its hopes of making it to the semi finals of the World T20 2010 alive. And this was more important that how it was done by either teams. If one goes through the highlights of the match, he'd be surprised to know that there were three decisions that went in favor of the Kiwis.

First of all was the caught behind of the Kiwi batsman Nathan McCullum which was turned down by the onfield main umpire Billy Doctrove despite the replays suggesting repeatedly that there was definitely an outside edge which went on to find the wicket keeper's hands. But, it has to be fascinating when both the on field umpires couldn't hear the noise which a million odd spectators could hear when seated in front of their television sets. Of course, that didn't matter much when one took the Kiwis' scoring rate in their first innings which was just above 6 an over.

And then in the second innings when Pakistan batted, there were two decisions which went undeservingly towards the New Zealand side when first Misbah Ul Haq was given out leg before when replays suggested that there was a clean inside edge and if that was not enough as though, the ball was found to go above the wicket rather than hit the wicket which forms the main criterion for a batsman to be given out leg before. One edge that would have got a Kiwi batsman out was termed as not out which the other edge which would have seen a Pakistani batsman continue with his batting was given out.

Can anyone of you just believe it! Weather New Zealand would have won the match or not had these decisions been given correctly is all the more a different issue but, can such negligence be forgiven in a tournament which terms someone as champions of the game? Oh! I forgot to mention about the other decision which went to the New Zealand side despite the Kiwis not deserving that as well. If one goes through the replays of the way the Pakistani batsman Shahid Afridi got out, it is clearly evident that the ball had touched the ground before landing into the hands of Ian Butler.

The Kiwis can defend themselves that these were purely umpiring errors irrespective of weather the Kiwis desperately appealed for these dismissals. But, if that is not the case in reality, then its all shame of the Kiwis and also on the umpires.

Murali's absense a gain for Lanka

Well it is written as a curse or a major setback for the Sri Lankan team in the ongoing world T20 in the Caribbean. But one has to think that the absence of the veteran off spinner is a blessing in disguise for the Sri Lankan team. There is no one disputing Muralitharan's contribution to the Sri Lankan for the past 15 years or so. But, one has to more than realize the fact that Murali's contribution to the Sri Lankan team is restricted only to test matches and one day internationals and that too which is a now only a history.

Muttiah Muralitharan reached the zenith in late 2007 when he took his 710^th test victim to surpass the Australian legend Shane Warne who ended his career with 709 wickets just a year before Murali overtook him. And since then, there has hardly been any news about the off spinner who even surpassed Wasim Akram when he claimed his 503^rd victim in one day internationals against India. Is has been almost two and a half years since Muttiah Muralitharan overtook Shane Warne to become the highest wicket taker in test cricket and by now, if one has to listen to his fans, they'd expect much more from Murali.

By now, Muttiah Muralitharan should have crossed the 800 wicket mark which is still due. Muralitharan didn't make news when he claimed the 750^th test victim. And when it comes to the one day internationals, Muralitharan should have atleast crossed the 550 mark but both of which are yet to happen. And in addition to these facts, the indisputable fact about Muralitharan is that his elbow bends when he delivers the ball which have made most of the western teams raise their voice against Murali. The Aussies should be proud for having a major share in that which is a different issue here.

However, the fact that is recent about Muralitharan is that he will not be available for the remainder of the T20 world owing to a groin injury. The Sri Lankan cricket selection committee is found to be clueless regarding whom to picl and whom not to. This is quite evident from the selection of Sanath Jayasuriya who by now should have seen either shouting in front of the mike in the commentary room or else warming himself with his wife and kids. And the 2^nd disaster is the selection of Muralitharan who can hardly be of any use in the shortest format of the game. This could in turn harm Murali's performance in the other two formats of the game as well which he intends in playing for a couple of years more.