Team India brings back the World Cup Home!

What a fantastic team spirit displayed by the team India in all the fields of the game today! A target of 275 was little disturbing for a person like me, which intensified when Shewag and Sachin was sent back pavilion within few minutes - no words can explain how each indians heart would have pounded over that! But the brilliant performance by Gambir, Kohli, Dhoni and Yuvraj reminded us that Team India can face any challenge and they can face it with confidence! The captains knock was really superberb. The way that he finished the match is more classical and displayed that the Indian Spirits are always on top on the world. This world cup is back home after neary 20 over years. There could be no better tribute to the little master than this. He would cheerish this for ever.

The Man of the match was awarded to Dhoni and the Man of the Series was awarded to Yuvraj. These two really deserve that. Dhoni for instance was out of form all through out this world cup and he came back and proved himself worth in this "Do or Die" fiasco!! Hope this series would have thought Dhoni more on how to organize himself and his team better while preparing for similar big matches. Dhoni mentioned that some of the decisions that he took for this match would have been debated had if India lost this match. His decision to bat ahead of Yuvi and to drop Ashwin and include Sreesanth were the ones that he mentioned. Well even though it may not surface now, he should understand that he cannot experiment in such conditions. If at all necessary a try would have made during the knock out matches.

Well Yuvraj mentioned that he would wish to tell whatz there for the party tonight when Sashtri asked him! Hope this party will go on for atleast two or three days before the players pad up again for thier DLF IPL matches starting on April 8th!

Once again Congratulations Team India! Congratulations India!!!

Yuvraj fixes a show with Pakistan on 30th March

An awe-inspiring Ricky Ponting dazzled and Sachin Tendulkar hit a delightful fifty but it was Yuvraj Singh who stole the show to lead India to an exciting semi-final encounter against Pakistan. Tendulkar set the base and the middle order threatened to choke, but Yuvraj played a blinder to charge India to a famous win. Not surprising Yuvraj was the "man of the match". So nice to see all these guys back to form with still Dhoni not putting in any effort with his bat!

So, it is going to be another thriller for every indian on next wednesday when india meets the surprisingly "inform" Pakistan. Afridi is at his peak both with his bat and ball. He is infact the highest wicket taker in this world cup! It may not be surprising if Afridi opens the innings hoping to topple the indian top order. Let us wait until the match starts on 30th March.

Finally its Ind vs Aus on 24th March at Ahmedabad

India by winning comfortably over WI at Chennai today will be facing Australia in thier first Quarter Finals on 24th. Dhoni during the presentation ceremony said that it is not the side with whom matters but it is really how much you play yourself on that day! That is interesting to hear from him. Hopefully the team is fully geared up for this quarter finals.

WC points table as on 20th March 2011

The below mentioned points table is excluding the results of the ongoing Ind vs WI match at Chennai.

Cricket World Cup 2011 Quarter Final Fixtures

With only two relevant games left in the group stages of the World Cup, the quarter-final line-ups look much clearer now. A look at what the remaining results will mean to the quarter-final match-ups:

Scenario 1: If Australia and India win their last group games
In this case Australia will head their group, followed by Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan, in that order. Group B will look thus: South Africa, India, England, West Indies. The quarter-final line-ups will be:
Australia v West Indies – Mirpur
New Zealand v India – Ahmedabad (March 24)
Pakistan v South Africa – Mirpur
Sri Lanka v England – Colombo (March 26)

Scenario 2: If Pakistan and India win their last group games
Pakistan will take top spot with Australia slipping to three, while Sri Lanka will stay second and New Zealand will become fourth. The Group B positions will obviously stay unchanged. The quarter-finals:
Pakistan v West Indies – Mirpur
Australia v India – Ahmedabad (March 24)
New Zealand v South Africa – Mirpur
Sri Lanka v England – Colombo (March 26)

Scenario 3: If Australia and West Indies win their last group games
The Group A standings will stay the same as in Scenario 1, while West Indies will move to second place behind South Africa, pushing India and England to third and fourth place. India will retain third place unless they lose very badly (for example, if they get bowled out for 139 or fewer chasing 300). The quarter-finals:
Australia v England
Sri Lanka v India – Ahmedabad (March 24)
New Zealand v West Indies
Pakistan v South Africa

Scenario 4: If Pakistan and West Indies win their last group games
The Group A standings will be the same as in Scenario 2 (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, in that order), while Group B will be exactly like in Scenario 3. The quarter-finals:
Pakistan v England
Sri Lanka v India – Ahmedabad (March 24)
Australia v West Indies
New Zealand v South Africa

The only realistic way India can play Pakistan is if India win or get one point from their last game, and Pakistan get a point from their match against Australia (either through a washout or a tie). In that case the Group A standing will be Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, New Zealand, while Group B will be South Africa, India, West Indies, England.
The other remote possibility for an India-Pakistan clash is if Pakistan top their group and if India lose to West Indies by a huge margin (as mentioned above), but that, most likely, is only a theoretical possibility.