India tumbles out of the T20 World Cup

Thanks to various factors, the Indian team crashed out of the ICC T20 World Cup in England. I would say that Harbhajan Singh's 2 five-wide balls tilted the match towards England. The difference is there for all to see. Even if a single was scored on each of the balls, the English score would have been 8 less.

Various other factors contributed to the downfall.
a) The absence of Viru Sehwag. Though Rohit Sharma tried his best, it was obvious that the talent of Sehwag would definitely made a difference.
b) Off-field events. MS Dhoni is known as Captain Cool. But, he had lost his cool for couple of press conferences - signs that he was not comfortable with something.
c) Over-confidence. There was a hint of over-confidence in the team, which resulted in net sessions being attended only by part of the team.
d) Dhoni's Midas Touch seemed to work in the first innings, when the leg-slip field-placing worked and also the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja. But, in the second half, it was conspicuous by its absence.
e) The short-pitched ball again played its part in the Indian loss. Both Rohit and Raina fell trying to play the hook/pull shots.
f) The Indian bowling choices were also not so great. RP Singh bowled so well at the start but ended up bowling an over short. Ishant Sharma gave away runs in most of his overs but still completed his quota. Yuvraj Singh's over against KP failed but he was given another over to try again.

Next time, better luck to the Indian team. The attention on the World Cup will no longer be there personally - let the best team win.

India lose first match at Super8

West Indies took revenge on India at Lords after 26 years with a convincing performance. The Carribeans were hungry on the field and the pitch helped the bowlers to take early wickets. Bad shot-selection also contributed to the Indian demise. Maybe, India should have bowled first in the match, after winning the toss.

India recovered thanks to the heroics of Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan. The captain, MS Dhoni, took extra time to ensure that further wickets do not fall. The dot-balls hurt India badly at the end. They were clearly 20 runs short.

While bowling, the Indians could restrict Chris Gayle for a low score. But, a lesser-known batsman like Lendl Simmons hurt them, which was exploited to the hilt by Dwayne Bravo. Harbhajan Singh was able to restrict the scoring but not get any wickets. Similarly, Ishant is turning out to be a liability.

India's chances at the World Cup now rest on winning both the matches against England and South Africa. Will they be able to do it? Million Dollar Question.

Super Eights at the World Cup T20

The ICC T20 World Cup has gone to the next stage where most of the lightweights (along with 2 heavyweights - Australia, Bangladesh) have moved out. Now, matches will be much more tighter and finishes will be closer.

The two groups are a bit lop-sided, thanks to the upsets in the First Round of matches.

Group E contains four teams, who have equal chances to go to the semi-finals in this format especially. My favorites are South Africa and India. West Indies are erratic and England still new to the format, will not be able to go through.

Group F is not so tight - Ireland is the weakling here. Sri Lanka and New Zealand will be the favorites. Pakistan is also too erratic to make any impact.

Again, the format makes it very difficult to give the exact teams - but, these four teams definitely are in the forefront, as per my predictions.

Wait and Watch!!!

Good start in the Twenty20 World Cup

If someone had mentioned that after 2 days, the two teams slated to play the best series of All-time (well, as per their respective countries of course) - Ashes - are in danger of being eliminated from the T20 World Cup, people would have laughed. It is true - for Australia and England have to win their next match to stay in the tournament!!! NewZealand got a scare when their match against Scotland was reduced to eight overs. But, their firepower was enough to get past the Scots.

India was the only team that managed to go through their first round without any jitters - of course, there were some but very quickly the least experienced (in International T20) player did the trick with some well-thought left-arm spin. Spin in the English cities, especially when there was enough in the air and the temperature was low, is not something that you wish to see - let alone two spinners.

MS Dhoni decided to take the risk of including both his spinners (on the evidence of the IPL2 and the initial warm-up matches) in the match and the match was his. The batting order was decided once Sehwag sat out of the match. The remaining batsmen put their hands up and ensured that the score was a huge one.

What will happen next in the tournament?

• Pakistan will beat England and throw them out of the tournament. Just like the previous World Cup, the series will go on without the participation of the host country in the latter stages.
• Sri Lanka has the chance to put Australia out of the tournament when the two teams meet on the 8th.
  

Then, the two teams can concentrate on the Ashes series!!!

India is the team to beat at the Twenty20 World Cup

It would not take a rocket scientist to predict that the Indian team is the favorite to win the T20 World Cup, especially as it comes so soon after the IPL2. Sachin Tendulkar has favored his team and that is not a surprise. Other teams are also wary of the defending champions. Why are they so dangerous? Is it more hype than substance? Or are they real contenders to the throne again? Let us go through the team and find out.

• The captain MS Dhoni, is the SuperMan of the team. He keeps wickets, steadies the batting order and captains the team without showing a trace of any tension. How he performs under the pressure of the 'defending champs' tag will be interesting to watch. He is very important in the batting order full of stroke-players.
• Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are the most dangerous opening batsmen in any format of the game at present. They have taken the throne vacated by Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist. They had a modest IPL2 and that should give them enough thrust to regain their form. Sehwag used to bowl in the shorter versions but after the mauling he received from Gilchrist in the IPL, he might prefer not to roll his arm over in the field.
• Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh are players who can turn the game by their dare-devilry. They can adjust to the tempo of the game and hit big shots when required. Both are great fielders and have proved their (bowling) worth in the IPL2.
• The Pathan brothers (Yusuf and Irfan) are allrounders who give the team the depth in bowling and batting. It is more likely that both will play in the initial set of matches. They are dangerous in the slog overs, capable of chasing down any totals.
• Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha are the spin twins, who might tilt the Cup towards the Indian team this time again. The pitches seem to be helping the slower bowlers (on evidence of what was visible during the first Indian Warm-up match). The way Ojha lures the batsmen out of their crease is stuff of the likes of Bishen Singh Bedi. Spinners do have a role in T20!!!
• Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma will be the first choice bowlers for MS. Both have proved themselves time and again. Just like the batting combination, these two will try their best to prove that the IPL2 loss of form was just a mirage.

The firepower that is available to MS Dhoni outside these eleven players is just too good to be true. Rohit Sharma was adjudged the best Under-23 player in IPL2 - obviously he will play but how is the question that will haunt MS. Praveen Kumar and RP Singh will prove to be more than a handful in English conditions. Again, the selection problem will be the major headache for the thinktank.

How the team gets their selection correct for the conditions given will be crucial to their chances. Otherwise, complacency is the only obstacle in this team's path of defending the World Cup title.