India - Twenty20 World Cup Winners!

I must admit, I was unaware of the fact there was even a Cricket world cup going on up until the game in which India played Pakistan in the preliminary round. Twenty20 was not a big thing in India. I was even surprised to hear that in South Africa, the first twenty20 game was played almost 6-7 years ago!

Anyway - I did not realize that was this a big deal till the semifinals.. I know I know - I am slow - but I am slow.

Twenty20 or fifty50 - who cares - as long as India keeps beating Pakistan in the game, specially if its a world cup. I have started to believe that win or lose anywhere else, come World Cup time - India is ALWAYS going to spank Pakistan any place, any time. It's the power of belief, the confidence of winning, the taste of victory, call what you may.

Any win over Pakistan is sweet - but all the more sweeter if it some sort of a World Cup game.

It will be interesting to observe how the shorter game (twenty20) will impact the 50-50 overs a side, commonly known as the One Day International version of the game. Suddenly, waiting for a result for 8-9 hours sound like an insanity.

Bring Back the Prince

Neither Tendulkar wants his batting to suffer because of being the Captain, nor Dravid, that leaves with only one person in the national Indian Cricket team who doesn't mind that his batting suffers while he is the Captain - yes you've guessed it - Sourav Ganguly. BRING HIM BACK.
Under his captaincy, India went all the way to the finals of the world cup in 2003. The Australian team had a real problem at hand while he was the Captain - there was somebody out there who could speak and understand their language.
In today's tough times - we need and deserve a captain with a 'thumb on your nose' attitude who knows how to keep a team together. Who cares if his batting average falls from the 50s to the 20s...or even lower (??)

Down Memory Lane

Feb 05, 1999

Its summer, and to avid followers of Cricket, that only means England Vs somebody at the Lords. Playing cricket at Lords, the Mecca of cricket, is like spending a moonlit night with your lover on the lawns of the Taj Mahal. For those who cannot play, but simply witness the game is like watching the movie 'Taj Mahal'. For those who cannot see the game but know that there is a game going on at Lords, its like knowing that the Taj exists.

Anyway - that somebody, these days is India. So you see - a half a billion people have their eyes pinned on Lords.

But this photo has nothing to do with Lords. This is a photo taken at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Feb 05, 1999. SCG can be called the Lords of Australia (with permission from MCG fans). Australia was playing England in a day/night encounter - and I happened to see that game, with Brad and one of his friends. The finals of the triangular tourney was a don deal by the time this preliminary game was to be played - but hey - we didn't know that when we bought the tickets and neither did the other 30,000 odd people who came to see the game. It almost felt like there was only about a 30% interest in the game itself - the other 70% was distributed like this: 40% beer, 10% Mexican waves, and the rest in shouting Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. It was a great day - overall. Sri lanka was the other team in the competition - and so people safely assumed that I was from Sri Lanka. So that added to a lot of fun and taunting.

It was one of those days that will stick with me for the rest of my life. Oh - and thanks Brad for the photos and the great time.