Mid-term evaluation
With the ICC WC-2011 more than half-way through and more half of the quarterfinalists already decided, its not too many surprises so far. I know some must be giving knee-jerk response as most Indian fans would have post SA tie at Nagpur, some would have simply jumped the gun like Ian Botham did and some may have. But then, its always fun to wait and watch .
Ozs have been unbeaten so far, but the juggernaut is far from what it used to be in last 3 editions. Sub-continental teams have excelled in patches. Indian batting looks ok so does the protean. NZ has done every bit possible to get back to some kind of shape after the initial blues. Most of the matches in Group A went almost as per the prescript. But the other one has offered the real excitement. India beat Bangladesh, Bangladesh beat Ireland, Ireland beat England, England beat SA, SA beat India and this goes on to make one believe that one goes around also comes around. The uncertain element of the game at its best. The men in blue which was sitting pretty safe now faces a mathematical possibility of getting ousted. Well, i don’t see this happen as my gut feeling says its India all the way this time. I brushed off the Nagpur loss putting all the blame on a dear friend who flew all by himself from Bhubaneswar to watch the match without even bothering to leave slightest of a hint. I had earlier blamed him for India’s mixed fortune against Eng as he was sitting by my side at my home all thru the match. Superstition to be core!!!
A lot has been spoken and written about on the use of power-plays. So i don’t have anything much to say on that. Talking of individual glories, Sachin, AB, Veeru, Watty, Yuvi, Pollard, Trott have so far provided what was expected off them. However, in the bowling dept. its been pretty interesting. People who have historically been the bashers of pitches of this part of the globe are left completely clueless. We saw Afridi and Imran leading the pack initially and then two fiery hat-tricks by pacers provided a lot to fellow fast bowlers a lot to cheer about.
Now it would be interesting to see what this weekend has in offer as the Q/F line-up is all set to be decided as we go to the nest week. Right now I am enjoying Somedev’s run at the ATP masters @ Indian Wells. Oops he lost to rafa this morning, but it was worth spending 2 hrs this morning glued to the TV. He gave his idol a real run for his money. And interestingly, Somdev ran better than Nadal on many occasions. Just that Rafa won couple of points when mattered more. No worry- it was a brave-heart show by the Indian qualifier..well done dude, we are so very proud of u! cheers
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