Yuvraj named player of tournament

Mumbai: Flamboyant left-hander Yuvraj Singh was on Saturday adjudged player of the 2011 World Cup for his stupendous all-round show for the triumphant Indian team at the conclusion of the tournament on Saturday.

Yuvraj amassed 362 runs and took 15 wickets with his slow bowling to emerge as the man with the golden arm for his country in winning World Cup glory for the second time in their history. © AFP

India vanquished Sri Lanka by six wickets in the summit clash with 10 balls to spare by chasing down the target of 275 in 48.2 overs at the Wankhede Stadium, the highest successful chase in a World Cup final.
In nine matches, including six in the league phase, Yuvraj amassed 362 runs and took 15 wickets with his slow bowling to emerge as the man with the golden arm for his country in winning World Cup glory for the second time in their history.
The five-member jury of the International Cricket Council that anointed the 29-year-old Chandigarh-born cricketer, who bagged four man of the match awards in the tournament, for the coveted honour was made up of ICC's cricket manager Dave Richardson, umpire Aleem Dar, referee Ranjan Madugalle and journalists Chritopher Martin-Jenkins and Anand Vasu.
Victorious Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was declared man of the final for his unbeaten knock of 91 in 79 balls with eight fours and two sixes.








Originally from:http://content.cricketnirvana.com/news/international/2011/April/news-20110403-49.html

Proudest moment of my life, says Tendulkar

Mumbai: An emotional Sachin Tendulkar admitted that on Saturday was the "proudest day of my life" after India beat Sri Lanka to win the cricket World Cup 2011.

Tendulkar who did a lap of honour on shoulder of his teammates said that there was tears in his eyes once Dhoni hit that six. © AFP

"Couldn't have asked for more. This is ultimate. It is the proudest moment of my life," said Tendulkar in an emotionally choked voice.
"I thank the team for putting up a fabulous performance and playing consistent cricket," the maestro added.

Tendulkar who did a lap of honour on shoulder of his teammates said that there was tears in his eyes once Dhoni hit that six.
"Yes, they were happy tears. So I don't mind. We have stuck together through ups and down," stated the smiling legend.

Tendulkar who missed out on his 100th international ton lavished praise on the support staff especially adventure expert and motivational expert Mike Horn who joined the team a few days back.

"I wanted to thank Mike Horn. The sessions with him were of immense help. Also I want to thank Gary Kirsten and Paddy Upton. They have to be given the credit as they instilled a bit more self belief in us. We have been very consistent during the last two years and this is a result of that," Tendulkar said.

Statistical highlights of India vs Sri Lanka World Cup final

MUMBAI: Statistical highlights of the World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka.

# Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the first Indian captain to register a fifty in a World Cup Final.

# Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir were involved in a stand of 109 for the fourth wicket - India's highest for any wicket in a World Cup final, surpassing the 88 for the fourth wicket between Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag against Australia at Johannesburg on March 23, 2003.

# Mahela Jayawardene and Nuwan Kulasekara were associated in a stand of 66 for the sixth wicket - Sri Lanka's highest against India at the World Cup, surpassing the 34 between Roshan Mahanama and Arjuna Ranatunga at Taunton May 26, 1999.

# The stand is the best for the sixth wicket in a World Cup final, surpassing the 32 between Michael Bevan and Stuart Law for Australia against Sri Lanka at Lahore on March 17, 1996.

# Jayawardene provided the first instance when a centurion in a World Cup final ended in a losing team.

# Jayawardene's 103 not out is his first century, which went in vain. His previous 13 hundreds resulted in wins.

# Jayawardene emulated Sanath Jayasuriya's feat of three hundreds in the World Cup. Both now share a Sri Lankan record for most hundreds in the World Cup.

# Jayawardene's second hundred against India is his 14th in ODIs - 13 for Sri Lanka and one for Asia XI.

# Dhoni completed his 6,000 runs in ODIs, aggregating 6049 at an average of 48.78, including seven hundreds and 38 fifties in 186 games. He thus became the seventh Indian to amass 6,000 runs or more in ODIs, joining Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Azharuddin, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag.

# Gambhir (393 at 43.66) has recorded four fifties at the World Cup with a highest of 97 in the Final

# Gambhir is the 11th Indian player to complete 4,000 runs in ODIs, aggregating 4073 (ave.40.73), including nine centuries and 25 fifties in 114 games.

# Gambhir posted his highest innings (97) in tournament finals - his first of 50-plus.

# Gambhir recorded his 25th fifty in ODIs - his fifth against Sri Lanka.

# Gambhir's knock is the highest individual score by an Indian in a World Cup Final, surpassing Virender Sehwag's 82 off 81 balls against Australia at Johannesburg on March 23, 2003.

# The 83-run stand between Gambhir and Virat Kohli for the third wicket is India's highest in a World Cup Final.

# Dhoni received the Man of the Match for the 14th time in ODIs - his fourth against Sri Lanka.

# Yuvraj aggregated 362 runs at an average of 90.50, including one century and four fifties.

# Yuvraj got the Player of the series for the seventh time in ODIs.

# Both Zaheer (44 wickets at 20.22 runs apiece in 23 matches) and Javagal Srinath (44 at an average of 27.81 in 34 matches) share an Indian record for most wickets at the World Cup.

# India recaptured the World Cup crown after 28 years - they had first lifted the World Cup in 1983.

# India (274 for four) recorded the highest successful chase in a World Cup final, surpassing Sri Lanka's 245 for three against Australia at Lahore on March 17, 1996.

# Sri Lanka (2006-07 and 2010-11) have become the second team after England (1987-88 and 1991-92) to have lost two consecutive World Cup Finals.

# Sri Lanka (274 for six) posted their highest World Cup total against India, surpassing the 272 for four at Ferozeshah Kotla, New Delhi on March 2, 1996.

# Jayawardene is the sixth batsman to post a hundred in a World Cup final - the first five were Adam Gilchrist (2007), Ricky Ponting (2003), Vivian Richards (1979), Aravinda de Silva (1996) and Clive Lloyd (1975).

# Zaheer Khan bowled three consecutive maiden overs in an ODI for the first time - the first three overs of an innings.

# Zaheer's tally of 21 wickets at an average of 18.76 in nine matches is an Indian record in the World Cup.

# Zaheer and Shahid Afridi ( 21 at an average of 12.85 in eight games) were the top wicket-takers in the World Cup 2011.

# Upul Tharanga amassed 395 runs at an average of 56.42, including two hundreds and one fifty, in nine innings - his career-best performance in a tournament.

# Tillakaratne Dilshan is the only batsman to amass 500 runs in the 10th edition of the World Cup at an average of 62.50 in nine games. His tally includes two centuries and two fifties.

# Dilshan has become the second Sri Lankan to complete 500 runs in a World Cup competition. Mahela Jayawardene had made 548 at an average of 60.88 in eleven games in 2006-07.

# Overall, Dilshan became the fifth batsman to amass 500 runs or more in a World Cup Competition, joining Sachin Tendulkar (twice - 673 in 2002-03 & 523 in 1995-96), Matthew Hayden (659 in 2006-07), Mahela Jayawardene (548 in 2006-07) and Ricky Ponting (539 in 2006-07).

# Muralitharan became the first Sri Lankan to appear in 40 World Cup matches. The final was his 350th game in ODIs.

# Sangakkara and Jayawardene shared a stand of 62 for the third wicket - Sri Lanka's highest against India at the World Cup.

# Yuvraj Singh, with Samaraweera's wicket, captured 20 wickets (ave.23.10) in 23 matches in the World Cup.

# Yuvraj's performance of 2 for 49 is his best in 23 tournament finals. His tally of 15 wickets at 25.13 runs apiece in nine matches is the second highest in the just concluded competition for India, next only to Zaheer's 21.

# Sachin Tendulkar, with 482 at an average of 53.55, including two centuries and two fifties, is the second highest run-scorer in the 2011 edition of the World Cup, behind Dilshan's tally of 500.

I had point to prove: Dhoni

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted he took a World Cup final gamble on Saturday, a high-stakes strategy which paid dividends with a first world title since 1983.

He included wayward seamer Shanthakumaran Sreesanth instead of steady spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and pushed himself up the batting order where he made an unbeaten 91.

He finished the game with a huge six as India celebrated their six-wicket win over Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium in style.

"I took a quite few decisions tonight and if we hadn't had won I would have been asked quite a few questions," said Dhoni.

"Why no Ashwin? Why Sreesanth? Why no Yuvraj (at five)? Why did I bat ahead? That pushed me and motivated to do well."

Dhoni had admitted he had struggled for runs coming into the final.

"The pressure had got to me in the previous games. In this match I wanted to bat up the order and (coach) Gary (Kirsten) backed me as did the senior players. I had a point to prove to myself."

Dhoni also praised Gautam Gambhir who fell just three runs short of a century and Virat Kohli (35) who put on 83 for the third wicket.

Gambhir also shared a crucial partnership of 109 with his captain after Lasith Malinga had removed openers Virender Sehwag (0) and Sachin Tendulkar (18) to leave the home side on a worrying 31-2 in pursuit of 274.

"Virat and Gautam batted brillantly. There were lots of singles and then with the help of bit of dew, we put pressure on their spinners. I would have liked Gautam to go on and get that big hundred."

Man of the tournament Yuvraj Singh said victory had capped a remarkable period for India, the commercial powerhouse of the world game.

"This is unbelievable. We won the Under-19 World Cup, then the Twenty20 but this is the most special," said Yuvraj, who was man of the match on four occasions.

"It's for Sachin and for everyone else. Batting second means a lot of pressure but Gauti and MS played outstandingly. They played like it was a normal game. We batted like champions. Thank you India."

Tendulkar, who was winning his first World Cup in six attempts, said it had been the proudest moment of his career.

"I couldn't have asked for anything more than this. Winning the World Cup is the proudest moment of my life," said Tendulkar.

"But thanks to my team-mates, without them, nothing would have happened. I couldn't control my tears of joy.

"The team stuck together in the rough phases and proved people wrong who doubted our ability. Self-belief has been always there but in the last two years, we have been very consistent. It's been great honour to be part of this team."

The Board of Control for Cricket in India later announced that every player would receive $225,000 each for their efforts.

Originally from:cricbuzz
http://www2.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/39472/i-had-point-to-prove-dhoni

India Lifts 2011 World Cup

Gautam Gambhir made 97 and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed an unbeaten 91 off 79 balls as India won the World Cup for the first time since 1983 with a six-wicket victory over Sri Lanka on Saturday.

Sri Lanka, who won the toss and elected to bat in the day-night final, rode on Mahela Jayawardene's 103 not out off 88 balls to pile up 274-6 in their 50 overs.

India, cheered by a sell-out crowd of 33,000 at the Wankhede stadium, surpassed the challenging target with 10 balls to spare as Dhoni pounded Nuwan Kulasekara for the winning six.

India had slumped to 31-2 by the sixth over when sling-arm fast bowler Lasith Malinga dismissed Virender Sehwag (0) second ball and had star batsman Sachin Tendulkar (18) caught behind in his fourth over.

Gambhir, who was dropped on 30 and escaped a run-out chance on 49, turned the match around by adding 83 for the third wicket with Virat Kohli and 109 for the fourth with Dhoni.

Yuvraj Singh, who was named the man of the tournament, partnered his skipper till the end with 21 not out after Gambhir was bowled by Thisara Perera in the 42nd over when 52 more were still needed.

Dhoni's men emulated Kapil Dev's compatriots who won the 1983 World Cup by beating the West Indies in the final at Lord's in London.

The victory, watched by Indian President Pratibha Patil and Sri Lanka's head of state Mahinda Rajapakse, was the first occassion a team had won the tournament on home soil.

It was only the third time in 10 World Cup finals that a side batting second had chased down the victory target.

The finale gave Tendulkar, the world's most successful Test and one-day batsman, his first World Cup title in six appearances since 1992.

The defeat ended Sri Lankan star bowler Muttiah Muralitharan's dream of being part of a second World Cup-winning team, having won the title under Arjuna Ranatunga in 1996 in Lahore.

Muralitharan, who turns 39 next month, went wicketless in eight overs to end his career with a record 800 Test and 534 one-day wickets.

Confusion reigned at the toss, which had to be performed twice after match referee Jeff Crowe did not hear Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara's call when Dhoni threw up the coin.

Jayawardene shored up Sri Lanka's innings before tailenders Nuwan Kulasekara (32 off 30 balls) and Thisara Perera (22 off nine) helped their team smash 63 runs in the last five overs of power-play.

India's left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan dried up the flow of runs at the start and his two wickets made him the tournament's leading bowler alongside Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi with 21 wickets each.

Zaheer opened with three successive maidens and then struck with the first ball of his fourth over when Sehwag dived to his right in the slips to remove Upul Tharanga for two.

Fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth lifted the pressure by conceding 15 runs in his fifth over that included a no-ball and a warning for running in the danger area in his follow-through.

Sreesanth, who was preferred ahead of spinner Ravichandran Ashwin after Ashish Nehra was ruled out with a fractured finger, was thrashed for 52 runs in his eight overs.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, going into the final as the tournament's leading scorer with 467 runs, made 33 when he was bowled by off-spinner Harbhajan Singh to make Sri Lanka 60-2 in the 17th over.

Jayawardene put on 62 for the third wicket with Sangakkara (48) and 57 for the fourth with Thilan Samaraweera (21).

Originally from :cricbuzz
http://www2.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/39459/history-defying-india-lift-world-cup

India knocked Australia out of World Cup.

Finally world will have new Cricket World Champions on 2^nd of April 2011 after a decade with India beating Australia in a quite remarkable game of cricket. That means three times consecutive world champion will now have to fly back home after a loss in the 2^nd quarterfinal at Motera.

The super star of the day was a man “Yuvraj Singh” who looked in fine tough right from the word go, he first bowled really well and picked up two crucial wickets and then came out all guns blazing hitting Australian fat and furious bowling attack all around the park. Yuvraj Singh scored an unbeaten 57 runs and put on a winning partnership of 74 runs for the sixth wicket with Suresh Raina (34* runs off 28 balls) to get India over finishing line and meet Pakistan in the 2^ndth of March 2011. Semi Final of ICC World Cup 2011 on 30

The Australians, who broke the Indian hearts in 2003, had theirs in two pieces on Thursday as India shut the door on the 'former' World Champions to stand just two steps away from their destination at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, holding aloft the World Cup trophy on April 2.

The situation could have been different if Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh got out at the stage where India still needed 74 runs to win in last 13 overs of play. Motera stadium crowd stunned in to the silence when M.S.Dhoni caught brilliantly by M.Clark at point on bowling of Brett Lee in the 38^th over.

In the run chase during 31^st over to 34^h over, Indians tried hard to choke again. With Gautam Gambhir giving Australians as many as three chances to run him out but Australian didn’t capitalize on it. But finally in the 34^th over Gambhir manage to get himself out but not before scoring a superb fluent 50 runs off 64 balls. He ran for a non-existent run after Yuvraj Singh had played the ball towards midwicket but Ponting missed the sticks just by whisker. In the next over, he got into a yes-and-no situation with Yuvraj Singh and would have been run out had Brad Haddin thrown the ball at the non-striker's end. Gautam Gambhir was run out next ball, again running mindlessly after Yuvraj stabbed David Hussey wide delivery just couple of steps away from the Cameron White standing at first slip but this time White able to throw at correct end and Gambhir found more than a feet short from the crease.

Chasing the target of 261 for win India got off to great start by both Sachin Tendulkar (53 runs) and Virendra Sehwag (15 runs). Both put on 44 runs for the first wicket before Sehwag miscuite a pull straight in the air in the 9^th over. However Sachin Tendulkar kept his cool to reach his 93^rd ODI fifty and in between he crossed 18000 run marks.

Earlier Australia Captain Ricky Ponting scored a superb hundreds to guide his team to get to 260 runs in the 50 overs. This was Ricky Ponting 5^th World Cup hundred and 29^th in ODI. Brad Haddin (53 runs) and David Hussey (38 runs) also provided good support to his captain to guide Australia to a competitive total.

With this win now India will take on Pakistan in the 2^nd Semi Final of World Cup at Mohali on 30^th of March 2011.

Yuvraj Singh was declared Player of the Match for his all-round effort. First with ball he picked up two wickets and then made unbeaten 57 runs off 65 balls.

Match Summary (India Won by 5 Wickets)

Australia Inning– 260/6 in 50 Overs

R.Ponting- 104 B.Haddin – 53

Yuvraj Singh– 10-0-44-2 R.Ashwin- 10-0-52-2

India Inning– 261/5 in 47.4 Overs

Yuvraj Singh- 57* S.Tendulkar–53

S.Watson– 7-0-37-1 B.Lee- 8.4-1-45-1

Originally from :http://cricketvillage.blogspot.com/

India vs Australia - 2nd Quaterfinal today at 14:30 IST.

A most awaited game of the quarter final has arrived with India taking on Australia at Motera. An epic battle is expected between four time world champion Australia and one of the tournament favorite India, with both team look forward to register a win and move to Mohali to play Pakistan in the 2^nd Semi Final on 30^th of March 2011.

So far performance from both teams is not as expected they have fought hard to reach till this stage and by considering the bowling and batting line up from both sides a high voltage game on the card.

Both teams have some problem whether it’s middle order collapse or some patchy bowling. But they know a bad game here will knock them out of the tournament. India who has been considered as one of the batting lineup to watch has struggled to play their full quota of 50 overs in the Group games against test playing nation and that has costed them quite a few games at the end of the day.

Against England when they were on charge to reach 350 plus suddenly a late collapse restricted them to 338, against South Africa they have lost 9 for 29 and against West Indies they have lost their last seven wickets for just 51 runs. India certainly needs to improve in this area. Because of there vulnerability they have allowed their opponents to bounce back in the game from the winning positions.

Australia on the other hand have more worry of concern with their Captain Ricky Ponting struggling with form, Cameron White looking out of sort and late order batsmen is not good enough to cope up on the spinner friendly track as we have seen in the game against Zimbabwe as well as against Pakistan.

But all that would be put in the back-burner in the make-or-break scenario at this textile city's huge arena in front of a sell-out crowd of 50,000 most of whom would be baying for the Aussies' blood.

Australia who is currently ranked number one team in ODI has lost his aura after the retirement of Hayden, Glichrist, McGrath and Warne but they still is s very good side and a team to beat.

M.S.Dhoni and Company would certainly be fancying their chances of knocking the defending champions out of the tournament and stay in the hunt to bring back cricket's most coveted title to India after 28 years. However, for that to happen they will have to be right on top of their game as the Aussies would be coming hard at their top order batting and bowling.

Pitch and Conditions

The Pitch at Motera looks dry and flat. So team winning the toss is likely to have bat first and put the opposition under pressure by putting up big score on the board. In later part of the inning spinner is likely to get purchase from the wicket, so toss will play an important part in this game.

Likely Playing XI for both teams (Match is schedule to begin at 14:30 PM India Time)

Virendra Sehwag is yet to declare himself fit but decision on him will be taken just before the game, if he is declared unfit then India is likely to go with same XI otherwise Virat Kohli or Suresh Raina any one of these two is likely to miss the game.

Australia on the other hand look to play with four seem attack, which means John Hastings is likely to get the game. Also Cameron White who is struggling with form may be replaced by David Hussey because he will add new dimension to the team by providing spinning option.

India: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (Captain & WK), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, R Ashwin, Munaf Patel.

Australia: Brad Haddin (WK), Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting (Captain), Michael Clarke, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Steve Smith, John Hastings, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait.    
    Originally from:http://cricketvillage.blogspot.com/2007/09/twenty20-cricket-world-cup-2007-india.html

India vs West Indies World Cup 2011-Who will win?

India play their final fixture against the West Indies in Chennai on Sunday, With seven points in the bag, qualification for the next stages is not a problem. However a win against the West Indies on Sunday will to help boost the morale of Indian going into the knock-out.


India has not defeated any big teams in their league stage , they had a disappointing tie against England, a couple of laboured wins against the two minnows — Ireland and the Netherlands and, more recently, shattering defeat at the hands of South Africa in Nagpur, a match that will probably be remembered for Team India’s dramatic batting collapse.

With  question marks hovering around the Bowling and fielding, now Indian batting has also come into lot of criticism. With their dramatic batting collapse against England and South Africa , lot of questions have been raised about Indian batting. Will the batting do the trick for Team India ?

While Zaheer Khan has been the pick of the bowlers, usually bowling an impressive second spell, with the old ball, the supporting bowlers have failed to provide need variations.Both Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel have struggled to make an impact and S Sreesanth was unimpressive.Both the spinners Harbhajan and  Piyush Chawla, have been dissapointing not able provide early break through.

West Indies after their disappointing defeat aginst England will be looking forward for win.

India vs Holland: Yuvraj's butter-fingers moment

New Delhi: Here are the Plays of the Day from the World Cup, Group B match between India and Netherlands in Delhi.

Slip of the day

Just the ball before he trapped Wesley Barresi plumb in front, Yuvraj Singh had his butter-fingers moment (which would have made Netherlands' shirt sponsors Amul guffaw). Funnily enough, he had gone through his bowling action but instead of the ball pitching in front, it lobbed out of his hands in the reverse direction and almost took umpire Steve Davis' head off. Both men could only laugh at the freakish incident.

Tendulkar moment of the day

Ryan ten Doeschate lined up to bowl his first ball. Facing him was Sachin Tendulkar. The Dutchman immediately pushed the short fine leg, which was square originally, finer. Tendulkar glanced at the change and ten Doeschate pitched fuller. The ball seamed in towards Tendulkar's legs. The aim was to trap him in front of the wicket. But Tendulkar had smartly moved in slightly and flicked the ball delicately exactly past the point where the fielder was originally stood. Ahem.

Shots of the day

In ten Doeschate's second over, Tendulkar skipped a step and then two steps forward to cream him in front of square. Even Yashpal Sharma, one of the Indian selectors, was so impressed at the master's technique, that he started shadow-playing the straight arc of the bat that only Tendulkar draws while playing his stroke.

Flop of the day

All the buzz around Netherlands coming in to the game was to do with ten Doeschate, the only Associate player with an IPL contract; the only big fella among the little guys; the only one in a team of Bas Zuiderents and Peter Borrens worth watching. When he got in at 70 for 2, opportunity and the big stage called out his name. Less than half an hour into a brief, unremarkable innings, ten Doeschate was lulled by one of Yuvraj's lollies, which dipped on him. His expansive strike down the ground, carried only as far as Zaheer Khan on the long-off fence. When he bowled later in the evening, he was munched for 23 runs in his first two overs.

Invisible men of the day

Who would have thought guys called Szwarczynski & Barresi could be anyone other than deep defenders for a 1990ish AC Milan? Who could foresee that at this World Cup, Szwarczynski & Barresi would belong to a tribe that includes the pairs of Watson and Haddin, Pietersen and Strauss, Sehwag and Tendulkar, and Tharanga and Dilshan? Netherlands openers Eric Szwarczynski and Wesley Barresi, both South African born, put together 56 in 15 overs. When they crossed 50, like Cold War spies exchanging briefcases, they met each other at the centre of the wicket, quietly tapped gloves, nodded and went back to their ends. No one noticed; no one applauded.

Mess of the day

Virat Kohli steered a Peter Borren delivery towards an unmanned backward square leg and raced for what he thought was a possible double. His partner Gautam Gambhir, running steadily, had settled for a single in the mind. But at the behest of Kohli's call, Gambhir turned back and set off for the second run while Kolhi, who had taken a few strides, suddenly stopped having noticed ten Doeschate's swift charge from deep square leg. By then Gambhir was stuck halfway down the pitch. Unfortunately for Netherlands, captain Borren, standing mid-pitch failed to cleanly collect the throw, and his fumble allowed Gambhir to scamper home. Fortunately for the Netherlands, Borren made quick amends in his next over, beating Kohli's defence and hit off stump.

Originally from: http://sports.ndtv.com/world-cup-2011/features/specials/item/170332-india-vs-holland-yuvrajs-butter-fingers-moment

Rest assured. Pakistan will win the World Cup

Originally appeared in the Mirror – Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad and Fake IPL Player.


From completely out of the blue, Pakistan has emerged as the strongest contender for the World Cup. Here are four reasons why Pakistan will win the World Cup.

1. The Kamran Akmal Factor

He drops sitters, fumbles stumpings, runs his partners out before blowing himself out. But, make no mistake, he is one of the pillars on which Pakistan’s World Cup campaign is built on. Don’t judge him by how he looks because his value to the team cannot be understood unless you’re a bowler at the top of your run-up looking at his 64-tooth grimace behind the wickets. With him responsible for collecting edges, a bowler has no option but to bowl straight at the stumps. Kamran Akmal is the man behind Umar Gul’s yorkers, Afridi’s in-dippers, and Shoiab Akhtar’s in-cutters and is the reason for 58% of their combined wickets in the last two years being bowled or LBW.

2. The Afridi Factor

World Cup campaigns are like wars and wars are won by Generals who are respected, revered and, most of all, feared. Like Imran in ’92, Ranatunga in ’96, and Waugh in ’99. Name one Captain in this World Cup who evokes that kind of fear in his players other than Afridi. And it all began with that ball biting episode in Australia. What looked like a stupid act was actually an act of genius with an eye on the World Cup. Since that day, ‘Be Afraid of Afridi’ is the word doing the rounds in Pakistan cricket. When Umar Akmal doesn’t sleep at night, his mother tells him ‘Beta so jaa, varna Afridi kaat lega’. Ignorant commentators berate Afridi for talking to his bowlers before every ball. Little do they know that Afridi is simply reminding them of the biting consequences of bowling wides or half-trackers. And, going by the results so far, he’s been quite effective.

3. The Shock Factor

Pakistan’s top order believes in ugly heaves. They run between the wickets like ping pong balls bouncing against four walls. Two aging middle order batsmen with aching bones painfully play themselves in. And, as soon as the opposition is lulled into sleepwalking, in come the likes of Akmal Jr, Afridi and Razzak to blow the living day lights off the bowlers. And, while bowling, Shoaib Akhtar runs in from the boundary line to bowl off-breaks while Afridi runs three paces to beat batsmen for pace. As far as shocks go, playing them is a bit like seeing a quietly purring cat creep up to you only to loudly bark at your face.

4. The Bowling Factor

Pakistan lost their two best bowlers to spot-fixing just before the World Cup. And, what do they do? They put together their fearsome attack from the 90s – Shoiab Akhtar, Abdur Razzak, Shahid Afridi. For a taste of the toe crushing era, Umar Gul gets his yorkers going. That’s not all. You look at the dressing room, there’s Waqar and Aaquib. You turn to the commentary box, there’s a grinning Wasim. Exactly like in the 90s, when Pakistan plays, whichever direction you look, there’s a deadly bowler sharpening his fangs. That’s enough to scare any batting line-up in the world.
With Pakistan finally vacating the ‘brainless cricket spot’ they’d occupied for years, other teams have made a brave dash for it. It’s certain that Pakistan’s worthy successor would emerge by the end of the World Cup. And, going by their recent performances, England has shown all signs of becoming the new Pakistan.