Late Cut

Three quarter finals have been done and dusted. Confusion reigns!! One major upset, one sort of and one a damp squib. Such a contrasting level of cricket skills seen in all three games....... confusion rains!! West Indian effort against Pakistan was a total washout; a complete disgrace and unworthy of last 8 round of a premier competition. May be West Indian team decided to take their revenge on Bangla spectators for the stones they received at their hands!! Me thinks that may be West Indians took it upon them selves to confuse the (g)hosts of match-fixers that inevitably tag along Pakistan team, like a Betal on Vikram's shoulder! May be this is a better way of taking the ghost of match-fixing out of equation?? Take that..we will shoot your odds to hell! And for free.... I mean, for cryinoutloud, how can batsman after batsman of international class miss simple straight ones? I thought I saw an expression of utter confusion on the face of Mohammad Hafiz. Poor fellow must be tryi...

  Welcome to the real curtain raiser to the world Cup. What has gone before this, minnows bashing or champions breaking TVs, its all an entré to the main course. If Ponting or Dhoni was asked before the start of this World Cup, which captain they would love to avoid most till finals, they would have mentioned each other. The fact that they face up to each other today to decide who misses out on a berth in the semi finals, is an indication of how much under-par they have performed. Australia, though got drubbed by the Poms in test series, showed their opponents their rightful place in ODI series winning handsomely, and maintained their supremacy in the ODI ranking. India, who on the other hand came into this competition from a difficult tour to South Africa where in spite of their main players not participating, did quite well in the ODI series and certainly surprised their fans and opponents equally. While Aussies were coming from a high, Indians were coming home. And with their...