Late Cut

  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...

The world Cup 2011 is simmering and started living up to the lyrics of its anthem, "De Ghuma Ke". It seems to have inspired quite a few players including a totally unknown teenager called Hiral Patel, of Canada!! The caning he gave to the world cup champions in a lost cause, especially the six over covers off the fastest bowler in the tournament Shaun Tait, will linger in the memory long long after the dust has settled in Mumbai. There has been a lot of talk about the minnows bashing; for a change it was nice to see Champion bashing! That's the beauty of sport; king for a day is far better than a pauper for life. Love it!!  One swallow does not make a summer, agreed; but it can make a painfully bad memory for life for some! Ask Zubin Surkari, who copped the brunt of Tait's thunder and came away with three balls! The Great Australian selector Andrew Hilditch must have been moved sufficiently to say " Tait needs to improve "!! What? for missing the goolies?...

Long awaited ICC World Cup has begun and results have been going as per seedings...so far. Meaning all the minnows so far have been bashed. And in some case, have been reminded about their status in no uncertain terms, as well. Perhaps Veeru's emotions boiled over after his terrific innings against Bangladeshis; even though Indian win by no means was a washout. At 182/2 off ~30 overs only, Bangladeshis were in the scrap. To think of a cricket game as a revenge is a bit too much, but for those who suffered 4 years back at Port of Spain, the kind of back lash from the fans and everyone else, that you see only in India, it must have felt like redemption. If that defeat in the Caribbean was a motivation to play well, Indians succeeded. However, World Cups are more about proving you are a champion side rather than an ego trip. Having said that, Veeru is one of the very few players on the international circuit whose uttering on cricket and especially his opponents, have any thing...

Cricket Australia has taken a bold step in revamping Ford Ranger cup (Domestic limited overs cricket tournament) by deciding to make them as split-innings one dayers . I like it. I hope they still maintain 50 overs per innings, rather than making it 2 games of T20 each. Obviously there are arguments for and against this. Those against it are worried that batsmen will struggle to restart their innings after fielding for 25 overs; spectators may shun first "innings" (20 or 25 overs from each side) and watch only the second "innings", etc. Ricky Ponting is reportedly not totally impressed with CA's announcement before any kind of consultation with the Australian players. In today's Sydney Morning Herald, Channel Nine is quoted to be seeking all ten wickets in the second part of the split innings, making effectively a separate game altogether. The article also quotes English second division's trial in split innings games. Apparently it has not received plu...