From the Cup!
I am a cricket fan, albeit not a crazy one. Given the kind of passion most people in this country have for this particular sport, I am a below-average fan. Nonetheless, world cup is generally a very special piece of my life whenever it is on and I can’t help sharing my thoughts on the same:
1) Sri Lanka-Bangladesh Match:
I had watched the initial part of the India-Bangladesh match and thought that India bucked under the opening match jitters rather than anything else. Not that the pitch didn’t do anything or that the Bangladeshis didn’t bowl well, but if you had seen the Indian batsmen early-on, you must have got the feeling that they were under enormous pressure. Too much has been made out of Dravid’s decision of batting first. I think that was a natural decision. India’s strength is batting and Bangladesh bowlers aren’t a Mcgrath or Ntini!
Given that, I wanted to see the first hour of Sri Lankan batting against Bangladesh. They batted well and of course the Bangladeshis weren’t as good as they were against India. Though Lanka batted well, I thought the openers were a little tentative. So, when India plays Lanka and if the pitch is even a little active, Zaheer Khan will be the man to watch! Hopefully, Agarkar will be given the first change and not the opening overs. One also hopes that Pathan is given a chance but I am not sure that will happen!
2) Pakistan-Zimbabwe:
It’s commendable that Pakistan agreed to play this match. Because India-pakistan are such arch-rivals, I have always considered them as opposition. However, y’day when the teams lined up on the field to pay respect to their anthems, I couldn’t help feel sympathy for them. Given the kind of circumstances, it must have taken a lot of courage to get on to the field.
For Inzy, it must have been the toughest! For someone who has really been the backbone of Pakistan cricket, it is not the kind of farewell he deserves. Very few players bring about calm and stability in this game that is getting increasingly hysteric and one of them is gone. Very few players believe that Cricket is (still) a gentleman’s game and one of them is gone.
While the game is increasingly seeing emergence of ‘street-smart’ kids, such men show what separates men from boys! I like the man, I really do and it is not easy to digest that we’ll no longer be able to watch him. Good I didn’t watch the match long enough to see him walk back to the pavilion!
Meanwhile, good luck to our boys against Lanka! Personally, as long as they play well and give a solid fight, any result is ok!
1) Sri Lanka-Bangladesh Match:
I had watched the initial part of the India-Bangladesh match and thought that India bucked under the opening match jitters rather than anything else. Not that the pitch didn’t do anything or that the Bangladeshis didn’t bowl well, but if you had seen the Indian batsmen early-on, you must have got the feeling that they were under enormous pressure. Too much has been made out of Dravid’s decision of batting first. I think that was a natural decision. India’s strength is batting and Bangladesh bowlers aren’t a Mcgrath or Ntini!
Given that, I wanted to see the first hour of Sri Lankan batting against Bangladesh. They batted well and of course the Bangladeshis weren’t as good as they were against India. Though Lanka batted well, I thought the openers were a little tentative. So, when India plays Lanka and if the pitch is even a little active, Zaheer Khan will be the man to watch! Hopefully, Agarkar will be given the first change and not the opening overs. One also hopes that Pathan is given a chance but I am not sure that will happen!
2) Pakistan-Zimbabwe:
It’s commendable that Pakistan agreed to play this match. Because India-pakistan are such arch-rivals, I have always considered them as opposition. However, y’day when the teams lined up on the field to pay respect to their anthems, I couldn’t help feel sympathy for them. Given the kind of circumstances, it must have taken a lot of courage to get on to the field.
For Inzy, it must have been the toughest! For someone who has really been the backbone of Pakistan cricket, it is not the kind of farewell he deserves. Very few players bring about calm and stability in this game that is getting increasingly hysteric and one of them is gone. Very few players believe that Cricket is (still) a gentleman’s game and one of them is gone.
While the game is increasingly seeing emergence of ‘street-smart’ kids, such men show what separates men from boys! I like the man, I really do and it is not easy to digest that we’ll no longer be able to watch him. Good I didn’t watch the match long enough to see him walk back to the pavilion!
Meanwhile, good luck to our boys against Lanka! Personally, as long as they play well and give a solid fight, any result is ok!
posted by Leziblogger at 10:44 PM
2 Comments:
Too bad ... your good luck wishes didnt do wonders for our team!!
What irritates me is that we went down without a fight!
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