It was a truly pathetic loss to SriLanka on Friday. Let's not use euphemisms. It was terrible. They bowled reasonably well and 254 was a gettable score. A very gettable score. But they collapsed early and didn't keep wickets in hand. The batting line up, which looks awesome on paper, just didn't perform when they had to. That's the long and the short of it. No point blaming the captain or the coach or individual players. It's the whole team which is at fault. The team as a unit, not individuals.
Yeah sure, I’m disappointed, just like any other fan of any other sporting team. But I guess the important thing to keep in mind here is that cricket is a game, like any other. There has to be a winner and a loser. India played badly, they lost. Like Dravid said, they deserved to lose. They would have gotten trashed if they had played like that in the Super8s anyway. There’s no point in throwing stones at their houses like those mad Indian “fans” do. I hope they don’t harm the players or the management in any way, that’s all. I’m more worried than angry or upset.
Let’s take this as a blessing. This will prompt them to rethink their system and their strategies. Maybe there’ll be a new coach. Maybe there’ll be new players. Maybe Indian cricket will take a turn for the better from this trashing. You never know. Staying positive is the key :)
Indian cricket will live through this; it’s been in this situation before. We know how they are, their form seesaws wildly and unpredictably. So we Indian fans should be resilient and stick by the team. Shame on you if you don’t, that’s not being a true Indian fan.
Let's leave them alone for a while, give them their time to reflect upon what went wrong, and what they should have done. Let the Indian cricket board have time to make some selection changes and some adjustments to the system. And let’s hope they come back into action in the next tournament as more mature, thinking cricketers.
For now, I'm keenly following the reports on Bob Woolmer's death. It's a sad, sad event and a great loss to the cricketing world. And the fact that it was murder is just plain vile. How could anyone be so heartless? Nothing justifies taking someone's life. So I'm keenly following the case, hoping daily that they would have nabbed the murderer(s).
I think Woolmer's death is a very timely lesson for all Indian fans. There are bigger things happening out there. A cricket match result is not as important as life. It's not the end of the world if they get kicked out of the World Cup. Let's hope the rioters in India realise that.
And that's really all I'm going to say about that match. All credit to SL for doing well. They deserved the win.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Do or Die situations... literally?
To Divi, my faithful comment-er: I'm glad SOMEONE reads this hahaha. And I have been a bad girl, not updating. Sorry, was all tangled up in exams.
Anyhow, it has been an extremely eventful week of cricket once again.
TeamIndia managed to do the impossible and lose to Bangladesh. Truly amazing, they are. It was a humiliating defeat and a disappointing one after having forgone an entire night of sleep to watch it. We kept believing that they would somehow pull back, somehow, they would clinch the game at the last moment. BUT NO! They just gave up!! It was incredibly frustrating, sitting there and shouting at the tv, but not being able to do ONE thing to influence the outcome of the match. UGH. But all credit to Bangladesh, they bowled, batted and fielded extremely well to show India that they are not a team to be taken lightly. India meanwhile, put on the poorest show allround. Bangladesh deserved to win, let's face it. It was a crappy performance from India and it put them in a desperate situation, where they had to win the next two matches, by good margins to get ahead on the net run rate.
Luckily, they managed to score 413 (highest ever World Cup score) against Bermuda and win by 257 runs, the biggest margin in a World Cup match. It was an AMAZING batting performance by our team and it showed HOW MUCH potential we actually have, and seem to tuck away in a corner whenever its needed. RAH. Sometimes you really want to kill our team. Sehwag scored a brilliant 114, Dada got 89, Yuvi a marvelous, quick fire 83, and Sachin a 57 from 29 balls. Great great batting performances. :) So that was a slight bit of redemption. But they still have to win against SL if they plan to even be in the running for the Super8s. Trust India to make things so tense. SIGH.
Ok enough about India, on to another event that still has the cricket world stunned, shocked and extremely saddened. Yes, Bob Woolmer's death. It was extremely sad as it is, when I got the news the morning of my econs exam. It took me a thorough read of every article about it on Cricinfo to BELIEVE it. Then it took me a few days to digest it. And I'm still very depressed by it all. Inzi retired from captaincy and ODIs after yesterday's Pakistan Zimbabwe match. He announced his retirement right after Woolmer's passing. It was all a huge shock and I'm still recovering.
AND JUST WHEN I DIDN'T NEED IT... I opened today's Sports page in the newspaper and the headlines read "Was it murder in the Caribbean?". It was an article saying that Bob Woolmer may have been murdered by bookies who wanted to silence him about some match-rigging. It sent me into a huge state of denial and shock. All over again. I truly hope it wasn't murder or anything. I think it would stop the tournament if it was. ><
All in all, it has been quite a CRAZY WC so far. It's been quite twisty-turny, so who knows what awaits the cricketing world in the upcoming matches?
Anyhow, it has been an extremely eventful week of cricket once again.
TeamIndia managed to do the impossible and lose to Bangladesh. Truly amazing, they are. It was a humiliating defeat and a disappointing one after having forgone an entire night of sleep to watch it. We kept believing that they would somehow pull back, somehow, they would clinch the game at the last moment. BUT NO! They just gave up!! It was incredibly frustrating, sitting there and shouting at the tv, but not being able to do ONE thing to influence the outcome of the match. UGH. But all credit to Bangladesh, they bowled, batted and fielded extremely well to show India that they are not a team to be taken lightly. India meanwhile, put on the poorest show allround. Bangladesh deserved to win, let's face it. It was a crappy performance from India and it put them in a desperate situation, where they had to win the next two matches, by good margins to get ahead on the net run rate.
Luckily, they managed to score 413 (highest ever World Cup score) against Bermuda and win by 257 runs, the biggest margin in a World Cup match. It was an AMAZING batting performance by our team and it showed HOW MUCH potential we actually have, and seem to tuck away in a corner whenever its needed. RAH. Sometimes you really want to kill our team. Sehwag scored a brilliant 114, Dada got 89, Yuvi a marvelous, quick fire 83, and Sachin a 57 from 29 balls. Great great batting performances. :) So that was a slight bit of redemption. But they still have to win against SL if they plan to even be in the running for the Super8s. Trust India to make things so tense. SIGH.
Ok enough about India, on to another event that still has the cricket world stunned, shocked and extremely saddened. Yes, Bob Woolmer's death. It was extremely sad as it is, when I got the news the morning of my econs exam. It took me a thorough read of every article about it on Cricinfo to BELIEVE it. Then it took me a few days to digest it. And I'm still very depressed by it all. Inzi retired from captaincy and ODIs after yesterday's Pakistan Zimbabwe match. He announced his retirement right after Woolmer's passing. It was all a huge shock and I'm still recovering.
AND JUST WHEN I DIDN'T NEED IT... I opened today's Sports page in the newspaper and the headlines read "Was it murder in the Caribbean?". It was an article saying that Bob Woolmer may have been murdered by bookies who wanted to silence him about some match-rigging. It sent me into a huge state of denial and shock. All over again. I truly hope it wasn't murder or anything. I think it would stop the tournament if it was. ><
All in all, it has been quite a CRAZY WC so far. It's been quite twisty-turny, so who knows what awaits the cricketing world in the upcoming matches?
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Of bunglers and broken records.
And that's what the first 7 matches of the Cricket World Cup 2007 have been about.
While matches like Aussie vs Scots, Lanka vs Bermuda and even Kenya vs Canada have been pretty boring, because everybody just KNEW which team will win, matches like Windies vs Pak, Ireland vs Zimbabwe and Eng vs NZ have been close matches.
Pak threw away what could have been easily won by collapsing like dominoes. England too, started badly but then consolidated with Collingwood and Pietersen to get to about 130 for 3. Then they did their trademark collapse and were 134 for 6. It was pretty apalling to watch, and we took that as the cue to switch the TV off and hit the sack. They were subsequently all out for 209. NZ naturally, had no difficulty in getting to a simple target like 210. It's amazing, how my two top favourite teams are so susceptible to insane collapses like this. I sincerely hope India doesn't do that today, especially not with everyone coming over to my house to watch. I want it to be a good match (which India wins, DUH).
The IRELAND-ZIM match, however, was one hell of a thriller. It came all the way down to the last over, with Zim needing 9 runs to win, with 1 wicket in hand. Wow, it was a nailbiting finish, right down to the last ball. Zim scored 8 runs in the first 5 balls, and tied the scores. AND THEN. AND THEN IRELAND gets the final wicket in the last ball!! OMG it was tie. I was watching the highlights AFTER knowing the results of the match, and I still chewed my nails down to stubs. It was incredibly exciting. The Irish erupted in celebrations when they managed to tie the match, dancing and doing a lap of honour around the ground.
But honestly, the Irish dropped 5 or 6 catches and missed at least 2 run outs. They were terrible in their fielding. AND YET Zim couldn't win!! How badly did they play man? But Ireland really did bowl well, even though they didn't back it up with their fielding. I tell you, if they had caught even two of those missed catches, they would have cleansweeped the match from Zimbabwe. Now THAT would have been seriously interesting. So much for minnows.
As for the SA-Netherlands match, OMG. It was a run feast from SA. Bats were flung around, boundaries ablaze in every direction, burning record books. 18 sixes in the innings, 354 runs from just 40 overs, and 6 sixes in an over by Herschelle Gibbs, the first time EVER in a ODI. Truly truly amazing batting. As the cricinfo article says, "Don't call one-sided matches boring". I mean, how often do you get to see such CARNAGE on the cricket pitch? The SA-ans practically devoured the Netherlands bowlers. Amazing.
So that is how it's been progressing. Today is India vs Bangladesh. Bangladesh can't be underestimated, they are good. So how will this one turn out? Only time will tell. :)
While matches like Aussie vs Scots, Lanka vs Bermuda and even Kenya vs Canada have been pretty boring, because everybody just KNEW which team will win, matches like Windies vs Pak, Ireland vs Zimbabwe and Eng vs NZ have been close matches.
Pak threw away what could have been easily won by collapsing like dominoes. England too, started badly but then consolidated with Collingwood and Pietersen to get to about 130 for 3. Then they did their trademark collapse and were 134 for 6. It was pretty apalling to watch, and we took that as the cue to switch the TV off and hit the sack. They were subsequently all out for 209. NZ naturally, had no difficulty in getting to a simple target like 210. It's amazing, how my two top favourite teams are so susceptible to insane collapses like this. I sincerely hope India doesn't do that today, especially not with everyone coming over to my house to watch. I want it to be a good match (which India wins, DUH).
The IRELAND-ZIM match, however, was one hell of a thriller. It came all the way down to the last over, with Zim needing 9 runs to win, with 1 wicket in hand. Wow, it was a nailbiting finish, right down to the last ball. Zim scored 8 runs in the first 5 balls, and tied the scores. AND THEN. AND THEN IRELAND gets the final wicket in the last ball!! OMG it was tie. I was watching the highlights AFTER knowing the results of the match, and I still chewed my nails down to stubs. It was incredibly exciting. The Irish erupted in celebrations when they managed to tie the match, dancing and doing a lap of honour around the ground.
But honestly, the Irish dropped 5 or 6 catches and missed at least 2 run outs. They were terrible in their fielding. AND YET Zim couldn't win!! How badly did they play man? But Ireland really did bowl well, even though they didn't back it up with their fielding. I tell you, if they had caught even two of those missed catches, they would have cleansweeped the match from Zimbabwe. Now THAT would have been seriously interesting. So much for minnows.
As for the SA-Netherlands match, OMG. It was a run feast from SA. Bats were flung around, boundaries ablaze in every direction, burning record books. 18 sixes in the innings, 354 runs from just 40 overs, and 6 sixes in an over by Herschelle Gibbs, the first time EVER in a ODI. Truly truly amazing batting. As the cricinfo article says, "Don't call one-sided matches boring". I mean, how often do you get to see such CARNAGE on the cricket pitch? The SA-ans practically devoured the Netherlands bowlers. Amazing.
So that is how it's been progressing. Today is India vs Bangladesh. Bangladesh can't be underestimated, they are good. So how will this one turn out? Only time will tell. :)
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Opening Match.
First match of the 51 matches over. Finito.
It was a match between two extremely unpredictable teams, two of the most unpredictable of the current test playing nations- Windies and Pakistan. Windies were trashed by India in the practice match and didn’t have the psychological edge that Pakistan did (having won both of their practice matches, especially the final one against SA), and it seemed that this would lead to their downfall in the first match. Because truly, they had the slowest of starts. Even at the 24th over or so, their run rate was barely above 3, they were feeling for the ball, playing and missing ever so often. Pakistan’s bowling was getting the better of them, as wickets started falling.
But suddenly, they consolidated, with Marlon Samuels making a wonderful 63 off 70 balls and Smith abandoning orthodox batting to smash 32 off 15 balls. It was a treat for the eyes, but I wasn’t too pleased with Pakistan’s suddenly dismal bowling (because we had predicted that Paki would win in our G12 prediction thing… yes vested interests, evidently). WestIndies ended off with 241 for 9, with Collymore smashing a spectacular six off the last ball of the innings.
I didn’t watch Paki’s run chase, but from what I heard/ read, they lost a wicket in the 3rd ball. Pathetic. They had the psychological edge, they had the skill, and YET they got all out for 187. All I can say is, they didn’t apply themselves, and they probably gave in to a bout of nerves.
I mean, yeah sure, it can be nerve wrecking playing the opening match, but hey, aren’t they supposed to just concentrate on the game? I mean, Windies had just got hit badly by India and they came back to bag a wonderful win.
Here’s a nice summary of yesterday’s match:
Fine Legs and Dying Swans
On to today’s matches, it’s Aussie- Scotland and Kenya-Canada. No need to say anything about who’s gonna win the first one. But Kenya-Canada will probably be interesting. Aussie is smashing away as usual, from what I can see in the live scorecard on cricinfo, because I am currently away from the TV, where my parents are switching between matches on the two World Cup channels.
And oh wow, from what I can see, Scotland’s opening fast bowler is 37 years old! *waggles eyebrows* He’s good! (:
On Extraaa Innings (hereby referred to as EI), they were discussing whether the “minnows” deserve to be playing in the World Cup or not. I don’t feel it’s fair to call them the minnows. Ok, FINE, they are weaker teams, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get a chance to play in the WC. I mean, it’s only by playing these big tournaments with all the high-flying teams will they get exposure. They’ll only improve their game and they’ll be able to work towards being a test playing nation in future. And you know, all these people talk about promoting cricket to the world and encouraging the interest for the game in more countries… accepting these less prominent teams into the World Cup is a great way to do so, don’t you think? It’s like, even though I don’t like football, if Singapore were to play in the World Cup, I would definitely watch with interest, because my country is playing. Similarly, more people in places like Canada, Holland, Scotland and Ireland would watch cricket, because their country is playing the World Cup. It’s a great way to spread the love for the game, and I don’t see why they consider it a waste of time letting weaker nations play in the WC. If they want the Cricket World Cup to be a big scale event, even ½ the scale of the Football World Cup many years down the road, they have to start SOMEWHERE don’t they?
My pet peeve for the day.
I think I should return to alternating between matches and studying at the same time.
(I am secretly wishing Aussie will lose today, even though there’s absolutely NO chance of that. Sighh)
It was a match between two extremely unpredictable teams, two of the most unpredictable of the current test playing nations- Windies and Pakistan. Windies were trashed by India in the practice match and didn’t have the psychological edge that Pakistan did (having won both of their practice matches, especially the final one against SA), and it seemed that this would lead to their downfall in the first match. Because truly, they had the slowest of starts. Even at the 24th over or so, their run rate was barely above 3, they were feeling for the ball, playing and missing ever so often. Pakistan’s bowling was getting the better of them, as wickets started falling.
But suddenly, they consolidated, with Marlon Samuels making a wonderful 63 off 70 balls and Smith abandoning orthodox batting to smash 32 off 15 balls. It was a treat for the eyes, but I wasn’t too pleased with Pakistan’s suddenly dismal bowling (because we had predicted that Paki would win in our G12 prediction thing… yes vested interests, evidently). WestIndies ended off with 241 for 9, with Collymore smashing a spectacular six off the last ball of the innings.
I didn’t watch Paki’s run chase, but from what I heard/ read, they lost a wicket in the 3rd ball. Pathetic. They had the psychological edge, they had the skill, and YET they got all out for 187. All I can say is, they didn’t apply themselves, and they probably gave in to a bout of nerves.
I mean, yeah sure, it can be nerve wrecking playing the opening match, but hey, aren’t they supposed to just concentrate on the game? I mean, Windies had just got hit badly by India and they came back to bag a wonderful win.
Here’s a nice summary of yesterday’s match:
Fine Legs and Dying Swans
On to today’s matches, it’s Aussie- Scotland and Kenya-Canada. No need to say anything about who’s gonna win the first one. But Kenya-Canada will probably be interesting. Aussie is smashing away as usual, from what I can see in the live scorecard on cricinfo, because I am currently away from the TV, where my parents are switching between matches on the two World Cup channels.
And oh wow, from what I can see, Scotland’s opening fast bowler is 37 years old! *waggles eyebrows* He’s good! (:
On Extraaa Innings (hereby referred to as EI), they were discussing whether the “minnows” deserve to be playing in the World Cup or not. I don’t feel it’s fair to call them the minnows. Ok, FINE, they are weaker teams, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get a chance to play in the WC. I mean, it’s only by playing these big tournaments with all the high-flying teams will they get exposure. They’ll only improve their game and they’ll be able to work towards being a test playing nation in future. And you know, all these people talk about promoting cricket to the world and encouraging the interest for the game in more countries… accepting these less prominent teams into the World Cup is a great way to do so, don’t you think? It’s like, even though I don’t like football, if Singapore were to play in the World Cup, I would definitely watch with interest, because my country is playing. Similarly, more people in places like Canada, Holland, Scotland and Ireland would watch cricket, because their country is playing the World Cup. It’s a great way to spread the love for the game, and I don’t see why they consider it a waste of time letting weaker nations play in the WC. If they want the Cricket World Cup to be a big scale event, even ½ the scale of the Football World Cup many years down the road, they have to start SOMEWHERE don’t they?
My pet peeve for the day.
I think I should return to alternating between matches and studying at the same time.
(I am secretly wishing Aussie will lose today, even though there’s absolutely NO chance of that. Sighh)
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
No turning back.
THIS IS IT.
ANOTHER THREE HOURS to the opening match.
HALF AN HOUR to the pre-match discussions/ highlights of the opening ceremony (Extraaa Innings).
Once it starts, there's no going back. It's gonna be a blur of excitement for 47 days and then it will all be over, for another four years. On my part, I promise that I will try to blog as detailed analyses as I can, time permitting.
Even MUM has been seriously excited about the match since morning. She's even planned which sofa she's gonna sit on. And now she's out buying snacks to eat while watching the match. Now THAT is called World Cup fever. And I think we've all caught it bad. :D
ANOTHER THREE HOURS to the opening match.
HALF AN HOUR to the pre-match discussions/ highlights of the opening ceremony (Extraaa Innings).
Once it starts, there's no going back. It's gonna be a blur of excitement for 47 days and then it will all be over, for another four years. On my part, I promise that I will try to blog as detailed analyses as I can, time permitting.
Even MUM has been seriously excited about the match since morning. She's even planned which sofa she's gonna sit on. And now she's out buying snacks to eat while watching the match. Now THAT is called World Cup fever. And I think we've all caught it bad. :D
Monday, March 12, 2007
*bounce*
JUST.ONE.MORE.DAY. :D
Operation Abandon-Sanity gets underway from this point.
Tri-coloured nails, here I come.
Operation Abandon-Sanity gets underway from this point.
Tri-coloured nails, here I come.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
World Cup anticipation
OK, loooooong time since I posted. Sorry, it's been crazy, the last 3 weeks or so. ><
BUT in other news, THE WORLD CUP IS ALMOST UNDERWAY (!!!!!!!!).
Practice matches were in full swing, they ended yesterday, with India winning both their prac matches against Netherlands and West Indies. They TRASHED Windies yesterday, got them all out for 85 (!!) and then proceeded to score 86 for 1. :) Australia won both their matches (wow, finally), their second one being against England. Bangladesh defeated New Zealand, much to the shock of the cricketing world. Pakistan trashed South Africa yesterday, and SA also got bowled out for 192 by IRELAND (even though they proceeded to win that match). Well, yes, it has been interesting, and these are just the practice matches. WC opening ceremony tomorrow and then opening match on Tuesday between Pak and Windies.
G12 (our wonderful get togther group) is having our World Cup predictions thing (where we predict who will win every match, and accumulate points) again, and it's incredibly exciting, because my family is the reigning champion predictor from the last World Cup :D
So here's to a BRILLIANT World Cup, and may the best team (well, ok, the best team besides Aussie) win!
BUT in other news, THE WORLD CUP IS ALMOST UNDERWAY (!!!!!!!!).
Practice matches were in full swing, they ended yesterday, with India winning both their prac matches against Netherlands and West Indies. They TRASHED Windies yesterday, got them all out for 85 (!!) and then proceeded to score 86 for 1. :) Australia won both their matches (wow, finally), their second one being against England. Bangladesh defeated New Zealand, much to the shock of the cricketing world. Pakistan trashed South Africa yesterday, and SA also got bowled out for 192 by IRELAND (even though they proceeded to win that match). Well, yes, it has been interesting, and these are just the practice matches. WC opening ceremony tomorrow and then opening match on Tuesday between Pak and Windies.
G12 (our wonderful get togther group) is having our World Cup predictions thing (where we predict who will win every match, and accumulate points) again, and it's incredibly exciting, because my family is the reigning champion predictor from the last World Cup :D
So here's to a BRILLIANT World Cup, and may the best team (well, ok, the best team besides Aussie) win!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
