Transcendence

Whenever Sreeshant plays, India win. This 'phenomenon' has been observed of late. Sreeshant played in the match against BD and India won. He was dropped in the match against England and India did not win ! Sreeshant bowled India to victory against SA in SA, with a haul of five for. Sreeshant was in the team which won the T20 WC in 2007. He was dropped in the teams for the other WC, which India lost. This 'phenomenon' prompted Gavaskar to opine "Sree is India's lucky charm. We need all lucky charms, Providence, God's Grace, prayers and talismans for India to win at Bombay " ! There is a popular demand to bring back Sree. In the Malayalam Paper Mathrubhumi , many say he is India's talisman and should be brought back. That India could not win the match against England because there was no third seamer to support the reverse swinging Zaheer and Sree would have won the match ! Bowlers win matches. Now a warning about England. In the 1987 final, Graham G

Keiron Pollard clicked today, hitting 60 off 27 balls, as WI raced to 330/8. His innings was embellished with five fours and four sixes. Gayle scored 80, off 110 balls, with seven fours and two sixes as WI amassed 330. But the match seems to be a one sided one with Netherlands 43/5, with Benn taking 3 wickets and Roach two. In the other match, Zimbabwe decimated Canada by 175 runs. The Zim spinners routed the Canadians, who were all out for 123. Price took 3/16 and Cremer 3/31. WI have won the match, as Netherlands were shot out for 115. Roach took 6/27.

This is incredible ! Warne's prediction that the Eng Ind match will be a tie had come true. "I think Warne is a genius to have predicted that way (a tie). What more can I say." said the sophisticated captain. In the microblogging site, Twitter, Warne wrote "Looking forward to the game between India and England today, should be a cracker. My prediction a tie!" At the end of the match, Warne tweeted again "Before u think there was something untoward re prediction of a tie, thought it was going to be a cracker-tie was tongue in cheek-but right." Strauss was distraught that he could not win the match. "I feel a little bit sad and a little bit happy. We got to celebrate the fact it is an unbelievable game of cricket. Some great performances were on both sides. Both sides should be partly happy, partly sad." "The power-play cost us badly. There is no doubt about it. Brilliant performances from both Graeme Swann and Ajmal Shahzad to have taken

Sachin scored his 5th WC century, overtaking the records of Ganguly, Mark Waugh and Ponting yesterday. Sachin blasted 10 fours and five sixes in a devastating display of batting. Strauss' reply was grand. He scored 158, a brilliant innings and won the Man of the Match Award. Yesterday during the time of the toss, an adverse star Moola was ruling ( adverse for India ). We had warned Dhoni, Sehwag and Sachin about the adversity and advised them to be careful ! Was Imran right ? The Dew Factor. The Make Up or Break Up factor. The bowlers will not be able to bowl with a wet ball and this comes as a huge advantage to the team batting second ! India was well poised to reach more than 350, at 300/3. Then England bowled really well and the last seven wickets fell for a mere 38 runs ! Some weaknesses of both teams stand out. Both teams are formidable in batting and mediocre in bowling. The fielding of both was below par. India will have to improve her rate in the death overs and there is a

Pietersen fiercely hit out at Munaf, who blocked the ball and when the ball ballooned up, caught it ! The fall of a Goliath ! England got off to a rousing start, with Pietersen and Strauss putting on 68 quick runs for the first wicket. Now England are 81/1. Spin was introduced and Chawla's first over was not impressive. The next over Chawla sent was better, even though expensive. Now Bajji and Chawla are bowling. If England can get some partnerships, England stand a good chance. England has a good batting side, batting right up to No 9. Now Strauss has completed a well compiled 50 and England are 101/1. Jonathan Trott was in superb form against the Aussies, scoring 137 not out in an ODI. Now he is out to Chawla, lbw for 16! Now Chawla has settled to a length and England are finding it difficult to pick Chawla ! Strauss is going strong on 76 and this is a very crucial phase of the game. The ball is becoming old and Strauss is playing the correct game. Excellent innings so far, with

What a beginning ! Sehwag slashes the first ball, Swann gets a finger to it and then it flies for four. Next ball gets the top of Sehwag's bat and it flies over the fielder's head. Next ball Sehag chips one and it goes over Anderson's head. Three chances which could have been taken. Anderson swung the ball in the first over and Sehwag was lucky ! The first ball of the next over - Sehwag hits it through the covers for four ! Ajmal Shehzad is the bowler bowling at 83 mph ! He is generating fairly good pace, but is not known as a swing bowler like Anderson. The swing bowlers may get some help, as it was overcast conditions for the last two days. Chawla is playing. India will take advantage of the English weakness against spin on spin tracks ! Swann will of course be dangerous. Yardy also will be dangerous, if the pitch takes spin, but then Indian batsmen play spin well ! We had said in our columns that time before 0250 is adverse. Now India is 33/0. Sehwag looks confident and

Kumble said that there is the threat of rain in Bangalore. Selectors are in the horns of a dilemma regarding selection of the team. Team selection should be beyond reproach, feels the ace leg spinner. There is the threat of rain which may prompt the selectors to play three spinners. We dont know whether Nehra will play or Sreeshant will be selected. If the selectors are not worried about the weather, then India will play two seamers and two spinners. Dhoni can use the part time spinners also. Munaf and Zaheer bowled with control against BD. What is needed is wicket to wicket bowling. This controlled bowling will pressurise the batsmen into committing mistakes. If overcast conditions are there, Sreeshant may be dangerous, but then he has to control his bowling. This is the pitch where the leg spinner Chawla took 4 wickets against the Aussies in the warm up match. Most probably Chawla may be included. ( Yesterday Pak opened with Akthar and Razzak. There was widespread belief in the Pak c

The Castrol Predictor gives 64% chance for India and 36% for England at Bangalore. The great all rounder, Amarnath has opined that victory will be India's at Bangalore. All are expecting a great cricketing war today at Bangalore. For the last two years, England has put in exemplary performance, barring the 6-1 defeat to formidable Australia ! England is not a team to be trifled with, feels M Amarnath, member of the 1983 victorious team which brought India the World Cup. There are some disconcerting factors for England. Pietersen is not in form and the form of Collingwood is also another disturbing factor. ( even though he has done well with the ball ). Pietersen has moved himeself to the opening slot, but in the ten matches before this WC, he has only managed an average of 25. Indian batting is far better than England, feels this veteran. There is not enough space in the team for all eight world class batsmen and one of them has to sit out ( Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj, Raina,

FDI in Retail has been advocated by the Economic Survey of 2011. There can be private participation in the social sector. It is good that the farm sector has clocked in 5.4% growth. Forex reserves at $297 billion. The foodgrain production has gone up to 232 million tonnes. With the financial planet, Jupiter, in the favourable House of Fortune, this good news has come in. As food prices rise, there is an imperative need for immense investment in the agri sector. It is due to the good performance of the agri sector that the economy has clocked in 8.6% growth. The survey calls for a second green revolution. As the world is undergoing a Food Crisis, the solution is to upgrade agriculture so that India becomes the granary of the world. As far as the stock market is concerned, every correction is good.

FDI in Retail has been advocated by the Economic Survey of 2011. There can be private participation in the social sector. It is good that the farm sector has clocked in 5.4% growth. Forex reserves at $297 billion. The foodgrain production has gone up to 232 million tonnes. With the financial planet, Jupiter, in the favourable House of Fortune, this good news has come in. As food prices rise, there is an imperative need for immense investment in the agri sector. It is due to the good performance of the agri sector that the economy has clocked in 8.6% growth. The survey calls for a second green revolution. As the world is undergoing a Food Crisis, the solution is to upgrade agriculture so that India becomes the granary of the world. As far as the stock market is concerned, every correction is good.

Pak won a good toss and is batting first. Afidi opined that 280 will be a good score on this track and Sanga said he will be happy chasing 280 ! Kapugedara, the hard hitting batsman, was dropped and Chamara De Silva is in. Herath, the left arm spinner, replaces Mendis. On a slow turning wicket, Pak seems to have the upper hand, as they are now 19/0. No Malinga, no Mendis and the SL attack seems to be a bit less penetrative. The toss is vital, as the pitch may turn more as the match progresses. Pak has now progressed to 65/1. Kamran and Hafeez are accelerating and off 10.3 overs, 65 runs have come already. Looks like headed for a big score ! Pak has lost her second wicket, that of Hafeez run out for 32. Now the Pakis are 76/2. Now they have progressed to 105/3.Herath took K Akman. He was stumped by Sanga off his own bowling. Even though it is Advantage Pak, SL will fight it out. Pak had won all the six encounters in the World Cup with the Emerald Isle. Misbah played beautifully for an 8

There are three good players and only two slots ! Virat Kohli, facing intense competition from Yuvraj and Raina, came out with sterling performances, scoring 1772 runs in 46 ODIs, with five hundreds, including a maiden WC hundred. His consistency marks him out. Now it is either Yuvraj or Raina, as Kohli established as India's Mr Consistent with consistent performances. He is the man who brought the Under 19 World Cup. He is in sublime form. Pathan is another player in good form. Pathan can be a game changer and is one of the most dreaded batsmen in world cricket. Even though everybody is talking about the Commander, Master and the Lietenant, the other matchwinners of India cannot be ignored. Gambhir, Kohli, Yuvraj and Pathan can be matchwinners on their days. Even Suresh Raina, who has completed centuries in all the three formats of the game. It is a pity that Raina doesnt have a berth in the star studded Indian side.

Kapugedara, the SL No 6, is vehement that his team will win the WC for Murali. "He is a special person, a legend. Everyone in the team wants to give him (Murali) a good send off. We want to win the cup for Murali. It will be a great tribute"- the whirlwind hitter said. "The Sri Lankan crowd have been very supportive of us, even in bad times. So we are working hard to bring the Cup home again for our supporters too." A hitter with high potential, Kapugedara, known as Kapu to his teammates said they are ready to meet the fiery Pakis on home soil in front of a supportive SL crowd. "I think our top order is prepared for the challenge," he said, referring to facing the formidable Paki bowlers, Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi. "Our top-order has faced good fast bowlers before. We have had a very good stint in Australia too (last year). The guys are up for the challenge and we are looking forward to delivering the goods.," "Pakistan are a good team

It is said the M Johnson relishes bowling on slow tracks. Ponting is using him as a first change bowler and he loves that ! Indian pitches are reputed to be a fast bowler's graveyard and paradise for spinners. "(There is) something in the role that I have got as a first change and I enjoy that role a lot," said the demon fast bowler after his 4/43 against the Kiwis. "It just suits my bowling, I guess, the bang-the-wicket kind of bowling that I like, and the change-ups that I use. "I just really enjoy the challenges over here of these conditions." Johnson combines pace with swing and swerve and his bowling is ideally suited for Indian conditions, he averrs. "I saw the game between the Netherlands and England and it looked like a pretty good wicket," the master of swing bowling said. "I just had in the back of my mind I wanted to bang it in to the wicket like I did against Zimbabwe and probably not think about it too much but just go out there

Sehwag was hit on the left rib by a rising ball from Sreeshant. Thank God he is OK. Indians dread to go for battle without the inform Sehwag, who is a terror to all opposition bowlers. Sreeshant is working hard to come back. Yesterday he finished his practice only at 0115PM. Most of his balls were accurate and many times he uprooted the stumps. May he come back into form. His record is OK, having taken 75 wickets in 52 ODIs. In ODIS,even if one doesnt take wickets, one should not give much runs. Wicket to wicket, controlled bowling is all that is required. Look at Ishant ! He tried to bowl faster and has lost his swing ! You should bowl at 160 kph like Shaun Tait or go for medium fast swing bowling at 140 kph. The Indian bowlers are known for swing. Accuracy is what is needed and Sree is working hard for that. Look at Munaf ! He does not try to bowl faster, but controls his pace and swing. Zaheer can reverse swing the ball, which can be lethal in the death overs ! Chawla will most proa

The BD Ireland match has all the elements of a thriller - just 62 needed off 96 balls ! BD were all out for 206 and Ireland are 147/5! Needing just 59 runs to win with 5 wickets in hand! The BD spinners did tie the Ireland batsmen, but then they have five more wickets to capture ! One more wicket has gone, Kevin O Brien, for 37. Went to hit a six and was snapped in the deep. Now Ireland need 55 off 71 balls, with four wickets in hand ! Now the equation is 35 off 48 balls, with one wicket in hand ! BD won, as Ireland folded up for 176 ! A win by 27 runs.

It seems that the Kiwis are no match for the Kangaroos. After bowling out NZ for 206, Aussie openers went on a rampage. Brad Haddin and Watson put on 133 for the first wicket. Now they are both gone and Aussies are 149/2 / Those who are fed up with Australian dominance are now beginning to wonder whether the Goliath may ever fall ! Shabik fell in the other match, stunning DB. Now they are 97/4 ! A good innings by Tamim came to an end when he was caught Porterfield off Botha ! Aussies have now progressed to 167/3. Ponting was stumped by McCullum off Southee. ( The TV in the dressing room, we hope, is hidden ! ). This risk which they have taken, of banking on the pace trio, had paid off and this will be the Kangaroo trump card in the days to come ! BD are now 117/4 against a spirited Ireland. Ireland is putting in hard work to become a Test playing nation and they beat Pak in the last WC. Meanwhile, Bollinger has been ruled out of the WC due to injury. His replacement has not been announ

The Commander, Dhoni, is tough and relaxed. He is not bothered about big game pressures ! The Master is the Master Blaster, Sachin. He wants to perform well during this WC. The Lieutenant, Sehwag, now controls his batting and wants to bat the entire 50 overs ! It is obvious that the Indian challenge depend on these stalwarts. Can they pull it off ? The Organisers want India to go to the finals. Then only will be Cup be a financial success. Now there are no tickets available ! No tickets for the Sunday match, no tickets for the finals ! The reason - India did not exit early like last time. Nor is she showing a tendency to exit. With India having beaten NZ and AUS in the warm up matches and sinking BD in the opener, the Indian fan is highly bullish. If you look at records, you will have to agree that India is the strongest team on paper ! Can India do it ? When cricket is facing immense competition from other sports like soccer, when the game is dying everywhere ( I dont have time to sp

Dashing middle order bat, Ravi Bopara, opined that facing India on Sunday is indeed tough. This is one of our toughest challenges in this tournament. We know what the Indian batsman are capable of but we do have our plans to keep them quiet. We will see on Sunday." "If it is a spinning deck, we have got our own spinners who can cause problems. A pitch that spins is going to cause trouble for any team. It is going to cause problems for India as well. A lot is going to depend on the conditions," he added. "Every match is big for us. Even the game the other night was also big for us. But against India in India is going to be huge. "We are not thinking too much about it. If you think too much about it you will get out of the mould. We want to stay relaxed." He said England has definite plans for the Sunday match. "We have plans against each bowler and every batsman but it is how the batsman feel on the day. We generally play aggressive cricket. We know in

Our opinion that the Aussie bowling is indeed formidable was proved again as Tait and Watson shot out two NZ batsmen ! They hurled balls of fire and the NZ batsmen could not stand up to them. It was said of the mighty Aus bowling that they may skittle out the opposition for either 50 or go on chasing 500. Their fast bowling is a treat to watch ! NZ were stunned, at 100/6, in the first 25 overs ! NZ are now 57/2 off 10 overs. Aussies still bank on genuine fast bowling and the trio of Tait, Lee and Johnson, even on the subcontinental tracks. With Watson and Krejza to support, the Kangaroo bowling is still great. India, who scored 350 plus against NZ and BD, could only muster 214 against them ( though it was a warm up match, but then warm up matches show us the pattern ). All teams will have to confront this formidable trio and playing them well will become the mantra. The team which plays them well can go on to the finals. We find that the Aussie batting is trying to recoup after the lo

The England offspinner said the match on Sunday is huge, as England take on India. "The fact it's against India in India is going to make it a huge game.," said Swann after England almost got out of jail against the Dutch. "We had a very poor time of things in the one-day series here a couple of years ago, so that's certainly something we want to turn around because there is nothing better than silencing an Indian crowd." "You don't want them to be screaming all day because its ear-shattering. Come Bangalore it will be a huge game and one we will need to raise our standards for, particularly in the field because, let's face it, we were like a bunch of schoolboys (against the Netherlands)." Whether he will silence the crowd or the Indian batsmen will silence him remains to be seen. He said the worst moment during the match with the Dutch was when Tendo skied, when he was on 47 and the ball fell in between Pietersen and Anderson. "They b

SA crushed WI by seven wickets. Great spells by Tahir ( 4/41 ), Botha ( 2 wickets ) and Steyn ( 3 wickets ) won the game for the Proteas. How well it is said that 'Bowlers Win Matches'. Glorious was the batting of Bram Villiers. He started middling the ball the minute he came in. It was like Sachin batting, as he pounded the WI bowlers to all parts of the field. Lack of penetration was the hallmark of the WI attack and 222 was not a great total to defend ! Strange ! Great are the tactics of the Proteas ! They open with spinner Botha and Gayle holes out ! This is indeed a great strategy as the SA think tank out thought Gayle ! Now WI are 39/1, with Darren Bravo, the brother of Dwayne Bravo, not out on an aggressive 28 not out ! Gayle was trapped. SA fielded 3 spinners, Tahir, Botha and Peterson. SA with 3 spinners is a new attack and let us see how they fare on the s c tracks ! Dareen Bravo, after a bravo innings, fell for 73. A good innings indeed. The wicket taker, again, Both

Dhoni can upstage earlier captains like Kapil Dev, Ganguly and Azharuddin, if his team can survive the immense pressure building up. Indian fans want nothing but the World Cup. Here is a team formidable in batting and with reasonable bowling, with the subcontinental spin tracks aiding their bowlers. India has the best spin attack in the world with three front line and four part time spinners.( India always had the best spin attack. It is a tradition ! The famous quartet - Bedi, Prasanna, Chandra and Venkat were the greatest quartet to grace cricket ). Why not take the Cup? The only enemy will be pressure, but then the Indian team is habituated with pressure. The next Cup will be in Australia and nobody will give India high chances, as those pitches will aid fast bowling. But the Cup matches are in India ! Here is the golden chance which India need. Even though India had won the Cup in 1983, Dhoni stands to go one better, if his team lifts the Cup on Apr 2.Dhoni's men had already w

In Cricket Astrology, Mars is the planet of Cricket and the 3,6,7 and 11 houses are very important. The Third House signifies ability, courage, hands, energy, fitness, mental strength, intelligence. The Sixth House represents enemies, victory, action and competition. The Seventh House represents the opponent. The Eleventh House represents fame, gain, fulfillment of desire, ambitions, profits, wishes and desires. Sagittarius represents ground playing games and the Signs which trine Sag like Leo and Aries also become significant. Aries is the natural Ascendant of the Cosmic Man or Kalapurusha and Leo, the sign of sports and games. Mars represents the organising ability, administration, competition, determination and energy ( sathvam kujo ) . Mars is the most important planet in Cricket Astrology and you will find powerful Mars in the horoscopes of Cricketers. The power of 3,6,7 and 11 Houses also denote cricketing success. Mars is in the 7th House in Aries, forming Ruchaka Maha Yoga,

In Cricket Astrology, Mars is the planet of Cricket and the 3,6,7 and 11 houses are very important. The Third House signifies ability, courage, hands, energy, fitness, mental strength, intelligence. The Sixth House represents enemies, victory, action and competition. The Seventh House represents the opponent. The Eleventh House represents fame, gain, fulfillment of desire, ambitions, profits, wishes and desires. Sagittarius represents ground playing games and the Signs which trine Sag like Leo and Aries also become significant. Aries is the natural Ascendant of the Cosmic Man or Kalapurusha and Leo, the sign of sports and games. Mars represents the organising ability, administration, competition, determination and energy ( sathvam kujo ) . Mars is the most important planet in Cricket Astrology and you will find powerful Mars in the horoscopes of Cricketers. The power of 3,6,7 and 11 Houses also denote cricketing success. Mars is in the 7th House in Aries, forming Ruchaka Maha Yoga,

Kallis, the SA allrounder, rated as No 1 in Test ICC Rankings, said that SA is ready for any challenge. SA got 15 days rest and Kallis feels this is good for the team. "We had planned for these fifteen days in India. We got good rest. Therefore there was no trouble in whiling away the time. We only took to the nets two days before. This is the first time we had to wait so long for a match" the demon all rounder said. He says there are psychological states like "ON" and "OFF" in every players mind. We were in the OFF state for the last so many days. Now we are in the "ON" state. We started practice only day before yesterday onwards. We enjoyed the rest. This "rest" in between games is a veritable boon , as it gives injured players time to recoop. Dhoni and Imran hailed it. On the contrary, Pietersen and Ponting are against it !. In every player's mind, there is a clear cut method of tackling the opposition. For the last 15 days, our

South Africa go to the field in full strength. All teams should beware of them, says Mohinder Amarnath. They meet WI today. The cricketing fraternity gives 80% chance to SA and 20% to WI on current form. In the last ten matches, SA won all. WI cannot be written off easily. They have the greatest matchwinner in contemporary cricket, Chris Gayle. K Pollard and Dwayne Bravo are all matchwinners. If Gayle is in form, heaven help the opposition. SA on the other hand have powerful batsmen and bowlers. Kallis, Duminy, De Villiers, Amla and Smith form a formdidable batting line up. Morket, Steyn and Tsosobe from a deadly pace attack. The only negative factor is that they lack allrounders, apart from Kallis. Their spin attack also has not actualised potential. Botha, Peterson and Tahir are the spinners, but they are yet to be tested in Indian conditions. The subcontinental tracks are different from the SA pitches and it has to be seen how their formidable batting copes up with spinners. The sub

In Cricket Astrology, Mars is the planet of Cricket and the 3,6,7 and 11 houses are very important. The Third House signifies ability, courage, hands, energy, fitness, mental strength, intelligence. The Sixth House represents enemies, victory, action and competition. The Seventh House represents the opponent. The Eleventh House represents fame, gain, fulfillment of desire, ambitions, profits, wishes and desires. Sagittarius represents ground playing games and the Signs which trine Sag like Leo and Aries also become significant. Aries is the natural Ascendant of the Cosmic Man or Kalapurusha and Leo, the sign of sports and games. Mars represents the organising ability, administration, competition, determination and energy ( sathvam kujo ) . Mars is the most important planet in Cricket Astrology and you will find powerful Mars in the horoscopes of Cricketers. The power of 3,6,7 and 11 Houses also denote cricketing success. Mars is in the 7th House in Aries, forming Ruchaka Maha Yoga,

Pak are 11/1, having lost Hafeez, who was caught Waters bowled Otieno for 9. Now Kamran Akmal, the wicket keeper has joined Shehzad. Ajmal and Riaz were not included in the Eleven. There is nothing to worry about, as Pak bats right upto No 8. Now they are 12/2, having lost their second wicket. Shehzad was caught Kamande, the skipper, bowled Odoyo. These two wickets have put great pressure on the Pak, which is already pressurised. They have included maverick bowler, Shoib Akhtar, whose fitness is a question mark. In fact, Moin Khan was angry that Waqar, the manager, had questioned Shoaib's fitness. Now this is an opportunity for the great fast bowler to prove that he is fully fit. Now the Pakis are consolidating, even though on a slow start. Kamran Akmal, known for his lusty hits, is on 36 and Younus Khan is on 19. The Paki strategy also seems to be not to lose wickets in the first 30 overs, a strategy outlined by Ponting. All teams follow this strategy. It was only Sri Lanka with J

The SA great batsman, Barry Richards was suprised by the Ponting incident. It is said that Ponting smashed a TV in the dressing room, after he was run out. "The dressing room is supposed to be sacrosanct so I am a little bit disappointed. That sort of behaviour ... you don't want to hear about during a World Cup. You want to hear about Ricky Ponting making a 100, not messing up in the dressing room." said Richards. "But one thing is obvious that there is a lot of pressure on him to try and win the World Cup." Arun Lal, ex batsman and commentator was also severe on the Aussie skipper. "It's awful. If you are disappointed, there is no reason to turn violent. You are disappointed, you made a mistake, an error of judgement. Everybody is disappointed but how does that mean that you come and throw your kit. "It's too childish, grow up, for God's sake. You are playing the World Cup, you are an idol for the next generation." Graeme Hick was a

One of the fastest bowlers in contemporary cricket, Shaun Tait, will be used in short spells, says Ponting. Tait is injury-prone and hence will be lethal in short spells. His slinging bowling action ( does he remind one of Malinga? ) generates that extra pace for him. He is a terror with the new ball and can rip through any batting order. He swings the new ball and reverse swings the old one. He is a captain's favourite at tall times. It is to be remembered that he was second highest wicket taker with 23 wickets in the Carribean. His speed confounded many a batsman ! "If you look back at the last World Cup as well, that was exactly how I used him... in short sharp spells." said the Aussie skipper. "So don't be surprised if that is how we use him through this whole tournament."

The veteran swing bowler, Wasim Akram has opined that Sachin should bat 40 overs. His performance is the key to the Indian challenge. It is time we got hundreds from Sachin in the World Cup. As far as Indian batting is concerned, all seem to be in form except Yuvraj. But then Yuvraj is in good form with the ball ! India's real test will come when she faces the Proteas and the Kangaroos. Their pace attack is formidable and let us see how the Indian batting will cope up with their bowling. It is time India introduced Piyush Chawla. Going with three seamers will not help the Indian cause. The non Asian teams are good at playing pace and they will thrash the Indian seam attack. But not spin, as spin is their Achilles heel !

Zaheer and Bajji practised batting more at the Nets at Bangalore. The tail end is actually important. One expert said at a Test match " Now that we have got the batsmen out, let us get the run getters out" ! The Indian lower order is as important as the top order. Both Sehwag and Sachin want to bat the entire 50 overs ( Sachin batted the entire overs for his 200 not out against SA and Sehwag 47 overs in his 175 . Kohli is in sublime form. The other batsmen like Gambhir, Dhoni and Yuvraj are in reasonable form. But then the lower order becomes very important, should India lose some 3 to 4 wickets. The lower order is Pathan, Bajji and Zaheer. It is very important that they get runs. All these three allrounders are capable of scoring 40s or 50s and their batting will be handy in the days to come. Chawla and Ashwin have got hundreds in first class cricket, but this is the World Cup.

All experts are in India and Lanka. We are indeed fortunate that cricket analysis comes from experts and ex players. Mark Waugh has lauded the Kangaroo strategy. The Aussies were smarting under two defeats in the warm up matches. They had to save their face, lest they go down in the ratings of the bookies and the international cricketing fraternity. He says the Aussie strategy was good in the last match. Zimbabwe, knowing the Australian Achille's heel which is spin, opened the attack with a spinner. The Aussie strategy was not to lose early wickets and ony 65 runs were scored in the first 20 overs ! No Jayasuria Kaluwitharan stuff. No " Hit them, hit them and hit them" of Jayasuria ( Some opine that Srikanth was the precursor of this style of batting, which was modified by Greatbach and Sachin. In the 1983 WC final, Srikanth hooked, pulled and cut the giant fast bowlers of the West Indies ! ). This 65 runs off 20, reminded one of the ignorant days of the Powerplay. But th

The veteran Indian pace bowler, sounded a warning to all about the dangerous Paki side.They have a tendency to implode, but then they can explode at any time ! As far as reverse swing is concerned, Pakis are the masters. They had perfected this art. Today they move against Kenya. Even though they are under immense pressure, they can overcome that at any moment. Pressure on Pak, as three of their main players are banned. Amir and Asif are incredible talent, says Imran. ( Imran also said they deserved their punishment). If unpredictability is the hallmark of the Paki side, even this match becomes crucial. Remember yesterday's match, when the Netherlands, inspired by Tendo, almost beat England. Meanwhile, Ireland feels that the new ICC decision for a 10 nation format, will hurt Ireland's chances. She had recently applied for Test status. According to Srinath, Pak is one of the contenders of the Cup. Fast bowling is their forte. Umar Gul is the leader of their attack. Gul and othe

Strauss admitted that his side just got out of jail, as England beat a lion-hearted Netherlands yesterday. The Dutch scored 292 and England just romped home, with six wickets to spare. Tendo (Doeschate) scored a brilliant hundred and England seemes to waver against his onslaught. "Thankfully the batsmen got us out of jail." said the polished English captain. "We got a lot of things wrong with our bowling and we let them off the hook three or four times in the field as well so it was a very poor 50 overs." "It was an outstanding wicket for one-day cricket. We always knew if we kept wickets in hand we'd have a good chance of chasing it down." "We've got to take this on the chin, learn from it pretty quickly because you can't afford to do that too often. "We are very excited about the India game. It's going to be an amazing atmosphere and a great occasion. Hopefully we can spoil an Indian party there." Borren, the Ned captain, b

Yesterday it rained heavily for more than two hours. Started from 0600PM and lasted till 0830 PM. There is a saying in Malayalam " Kumbha mazhayil kathirum pookam " - that anything will sprout during the summer rains in the sidereal months of Aquarius. Temperature may rise to more than 40 degrees win the sidereal months of Aquarius ( Kumbha ) and Pisces ( Meena ). Kerala receives more than 400 mm rains during the summer. This comes as a big relief from the blistering heat. And when Kala Varsha ( South East Monsoon ) comes, people welcome it as a merciful release, even though it can wreak havoc on the "rural infrastructure" !

Yesterday it rained heavily for more than two hours. Started from 0600PM and lasted till 0830 PM. There is a saying in Malayalam " Kumbha mazhayil kathirum pookam " - that anything will sprout during the summer rains in the sidereal months of Aquarius. Temperature may rise to more than 40 degrees win the sidereal months of Aquarius ( Kumbha ) and Pisces ( Meena ). Kerala receives more than 400 mm rains during the summer. This comes as a big relief from the blistering heat. And when Kala Varsha ( South East Monsoon ) comes, people welcome it as a merciful release, even though it can wreak havoc on the "rural infrastructure" !

Yesterday it rained heavily for more than two hours. Started from 0600PM and lasted till 0830 PM. There is a saying in Malayalam " Kumbha mazhayil kathirum pookam " - that anything will sprout during the summer rains in the sidereal months of Aquarius. Temperature may rise to more than 40 degrees in the sidereal months of Aquarius ( Kumbha ) and Pisces ( Meena ). Kerala receives more than 400 mm rains during the summer. This comes as a big relief from the blistering heat. And when Kala Varsha ( South East Monsoon ) comes, people welcome it as a merciful release, even though it can wreak havoc on the "rural infrastructure" !

Netherlands scored 292/6, thus recording the highest score by an Associate. A great hundred by ten Doeschate,Tendo, 119 to be exact, was the hallmark of the Dutch innings. His superb ton enabled Holland to score the highest by an Associate. Maybe ICC will rethink about the 10 nation format for 2015. Now Ian Bell is gone, bowled by the centurion. England are 241/4, needing 7 per over and anything can happen. Strauss scored 88, Trott 62 and Pietersen 39 out of the England total of 241/4. England started their chase well, with an opening partnership of 105 between Strauss and Pietersen. Pietersen was the first to go at 105 but then Trott (69) steadied the England innings. The centurion had Trott stumped and then bowled Ian Bell. Now Bopara has joined by Collingwood and England are 256/4, needing 37 off 30 balls ! Collingwood's experience is proving valuable as he with Bopara is taking England to the goal. Now England wants only 14 runs off 13 ! Ravi Bopara has hit a six and a four and

Sri Lanka is in the midst of cricket fever. Giant photos of her cricketers adorn the streets. But one photo is missing - that of Sachin Tendulkar. "I have seen God. He bats at No 4 for India " said Mathew Hayden and the Lankans have not done justice to this genius. Are they afraid of Sachin ? The final will be in Mumbai, in Sachin's home town. He has the highest number of runs in the WC, 1822 ! He holds the highest record score in ODIs, 200 not out ! He has 97 centuries in international cricket. He just needs three more hundreds to make it a century of centuries. Can he do it? Can he, with the help of Sehwag & Co, bring back the Cup?. All Indians dream of an India Australia final, with Dhoni holding aloft the WC and giving it to Sachin. Can he do it ?

Remember Graham Gooch calling on the Bombay bowlers, playing them for 4 days and then sweeping England to victory ? Australia will do the same. Now the Kangaroos are revising their strategy and the new method is to preserve wickets in the inital overs. They could only score 262 against minnows, Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe opened with a spinner and the whole world now know that Australia is on a sticky wicket ! Here the formidable World Champions have an Achilles heel, ready to be exploited by other teams on the subcontinental spin tracks ! In the warm up match against India, they could only score 176 and yesterday, they could only muster 262. "We need to sort out our game and our game plans for better spin attacks. There is no doubt about that." said the Aussie skipper, Ponting. Better application is needed if they are to improve on their 30 match unbeaten streak in the World Cup. Ajmal,Vettori, Murali, Mendis, Chawla, Bajji, Yuvraj, Tahir - all can become deadly on the subcontinental

The Aussie captain, Ponting, said that his team's strategy will be to keep wickets till the middle overs. "Preserving wickets is going to be our strategy through the tournament. We will be looking to preserve wickets till the middle overs. That will help in negotiating spinners and accelerate during powerplays. The wicket today played real good. Luckily, we kept wickets in hand and got us to a good total." said the wily Kangaroo captain. The wicket was slow. It was tough to get any pace on the ball. The Zimbabwean spinners bowled well and it was difficult to get going. They bowled and fielded really well." Shane Watson, the Man of the Match yesterday, said that yesterday's match will help the team to combat spin in the coming matches. "There will be a lot of spinners used against us. The ball did not spin as much on this wicket. This game was good practice to combat spin as the tournament progresses." said the giant all rounder. He admitted that it took

The dreaded Aussie pace trio of Lee, Tait and Johnson have done it again. Johnson took four wickets, Tait two and Lee one in the match against minnows, Zimbabwe. As Allan Border said it will be the Aussie trio which will retain the Cup. The Zimbabwean batsmen were all at sea against the formidable trio. With Shane Watson, Krejza, Hastings, Smith, Hussey lending support, the Aussie attack is the best in the World Cup. All media talks about the formidable Indian batting and Australian bowling. "There wasn't much in it for the quicks. I thought Johnson was outstanding and Tait's just working up to match fitness so to get eight or nine overs out of him was a real bonus," said Ponting. "I thought our spinners also did a pretty good job." Johnson's 4-19 did justice to his talent. "I got a bit of rhythm out there tonight and it felt really good." said the demon fast bowler. "I think the boys did an exceptional job. Zimbabwe came out firing, playe

Zimbabwe are 96/6, chasing 263 to win against mighty Australia. The Kangaroos scored 262/6 in their 50 overs, thanks to 79 by Watson and a 58 no by Clarke. Ponting was run out for 28. Lee, Tait and Johnson bowled at almost 145 kph to bamboozle the Zimbabwean batsmen. Krejza bowled well and picked up one wicket. Shaun Tait was the most impressive. The formidable Aussie bowling of Lee, Tait, Johnson, Watson and Krejza was too much for the Zimbabweans ! The Kangaroos won the match by 91 runs as Zim could not chase 262. But it seems that the Aussie batting has not asserted itself. They scored only 262 against minnows, Zim. It is said of Australian bowling that theirs is the most lethal attack, with a formidable array of attacking bowlers. One expert opined that they can either bowl the opposition for 50 or go on chasing 500 ! The pace which their trio - Lee, Tait and Johnson - generated was awesome, but then any batsman who can use the pace of the ball can score heavily ! Aussies continued

Dhoni shot to fame with a superb, blistering 141 against the Pakis, a century on ODI debut. From then, he has not looked backwards. His horoscope is marked by the presence of Bhadra Yoga in the House of Profession, endowing him with skills galore. The Sun and Mercury conjunction is called Nipuna Yoga, a yoga for skill. Jupiter in the Ascendant electrifies the horoscope, giving divine protection. The Lunar-Jupiterian conjunction makes him very intelligent and a leader of men ( Vikrantham kula mukhya masthiramathim vitheswaram sangira ). Venus in the Eleventh is a Raja Yoga. Rahu in the 11th is excellent, financially. He is undergoing the second Sade Sathi and the second Sade Sathi is always promotional ! Rajiv Gandhi came to power during his second Sade Sathi. The second Sade Sathi s known as Rising Saturn or Pongum Shan i. While it is promotional, it can give tensions galore. Transit Jupiter is transiting his 7th and there are no negative effects involved. Only problem is the second

Indian veteran pace bowler Sreenath told Indians not to crucify Sreeshant. Sreeshant gave 53 runs in the match against BD. The dew was very much there and the Indian bowlers could not grip the ball. Because of the dew factor only did Shakib elect to field. The dew factor weighed heavily on Shakib's mind, according to Imran. It is always better not to crucify anybody. Any player can have a bad day in office. Sreenath opined that the Indian bowling was always an area of concern and the Indian bowlers did overcome some challenges. One should know the mental state Sreeshant is in. He was not there in the fifteen and he came in as a replacement for Praveen. He was also not in the eleven and he came as a replacement for Nehra. So he is not fully prepared. His tendency to attack with pace and swing also proved futile. The ICC's decision to field only ten teams for 2015 WC was proved right by the performance of Kenya and Canada. Both were ousted by professional teams. Pietersen had att

Amir Sohail, ex batsman of Pak, feels that India has started her campaign on a flyer. She has given a great demonstration of her powerful batting strength. The only way is to restrict the current favourites to 280 odd and then have a go at their bowlers. Writing in his column for the 'News', the Pak batsman says " "If the teams who are yet to come up against India find a way to restrict their batting to around the 280 mark, I strongly believe they can upset the favourites." "If you look at the Indian side closely, you will find they need to improve their fielding and on occasions the bowling can be vulnerable on a decent pitch where they could go for runs." "Virender Sehwag who recently said that he would be looking to bat for the full 50 overs, made his intent clear by playing some exquisite strokes and settled down to gather singles with his partners, before a mix-up with Sachin Tendulkar saw the little master run out by the length of the wicket

The Pakis stunned the world with their ability to reverse swing the ball. Waqar and Wasim became deadly with the old ball. Now Umar Gul of Pak, Zaheer of India and Malinga of SL are known to be the experts of this sort of swing. Allan Donald, the new NZ coach, feels that the reverse swing can make or break a team Says he "The reverse swing is a massive thing and a huge key for me in this World Cup. That is where (the death overs) games are going to be won and lost." That the Kiwis have reverse swingers was proved in the second match of the WC, when they shot out Kenya for 69. Says the Kiwi skipper, Vettori "I think Tim Southee and Jacob Oram are probably the two best guys who have the ability to bowl both... Hopefully with Allan's knowledge, it will improve and we will find some result". So batsmen, beware !

The NZ bowlers skittled out Kenya for 69, in a WC match at Chennai. Southee struck first blood, removing Obanda. The Kenyans were all at sea against some accurate Kiwi bowling. No upset happened, as NZ scored 72/0 and won the match with ten wickets to spare. Bennett was the pick of the Kiwi bowlers, taking 4/16. Big man Oram finished with 3/2 ! Kenya has crashed to their lowest total in the WC. Guptill and McCullum scored 72 and the match was over.

The minnows of the game should not be despised, says Hadlee. I remember in the 1983 World Cup inaugural match, 33/1 favourites India surprised West Indies and Zimbabwe suprised Australia. In the 2007 WC, Ireland beat Pakistan and BD India. So the smaller teams are capable of creating upsets. "I still feel that there will be many upsets in this WC" says Sir Richard Hadlee. Rod Marsh, the coach of Global Academy, Dubai and ex wicket keeper had assured him that the minnows of the game had prepared well for the ICC WC. In 1996, Kenya upset WI. They beat SL in 2003 ! "I feel that Ireland will create an upset in this WC" says the giant allrounder. Netherlands, Kenya, Canada, Zimbabwe - all these teams are capable of creating upsets. Many Pakis could not tolerate Pak's loss to Ireland ! Upsets are charming, they neutrallise all calculations and the upsetting teams get pulbicity galore !

Sehwag said he is happy to equal the record of Kapil Dev. Kapil had blasted the Zimbabweans for a blistering 175 not in a World Cup match at Turnbridge Wells, in 1983. He said he wanted to bat the entire 50 overs and scoring a double hundred was never in his mind. "No, not at all. I never thought about getting a double century. When I got out less then three overs were left. I could have got a maximum of 15 balls and score 25 runs.I didn't even think about getting a double century. My target was to play 50 overs." the whirlwind hitter said. "I am happy and honoured to have equalled his (Kapil Dev) score in the World Cup. People will now speak about both of us getting 175." "My strike rate was still more than 100. My aim was to bat minimum 30-40 overs and when I batted 47 I was happy that at least once in my career I had batted for so long. I was planning to bat 50 overs but could not do that today. Hopefully will do that some time." "I think I hit

Many go by the performance in the warm up matches. But then Australia will bounce back, feels Mark Waugh. The format of this World Cup favours the Kangaroos, said the great batsman. Once they win a match, then they know how to stay on top. Mark Waugh's perspective display Aussie determination. It should be remembered that Australia were in dire straits, facing the threat of elimination, when Gibbsy dropped S Waugh. Steve Waugh then went on to score a century and the Kangaroos won the match. Aussies won the Cup in 1999 and have not looked back. They have the best bowling attack in the world, with Tait, Lee, Johnson, Bollinger, Krejza, Watson and Hastings. So dont write them off ! If you include the warm up matches, India scored more than 350 against BD and NZ. But not against Australia and all that India could muster was 214. India, of course, won the match, due to world class spin bowling ! Mark Waugh said that it is time Cameroon White justified the faith reposed in him by the sel

The Mirpur stadium watched in awe and disbelief as Indian batsmen went on the rampage. If Sehwag was a monster unleashed, young Kohli was Poetry in Motion ! The World Cup was inaugurated magnificently, with the first ball hit for for four by Sehwag. Sehwag smote Islam for three fours in the first over and what a grand way to begin the tenth edition of the World Cup ! The dance of devastation unleashed by the Indians now ensures packed and filled stadiums in India, which will make the Cup a financial success ! Sehwag was born in the constellation of the Lion, Leo and his activities are like a lion unleashed. He does not care for anything and plays his natural game. This time he was more cautious, as he had said earlier that his intention was to bat the entire 50 overs. Sachin's determination is also the same and both do not have to fear as India has now many batsmen in form. Only Yuvraj's form with the bat is suspect, but he will come back to form at any moment. ( Stuart Broad