YUVI'S ALL-ROUND SHOW SEALS INDIAN VICTORY

Ever since Ireland upset England last week after chasing down a mammoth total of 328 runs after being 111-5 at one stage, thanks to a blistering century by their middle order batsman Kevin O'Brien, there was a big hype of the Irish team getting ready to upset Team India as well when both would have faced each other at the same M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

The day was set. A beautiful Sunday afternoon with the entire nation waiting for an Indian win. Although a win was definitely on the cards, the unpredictable nature of the game and the upsetting results we have had so far in the tourney, just did not let us breathe a sigh of relief. There was this fear of a shocking loss all throughout ; and trust me at some point of the game, it did start to prove right.

Irish captain Porterfield's century in vain.

Captain MS Dhoni unlike previous occasions decided to field first reading the conditions well that hinted towards assisting the spinners more in the afternoon than later in the evening. Team India got a couple of early breakthroughs, both by pace spearhead Zaheer Khan. After that, Irish skipper William Porterfield and middle order batsman Neil O'Brien built on a century partnership stand, the former going to complete his half-century. At this stage, Ireland was going on well after having lost two early wickets and a total of close to 250 seemed quite possible on the boards.

Yuvraj with captain Dhoni after taking his 5-wicket hall.

But soon came the part-time spin of Yuvraj Singh, who bowled like the main spinner of the team and started dismissing the opponents at regular intervals putting a brake on the scoring rate as well. He soon completed with his best ODI figures of 5-31, achieving the feat of being the only left arm-spinner to take 5 wickets in a World Cup match. Today, captain Dhoni relied more on Yuvi than on his regular spinners Harbhajan and Chawla. Lead pacer Zaheer continued his good rhythm, picking up 3 wickets to give his bowling some more boost.

Ireland set India a modest target of 208 to win, but chasing under lights has never been easy, taking into account our sub-continent conditions.

Irish bowler DT Johnston started quite well for his team by picking up the dangerous Virender Sehwag very early in the innings and then after a short-while even Gautam Gambhir. ANd at this stage India were in a bit of trouble after being two down for only 24. Then young lad Virat Kohli joined the 'Little Master' Sachin Tendulkar in the middle and both consolidated the innings putting up a crucial 63 run partnership. As things were looking good for India, both these set batsmen departed in quick succession, passing on the responsibility to captain MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. India at this stage were reeling for 100-4. Many thought, if in 2007 it was Bangladesh, Ireland it would be in 2011. But that was not to be.

Dhoni & Yuvraj after their crucial 50-run partnership stand.

Yuvraj, as many expected, did well with the bat once again to give his team and his fans the assurance that he was getting back to his normal form- the Yuvi we have known for years. Both played a very matured innings understanding the need of the hour. Knocking the ball in the gaps was the order of the day and both did just that. Both added a much needed 67-run partnership before captain Dhoni fell was struck leg before wicket off the bowling of spinner Dockrell.

Yusuf Pathan powers one outside the ground.

Irish players thought, even now they had an outer chance of winning this game, but little did they know that the next in line was the brutal Yusuf Pathan, who wasted no time in settling himself. He hit 3 huge sixes and 2 boundaries to present a rather contrasting picture to all of us. His short, yet fast-paced innings just snatched away the game from Ireland and made us comfortable winners of the game, which at one point of time seemed quite difficult. This is what the magic of someone like a Yusuf Pathan can do to your team and the match.

Yuvraj on the other end, with the help of Pathan ofcourse, managed to compile yet another half-century for himself, truly a well-deserved once. His all-round performance was the major cause of victory tonight. First with the ball and then with the bat, what a day he had on the cricket field.

At the end, it was Yuvraj all-round show that helped us get two points on the points table. But the Indian bowling still continue to be a concern. We really need to do something with our bowling department in order to improve our performance. Chawla has not seemed to work to well, so may be there lies an opportunity to give R Ashwin a chance, against the Netherlands to see how the youngster fares up. The fielding definitely looked good today. The Indians were charged up, just to show that they were not complacent.

Next, we take on the Netherlands and it would be interesting to see the playing XI for that game. Till then, its me signing off by wishing Team India all the very best for the upcoming matches.

Source of pictures: http://www.espncricinfo.com/

ENGLAND SPOILS AN INDIAN PARTY

Indian & England players congratulate each other after a thrilling draw.

676 runs, 18 wickets and a tie at the end. Who would have thought that the India-England encounter at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore would produce such interesting numbers. We all went into the match with a hope that rain stays away and does not spoil a perfect Sunday for all cricket lovers. To our utter surprise, not even a drop of rain interrupted the proceedings. But what spoilt it all was the end-result of the game, which ended in a tie leaving all Indian fans and supporters (including me) highly disappointed and in complete awe, courtesy some terrible performance by the Indian bowlers and some fantastic batting display by the English men in the middle.

As expected, the nation is in distress and negative sentiments have already started pouring in from all corners of the country that this team has no potential. I am sorry I beg to differ. I am ready to admit that it was only because of the pathetic bowling display that we could not win this match. I even think we did not draw it, England drew it and we lost it. But having said that I am not willing to be one of those mean-minded citizens of the country who only has the courage to support the team when it is playing fantastically well. I am a strong lover of the game who thinks winning and losing are part of it but you have to know why you win and why you lose. If you cannot defend a mammoth total of 338 on your own soil that too against a foreign team, that does not mean you do not have the calibre to qualify for the nest rounds of the tournament. Had that been the case, we would not have been able to defend 191 runs against South Africa in South Africa just a month back. But we did. Cricket is an unpredictable game and you have to respect it that ways.

Team India and captain MS Dhoni could not have asked for a better beginning to a Sunday afternoon after having won the toss and putting the opposition take the field first. We had to bat in sub-continent conditions and we did just that. Openers Sehwag and Tendulkar got the team off to a decent start earning 46 runs for the first wicket. Sehwag was at his usual self playing the odd shots and giving the opposition few unorthodox chances, something which he frequently does.

Tendulkar after reaching his century.

Maestro Tendulkar after starting off cautiously, gradually built up his innings like a true master showing why he is what he is today. With the help of Gautam Gambhir, who after scoring his half century got out in the same fashion as in the last game against Bangladesh, Sachin reached his 98th International Century and his 47th in ODI. With this hundred, he now has 5 World Cup centuries, more than anyone else in the history of the game.

Gambhir and Tendulkar during their century partnership stand.

At this stage, when most thought it would have been sensible for Dhoni to come out in the middle and take guard, he promoted Yuvraj ahead of himself in order to give him some confidence in the middle. Yuvraj did pace his innings well managing to score a half-century, first in partnership with Sachin and then with captain Dhoni himself. The Indian middle order did falter a bit today, with crucial wickets falling at the wrong time. Even the batting power-play could not produce some bright results for us. An innings total of 350 which seemed gettable at one point of time could only be seen wrapped up at 338.

Chasing 338 runs on any given day is a herculean task, no matter where you play, whom you play against. And when you put your opposition to bat with such a huge total to chase on a sub-continent pitch that too under lights, you definitely are on the winning side. What you all have to do is bowl a decent line and length with no experiments and innovations whatsoever. This is where team India failed today. Their bowling off late has been criticised like hell. they have been all over the place with their deliveries to batsmen. And today was just that day when the Indian bowlers found no rhythm. Not even the pace spearhead Zaheer Khan and the much in-form Munaf Patel.

Munaf sits in amazement after dismissing Pietersen.

The English batsmen did no wrong to kick start their innings going at 7.00 runs an over with both openers captain Andrew Strauss and his partner Kevin Pietersen looking in golden touch. After being hit all over the park, the Indians did manage to break through with Munaf picking up Pietersen in one of the strangest caught and bowled dismissals one would ever come across in the history of the game.

England Captain Andrew Strauss after completing his century.

Captain Strauss led from the front, starting from where he left in the match against Netherlands and going on to make yet another well deserved century. He scored 158 runs before being scalped leg before wicket by Zaheer. But the damage had already been done. Captain MS Dhoni did express his anger at the UDRS system after his decision to opt for the referral system to dismiss batsman Ian Bell was out plumb before wicket was over-ruled by a strange 2.5m rule of the game, which no one seemed to know except England captain Andrew Strauss. It was the crucial 3rd wicket partnership between Strauss and Bell which in my opinion took away the game from the men in blue.

Indian Captain MS Dhoni calls for the UDRS.

It all went down to the last over with England needing 14 runs to win. A player in the form of A Shahzad emerged from nowhere to hit a six and make matters worse for India. He had a miserable day in the field. His bowling was out of place and a couple of mis-fields would have added insult to injury. He had to make up for all this and he did with that crucial six to end the game in an unexpected draw.

The verdict is absolutely clear. India has to work tremendously on their bowling to win matches or else even a score of an excess of 400 would be tough to defend. Former Indian Captain Anil Kumble went on the record saying that India will have to bowl well to win the match. Sadly, this did not happen and we lost this game. Although the statistics and points table might show that the match was a tie, I think we completely lost it, due to our poor bowling display.

It's about time that we start start bowling a decent line and length or else it will be way too difficult to even enter the quarter finals.

Picture Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/

INDIA ENGLAND GEAR UP FOR A COMPELLING FACE-OFF

Indian Captain MS Dhoni warms up during a net session.

No Eden Gardens, scarce tickets, Virender Sehwag injured, Yuvraj Singh injured, Tendulkar's injury a major concern, continuous rain in Bangalore.

Yes, all the above, unfortunately have been a big threat to the India-England encounter at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore on Sunday. It is a big match for both teams, more so for the nation - and negative series of events like the ones mentioned above just does not make it any better.

Unprepared Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Firstly, the Eden fiasco had its own share of controversies. People now feel that its the 'Kolkata' curse that is hunting Bangalore. Eden is considered to be one the best grounds in Asia and definitely, back in the 1990's, had the reputation of being one of the best in the world. But the ground authorities failed to complete renovation on the said date and consequently the match, which was initially supposed to take place in Kolkata is now scheduled to be played in Bangalore.

Adding insult to injury is the rain, which is continuously pouring in the city from Thursday afternoon. 21 mm rain on Friday flooded the Chinnaswamy Stadium but the Karnataka State

Cricket Association officials said 'there is nothing to worry'. Predictions by the met department that there would be a 'thunderstorm with rain' makes matters worse for all of us.

(L-R) Pathan, Chawla and Harbhajan practice in Bangalore.

Now coming to the real scenario of the game, it's long been said that injuries are good friends of Team India. Opening Batsman Virender Sehwag was not even completely fit before a ball hit him on his ribs during a net session. Explosive middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh also injured himself, though both these injuries are considered to be minor ones. Good news for Team India (but not for me) seems to be the come back of pace bowler Asish Nehra, who is all set to take a place in the bowling department. It is most likely that Sreesanth will have to sit out. What would be interesting to see will be whether captain MS Dhoni would still go with only one spinner, Harbhajan Singh, or would feel the need to rope in another in the form of either R.Ashwin or Piyush Chawla, though the inclusion of the latter seems more probable.

England player Kevin Pietersen during a practice session in Bangalore.

The England team on the other hand would rather prefer keeping things under the shallow and surprise their opponent by a brilliant performance. I suppose they are still not out of their Ashes win but pretty sure they have just buried deep under, their poor ODI loss against the Aussies. Kevin Pietersen is in good form and statistically he is England's best batsman in India with an average of 56.08 from 14 matches and the lone century maker among the team's current top order. Also to take note is the fact that he has been the only England player to feature regularly and thus play most number of matches in the Indian Premier League, for his franchisee Royal Challengers Bangalore. So, no doubt he knows the Indian playing conditions more than some of his counterparts.

Well, here's wishing MS and his Team India All the Very Best for the crucial face-off. Rock on Guyz !

Picture Source: Cricinfo.com

B2B- BANGLADESH TO BANGALORE

Captain MS Dhoni and S Hassan at the toss.

So finally the ICC 2011 World Cup has begun.Finally, Team India has managed to seek revenge on Bangla Tigers by defeating them by 87 runs in the opening match of the tournament.

The next target for India is England, when both teams face off on 27 February at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

Although, it was unlikely that Bangladesh would defeat India, people were still sceptical about the final result considering how unpredictable the game of cricket is. Team India did well to post a huge total of 370, thanks to the blistering Indian opening batsman Virender Sehwag, who scored 175runs off just 140 balls. Giving him perfect company was young lad Virat Kohli, who has been in the form of his life in recent times. He remained unbeaten on 100. Their partnership yielded 203 runs for the 3rd wicket.

Sehwag and his opener at the other end, maestro Tendulkar started off well but the latter was run out on 28 due to a big miscommunication in the middle. It goes without stating that Sehwag would have had to apologize to his senior for this blunder, but I am sure Sehwag's innings which helped his team to post such a mammoth total would have covered up the whole incident. And as we all know Tendulkar has been the most gentle player the game has ever produced.

Opener Sehwag after reaching his century.

Sehwag did not leave any opportunity to go after the Bangla bowlers. He took on each and every one of them. Though he lost Tendulkar and Gambhir at the other end, Kohli's firm presence just made it a touch easier for him to blast his way out in the middle. Many might think he missed out on a double hundred, a record set by his counterpart Sachin Tendulkar against South Africa last year. Sehwag, however, was found struggling with some form of an injury and was forced to call upon a runner in the form of Gautam Gambhir. But this did not deter him to punish the bowlers in his own destructive way.

Kohli pumps the air after reaching his century.

Virat Kohli, as we all know, is turning out to be the brightest future for Team India. His prolific batting just shows the amount of confidence this youngster possesses in himself at the moment. Getting a preference over an equally talented player Suresh Raina is not at all an easy task, but he is making his each presence count. Who can forget his century against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens in 2009 and his partnership with Gautam Gambhir which simple snatched the game from the Lankans. India had a big total to chase and had already lost openers Tendulkar and Sehwag quite early in the innings. This player has miles to go.

A couple of interesting features that this match highlighted were as follows:

• The first World Cup 100 this year is by an Indian- Virender Sehwag
• Virat Kohli scored his first World Cup Hundred in the very first match he is given a chance to play in.

The next challenge for Team India is just few days away when they take on the in-form / out-of-form (as you may call it) English players. The England team was on a high after having won the Ashes in Australia but their poor performance in the ODI's has definitely come as a shock to them. But, I am sure they would take no time to bounce back and give some tough time to their opponents.

Team India has already left for Bangalore. Injure woes still continue to haunt the Indian players. Even Tendulkar, to the relief of all of us, managed to clear his MRI scan and had to leave a day later to join his team in Bangalore. Pace bowler Nehra is already benching himself because of an injury. Apparently, Sreesanth's bowling match took a pounding against Bangladesh in the last match. Everything seemed to work well for the team, but Sreesanth. In the only 5 overs that he was allowed to bowl, he ended up conceding 53 runs. It was due to this that Bangla batsmen managed to get off to a flyer. I would say, he did not bowl as poorly as the figures show. It was just brilliant batting by the opposition which made it worse for him and his team.

Bowler Munaf Patel continues to impress.

Munaf Patel, on the other hand, continued to impress one and all by giving his team the much needed breakthrough and ending up with an impressive figures of 4 for 48 of his full quota of 10 overs. It was a bit difficult for me to digest the fact that only one spinner in the form of Harbhajan Singh was included in the side for this game. Taking Piyush Chawla's wonderful performance in the 2 warm up games into consideration, I felt it would have been wise to rope him in instead of an extra pacer, just to carry on the good momentum he was in.

India has started off on a strong note. It is very important for them to carry on in the same league and let go off the negatives that took place in the last game, in the form of some poor bowling and fielding. If we are to put up a consistent performance, it is of utmost importance that our fielding gets in place.

Here's a look at Sehwag's blistering innings against Bangladesh.

Picture Courtesy: cricinfo

Video Courtesy: YouTube

DHONI CASTIGATES KIWIS

Dhoni en route to his century against New Zealand in Chennai

When was the last time we witnessed captain MS Dhoni smashing the white cricket ball all around the park ? When was the last match when he himself had a strike rate of more than 100 ? Hmm.. Nothing off late that atleast I can think of. Well, the only innings of his that hits my mind on those line is his super knock of 54 not out for his franchisee Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 3 against the Kings XI Punjab, which eventually earned his team a berth in the semis. Had it not been for the couple of sixes he hit off Irfan Pathan in the last over of the match, CSK would have been shown the doors.

He had been having a rough patch with the bat. The critics left no opportunity to take a dig at him but I, being an ardent fan and follower of MS and his instincts, was pretty sure that the moment was not very far away when he would bounce back like a 'phoenix'. And today was the day destined to silence all those people who thought he can't even hold the bat.

Team India played their second warm-up game at Chepauk stadium, Chennai against New Zealand. Little master Sachin Tendulkar was included in the side, just to give him that short practice he needs before the big opening match on 19 February against Bangladesh and also to let the regular Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar bat together before the main encounter. The opening stand did not do any wonders for the team as the New Zealand pace-attack was successful in dismissing them early in the innings. At one point, a score of 250 seemed impossible on the board with the team struggling to score at 5.00 runs per over. But thanks to some brilliant batting by Gautam Gambhir (89) and youngster Virat Kohli (59) the batting gained the much required momentum. Having said this, who would have imagined a total of an excess of 300 was in store for the Kiwis to chase?

Dhoni after blazing away to his century.

The stage was perfectly set for captain MS Dhoni to capitalize on the scoring rate, courtesy a good century stand between Gambhir and Kohli. He did the right thing by promoting himself up the order ahead of Yuvraj Singh. He did start off cautiously,obviously with his poor batting form in his mind, but wasted no time in slaughtering the Kiwi attack to reach a well deserved century off just 60 balls. This century, I am sure, will do him a world of good considering the crucial time it has come at.

Watch the highlights of Dhoni's brutal batting today:

Raina hit a fast 50 to boost his confidence after a lean patch

Suresh Raina soon joined the party smashing a much-needed half-century off 25 balls to raise his confidence bar, which has been slightly low in the recent past. He played a perfect companion to his skipper by getting runs from the other end. This helped the team keep the momentum going. Although he did well to score a 50 today, the final verdict whether he would make it to the final XI or not still remains doubtful, with the overall chances favouring Virat Kholi, simply because of the prime form he has been off late.

An interesting and unique co-incidence that struck my mind at this point of the match was a flavour of the IPL team 'Chennai Super Kings' that was around the ground. To start off, the match was being played in Chennai (the home ground of CSK), the two batsmen in the middle were Dhoni (captain of CSK) and Raina (Vice-Captain) and two of the bowlers who were being hit all over the park were Jacob Oram (an ex member of CSK) and Scott Styris ( a future CSK member slated to play in IPL 4). Because of some terrific batting by Gambhir, Kohli, Raina and the captain leading from the front with his unbeaten century knock, team India managed to post a mammoth total of 360, which almost gave them a victorybefore they could take the field for the second innings. But as they say, cricket is a funny and an unpredictable game.Anything can happen.

New Zealand did manage to get off to a flyer, thanks to some onslaught by openers Brendom McCullum and Martin Guptill. Just as they looked good to put up a century opening stand spinner Ashwin played a spoilsport by scalping Guptill caught behind by Dhoni. McCullum did well to reach his half-century but soon departed run out by Dhoni / Raina. Ryder looked decent but could not carry on for long as the spin spearhead Harbhajan had him caught by Yuvraj.

Indian spinners once again at their level best.

After this, the Kiwis seemed to jump all over the place and a couple of wickets each by Chawla, Harbhajan, Yuvraj and Nehra (at the end) ensured the team a comprehensive 117 run victory. This once again proved the spin-friendly conditions of the tracks in the sub-continent. I, at times wonder if we at all require Zaheer Khan, Nehra, Sreesanth and Munaf Patel in the team. Might as well players like Harbhajan, Ashwin, Chawla, Yuvraj, Raina and Pathan do the job.

There is no doubt that Team India has had a couple of wonderful warm up games. But, now its time to keep these sweet memories behind and gear up for the main challenge. I am sure they have already done that. Not to forget they will be facing Bangladesh on their home soil. The home support will play a big hand. For team India, this is the best time to take a revenge against the team who destroyed their dreams of qualifying for the next round of matches in the 2007 World Cup.

Let's hope that the 'Men in Blue' take all the positives, not only from the last couple of warm up matches, but whatever they have gained over the past 2 years which has given them the no.2 ODI ranking and the no.1 Test status.

I wish MS and his army all the very best for the first encounter !!! Rock the world guyz !!

TEAM INDIA WARMS UP WITH A WIN

Team India walking back home after defeating Australia by 38 runs

The whole concept of warm-up games are not new to those who live the game, just like me. Just the way teams have net sessions everyday and a practice game after tat, a warm-up game is quite similar, only that the opponent in this case is a different nation. The whole environment is just a touch serious when teams wear their national colours and if this game called cricket is being played in India, one better take it seriously.

Warm-up games are, no doubt, important- just to get you into the groove. But I am not too sure whether a win or loss in such games have any effect on the mindset of the players and the respective teams. But it definitely gets you going for the whole campaign. A win in such matches does not guarantee you a birth in the quarter-final stage nor does a loss take away any chances of you lifting the Cup.

But having said all this, let us not take away the credit from Team India for kick-starting their World Cup 2011 Campaign on a high and a positive note after defeating world champions Australia in Bangalore early today. It is rightly said, "Never take your enemy casually" and that is what the Indian team did today. Facing the Aussies first-up in the tournament and beating them can do a world of good to you and MS Dhoni & his men, I must say, did quite well to finally win the game, which at one point of time seemed totally impossible.

Sehwag after scoring his half-century

Having elected to bat first after winning the toss, India got off to a poor start losing their opening batsman Gautam Gambhir early in the innings. Virat Kohli, who came in next, did hit few good boundaries but he too did not last long. The next three batsmen in the form of Yuvraj Singh, captain MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina could not trouble the scorers either and fell cheaply to some good disciplined bowling by Brett Lee and John Hastings. Remember team India, rightly so, decided to rest maestro Sachin Tendulkar and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan for the warm-up game. So it was upto the likes of Gambhir, Kohli, Yuvraj, Dhoni and Raina to lead the batting line up but that unfortunately did not happen. The top-order and middle order collapsed once again. It was only Virender Sehwag who looked good with the bat today. He scored a quick 56 before getting out to spinner Jason Krejza.

Again it was left to the brutal force of Yusuf Pathan to add some crucial runs and help his team reach a decent score to defend. He was in that mode, having scored 32 crucial runs, but could not carry further. Credit has to be given to spinner R Ashwin who stuck to his crease and scored those much needed 25 runs off 47 balls. Team India could not bat through to their full quota of 50 overs and was bundled out cheaply for 214 runs, setting the World Champions, literally the easiest of targets to chase under lights (Well that's what everyone thought, including me).

Chasing a score under lights, that too in the sub-continent is never an easy task- and this game proved it again. The Aussies got off to a flyer, courtesy some handsome batting by their openers Shane Watson and Tim Paine. India's wild-card entry S Sreesanth managed to get a breakthrough for his team and slow down the scoring rate. Captain Ricky Ponting also played a decent knock of 57 runs. The Aussies were cruising along quite well at 120-3 in 22 overs, until the 'Chawla Spin Fever' got onto them.

Clarke was Chawla's 1st dismissal followed by White, Hussey & Fergusson

The selection of Piyush Chawla in the final 15-member squad had not gone down too well with different sections of the society- media, mass (including me), former players,etc. And this reaction of his inclusion in the team was in his head. He just waited for this day to answer all of them back with his turning deliveries. He silenced all his critics by picking up four big wickets- Michael Clarke, David Hussey, Craig White and Callum Fergusson, that too at crucial junctures of the match.

India's ace off-spin bowler Harbhajan continued his consistent record of dismissing his patent opponent player Ricky Ponting along with Johnson and Krejza towards to bottom end of the innings.

Piyush Chawla silenced one and all with his match-winning spell of 4-31

To summarize it all, in my opinion, the day belonged to spinner Piyush Chawla who managed to get good turn on the pitch. Though there have been criticisms about the condition of the pitch, one cannot take away the due credit for this young spinner who is yet to get a confirmed place in the full-strength Indian team. Having said that, it is now high-time India should get order their top-order clicking and stop hoping players like Pathan, Harbhajan, Ashwin to score some crucial 30-35 runs in order to post a decent total. Let the openers consolidate a good score to be only complemented by some big hitting towards the death end by the ever-brutal Yusuf Pathan.

But as said in the beginning, I am sure both teams will leave the result of this game behind and start preparing themselves for the main encounter that starts on Saturday February 19 at Dhaka, Bangladesh. Hardly did anyone expect India to defend this score against the Aussies but at the end all went well and gave us the confidence that we can still defend a total as meagre as 214, if our bowling department can work wonders just like it did today.

Here's wishing Team India good luck for their next practice game against the Kiwis on the 16th of February and even better luck for the league matches starting on Saturday.

Picture Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/?CMP=chrome

NO RESERVE WICKET-KEEPER : A Major Concern For Team India

The Indian Selection Committee decided against a back-up keeper

The biggest worry possibly for Team India now, is the presence of only one wicket-keeper in the 15-member team for the World Cup in form of its own Captain cool MS Dhoni. There were hopes that players like Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Karthik or even Wriddhiman Saha would be roped in as a reserve keeper for the side but the Selection Committee clearly decided against that. Now the one question that is digging everyone's mind is what happens if during a net session, just before the start of the match, Dhoni gets injured and is ruled out of the match ? Who in that case keeps wickets for India ? Some names that are just popping up are Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina.

Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel (above) were ignored by the selectors

On a lighter note, well I just hope they can or else we might end up thinking of 'para cricket' and not ICC ODI World Cup'2011. In fact some even say Tendulkar would keep wickets because that is possibly the only thing the maestro has not been a part of in this game.

Getting back to our main concern, I wonder whether it was MS Dhoni, coach Gary Kirsten or the selectors themselves who had immense faith and confidence that Dhoni will be out of any major injury throughout the tournament. Well, to be honest, each and every individual who loves Team India and wants them to win is definitely praying for the same. There is no second thoughts on that. But injury is something that just does not keep any player, small or big, out of its reach. Atleast an injured Kumar had replacements in the form of Sreesanth but when it comes to MS, I at times feel sorry for him that he has none to back him up.

Leave apart the concern of a back-up wicket keeper. If, God forbid, Dhoni injures himself the next major worry in line will be that of Captaincy. It goes without saying that the spirit and the winning passion he has infused in the side will be tough, or literally impossible, to be replicated by vice-captain Virendra Sehwag. Sehwag has a different mindset when it comes to captaincy and at a crucial juncture like the World Cup, this could prove to be a major blow for Team India. Your team is never the same again once it loses out on its regular captain, especially a captain who enjoys such a high success ratio ever since he became one.

Let us all hope in the positive and just keep the word 'injury' out of our dictionaries till the end of the World Cup.

Good Luck TEAM INDIA !!!