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 !!!

KUMAR'S LOSS IS SREE'S GAIN !!

"You Win Some You Lose Some"

That is the philosophy of life. Or could we say someone's loss is someone else' gain.

Praveen Kumar (Google Images)

How often do you hear a news as disappointing as the exit of an integral member of your team because of an injury ? If I am not mistaken, too often. Such is the case with Team India at present, who has suffered a major setback just before the beginning of the World Cup. It has to bear the loss of its medium pacer Praveen Kumar from the 15-member squad who has failed to recover from the elbow injury he sustained in South Africa last December. and giving way to the Kerala Speedster Sreesanth.

S Sreesanth (Google Pics)

This player is best remembered as the guy who took the one of the most crucial catches in the history of Indian Cricket when MS Dhoni and his first led young troupe managed to clinch the first T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007. Yes I am referring to no one else but Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, the ever-aggressive, hyped up guy who is always up to some nuances on the field.

As lucky would have it, S Sreesanth is all set to replace the injured medium pacer Praveen Kumar who unfortunately has to take the exit door because of his persisting injury. It may be recollected that Kumar was sent back home during the ODI Series in South Africa in December last year to make him available for selection for the final 15-member squad for ICC World Cup 2011 which gets inaugurated with an India-Bangladesh match in Bangladesh . Unfortunately enough, the injury which is far more serious that what was diagnosed earlier, has not brought some happy news for the team and for the fans in India. Kumar's visit to the UK for the elbow treatment did not seem to do any good for him and his team.

Kumar is credited for his immaculate line and length with the new ball. Blessed with a special ability and talent to move the ball both ways, he plays a perfect role of a second fiddle from the other end to his senior opening bowler partner Zaheer Khan. The best part about Kumar is, he does not waste time in getting some pace in his bowling. He continues doing what he does best. take some help of the wind and make the batsmen dance on the crease. He is a specialist ODI bowler who just brings that unique variation to your front line pace attack. Kumar He came to the limelight with his brilliant performance in Australia in 2008. His wonderful bowling spell of 4 for 31 played a crucial role in leading team India to win the CB series against Australia in 2008. This also earned Kumar his much deserved man of the match award.

The whole episode comes as a blessing in disguise for the speedster from Kerala, S Sreesanth who gets a wild card entry into the World Cup Squad. It may be recollected that only a couple of weeks back Sreesanth had expressed his disappointment for not having made to the final 15. But hardly did he know that his stars were shining bright and that his fellow pacer was forced to make an early exit. Sreesanth did a decent job in South Africa. He was responsible for some crucial break-throughs. The only problem that sticks to this young lad is his temperament, which soars high out of frustration. It then leads him to do something cynical on the field which does not go down too well with the whole spirit of the game- the latest being his on-field spat with South African Captain Graeme Smith. He has been warned several times regarding this behaviour of his and its about time he should pay heed to such important issues. Especially in a tournament as big as the World Cup.

His last outing on this big platform back in 2007 was a disaster. We should hope and pray that the story this time around is different. Hope he can make the batsmen dance to his tunes and once again take that golden catch to win us the tournament.

Wishing Team India All the Very Best !!!

SEHWAG : BACK TO BUSINESS

Virender Sehwag

What happens when your team boasts of the most dangerous batsman in modern day cricket, yet you see no glimpse of him in major series one after the other because of a severe injury ?

Well, that is what Team India was going through for the past couple of months when it had to sacrifice its vice-captain Virender Sehwag for three consecutive ODI series against Australia (at home), New Zealand(at home) and South Africa(away) respectively. It was a bit difficult to digest the fact that Viru, as he is fondly called, was in his prime form during the Test Series (against Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand) but unfortunately had to miss out on the shorter format of the game due to a shoulder injury.

But 'all is well' now with this blistering batsman, who is as desperate to occupy the opening batting slot for the team as his fans and lovers. Sehwag, without any shade of doubt, will be back to doing what he does best-take the attack to the opposition. He will obviously be partnering 'Master Blaster' Sachin Tendulkar, who also had to give the remaining three games of the India South Africa ODI Series a miss.

Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag

The Indian team, after a gap of almost two years, will find their regular openers in the form of Sehwag and Tendulkar. It was very important for the team to open batting with their regular top-order batsmen in a tournament as important as the World Cup. Gautam Gambhir, will of course be expected to come as first down.

"I was feeling some pain in my shoulder," Sehwag told Indian news channel CNN-IBN. "So I thought it was better to quit the SA ODI Series. I didn't want to get injured in SA tour and miss the World Cup. So I came back and then went to Germany to see a couple of doctors. I got a couple of injections and now I'm fine.

"I am going to the National Cricket Academy (in Bangalore) and will spend a couple of days there, to check everything- if I can bowl and throw also but if I can't, then I'll let them know. But yes, at the moment I am fully fit.

Sehwag's injury was a bit let down for the team and all those crazy lovers of the game. The news that he will not be a part of the ODI Series against the Proteas shattered people like me a hell lot. The main worry was not that he was out of the SA ODI series but the fact that whether he would be able to play himself in for the World Cup. Including him or not was not a choice but a compulsion in any case. He is one player amongst few others, who picks himself up for any series, big or small.

The presence of Sehwag also gives captain MS Dhoni an extra bowling option. Although he would not prefer to use his deputy as a regular bowler, he can definitely rely on him to chip in with some useful overs during the middle overs of the game.

Let us all hope and pray that we get to see the 'Virender Sehwag' we have known for years - the aggressive, blistering right-handed batsmen who is a firm believer of 'Attack is the best form of defence' policy.

Source of Pictures: Google Images.

THE WORLD CUP OFFICIAL THEME SONG

Music, ever since its inception, has been universal. It spans across borders, cultures, societal differences and manages to penetrate into the minds of the audience in the easiest and the most effective way.

The Trend

A theme song has now become a trend. Such is the role music plays in our society. Be it football, tennis, cricket, hockey each game/tournament has a particular theme which is then put to a wonderfully composed tune. Last year's Football World Cup theme song 'Waka Waka (This time for South Africa)' by Columbian singer/musician/dancer/record producer Shakira become a worldwide smash hit and the biggest selling World Cup song of all time.

Other popular theme songs include the Airtel Champions League official song which, in the first year was composed by the Mozart of Asia A.R.Rahman and then by Spanish Pop singer Enrique Iglesias in the second.

World Cup 2011 Theme Song

When Bollywood music composers Salim-Sulaiman were invited to compose the 2010 FIFA World Cup anthem, it was a moment of pride for the entire nation. People were speculating that they would be roped in for the Cricket World Cup theme song as well. But that did not happen. Instead, the well established music director trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy were asked to shoulder the responsibility.

As one might have guessed with the names behind the song, that there will be a touch of Bollywood in this year's Cricket World Cup theme song titled 'De Ghumaa Ke' with versions in Hindi, Bangla and Sinhalese. All three versions will feature in the build-up to and during the tournament that will run from February 19 to April 2 in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The most interesting aspect of this theme song is probably unknown to the general audience. The Indian team for the World Cup does boast of a strong UP connection. And it has just not ended with the players from the state in the squad. The more interesting hook to the story is that the theme song, which has already been creating waves across the nation, has been written by songwriter Manoj Yadav who hails from Azamgarh district of the state.

"I hope that the theme song will appeal to the audiences," he added.

The song, which has already been released and is being aired on Radio One, will be played during the inaugural ceremony as well as between the matches during the tournament starting February 19.

Manoj, who now stays in Mumbai, said an effort has been made to highlight the excitement associated with the game along with the minute details of its various aspects."The idea behind writing a song about cricket is very small and limited to ball, bat and bails, but the organisers of the World Cup wanted some freshness in the theme. Therefore each and every line of the song has been written after much thought," he said.

Many may also not know that he also penned 'Ek Desh Ek Junnon', the title song of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2009 held in South Africa.

"The basic idea was to weave the excitement and passion of cricket in words," Manoj said.

"For instance, the lines 'aasman mein maar ke dubki' is an attempt to create a visual effect of fielding and 'sarr se cheer hawa ka parda' an attempt to highlight thrill of fast bowling," he said.

Bollywood & Cricket

In India, it's very popularly said that "Bollywood and Cricket" go 'hand-in-hand'. It's said more so because of the strange connections players share with the entertainment / advertising worlds and the actors with the game. Players at times are crafted as 'glamour quotients' to which people feel is not really needed. But having said that, you cannot be the No.1 Test team and the 2nd ranked ODI team in the world if you do not play and perform to your calibre. And the Indian team does what is expected of them, leave aside the advertising revenues they pocket by endorsing biscuits, credit cards, mobile phones, etc.

THE FINAL DREAM 15

The 30-15 Principle

Whenever a Cricket Board, in this case, BCCI, picks up 30 probable members for the World Cup, the excitement gets double as to who will make it to the top 15 member squad to actually face the music on the pitch. The guesses keep on coming from all corners which makes the selection process even more nerve racking.

But, ironically, the present Indian Team did not put too much pressure on the former Indian Captain and Chief Selector of Indian Cricket Team Krishnamachari Srikkanth and his Selection Committee, which also consists of former Indian players Yashpal Sharma, Narendra Hirwani and Surendra Bhave. The fact is 12 out of 15 players had since long enough picked themselves up for the important line-up of matches and had left just a couple of spaces vacant to be filled in. Indian Cricket team coach Gary Kirsten and captain MS Dhoni joined the board of selectors on a phone conference from South Africa. Though, there were only 2 seats, the contenders for the same were huge. Such fierce is the competition today to be a part of Team India.

With competition becoming an integral part of the society in today's era, even the media world has become fierce and pumped up to prove themselves as number one the block. Never was an Indian Team selection broadcast live on television. But this, now, is the need of the hour. One should have noticed the way IPL Auctions were shown on air Live. Leading News Channels NDTV, TIMES NOW and CNN IBN went out of their ways to give it as one would say the unwanted mileage it deserved. But for a cricket fanatic like me, who had 2 consecutive sleepless nights, it was more than a competition. It was a visual delight.

The 12 who selected themselves

Getting back to the final 15 who did make it to the squad, let us look at the various possibilities that could have gone through in the minds of the selectors while picking up the team. As mentioned earlier. As mentioned earlier, barring a few players, the team looked filled up with the following names cushion-padding themselves to the team line-up. These included :

1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. Virendra Sehwag
3. Gautam gambhir
4. Yuvraj Singh
5. MS Dhoni
6. Harbhajan Singh
7. Suresh Raina
8. Virat Kohli
9. Zaheer Khan
10. Munaf Patel
11. Praveen Kumar
12. Ashish Nehra

The only players who were playing a lottery amongst themselves were middle order batsmen Rohit Sharma, left arm-spinner Pragyan Ojha , present day's most fierce hitter of the cricket ball Yusuf Pathan and pacer S Sreesanth.

Selection Surprises

Discussions were on every moment about makes the cut and who is shown the boots. Surprises were in store for all of us and it started with the omission of Rohit Sharma. It was Yusuf Pathan who was picked ahead of him, although both are considered to be middle-order batsmen with an ability to chip in with some quick overs as part-time bowlers. Only difference being, Pathan is more of a regular bowler than Sharma. But I suppose the home conditions was a major factor that favoured Pathan. It was from this soil that this lad from Vadodara had made a name for himself in World Cricket. Nehra's fitness has always been a major concern but the selectors seemed disinterested in even considering Sreesanth instead of Nehra. Other pacers who were also overlooked include Vinay kumar and Abhimanya Mithun.

A bigger surprise in store

If we thought, omission of Rohit Sharma was the only big surprise the Indian Selectors had planned for us, we were absolutely wrong. We were in for a much bigger one, only that we had not anticipated it. The inclusion of leggie Piyush Chawla was something that none of us had in our wildest dreams expected. The player who has not played since July 2008 and whatever cricket he has played for the national team has been overseas, his inclusion in the final 15-member squad took everyone by storm. People could not understand the main philosophy of the selectors to pick Chawla ahead of players like Rohit Sharma, Pragyan Ojha or for that matter a reserve wicket-keeper. According to me, Ojha deserved a far better place than Chawla in the team. Firstly because, being a left-arm spinner he brings that extra variety to the spin attack and secondly he has done consistently well whenever he has been given a chance. Sad luck that he did not get his due credit. The fact that the selectors termed Piyush Chawla as an all-rounder ade me jump off my seat and take note of his batting records. Not that I have anything personal against him but only because I thought there were far better options available to the selectors, coach and captain to form the final squad. But alas, what I think Dhoni does not and what Dhoni does, I do not. So I had to agree that he was let into the side in order to exploit his wrist spin on the turning tracks of the sub-continent.

No Spare WK

Hardly does a World Cup team goes without a reserve wicket-keeper. And this was to come true when the selectors decided against having any back-up for the Indian Team Captain / Wicket-Keeper MS Dhoni. It is a very risky business to have only one wicket-keeper in your side for the entire schedule of the World Cup. Whether it has been a courageous step from the skipper and the selectors or not, only time will say. The only advantage we enjoy in this World Cup is that since it is being played in the sub-continent, flying a spare wicket-keeper at a very last moment will not be a tough ask. Options include Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Karthik and Bengal wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha. The fact that Patel has been considered in a couple of recent tournaments might give him an edge over the other two players in case someone has to be flown in to replace Dhoni, should the need arise.

Golden Chance for Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin journey to the final 15 of the team did take some people by surprise, but the general verdict he enjoyed from the crowd was quite positive. He made a place for himself in the national side after a series of fantastic performances in the 3rd edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) followed by an equally good performance in the Airtel Champions League 2010 in South Africa, where he played for his franchisee Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Both T20 tournaments were won by CSK and Ashwin had a major role to play. He considers Dhoni to be his guiding force. Dhoni has been quite courageous to use him first up in the shortest versions of the game. But it would be interesting to see how MS exploits his Chennai team-mate at a more international level.

Here's a look at the final 15 member Indian Cricket Team for ICC World Cup 2011.