After hosting Cricket world cup in 1987 (Reliance world cup) & 1996 (Wills world cup), India is once again hosting this prestigious event along with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. India lost in the semi-finals in both world cups. 2011 world cup is also the last one for Cricket GOD Sachin Tendulkar. 2011 Cricket world cup – India squad analysis: Current ICC one day Ranking: 2 Coach: Gary Kirsten (South Africa) Captain: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Jharkhand) Crucial players: India is no longer one-man team. 6-7 match winners are there in the squad (only on sub-continent pitches). Missing stars: Rohit Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Irfan Pathan, Robin Uthappa, Ishant Sharma & Pravin Kumar Group B: India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Netherlands & Ireland. 4 teams will qualify to quarter-finals. Qualification: Directly qualified being the host nation. World cup hisotry: Kapil Dev's India created sensation by defeating mighty West Indies at Lords in 1983. India reached finals in 2003 but was demolished by Australia in the crucial match. Forget about worst performance in 2007 world cup in West Indies. It lost in the semi-finals in 1987 and 1996 at home. Indian team for 2011 Cricket World Cup: S.NoCricketer NameAgeICC RankState/City Batsmen: 1. Virender Sehwag 32 11 Delhi 2. Sachin Tendulkar 37 14 Mumbai 3. Gautam Gambhir 29 10 Delhi 4. Virat Kohli 22 5 Delhi 5. Suresh Raina 24 28 Ghaziabad (UP) All-rounders: 1. Yuvraj Singh 29 22 & 56 Chandigarh 2. Yusuf Pathan 28 82 & 99 Vadodara 3. Harbhajan Singh 30 222 & 22Jalandhar (Punjab) Wicket-Keepers: 1. M.S. Dhoni 29 4 Ranchi (Jharkhand) Bowlers: 1. Zaheer Khan 32 27 Ahmadnagar 2. Munaf Patel 27 40 Gujarat 3. Piyush Chawla22 60 Aligarh (UP) 4. R. Ashwin 24 88 Chennai 5. Sreesanth 28 102 Kochi 6. Ashish Nehra 31 32 Delhi Schedule of India's world cup matches: 1. February 19: Vs Bangladesh, Dhaka 2. Febraury 27: Vs England at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Most crucial match. 3. March 6: Vs Ireland at Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru 4. March 9: Vs Netherlands at Feroz Shah Kotla ground in Delhi 5. March 12: Vs South Africa at VCA stadium in Nagpur. Mouth watering contest. 6. March 20: Vs West Indies at MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai Strengths: Best batting line-up & World class spinners. Weaknesses: Poor pace attack, injuries & Inconsistent all-rounders. Our rating for Indian team: 8/10 Our prediction for India in 2011 World Cup: India has the strongest batting line-up in the tournament and also one of the poor (injured) pace attacks. Any opposition will find it difficult to stop Indian batsmen on sub-continent pitches. But, what about pace attack? India will easily reach finals unless it faces a good team on the fast pitch in the knock-out stage. Lack of depth in the fast bowling department is its biggest problem. On the slow turning dusty pitches, India has lot of options in the form of Harbhajan, Ashwin, Ojha, Pathan/Jadeja, Yuvraj, Raina, Sachin and Sehwag...... Do you want more spinners/slow bowlers? Please share your views on Indian cricket team. … [Read more...]
ICC one-day dream team
International Cricket Council (ICC) announced "all time great one-day team" on the occasion of completion of 40 years of one-day cricket. No player from England and New Zealand made it to the dream squad. Three Indians found place in this dream team. ICC one-day dream squad: 1. Sachin Tendulkar (India) 2. Virender Sehwag (India) 3. Brian Lara (West Indies) 4. Vivian Richards (West Indies) 5. Ricky Ponting (Australia) 6. Adam Gilchrist (Wicket-keeper, Australia) 7. Wasim Akram (Pakistan) 8. Kapil Dev (India) 9. Allan Donald (South Africa) 10. Glen McGrath (Australia) 11. Muttiah Muralidharan (Sri Lanka). 12th player: Michael Bevan Best match: Australia Vs England at Wanderers in Johannesburg in 2006. Note: If I were the selector, I pick Imran Khan in stead of Allan Donald and make him captain of this dream team. Imran Khan is my choice for his leadership skills and all-round capabilities. My stand-byes: Jonty Rhodes (helps in fielding when someone needs rest), Shane Warne & Martin Crowe. … [Read more...]
Fallen stars from sub-continent in 2007 cricket world cup
2007 cricket world cup changed the fortunes of many super stars along with their teams. Some of these stars faced the wrath from fans in their countries. Cricket Gods from India and Pakistan became the most hated persons in their countries. TV channels stopped airing commercials of these stars. That is the power of failure. 1. Sachin Tendulkar: This is the first failure of Indian God in a world cup tournament. He is the highest scorer in 1996 and 2003 editions. For the first time, he faced charges on his attitude from an Indian coach. He became a pawn in the hands of seniors’ mafia. BCCI issued show-cause notice to this fallen star. If he will play in his natural style, we will again see the “Sharjah” Sachin. It’s all in the mind. 2. Injamam-Ul-Haq: He repeated his worst performance in 2007 world cup as in 2003 edition. After his superb performance in 1992 debut world cup, he failed to replicate his performance. These are inerasable black spots in the wonderful career of this Pakistan legend. 3. Sourav Ganguly: His low strike rate in the initial power play overs is another reason for India’s debacle in this world cup. He is never a team man and a selfish cricketer who always form a coterie of his favourites. As per media, he is the force behind the seniors’ mafia and leaked dressing room news to his favourite Kolkata journalists. His attitude is always a big problem.4. Younis Khan:It is the most unexpected failure in 2007 world cup. He went to the event on the back of stunning performances. He failed even against weak teams. No excuses please.5. Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh: They played spoil sport with their attitude along with their play. Selectors should not even consider them for at least 2 years. Along with Harbhajan and Ganguly, they are trying to form a coterie in the team. Sack them and save cricket.Dravid’s biggest mistake is his belief in Virender Sehwag. Inclusion of Sehwag and Ganguly changed the batting line up and team spirit. Indian selectors decided to send a youth team under the captaincy of Rahul Dravid. Youth should grab these opportunities and replace those ageing stars. … [Read more...]
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