During the presentation of the 20-20 final, the first few words said by the Pakistan captain showed how narrow minded they are. These were his exact words
“First of all I want to say something over here. I want to thank you back home Pakistan and wherever Muslims live all around the world. I'm sorry, we didn't win, but promise, we gave our 100%. And I want to thank my teammates. They gave their 100%, I want to thank them."
Beware Mr.Mallik, not all Muslims living around the world were praying for your team's victory. There were two in the Indian team and many more in India praying for an Indian win.
I wondering if no one noticed his words, but found this article.
India won the final but just. It could have gone either way. I think India were lucky to win. But its a win nevertheless. And India are the champions...
The game was swinging like a pendulum. When it started India lost 2 quick wickets and Pakistan were on top. Then the partnership of 64 between Gambhir and Yuvraj, and India were sneaking back, but the quick wickets of Dhoni and Yuvraj, and Pakistan were back. The last 2 overs India did get some quick runs, but a target of 158 for Pakistan was very much get-able. By the end of Indian innings, Pakistan were surely on the top. In the second innings the pendulum swung like it was possessed. India had a dream start with a wicket in first over. But Sreesanth gave away the advantage with the 21 run over. RP again got it India's way with Akmal's wicket. But Nazir carried on. Then the brilliant throw for Nazir's wicket and India were back. Some smart captaincy, good bowling by Pathan and reckless batting by Pakistan and the pendulum stayed in India's court till the 16th over. Then Misbah decided to win the match single handed. Harbhajan and Sreesanth were the sufferers of this decision. But Sreesanth did get a wicket and Pakistan were 8 down. RP bowled another great over with a wicket. Joginder was given the last over 13 to get from 6, 1 wicket remaining. Wide first ball, 12 to get from six. Dot next ball, 12 to get from 5. Misbah swung his bat, 6 second ball. Pakistan were on the brink of victory. 1 wicket to get. Then Misbah goofed up and gave the cup to India in a platter. He tried to scoop the ball over the keeper, but ended up giving a catch to Sreesanth. India are the champions.
The dream final is here - India vs Pakistan. The dream will be complete when India wins. The Indians are on a roll but so are the Pakistanis. Both of them have a illustrious list of 'Teams defeated to reach final'. As always, India's batting and Pakistan's bowling are the highlights. This doesn't take anything away from India's current bowling attack or Pakistan's batsman, but its just that we are know for our batting and they for bowling.
So, the peak hour traffic jams will be shifted to 4pm from the usual 7pm. The movie halls, malls and roads will wear a deserted look. And every Indian will be offering prayers to their choicest Gods.
Its been a long time since I posted. I have been very busy at work. And the work is getting more and more interesting and challenging by the day. It feels nice to be productive after 6 months on bench.
Sports events are being held at work. And it gives me immense pleasure to announce that I was the finalist in Scrabble. Thats something - because I have been teased by people for my bad spelling. So much so that Nrutya had once said,"You don't teach spellings to your children. Call us and we'll teach them".
If you are talking about sports and don't mention the debacle happening in Indian cricket,I'll be doing injustice to my interest. Well, India is out of the World Cup. I am a Indian cricket fan, but I cann't but help being happy about their exit. The players were given demi-God status and the amount of hype surrounding them was too much. This should get them back to their two feet.
This World Cup will be more remembered for the shock death of Bob Woolmer than for anything else. The circumstances of death look straight out of a mystery novel. May his soul rest in peace and hope his killers are brought under the hammer.
We had been to Kemmangundi a couple of weeks ago. I'll post more about that when I have the time.
Cricket world's biggest extravaganza is here in about two weeks. And with Australia showing that they are not invincible(losing their last 5 games), the contest is wide open. But Aussies still start as my favorites.
Nike has finally arrived in the world of cricket. They first sponsored the cricket gear for Indian cricket and now have come out with a ad on cricket. And unlike their other ads, which are centred on sportsman, this one is centred on cricket in India. I loved this ad. Also there is a making of the ad on rediff.
Feb 15, 2007
India has had two contrasting days in the a week. Last Sunday was disaster as India snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. And when they were 94/4 yesterday, I was pretty sure there will be a collapse. But then there was Dravid, how could I ever discount Mr.Dependable and Dhoni. Dhoni is now also becoming another Mr. Dependable, quickly adapting to the need of the game. He can change gears with ease and runs hard between wickets.
If India has to reach a respectable total in world cup, Dhoni will surely play a big part.
Yesterday India again lost to South Africa by a huge margin. Well nothing new!!!
The saddest part of the whole series is the inability of Indian batsmen to bat or in cricketing terms, inability to apply themselves. There is no will to win. It looks like they have already decided that they'll lose the match or series... So why try!!! The same bunch of people we all raring to go and full of confidence and energy after the Pakistan tour. The downfall started from the West Indies tour. Then the DLF cup and Champions Trophy.
With the world cup barely 3 months ahead, I see absolutely no hope for Indian cricket. It pains me to say that but its true. Only a miracle can get them to a respectable place in the World Cup. We can just pray for a turn around like in the previous World cup.
Yesterday Sachin Tendulkar made an important century...most important for him. When most critics wrote him off and some legends also suggested his retirement...this innings was an important one for him. Though I couldn't watch his innings and also couldn't catch the highlights (when I switched on the TV, Gayle was in full swing, so switched it off), from all reports I think it was a pretty good century. 5X6's indicated he is still has power enough to hit the ball all the way.
India's cricket God is back...with a big bang. He has started his new innings with a huge 6. We have to wait and watch how he unfolds in the remaining of his innings.
