Indian Cricket Team Celebrates After Defeating Pakistan in the Semifinal of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

The hype was there, the teams were there, the players were there, the prime ministers were there and so was the occasion, it was indeed, India VS Pakistan – the 2nd Semifinal of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. With public frenzy and media scrutiny geared on, this sure promised to be a cracker of a contest.

Early in the day, Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat on what looked like a very unlike Mohali wicket. It was slow and sluggish, grass just enough to bind the surface together.

Shoaib Akhtar continued to warm the benches as Pakistan went in unchanged. India on the other hand, decided to tinker with their team, a winning combination, astonishing, indeed. Ashish Nehra was brought in, in place of Ravichandran Ashwin who must be cursing his stars, missing out on perhaps the biggest game of his life.

Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were out there, doing what they do best for India; scoring runs and at a brisk rate. India looked to be marching on towards another 300 run score after a phenomenal start as the opening duo forged a healthy 48 before Sehwag was caught wanting playing across the line to Riaz, dismissed for 38.

Tendulkar and Gambhir then steadied things as Pakistan went on to drop a flurry of catches, Sachin looked a shadow of himself, failing to put away the bad deliveries, giving opportunities to the Pakistanis with every blink of the eye. He got lucky, and as all great players do, they might not be on top of their game all the time, but they scrap and scrap hard. Sachin was no different as the champion made a patient 85 being the rock behind India’s batting.

Mohammad Hafeez accounted for Gambhir as the south paw was deceived in the flight only to be stumped by Kamran Akmal. Wahab Riaz ensured Shoaib Ahktar would not be missed as he put on an impressive spell of fast bowling, using reverse swing to laudable effect. Riaz did for both, Kohli and the in form Yuvraj in a space of 2 balls sending shivers down the Indian dressing room. India were 141 for 4 at that stage and had succumbed the early initiative they had. Dhoni chipped in with a sluggish, albeit vital 25. But once again, the star of the show was Suresh Raina as his contribution along with the lower order propelled the Indian total to 260.

A defendable, but not a winning total. India had to let the scoreboard pressure build on Pakistan and so they did. Pakistan got off to a sedate start before Kamran Akmal slashed at one away from his body, and was caught at cover point, Yuvraj the catcher.

Hafeez, Asad Shafiq and Younis Khan built solid partnerships but it was the rate of their scoring that was huge cause for concern. Despite being a 100 odd for 2, Pakistan were behind the eight ball as far as runs were concerned and you knew, a couple of wickets and the pressure would be right back on the Pakistanis and so indeed was the case. Yuvraj and Harbhajan stifled the batsman with Misbah Ul Haq’s aid who seemed to have dug himself a hole. Misbah was unable to rotate the strike but stuck through and once Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi were making their way back to the pavilion, Sri Lanka knew who they were playing.

Misbah picked up his scoring rate a little, but was a lone ranger as the pace trio of Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan did a fabulous job in stifling the opposition.

A match that might not have quite gone down to the wire, but it was an enthralling one to say the least. The outcome of the match meant that people were dancing in the isles of India as they made their way to a 3rd final, looking formidable to bag the World cup en route giving the greatest cricketer of the modern era a perfect send off on his home ground.

We said it would be a perfect script if India and Sachin would get to the finals, well guess what, they did. Indeed, a Sachin 100, 100th international century will be an absolute treat to the 30000 people who turn up there. Let’s not forget Sri Lanka will be hoping to give the same to Muttiah Muralidaran who too, will call it quits come April 2nd.

While not many gave the Darren Sammy-led West Indies a chance, but now, the tide has changed and how. While Strauss has some work to do in order to get his team in shape, Sammy too has his plates full. With Kevin Pietersen, Stuart Broad ruled out of the World Cup, Strauss is in double trouble. The losses to Bangladesh and Ireland notwithstanding, the English captain has many worries in the fragile middle-order.

With eith Ravi Bopara or Ian Bell likely to do the opening honours, keeper-batsman Matt Prior may be asked to bat down the order. With Eoin Morgan looking a certainty to play his part in the middle-order, Strauss will have to decide whether to play the woefully out-of-form Paul Collingwood. While Colly’s commitment or talent has never been in question, his form would be compounding the worries for Strauss ahead of a do-or-die encounter at the Chepauk on Thursday afternoon.

English bowlers haven’t necessarily set the stage ablaze. The biggest culprit for their indifferent show in the quadrennial event has been none other James Anderson. He has doubled the misery for his team with his aweful length especially during the slog overs but the heartening aspect has been Graeme Swann’s spells. While Graeme may not have had a Swann-song yet, but the offie is capable of coming to the party against the Windies on Thursday as he is known to be a big-match player.

West Indies, on the other hand, are on a three-match winning streak and more importantly, have the momentum by their side. A game which depends so much on momentum could surely tilt the equation in the Carribean team’s favour. While Sammy would prefer dashing opener and former captain Chris Gayle to feature in the side, the left-hander could still be preserved for the knockout stages of the competition.

With the batting order have not necessarily sizzled in this competition, their bowling order has been on target. With the likes of pacers Kemar Roach, Sammy spearheading the attack, the presence of Suleiman Benn has added teeth to the attack. West Indies possess dynamite in the form of Kieron Pollard who can not just give the white ball a whack but can scalp a few wickets to give his team the edge. If Pollard is given the freedom to bat up the order, no score is big for his team and no boundary long.

With WI skipper yet to win a toss in this tournament, he would want to do on Thursday as batting first on the Chepauk wicket is easier than chasing under the lights under humid conditions which could test any batting line-up.

The England-West Indies clash will be watched closely by India and Bangladesh for obvious reasons. Lots will change in the World Cup by the time the match ends.

Aussie team physio Kevin Sims informed the media, “Peter’s injury does not appear to be a serious problem, but it is unlikely he will be able to safely bowl within the next week which would therefore not allow him to have any further participation in the tour.”

As for a replacement, no official announcement has come out from Cricket Australia as of yet. And if and when they do, the impressive Dirk Nannes will be a frontrunner. He was lately seen in IPL 2 and bowled with great gusto and success. Earlier, Clint McKay and Moises Henriques were drafted into the squad following Australia continual loss of players to various kinds of injuries.

Dhoni blames batters

Indian skipper MS Dhoni blamed the team’s batsmen for the defeat at Mohali while praising the bowling and fielding effort. Dhoni felt 250 could have been chased down, especially after the start they got, but rued the fact that they failed as a batting unit. He opined that India should have batted out their quota of 50 overs.

The captain, though, stood by his decision to field first, claiming the dew factor would have made a prominent impact as the bowlers would have found it difficult to grip the ball and reiterated that it was the batting that was primarily responsible for the disappointing loss.

Dhoni also hoped that the youngsters in the side like Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli would learn the art of chasing soon, but added that they are still inexperienced so one can’t be harsh on them.

Ponting all praise for Bollinger

Dhoni’s opposition number Ricky Ponting, meanwhile, was all praise for newcomer Doug Bollinger. The left-arm quickie picked up three crucial Indian wickets – Sehwag, Kohli and Dhoni to set up Australia’s series-levelling win.

Describing him as “outstanding”, Ponting added that it was his spell that brought Australia back into the game after Sehwag’s sizzler. Bollinger ended with figures of 3 for 38 and it was only an all-round effort from Watson that prevented him from grabbing the Man of the Match.

The fast bowler managed to bowl only six overs in the first ODI in Vadodara and had to sit out of the second game at Nagpur. Earlier, Lee couldn’t take part in this year’s Ashes as well, since he was unfit.

“Brett’s elbow injury has not responded as well to treatment as we would have liked and therefore a decision has been made to send him home to consult with an elbow specialist,” Cricket Australia’s physiotherapist Kevin Sims told the media and added, “With an accurate diagnosis we can determine how best to manage the injury and give Brett the best chance of being available for selection at the beginning of the Australian summer.”

The other injured member of the team, all-rounder James Hopes, who is still suffering from a hamstring problem isn’t going back home, but will miss the third ODI in Delhi as well after sitting out of the Nagpur ODI. “We hope he will be okay for Mohali,” Ricky Ponting was quoted as saying in the press.

Thankfully for Australia Tim Paine’s replacement, wicketkeeper Graham Manou, is expected to reach Delhi in time for the third ODI. Paine picked up a broke finger, yet managed to pull off some great catches in the loss at Nagpur. He is likely to be replaced at the top of the order by IPL 1 hero Shaun Marsh. However, Lee’s absence has undoubtedly dealt a severe blow to Australia’s chances.

Wet welcome for Aussies

As if they weren’t enough problems facing the Australian team, their preparations were further hampered when their net session at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi had to be put off owing to wet practice pitches. Apparently, the curator had no idea of what time the team was going to train and thus watered the pitches. In the end, the Australians had to be content with some light practice.
“I am very disappointed. It seems everybody in the world other than the grounds man here knew what we were going to train. To turn up here and find the wickets completely unusable is disappointing. We only had one training day, and I am sure by the time the Indian team comes down here, the wickets will be fine. So it’s a bit of a disadvantage for us,” an extremely frustrated Ponting told the media.

Brett Lee’s absence in the Australian side stuck out like a sore thumb. Without their main wicket-taker, the bowling was highly impotent on a batting beauty. Mitchell Johnson, who was expected to take on the lead role in Lee’s absence, was particularly disappointing. The death overs exposed the entire Aussie bowling line-up. While Johnson sprayed it all over, the likes of Ben Hilfenhaus and Shane Watson failed to get the ball into the block hole, as a result of which Dhoni and Raina could swing their arms freely.

Amidst all the carnage, it was only Peter Siddle who stood out, keeping the ball right up to the bat and not allowing the Indian batsmen free runs. Unfortunately, his good performance was not well-reflected in his final bowling analysis. Off-spinner Nathan Hauritz managed to keep things tight. To India’s credit though, they ensured he did not get among the wickets. On rare occasions, the Aussies were slack in the field as well, with Ricky Ponting spilling a skier from Dhoni. That can be safely considered as an aberration and the Australians must be focused on improving the other two aspects of their game.

It can be said that, with a mountain to climb, they had very little chance of succeeding in the chase. Still, the batting performance could have been better. A majority of their batsmen got starts, but none among them converted it into a big one. If your highest score chasing a 350-plus target is 53, it is clear you haven’t been too smart. Here again, some praise needs to be reserved for the Indian bowlers.

Praveen Kumar showed a lot of heart in the manner in which he came back after the battering at Vadodora. The quick cameo he played towards the end in a losing cause must have helped his confidence. And he repaid the faith placed in him by shining in helpful conditions. The dismissals of both Tim Paine and Ricky Ponting were of classical in-swinging deliveries, which Kumar specializes in. It is great to see a bowler still willing to stick to the basics of swing bowling and succeed. The only problem with it is that he gets too predictable and ineffective when the pitch has nothing to offer. This is an aspect he has to work on if he desires to attain greater heights.

Even as Kumar was penetrative, Ishant Sharma’s ‘back to form’ performance was equally heartening. There were ample signs of it in the opening match, but he was still dishing out some loose. At Nagpur, however, he was closer to his best. Getting the wicket of Watson with his first ball must have certainly given him a lot of confidence. He used his height to great effect and the opener had no answer to his rising beauty. Despite his success, India would still do well to restrict his ODI appearances and have him play more Tests so that he can remain fresh for key contests. If there is one big worry for India in the bowling department, it has to be Harbhajan Singh. The Indian offie was yet again far from penetrative. It has been a while since Harbhajan has been going through such a patch. And India cannot afford it to continue for too long, especially with a deserving replacement like Amit Mishra in the wings.

Thanks to the super show by Dhoni and co with the bat at Nagpur, the batting is looking strong once again. And with conditions likely to remain pleasant for the batters throughout the series, they can put beyond their woes at least for the time being. For the Aussies, their top priority will be to try and get their bowling in shape. Brett Lee’s return will definitely help, but Johnson and Hilfenhaus must also realize that they are way better bowlers than what their figures displayed on Wednesday. The batting needs improvement as well though it’s not as big a worry as their bowling. All said and done, let’s not forget that they are indeed the number one team in the world. Nagpur is history and Delhi will be a fresh beginning for both teams.