Cricket World Cup

At last, someone's mentioning World Cups other than football. Oh, and it looks like, St.Patrick is already helping the Irish, and probably the Bangladeshis, too. India - 33 overs and 6 boundaries - amazing, isn't it?

 

191 all out :yuck:

I guess the only consolation is that Pak are 120/8

 

191 is defendable, Im surprised that India could only muster that total, considering the batting tallent.

Scotland almost beat Pakistan a while back, when they play bad they really play bad...

 

It could have been a little worse for India. Before today, Munaf Patel had batted 7 times in ODI's for a total of 6 runs. Today, he scored 15.

Pakistan finished all out for 132. Extras was their top scorer. The most unpredictable team in cricket.

Can India restrict Bangladesh to less than 191? (Currently 24/0.)

Can Pakistan restrict Ireland to less than 132?

 

191 all out!!! And I'm watching this match ? I have my maths board exam on 22nd, shame on me.

 

Make that 132 all out. I'm rooting for the Irish today. Bray is going to make at least a half-century.

huh?

1st Bangladesh wicket down.

 

You're not going to miss anything, other than maybe Bangladesh winning. Go study for the exam.

 

:yuck:

Ganguly, Tendulkar, Dravid, Singh.... Are all great, India is IMO a much better batting side than Bowling.

I'm also rooting for Ireland... Since they just lost the 6 nations... poor chaps

 

No.

No.

What a day!

 

I couldn't catch the Indo-Bangladesh match as I was out at a darker-skies star party in rural Malaysia (well, that was a wash due to cloud cover).

I was told the result by my mom as I was staggering in at 6 am after a 400 km drive without sleep. Highly disappointing result as an Indian, but kudos to Bangladesh for playing really well. I guess the better team won, and that's what matters.

 

I, too, try to participate in amateur astronomy, but, here on the coast of the Bay of Fundy, we often can't see the clouds for the fog!

Are the minnows on a roll? Can Canada knock off England today? I highly doubt it. :grumpy:

 

Would be nice if they did.

 

Canada has a cricket team?

India better do good in this cup. After all, our team is the highest paid team in the world...

 

I'm not sure if that's a sarcastic comment, but they did play the first ever WC, back in 1975.

That's the problem!!! Too much money, both from Board of Control for Cash in India and from endorsements. They're too busy modelling for ads.

 

Bob Woolmer, the coach of the Pakistani cricket team, has just passed away.

Once again, we're reminded that cricket is nothing more than a simple game. The world will miss a dedicated man.

 

OMG! That's a shocker...never heard that. It's a greater shock than Pakistan's defeat. He was dedicated in making Pakistan a better team.

 

Dang it! I hate it when that happens!

Just another sarcastic comment.

Even though I myself am an Indian, I feel sorry for your loss. I don't think the Pakistani team will ever be the same again without Woolmer. The Pakistani team is equally good as the Indian team, and may even have more talent. Too bad we can't combine both teams under "Pak-India" and beat everyone in the World Cup.

 

Yesterday, after returning from a day at the mall with my wife and daughter, I checked cricinfo for the status of Canada-England match. I can't put into words how shocked I was to read about the tragic death of Bob Woolmer.

He tried to do the impossible; a gora (Zaheer Abbas's pejorative word) coach tried to coach the uncoachable.

 

IMHO, India are one of the most dreadfully overrated ODI teams. And I believe they can't be a truly great *team* in the near future (despite having bountiful individual talent) because the way they've gone about it is all wrong.

OK, so they're the most highly paid team. Overpaid? Probably. A lot of the money comes in from product endorsements and the like, and the players are only cashing in on the gullibility of a cricket-mad public to sell everything from wheat crackers to Pepsi. After all, the players are only human.

But there's a downside to representing such a fanatical nation. When things don't go India's way (as seems to be happening a lot these days), the mob attacks everything the players hold near and dear - Dhoni's new house got razed by an irate mob. This is not a situation peculiar to India - Pakistan faces a similar affliction - Woolmer's very sad demise was preceded by the most appalling public demonstrations calling for his head.

Can you perform at your best when you know the price for failure is unreasonably high? I don't think I could - I wouldn't ever want to be put in that situation. I can't think of more than a handful of similar examples in world sport - the death threats by gangsters made toward Colombian soccer athletes comes to mind, along with horrific stories of Iraq's former dictator's son Uday threatening the national soccer team with torture or worse if they returned empty handed . I can bet these players will tell you it's no fun playing with a death sentence hanging over their heads.

There are other downsides to having such emotional investment by the public - the basic strategic and tactical decisions in the team become highly politicised. The coach came under intense pressure and scrutiny (euphemisms for being burned in effigy) when he removed Ganguly from the captaincy (the pressure was especially intense from the skipper's native Calcutta). There abound rumours of politicians insisting on the inclusion of certain players into the national team. This forcing of the coach's hand is counter-productive to the health of the sport.

I don't know if this problem will have a real solution. For that to happen, the national attitude towards the sport will have to change - never an easy thing. Enthusiastic support for the team is a great thing, but we can do with a sheepish shrug of our collective shoulders and a wistful "It's only a game", when things don't quite go according to plan. The players need to feel secure and supported, not pressured and threatened.

 

You dont think that your population base of over 1 billion is enough to find a few decent cricketers

 

[sarcasm]oooh! Highest total in WC! What a great team![/sarcasm]

 

And The Wall had the highest strike rate (350). Of course, he only faced two balls.

 

That too?! :yuck: I only watched the last over, and noticed only record for the total.

But to me the star of the show was Leverock. Unbelievable fellow...did you see the way he dived to get Uthapa out?