The Clash of the Titans!!!

India – Pakistan match, that too in World Cup semi-finals, is more than one can ask for. Of course, if they meet in the finals sometime in the future, the whole Cricket scenario will go berserk! Till now, the series is turning out to be a definitive sub-continent tournament.

Both the teams have so far proved their mettle. India scores the highest in batting momentum with 380 points (Pakistan has 254 points) and Pakistan ranks top in bowling efficiency with 246 points (India has 188 points). The quarter finals were a breeze for Pakistan due to the poor show by West Indies – just 112 runs in a World Cup match is nothing short of a disaster. Pakistan won the match by 10 wickets. On the same note, India’s 5-wickets win against Australia was exhilarating! They beat the 4 times World Cup winners with full élan.

Coming back to the upcoming match, let’s measure the odds first, before we can even try to predict the results. Some of the players who are in their performing best are: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Shahid Afridi, Zaheer Khan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umar Gul, Umar Akmal, Suresh Raina, Asad Shafiq, and Mohammad Hafeez.

Considering the match being in Mohali, it will favour both batsmen and the bowlers. But looking at the statistics, Pak batting line-up hasn’t been very effective and they have crumbled against high chases. With bowlers like Zaheer and Ashwin, we can definitely look at limiting them to less than 250. Well, if they bowl first, Indians can be in a bit of a strain. As history goes, Indian team has won more matches if they chase. Thus looking at all the odds, they will be in a better position if they bowl first and set a convenient target for their batsmen to chase.

Even though I might be a bit biased for the results, a ‘60 : 40’ chance for ‘India : Pakistan’ seems to be the current prediction. The contenders have a monumental history of rivalry and winning the semi-final will be nothing short of the Clash of the Titans!

Final countdowns

Three more matches to go and it is turning out to be a definitive sub-continent tournament – the Kiwis being the outcast here! Well, here are the overall performance score as per Castrol Index:

 

Ranking	Teams	Performance Score
1	South Africa	180
2	Sri Lanka	177
3	Australia	170
4	New Zealand	154
5	India	153
6	Pakistan	150
7	England	140
8	West Indies	130
9	Ireland	93
10	Zimbabwe	81
11	Bangladesh	65
12	Canada	63
13	Netherlands	62
14	Kenya	46

South Africa were tagged as chokers, seemed to be high contenders and possible winners this World Cup. But as luck would have it, they lost out to New Zealand in the Quarters and headed back home. Even before the knock-out rounds, the team standings ranked SA in the top in Group B. 

Ranking	Group A	P	W	L	Pts	Castrol Index
1	Pakistan	6	5	1	10	149
2	Sri Lanka	6	4	1	9	179
3	Australia	6	4	1	9	177
4	New Zealand	6	4	2	8	154
5	Zimbabwe	6	2	4	4	121
6	Canada	6	1	5	2	94
7	Kenya	6	0	6	0	68

Ranking	Group B	P	W	L	Pts	Castrol Index
1	South Africa	6	5	1	10	190
2	India	6	4	1	9	159
3	England	6	3	2	7	153
4	West Indies	6	3	3	6	154
5	Bangladesh	6	3	3	6	98
6	Ireland	6	2	4	4	139
7	Netherlands	6	0	6	0	92

Tough luck for England as well. After winning the ICC World T20 last year, England also retained the Ashes in Australia and the team will arguably remain competitive for quite some years. The team that played unconventionally poorly was West Indies, somehow World Cup deserved a better performance from them.

The semi-finals are round the corner. Predictions, as well as anticipations, are rife. May the best of the lot hold the cup high!

UNPREDICTABLE it is!

“Indian bowling / fielding isn't frustrating. It’s just their way of keeping the betting scenario interesting!” – That was my Facebook status during the India – England match. Call me over-skeptical, but I am not the only one who is overtly vexed with how the World Cup is turning out to be.

The Indian team concluded both the England and Ireland matches quite interestingly. There were moments when I could literally tear my hair. 338 on the boards, Sachin’s smashing spell and I was quite confident that India is going to have a sweeping win over England; kind of forgetting my own rule – never EVER predict a game. Speculations were rife, Dhoni’s over-confidence and many divisive twists and turns later, the result was more than anyone could handle. A tie early on in the series, with such a high score was definitely a sheer entertainer – though India could have used the match–winning 2 points (instead of 1). I could almost feel my heartbeats before the last ball – a result that could favour three decisions – a win, a tie or a loss of course. Phew! 

Despite the pathetic bowling and fielding by the Indian members, Dhoni’s criticism of the ruling that went against the team bore fruit. At least something good happening on the LBW decisions! The ICC issued new guidelines on the controversial 2.5m rule of the Decision Review System (DRS) to lead to "consistency" in decision making.

Now for the match against Ireland, luck (and the toss win) was India’s saving grace. Indian players are superstitious, and at the turn of this century, with Sourav leading the team, the mass believed that the team should always bat first. I guess they are finally breaking that spell and the decision to chase against Ireland was crucial – given the all too frequently used pitch in Bangalore. Of course, Yuvi did his bit and made us proud with his 50 runs and 5 wickets. Creating a record amongst a mass of great cricketers, and first time in World Cup is definitely commendable. It’s always one player who absorbs the winning streak, gets lucky and pulls the match through.

The flip side of the match was, the team huffed and puffed to cover the chase. Too much importance was laid on Kevin O'Brien – he got lucky once, doesn’t mean he was destined to replicate his heroics from his last game! And the Indian team should have known better. It was Ireland after all; they had absolutely no reason to complicate the inning. Even England for that matter – they were not considered formidable contenders when the World Cup began. Well, as I said – UNPREDICTABLE it is!

So far, I didn’t take into account the match against Bangladesh, and they definitely are out of the charts. For the further matches – three more to go, against Netherlands, South Africa and West Indies – I wish the team all the very best! Considering their current top position in Group B, the consolation is that they have qualified for the quarters. Happy cricket watching everyone!!!