Dreams are made of these...

ridabad, jobs, 

"Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane." - Red to Andy Dufresne in the classic 'The Shawshank Redemption', 1994. 

India started the day with hope. Zaheer Khan was un-hittable by the Lankans, and the fielding made one suspect that coach Kirsten had injected some South African genes into the Indian team. What had been injected though was much simpler and much more visible: desire. The Indians were leaping, diving, running as if they had to train with Usain Bolt and the Sri Lankans found the going tough in the initial few overs. Visions were raised of a bowling choke, leading to a sedate chase. Then Dilshan and Sangakkara built a stand, after which Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene got the scoreboard ticking over much more regularly. Sangakkara went, and Mahela - who had started the World Cup with a 100 off 80 balls against Canada, before losing his form, decided the final would be the perfect place to recapture it on the way to a 100 off 84 balls. Sri Lanka scored 63 runs off the final five overs of the innings, turning a average-competitive total into a very tough one. Hope, that had been steadily growing in Indian fans' hearts, must have done a quick about-turn and headed straight into insanity territory. 

The scene had to be seen to be believed. It was midnight, there wasn't any store open and yet there was a teeming, swaying, gathering mass of humanity. Men and women, old and young, inebriated and sober, on vehicles and on foot - all bound by one fact and one only: They had discovered the Indian in them. 

Roads that had never seen this kind of movement at this hour were jam-packed. Vehicles were stuck, moving 10 metres in half an hour, but that was alright - no one was trying to get anywhere, everyone simply wanted to be a part of the festivities. At one point, I thought I should ask the group of people I was with to get back inside the car because I had spied a police car coming from the distance. Then I paused - there was a hand that was coming out of the police car as it neared a throng. That hand was raised in an unmistakable gesture of high-fiving the revelers. There wasn't going to be a crime committed today - not for the next two hours. Not when the country was in the throes of a collective happiness the like of which it had never seen. Tonight, the police were part of the delicious madness. I didn't get back in my car - I waited till I could bump hands with the man behind the wheel of the police vehicle. 

Sri Lanka had ended up with a very good total, it was true. No batsman hitting a century in a World Cup final had ended up on the losing side - this was also true. No side playing the final at home had won the World Cup, yes. And no side had chased as many as 275 runs to win in a World Cup final. Yet hope had not completely disappeared. After all, no chasing side had a set of openers like Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar did they? 

As it turned out, after just 6.1 overs India didn't have them either. Sehwag had gone off the second ball of the innings, trapped plumb in front by Lasith Malinga. He took with him a sizeable chunk of hope and one needlessly wasted review. However, Tendulkar was still there, and it is an axiom of an Indian fan's life that as long as he is there at the crease, hope is never fully banished from the heart. For 13 glorious balls he made us believe. It was written - he would get to his 100th century while anchoring India's chase and bringing home the trophy that he most wanted and yet had never got, in front of an adoring home-crowd. God had rested on the 7th day, in twice the number of balls, the God of Indian cricket chased a ball from Malinga that was going away and had to leave to stunned silence. 

31/2 in 6.1 overs with the two principal match-winners back in the pavilion. Bye-bye hope, welcome Insanity. 

There was a man in a corner waving a giant India flag. He didn't look like he had come with anyone else, and yet he was bear-hugging every body within arm-reach. He was draping the flag over someone else, and high-fiving every passer-by on vehicle. There was a man on a motor-cycle. He didn't have anyone riding with him. And yet, from a moving vehicle he found the energy and the insouciance to holler a 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and exchange fist-bumps with whoever seemed to be passing him. There is a pedestrian, but he's not on the footpath. He's in the middle of the road. And he spontaneously starts a chant of 'Sachin...Sachin'. what feels like 50,000 voices immediately join in. They might have come alone, but there was nobody who was alone on this night. 

Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli. Two Delhi boys. Two future India captains maybe. Also most importantly, two men with limitless stomachs for toughing it out and who had the cojones to probably think to themselves, "So what if Tendulkar and Sehwag have gone? We are still there." 

They dusted off the early dismissals and focussed on the task at hand: how to get India to 275 in little steps. Gambhir looked fluent from the start, Kohli first settled down and then started opening up. Visions of this match cropped up. Irrestible parallels were drawn - India chased a much higher total in that match and the combined score of Tendulkar and Sehwag was 18 then too, as it was today. Would Kohli and Gambhir repeat their heroics? Kohli, it turned out, would not. 114/3 in the 22nd over, and India was once more on the back-foot. Out walked MS Dhoni, ahead of the in-form Yuvraj Singh. He had - he said later - a point to prove: to himself. And he backed himself to prove it. It was a courageous decision on the part of a man who hadn't been scoring too many runs so far, knowing that if it back-fired, he would have had to face a barrage of questions. 

It didn't backfire. Dhoni didn't allow it to. Gambhir and Kohli had taken India from despair to uncertainty. Dhoni and Gambhir took them from uncertainty to looking increasingly likely winners. Gambhir had already got to a superb fifty, and during the course of the stand Dhoni joined him. "We see your Mahela," the Indian fans seemed to be saying, "and we raise you a Gautam." The stand had crossed the century mark, and Gambhir was nearing his own. He would have got it too, except for a rush of blood that saw a fairly straight 'you miss, I hit' ball from Perera duly miss Gambhir's flailing bat and head for his stumps. Nevertheless, with 97 off 122, while chasing in a World Cup final, Gambhir had entered the pantheon of the select few who have played great World Cup final knocks. 

Out walked India's World Cup talisman - Yuvraj Singh. The game was in the balance, with India having a slight advantage. Recognizing the moment and realising that he needed to seize it, MS Dhoni turned it on. He had been scoring at almost a run-a-ball until Gambhir's dismissal. After Yuvraj's entry, he unleashed a brutal square-cut for six. When Malinga came back for his final spell, there was one quiet over, after which he was taken for 11 runs, with 9 of them coming off Dhoni's blade. With that, India's required rate was 5 runs to win off 12 balls. 

Grown men are not supposed to dance like this. Since when did the streets of a city become a post-midnight celebratory meeting place? And India will not be allowed to forget this party. 1983 exists as televison recording. 2011 will half be remembered by the street videos. For every man who is dancing, there is one taking a video - on a cellphone, on a camera, on possibly other sophisticated devices whose names I don't know. Yes, India will not be allowed to forget this party - there are just too many recordings of it! 

However, perhaps I should pull my friends - respectable, intelligent, mature men in ordinary lives - away from the throng where they are dancing without a care in the world, without a music beat to be heard and with only the accompaniment of a thousand screaming voices? I would, but I find that I'm part of the throng. My voice is contributing to the collective roar. My two left feet are dancing in wild abandon. 

5 off 12, becomes 4 off 11 with a single and MS Dhoni is back on strike. He finishes it in the way only he can. Ice-cold eyes, even cooler head and a mighty swing over the sight-screens. He's had a previous highest of 34 in this World Cup, and he ends it by scoring 91 not out off 79 balls. For the first time after 28 years, a nation erupts with joy. 

O Captain, my Captain! Our fearful trip is done, The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won. [Link] 

The events of the night play back in memory. The first of many re-runs. The men who have won the Cup will be over the moon. And I'd wager that the men who might not have been a part of the winning squad, but who had just as much of a hand in bringing India to this summit on this day, will be just as happy. I raise a silent toast to Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid. To Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. To John Wright and Javagal Srinath. And of course to the entire Indian team of today. And to Sachin Tendulkar. You beautiful champion - who cares if you did not score runs. You had a date with destiny and you kept it. 

The images continue to flash: There was emotion on the field from MS Dhoni. There were tears from many Indian players and millions of fans. I had walked out in the streets after the win. I was greeted, hugged, and fist-bumped by people I did not know. The last time I had greeted and hugged so many strangers was at my wedding. 

Eleven men have won a trophy in a sport that only 10 countries in the world play at any sort of competitive level. But don't tell me that it's 'just a game'. 

"Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." - Andy Dufresne, in reply to Red. From, 'The Shawshank Redemption', 1994. 
Source: http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/39475/dreams-are-made-of-these

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Pakistan on brink of quarter-finals

Pakistan came into the World Cup besieged by a corruption scandal and doubts over Shahid Afridi's captaincy but they now stand on the verge of the last eight with the tournament's only perfect record. Inspired by Afridi, who has led from the front with a tournament-high 14 wickets, Pakistan sit on top of Group A with six points after wins over Kenya, Sri Lanka and Canada. Now they face New Zealand in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, on Tuesday, who are in fourth place in the group with two wins.

Pakistan started their World Cup bid under a cloud after former Test captain Salman Butt and pacemen Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer received lengthy bans on charges of corruption relating to last year's Lord's Test against England. But they have regrouped and Afridi, who is also known for his devastating hitting, has turned the side into genuine contenders for their first World title since 1992.

Amid the focus on the 31-year-old, Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq urged his team-mates to take the pressure off Afridi, who took 5-16 against Kenya and followed up with four wickets against Sri Lanka and five against Canada. "It's really very good for a team that its captain is doing well, but other players are also required to play well, take responsibility and ease pressure off the captain," said Misbah.

Misbah said Afridi has led from the front in the tournament. "I think in all conditions, especially here, Afridi is a difficult bowler to handle, he has got variation and doesn't give the batsmen time. With that kind of aggression he has led from the front," he added. Misbah said Pakistan's recent one-day series win over New Zealand would count for nothing. "We have done well against them in World Cups and in the recent series there but that win will count for nothing as it's a new game at a new place," said Misbah, of Pakistan's 3-2 win in New Zealand last month. Pakistan are set to bring in paceman Shoaib Akhtar after resting him for the previous match against Canada, while left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman is also available after missing that game due to a leg muscle injury.

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said he was aware of how good Pakistan's bowling attack could be. "They can probably defend any score because of the nature of their bowlers. They bring a lot to the table," he said. New Zealand, who lost to Australia by seven wickets but eased past Kenya and Zimbabwe by 10 wickets in each game, have four points after three matches. "It's a matter of stepping up against the harder teams," said Vettori, whose country has lost six World Cup matches against Pakistan since winning their first in 1983. The hill town of Kandy has suffered from persistent rains and the only international match here, a Test between Sri Lanka and the West Indies in December, was drawn without a single innings completed in five days.

The warm-up matches before the World Cup were also moved because of bad weather. Meanwhile, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has criticised Bangladeshi fans for stoning the West Indies team bus after the home side was humiliated against the Caribbean side, in an apparent case of mistaken identity. The attack on the West Indies bus was "undesirable" and such behaviour could affect Bangladesh's chances of hosting further major events, Hasina told a political rally late Monday. The Prime Minister urged fans to be patient after any home defeat, saying it was "not acceptable that you will garland the players if they win and pelt them with stones if they lose," she said.

Source: http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/37838/pakistan-on-brink-of-quarter-finals

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ICC has double standards: Dalmiya

A few days after Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, accused the ICC of a conspiracy to take the India-England match away from the Eden Gardens, he took his battle a step further and accused the ICC of double standards, claiming the that the venue for the World Cup final - the Wankhede Stadium - should not get clearance by means of hosting a Twenty20 match.

Reacting to reports that ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat was satisfied with Wankhede's progress after it hosted a T20 match recently, Dalmiya argued it's not a yardstick as per the Stadium Agreement of the World Cup. "It's in a bad taste to criticise.

But the fact remains that they are yet to host a Test, ODI or a first class match. You all know what is a first class match," Dalmiya said. "It's a question of damage of prestige. What is this, we all want to know. Be man enough and come forward," Dalmiya told reporters, challenging ICC's stand on Wankhede which will host the final on April 2. "I challenge the ICC's stand. One cannot do it. I've all the records with me to substantiate it.

Let them come forward and take my challenge. We want to know who are the (ICC) experts, from where they have come. "People who live in glass houses, should not throw stones at others. That's the only thing that haunts me. It's a case of double standards." Dalmiya also shot off a letter to BCCI secretary, N Srinvasan, on Tuesday. "According to the ICC's Stadium Agreement, at least two Tests or ODIs or an entire season of first class cricket or matches at the highest level will be played minimum six months prior to the commencement of the event," he stated.

"Twenty20 matches at the local level were certainly not a yardstick and that too the matches were played only in February this year. Surprisingly, the ICC experts cleared the venue, going beyond their ambit." Dalmiya also had a word of praise for the BCCI for taking up their case with the ICC. "We had asked them (ICC) to give us an extension till February 7 and the BCCI did not sweep it under the carpet. They took it up and we are grateful at them."

The Wankhede hosted the MCA T20 championship semifinal between Mumbai Police Gymkhana and Fort Vijay Cricket Club on February 27, in what was its first build-up match ahead of the World Cup. ICC chief executive Lorgat had earlier said: "I have said earlier there were Twenty20 matches that have been played there and the stadium has been inspected. We have experts whom I can assure you will not pass the stadium unless they are satisfied with its preparedness."

Source: http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/37401/icc-has-double-standards-dalmiya

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Cup force with us now, says ton-up Strauss

England captain Andrew Strauss said his side's sensational tie with India proved they were a World Cup force to be reckoned with after his superb century so nearly saw the visitors to victory. England, chasing what would have been a new World Cup winning total batting second of 339, finished on 338 for eight in reply to co-hosts India's 338 all out at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, with Strauss making 158.

His was the first World Cup hundred by an England captain and the highest World Cup score by any England batsman, surpassing Dennis Amiss's 137 against India at Lord's in the competition's inaugural fixture back in 1975. England's performance was an improvement upon their lacklustre six-wicket opening win over the Netherlands, where Strauss made 88. "Coming into this game after the Holland performance, it was a great bounce-back and showed everyone around the tournament that we're going to be a force to be reckoned with," said Strauss. When Ian Bell (69) and Strauss, who put on 170 for the third wicket, fell in successive balls to left-arm quick Zaheer Khan, the match swung back the way of India, who'd earlier seen cricket great Sachin Tendulkar become the first player to score five World Cup hundreds.

England had a poor batting powerplay towards the finish, losing four wickets for 25 runs in five overs. And it needed tailenders Graeme Swann and Ajmal Shazhad to secure only the fourth tie in World Cup history, as 13 runs came off the final over. This was the match a World Cup full of lopsided early encounters desperately needed and Strauss said: "We've got to celebrate the fact it was an unbelievable game of cricket -- probably the best advert for the 50-over format you could possibly get." Strauss has now scored five of his six ODI hundreds in the past two years. But he was in no doubt Sunday's innings was the best of the lot. "Given the importance of the game, against India in India in the World Cup, it was obviously crucial one of our players went on and got a big score.

"It was an innings I'm very proud of. It would have been great to have been not out at the end and seen the boys home. "It was my best one-day knock." Asked what he told his players during the interval between innings, Strauss replied: "I said 'Lads, that is an unbelievably flat wicket -- we can chase this." However, he was left lamenting England's poor powerplay performance, saying: "We got ourselves in a position at 41 or 42 overs where we just needed to have a good powerplay, and we were there. "But these powerplays can affect you both ways -- and unfortunately, it affected us in the negative way. "Then in the end, we did pretty well to scramble a tie out of it. "There were some great performances on both sides. "When we take stock of this game we'll probably both say: 'Look, we've got a point' -- which is an important point -- and go on and play better as the tournament goes on."

Source: http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/37255/cup-force-with-us-now-says-ton-up-strauss

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The Indian twelfth man

If there is ever a bible written for sports fans, one of the first commandments has to be: "Thou shalt watch a cricket match that India plays in India." Based on the evidence of the World Cup, the Bangladesh fans are perhaps just as passionate as the Indian ones, but then the Bangladeshi team does not give them opportunities to cheer as much as the Indian team does to its fans. It is an accepted fact - and it is of course true - that it is because of the Indian cricket fan's unbelievable passion for the game that India is the engine that drives world cricket today.

However, it is only when you see it from up close that you get a sense of the proportions of that passion, the cheerful insanity of it. And you watch abstract notions c

ome alive - for instance, the oft quoted fact of the crowd in India acting as the 12th man for the team. It works, and how! When the team is on song, there is non-stop bedlam. Every piece of work that is not terrible is cheered fit to bring the roof down if there is one.

And you can see players growing in confidence before your eyes. In India's thrilling tie against England, there was a point during the Strauss-Bell stand, when England seemed to be cruising to victory. The crowd lost its voice

a little, though not completely. And then, Zaheer Khan struck to get Bell out - which opened the floodgates and seemed to lend an extra decibel to forty thousand voice-boxes in the Chinnaswamy Stadium. When Strauss departed off the next ball, the noise level might have reached all the way to Delhi. With the mood of the crowd, the energy-level of the Indian team too underwent a sea-change. Suddenly, every fielder was attacking the ball.

The Indians were running like the wind, often with the man nearest to the one who was fielding also running to back up - just in case there was a mis-field. The fielders were geeing each other and the bowler up with constant encouragement and the team looked transformed from a beaten lot to one with a strong sense of urgenc

y and purpose. What the crowd also did, by its unstinting, unflagging support of the team, and by lifting the team's performance - was help paper over some disturbing weaknesses in the Indian side.

For starters, the bowling. A team that scores 338, does not have too many excuses if it can't defend it. True, the pitch was flat, but the bowling lacked penetration. There was a boundary ball virtually every over. One could argue that England's bowling was as bad, since India scored the same amount of runs as England did. However, for one thing the Indians have a higher pedigree in the batting department than any other team in the World Cup, and for another India's batsmen had to take a lot more risk to get to the total of 338 than the English batsmen.

The Englishmen were given generous lines, and helped by fielding that was safe but hardly electric - with the occasional fumble not too far away - and that is something the Indian team should be concerned about. The current Indian team resembles the kid in the playground who owns the bat. He comes and bats with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, but doesn't have the patience to bowl or field. Consequently, India have assembled a batting line-up that is the world's best - especially on sub-continental pitches. But the bowling and fielding continue to be sub-par. Given the performance against England, India will need Zaheer Khan to be inspirational for almost every match, and to ask that much of one bowler is neither fair nor realistic.

There were some mitigating circumstances for the loss - the pitch was flat and Andrew Strauss played his greatest ever ODI innings - but the fact remained that a better bowling attack would perhaps not have allowed Strauss to develop his innings into one of the best ever, or at the least, cut down his batting partners if he seemed immovable. It is critical that these questions get asked by the Indian team of itself, that they not be lost in the euphoria of a come-from-behind performance. Because if India get their bowling act together, they are likely to be unstoppable in the 2011 World Cup. After all, they will always be playing 12 versus 11.

Source: http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/37241/the-indian-twelfth-man

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Legends analyse Ind-Eng tie

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Tamim Iqbal living his WC dream

Dhaka: Think World Cup openers and the names flow easily - Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Strauss, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle.

Add to the elite list Bangladesh's Tamim Iqbal, who is just as explosive at the top of the order and as integral to the team's cause as any of his contemporary superstars.

If Bangladesh are to progress far in the showpiece event, much will depend how the left-hander, one of the most exciting prospects in world cricket, fares.

Tamim, who turns 22 in March, went into the World Cup determined to be his team's top scorer in every match, and he has so far kept that promise in the two matches Bangladesh have played.

Tamim made 70 during a losing, but spirited chase of India's mammoth 370-4 in the opener, before scoring 44 off 43 balls in his team's modest, but winning, 205 against Ireland.

A diving catch on the mid-wicket fence to dismiss Ireland's Niall O'Brien, ensured that Tamim won the man of the match award even though seamer Shafiul Islam stole the limelight with his 4-21 burst.

Tamim, who speaks as freely as he bats, admitted the award surprised him.

"I think I got the nod for that catch," he said. "Shafiul deserved it more, but whoever judged it, thank you for that."

Tamim bruised his left-hand while taking the catch, but precautionary x-rays and scans cleared him of any serious damage, even though he had injured the same hand last year.

"He has just damaged some soft tissues in his left hand and should be okay within two or three days," said team manager Tanjeeb Ahsan.

The sigh of relief in the Bangladeshi camp, preparing to face the West Indies at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium on Friday, could be heard across Dhaka.

Tamin, younger brother of Bangladesh international Nafis Iqbal and nephew of former Test captain Akram Khan, became a household name soon after making his one-day debut in February, 2007.

A month later and playing only his fifth match, Tamim hit a half-century to fashion Bangladesh's stunning win over India in the World Cup in the Caribbean.

The sight of the teenager dancing down the wicket to smash Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan for a six was one of the most memorable moments of that tournament.

Tamim made 53 and 84 on his Test debut against New Zealand in Dunedin in early 2008, but it was on the tour of England last year that the world took notice of this gifted batsman.

He scored 103 in the second innings of the Lord's Test and followed that with another century in the next Test at Old Trafford, but could not prevent England from winning both matches.

In 19 Tests, Tamim has made 1,445 runs at an impressive average of 40.13 with four centuries. He also has 2,754 runs in 91 one-dayers at a strike rate of almost 80 with three hundreds.

Tamim's immediate target is to score a World Cup century in his home town of Chittagong, where Bangladesh take on England on March 11 and the Netherlands on March 14.

"That's one place I really want to do well," he said.

Millions of home fans will hope he delivers on that promise too.

Source: http://cricketnext.in.com/news/tamim-iqbal-living-his-wc-dream/54804-13.html

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It was a great game of cricket: Strauss

Bangalore: England skipper Andrew Strauss said his side's thrilling World Cup encounter against India here on Sunday, which ended in a tie, was a great advertisement for one-day cricket.
Strauss, who struck a brilliant 158 to almost single-handedly guide England to a dramatic win, said it was a privilege to be a part of such a close game.


Asked if he was pleased with the result, Strauss said, "Yes and No. We were in a great position to win after 42 overs. It was a tough target to chase. We got to a position towards victory at the end of the 42nd over, where we need to have good powerplay runs."
"But it was a great game of cricket and great advertisement for the sport. Some ways we are happy, and some ways distraught. But I am privileged to be part of this ODI.
It was an outstanding wicket to bat on."
Asked about Ian Bell's close shave, Strauss admitted that luck was with the right-hander.
"I do not know it was part of rules but it is luck that he got away with that," Strauss said.
Elaborating further the powerplay, Strauss said, "Powerplay can affect. In fact it affected both ways. The Indians regrouped grabbing the situation. But we got to celebrate the fact that it was an unbelievable act in cricket.
In a 50-over format you can get great performances from both sides. Today both sides are happy party sides."
"Zaheer Khan produced a couple of good balls when it mattered. You need to give credit to the opposition as they responded well to the powerplay overs."
Strauss, who won the Man-of-the-Match award for his heroic knock, was all praise for Tim Bresnan, who picked up five wickets apart from playing a cameo lower down the order.
"He was outstanding. There were some good performances all round in batting, bowling and fielding. It was hard to stem the runs. Sachin played brilliantly. I think both teams will carry some positives and negatives from the match."
Asked about his own innings, Strauss said, "It is my best one-day knock, given the importance of the game and in the backdrop of playing in the World Cup and chasing such a total.
In the end I was not really proud of. Of course, if I had stayed we might have won. But that is the way cricket goes."

Source: http://cricketnext.in.com/news/it-was-a-great-game-of-cricket-strauss/54793-13.html

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Sri Lanka want World Cup win for Murali

Sri Lanka want to win the World Cup as a farewell trophy for legendary spinner and world record holder Muttiah Muralitharan who will retire from international cricket after the tournament.

The spinner, who holds the records for Test (800) and one-day wickets (521), is playing his fourth and final World Cup. He retired from Tests in July last year.

"He is a special person, a legend," teammate Chamara Kapugedera said of the wily 38-year-old on Thursday.

"Everyone in the team wants to give him (Murali) a good send off. We want to win the cup for Murali. It will be a great tribute," added Kapugedera, during team practice at Colombo's renovated R. Premadasa Stadium.

Sri Lanka, the 1996 World Cup winners and 2007 runners-up, are also keen to lift the trophy for the legions of home fans who treat the sport like a religion.

"The Sri Lankan crowd have been very supportive of us, even in bad times. So we are working hard to bring the Cup home again for our supporters too," the right-handed batsman said.

Knicknamed "Kapu", the middle-order batsman managed only two runs in Sri Lanka's first game in their opening Group A match against Canada on Sunday.

A tougher test awaits on Saturday when Sri Lanka meet South Asian rivals Pakistan in Colombo.

Pakistan, the 1992 winners, won Tuesday's opening game against Kenya comfortably and have never lost a World Cup match against Sri Lanka in six previous meetings.

Kapugedera said Sri Lanka are ready to meet the "fiery Pakistanis" on home soil in front of a supportive home crowd.

"I think our top order is prepared for the challenge," he said, referring to facing key bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi.

"Our top-order has faced good fast bowlers before. We have had a very good stint in Australia too (last year). The guys are up for the challenge and we are looking forward to delivering the goods," Kapugedera said.

"Pakistan are a good team. A good combination of bowlers and batsmen. Yes the pressure is there when we play them. But then again, we are also a good team with a good combination. Saturday's game should be good," he said.

Source: http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/37007/sri-lanka-want-world-cup-win-for-murali

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Yuvraj injured ahead of England clash

Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh injured his hand during nets on Thursday, raising concerns about his fitness for their World Cup Group B match against England on Sunday.

Yuvraj picked up a minor injury on his hand after being hit by a delivery from bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, a Reuters cameraman said.

The explosive middle-order batsman was seen applying ice to the injury before he aborted the training session to seek medical attention.

"It was a minor niggle and he should be fit to play on Sunday," an Indian spokesman said.

Yuvraj is the latest Indian player to suffer injury woes as openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag picked up knee problems at the weekend.

Sehwag, who skipped practice for the last two days, was back at the nets on Thursday and showed off his batting skills at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

A billion dreams are resting on the Indian team's shoulders as they seek to become the second Indian team, after 1983's 'Kapil's Devils', to bag the 50-over World Cup.

Source: http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/37028/yuvraj-injured-ahead-of-england-clash

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Preview: Australia vs New Zealand, Match 8

For many supporters of the New Zealand team, it might seem almost frivolous for the side to be carrying on in the World Cup given the massive tragedy that has hit the country in the past week. There is some truth to the saying though that 'the show must go on'. It always does, and it did for India and England in 2008 after the barbaric 26/11 attacks.

After India's epic victory in the Chennai Test then, Tendulkar had said that if the win helped people feel a little better - maybe just one percent better - then it was worth it. New Zealand will doubtless approach the rest of the World Cup in the same spirit. They will have the world's sympathy with them, and are likely to have heartfelt condolences from the Australians too. However, once the coin is tossed, both teams will be playing only to win.

For Australia, Nagpur will bring back mixed memories. It was here that they lost the Border-Gavaskar trophy to India in what was Sourav Ganguly's last Test match, and also the debut of their current spinner, Jason Krejza. The match was personally rewarding for Krejza who bagged 12 wickets, but collectively not so memorable for Australia.

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Australia: Australia started slowly against Zimbabwe, but by the time the game had ended, they were convincing victors. Their warm-up games haven't gone too well, and it was vital they got off the blocks with full steam in their opening match. However, it was the bowlers who were more responsible for making the victory a walk in the park rather than the batsmen. The bowling line-up of Brett Lee, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson is certainly a pacy one. When they are on song, it is even a fearsome one. But of the three, it is only Brett Lee who can be relied on to exert some control under all circumstances. Tait and Johnson can either be explosive weapons or liabilities. When you add Jason Krejza into the mix, the potential for either running through a side with quick wickets or leaking runs at an expensive rate is even more clear. However, Ponting will bank on the fact that it is unlikely for all his bowlers to have a bad day together, and if one of them does, he has the firepower to neutralize that. Of greater worry is the Australian batting, and central to that is the form of Ponting himself. It is clear that Ponting's best years as a batsman are behind him, but a key component of Australia doing well has been his runs at Number 3, which have not been forthcoming with the frequency of old. Shane Watson has become the side's most reliable batsman now, but if Australia are to do well consistently, they need Ponting to be firing. There were encouraging signs for them when he hit two fifties in the warm-up games and looked fluent against Zimbabwe before being run-out, but against tougher opposition in the cauldron of a World Cup match, will Ponting's form hold is the key question for Australia.

New Zealand: The Black Caps will have the unimaginable challenge of temporarily brushing aside their natural concerns for their fellow country-men and trying to focus on winning a cricket match. Captain Daniel Vettori has admitted that the tragedy was weighing heavily on his men, and understandably so. However, the best way they can deal with it is by a victory on the field. They have a good chance of achieving one too, with the current Australian team being far removed from the invincible outfit that took part in the previous two World Cups. In Daniel Vettori, New Zealand have the perfect candidate to trouble the Aussie batsmen with their known weakness against quality spin, and Vettori has got a good foil in Nathan McCullum. In Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill and Scott Styris they have a good batting core who can take advantage of any laxity on the part of the Aussie bowlers.

New Zealand haven't had the best of times on the cricket field, but their preparations for the World Cup got off to a great start with a knock-out punch delivered to Kenya in a match that got over almost as soon as it started. Cricket-wise, they will take confidence from their demolition of Kenya, but whether the Black Caps manage to put on even a half-decent show against Australia will depend almost entirely on how successfully they can compartmentalize their emotions.

Source: http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/37044/preview-australia-vs-new-zealand-match-8

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Sammy aims to revive pride of Windies past

New Delhi, Feb 23 (PTI): West Indies skipper Darren Sammy on Wednesday said his team would look to revive the pride and passion of the two-time former champions during their World Cup campaign which kicks off against South Africa from Thursday.

Sammy said his team received some useful tips from the former players of West Indies and they would look to implement them in their game and deliver with the "passion and fight of the 1980s".

"We received tips from a few former players. Clive Lloyd got in touch with me. Our manager (Richie Richardson) was also a part of the 1996 World Cup. So we would look to implement their advice in our game and deliver with the passion and fight of the 1980s to give something to our fans," Sammy told reporters ahead of their World Cup opener against South Africa.

Once the most dreaded team, West Indies have lost their aura and struggled to deliver as team. The 1975 and 1979 Champions have suffered a 5-0 whitewash at home against the South Africans, before losing 0-2 to Sri Lanka.

But Sammy said past records won't matter much in the World Cup and execution of plans and performance on that particular day will decide their fate.

"We have been in the sub-continent for more than a month and before that we played South Africa at home. We didn't do well recently but it is a prestigious tournament and we have a lot to play for," Sammy said.

"We have to play to our potential. Every game is a big match and cricket is played on a day and it doesn't matter if you are number one or number nine team. We have to go and execute our plans."

"We have self belief and we have to be consistent."

"Consistency is important in the World Cup to make it to the knock out stage. We have some potential match-winners in our side and we have to put them on the field and play 100 overs with confidence to get the best result," he added.

Sammy said some of his players have the experience of playing at the Feroze Shah Kotla ground during the IPL and Champions league and it would help on Thursday.
"Few of our guys played here during the IPL and Champions League and there inputs have been helpful. We have an idea about how the pitch will behave but we will have to wait and watch how it reacts tomorrow," he said.

Sammy said spin will play a crucial role in the matches here and exuded confidence that his team has two quality left-arm spinners.

"Spin has played an important part in the tournament so far. We have two quality left-arm spinner and also Chris (Gayle) bowls off-spin, so we have to consider all these options and choose the best team and perform," he said.

"The challenge would be to go out there and perform to the best of our ability. We are confident and we would look to take one game at a time. The objective is to reach the knock out stage and then focus on the game at hand," he added.

Sammy will have an unenviable task of leading an unheralded bunch of players to World Cup glory and the talented all-rounder said it is an honour to captain the side and join the legacy of the former greats.

"I didn't bring it (captaincy) on myself but it has been a massive honour to lead the side. West Indies has a greater legacy and to be part of that is an honourable job for me. Cricket is a uniting force for the Caribbean people. We would look to deliver with passion and fight of the 1980s to give something to our fans," he said.

Sammy said he handled the pressure of captaincy well and it didn't affect his game.
"I have been playing under pressure even before in my career and so the captaincy has not really changed my game. I have been handling pressure quite well. My idea is to just keep playing."

"I would be playing in the second half of the batting line up and would look to build long partnerships and also bowl economically. On the field, my job would be to inspire the players and also take important decisions when required," he said.
Sammy would be leading a side with four former captains,Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo, - and he said it would help him in decision making during the World Cup.

"It is a good thing to have so many senior players around. They bring in a lot of experience and it would help me. The young can look upto them," he said.

Source: http://cricket.yahoo.com/cricket/news/article?id=item/2.0/-/story/cricket.yahoonews.com/sammy-aims-revive-pride-windies-past-20110223/

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Dhoni on the cusp of greatness in this WC

New Delhi, Feb 23 (AP): Mahendra Singh Dhoni is in line to become India's most celebrated cricket captain if he wins the World Cup as fans of this cricket-crazy country of 1.2 billion hope.

Expectations have risen with a balanced team and a powerful batting lineup that give India a chance to improve on the two previous World Cups held on the subcontinent in 1987 and 1996, when it made the semifinals.

Though India has won the World Cup before, in 1983 under Kapil Dev, Dhoni stands to go one better if he can lift the trophy in Mumbai on April 2, having already won an international title for his country at the World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007.

Despite the inevitable tension, Dhoni has been relaxed in his approach. And his side has responded with convincing wins in practice games over Australia and New Zealand, and a similarly impressive victory in its World Cup opener in Group B last Saturday against fellow co-host Bangladesh.

"There is pressure if you win, pressure if you lose," he said ahead of the game against Bangladesh. "I would have told you the exact figure (of pressure) if I had a machine to measure it."

Such a situation is inevitable given that India is both a co-host and a tournament favourite, when it was neither in 1983.

Dev led an unfancied team which shocked favorite West Indies in the final at Lord's, triggering a process that eventually made the country the financial epicenter of the game.

Now, Dev is bullish about the current team's prospects of hoisting the trophy again for India.

"Dhoni should do better than me," he said recently. "He is a very fine cricketer, a fantastic captain and I hope he can achieve everything he wanted."

"The Indian team for the World Cup is the strongest batting lineup we have ever seen in world cricket. It looks a balanced team, though the bowling is a bit weak. So if they can play to their abilities they can emerge world champions," he said.

The batting lineup led by the world's highest-scoring batsman Sachin Tendulkar also has names like Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and captain Dhoni himself, who have all proved themselves over the years.

With Virat Kohli and Yusuf Pathan also going into the tournament in fine form, it is a batting lineup envied by rival captains.

Just as the landscape of cricket has changed since the last World Cup, with the advent of Twenty20 cricket, so Dhoni's stature has risen significantly in the intervening years.

India found a new leader when, with the country virtually in mourning after its shock exit from the 2007 World Cup, Dhoni led a young side to victory in the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa.

He then gradually took over as captain of the one-day and Test teams with success.
Dhoni has led India to victory in 14 of 24 Test matches and 53 of 94 one-day internationals, with seven no results. His Twenty20 win-loss record for India stands at a humble 12-11 by his standards, but he has also led the Chennai Superkings to title victories in both the Indian Premier League and the Champions League.

Sourav Ganguly, who is the most successful India skipper in Tests with 21 victories and who also led India to the final of the 2003 World Cup, has only praise for Dhoni.
"I think he (Dhoni) backs his players and gives them opportunities consistently, which is very important," Ganguly told Hindustan Times in a recent interview. "He takes risks, which is also crucial for a captain because as a skipper you cannot just do things in the typical stereotyped manner."

The 29-year-old Dhoni is already an inspiration for a generation of cricketers from smaller cities as he hails from the state of Jharkhand, considered the backwaters of Indian cricket.

Now, he is only one step away from upstaging top Indian captains like Dev, Mohammad Azharuddin and Sourav Ganguly.

Source: http://cricket.yahoo.com/cricket/news/article?id=item/2.0/-/story/cricket.yahoonews.com/dhoni-cusp-greatness-this-wc-20110223/

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Dhoni warns hot-head Sreesanth to cool it

Chennai, (AFP): India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has warned controversial fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth to cut out the hot-headed theatrics at the World Cup.

Dhoni was left unimpressed by trouble-prone Sreesanth's latest antics in Wednesday's 117-run warm-up win over New Zealand when he fired a verbal volley at Kiwi opener Brendon McCullum.

The outburst came just four days after the bowler went face-to-face with Australian skipper Ricky Ponting when he made a gesture of a 'L' with his thumb and forefinger to imply 'Loser'.

Dhoni has now publically warned the 28-year-old, who was a late call-up to the India World Cup squad after Praveen Kumar withdrew with an injury, to curb his enthusiasm.
"I told him that he should not cross a few boundaries. If you want to irritate someone that should be the opposition and not your side," said Dhoni.

"Until he does both these things, I am really happy to let him do whatever he wants to do. As for his behaviour today, I don't think there was much. A bit of chit-chat is always fine. As I said, you should not get too personal with a player. If these guidelines are followed I am quite happy with it."

Sreesanth went wicketless in the match against the Black Caps, finishing with 0-38 off five bowlers. Dhoni has warned his seam attack that they need to improve once action begins in the World Cup on Saturday when India face Bangladesh in Dhaka.

India's batsmen plundered runs in Chennai before the spinners took seven wickets to seal an emphatic 117-run win. But the performance of the fast bowlers was a sore point with frontline left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra's two wickets costing 77 runs from 7.1 overs.
Sreesanth and Munaf Patel gave away more than six runs an over without any success while spearhead Zaheer Khan was rested to allow him to recover completely from a groin injury.

"The pacers definitely need to improve," Dhoni said. "They are currently not able to give 100 per cent in practice because we have asked our seamers to save themselves for the main games.

"Maybe that is what is reflecting in their performances. But hopefully, they will do well once the tournament starts and they put that extra effort." India, though, are not the only team having problems with their seamers.

Pakistan are sweating over the form and fitness of Shoaib Akhtar who is part of a pace attack already depleted by the absence of banned duo Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif.

Akhtar was not fielded in the warm-up win against Bangladesh on Tuesday despite all his talk about how he was back to his match-winning ways. "Shoaib is not in touch at the moment," coach Waqar Younis said. "If he gets it right against England in the next (warm-up) game on Friday, he is obviously our number one choice."

Akhtar, who last played a Test match in 2007 before being sidelined with a string of injuries, has claimed 244 one-day wickets in 160 matches at an average of 24.78.

Source: http://cricket.yahoo.com/cricket/news/article?id=item/2.0/-/story/cricket.yahoonews.com/dhoni-warns-hothead-sreesanth-cool--20110217/

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