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Will India win World Cup 2007? Sms YES or NO to 4545. Win iPods, Nokia Phones, and lots of other goodies.

LOL. Only if I could read the stars, study planetary motions, understand various moon positions, and peep into the future, I would have won a iPod by now. Hard luck!

With just about little more than two weeks left before the mega event starts in the lovely islands of the Caribbean, the question on everybody’s mind is ‘Can India do the inevitable? Can they get the cup?’

Honestly speaking, I don’t see a chance.

Reasons:

1. If you look at India’s recent form (notwithstanding the home series against Sri Lanka & West Indies), India has 8-14 win loss record. Yes, they have lost about 65% of their matches.
2. Fitness levels of most of the Indian players is pathetic to say the least. The likes of Kumble, Ganguly, Sehwag will certainly help the opposition players in converting 1s into 2s, and 2s into 3s. Yes, there will be far too many liablilites in the field.
3. Indian players are consistently inconsistent. Sehwag scores 1 and 10 innings. Agarkar has never been a reliable bowler. Kumble and Bhajji are past their prime.
4. On the slow and low pitches of West Indies, we need batsmen who can grind their way out. Besides Dravid & Sachin, I don’t see we have players of that kind. Almost all of them are stroke players, and they just like to whack the ball around. That may work on subcontinent’s flat tracks, but over there, they are going to be a big flop. You don’t believe me? Just take a look at recent tour to the Caribbean.
5. In the super 8s, they will have to win at least 3 matches to book a place in the semi-finals (I’m assuming that India will beat Lanka in the group stage. If not, they will have to win 4 matches). So, who will be these 3 teams? Count out Aussies, South Africans and the Windies. Who is left? New Zealand, Pakistan & England. New Zealand & England are in awesome form too. As a result, reaching the semis itself looks an arduous task, leave alone winning the trophy.

I don’t really know the reason behind this negativity, probably it has something to do with our hysterical mentality of making a ripple look like a Tsunami. But for me, only from cricketing point of view, this is not a potential world cup winning team. It may sound good on paper, but I’m really doubtful about their performance.

But, I am a blind supporter of every Indian Team, let alone cricket. And, I would love to see my analysis proved wrong on April 28th’ 2007. India is one country that has always believed in miracles, and for the sake of Sachin Tendulkar & millions of die hard cricket fans across the country, I hope it happens. If anybody remembers, a miracle happened in 2003, when Team India united to win 9 matches in a row! Can miracles repeat?

PS: Yes, whatever the team is, whatever the form they are in, whoever plays in the team, whether India wins the cup or not, it doesn’t matter at all because India is going to whack Pakistan for the 5th straight time in the World Cup for sure. Right?

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Posted at : February 22nd, 2007 - 2:17 pm
Filed under : Cricket, Sports
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