We are the Champions!

Before the start of the world cup, I changed my facebook profile picture to Kapil Paa jee holding the esteemed cricket worl cup at Lord's balcony. I was hoping for Dhoni's lions to emulate the same. I uploaded few videos of Amir Sohail episode, Bhajji- Akhtar, Yuvi-Flintoff ones to get everyone in the mood. Some laughed at me, saying that I will be laughed upon when India will crash out of the cup.

India started well against Bangladesh but bowling was criticised. India nearly lost to England and same criticism was back. Indian media (who are mostly irresponsible) was calling for Dhoni's head and ridiculing every decision he took. Nehra was crucifed for his performance against South Africans but people forgot that all teams were failing to achieve some sort of consistency going in the cup. India lost to South Africa, South Africa lost to England and the story was similar in the other group.

After South Africa's loss, almost everyone was questioning his captaincy. People forgot that Dhoni is the best captain India has ever produced. He won t20 world cup, won the IPL, Champions league, Tri series in Australia, drawn series against SA and Australia at their home turfs. Dhoni is not just a lucky captain, he is the best  in the business and he has proven that time and again.

In the group stages, Dhoni just had one goal and that was to qualify for the knock out stage. Even after not so convincing performances India was tagged as favourites to win the cup owing to it's strong batting line up. Some tougher decisions needed to be made by Dhoni during this knock out stage and he did it. Whether it was chosing Ashwin over Nehra, Nehra over Ashwin or Sree over Ashwin. Dhoni's own performance was under scrutiny as he failed with the bat.

India knocked out Aussies and Pakistan owing to inclusion of Suresh Raina who proved pivotal in the later stages of the campaign.

Before the cup, Dhoni promised that he wants to win it for Sachin and he did it for him. As sachin's die hard fan, I am really thankful to Mr Dhoni. He chose the right moment to step up his game and brought his best when it mattered the most.

Thank you Team India for bringing such joy, pride and happiness to all of us.

Thank you to Imran and Shane Warne for predicting team India's win at every knock out stage.

How long can they keep him out?

I am talking about Manish Pandey. It is not because I am a Pandey and that's why I am talking about him. I wrote an article about him last year when he became the first Indian cricketer to score a century in 20-20 IPl tournament and I am a big fan of him.

Manish is a fearless cricketer and provides excitement in the same vein as Virendra Sehwag does. Although he has a long road to cover to follow footsteps of Nawab of Najfgarh but he desperately needs a Godfather in the selection committee for that dream to realise.

http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/412791.html?CMP=OTC-RSS
This is the scorecard from the Ranji trophy final earlier this year. Manish flopped in the first innings but played a gem of an innings while batting second time. Karnatka needing 338 runs to win in the 4th innings were in a precarious position at 46-4. Manish came out to bat and took the bull by horns. He attacked and played his shots and scored a whirlwind century scoring 144 in 151 balls.

It was looking as if Karnatka will pull off an unlikely win but once Pandey got out they succumbed to the pressure of chasing and folded like pack of cards (which often happens in such kind of chases). At that time I thought that selectors might have a look at him but there is always more than what it meets to the eyes...

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
First-class	18	28	3	1203	194	48.12	1671	71.99	4	7	161	14	22	0
List A	20	20	1	544	95	28.63	592	91.89	0	3	45	18	11	0
Twenty20	36	34	5	756	114*	26.06	629	120.19	1	2	77	16	14	0

These are Manish Pandey's batting stats till date and he has already scored 4 hundreds in first class matches and all of them have come at crucial times. It wont be an exaggeration but the recent good showing by South Indian team can be owed to the sensational batting of his.

Even in the two matches he played at Champions league T20 he made 44 and 52. Manish has been performing consistently at all the levels and formats he has been given chances so far. I watched his innings of 44 against Lions and he was all out on attack against the quality opposition displaying good variety of strokes all sides of the ground. Manish Pandey's ability can be judged from the fact that it is not easy to score a hundred and he has the honour of scoring one in a T20 match.

Recenlty India played an Emerging player's tournament in SA and there Pandey's performance in t20 was
14 vs SA, 32 vs Aus, 11 vs Aus. Considering these were 20 over matches and some of them were really scoring, it was a decent performance.

1 vs SA, 14n.o. vs NZ, 23 vs Aus (match winning and also cleared the path for the finals) http://www.cricinfo.com/ept10/engine/match/467183.html


It would be intersting to see as how long can they keep him out from the national team. The challengers trophy is going to take place between 8-11 Oct 2010. Manish Pandey is playing for India Red. Watch this space for more on the RISING STAR OF UTTARAKHAND.......

Battlelines are drawn

Finally, the wait is over and t20 world cup is here, in sunny England. Weather has been behaving fine till now and hopefully it will continue. 20-20 has taken cricket lovers by storm, everyone loves it except some purists, who still like the gruelling and slow pace of test cricket.


India are favourites to win, that does not happen often. Last time we were underdogs, Dhoni was leading a team of players who wanted to perform and prove themselves at bigger stage. Dhoni and team did the fantastic job, to be frank Dhoni has a knack of leading players in other words he is a fantastic captain, he seldom looses his cool. Dhoni like Imraan Khan is a risk taking captain and believes in surprising the opposition. His decision to bowl Uttappa in that bowl over was baffling but he knew what he was doing. India did tremendously well as a team to become champions and we all know the story, we all were there, weren't we?


Let's have a look at few possible winners for this year. My friend Rohit said that 20-20 is a game for underdogs and so far the trend does proves that. Take IPL as well, Dilli was the strongest and favourites but Deccan defied the odds to win the trophy. Thus, going by that rule England has a preety fair chance of winning this as they are not amongst favourites and have an abysmal record in 20-20 despite of the fact that the format originated in England.

Pakistan looks like a good side but I think leadership is the issue here. If captain can lead them the way Dhoni led India, they might stood a chance.

Australia are always a good side but I am apprehensive about them as they have been losing frequently in the recent past.

Kiwis were semi finalists last time and champions India have not yet beaten them in 20-20. It is another thing that all of the matches were close affair and kiwis just sneaked in with a win. I have my reservations about them as their top order loks very fragile.

West Indies cricket is not at its best but they have few performers in their team, if they get a good start, they might be ale to pull of few surprises.


Sri lankans have yet to master this format and I have the view that they will continue to stuggle as Mendis has been decoded and there are batsmen who can take Murali apart on their day. They have a good bowling attack but batting lacks the punch.

South Africa looks like a good side but they have a big big mental barrier to cross. The history is against them, this team does not look the best, they had better teams in the past who choked at pressure situations. They will be a side to watch but winning would be a big big surprise.


Finally, world champions are looking good but as Gilly said that lightining does not strike twice. Despite of being favourites and having a well balanced side, India is just fighting the odds and nerves.

conclusion, heart says India but gut says England. Let's wait and watch 20 -20.