No limit Game !!!

When 433 runs were blasted off the green Kotla track in just 40 overs the only thing I remembered was that - In the history of ODI Cricket a maximum of 438 runs have been scored by a team in an innings. It was raining 6’s and 4’s when the Daredevils won by 29 runs.

Being an avid follower of DD I was unhappy with myself for missing out most of the fun. I was in Kharghar meeting Pratik for the penultimate time before I shift my base to Delhi for sometime. Suddenly I wanted to have an ice-cream and luckily the ice-cream parlor had a TV where we enjoyed the blast from Delhi till 10 overs. I came back just in time for the last over of Daredevil’s innings and was cheerful for Delhi for the whopping total of 231 but not with myself for missing out Viru’s 3 6’s in a row. The pitch had nothing for the bowlers as Punjab stayed in the contest till the death overs, all due to a man named Shaun Marsh. Delhi certainly got their confidence back with this win.

Someone please let me know when is the repeat telecast of IPL 4 going to start.

KKR Reborn

KKR opened in style [their 1st match ever], living up to the expectation and image of SRK but then eventually chickned out big time in the first 3 IPL's. Apart from being the most profitable franchise, there was nothing positive about KKR as they faced some of the darkest times with the controversies with in the camp, dethroning Dada in IPL 2, Coach - Team mismatch, 3 captain strategy and the list goes on and on. Even though SRK made his money, he was humiliated and disappointed.

Fans of KKR were hurt and angry on Dada's exit and so the same was showcased in the first few matches as Eden Garden remained partially empty. Apart from losing out to Chennai, which was very well with in their grasp, KKR has rocked solid in all the 3 aspects - Batting, Bowling and especially Fielding.

KKR has always started with a bang in IPL's but eventually landed up somewhere at the bottom of the table. IPL 4 is turning KKR's luck around as it sits comfortably on top of the table after playing 4 matches. May be and hoping that the 1st loss to Chennai proves out lucky for KKR and would love to see KKR lift the IPL 4.

Korbo lorbo jeetbo re - korbo lorbo jeetbo re - jeetbo re
KKR - Kolkata Knight Riders

SRK - Shah Rukh Khan

The Second Coming

Who would have thought that The Haryana Hurricane would  lift the most prestigious award in Cricket and make India pompous in 1983 ; repeated by a railway ticket collector from West Bengal’s Kharagpur. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (MSD) and his fearless warriors have connqured the most awaited feat and now stand atop along Kapil’s Devils to make India only the 3^rd nation after Australia and West Indies to have won the World Cup more than once.

Indain Team provided us a break from the never ending season of Scams, corruption, leaks and black money revelations that saddened the position of India; finally got a reason to smile. MSD became the most successful captain in the history of Indian Cricket who is probably building the longest platform for himself – T20 World Cup 2007, IPL 2010, CLT20 2010, Regaining Chams in Tests and now ODI Champions with World Cup 2011.

Sachin Tendulkar – God of Cricket

His jersey no. is 10

Age is 37 = 3+7= 10

Height 5 ft 5 in = 5+5= 10

World Cup Winning date 2/4/2011 = 2+4+2+1+1 = 10

World Cup after 28 years = 2+8 = 10

Strike rate in World Cup = 9+1 = 10

Truly 10ndulkar...INDEED GOD... An Inspiration to Billions of Indian!!!

Sachin Tendulkar after playing 6 World Cups was on the winning side and gives the credit to Dhoni’s captaincy. Entire nation prayed to win this Cup for Sachin as he has given his entire life for Indian Cricket.

Yuvraj Singh was the man behind the success of T20 World Cup 2007. Being out of form for almost a year he had touched the worst patch in his career. He proved all his critics wrong by winning 4 Man Of the Matches and was on a roll, turning his worst year into his best one. 

India V/s Pakistan - The Baap Of All matches

Cricket can’t get bigger than this, beating the Ashes rivalry and even the World Cup finale. Emotions were flying high everywhere way before the first ball was bowled. Even if you are not a Cricket follower, you could still smell the difference in the air which was ignited by buzzing online jokes, SMS’s and PM’s invitation. Sweet and bitter memories were the talk of the town.  The air was charged with dynamite and everybody was ready to be blown over. 

Students bunked their school, colleges; even the professors followed them. People rushed back to their homes early as there was 65% absenteeism on jobs. Nobody followed the Sensex past 2.30 pm. The entire country was in a holiday mood with shops being closed, fewer vehicles on road. Even the PM and Gandhi family was on a break from running the country. Ads slots went for 5 times higher the cost that the advertisers are paying for the World Cup finale. 

Never having lost against Pak in World Cup, India were the favorites. Proving it right India registered a comfortable win over Pakistan with Sachin bagging the Man of the Match for his crucial innings. Pakistan was outplayed by India in all the 3 fields – batting, bowling and fielding.

Now India faces an uphill task ahead of itself in Mumbai to tackle the 3M’s of Lanka – Mendis, Murli and Malinga. India needs to go back in history and repeat it’s Ram – Raavan story with Hanuman setting the Lankans on fire.

Bet out this Cup....

Since the World Cup started there have been certain predictions which went around. One of them which came true was the circle of life :-

India              beating  Bangladesh

Bangladesh  beating  England

England        beating  South Africa

South Africa beating  India

Another interesting fact which went around after India tied with England :-

Till now Dhoni has won 3 major tournaments - Twenty20 World Cup, IPL and Champions League Twenty20 all of them being 20 overs match. In all the 3 tournaments, Dhoni's team tied up in 1 one of the league matches that it played.

This one's interesting - 

Since 1992 every time an Asian team lands up in the World Cup finals. Pak and SL both have won the Cup once and lost it once.

Pakistan - 2 times in final (92,99)

Sri Lanka - 2 times in final (96,07)

India - 1 time in final (03)

So according to this piece of fact its India's turn to land up in 2011 World Cup final and win it. 

My belief is that the final would be either - India V/s South Africa 

                                                                   India V/s England

In any case India is gonna win the Cup.

Any comments ...???

WOOOWW!!!

is what every Briton would have said after Windies experienced the British winds that blew them point blank. As the match made its course, Roars of Bangla Tigers (riding on Windies fate) were turned into Meows by Treadwell and Swann.  

The Beginning

In a ding-dong battle, England wasted a good start (79-1 in 11 overs) and lost its way in the middle (151-6). At that point in the match, Tigers would have been pleased to their core as they could literary see their chances brighten up. But the Britons did well to take their tally to 243 but it was not enough to win the match.

Almost lost it

England missed their strike bowlers (Little Stuart and Mr. Anderson) when Windies blasted them off for 58-0 in 8 overs. Gayle, Sammy and Russell all 3 went for the kill and almost succeeded in their motive before they were caught in the web of Spin.

Climax

21 runs needed in 52 balls with 4 wickets in hand – Turned into - 4 wickets in 11 balls conceding only 3 runs.

The real looser here were Bangladesh who were gutted by Swann in his last over. In order to stay alive they need to defeat SA which is going to be an uphill task for them.

Bangla roars with Beer Maggie

Continuing my blogging stint with the World Cup 2011, Bangla Tigers changed the entire outlook of Group B by defeating England. Never did I believe that Bangladesh would topple England after losing their 8^th wicket.

Throughout the match there was a rainbow of emotions that made the buzz worldwide. After reducing England to 53/3, Trott and Morgan managed to speed up the innings and 270 was on the cards before the Tigers wrapped up the Britons for 225. Bangladesh started their chase comfortably and was going on well until they started falling like bowling pins. Tiger supporters who chose to stick till the end witnessed one of the most successful 8^th wicket partnership ever. 

Whilst all this was going on I along with my friend (Sinto) were enjoying a special type of Maggie called the "BEER MAGGIE". It was the first time ever that we had tried it out and believe me it's the best snack to have with your drinks. 

P.S. - Contact Sinto or me for further details on the recipe. 

Coming Soon - Chicken Beer Maggie/ Egg Beer Maggie

Fix this!!!

World Cup 2011 is turning out to be a hoax for me. To start with I was confident of Pakistan giving New Zealand some a** whooping (read previous performances). The best part was my friend who kept insisting that I put my money on Pakistan against him. Luckily being a guy who keeps his distance from quick fix methods of making a buck or two I declined this offer without much thought.

After New Zealand's disastrous start today my friend was still insisting that I bet on Pakistan. After declining his offer yet again he let the cat out of the bag; he got a tip that NZ was going to beat Pakistan.

After seeing the Pakistani bowlers (Shoaib, Razzak, Abdur R) being thrashed by Ross Taylor and J Oram  in the final overs resulting in the world's fastest 100 in just 29 balls ....The only thing that was going through my mind was why the h*** are they bowling to the set batsmen, Ross Taylor in the same spot over and over again yielding the same result. 

My doubts were put to rest when Pakistan batted and fell like nine pins. I guess what needs to be pondered over is when a bowler like Umar Gul can bat with so much confidence....why are their so called batsmen failing to make the mark.

Any tips for the India - Ned match anyone??? 

India V/S Ireland

After England successfully defended their score of 171 against South Africa I was a bit skeptical about India beating Ireland but my friend Pratik was so sure that India would win. From that moment began a journey of prediction in which Pratik won it all. All his prediction came true which resulted in me paying our bill at Arun Bar.

Well here are the 5 predictions that came true

1. Sehwag getting out in beginning
2. 2^nd  wicket going in the Twenties
3. 3^rd  wicket of Sachin would go in seventies on which I said that I would pay the bill even if the 3^rd wicket  goes in the Eighties ( 3^rd wicket goes at 87)
4. Me predicting that if Sachin would get out in the Eighties then it would be taken by their youngest looking spinner Dockrell.
5. Me predicting that Yuvraj would be not out till the end and would take the Man Of the Match

 We were getting Goosebumps as our predictions were coming true as the game proceeded.

After all this happened finally the bill was paid by Pratik only (Lucky me) and then we had the yummy chicken leg pieces and the chicken biryani at Ahmed Bhai. Not surprisingly Yuvraj Singh gets the Man of the Match for his 5 wicket hall and his innings of 50 runs which I had already predicted.

Something's Fishy about this World Cup....

Is Match Fixing Back ? ...... Precisely this was the thing that was going on through my mind after seeing Pak getting reduced to a mere total of 184.

Well this is not the first time that a good team has been bowled out by Underdogs so cheaply but why does it happens that every time when Pakistan gets out in such a manner, certain sparks go off in public regarding the MATCH FIXING.

On top of this when the Venue is India, Match fixing is not a big deal. At end of the day Pakistan certainly proved it wrong by winning the match.

Look out for the Man  - Afridi Boom Bowling