- An impressive assembly of stats from the CricInfo team that suggest, for example, that Team India has amassed the most number of runs and wickets in ODIs!
- The Gavaskar V Ponting saga continues. Sanjay Subrahmanyan has commented on this issue on this blog. Gavaskar has returned the Ponting salvo with a right upper cut of his own! Here is an earlier (long) article on this blog on Aussie behaviour!
- Pakistan lost to West Indies in the 2007 World Cup opener. But Kamran Abbassi thinks it is too early to jump the Pakistani ship.
- McGgrath, who has taken 45 World Cup wickets, needs 11 more to beat Wasim Akram, the highest wicket taker in World Cups. McGrath says he can do it. He can start on this journey with a bagful against Canada today!
- Anyone for a free haircut in Ranchi? You’ll need help from Dhoni!
- Amitabh Bachchan does not watch Team India games live!
- Richard Hadlee thinks this World Cup will have a new champion. So, it must be one of South Africa, New Zealand (but, of course!) or England.
- Kiran More says, in a free-wheeling interview, that Sehwag and Ganguly must open.
- Mickey Arthur and Greame Smith only choke on spare ribs, but they are already scared of the minnows!
- Calm before the storm. The players relax before the World Cup gets underway.
- ICC Chief, Malcolm Speed, wants players to be more responsible role models.
- John Wright appears happy with India’s lead-up to this World Cup and advocates the use of two spinners in India’s games.
- Sir Richard Hadlee writes about the role of thoughtful captains in World Cups.
- You’ve heard of averages, strike rates, over rates, ranks, and more. Here’s an ODI pressure index!
– Mohan
Categories: Cricket · News · Paper round · World Cup
I caught the last few overs of the West Indies Vs Pakistan game — official duties prevented me from catching the exciting parts of the game. This was the first game of the 2007 World Cup.
Pakistan tamely folded to a tight opposition. The West Indian bowling and fielding seems to have picked up considerably since their pathetic loss against India.
The resurgence of Darren Powell has been a revelation for the West Indians. My Jamaican colleague at work was mentioning to me that Mr. Powell has had to go through quite a turmoil personally and professionally over the last few overs particularly with respect to his stint in South Africa and has fought back hard since. (I have no official confirmation of the same, nevertheless). Caribbeans form a large community in Canada, I interact with a sizeable West Indian contingent at work most of whom have had great apprehensions about West Indies’s chances. Today’s game seems to have provided them with renewed hope.
Cricket fever seems to have reached new levels in Canada. Canada’s participation in the 2003 event did not have this kind of a response. Maybe the combination of Canada’s qualification, the proximity of the tournament — geographically speaking — and the evergrowing immigrant population primarily from South Asia and the Caribbean has played into the Canadian psyche. Toronto Star, one of the leading newspapers here published a major supplement over the weekend. The flag fever which occurred during the FIFA world cup has reappeared — indicative of the growing popularity of cricket in this part of the world. I will do a feature on cricket in Canada at some point. Cricket is here to stay in Canada.
My loyality, however, remains with the best cricket team in the World: India…
- Srikanth
Categories: Canada · Cricket · World Cup
Tagged: India, West Indies
