Indian Cricket - the road ahead ...

India's poor performance in WC 2007 has filled 100 billion people with dissappointment, pity!, anger and what not. Team India is passing through a horrible time that no one would even dream of. All coz of the tendency of just screwing it up when it matters. Had they shown some sort of mental fitness, the scenario would have been 180 degree different. But alas, it lies all messed up.

Just with this funny performance, several things come to my mind like :

• India is the second-most populated country in the world. The country where cricket is followed more than religiously. The pujas and the maha-yagnas conducted all over the place for cricket.
• Financial and social benefits that the players enjoy in this cricket-mad country. On every second nukkad the children are seen playing the game.
• The players that were selected for the mission world cup. Their attitude being reflected in the game. Also hinting about the training pattern for world cup.
• The heros in Sachins, Sehwags, Gangulys and Dravids having more than 40,000 runs under their belt. Two world-class spinners in Kumble and Bhajji.
• The rich and wealthy BCCI.
• The importance of the game for being heard in the parliament sometimes.
• The mixed 'luck and results' that India had in the past. The shameful loses to the glorious victories.
• The opportunity ahead, the things that could put things in place.
• The need for a more effective selection process, encouraging the game at grass root level.
• The performance based payments that could keep players on their toes. (Of course they make most of their wealth through ads, but the players, specially seniors will feel really bad if they are in the lower bottom half)
• The rotation policy for the having the best team for the best event. No point in playing the best 11 in Ind-Ban series and winning it 3-0 or 5-0 or whatever. Having a world cup to world cup agenda, almost like the 5-year plan (or rather unlike the '5 year plan')
  
• I just sometimes sit and wonder about the time when Indian cricket board will feel and groom the passion the budding kids show, for the kids play mini-cricket at their homes when its raining outside!

cheers!

Just for Fun

A funny mail which comes in my email-inbox so many times that i am putting it here. Enjoy alternative jobs opportunities for fallen stars of Indian cricket team.

Super Eight Matches Schedule

Here is the schedule of 24 matches in Super Eight stage of Cricket World Cup 2007.

March 27: West Indies vs Australia (Australia won)
March 28: South Africa vs Sri Lanka (South Africa won)
March 29: West Indies vs New Zealand (New Zealand won)
March 30: Ireland vs England
March 31: Australia vs Bangladesh
April 01: West Indies vs Sri Lanka
April 02: Bangladesh vs New Zealand
April 03: Ireland vs South Africa
April 04: England vs Sri Lanka
April 07: Bangladesh vs South Africa
April 08: Australia vs England
April 09: Ireland vs New Zealand
April 10: West Indies vs S Africa
April 11: England vs Bangladesh
April 12: Sri Lanka vs New Zealand
April 13: Australia vs Ireland
April 14: S Africa vs New Zealand
April 15: Bangladesh vs Ireland
April 16: Australia vs Sri Lanka
April 17: South Africa vs England
April 18: Ireland vs Sri Lanka
April 19: West Indies vs Bangladesh
April 20: Australia vs New Zealand
April 21: West Indies vs England

India may be Out ...

ICC don't want to forget India even though India is out of the league after first round. ICC fined India for slow over rates against there final match of first round in Cricket World Cup 2007.

India was one over short of its target with respect to allowed time which made ICC match referee Jeff Crowe to fine Indian team.

As per the rule captain will lose 10% and rest of the team will lose 5% of their match fee.

So along with Fans and Advertisers, ICC also showing real path to Indian team.

Players and Advertisements..

The poor performance by the Indian players have bowled them out of the ads. Yeah, most of the companies are expressing their dissapointments over the game the players played in WI. Companies like Videocon, Pepsi, Sansui are among the top ones who had an all exclusive multi-crore world cup ad campaigns. Some reactions..

Videocon promotions will not feature Dravid and Dhoni for the time.

Dravid may or may not lead the Indian team but Sansui defenately plans to sack his captaincy.

Pepsi had to close down 'Ladega to Jeetega' ads, coz their tigers have done everything but 'Ladega'.

Some other cos take it differently. Exide says that they wont go by the performance of Dhoni for such a short period and they will continue to have him as their brand ambasaddor till November 07, when the 2 yr contract expires. Exide was the first company to sign Dhoni, in 2005 - even before he made it to the Indian team.
Sunfeast too backs up the 'har ghar mein Sachin' campaign.

There have been cases where ppl from an area have taken a oath! yeah oath that they will not buy any of the products endoresed by the Indian cricketers.

Common this act is just not done.

Anil Kumble Announced Retirement

India’s leading wicket-taker Anil Kumble has announced his retirement from one-day cricket and he will continue in Test cricket only.

Kumble has 547 Test victims and 337 victims in one-dayers and last performed in ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 against Bermuda.

Kumble's best Test match performance was against Pakistan where he took all ten wickets in an innings in New Delhi in 1999.

He will be seen performing next against Bangladesh in May in two Test matches.

Cricket World Cup Song

I was just browsing through the Internet and found this cool Cricket World Cup song: The Game of Love and Unity. A 4 minute 52 seconds song is not too bad and grows on mind after a while.

You can listen here.