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Home Truths
Reality check for ‘real’ fans
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Fast Track
Muralitharan wants tickets!
Pak team returns to warm welcome
Quote Marshals
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Home Truths
All Fool’s Day, and the con job is on in earnest. The little games within games, nuances of which need to be understood but rarely are. This one is as much a cerebral issue as it is a World Cup final.
In Kumara Sangakkara and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, we have possibly one of the two coolest captains in the business. The role of wicketkeeper and frequently key batsman added to the leadership doesn’t really seem to faze either. Nor do the little mind games. For example, Sangakkara is pretty suave and superbly evasive when it comes to team selection. According to him, Muttiah Muralitharan is still on the doubtful list, and will not commit if the spinner is actually going to be fielded. “There are a fitness issues in our camp,” he says. “Angelo Matthews is an important member of the team and he and Murali are still doubtful. We will assess the situation later today. But irrespective of how important an individual player is, if they are not available, they are not available. We will field the best possible team.” In essence, Sangakkara indicates that Murali could be on the stand-by list. Dhoni, however, isn’t buying that. Asked by if the thought of Murali and Matthews not being around was affecting him, he retorted, “Obviously, it is affecting you. We aren’t thinking of the strengths or weaknesses of the rivals. We need to focus on ourselves. But whatever Sangakkara says, this is a huge game and Murali will play, unless he is on one leg.” Maybe even on one leg, Murali is unlikely to miss his swansong and a chance to get the World Cup again. Dhoni has his own doosra to throw down. His bowling combination and the almost certain absence of Ashish Nehra from it throw up the question of replacements. Would he be tempted to play R. Ashwin? “The Wankhede pitch is likely to have some pace and bounce so a three-seamer option is something to think about. Ashwin has done well in the opportunities he got in the tournament and while that is an option, we will take a call on that later.” So on the surface, the skipper is dismissing Ashwin, which could well mean the off-spinner will play tomorrow. A doosra Harbhajan Singh would be proud of. The teams is cool and collected, according to both captains. “There is excitement in the camp definitely, but it is controlled excitement,” Sangakkara says. “There is a lot of relaxed laughter and humour but underneath there is a lot of steely determination. Sri Lanka has been through a lot recently and people have lost their lives and if we win, it will be a part of a new beginning.” Dhoni says the team has been progressing from one final to the other. “The surname of the match changes, that’s all. First it was the first final, then the second final… But the good thing is that we had very little time between the semi-final and final, so there is very little time to think too far ahead. Yesterday was a travel day, then we got into the hotel and had a good night’s sleep. Today we are at the nets. So essentially we are living the moment and not allowing ourselves to think too far ahead.” So everyone is chilled, everyone is relaxed and it is just another game. If you believe that, you will believe anything. The two captains are just setting up a stage for the drama to be enacted on. Sri Lanka has always been understated as a team, and India is mostly relaxed, on the surface. But make no mistake, both teams are truly keyed up for the big one. |
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Reality check for ‘real’ fans
Mumbai, April 1 The height of a couple of stands has gone up, and there is a new media centre and press box. Lots of colour in what used to be a grey, bleak utilitarian venue. But the colour was never in short supply here. The people of Mumbai, and also others from nearby stations, made up for all the bleakness in sheer colour and noise. But though the colour and fancy structures and gizmos have added to the stadia, all over the country, the life blood of cricket - the people - have had a pretty poor deal. Some little questions are in order. What makes the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali suitable for a World Cup semi-final? Equally, how is the Wankhede Stadium here a better choice for a final than the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, or the Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, or Eden Gardens in Kolkata? Mohali has a capacity of 27,000 and according to PCA president I.S. Bindra, the association sold 14,000 tickets to the general public. Wankhede has a capacity of 32,000 now, after the renovation, and only 4000 tickets were sold. “The seating capacity has reduced because of the renovation,” International Cricket Council President and local big gun Sharad Pawar said today at a press briefing. “We would like to welcome all those who hold valid tickets for the final tomorrow.” But what explains the sale of only 4000 tickets. “If you compare this stadium to Lord’s, this is still a better capacity. Also, many tickets are given to the clubs affiliated to the Mumbai Cricket Association and those also ultimately go to the fans.” Fair point, but since when England or any other nation was able to compare with the sub-continent in terms of craze for the game? Also, those who queue up at the ticket counters are not club members. So essentially, the ‘regular’ cricket spectator is redundant. But with sponsors hogging most of the best seats, the politicians and officials adding their bit and the television and other rights making billions for the hosts and ICC, who needs crowds? Ticket sales, if done the normal way, won’t even make loose change in the budget of the game. “The sub-continent is the place to play cricket,” Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara says. “No other place which can match the excitement, the buzz that this place generates makes this the perfect place for the game. The cricketers have a near-folklore stature here and this place shows that the 50-over game is alive and well.” Alive yes, but on transfusions of money, not real flesh and blood presence on the field. But that seems to be the way to play the game now.
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Fast Track
I'm glad to see India and Sri Lanka in the final because they deserve. They've played good cricket to reach this far and I expect a good final. I believed South Africa had a very good chance of winning but they were knocked out earlier.
Sri Lanka will certainly not be pushovers. They're a very good side led by a smart leader. Kumar Sangakkara doesn't have an easy job, given that he has to keep wickets, marshal his players and score lots of runs for the team. Handling Muttiah Muralitharan isn't easy but Sangakkara has done so admirably. In the Mohali semi-final, Pakistan let India off the hook a few times but don't expect Sri Lanka to be so kind. They don't offer anything on the field or with the ball and so India will have to play exceptionally well to win. India cannot afford to be as shaky as they were against Pakistan. Sri Lanka have an exceptional top four and India will need to get into the middle order as soon as possible to increase their chances of winning. While Sri Lanka's bowling isn't one of the most dynamic in the tournament, it is certainly better than India's. In Murali and Lasith Malinga they have two very crucial bowlers, different in styles and experience let equally lethal. Murali has played a lot against India, so you can expect him to come at them hard, while as always Malinga with be dangerous with his slinging yorkers and changes of pace. The only reliable bowler India have is Zaheer Khan. He has been excellent all tournament, whether with the new ball or in the middle when the ball is changed or at the death. He has been consistent with his line and length and that has fetched him wickets. From what I hear, Sri Lanka may not go in with three spinners as they did in the quarter-finals and semi-finals because of India's strength against spin. There is some talk of dropping Ajantha Mendis and reinforcing the attack with pace. Similarly, I think India will go in with three fast bowlers based purely on the outcome of the last match. MS Dhoni admitted after Mohali that he had misread the pitch there, but as it worked out, Ashish Nehra did his job very well. He didn't get a lot of wickets but crucially he controlled the run flow and finished with very good figures of 2 for 33. He is under an injury cloud, so that's not good news for India. Judging by how the wicket at the Wankhede Stadium is, there should be a recall for R Ashwin who has done quite well sharing the new ball, but three pacers is how I would go in. I know India haven't done well in tournament finals (16 lost finals since 2000) and especially against Sri Lanka (lost seven of nine completed finals since 2000) but on the day, I don't think too many players read into stats and figures from the past. You can argue that Sri Lanka have a psychological edge when it comes to finals but you won't see players thinking “oh hell, we've lost seven times to these guys in finals”. I think journalists dwell more on such stuff than the public and players. These are two teams with a lot of experienced players who will be focussed solely on performing in the middle, not thinking about the past. Two of them will be Sachin Tendulkar and Murali. Tendulkar has been playing under pressure his entire career, so tomorrow won't be any different. Of course, to score his 100th international century and lift the World Cup at his home city would be terrific. On the other side, you can expect Murali to call on all his experience as he looks to win Sri Lanka a second World Cup in his final international appearance.
— PMG |
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Mumabi, April 1 Muralitharan wants his Indian in-laws to be part of his international swansong and media reports said he had approached the local organisers to arrange some passes for them. It was not known if the off-spinner was successful. "It's a small stadium and I guess it's not possible to accommodate everyone's demand," a Sri Lankan official told Reuters on Friday. Thousands of fans, who could not grab one of those 4000 tickets put on sale, are ready to beg, borrow or steal a ticket to be there. A group of five friends in New Delhi are flying into Mumbai after purchasing Rs. 5,000 tickets, which is more than 12 times the actual cost. Choosing Wankhede as the final venue raised a few eyebrows amid growing frustration for shortage of tickets as the 33,442-seater stadium has the second lowest capacity out of the eight Indian arenas hosting matches during the six-week tournament. While Kolkata's revamped Eden Gardens could hold almost 60,000 fans, Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla and Ahmedabad's Sardar Patel grounds have around 50,000 seats, but all of them were overlooked for Saturday's showpiece match. "There is a tremendous demand, but unfortunately, the capacity is limited," International Cricket Council (ICC) President Sharad Pawar told reporters on Friday. "The stadium capacity is 32,000. Mumbai requires a stadium with 100,000-plus capacity but this is a situation we can't change," said Pawar, who also heads the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA). "The stadium was constructed 35 years back and we just renovated it. It was not possible to expand beyond what we have done here." — Reuters
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Pak team returns to warm welcome
Karachi, April 1 Skipper Shahid Afridi and his men, who were not among the favourites at the start of the Cup but managed to reach the semifinals, were cheered when they arrived in Karachi with die-hard fans greeting them at the airport. After being mobbed at the Karachi airport, Afridi was accompanied by legions of fans to his home, some 10 kilometres from the terminal. Afridi, who had inspired his men still recovering from the spot-fixing scandal in London last summer, was critical of Interior Minister Rehman Malik on his remarks about warning them against match-fixing on the eve of the Mohali encounter. "About the statement made by (Interior Minister) Rehman Malik, I don't think the timing was right. I think he made a mistake and I hope such mistakes aren't made by anyone in future," Afridi said. — PTI
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I
'm
glad to see India and Sri Lanka in the final because they deserve. They've played good cricket to reach this far and I expect a good final. I believed South Africa had a very good chance of winning but they were knocked out earlier.
Both wicketkeepers. Both key batsmen. Most importantly, both captains. Dhoni hasn't had a great tournament, Sangakkara has had a good one but needs more to make it great. A century here, a catch there; a bowling change here, a quick stumping there could potentially make this a great World Cup for one of them.
Not much you can say about these two men; 18,093 one-day runs against 534 one-day wickets. Both are, surely, playing their last World Cup finals. Muralitharan is used to fairytale endings. Tendulkar has not had that kind of luck on big days. He has faced heartbreak in 1996 and 2003, but he is still there. Muralitharan has taken a wicket with his last ball in Tests, another with his last in home
ODIs. Whose script has been written better?
Late in 2009, at the Brabourne Stadium, about half a kilometre away from the
Wankhede, Sehwag pulverised the Sri Lanka spinners for 293 runs in less than a day. Since then, he has held an edge over them, but Malinga will want to make sure Sehwag doesn't last long enough to see the spinners.
Dilshan can hurt teams early. In the subcontinent, he does that more often than not.
Zaheer, however, has in the past managed to maintain a certain control over him, bowling mostly into his rib area, tucking him up. One Dilshan burst at the top, or one Zaheer delivery that gets him out early, could decide the final.
India start as favourites as they are a much balanced side. It is not that Sri Lanka are not a good side but India are a better balanced and an all-round side. Besides, they are playing at home and would have some 30,000 people cheering for them all the way. That could be a factor too.
The way they are playing, India will definitely beat Sri Lanka. I will make it 60:40 in India's
favour. I was very impressed by the way Raina played. He batted exceptionally well at a very crucial stage.
It is a great opportunity for us. We have the team. We have the players. We have the strength. So if they don't win this time, I don't see India winning in my life-time.
I suppose playing at home will be to our advantage over Sri Lanka, but you cannot take them lightly. They were one of the pre-tournament contenders for the Cup. These two teams have come through trial by fire, winning some and losing some matches to reach the final. Both the teams would be mentally and physically well prepared.