Yaad - Jignesh Modi

ऐसी भीगी रातो में, जब नींद नहीं है आँखों में,

आ रही है उसकी याद, जो उलझाये रखती थी हमें अपनी बातो में,

आज भी जब नहीं रखा उन्होंने हमें अपनी यादो में,

तब भी बसाया है हमने उन्हें अपनी साँसों में,

भले भरोसा न करे वो हमारी बातो में,

दिखा देंगे सच्चा प्यार एक दिन उन्हें हमारी आँखों में.

मुश्किलें तो बहोत आएँगी मंजिल की राहों में,

पर हम भी जानते है नहीं मिलते गुलाब बिना हाथ डाले काँटों में.

સમય ચક્ર - Jignesh Modi

આ ગોળ-ગોળ ફરતુ સમય નુ ચક્ર મને કાંઈ કહી રહ્યું છે,

પાછળ ફરીને ના જો એ દોસ્ત તારી સામે થી કાઈ વહી રહ્યું છે,

ભૂતકાળ ના એ દિવસો ને યાદ કરવામાં કાઈ સાર નથી,

માણીલે આજે તને જે પણ કાઈ મળી રહ્યું છે.

કરવાનું તો ઘણું છે તારા માટે આ દુનિયા માં,

ક્યારેક તો એવું કર જે તારું મન તને કહી રહ્યું છે.

જીવી લે આ જીંદગી જેવી પણ મળે છે જીવવા,

કારણ કે આ સમય નું ચક્ર નિરંતર ફરી રહ્યું છે.

સવાલ તો તને પણ થશે આ જીવન ના અંતે કે,

મારું મન સાને અફસોસ કરી રહ્યું છે?

જીંદગી તો લુટાવી દીધી મેં નોટો ની છાપ માં,

તો પણ મારું મન આજે કેમ આટલું ગરીબ રહ્યું છે?

પૂછે છે આ સમય ચક્ર આજે પણ મને સવાલ,

અને જવાબ માં મારું મન ફક્ત રડી રહ્યું છે,

સમજી લેવાની જરૂર છે આજે મારે પણ કે,

આ સમય નું ચક્ર નિરંતર ફરી રહ્યું છે.

KYUN - Jignesh Modi

आज मेरी महोब्बत में एक कशिश सी क्यूँ है,

तुम जा रहे हो दूर तो एक खलिश सी क्यूँ है,

वैसे तो मुझे पता है तुम्हे नहीं है महोब्बत मुझसे,

फिर भी इस नादान दिल को तुम्हे पाने की ख्वाहिस सी क्यूँ है.

यूँ तो ए ज़िन्दगी बहोत कुछ दिया है तुने हमें,

पर हमेशा खलती एक कमी सी क्यूँ है,

फांसले तो बहोत देखे है हमने भी दुनिया में,

फिर भी हमारे बिच के इस चार कदमो में इतनी दुरी सी क्यों है.

चारो जहाँ में है खुशियों का आलम,

बस एक हमारे जहाँ में ऐसी मायूसी क्यूँ है,

सच बता ए खुदा अगर तू है इस दिल में बसता,

तो हमारी हालत ऐसी फकीर सी क्यूँ है.

Captain cool: MS Dhoni

Being an Indian I am proud for Indian cricket team and the country for great performance in world cup. The man who has lead the team from the front is MS Dhoni for great victory against Sri Lanka. Dhoni has one more honour in his cap, his 4 years international career has given lot of things to him. Many people praise it as luck of Dhoni but what I say is its clear hard work, smartness and patience of that guy. Luck can work once or twice but not everytime. He has started his captainship career with the win of T20 world cup. Then the journey begun for him and India won asia cup, world cup 2011, become number 1 team in test and in domestic cricket Dhoni's team Chennai Super Kings has won IPL-3. is it luck? No, its never luck. Its the result of Hard work and patience.

Mainly patience is the key of Dhoni's success. He has been criticised at many steps in his career as captain also for his batting too. He wasnt doing well with the bat when the journey of world cup begun. His statement before semi final that his form isnt worry for him has surprised many including me. He could have converted many innings in the tournament in big innings but he failed to do so. May be he was waiting for the big day to come, and he has justified the statement he has made on the day of dream in Indian cricket history. He always keep patience rather than being aggrassive towards the opponent in the big game. He handles the pressure nicely and guide the team towards victory.

He has converted lot of lost situation into winning moment by his cool and calm nature. With the support of Gary Kirsten he has guided team really well. Of course it includes the experience of Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. He has used all experience of Sachin and the energy of youngsters very well. He becomes defensive when the total to chase for other teams is big and he can be aggressive if the total is low. He is sharp to make the changes in team as well as in game too. He has very long career ahead and hope he will help the team to achieve lot of milestones in cricket world.

I am really impressed with the way he is leading team and there is a lot to learn from him to be a great leader.

A day when we stand UNITED.

From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, From Gujarat to Assam, each and every Indian was shouting INDIA, INDIA on Saturday night. After India has one the world cup second time, almost every Indian was on the road to celebrate victory. There wasn’t any bar of caste, religion. Reach or poor, lower caste or upper caste, Hindu or Muslim, everyone dancing together with Indian flag in hand. Everyone greeting each other and congratulating each other whether they know that person or not. I have never seen this kind of celebration in my life. This wasn’t story of only metro cities, the same scenes were there in India’s every villages, small and big towns. People came out of their house and blocked the road. They started their rally with whatever vehicle they have. If they don’t have vehicles then they started the celebration by walking on the road.

Indian flag was everywhere in the air, everyone shouting India, India. Yes in Mumbai and may be at other places too, people also shout for the Master Sachin Tendulkar. Everyone happy with the winning moment and celebrating. This is what I have explained the celebration. If you see the bad time also then you will find people around you.

Whether it is 26th November when terrorist attacked on Mumbai or its train blasts in Mumbai. I have seen people helping each other without knowing each other. Same situation was in Ahmedabad when serial blasts have stunned city before two years. This shows our strength, It shows what we are and who we are. If we want we can show world that our country is number one and the best country in the world.

I don’t know why we sometimes follow few people who just don’t forget the rule given by Britishers and that rule is “Divide and Rule”. These kinds of people just want us to break. They have fear that if India will stand United, nobody has courage to defeat India. They know India’s strength, they know what does Indian mean.

I was very happy on all that bad and good moments by watching every Indian standing there holding each other’s hand. This is only our strength and we need to show this strength to world.

Dream Of Trophy: India vs Sri Lanka Final of world cup

Aamchi Mumbai is all set for the clash of Final between co-hosts India and Sri Lanka for the title of World cup 2011. Both the teams are ready for clash and must have some pressure to win the trophy. Though it is just one more game of cricket there is some more involved in the game and that is emotions of people from both countries. Numerologists and Pandits have rubbed their hand to get fame by predicting the winner for the finals. After beating arch-rivals Pakistan in the semis India is more confident but at the same time Sri Lanka is not the team to ignore when all of their top players are in good form.

India have played very well throughout the tournament and beaten Australia, Pakistan in quarter and semi final respectively. On the other hand Sri Lanka have beaten England and New Zealand. Both the teams are looking good and it will be very tough contest. Pressure and expectation will be very high so players need to keep their head cool and play the game with patience. If we look at the batting line up Sri Lankan openers are in really good form while experienced Jayawardena and Sangakara looks solid in the middle order. They have deep batting line up and if Angelo Mathews is going to play tomorrow it will give them extra advantage in batting. Dilshan, Sangakara and Jayawardena have good record against India. At the same time Indian openers are also in very good form and have given good start in all the matches. Yuvraj Singh, Gambhir have taken responsibilities in middle order while Raina doing good in death overs.

Batting line up of both the teams are looking same as many players are in very good form. Bowling is bit worry for India as Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel havent got proper rythem yet. Sri Lankan bowlers are doing really good job with three Ms(Murali, Mendis and Malinga). For India Zaheer Khan has done really well while Yuvraj imerge with his bowling performance. Ashish Nehra is injured and ruled out of the final. Ashwin will replace Nehra from winning elevan against Pakistan. As the final is in India and its homeground of Master Blaster Sachin, every Indian is expecting India to win and Sachin to complete his 100th century at home.

From India's point of view this is not just a final game, it is dream of many. Specially as it is probably last world cup for Sachin Tendulkar and India never won any world cup in which Sachin played, it is dream for India to give world cup trophy to him as a gift for serving 21 long years in Indian cricket and being Ideal cricketer for world. Lets hope we will win it. At the same time it is the last game of legendary spinner Murlidharan who is highest wicket taker in the world of cricket. It will be a good contast between highest run getter and highest wicket tacker.

Key Player:

India: Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Raina.

Sri Lanka: Dilshan, Sangakara, Jayawardena, Malinga, Murlidharan, Mendis.

Preview: India vs Pakistan

Stage is all set in Mohali for the grand match between two arch rivals India and Pakistan. This semi final seems more important than a final of world cup. Both the nations are geared up to watch the match. In Mumbai Taxi and Auto unions have called off for match. Many offices in India will remain close and swapped their holiday with tomorrow. Many have called half day. The excitement of match is getting on its highest. Just hold your heart guys, Its gonna be a heartthrobing match between these two countries. The same situation is their in Pakistan also.

India have beat defending champoin in a neilbitting game in qurter final while Pakistan got very unexpected easy win against West Indies. Both teams are practicing very hard to win the contest which is the most excited game in this world cup. A lot has been said in last few days on news paper and news channels. Former cricketers are giving their views and helping the team to win the contest. It is been always close match between these two sides when they meet on the ground. Not only two nations but players of both team are also always excited to play with each other and beat other team. Sledging and clashes will also be there on the ground between players.

It seems the clash between Indian batting vs Pakistan's bowling. India have won almost all of their matches with batting while Pakistan won with their bowling strength. India's Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag and Yuvraj are on top of batting list while Pakistan's Afridi, Gul are on top of bowling list for this world cup. Fielding will be big concern for Pakistan. India have improved their fielding level in last match against Australia. If we look at the past records it fevers India as they never lost any game against Pakistan in World Cup. At the same time Pakistan is excited to break this chain of loosing match against India. The word war is already started between two sides as Afridi has made statement about Sachin's 100th century.

Mohali pitch is batsmen friendly with some bounce in the pitch. It will help seamers more than spinners. Many of former cricketers have suggested to play three seamers and one spinner. If India want to go with this they Nehra will make come back in place of Ashwin. I dont think any change needed in the team from last match. Pakistan's speedstar Akhtar has already annonced his retirement after world cup. Lets see if he get chance to play his last match against India.

It is going to be very exciting game. Just cross your finger and pray that we can see India playing in Vankhede stadium.

Key players:

India: Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Harbhajan

Pakistan: Younis, Misbah, Afridi, Gul, Umar Akmal.

Head-to-head record: Pakistan lead 69-46 (NR: 4)

In the World Cups: India lead 4-0

Bye Bye Kangaroos!!: Review India vs Australia

It was a nailbiting game yesterday and a perfect example of what quarter final match should be played like. The winning ball was passing from Indian basket to Australian basket. India have shown really good patience in the end as they were chasing the target which was never achieved by team batting second on the ground of Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad. First innings average score before this match was 258 and Australians have scored satisfactory 260 at the end of 50 overs. The highest score chased on this ground was 238 which should have put some pressure on Indian team.

It was the skipper Ricky Thomas Ponting who has led the team from front in batting and hit first century in this world cup. He is been very consistence against India, specially in big tournaments. It was probably his last world cup game and he has finished it with style. He is really good player but not good sportsman. He had lot of controversies and even before the match against India, Australian media have written lot about his captainship. Australians were looking good till the end and finished it with reasonable 260. The thing attracted in first innings was the way Indian fielders were playing. It was the best fielding I have seen from Indian team in this world cup. Everyone was giving their 100% on the field. Bowling was also descent except Munaf Patel. At the time of toss it has been said that 270 around would be descent score to defend and with the spinning track I was also thinking that India should restrict Australia below 270. The score was good but still not best to defend.

Sachin and Sehwag has started the innings really well with some patience and good shot around the ground. The only winning key for Indian team was their patience and all the players knew that they have to stay at wicket and at the same time keep the scoreboard moving. After Sehwag's wicket, It was time for another Delhi opener Gautam Gambhir to contribute some runs and get the scoreboard moving with Sachin. He played really good innings and build good partnership. Once Sachin nicked the ball and caught behind in the gloves of Haddin, another Delhi player made his entry in the Ground and it was Virat Kohli. Both this played have good partnership records in past and team was expecting them to continue. Kohli played a very poor cricket shot and the same time one of my favourite sports journalist G Rajaraman(Raj Sir) has twitted very good line, "ah virat.. what have you done! a whole ground to put that full toss away and you found Clarke!"

The complete responsibility came on the shoulder of Yuvraj who has very good tournament and already had 3 man of the match award before yesterday's match. Gambhir and Yuvraj were playing very descent game and getting singles. No risk needed as required rate was below 6. Gambhir looked like to looking for the chance to get himself runout. He missed it two times and finally the time has came when he got opportunity to get himself run out. There was no co-ordination between them. With that run out again pressure came on India and Indian skipper come to the ground. He has played some good shots but he has also given a very good catch to Clarke at point area. At that time India needed 70 runs and with only last recognized pair left.

Raina the key man of match who has just got chance to make it in playing eleven because India have not completed their 50 overs in previeous few matches. He is technically more sound than Pathan. I was also expecting the same change here as Raina is one of my favorite finisher of game. He played some defencive shots and set himself with the wicket. Meanwhile Yuvraj has completed his half century. They were playing good cricket but worry for me was powerplay. Indian team collapsed in last few games when batting powerplay came into action. Ball has been given to Lee for first over of powerplay, Raina has just lofted the first ball over mid-on and it went in to the crowed for six. That has broken down Lee's confidence. 13 runs in that over has put India in driving seat and there was no chance for Australia to come back in the game. Finally Yuvraj has finished game with cover drive which went for four. Ponting was stunned by what had happened. It was end of tournament for the team which won it for last 3 times.

The most enjoyable moment for me was to look at Ponting's face when India score winning runs. It was just message from India that he should concentrate on game rather than making statements on opposition. Though I was very happy with his face there was one Cricket fan in me who was feeling bad about the bad end of a really good captain and player. He is really good cricketer but at the same time not a good sportsman at all.

It was really great match we have seen and it seems India got their perfect team combination here. It will be really good game in Semi Final against Pakistan at Mohali. If India continues with same form, they will definately lift the cup.

Time to give answer to Mr. Arrogant Ponting: Preview India vs Australia

Before the start of world cup arrogant captain of Australia just said that "Sachin wont be a part of world cup winning team" and started the word game between India and Australia. This was the time when entire Indian team were giving their comment and mentioning one thing "We want to win this world cup for Sachin Tendulkar". I dont know what Ricky want to prove here. I think this is the time to give him answer by throwing punters out of this world cup at Ahmedabad. Sachin Tendulkar is always better than Ponting than why he is not just accepting this thing.

It will be great clash between these two teams and India have upper hand on this while playing at home. Tendulkar, Yuvraj and Harbhajan have good record against Kangaroos. It is good opportunity for India to take revenge of world cup final 2003 where Australia have beaten them by big margin of 125 runs. If India beat Australia then they will be thrown out of this tournament as it is knock out round and after world cup of 1996 this will be the first time when they will be thrown out before semi final. With the advantage of home conditions India will be strong contender to win this contest while the performance Australian team has shown in the big tournaments will give them some confidence although they have been beaten by Pakistan in their last league match. Ashwin has proved in the bowling department that he is better choice for playing elevan. Many experts have adviced India to play with 3 spinners. There will be some confusion in the mind of selectors between Raina and Pathan. I prefer Raina over Pathan as he can play good in all type of condition and team can rely on him for making the middle order strong.

Australian team has performed well in this tournament with Watson, Ponting have good tournament while come back of Mike Hussey has made their middle order bit strong. Lee, Johnsan and Tait are doing well with new ball but Steven Smith failed to impress in any of the matches. Michael Clarke has played couple of good inings but still it is not good tournament for him. Krejza will have chance to get place into playing elevan as Ahmedabad's pitch may help spinners.

A lot has been said by Australian media for Ponting's captainship, so he has to play and win the game to save his captainship although Mike Hussey has supported him and said he is the best person in the team for the captain. He deserves to be lead the team. IPL experience will give some advantage to the team.

Key Players:

India: Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Ashwin

Austrailia: Watson, Haddin, Clarke, Hussey, Lee, Tait, Johnson

Head-To-Head:

Total: 104

India: won 35 Lost 61 NR 8

Australia: won 61 Lost 35 NR 8

Preview: Pakistan vs West Indies

After the end of very exciting games in the league stage, now we are heading towards more exciting and important matches. Knock out round is going to begin from tomorrow with the first match between Pakistan and West Indies. All the teams reached to this round is capable to win the cup. It will be the day which belongs to one of them and that team will head to semi finals. All the teams have performed really well to reach to this round, specially teams from Group B had to fight till the last match for the position in the group.

For tomorrow's match my favorite is Pakistan. They have played very good games in league round including the end of continues victory of defending champions Australia in world cup tournaments. Opening and fielding is still worry for them but still they got success to clinch some very close games by really good bowling by Umar Gul and the skipper himself Shahid Afridi. Afridi failed to get runs with the bat but he has very good tournament with bowl so far. Yougsters like Umar Akmal and Ashad Shafiq have shown some confidence in opening and middle order. Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-haq are using their experience in middle order. Bowling department is complete with confident Umar Gul, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq and Abdur Rehman. The game will be played at Mirpur, Bangladesh and the condition will be suitable to Pakistan. They will have lot of support there.

West Indies have been beaten by England and India in their respective group matches. After back to back defeats they are expected to recall most experienced batsman Chanderpaul. Gayle will make come back after the game against India which will give some confidence in top and middle order. The worry for them is sudden collapse in batting which we have seen in both of thier last games. After a great start their batsmen failed to gain victory for their team. They have improved their fielding standard in last few games. In the bowling, tema management will get confused after impressive performance of Ravi Rampaul against India. Keamer Roach will come back in the match while there is chance of Russel to get replaced by Rampaul. In spin department Suleman Benn is still not in good form which caused some worry in the camp.

It will be a great first game in knock out round with Pakistan have upper hand to win this match. It is 70-30 game with Pakistan have good chance to win.

Semi finalists from my view will be India, Sri lanka, Pakistan and South Africa by looking at the home condition advantage the asian teams have.

Key Players:

Pakistan: Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq

WI: Chris Gayle, Darren Bravo, Keamar Roach, Kierron Pollard

Stats: West Indies is ahead by 64-48 games from the 114 games played between them

Preview: India vs WI

The last game of league stage will be played between India and West Indies tomorrow on Sunday. Till the time I am writing this blog the situation of group A is still uncertain for position in the group while group B's 4 teams are decided but their position is also very much dependant on tomorrow's match. It is going to be very good contest to fight for second spot in the group. Same thing is for group A. If Pakistan win the game against Austrailia then they will get second number in the group and if Austrailia win the contest then they will top the group.

India have last chance to gain confidence in the bowling and fielding department while they need to tune up their batting line up too. After this match, every game will be important and must win game to be in the tournament. Opening is really good and they are giving very good start in all the matches but in some matches middle order failed to get good total inspite of very good start which we have seen in last match where they lost 8 wickets in only 28 runs. Batting powerplay has been big problem in the tournament for India. They lost many wickets in the batting powerplay without getting more runs. I was impressed with the statement made by Indian skipper after last match that we are playing for country and not for crowd. We can see some changes in bowling line up. Sreesanth may come back in the team while Ashwin can make his debut in the world cups. Dhoni need to also decide batting order as he has changed it in almost all the matches.

West Indies played really well in the tournament. Their last game against England was very close and they loose it very unfortunately. At the start of tournament it seemed that the new skipper is not much aggressive to take the team ahead but he has improved eventually and take the team in the position to get spot in next round. Gayle has been really explosive when get good start while middle order has also done well apart from last match. Bowling is not concern for them as their bowlers have did really good job for them. Bishoo was really impressive on his debut against england.

The situation here is, if India win this game then they will be on second position. If they loose it will depend on the margin of defeat as the difference of run rate between India and England is not more. So defeat can throw India on 3rd or 4th position. So guys cross your finger as it will be a super sunday with India's match.

Key Players:

India: Sehwag, Sachin, Zaheer, Harbhajan

WI: Gayle, Sarwan, Benn, Bishoo

Group of death: Group B in World cup 2011

Group B - The group of death in world cup 2011. We have seen lot of close matches and upsets in this group as Ireland and Bangladesh have beaten England which was considered as one of top team to win world cup after their performance in Ashes and till yesterday there was uncertainity for England to reach to next level of tournament.

After yesterday's win England has gain there chance to reach to the next round. It was one of really good game we have seen in this world cup and England have performed really well in this match. Now they can only get out of this world cup if Bangladesh beat South Africa and India beat West Indies with lower margin.

Lets talk about top 5 teams in this group and their chances for knock out round. First of all South African team which is on number one position in the group with 8 points and NRR as +1.606. They played each and every game fantastically and booked their berth to knock out round. They are the first one to reach to next round with one match left. Apart from England game, they performed really well and consistentaly in this tournament. They have better chance to win the world cup too but it is too early to predict this.

Position number two is occupied by Indian team with 7 points and +0.768 NRR. They lost only one close game against SA, won 3 games against minnows and tied one with England. So far they had very challenging tournament. Though they have faced lot of criticism for bowling, poor fielding and weak captaincy, I can say they still have chance to lift the cup and to do so they have to win four consicutive games. R Ashwin has not been used till the day and fast bowling and fielding is the department they have to improve. They have last chance to get good combination in WI match. Nehra may have to seat on bench while Ashwin and Sreesanth may get chance to fit in playing eleven. If India beat WI then they are clearly going to next round but if in case they loose this game then they have to be dependant on NRR. All permutation and combination are depends on the match between Bangladesh and South Africa.

England have landed on 3rd position after yesterday's match. They have had tough world cup and they are also looking for good bowling combination. Yes, but we can not ignore the fact that even they are defeated by minnows like Ireland and Bangladesh, they won or tied against the big teams like SA, WI and India. So we can not underestimate this team lead by Strauss. James Tredwell performed really well yesterday by picking up 4 wickets and it seems England got the right bowling combination too. Luke Wright is ready to take place of Collingwood.

Fourth position is for yesterday's looser West Indies. They have also performed really well under new captain. Gayle is playing really good and no concern with bowling combination too. All they have to worry is batting. From yesterday's match we can say their middle order need to contribute more to get thier chance higher to win the cup. I am really impressed by the bowling of debutant Bishoo yesterday. They can get out of the world cup if Bangladesh win tomorrow's match and India beat them on Sunday.

Fifth position is for Bangladesh. The co-host have played good tournament and beat England which has put England under threate for some time. They are really good side to compete on their own ground. If they win against South Africa then the match between India and WI will be decider of group B.

Group B has provided many good and competitive games with tie between India and England. This group of death has still kept interest in league matches. Everything now depend on the result of SA vs Bangladesh match on Saturday. Hope we can see good game in next two days.

Preview: India vs SA

After winning back to back games against minnows, India is heading towards game against one of the favorite team to win world cup. It will be good test for India as they played only one game against top level team and that is also tied. It will be good contest between India and South Africa. Nagpur is waiting for a great game.

Though India won both the matches against minnows, they didnt get right bowling combination. Only Zaheer has impressed with new ball and in death overs while other seamers failed to impress. In spin department also none of main spinner get the rythem to get wickets. Lead spinner Harbhajan also failed to get wickets while part time bowlers have done good job. Fielding is also big problem for them. Batting is only strength of Indian team. Looking at South African bowling line up, India have to work hard on bowling and fielding department. Ashwin can get chance for this game. Nehra who just came back in last match expected to share new ball with Zaheer. In the batting Sachin and Sehwag have given good start but failed to convert it in to big partnership. Both have one century in their account. Tendulkar doesn't played against SA after his historic innings of 200 runs.

On the other hand South Africa have started very well in the tournament in their games against WI and Nedhrtlands. They were just fantastic in all the departments and played like champions but defeat against England must force them to think about the game and game plan. Amla and skipper Smith have given very good start in opening while ABD and Duminy played really well. In bowling department their spinners have done very well. Specially Imran Tahir has bowled really good spells in all the matches but he has injured his left thumb in last match. However, the team management may just take a chance since the injury is not in the right thumb. The only concern for SA is their batting line which failed in last match. In bowling department if Steyn gets the rythem he could be the danger for India while Morkel has bowled really well in last few games with new ball.

On the whole it is going to be a very good match, both the teams have to give their best to win it and to boost their confidence.

Player to watch:
India: Sehwag, Sachin, Gambhir, Yuvraj, Zaheer
SA: Amla, Kallis, ABD, Steyn, Tahir

Preview: India vs Ireland

After such an exciting game with England which resulted in to tie, India is now moving on in the tournament with back to back games with minnows. One of them will be played on Sunday 6th of March with Ireland at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Indian team might have thought that they will easily win this match but the big upset from Ireland against England has forced them to think twice about the match.

India have very good batting strength as they scored 696 runs in last two matches while bowling is big worry for them as they have given away 621 runs. I was really surprised by the statement made by skipper after England's match which says "we have couple of games to check for best bowling option for us". Is this time to check for bowling combination? what they were doing before world cup started? Well, they dont have very good options on the bench too. Piyush Chawla was expensive in last game so if they want to go with 2 spinners, there is only one option available R Ashwin. Otherwise as former skipper Ganguly suggested they will have to go with 3 seamers which includes Ashish Nehra. Bangluru pitch seems more batsmen friendly as all the games played there have more than 300 runs scored by both sides. We have already seen what bad bowling can cost in the match between England and Ireland. Fielding is also area of concern for the team. Hope they have worked out on both of these things in the big gap of 7 days they got between last match and the next one.

On the other end, Irish team is full of confidence by beating England in last match. It was first upset of this world cup. They have chased a big total which is the highest run chase in world cup history. O'brian brothers are their main strength while John Mooney has impressed with his all round performance, Alex Cusack has also played wonderful inning. They have passed the message that they are not the side to be ignored. They have amassed 227 runs in 154 balls which shows how powerful their batting is. They will have benefit of weak bowling and fielding of India If India have not worked out on these departments. They will not have anything to loose by this game. Kevin O'brain will be center of attraction as he has smashed century in just 50 balls against England.

All I can say India have to work out on fielding, bowling and of course they have to bat well too.. :)

Players to watch:

India: Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir, Kohli, Zaheer, Harbhajan.

Ireland: Kevin O'brian, Alex Cusack, John Mooney, Porterfield.

Head to head: India leading by 1-0.

Preview: India vs England

Here we are with the second match of India's world cup campaign. India has defeated Bangladesh in their first match by 87 runs but still the match has lot of things showed off for India and the team has to work out on that to make their dream come true to lift the cup. On the other hand English team also had tough fight against Netherlands and it was first competitive match of this world cup. England will have question in mind about bowling in Sunday's encounter as Netherlands team scored massive 292 in 50 overs which is very good score for the minnows.

Indian bowlers have to workout and improve bowling, specially pace bowlers considering the depth of batting English team have. I am expecting some changes in team for this game. Sreesanth may be replaced by Nehra or if the pitch is supporting to spinners then Chawla or Ashwin may get a chance in team. Batting part will be the key for both teams as both teams having good depth in batting line up. Zaheer and Bhajji will be key for bowling and for rest 30 overs, Dhoni has to depend on part time bowlers. Chawla had very good figure in warm up match against Australia on this ground. He might get chance here. Viru's form is key factor in batting while Gambhir and Kohli doing very well in middle order. Sehwag's injury in practice session and Sachin's knee scan had put some question mark for them to play against England but they are now cleared to play.

Worrying factor for England is their key bowlers form. Jimmy Anderson had bad day against Netherlands. Stuart Broad, Bresnan and Swann will handle the bowling department for them while in batting Strauss, Trott, KP, Bell and Collingwood are in very good form. All they need to target is destroy India's batting line up by picking up Sehwag and Sachin early. Micheal Yardy can get chance here to support Swann in spin bowling. KP's batting order change was big surprise for many. Prior is better option to open batting with the skipper instead of KP.

Both the teams have to workout on their bowling department to restrict other team to lower total. On the whole it is going to be a very good encounter. Both the teams have tested defeats in their pre world cup series from Australia and South Africa. Warm up games and first game must have given some boost but still this is their first competitive match in this world cup.

Players to watch:

India: Sehwag, Sachin, Gambhir, Kohli, Zaheer, Harbhajan.

England: Strauss, KP, Trott, Broad, Swann.

Preview India vs Bangladesh

First game of cricket’s big event world cup 2011, is kicking of today with both co-hosts playing against each other. Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur is ready to host first knock. Bangladesh has been gripped by cricket fever all over the country.

The Tigers upset India by five wickets in their first match of the previous World Cup in the Caribbean in 2007 causing India to be knocked out in the first round itself. Following this victory they have created big upset by beating South Africa in super eight round.

India have won 20 of their 22 one-day matches against the Tigers, but Bangladeshi fans are confident about winning the day-night match. Familiar home conditions that assist the slow left-arm spin of Shakib and Abdur Razzak. Bangladesh have won seven out of 10 encounters at home soil in recent past which includes whitewash over New Zealand. They will have benifit of home soil while Dhoni’s team seems very confident to start their campaign with win over Bangladesh.

India has performed really well in warm-up matches and won both of them against Australia and New Zealand respectively. Dhoni’s men are mainly rely on batting line up which has record holder Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar who is probably playing his last world cup. Pace bowling is still a concern for India as it is totally dependant on Zaheer Khan, Other pacers are failed to impress in recent past and in warm up matches too. In this situation India has to rely on spinners to perform well in bowling department.

Yuvraj Singh’s form is also concern for India. Top order is filled with Sehwag, Sachin in opening and Gambhir following them at third place. Virat Kohli is good contender of fourth place and he has been very consistent in past few months. His contribution in past few months is very good for batting line up. Yousuf Pathan can be used as all rounder who provides good batting in death overs and one bowling option as spinner.

The main thing people looking at is who will sit out from the eleven. Dhoni might have to drop Yuvraj Singh or Suresh Raina.

India definitely have upper hand in this match but Bangladesh cant be underestimated specially on their home soil. Sakib-al-Hasan is very impressive as captain as well as all rounder.

Lets hope India start their campaign with easy win which gives lot of confident going further in the tournament.

World Cup 2011 - India

Less than 5 days to go for the biggest event of ICC World Cup 2011 and the subcontinent is ready for it. This time it is very special world cup for India in many aspects. First of all India is co-host of the event of cricket and everyone knows cricket is religion in the country. Second, Indian team looks very confident and we can say it is one of the best team compositions in last many years. Biggest reason for the world cup being special is God of cricket, Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar is playing his last world cup and in his 21 years career he has played 5 world cup and he was highest run scorer twice, still India has not registered world cup glory in his time.

Indian team looks pretty confident for the event with great combination with ball and bat. With the likes of Sehwag, Gambhir, Sachin, Kohli, Yuvraj, Raina and Pathan batting line up looks really good while Zaheer, Nehra, Sreesanth, Harbhajan, Chawla looks good in the bowling department. Pathan, Yuvraj can be used as part time bowlers too. Praveen kumar who has really good record on Indian pitches is going to miss this world cup.

All the team looks really good for the mega event and as it is happening in the subcontinent expectation is more from team. Dhoni has been consistent from last few years and team is performing really well under his captainship. All the players are ready to give their 100% to win world cup for country and Master Sachin Tendulkar, every one excited to gift world cup trophy to master when he is playing his last world cup.

In the first round India is playing with five teams and it will not be difficult for India to advance in next round as matches with Bangladesh and Ireland will be easy to win. India is playing first world cup game against other co-host Bangladesh. This match could be tough one for India as we have seen few upsets by Bangladesh in last few world cups. Second match is with England. England looks very much balanced side in this world cup. They gonna surely miss Eoin Morgan in the middle order but with experienced Bopara they can manage to have strong middle order.

Third match is with Ireland who are playing as underdog team in the world cup and it would not be difficult for India to win that match. Fourth match is with One of world cup contenders South Africa, they are in really good form and recently defeated India at their home grounds. This will give them some confident to enter in World cup.

Last league match India is going to play with West Indies. West Indians can be good competitors but India will be favorites in that game.

By looking at this India’s path to top 8 teams seems bit easy but the hurdles will come after that. There is a chance of India Vs Pakistan match in next round but it is very early to say this.

Lets cross the finger, wish and support our team to clinch this world cup for country, for Sachin Tendulkar and for the Indians to make proud on country.

Money flow in Banglore

It’s the day when money flowing in banglore(now bangaluru) like water falls from the hill and all the cricketers who were going under hammer enjoying this flow like rain dance. Some get very good money and some have to get satisfied with the less than expected. Ohh here we are missing some who has expected good money but the Indian businessmen are very choosy and they have completely deny to take 1% of risk on these players.

It was nothing but the IPL auction for 10 teams. The first day of IPL auction started and well known personalities from Indian Industries which includes some of bollywood stars also, have started to get their nerves on the players they wanted in their team. This time with the big surprise all the teams have put trust on Indian players and spend lot of money on them instead of spending money on foreign players. Most of the players got more than 5 crores and it was too much for them.

I was just watching this auction and surprised a lot by the flow of money. One by one players name comes and teams bidding for them with sometimes 5-10 times higher than their base price. Gautam Gambhir whos base price was just 90 lacs, has been sold for 11 crore rupees. OMG!!! This is crazy. They are spending lot of money like its just peace of paper, nothing more than that for them.

I think they forget that we have lot of financial problems in India, millions of people not able to go to doctor because not having enough money in pocket. There are millions of people in Mumbai spending there day by eating vadapav as they don’t have money to get food. Can’t they help these people instead of spending lot of money on the players who are already very reach?

This isn’t enough, I remember last year IPL.. There was lot of parties and other celebrations after each and every match. It wasn’t seemed like a competition. It was just one more funda to earn money and show off of money. They would have spent some money to help this people.

After watching this auction I have only one question on my mind for them. If we have asked them to spend 10% of this money on the people who really want their help or in the progress of our country, will they be ready to spend that?? I don’t think they will spend that as there is no profit for them to invest money on them.

All I can say is God bless these guys and show them right path to use money.