Image of the Day - Some guys have all the luck !

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From http://imgur.com/ibXFt

Image of the Day !

Cricket World Cup 2011 - Final round-up and predictions

In an earlier post, I made a disastrous attempt at predicting the results. Only 2 out of my 6 predictions came true. Then again, even cricket pundits couldn't foresaw AUS and SA both missing semi finals. So I guess not much harm a person like me missing them. However, that episode convinced me not to venture into cricket predicting business ever again.

So we wouldn't see any prediction in this post. (even if the title of the post says otherwise!)

India vs Sri Lanka at Mumbai on April 2nd 2011 !

That would be some match! 2 best cricket teams in the competition pitted against each other.

• Best spinners vs best batters against spinners!
• Bad fielders against even worse!
• Fanatic cricketing nation against another even bigger fanatic cricketing nation!

and the list goes on....

• Who would win the toss? apart from all the other things, the side winning toss would have much higher % of winning the match. Sri Lanka so far have lost the toss in both quarter finals and semi finals while India have won it in the last match. Will Sri Lanka lose the toss for the third consecutive time?
• Will Sachin finally get his 100th international 100?
• Will Sri Lankans be able to end Murali's last international match on a high?
  

We will see the answers for all those in 2 more days. (Now that I can not predict anymore....)


World Cup Holders :

Australia 4 (1992, 2000, 2003, 2007)
West Indies 2 (1980, 1984)
Sri Lanka 1 (1996)
Pakistan 1 (1988)
India 1 (1984)

Winner of Saturdays match will overtake West Indies in the above list of all time cup holders. More than that, they will be the kings in One day Internationals till 2015!

Some other (less obvious) insights :

If India wins, how many additional energy will be consumed over the next week? (if every Indian fan watches TV for additional hour, multiply that much of energy in few billions and so on.... has someone done those calculations ?)

How will the result impact Indian stock market ? Will the people be optimistic/pessimistic resulting in a huge change in a day?

What about the productivity loss on Monday if India wins the match on Saturday? (again, think about a person drinking and partying on Sunday and then spend the time in the office Monday chatting/celebrating with buddies. calculate the loss of productivity and multiply it by few billions!)

If Sri Lanka win, there will be a holiday declared on Monday for sure! Still it will not be sufficient to make a noticeable difference either way since Sri Lankans already having so many holidays per year.

Now to the all important bets and gambling business ...

How would the odds against one of these teams change on winning/loosing the toss on this particular ground ?

How will the odds change if India loses Sehvag early ?

All in all, it would be one heck of a match. So far the biggest cricket match against these 2 teams was that famous encounter in 1996 semi final. It was a pretty much one sided affair then.

This match certainly eclipses that one in terms of importance and looks like the same would hold true this time around in terms of competitiveness as well.

open for debates and thoughts ..... What do you think ?

From Semi Finals - Into the Finals

ICC World Cricket Cup 2011 has reached it's climax. NZ and SL will fight it out tomorrow in Colombo while PAK and IND will slug it out in Mohali, day after.

SL is considered the favorite to win the first semi final comfortably, while IND is expected come through after a tense fight. My earlier predictions were proved mostly wrong. BD didn't come into quarters, AUS didn't come into Semis and SA didn't come into Semis either. With that kind of a success rate, I should not venture into the prediction business again!

It will be good for the Cricket to have a SL vs Ind final. After all, these were the two teams who were favorites at the start. Ranked number 2 and 3 in the world (top rank team, defending champ, AUS is now gone out of the tournament). In subcontinent conditions, I think most will agree that the best two teams are in the finals if that were to happen. Of course PAK supporters will disagree here. In fact I think they at least have 40% of chance to beat the strong Indian team.

If we omit unpredictables and special events (such as a brilliancy from a single player deciding the match, toss playing a vital role etc). India is the stronger and hence more likely team to win in the semi. However I'm still little doubtful on their ability to hold the nerve in a crunch situation mainly due to the fanatic nature and huge expectations of billions of Indian fans, PAK might see an opportunity there. This applies to SL vs NZ as well..... One certainly can not rule out an upset(s) in the semi's

Anyway, at the moment it looks like a Ind vs SL final. Who would win that one ? When you compare team strengths head to head, it is easy to figure that IND is stronger in batting line up while SL is stronger in bowling. SL was considered (once) as a better fielding side than India, but not anymore after the 4 easy catches they dropped in the quarter finals against England!

So it looks close!

India will have additional pressure in front of home crowd and SL will feel bit relaxed with the underdog tag. In a huge match like this where team strengths are more or less even. It will all come down into three factors.

1) Who will win the toss
2) Who will manage to keep their heads normal under pressure.
3) Individual brilliancies, players who can win matches alone. (Sachin, Sehvag, Yuvraj, Khan for India. Malinga, Murali, Mendis, Dilshan, Sanga for SL)

Whats' your pick ?

World Cup Cricket Quotes : Kamran Jokes

Few funny quotes users have sent to cricinfo live coverages. History : In the match Pak vs Nz, Pakistan lost sensationally due to many reasons. However, seems like people have picked Kamran Akmals (Pakistani wicket Keeper) dropped catches as the main reason.

I personally think Ross Taylors superb inning should be given it's due credit, then again he too was dropped by Kamran.... anyway, here's the list : (Names mentioned are those of viewers who has posted those to cricinfo)

Kabira: " I hope that Kamran's wife doesn't let him hold their babies! "

Arpan: "Behind every successful batsman, there is Kamran Akmal"

Brenton: "Kamran's favourite movie: Catch Me If You Can" And his favourite book? "The dropper in the rye"

Asif: "Elton Chigumbura's birthday on the day they play Pakistan .. Good signs for him .. only if Kamran plays as a keeper"

Hari: "Famous DON movie dialogue in Kamran's way "CATCH ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi, Namumkin hey". (someone who is good in Hindi, translate this one for us please )

Naila: Why is Umar Akmal the best batsman in the Akmal family? Because he got the most chance to bat in the back yard as Kamran Akmal kept dropping him."

And why did Adnan Akmal become a keeper? Since too many balls kept going into the bush behind the pitch when Kamran was keeping.

Ali: "After the last match Pakistan team management was found anxiously searching for the Birthdays of Aussies, if there is any on 19th March"

Paras: "Why can't Kamran Akmal be a Pakistani team selector? Because he will keep dropping everyone from the squad!"

vivek: "Kamran could be a good brand ambassador for Save water campaign. "Every drop counts"."

Abadit: "Why did Kamran Akmal have to walk back to the team hotel after the match? Because he failed to catch the bus! :)"

What is Kamran Akmal's favourite pick up line? 'Can I drop you somewhere?'

Note: added few more later. (April 3rd)
Geoffrey Boycott : "I could've stopped 'em better with my coat."

Ian Chappell : "If his batting was as good as Don Bradman's, he couldn't score enough runs to make up for what he costs them with his keeping."


and these are non related to Kamran...

Anas: "Looks like Sangakara has padded up ONLY for wicketkeeping today." (after sri lankan opening batsman having a long partnership going, Sanga is the man next to come, so is waiting all padded up)

Andy Zaltzman: "Team news: Zimbabwe's attempt to kidnap and use Lasith Malinga foiled just as they were trying to squeeze him into Tatenda Taibu's shirt..."

and my pick as the best...

Mickey Arthur : "The monkey's almost become a gorilla now and until we win an ICC event it's always going to be there I'm afraid."
(admits the pressure is piling up on South Africa to break their World Cup jinx)