My India Pakistan Encounter !

Being the cricket fanatic that I am, experiencing an India Pakistan encounter live from the seat of a stadium was on top of my bucket list. These days India & Pakistan only play each other in ICC tournaments. In the summer of 2017, the ICC Champions Trophy was scheduled in the United Kingdom. So my wife, Ankita and I, like some of our previous holidays decided to plan a trip to London & Scotland keeping in mind the same. My brother in law, Dakshesh who is also equally passionate about the game of Cricket was in London during the course of this tournament.

The India-Pakistan encounter was scheduled in Birmingham on the 4th of June, which is coincidentally Ankita's birthday too. Just at the sight of the fixture being announced my adrenaline rushed to another level. Getting tickets on the lucky draw of the ICC website seemed even more difficult then winning at the casino. Somehow we 3 managed to get tickets through Bharat Army, India's largest cricket fan support group.

Few weeks before the tournament, there came a rumor that India could pull out of the Champions Trophy. Deep within I knew that is not going to happen, but after the investment in those tickets I got a little anxious. Well, that did not last long. As India confirmed their participation, I got to know our Visa is delayed and there was an outside chance we may have to reschedule our flight. Thankfully we got our passports one day prior to our departure and we were all set to go. 

We arrived in UK on the 1st of June. At the same venue where our match was scheduled on 4th, Australia & New Zealand had a game on 2nd June and it was abandoned due to the rain. There was a strong forecast for rain and thunderstorms on our match day as well. I started monitoring the weather forecast and checking it so frequently like an intraday stock trader.

We had an early morning on the match day, we went in the Bharat Army Bus from London to Birmingham. We reached the stadium about an hour prior to the match. It was cold, but luckily there was no rain on the match day yet. We soon heard the toss was scheduled on time, and Pakistan won it and opted to field first. Shikhar Dhawan & Rohit Sharma got India off to a great start. Soon the rain came in and umpires decided it was heavy enough for the players to walk off. Luckily the rain was not persistent and the rain gods were kind enough to ensure there's a game of Cricket. Although, through the course of the day there were many stoppages. 

During these small breaks, I had a great chance to interact with fans of Cricket from all over the globe. Majority of the people in our stands were Indians, but we had a few Pakistan supports, and a couple of people from West Indies as well. Having some intense Cricket discussions made sure the stoppages never felt long.

India scored 319/3 in 48 overs with all of the top five batsmen making good contributions. Pakistan were given a target of 289 off 41 overs (D/L). The pressure of the high required run rate got to them, and they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Soon, some of the Pakistan supporters started hoping it rains again and both teams could share 1 point. But well late evening the sun was shining the brightest in Birmingham. And it were the Indian supporters who were dancing away to glory. India beat Pakistan by a comprehensive margin of 124 runs.

Pakistan had a terrible day as both their bowlers and batsmen failed miserably. One of the supporters  with whom I interacted a lot through the course of the game told me that he wishes well for Team India & hopes they win the tournament as he thinks Pakistan Cricket is influenced by a lot of politics and with their current team they have no chance to progress any further in the tournament. And I replied to him "Pakistan is the most dangerous after a thrashing defeat, who knows there could a complete turnaround & who knows what could be in store for them ahead" And what followed was that Pakistan won the Champions Trophy 2017. The rivalry will always be there, but at the end of the day we respected each other's passion for the game and wished well for each other.

With all the pre-match drama & possible setbacks, as they say all is well that ends well. And I lived my dream of witnessing India triumphing over Pakistan on my wife Ankita's birthday, which was the perfect icing on the cake.

Team India Preview - Can MS Dhoni get a Sachin like farewell ?!

For some of you have who may have that question, where is India's Preview ?!. Yes its the last in this edition of 10 Team Previews for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. That's because all of the other teams play atleast one game before India make their appearance. Infact India's first game would be South Africa's third match thanks to BCCI ensuring adequate time for the players between tournaments as the IPL Schedule of 2019 was unreleased when the World Cup 2019 Fixtures were announced. So much like a Bollywood movie, the hero isn't going to be seen in the first few scenes of the movie.

Alongside England, if there is another team that starts favorites its India. Their win-loss ratio has been 65% since the last World Cup. In this period India has had 9 consecutive bilateral series wins. The key to India's success has been the consistent form of their top 3 batsmen and their balanced bowling attack having the ability to take wickets throughout the course of an inning. 

India's two biggest strengths going into this World Cup is the never say die attitude of their skipper Virat Kohli & their all terrain strike bowler, Jasprit Bumrah. These two have been absolutely clinical for team India across formats .

Hardik Pandya getting back into form after the controversial Koffee with Karan episode was imperative for the balance of Team India. In fact time out from the game has made him retrospect and come back stronger and fitter with better striking abilities. 

Another big plus for India going into this World Cup, is the form of MS Dhoni. There was a time when people questioned his place in the line up, but he has brutally answered his critics with some strong performances. His mere presence at the crease is enough to get the most out of the relatively inexperienced middle order. With his computer like mind having an inbuilt continuously upgrading software, his inputs can be critical to Virat Kohli's decision making as a captain.

The injury prone Mohammad Shami has proved his fitness by consistently bowling match defining spells in the build up to the tournament and is all set to feature ahead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The presence of all rounders like Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja and Vijay Shankar gives India ample permutations and combinations to chose from depending on the surface and overhead conditions. The recent form of Kuldeep Yadav remains a matter of concern. India's only other major worry is who bats for them at number 4, and it appears that Lokesh Rahul has booked that spot with a good performance in  the warm up fixture. 

Likely XI 

1) Shikhar Dhawan

2) Rohit Sharma

3) Virat Kohli

4) Lokesh Rahul

5) MS Dhoni

6) Kedar Jadhav

7) Hardik Pandya

8) Ravindra Jadeja

9) Mohammad Shami

10) Yuzvendra Chahal

11) Jasprit Bumrah

Bench

1) Vijay Shankar - Reserve All Rounder

2) Kuldeep Yadav - Reserve Spinner

3) Dinesh Karthik - Reserve Wicket Keeper

4) Bhuvneshwar Kumar - Reserve Fast Bowler

Verdict - I expect them to definitely feature in the Top 4.  The presence of multiple match winners makes them strong title contenders.

Team Bangladesh Preview - Can the Experience & Emotion sum upto something Big

Bangladesh enter into this world cup with a strong experienced core of players. Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Rubel Hussain & skipper Mashrafe Mortaza have all served them for a long time now. 

Since the 2015 World cup, Bangladesh have had an amazing win-loss ratio at home, winning 72% of their games. The playing conditions are going to be lot different for them than what they are used to playing at home. But they can draw confidence from their performance at the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 in UK, when they made it to the top four upsetting few of the higher ranked teams. The format for that tournament was 2 different groups comprising 4 teams each respectively. At this edition of the World Cup, there are no different groups, just one big pot of 10 teams. So the big question for Bangladesh is can their experience & emotion sustain over 9 league games, that's where they're going to be tested.

Likely XI

1) Tamim Iqbal

2) Litton Das

3) Soumya Sarkar

4) Shakib Al Hasan

5) Mushfiqur Rahim

6) Mahmudullah

7) Mohammad Saifuddin

8) Mehidy Hasan

9) Mashrafe Mortaza

10) Rubel Hussain

11) Mustafizur Rahman

Bench

1) Sabbir Rahman - Reserve Top Order Batsmen

2) Mosaddek Hossain - Reserve All Rounder

3) Mohammad Mithun - Reserve Wicket Keeper

4) Abu Jayed - Reserve Fast Bowler

Verdict - They may cause the odd unexpected win, but I don't see them making the top 4

Team Australia Preview - Defending Champions finally look like the real Australia

If ever Cricket had a split personality, its been Australia in the last 4 years. There was one in 2017-2018, where they won only 7 out of 28 games & then the Australia we all are used to seeing showed up in 2019 winning games consistently on the trot. Australian Cricket was at an all time low in 2017-2018 post the Sand Paper - Ball Tampering Saga incident. That was a phase where you felt, Is this really Australia playing !?! But 2019 has been a complete reverse of fortunes.

There was a time when skipper Aaron Finch found it very difficult to make a run. Just as the bans of Steve Smith & David Warner were coming to an end, all of a sudden everyone started scoring runs. Soon their losing streak was converted to a winning streak, It actually felt like each player was making a statement that he should not be dropped to bring back the high profile banned duo.

The kind of form that David Warner has been at IPL with the calmness of Steve Smith has just given Australia the perfect depth in their batting line up. Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins make a formidable pair, the only concern being have they had enough match time. If there is an injury to one of Marcus Stoinis or Glen Maxwell, there is no all rounder available in the reserves as a sixth bowling option.

Likely XI

1) David Warner

2) Aaron Finch

3) Usman Khwaja

4) Steve Smith

5) Glen Maxwell

6) Marcus Stoinis

7) Alex Carey

8) Pat Cummins

9) Mitchel Starc

10) Adam Zampa

11) Kane Richardson

Reserves

1) Shaun Marsh - Reserve Batsmen

2) Nathan Coulter Nile & 3) Jason Behrendoff - Reserve fast bowlers 

4) Nathan Lyon - Reserve Spinner

Verdict - With the kind of form & experience they have on the Big Stage, I expect them to surely make it to the Top 4.

Team Afghanistan Preview - Call them minnows at your own peril

Much like how the progress of Srilankan Cricket was the story of 90s, its all about Afghanistan Cricket in this decade. Considering the situation, funds & the kind of facilities available to them, they are team who have risen against all odds thanks to the passion in which they approach the sport. In last two editions of the IPL, there have been more Afghan players that have featured then Srilankan, that speaks about how they have risen their game. On the big stage, in the last played Asia Cup, they beat Bangladesh & Srilanka comprehensively, had a tied game with India only to lose out on a place in the final due to close cliffhanging defeat against Pakistan 

Initially they were a team where if the conditions are favoring spin, they can cause the odd upset. But in the recent times its their batting that has really picked up & started to show glimpses of brilliance. If you take them lightly, they will haunt you !

Likely XI
1) Mohammad Shehzad
2) Hazratullah Zazai
3) Rahmat Shah
4) Asghar Afghan
5) Hashmatullah Shahidi
6) Mohammad Nabi
7) Gulbadin Naib
8) Rashid Khan
9) Dawlat Zadran
10) Aftab Alam
11) Mujeeb Ur Rehman

Bench
1) Samiullah Shenwari - Reserve Spinning Allrounder
2) Najibullah Zadran - Reserve Batsmen
3) Hamid Hassan - Reserve Fast Bowler
4) Noor Ali Zadran  - Reserve Batsmen

Verdict - I dont see them making the Top 4. But if they can finish mid table, they should be really proud of their performance on the Big Stage

Team Srilanka Preview - Prospective Champions (Only if Lagaan had a Real Life Sequel)

7 new captains, 57 different players, 28 debuts !! That's what Srilanka has done since the last World Cup. They've virtually changed players at the rate at which we have new movies at our multiplex cinema halls. I think even the most die hard Cricket fan of Lankan Cricket would have lost track at the pace at which they have made changes. The only thing that changes faster than the Lankan team is their selection committee.

So is it by chits, by shooting darts or a campaign like "Britannia Khao, World Cup Jao" the way the Srilankan team has been selected !?!  The biggest surprise was the appointment of their captain, Dimuth Karunaratne who last played an ODI way back in 2015. They've left out players they have backed for a long time like D Chandimal, U Tharanga, N Dickwella, A Dananjay and D Gunathilaka only to go back to few players  they had already tried and discarded previously

This should be the last world cup for 2 of their most experienced campaigners, Lasith Malinga and Angelo Mathews. For a country that has produced some legends of the game like Murlidharan, Vaas, Jayasuriya, Sangakarra, Jayawardene, Dilshan, etc its really disheartening to their state of affairs being in such shambles.

So whats their best chance ?! Play fearlessly Cricket with a nothing to lose approach !

Likely XI
1) Dimuth Karunaratne
2) Avishka Fernando
3) Lahiru Thirimanne
4) Kusal Mendis
5) Angelo Mathews
6) Dhananjaya de Silva
7) Jeevan Mendis
8) Thisara Perera
9) Isuru Udana
10) Suranga Lakmal
11) Lasith Malinga

Bench
1) Nuwan Pradeep - Reserve fast bowler
2) Milinda Siriwardene - Reserve Allrounder
3) Kusal Perera - Reserve Keeper/Top Order batsmen
4) Jeffrey Vandersay - Leg Spinner

Verdict - Favorites for the bottom of the table. They could be really dangerous at the back end of the tournament playing party spoilers to any of the other teams in contention for the knockout stages.

Team New Zealand Preview - Resources 1X, Expectation 1X, Performances 1.5X

New Zealand has always entered ICC tournaments as dark horses,or as one of those sides who have enough depth and firepower to upset one of the favorites on their day. They have been one team who has never been reliant on any superstar. Considering their access to funds, resources and talent, an economist would be proud of the way they have optimized the use of whats available to them. 

Historically, they have always packed a punch above their weight having made it to 6 Semifinals & 1 Final respectively in 11 World Cups. They are the only team who have been in the top 4 in the last 3 editions of the World Cup. Under the aggressive captaincy and brand of Cricket played by Brendon Mc Cullum they were just one step away from their maiden championship in the last World Cup.

The top order trio of Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson & Ross Taylor has been their core strength. The presence of multiple all-rounders like James Neesham, Mitchell Santner & Colin De Grandhomme adds a lot of depth & gives them the option to play different team combinations. Trent Boult, Tim Southee & Lockie Ferguson have all been reasonably good when it comes to bowling with the new ball, but for Kiwis I think death bowling is a going to a major concern.

With scores of 300 being breached regularly in England, the white ball playing conditions mirror to those in New Zealand. The only difference between England & New Zealand would be the the size of the grounds, like the area of a drawing room of a house in a metro city versus a tier 2 city.

Likely XI
1) Martin Guptill
2) Colin Munro
3) Kane Williamson
4) Ross Taylor
5) Tom Blundell
6) James Neesham
7) Colin De Grandhomme
8) Mitchell Santner
9) Trent Boult
10) Lockie Ferguson
11) Tim Southee/Ish Sodhi (depending on the how much assistance likely to spinners)

Bench
1) Tom Latham - He is their first choice wicket keeper, should be drafted into the XI, subject to fitness
2) Matt Henry - Reserve Fast Bowler
3) Henry Nichols - Reserve Middle order batsmen. He could easily play ahead of Colin Munro as an opener.

Verdict - Going by their track record, they should make it to the Top 4. But I think they hold a 50% chance to make the Semi Finals