Now or Never

In sports, there is nothing as prestigious as winning the World Cup and is always a big dream for everyone to be a part it, starting from fans to the players themselves. We cricket fanatics in India had never lost hope on our boys in blue and nothing has changed this time either. In India, which is considered to be the Mecca of cricket, the height of craziness has no limits.

K Sudhakar, a creative car designer using sports apparel from Hyderabad, using his creativity has designed a car in cricket bat shape, is all set to present the Indian team if it wins the World Cup!! He has 150 such creations under his belt. But above all this there are two legends of the game who will be ready to give anything and everything in them to taste the cherry.

One of them is the senior most cricketer in terms of experience among the contemporary cricketers, the other nothing less worth it. Both have been a part of World Cup squad of their respective teams since 1992. One bats right, the other left. Their batting styles are different but their intentions on the field have been the same – devastating and dominating. They share a lot more in common – passion for the game, legends in their own right, big fan following, bowler’s nightmare and captaincy without much success.

They have batting records to their name – one is the highest century maker in test cricket and the other highest run scorer. Their batting averages ticks above 40 in both versions of the game. However, there is one thing that is missing in their kitty – World Cup.

For Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and Brian Charles Lara so far this has just been a dream and this will be their last chance to make the most of it. Lara will be having his thumbs up leading the host team for one last time in the mega event. His form with the bat has been good and with players like Gayle, Chandrapaul, Sarwan, Bravo in his line up, also having the home advantage the stage can’t be a better than this one for him.

And for Sachin, a man born to play cricket has achieved all laurels in both forms of the game. He holds the record for most number of centuries in both forms of the game, holds the record for most runs in international cricket, fastest to reach 10,000 run mark in both forms and also have 100 plus wickets under his belt in One day format.

Apart from personal highs, he has always been a dedicated team man. He his efforts to get India to the final of the Coca Cola cup in Sharjha in the 1998 against Australia still remains the most defined moment of Indian cricket. He single handily took India to the final scoring a scintillating 143 almost won the match for India that day. His down the track sixes against Shane Warne still lingers in the memories of all. He didn’t stop there; he went on to score another towering knock against the same opposition on his 25^th birthday sealed the match in India’s favour.

His knock of 136 against Pakistan in Chennai test match is another feather to his cap. He not only battled with Pakistani pacers but also with a severe back pain. He almost won the match for India, falling short by 12 runs in the end. He has always stored his best for the World Cups piling 523 runs in 1996 edition and 673 runs in the last edition in South Africa. His effort of 193 runs against England at Leeds in Headingley test match was a match winning one.

Sachin tops the fan following list among cricketers in the world and it will be like a king without a crown if team India fails to win the Big Prize. Hanging up his boots without a World Cup honour will be a huge disappointment not only for him but for the whole nation. Let’s hope that his glorious career comes to a memorable end.

Now the stage is all set for these two greats to realise their dream, to end their illustrious career in grand style. The two men with one dream, one vision will have one eye on the cup but there can only be one winner!! Will be interesting to see who among the two will end up smiling :-)

The last word – it’s Now or Never for Sachin and Lara.

The Final Lap

In preparation for the world cup, now just a month away, Indian team has reached its final lap before finalizing the team for the mega event. With just two more matches for the selectors to make up their mind, skipper Rahul Dravid said that he is happy and satisfied with the way things are shaping up for the team.

Many players being a certainty to travel to the Caribbean Islands, the selectors’ job will be to identify the fringe players who can fit in well as a back up, providing variety and flexibility to the team’s requirements according to the match conditions.

A good thumping series win against the Windies might have lifted the team’s morale, yet the Indian team has to address some fitness problems which in luring them that bounced from no where. Yuvraj Singh with a stiff back, Irfan Pathan with a sore shoulder and Munaf Patel who just recovered from an injury have to prove their fitness and form.

Fitness concerns, if solved, India looks a strong contender for the crown, at least on paper. The team is desperately lacking, in number of genuine all-rounders they have at their disposal. Irfan Pathan is the only one whom we can rely upon to do the dual role but his poor form with the ball has put the team’s strategy into jeopardy. It is vital that he proves his form in the limited opportunities he has.

Munaf Patel is the next man in question. He has just now recovered from an injury making his way back into the team after a long lay-off. For him proving his from with the ball is not the only concern, his reputation of showing poor application on the field might hold against his selection for the world cup.

The batting order after being under the scanner since Guru Greg took over as coach, finally looks settled to fire. On the other hand, Sri Lankan side without Chaminda Vaas and Muralitharan cannot be underrated either. Their batting looks solid with the old war-house Sanath Jayasuria firing all cylinders since his comeback could be a huge threat to any formidable bowling attack. With Jayawardane, Sangakkara and Attapatu anchoring the middle order it will not be an easy task for the India bowlers to root them out.

The Hero Honda cup will be a significant one not only because it is a preparation for both the team before the world cup but also that they will once again face-off in their preliminary round of the mega event. Hence, they will try to have that psychological advantage over the other.

The stage is set for some interesting battle on the field and also in the minds of selectors. Let’s wait n watch!!

Assuming the players will be fit, my Indian team for the world cup:

Rahul Dravid, Robin Uttappa, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mahender Singh Dhoni, Virender Shewag, Dinesh Karthik, Anil Kumble, Harbajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan and Munaf Patel