If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or email alerts. Thanks for visiting!
Just when I was bemoaning the predictability of a lackluster tournament, the Cricket World Cup kicked into high gear with two monumental upsets. India went down to Bangladesh and Pakistan was knocked out of the World Cup by ‘lowly’ Ireland. It was a dark night on the subcontinent dotted probably with only flickering television screens inside dark homes. At least the west side.
The east side of the subcontinent must have erupted with joy after defeating their strong neighbors. And although everyone has said this but Bangladesh deserved this victory. The Indian team was a perfect personification of complacency and shoddy cricket. Players that are clearly lacking in form have been picked in favor of those who are raring to go. Otherwise dependable batsmen like Dhoni, Dravid, Robin, and even Agarkar failed miserably against a weak attack. India now must win both its games against Sri Lanka and Bermuda to avoid joining their other neighbors on a flight home.
The recently concluded series victory against Sri Lanka shouldn’t be indicative of an always-unpredictable Indian team. Now, I even doubt a reasonable performance against Bermuda that Sri Lanka recently whipped is possible. But then again by the unpredictable scale, India might just pull up its socks and deliver the goods. Remember the previous World Cup when Holland gave us a scare after our loss to Australia? Vitriolic reactions across India almost scared the players into performing and landing us in the finals where we eventually caved in easily. Do we always need a kick in the rear to get our act together?
On the other side, Pakistan finally plunged to its lowest depths after being knocked out of the World Cup - by Ireland. It was probably the sweetest St.Patrix Patrick’s Day for the also-greens. I didn’t watch that game but the scoreboard was good enough to tell the woeful tale of Pakistani batting. And I thought they would miss the bowling abilities of junkie Shoaib.
The consequences of these results are far-reaching. There isn’t going to be a India-Pakistan match for the public (and advertisers) to get excited about. And in the likely scenario of India not making it, interest in the World Cup on the subcontinent will nosedive. Poor broadcasters who have spent millions for telecast rights and apparel/drinks/any-conceivable-product-used-by-players sponsors must be sweating hard now. They might just be tempted to fix the remaining matches for India to ensure that at least they make it to the next round. Frankly, I cannot imagine a World Cup without either India or Pakistan in the semis. I guess by the way these teams are playing, we better get used to it, eh?
Other well-informed match analyses: Amit Varma’s India Uncut, Prashant’s Kyun, Rezwan’s Live Blogging the Match, Vivek’s three scenarios for India’s hopes, Idols defeated by Fans, and Chetan’s Review.
Cool Rants: Great Bong’s India Blue It, Confused’s St. Patrick’s Massacre, and BongoPondit’s mandatory (and late) rant.
Update#1: Confused has collated some of the above posts on DesiPundit and almost all of them are well reasoned and give due credit to Bangladesh for their victory. Now all we need are some effigy burning bloggers to complete the picture of reactions the way traditional media tends to highlight. IndiCast mentioned (in passing) stripping the cricketers naked and whipping them but that was at the end of a very frustrating night.
Update#2: Bob Woolmer, renowned cricket coach and the current coach of the now-ousted Pakistani team died unexpectedly in his hotel room earlier today. I hate to sound alarmist but I’d like to know more details about his death [update: Bob Woolmer *was* murdered.] Shortly after his team’s defeat to Ireland he said, “Doing it internationally, it takes a toll on you … the endless travelling and the non-stop living out of hotels.” Probably that’s all that is. Indeed a great loss to cricket.
Technorati Tags: Cricket World Cup, India, Bangladesh, Ireland, Pakistan, upset, loss
by Patrix | on Saturday, March 17th, 2007 at 6:26 pm | 
India, Rants, Sports . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
March 17th, 2007 at 7:37 pm reply
[...] an excuse to get drunk (I am not complaining.) But I demand drunken wishes and pints of Guinness. Ireland’s win today made it worthwhile though. Anyway, you can do it tomorrow too. It is St. Patrix Day everyday on [...]
March 17th, 2007 at 8:17 pm reply
Man, you must checkout at least highlights of Pak-Ire match. One of the tightest bowling performances I have seen in long time, from both sides (well except for the extras given by Irish).
And less we say about India is better. The bowlers, fielders looked so resigned as if the match was already lost before first ball was bowled in the second innings. So much for the fighting spirit of game. Somebody should have shown them final few overs from Zim-Ire match.
Sigh.
March 18th, 2007 at 8:49 am reply
Not only the defeats but the nature of defeats was even more telling. Both India and Pakistan were comprehensively outplayed in all three departments and it was a complete reversal of tags of minnows and majors. Both the teams did not stand a chance after first couple of over and the inexperiences sides played like true professionals, never allowing them to come back in.
Other teams must take inspiration from this and we will atleast be saved the trouble of witnessing predictable match results.
March 18th, 2007 at 9:20 am reply
[...] Patrix comments on the day of minnows, The consequences of these results are far-reaching. There isn’t going to be a India-Pakistan [...]
March 18th, 2007 at 3:27 pm reply
Your comment about being unable to imagine a semis without india or pak is precisely the problem. The indian team and it’s fans refuse to see reality. Keep living your fantasy about India being one of the strong teams. And I hope and pray that a lot of people in india lose a lot of money, so people will finally start funding other sports and talented people yearning for opportunities.
March 18th, 2007 at 7:50 pm reply
NK, I guess I missed the better match. Pakistan should have been warned after the Zim-Ire match. They are paying the price now.
Sid, I’m not sure I agree with your tone but as I mentioned, complacency did India in and yup, Bangladesh played extremely well.
March 19th, 2007 at 2:23 pm reply
[...] on the upsets galore at Nerve Endings Firing Away.John Cheeran on what should be the agenda for the Indian team and the coach Greg Chappell. Failure [...]
March 19th, 2007 at 11:22 pm reply
[...] 20th, 2007 by Confused There has already been some speculation that India’s early departure from the world cup will cost sponsors and advertisers tonnes of money. After all, it is the mad Indian fans and [...]
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:30 pm reply
[...] and surely he wasn’t one of those individuals who succumb to pressure. That was exactly the thought that passed through my mind when I first heard the news but didn’t want to jump to any hasty conclusions. Unfortunately, [...]