One day, India will lose a World Cup game to Pakistan. Till then every unanswered win against Pakistan in any 'world event' is cause for celebration.
Champions Trophy does not count.
And even if the World T20 is not a World Cup, we will call it one; especially now since Pakistan have yet again lost to India.
For those of us who have lived through Sharjah...may the wins keep coming.
The current Pakistan team had gathered a lot of adulation and respect for their performances over the last year. They betrayed that thoroughly today. They fielded like the Pakistan team we know of, batted with little brains and their bowlers lined up to pay tribute to and further feed the legend of Virat Kohli.
Can't remember a more hollow win for India against Pakistan.
Both teams are still alive. Both teams can lose their last Super 8 games and still hope to qualify on 'Net Run Rate'. Both teams to a large extent control their own destiny. Purely in a logical sense, India are better placed however. They play last knowing exactly what they have to do in their game against South Africa. Pakistan on the other hand will be at the mercy of Shane Watson. A daunting task for any team.
A cricketer I had initially written off as Australia's version of Sanjay Bangar or Manoj Prabhhakar. Shane Watson, has since silenced me but the way he is playing in this tournament, if he were to compete as his own country he would start as among the favorites.
Australia and Sri Lanka do look like they could win this thing. Sri Lanka along with West Indies was of course in my list of teams favored to win the World T20 but now I would like to swap West Indies with Australia.
There haven't been very many close matches but close finishes do not define a good game of cricket and the Super 8s have been exciting even without them.
South Africa and New Zealand have been surprisingly disappointing but while South Africa have always choked from positions of strength, this is the first time they are playing with their backs against the wall.
Who knows...
This may trigger a South African resurgence that might get them their first ICC Trophy.
3 comments:
Somehow these Indian wins against Pak look hollow to me particularly for a Indian fan who survived the Sharjah era. I have a sneaking feeling these PAK team inexplicably throw matches away against India. Some people always seem to be playing out of character. It may be too much sinister theory to suggest Match fixing but i am personally convinced these players want to be in Good books of India, maybe for IPL. That is where the money is and we know how much Pak players need this money.These certainly are not Sharjah days.
In the era of IPL, impossible is nothing
Don't write off the West Indies. They have qualified and can go all the way. Sri Lanka will run into India or Pakistan in the semis. Their worst nightmare.
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