Cricinfo - Blogs - Men in White

Hi Muk,

I am living in US currently but not so long ago was in India. Like everyone else in our country I also am caught up in the frezy of world cup 2007.
I remember the last time in 2003 when India lost in the finals all of us were angry and hurt. Not because we lost but cos' the manner we got defeated was like puncturing the soul of the cricket team. I heard dada saying do not worry we have 2007 to come. In these 4 years everything changed, I moved from my college to an MNC and cricket team moved from John Wright- Ganguly to Chappell- Dravid. What has not changed is the passion of following cricket from the ranji trophy finals to the International series between all the test nations in the world and not just restricted to India.
I have seen crass commercialization of the news networks in India from the noodle straps of a TV starlet to the Match ka Mujrim's of our previous cricketers.
Do we ever realize all this madness is due to us ( the public). The adverts have Dhoni, Sachin, Dravid cos' we want them to be in an Ad. When we loose to Australia on a grassy pitch in Nagpur we blame the curator, talk about home advantage. When we drop Dada from the team we say he was a causing unrest and divisions in the team.
We put our heros on the pedestal and then stamp on their faces when they fail.
When the news came that India lost courtsey cricinfo ticker on my office computer i instantly logged into a streaming live broadcase and caught a glimpse of Dravid Crying. I have never seen Dravid cry, believe me i was in anger and rage till that point but as soon as i saw his face it hit me that the players are humans they know what has happenned, They understand it better than all the nation combined. Their CVs post retirment for Kumble, Dravid, Sachin , Ganguly will read No world cup and an ignomious exit.
Cricket is one of the toughest sports cos' it does not get over in 2 hours like football but the shortest form of it is also spanning 7 hours.
There are many twists in the game at any point.
An playing cricket at my school and university level i understand the complexity of the game. I agree completly with most of the comments posted above but i want to bring out a small fact that cricket base has shifted to rural india and people who have never played a game and have achieved moderate success in life wnat these players to win. Cos' it gives them hope.
Due to the media's circus Cricket has become like the silver screen and people in India believe that every story has a happy ending. Sports though is very real and there are no happy endings everytime. Dhoni got out yesterday to a Murali doosra. instead of blaming Dhoni, we should have the courage of supporting him cos' he has come to a national team purely on his tenacity.
He has a decent technique but no great one and whatever he has achieved it is still a success.
We all are not fit to be in those 15 men that is why we are the fans and as a fan we should support our team in every situation.
Yes we did badly , yes it is a shame and yes we do not deserve to go to the next round at the expense of bangladesh.
So to achieve this we have to remove the hyped commertialization, we need to let our players breathe, let them play for themselves and not for a billion hungry fans baying for their blood.
These players are not gladiators, they are humans like us and in moments even the toughest among them break down like Dravid did.
So lets pray that the money hungry people in BCCI mend their ways and the newz frenzy decreases.
We need grit and determination in this hour and one thing that we Indians have is a positive outlook no matter what whether it is a natural calamity or a sporting disaster.
So this time lets also work towards it cohesively cos we are a billion strong nation, lets truly make it a blue billion support for a men in blues.

Regards,
Saurabh

Well, well, well. Kirsten's comment on South Asian countries being eliminated for few years rings a bell with a racial resonance. Furture of Cricket depend on Subcontinental financial power.So they will be around for some time whether you like it or not. It is a good idea for Kirsten to get used to it.

"Mainly, though, the balance of power in world cricket has shifted from England and Australia towards the sub-continent for commercial reasons: the dawning realisation that India owns the only mass audience there is for the game."

Quoting the above sentence, it is true that the balance has shifted from england to Sub continent, more so to India because of financial muscle.

Before the dawn of television, though england was the centre of cricket, how many world cups had they won?

And regarding match fixing, till date only cricketers from South Africa(Cronje, Gibbs et al) and Australia ( Shane Warne and Mark Waugh) have accepted publicly that they have taken money from bookies. None of the sub continent players have been proved so why is this prejudice against sub continent teams when it comes to match fixing.

How people are so sure that Bob Woolmer has nothing to do with match fixing, when he himself was the coach of S.Africa when Cronje was involved in match fixing.

Whenever I read blogs by South Asian writers, they are highly prejudiced against sub continent teams for be it, match fixing or financial muscle.

well i am ardent indian supporter and i have been shatered with such results.well i am amazed that the once dreaded indian spinners are now just a piece of cake for the opposition to gallop and secondly i am amazed with SACHIN's
attitude :i may recall the 3rd karachi test,the 3rd test of our recent sa tour...simple situations
made inexplicably tough.on my personal opinion with goin out of india and pak ,WC 2007 will miss the flair and spice of the subcontinent.with only hardcore mechanical cricket left to be played ,with aussies ruling the roost.

Although I'm not very heartbroken by the Indian performance(because I feel they deserve it for the way they played), I feel sad for a couple of players in the Indian side who really were shining and seemed like they could make a difference. Two of them are Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh..I must say they seemed more prepared for the tournament than any of the remaining players, but then again..cricket is a team game and individual performances do not always win matches.
India has world class players..sum of the best in their respective areas. They should aim for consistency in performance more than anything else.

it is sad that india had to go out and i am crushed. but their level of performance was dismal and they should have prepared better. at the same time we fans are getting used to the team not performing under pressure. goodluck to bangladesh and here is hoping that would spring more surprises. they are the perfect example that cricket is a team game and not that of superstars alone!

By telling that ouster of India and Pakistan is going to make the tournament toxic free, makes it hard for me to accept that Mr. Keshavan have tried to analyze the issue at all or he took this opportunity to show that the dark side of society, which many a social scientist conjures as reality and makes a living out of such analysis.

If the public memory is not so poor, we can very well recall that Australia & South Africa also were involved in match fixing and betting. As a cricket follower it is not hard to figure out that the charm of the world cup has lost half its shine with ouster and India and Pakistan. Well, now the author will certainly be finding a duel between Bangladesh & Ireland, instead of India and Pakistan.

At the first place, why Cricinfo should would pick up analysis of a social scientist from another source to talk about cricket at this juncture. I would love to read this kind of article in non-cricketing session or part of social science book. Not here.

What is happening to cricket maybe, what has happened to Hockey? We, India and Pakistan are not a sporting society and toughness is not our forte and one day cricket nowadays is more about toughness, physical and mental. We need a sport specialist to analyze the issue.

The atmosphere would have electrifying if we had India and Pakistan in the Super 8 and not toxic. It’s money that is toxic not the tremendous passion that is generated by Cricket in India and Pakistan. For the fans, they are what the media made them out to be. It raised their expectation and if they react like this after the high expectations set, then are they only to be blamed? And they are the people for which these articles are written.

i keep reading all over how the indian team let india down when this was a team offering so much!i just cant understand that. just take a look at india's achievements over the past year. they got thrashed in south africa, they couldnt make it past the initial stage in the champions trophy in their own backyard, they lost the oneday series in the west indies 3-1. they beat west indies in india, but it was not a full strenght team, same goes to the sri lanka series without murali or vaas! sri lanka wanted to only finetune their team before the world cup and didnt really care about winning the series while india beat this undermanned team and covered themselves in glory and actually thought they were better than they really were!! india even pulled out of the new zealand tour at the end of the year as they didnt want to be beaten and go in to the world cup with the taste of defeat.it happened before the 2003 world cup and they didnt want to repeat it. It was this series that sri lanka substituted and went to new zealand and fine-tuned their game and also discovered chamara silva. this was all in the past 12 months. and at the end of it they were ranked 6th, better than only westindies and bangladesh! so why was the hype made that this team had so much to offer and even win the cup when their track recored clearly stated otherwise. i think it was very unfair to the indian players to to have been put under those expecations. Also the game of cricket has evolved over the last 10 years and india has not caught on. india still has teams like in the 1070s, 80s and early 90s; still going with six or seven talented batsmen and expect them to win matches while their fielding is awful, while carrying excess body fat and looks nowhere near the athlestes who form cricket teams today. the game today revolves around specialist fielders who can bat and/or bowl.

So India lost against SL. Did people really think that the chances of India winning against SL was anything more than 50:50.
It is very disappointing that we lost but not super surprised. It is bad to castigate the team and the players. Despite all the other issues I think they contributed all. It works on certain days and not some other days.Unfortunately yesterday happened to be one of the bad days.
I hope Dravid and Tendulkar (if possible Saurav) do end up playing the next WC too (If lara, inzamam, vaas,mcgrath... can play at 37 ) why not these guys.
The only change I would like to see is Yuvraj beng made the captain since we need to build another team (with or without the big 3). Yuvraj needs to be supported just like Graheme smith has been in SA.

It will be intersesting to see how things turn out in the next few days.

total rubbish. you must be ashamed to write such an article in a world class newspaper BBC. As always Brits love to read abt the bashing of Asians...the only reason your article got thru. huh.. FYI betting and match fixing was wholly invented by the Britishers during the initial stages of the game itself, due to teh advancement in technology and media, it gets more coverae these days and we hae to face the brunt...just think before you write...as always, Indian reporters are known for sensationalising any cricket news...and you just became one among them

This article sounds like it comes from a self loathing Indian. We should NEVER apologise for our commercial domination of the game. There was a time when the colonialists- (australia & england)ran the game and treated us with contempt. They still do in some ways and racism from them is never far from the surface. It is not a good thing that Pakistan & India have exited so quickly. It would be nice to see Australia lose(They just beat SA AGAIN!-joint equal chokers with India)but at the moment I cant see it.

The only good thing about this exit will be (hopefully)the purge that follows. Chappell HAS to go. He has destabilised the team and wrecked their confidence with his 'experimentation'.Dravid has to step down as captain, sachin, harbajan,ganguly, kumble, agarkar should be shown the door.

well, i just want to tell Mr Men in white that match fixing,bookies came from english nations and it started first in soccer than come in cricket.Blamming south asia for this is wrong....

Any cricket team should be mentally strong enough to be consistent in winning. India lacks that and they are not deserved to go to second round. Only Australia, South africa are more consistent compared to other teams. But in cricket Anything can happen!!! So as an asian I want srilanka to win this world cup.

Forget about India and Pakistan performance, but dont forget contribution by South Asians to the cricket. Because of poor South Asians these so called Champions are in limelight and making some money.

Corruption is part and parcel of money else we would have not seen wars and terrorsit activities all over the world.
Please dont blame South Aisas aleady the people you are talking about have taken enough disadvantage of South Asians.

P. S. If Indian Cricket follows Hocky Path then I am sure no one will ask you to write after 20 years no matter which Countries Citizen you are though your name is very much Indian.

God bless you.

Digjam

I am so fed up of cricket. Just not because of Indias elimination. But I somehow sense that gangerene in set into the game in the form of money. I feel disgusted with the way the press posed the indian coach with inflamatory questions. The questions where so shameful. Yes, I can understand the disappointment, but then the press is trained to be professional, just like the players. It seems that no lessons were learned from what happened to Bob.

I am sad about Indias performance, but then I know that India did not deserve a place in the Super8. I agree with Greg Chappel, it is not possible to make a team of world beaters in 18-24 months. I feel he should be allowed to continue and frankly speaking I dont think one would a better coach.

Finally one last word to the so called greats of cricket. None of you even during your halcyon days couldnt conjure up a consistent team. I am fed of hearing your detailed analyses about team tactics and strategies. None of you can bring a difference to the team individually. I am convinced about this since I have seen how you have played (may be individually good) as a team. So I accept, it is your bread and butter, but then I smell the stink every time you open your mouth. Constructive crticism is good. Try to be with the players during their tough times, try to guide them!

The problem lies beyond the team. It lies in the system as such and that includes all of US!

Leave the team alone!

Augi, Germany

Your article is a mixture of self loathing and arrogance. Some of your statements are pretty inflammatory and some are plain ridiculous. And the way you clump Pakistani and indian cricket is also not correct. And accusing Indian fans of being bad is also very petty. There will always be a percentage of unruly fans- in India the numbers are larger because of the huge population. But to paint everybody with the same brush is very unfair. As for effigy burning and protests that happens with everything not just cricket, and I see that in USA also. Overall your thoughts are pretty "toxic" and abrasive. India reached the final of the last tournament, was that tournament "toxic"?
With regards to betting many people dont understand that betting occurs in the so called "developed" world also, the only difference is that it is legal there and illegal in India. Even cricinfo advertises a betting site, but in India betting on sport is illegal. Does that make Cricinfo corrupt in India?
Dont hate yourself and your countrymen so much, just because of a few bad apples dont say that the whole orchard is infected!!

This is either a brilliant psychiatric cure for the "sickening popularity" (sic) that Indian stars have brought to this game, or a sincere cricket fan going through denial, or just an opportunistic soap boxing that all our articulate bloggers are trying to climb on. I can't know for sure what the author here fits, but I'm seeing enough of a wave in sport authors in the last few days who seem to all want to fall over each other in climbing onto this 'blame the fan' or 'india's loss is good for cricket' soapbox.
Isn't the reason for existence for these writers and the current site exactly these two "beasts" they have been rearing but want to now curb? It somehow reminds of the demagogues nay the lion tamers at the circus who want to rally up passions just so high that they can milk it, never too much, never too little. How comfortable if a fan's psyche can be controlled via our keyboards.

Pray tell me exactly how removing Brazil from soccer would help Brazil or Soccer?
Or, would you rather that unlike our generation which saw Kapil's boys lift the world cup, the new generation shall be deprived of a wonderous success from a STILL AWESOME team just because some hooligans attack Dhoni's house or because of a miserable failure against Bangladesh?

I agree that India was not likely to meet the over-expectations that the media and fans have created around them, but one can't say our boys didn't deserve to be go to the next round.

I suggest something less drastic and more constructive for the next world cup: Let's have groups of 6 instead of 4. A single bad day should not dim the hopes of a billion people nor deprive the whole cricket community of a Good team like India.
At the end of the day, I'd enjoy another day of the masters of the game (whether wearing blue or not). Isn't that what all of us fans really want?

So, please, let's calm down and see how to a) control the mob hysteria, b) improve our team, c) a better structure of the first round so that good teams can surface up despite one bad day.

peace and let's sit back and enjoy the rest of the world cup!
PS: the ONLY good thing about India's exit - less tension and red-eyed days all around for us billion suckers :)

Mukul,

Agree Indian slip is good for Indian cricket b'se will lead to some soul serching and probably a little more professionalism in cricket management. Some spring cleaning with India team will also help young talent with exposure. Well on Indian fans - agree with your observation but won't judge by your yardstick. In football South American fans react differently than Northern European fans ,but that's the flavour which comes with globalisation of the sport.

Power shift in ICC is bound to happen even if India doesn't perform well b'se of pure economics Sub-continent will coninue to drink Kingfisher and cricketers will continue to promote it for the love of money.

Think game will be better served if it managed professionaly by expereienced administrators around the world - inclusively...

Down with tendulkar.
I totally agree with Satish Pareek. current indian batsman (except Gangully) are spineless and only perform when the conditions are perfect for batting. they dont have the spirit to dig deep and work hard towards a win in pressure situations. They let the fear of defeat affect the way they play thier shots. the 'big 3' have not performed well together for a long time now and it is clear that their skills have now expired.
SACHIN IS OVER-RATED.MOST OF HIS RECORD BREAKING WORLD CUP RUNS HAVE BEEN SCORED AGAINST MINNOWS AND WEAKER TEAMS

There are over one billion Indian fans Praying to Lord Krishna for Bermuda to win. HE won't let them down.
KRISHNA

I think the super 8's should now be called the Supers 6's. With all due respect Ireland and Bangladesh deserve to be there through the fault of Ind/Pak alone. However, they will be dismantled without doubt by other more professional and ruthless opposition. As Jayawaredene said ' The world Cup has lost it's Sheen' without Ind/Pak in the Super 6's (I mean Super 8's).

Regarding the comment made by: Sanjeev 2 hours, 22 minutes ago. For some reason you have targeted the Mumbai players, past and present. As for SR Tendulkar being a 'deadweight', Over 50 international 100's says it all. In addition he is arguably the Greatest World Cup PLAYER. The World cup is the biggest cricketing occasion and he has brought his 'A Game' to every tournament bar this one. Although he was unlucky (2 inside edges in two innings).Yes he didn't perform on the day but there are 6 other batsmen. I thought the 90's had passed us by, the days when Sachin out meant automatic match lost.

This seems an article not for the knowledgeable cricket loving Indians but for the lacking goras (hence the BBC link).

Toxic article Mukul!

Big Talk but check your facts. The countries which took the biggest step of finding match fixing were not Australia/South Africa. It was India and Pakistan which banned players. It was Delhi police which found that Hansie Cronje was the most corruping influence on cricket than any bookie. Shane Warne got away with nothing and Lillie/Marsh were praised for making money out of a test loss bit but never punished.

By justifying this elimination astoxic and writing at BBC you may be pleasing your Western masters but not millions of fans who were looking forward to India/Pak clash in April.

What Bangaladesh and Ireland would do against rest of team would not be as fun to watch than India and Pakistan games against them

In another way am I not glad that I did not spend $200 for Direct TV. Cricket's commerical loss Mr. Kesavan. And ever wonder about those Australian/England supremacy in Cricket boardrooms. It was this INDIAN MONEY which challenged those snooty lords.

Still I love to read yours and Kamran Abbassi. Keep it up.

Please do not lump Pakistan with India on the commercialism aspect. There is absolutely no comparison. India leads by miles and miles and miles. Pakistan's issue is lack of systemized training. Its like Hockey, where Pakistan was on top and lost out as the game became more mechanical and surgical, moving away from its classic artistic blends. Corruption is everywhere not just South Asia. There is no doubt that there is plenty of talent in India and Pakistan. Consistency, confidence and creativity is missing - the three c's

Hi Mukul, This is probably the worst blog that I have ever read. Your wide generalizations about India's fan culture and match-fixing are highly inflamatory. In a country of one billion, there are bound to be a handful of hot heads who are looking to create trouble at the slightest opportunity. Unfortunately it is they who make the news! It might also be that the protesters and effigy burners are a handful of desparte gamblers who have actually lost money on cricket betting. To generalize and bring down the whole cricket loving public of south asia is unfair. I am a Cricket Fan based in Ireland, originally from India and I refuse to be branded a nationalist freak! You might be based else where but I can tell you are of Indian origin and you have no right to put your self above everybody else and make such remarks! Coming to match-fixing, although illegal cricket betting is mainly a sub continental problem, it is unfair to suggest with out solid proof that the current teams are some how involved in match-fixing. We are all saddened by Bob Woolmer's death but if he really had inside information on match-fixing, why did he not approach the ICC's Anti Corruption Unit earlier? Being a coach of international repute he should be well aware of the ICC's efforts to root out corruption and of the various procedures in place. Being a Britisher himself he could have directly contacted Lord Paul Condon! Speculation is fine but I find it hard to believe that some one in his position would have behaved so irresponsibly, wating to finish his stint with Pakistan and then writing a book about it. It might emerge in the end that his death indeed had to do with match-fixing but until there is concrete proof, people like you should refrain from making irresponsible statements.

Are you a INDIAN or a Srilankan?...We all agree that Indians buckled under immense pressure,but you seem to be happy and suggesting Srilankans are more talented than indians?.

Agreeed that they are good fielders but remember they are not playing under the same pressure as indians plus they have already qualified which made ahuge difference.

At the end of the day you are not an INDIAN.

The fans like us deserved it. I believe the biggest culprits are Sahara, Pepsi, Hutch etc who endorse these players in their ads. I guess as a responsible citizen we should boycott any product endorsed by players. The players want to make easy money and after all they are human beings. Secondly, I think media overdose to much of cricket like what kind od food the cricketers like to their favorite movies. Thirdly, we should find something better than expecting miracles from Indian team. I mean how many of us really think before this World Cup that they are better than Australia or South Africa. Be honest to yourself!

I totally disagree with the author on this one, although I generally like Mukul's articles.
These phenomena are not limited to India nor to cricket.
1. Look at the English footbal fans. The hooligans go on the rampage whenever their team is defeated. There have been deaths too, during fighting with opposing fans (e.g.: In Turkey).
2. The hype and the money driven culture is prevalent in football too - Murdock's media joint is well known for creating gods out of the mediocre English football team to make money, and then shoot it down - for a little bit more blood money.
3. That chauvinism is a peculiar South Asian characteristic is utterly false. I am not saying that we are not. But what about the English? They too have inherent superiority complexes.
In conclusion, it is dangerous to find fault purely with South Asians, when others show the same characteristics, albeit in different contexts.

Mukul,
Nice article. Just three points here-
1. Did anyone seriously expect India to win this world cup? In fact, I will go far enough to say that they played true to their history. In other words- 1987- semi finals (in India) 1992- flopped in Australia 1996- Semi finals in India- 1999- flopped in the super sixes stage 2003- Final in South Africa 2007- flopped at the first stage itself. Since the next World Cup is in the sub-continent, expect India and Pakistan to do well and then talk about some "improvements". The reality is that India are like a tennis player who plays well only on certain surfaces. We could learn quite a few things from our neighbor, Sri Lanka.
2. The players, public and the media are all equally at fault. The players must be the most pampered and consistently over-rated lot in the history of any sport when all they do is play well in their own backyard and snatch a few victories through individual brilliance. The media wastes no time praising or burying someone even if it is someone like Rahul Dravid, a true leader and gentleman. The Indian public just seems too stupid to understand that we cannot be world beaters because we just do not want to learn from our past history- so these mistakes will be repeated again and again.Unlike Sri Lanka, where the players play to win and not for individual records, our players only play to prolong their records. Sachin is already thinking of playing in the 2011 cup!!! Probably the media will try and make sure that Mr. Saurav SUPER-SELFISH Ganguly will get a grand farewell at Eden Gardens- never mind if we lose the game! People like Ganguly are a disgrace to our system and for me, they are a cruel reminder of how good people become self-serving persons when they make it big. Till we start making tough decisions and improve our pathetic administrative setup, we will be faced with such failure. I do not even think that this time will be different (hope I am wrong here). For all we know, Sachin will become captain and Mr. Selfish Ganguly will become the vice-captain even though there are some young players awaiting their turn at the highest level.
3. I think it is ver unfair to point at the sub-ccontinent only as the center of corruption. Yes, these things are a shame to right-minded people here. But they go on in other countries too. Cronje was one example. There are others in England and other countries, but they will never want to own up to this- which is the biggest problem. Betting is a global problem and as long as countries put themsellves before the interests of this game, this will go on.
Congratulations to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh- I only hope that Bangladesh does not get hammered by everyone else in the super 8s, if they beat us to get there!

The Indian cricket team should be punished for such bad performance. A big shake up is needed.
1. The entire team should be sacked without exception.
2. No one from this team should be permitted to play an international match for at least one year.
3. If any player from the current team plays at least 80% of domestic matches for the next one year and performs well consistently, then they should be considered for inclusion.
4. The coach should be sacked and a new coach should be put in place at the earliest.
5. The entire selection committee and the president of the board should resign.

Too much money and star status are spoiling our players.
1. Payments by the board should be based on performance (at least 70% of the money paid).
2. The player's contract with the board should restrict a player from endorsing any product for the first 4 years of their international career.
3. All endorsements should be handled by the board and this money must go toward improving the game and retirement benefits of domestic & international players.
4. The above two rules must be applied to player's interaction with media.
5. The general public should be encouraged to boycott products endorsed by our current set of cricketers.

Management
1. Professional team should be bought in to manage the affair of BCCI.
2. Emphasis should be put in to standardise processes as far as possible and eliminate arbitrary decision making.
3. Transparency should be introduced into the management of the board. Minutes of each meeting, including selection committee meeting should be published on the board's web site.
4. Nationa team selection committee members should be paid as a full time job.
5. Selectors must have had at least 6 years on domestic cricket experience or 3 years of international cricket experience.

Performance improvement measures & improving bench strength
1. After every three matches, it should be made mandatory to drop the lowest 2 performers (Captain excluded). These dropped players should not be included in the team at least for the next 3 matches. This rule must not be enforced if the team has won all the three matches.
2. After every loss, it should be made mandatory to drop the lowest 2 performers (Captain excluded). Performance in this case should be measured against the lost match and the previous 2 matches, giving 40% weightage to the lost match. These dropped players should not be included in the team at least for the next 3 matches.
3. Additional expenses incurred in implementing the above two rules must be borne by BCCI. i.e. replacing players in the midst of a series.
4. BCCI must have on its roles a set of 25 paid players. These players must be made to play 2 matches (BCCI internal matches) every 15 days. Performance in these matches must be noted.
5. Once a player is dropped using rule 1 and 2, they must get back to the team only by being the top performer in the BCCI internal matches.
6. BCCI internal matches should continue even when the national team is on a tour. During this period BCCI should hold matches with each zone on a rotational basis.
7. The performance of BCCI players should be assessed every year and the lowest 5 performers should be replaced.
8. Special attention should be given to bring up players from under 19 team.

I only partially agree with mukul,I think the fans of India and Pakistan should learn to lose graciously,and after every loss the way we ridicule our heros is disgusting and does no good to our cricket,I dont think that an early exit of Pakistan and India will do any good to the cricket
as modern day Cricket financially thrives on these
two countries,as far as match fixing and bookie culture is concerned lately all the players who have been caught were from SA or Australia,we should not simply blame every loss on betting,
subconciously we think our players are invincible
and after every loss we start looking for the reasons and start speculating,which is completely wrong.
India's early exit from World cup was totally unexpected to me I think they took bangladesh too easily,India needs to improve in the bowling department,and one thing which is common in Pakistan and India is a lot of players over extend their careers,the failure of indian and Pakistani batting against mediocre teams can be attributed to this factor and in Pakistans case some of the blame goes to ICC who specially designed those green bouncy pitches for Pakistan,but still I think our batting should have shown some metal.
South Africa and Australia have taken ODI to a new level,both India and Pakistan have to make a lot of changes in their domestic cricket if they want to reach that level,both the teams should retain their old players for Test cricket whereas new talent should be inducted in ODI teams and older players should not play ODI cricket anymore.
As their form and fitness is not consistent.
Future Planning should be done a head of the curve not at the end of the curve.

How come ICC put 3 South Asian Team in a gourp. They need to make a system where all groups have some sort of balance. Its not fair that south asian are playing with each other in initial stage of world cup. Also I think its time for Sachin to retire as Inzi, we all know that he is the best player in the world but if best players dont perform, give chance to new guys, may be India will find another young Sachin. Srilanka and Bangladesh are playing with some young guys and they are all making their efforts.

Well, the team members themselves are not entirely at fault! The team's miserable performance is also a result of the ridiculous hype and media pressure. Think about it! These guys are told they are bhagvan-samaan for 50 weeks a year, and they imagine they can score centuries by just twirling their bats because they succomb to all the hyperbole and don't criticise the myth. We saw how they played against Bangladesh! So arrogantly - as if playing a Ranji trophy match against a weak side......... it's tragic anyway, and I'm feeling all empty! I'll enjoy the rest of the cricket, but the keen emotional rush is out! That'll take a while to return!

It is hard to come across any piece of writing, leave alone opinion, that has almost unanimous approval, yet this article has that level of acceptance. The reasons for this are pretty clear: two of the most substandard teams have been eliminated and the World Cup is truly a spectacle of team work, athleticism and professionalism. I do not know how far Bangladesh or Ireland cricket will progress, given their entry to the Super 8s; however, the fact remains that these teams are in the next round because - at some stage, when it mattered - they showed the gumption for a fight and a professional attitude that put the Indian and Pakistani team to shame.

We - India and Pakistan - represent the largest fan base for the game; however, our knowledge of what cricket is does not seem to have developed a lot. To put things in perspective, here's what Wikipedia has to say "Cricket is a bat and ball sport played between two teams, usually of eleven players each". Our fans and our players forget that it is a team game and our administrators forget that it's played with a bat and ball, not money. India and Pakistan, at the moment, represent the two most hypocritical, money-minded, individualistic and incoherent cricketing cultures. It is only fair that these two teams have been dubbed 'the venom' of cricket and the World Cup has rightly been cleansed of it. The quality of batting and fielding seen in the Aus vs SA game has never been, and cannot possibly ever be, matched by the two subcontinental giants. Our players are lethargic, use cricket as a side business with endorsements and have the audacity to override team motives with personal agendas. I am not aware what Islam has to say about it, but the Hindu tradition has always been to defer to the teacher or coach. I read about Shoaib's spat with Woolmer and I know for a fact that both John Wright and Chappell have been at the receiving end. There is only one reason that explains why the World Cup this year is richer by our exit, and it is because in these two teams, the individual has taken the game for granted. The day Sehwag learns that the game is not his servant, the day Dhoni learns that modeling is a by-product of cricket and not the other way round, the days Shoaib learns that he needs the game and not the other way round, the day these two teams learn that the only way forward is by following a regimen of fitness and perfection, India and Pakistan will be a boon and not a venom for the game.

Till such time, if ever, let's enjoy the purest World Cup of cricket in a long, long time!!

Pakistan & India's elimination from the tournament is certainly good for the tournament - because frankly these two teams did not deserve to advance given their performance. India's fall against Bangladesh could be attributed to a bad day - but against Sri Lanka, there is no excuse at all. A lot of things went India's way - we just were'nt good enough. Indian Fans - this is the reality, deal with it!!! If you a true Cricket fan, then you should be happy with the result because a much more cohesive & talented TEAM, Sri Lanka (and Bangladesh to some extent) are moving forward.

That said, if Bermuda were to beat Bangladesh, and India were to move forward, I would certainly be disappointed b/c that would let us Indian's ignore the current state of affairs. India needed this outcome badly to force the Indian Fans/Media/Managers to really dissect the current situation in Cricket. If India move forward in the tournament - firstly a team that doesn't deserve to move forward will be rewarded (bad for Cricket as a game), and secondly, no one will care to scrutinize what's wrong with Indian cricket.

I agree with most of the comments. I am an ardent fan of Cricket living in the USA, and was very sad to see India lose. However, in a few hours, I had started to get over it and the next day, I actually thought it'sa good thing for India to exit. Money has ripped talent and determination right out of the heart of the Indian cricket. Selectors do their part to play favourites, bookies their part to stifle whatever genuine talent there might be left after that.
I am an Indian,but let me say good riddance to India, the team that they are at the moment. We hancied our chances against the AUssies? After watching their game against RSA today, I'd hate to say - India will never have a prayer until politics and money spinners are taken out of the cricket in India.

One thing about this all drams saying India didn't pay well and blah blah, shouldn't you guys give more respect to the oponent ? Bangaladesh and Sri lanka both out played India thoug they have the best line up on paper. The problem is in Indian cricket is tha, they think they are on top of the world, that they are the best. That goes for the team as well as for the Fans.

Another thing I have noticed about India is that, there are superior players and just players. It should not be like that, it should just a team sport. I've seen Attapattu from SL bringing the water for the batsmen sometimes, but never seen Sachin or Ganguly do that. India team looks like bunch of contracted players who players because they are being paid. But if you look at SL they play as a group who wants to have fun and win it for the country.. Be it for the 22 year old tharanga or 37 year old Sanath, they are all the same in the team. Just a player. In indian team i think the new players must be getting intimidated by the Great players, at least that's how it looks.

I may be wrong, but this is how I see it.

Indians should realize this is just a game, losing is a part of the game. Live with it.

it's a good thing that both india and pakistan are out of the world cup so early, because it will teach the fans of both countries not to take the game so seriously. cricket is just a game and should be looked upon as a game. its not worth being angry or depressed about your team's loss, that you burn the players' effiges or attack their homes. at the end of the day, its just cricket.

To reduce the pressure on players and improve performances, we need to do two things: invest more money into other sports, because we have plenty of talented sportsmen in all these sports who should be just as proud to represent their country.
Secondly, make younger players captains of our team...that is the only way an Indian captain can produce results given the amount of pressure he is under. Nothing against Dravid: he is a great player, and he would have been a better captain of say, a team like England, where the pressure is less. The reason Ganguly was successful because he was made captain 4 years after his Test debut, so as a young man he didn't allow the pressures of Indian cricket politics and other things to affect him. That is why the Indian team came up with such great performances under him.

Again, we fail yet this time it's not at the last hurdle it's the first! Our team doesn't have the mental strength or determination to win, In fact I'd say they are lazy, as soon as it looks like it's going our way they sit back & relax hoping someone else will do it for them. I always felt there was to much back room bias and media hype for us to have the right team - as a nation we put certain people on a pedistal & don't realise that the pedistal has moved on. Too much player 'celebration' has made certain players think they are untouchable, they're more concerned with adverts then cricket and the selectors aren't immune from that either! Unfortunately we do not have the 'killer' instinict to finish a team off and Dravid is too soft & inflexible when it comes to a match. Look at the Aussie's they go all out for a win if someone doesn't preform they're out but we stick with it cos it's whats expected and then moan cos we lost. The team & the selectors even more so are living on past glory (& media praise) and have lost sight of the ball. We have Good players yet we don't use them. Our future can be bright but only if we change our attitude & praise those how deserve to wear an India cricket shirt and not those who look good !

India can't even think of the way australians play.

SACHIN is best and forever. Why you guys poor sachin for defeat. If you look at the history and cut back all runs he contributed to team, it will change the results of all game and we may have loss all matches. Whatever we have achieve in cricket in last 15 years, Sachin has big hand. Even in last World cup in S. Africa. INDIA Reached to FINAL due to SACHIN only. He was player of the tournament. Evem in this worldcup 2007, we have just palyed three matches and in winning against Bumuda, SACHIN has great contribution of 57 runs. Just failing in two matches make him bad player? Are you people crazy, or gone mad? Your expectation is way beyond reality. God bless SACHIN for his serive to country. You misrable people are SUCKS!

Your suggestions about test cricket are arcane and quite frankly ludicrous. In this day and age of instant gratification you would lose whatever mass appeal there is to it.

Also I feel as a writer its your duty to educate the public. However you seem to take an attitude of "I shall criticize from my perch, all day and all I want, and generalize as much as I want" To say that corruption bookies or otherwise is endemic in South Asia is ok, but to imply that the rest of the world is purer than snow is quite something else.

I read your articles with interest but this one was a put off. I felt you took the easy route when it came to analysis. Rather than offering constructive suggestions, your article foments and ascribes ignorant and seemingly obvious conclusions

Keep up the good writing otherwise!

Indians played very badly.From the beginning there was no planning to chase.Out of the six professonal batsman as the players claim any two oombinaion would have stayed and played good cricket.None of the players are serious in playing.So much money and time has been spent which has been spoiled by these Indian cricketers by not performing well.At least in sports there should not be corruption of any sort.Very sad to hear these things go in sport.The players have to be serious.They all get their money in some other manner.That is the reason they are not bothered to perform well in the game.All the players have to be disciplined first, they have to sense themselves if they don't perform they will be dropped from the team.Further the board has to schedule more domestic cricket and it is the boards responsibility to train all the players as it is a public funded body.The players have to earn all the finance from only playing.If this happens they wll get themselves serious.Loosing this way against Bangladesh which is not experienced compared to India is not execusable.
There has to be change for the good of Indian cricket.

How about an ODI series between India and Pakistan because the angry fans can have some sheer entertainment while the World Cup will continue without these super giants. I personally believe India and Pakistan are very good sides and while Indians tried hard, I can not accept Pakistan losing to Ireland without any players being bribed. While my intent is not to question any player's credibility lets not forget Azhar Mahmood is well known to Ireland and his dismissal does raise eyebrows. He was injured by a lifting a delivery and decided to throw his wicket away. But Pakistan & India are both capable teams and on their day they can beat any other teams. Its unfortunate that South Africa were vulnerable against part time spinner B. Hogg and i hope Srilanka wins the world cup because they deserve to play Australia in the final. Again we can foresee a repeat of 96 world cup final. Bangladesh should be able to beat Ireland, West Indies and possibly England. We have an aggressive batting line up with Tamim Iqbal and Aftab Ahmed and they are both from my hometown. While the former is a by product of Chittagong's mushrooming English medium School the latter attended the same school as i did. The problem with this BD team is we are not happy to see off 50 overs and post a respectable total and we play to win the match and thus taking more risks than any other BD teams of the past. It was this strategy that won us the match against India and I sincerely believe its this attitude alone that can bring further surprises to the global cricketing audience when we player NZ, WI, Ireland and England. Australia and Srilanka are the best two teams for me and South Africa seems destined for another semi-final exit. For Bangladesh though, in spite of the outcome of all our Super 8 games, we need to cherish the opportunity to play these big teams because ICC failed to organise mutual trips for Bangladesh for them to be able to play other top teams which would prepare us better for these big matches. India's exit has only 1 positive and that is it offers Bangladesh team ample opportunities to showcase our talent and also we will be able to measure our progress against these teams as beating NZ and India are not the only two victories we are capable of.

Hello there! Just to remind everybody, Bangladesh still has not qualified for the Super 8's. While I wholeheartedly support Bangladesh, we have been dissapointed before on several occasions. So I'll believe it when BD actaully go through.

Indian cricket fans are loontics maybe becouse thats the only sport they are competive in. billion people and only 11 athlets bad ones at that. They need to take the money that they earn from cricket and devolop other sports. Maybe then the people will eventually have other sports to cheer about.

I totally disagree with your comments about the departure of Pakistan and India (likely dep.) adding tonic to the tournament. Lets just wait and see the interest Ireland and Bangladesh adds to the Super 8s round before jumping on to conclusions. I wouldn't like to take anything away from Bangladesh as they played superbly in the game against India but their performance against Srilanka was no better then India's.
Wanted to write a few other things but it seems those points are already addressed by some of the other people.
Lastly, this is the first time I read your article but I hope your next one will not be as biased as this one and will be based on some good research.

Its disappointing to see india loose, but ppl should learn to taste defeat. Everyone is responsible for this, the ppl who have hyped the players, the players who do not see their responsibilities. If ppl are that crazy then why in country of 1 billion ppl there is no fast bowler? Also they should stop playing outside the country, just like in US football, play within states, Make teams privately owned. Now this will serve two purpose the players can make their money, since private they will be thrown if no perfomance. And the best thing ppl will learn to take defeats, since they cannot accept defeate to smaller countries.

Why does every one here think it's just the Indian's and Pakistani cricket thats involved in match fixing and all that? I mean isn't it possible that there are players from other countries that are involved? some ones already mentioned above that Mr. Cronje was involved he got caught too. Lets not sit and berate teams from south Asia without proper facts. Theres corruption wherever theres money, and match fixing is not just limited to just cricket, you guys must have heard of the recent happenings in football in the la liga. And as an Indian cricket fan i am disappointed with their loss but hey it's sport and it happens, lets just let the team be and regroup i'm sure they will do us proud sooner rather than later.

I'm sorry if you believe for one minute that the tournament will benefit from the early exit of either or both of these teams. Even if bookmakers endured heavy loses, do you really think the exit of these teams will put an end to such activities for the rest of the tournament? Even if a proportionate decrease occurs for the short term, it would be naive to think betting and match fixing shall end with this. The losses as far as I can see, outweigh the benefits. As for passionate fans, which is worse, burning of effigies or drunk fans of certain nations slugging it out during and after matches, in and out of the grounds? Perhaps neither is worse, but the contribution of these passionate fans to keeping cricket alive in the 1990s must not be ignored, on the contrary it should be appreciated.

In the 1990s cricket was almost dead in England, if it wasn't for the capital generated from the south asian nations, you have to wonder where cricket would be today. Perhaps some marketing genius will suggest Five-5 matches in a few years, when the twenty-20 fad fails in England. What does need to happen is this big machine that churns out ludicrous levels of revenue should be re-assessed, overkill has already begun to take its toll. A lot can and should be read into the sad decision of the bidding and handing of the 2011 world cup to the subcontinent, it does not bode well for the future of cricket. Sustainability does not seem to have been properly addressed, and hopefully the impact of India and Pakistan's exits will encourage this outlook.

If there is any good to come out of the early exit of India and Pakistan, it can only come if the systems in both countries are carefully examined. It is a disgrace that there is such heavy political influence in both boards. Neither Musharraf nor Pawar have the credentials or credibility to be involved in their current capacities in cricket boards. It is hard to see an honest man ever leading the BCCI. Unfortunately the way elections are run, you must commandeer significant influence, this is usually achieved with political muscle. There has been too much infighting and settling of personal scores, too much mismanagement, and now too much money-grabbing. Unfortunately the only thing I see coming out of India and Pakistan's exits, is that unfair punishments shall be meted out to protect the unworthy and appease the masses.

Mukul, in an earlier blog you said a West Indian victory would not be good for cricket. Now you have said, it is better for the world cup that India and Pakistan are out. You are however in complete favor of Sri Lanka winning the world cup. Apart from the fact that their board is as corrupt as any other, and that they have stubbornly backed a bowler that the majority of the world considers a chucker, and finally that most of the matches they host draw poor crowds, I suppose their victory does bode well for cricket! I stand by all my assertions, that you have no business talking about contemporary cricket.

The thoughts which flowed inside my little brain when I witnessed one of the deplorable performances of the Indian cricket team in this world cup.

The end of great era of batsmanship.... The one and only sachin tendulkar going to hang his cricket gears without conquering the world’s biggest cup!!! The so called the supreme batting trio amassing 35000 runs in ODI couldn’t make this world cup themselves even once in their 3 endeavors. A sad end to the unforgettable greats:(((((((((((
Does that mean the trio is incapable of achieving this herculean feat? Hmm may be this has become evident from this world cup that the world famous batting line up failed to score even a minuscule 200 against the so called minnows Bangladesh.. may be underdogs is a better term to use than minnows because they are no more considered a minnows after beating a strong side in their first world cup encounter.

Some might argue that world cup is the only tournament which can decide the fate of players, coaches like the great Inzis, Wasims, Bob woolmers. And now we never know what may happen to the Indian cricketers back home in India. The Billions faith, hope, dream shattered in 8 hours of play will definitely have some major consequence on the team selection, mainly the players and the coach. The Die hard cricket fan like me will make a haste decision not to follow cricket here after at any cost and some may shift to support other teams just to follow the happenings in the world cup just out of the craze they have for the great sport.

Is the world cup worth the hype it has created in the cricketing arena? This question can be answered in two ways. Firstly it is straight yes. When world cup football is taken so seriously by the nations who play football, Why not cricket? It does have its own charisma. It is a trophy which is won by a team which performs consistently for a period of 45 days, which holds its nerve to fight, fight and fight to get hold of the precious trophy in the grand finale. But in the other argument, it could be said that a team which just performs for 45 days could easily take away the most sought after prize. Also the individual achievements of great players like Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Inzamam-ul-Haq were belittled by the fact that their teams could not win the cup in their life time. Though I might be wrong in including Brian Lara since the West Indies are fighting it hard at the moment, I do hope at least Lara could achieve this feat to stand alone from the other greats of his time.

World cups come and go. But I definitely feel that the interest, the passion, the sense of oneness which is created among the fellow Indians making them feel like one religion namely “CRICKET” and their god “SACHIN”, during a cricket match, especially during the world cups will never die over the years. Even at this moment my little brain hopes and it is hoping against hope for a Bermudan win against the Bangladeshis so that the world cup would be still alive from the Indian perspective. This is Cricket for you and this is India for you. This is Shreeni for you:))
Jai Hind!!!!

Despite beeing a huge fan of team India, I find myself actually somehow relieved to see India and Pakistan out already! While I am disappointed by India's early exit, I could not agree more with this article. Hopefully, this will be a sobering experience for the increasingly money-hungry and arrogant cricket board. Maybe now it wont consider itself too good to play cricket against any team that is not Australia or Pakistan! Hopefully, it will also give the fans a chance to separate the sport from chauvinism, and actually enjoy it for its own sake, instead of engaging in a mindless and tasteless display of mob-mentality.

This is the best thing happenned to indian cricket for the future of this game in India.The players our team just dont have initiatives to win.Their pockets are so full and secured that they damn the sentiments of the whole nation.What must come out of this to get positive results for future is that they should be deprieved from the access of such money from advertisments and so much financial security that they must be on their toes all the time fighting for their country rather than biting nails in the dressing room.I wish this happenned soon but will not as our memories are too short and will again make them heroes if they win just another match.
We know the truth that comfort,luxury and too much money makes hard work impossible and creats impotency towards your goals.
THAT SHOULD BE IT FOR THE TEAM NOW OR IT WILL BE NEVER.

All the players playing for India should be totally banned from appearing in any commercials,A cricket players job is to play cricket and not make money through Ads, they are paid enough by the cricket board(like any company employee) so they shuold consider it as a job and should be given extra bonus only on performance
NO! PERFORMANCE NO! MONEY

Before Alex and his cronies start crowing about India and bookies connections and how this is so bad for the world they need to take a good look at what England and Australia are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bookies and Match Fixing nothing compared to what your criminal countries are doing.

India and Pakistan should start their own league and, I suspect, that the West INdies, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangla Desh and Zimbabwe will go with them. Australia, England and New Zealand can ... play each other until kingdom come.
Ajai

the sub continent should take a leaf out of the west indies. we are very passionate about our cricket but we do not worship our team or players. we may not be where we want to be but we are a understanding bunch and you cannot say you love your team only in the good times. oh by the way all this talk about Aus, SL, NZ, SA but non bout windies. they have been quietly dominating ironically they were bowled out for 85 by india in a warm up game guess who has the last laugh

In my opinion, Indian cricket board should change the attitude of Indian players and the way they play game of cricket.

I was watching the match against Sri Lanka and I noticed how Indian batsmen showed signs of weakness even just after 6 batsmen were gone! On that pitch, 254 was gettable and couple of fours and sixes at that time, could have changed turned things upside down. Instead, they look so worried and timid. It's no use including half a dozen Tendulkars in the team, if you don't have players (or real fighters) who can turn things around when needed. That's what Kapil Dev did in 1983 (scoring 175 against Zim). Also, they should pay more attention to fielding. Indian fielding has been average or below average in recent years.

The other thing is that almost every player in Indian cricket team have endorsed products or services for big monies. When they play, they tend to focus on personal performances pushing team's performance to second place. This is why Indian failed to snatch any title after 1985. Everytime, when there is big money is involved in a big event like WC, they change the focus from team performance to personal performance. Indian cricket administrators need to fix this problem as well.

perhaps youve forgotten the fact that sri lanka played such good cricket. for them, that match came as close to perfection as is humanly possible. their batsmen weathered out the early sting of the wicket, got their runs beautifully, ran beautifully; the bowlers were a captain's dream; the field settings were inspired; the fielding was superb.

perhaps youve forgotten all this. but, more likely, perhaps this is supposed to be all about india?

When you have administrators who have no clue to what cricket is and know only BARKING when team fails, any sport team of that country is doomed at all times. If that administrator has the authority to make changes (After failing to reach next round) to contract to players & coaches, then he had the authority to make changes to team even before we went to the world cup and he did not do that. On the contrary administrators position should be reviewed as why he/she has been elected on Indian Cricket Control board and why he/she failed to take action well before we went to world cup

Now they are blaming Chappell for this. Oh Yeah well, need a scape goat for all the money spend and lost. Even if the Phil Jackson/Larry Brown equivalent in Cricket would have a coach for India, Indian team was doomed.

This is the differnce between Australia and other countries.

I am tired of you pundits blaming the Indian Cricket fan for everything. Yes we're emotional, yes we're passionate, yes we yo-yo between adulation and revulsion and yes a few (a very very select and miniscule percentage of the billion of us) go and destroy property.

But if you take us out of the equation Cricket would perhaps be as popular as ping-pong. So the next time a pundit blames us for everything that's wrong with world cricket, perhaps he should go and cover ping-pong instead!!!!!!

what a bad article! you gotta be kidding!

Cricket crazy indian population make these individuals or give these cricketers "god" like status. I believe the indian cricket team is very individualistic. They will never be a team. The ego is phenomenal, and yet show lack of mental strength that is required when under pressure. They (India) deserve to lose but I don't think it is good for the game.

Being an Indian, I am really upset for India not making it to the Super 8's. However I am willing to bite this bullet, if something good comes out of this early Indian departure. I hope the selectors would be more objective in their selection and keep emotions and past records of players out of this. Also if I too took a more objective stance, I should not be surprised or upset by India's defeat. The Indian team was no match to the other good teams. This Indian team is too hyped up by the media. In fact, the game itself is excessively glorified by the media. Give a chance to the other sports. Without the help of media, no one in India is going to care about other sports. Athletes and other sportsmen definitely deserve attention. We care nothing about them; all we do is to fret about their failures at the Olympics.

Anyway, getting back to cricket, I think it is high time we dropped players like Tendulkar. If you can't play, you don't deserve a place in the team. No room for sentiments here. I ain't asking him to retire. May be he has a lot of cricket in him. But he needs to fight for his position. Earlier his presence was a morale booster for the team. Not any more. May he needs that Ganguly sort of break to get him back on track. Or may be it's the end of the road for him. I won't completely blame him for his poor performances. The management and the media have a big role in him being in the team. It's time to sit and ponder. Not just the team, the coach, the selectors or the media, but also us - the aficionados!

I completely agree with 'Augi'. There should be some form of prohibition on ex-cricketers opening their putrid mouths to speak about the Indian team's performance. And if you have noticed, whenever there is a bad performance, these vultures (and vultures they are, since they are feeding off of the team's misery) turn up in numbers. I wonder why they don't show up when India is doing well. Did anyone even hear of Bedi, Gavaskar and their ilk when India gave a thumping to Sri Lanka recently ?

Sri Lanka has one of the most talented cricket sides which includes the greatest bowler in the world (Murali) and the greatest one day allrounder( Sanath) of all time. There two main bowlers are the highest one day wicket takers in the tournament .They also have a brilliant fielding side. When India beat Srilanka in India recently both Vass and Murali weren't playing. India had the advantage on friday by winning the toss but the superior side won. Sri Lanka's batting has never being in question (they hold the highest test cricket and one day scores and the highest and second highest test cricket partnerships) but now they have a very strong bowling attack. As with Bradman end of the day numbers don't lie. Sri Lanka know that they have the talent to beat an aging Australian side and they have beaten South Africa and New Zealand recently not to mention the 5-0 thrashing they gave England in England. They look a better side now than the 1996 world cup side but obviously the genius of Aravinda de Silva who was equally talented as Sachin and Brian Lara is irreplaceable. Anyone who underestimate Srilanka do so at their peril as they are second to no other side at the moment. In fact India's loss to Srilanka should have been expected as Srilanka are the premier Asian cricketing nation today.

Sachin Tendulkar = ZERO HERO
Indian players shame on you that lost to teams of tiny tiny nations of Bangladesh & Sri Lanka.

We all need to avoid watching Indian cricketers TV ads. Boycott products of companies who use Indian cricketers.

Indian players should be banned from doing any modeling or endorsements as long as they play for the country. Their pay and perks should be tied purely to their performance. Right?

India lost and out of WC, so what, its only a game, get over it.
There are bigger issues in India that need to be addressed than cricket.

I personally enjoy a good game of test cricket any day over a one day international, however do attach some significance to the only tournament that really counts in cricket. I think simply India or Paksitan crashing out of this world cup whilst in some ways might be good for the world cup, will not necessarily change the psyche of the fans that most cherish the one day format. I think the ICC should look at evolving the one day format into a more professional annual league with a championship at the end of it, similar to the UEFA cup or any of the American sport leagues. This could be to start off with a three month league, leaving the rest of the calendar year open for test cricket, and the one off international ODI or 20/20 tournament. The world cup can still continue to occur once every four years. This will enable talented cricketers from non-test playing countries to be exposed to high quality cricket, and perhaps make better cricket fans. It will take some getting used to, but if a serious attempt is made at it then there is some significant upside to this.

Interesting article.

No doubt cricket is the bane of India. I think the players played a bad game and deserved to lose. However, the extent of expectations people put on them in unfair. The players, no doubt take the adulation and the monetary benefits that come with the sport, but they too are fallible. Sri Lanka is a much better side and that's it.

One suggestion, if someone cares, to get the team to perform is to link pay with performance. Set a base salary per game. If they win give a bonus. If they beat a top team like SA or Australia, they get a higher bonus and if they beat a lower ranked team, a lower bonus. Similarly if they lose, they get a penalty. Losing to a lower ranked team should lead to higher penalty.

I have played and seen people at various levels and another big issue is nepotism. You know a minister you will be in the team. For a really competent person, to be axed from a team on these grounds can seriously affect self-belief. This may not happen at higher levels but at lower levels definitely. The best thing that can happen to India is ban all forms of cricket for two years. People need to get on with their lives.

As for the match with Sri Lanka, India came up with a shoddy display which was sub-par even with their own terrible standards. India is not in the same class as SA, Aus or SL. Period. NZ is a little below, England, India and West Indies come later. Barring one or two upsets, the top four would be SA, Aus, SL and NZ. Others are there to just make up the numbers.

When people try to play at the highest level, what is needed is resolve. India were never there mentally. This is surprising, since for the last three months all India was doing was to prepare for the world cup. To an extent, the coach should be responsible, since the players did not enter either game with the right mind-set. The sorry play started at Bangladesh and continued. For example, Vaas opened with a maiden, straightaway putting pressure on India. Where as with Bangladesh, Zaheer bowled a garbage ball in the first over. Agarkar of-course obliged in the next over too. Would you not expect players at international level to understand? Sorry people, Indian team is just not upto it. You can expect one miracle or two, but if you were hoping India would win the world cup - you are asking for one too many..

Its tough to digest reality at times but thats what one must do at certain times.
The elimination (am not banking on bermuda !!) from the world cup is feeling of disbelief, shock and utter disappointment.

SL is definitely a balanced side and should make it to semis atleast. India players aint that bad as they have been portrayed after their dismal performance.

Indian biggies should consider cautiously about their involvement and future of Indian Cricket as a whole.
Secondly, Indian administering authorities should feel ashamed of themselves. Hiring a foreign coach is not a panacea for Indian Cricket.
As a True Indian Fan, I sincerely request Indian Past Greats (Vengsarkar, Srinath, Kapil, Gavaskar, Bedi) to work with current tainted greats (Sachin and Co) to make Indian Cricket better and sustain faith of a billion hearts !!

Bermuda vs. Bangladesh. Anyone know someone in the match-fixing mafia?

Maybe Woolmer was involved in match-fixing or betting and was murdered for letting his bosses down, or for not being able to pay up? Oh, but hes white, so we cant jump to such conclusions now can we. Pitch reports - thats about the extent of their involvement.

And since we've all such disciplined (to use Chomsky's term) n______s, can we just rewind to a seemingly unrelated incident - no not the tragic, calamitous, unfair, heart-wrenching, farcical rain-ruling of the 1992 world cup semis that so unjustly did the SAs in, but to a match some days before that, when the same rule got them into the semis, in the game against Pakistan:
http://www.cricmania.com/cricket/DB/card/user/rs01/game/O735

But shhhh, we cant talk about that, oh no, never mention it in all those rewinds to the 1992 world cup - after all, who can control the rain, these thing happen, the rules are the same for both sides, it doesnt detract from the result, come come now, dont be churlish, you n______s do whine so, always harping on the fine print.

- jogesh

I am a Sri Lankan living in Hockey (Ice Hockey that is...) crazy Canada and must admit that I haven't paid much attention to Cricket as I used to before. However World cup is something we all get excirted about because of the chance we get to cheer the countries we were born and raised in. I also didn't pay a whole lot of attention to this article or it's contents, but was interested in the comments from others who seemed to have various ideas and suggestions about India's near elimination at the hands of Sri Lankans. I watched the game and obviously happy Sri Lanka did win and played well. But I have to agree with a previous response that to think Bangladesh is good enought to trouble the big guns in the super 8 is not a reality... Sorry Bangladesh... you remind us of the early Sri Lankan teams that played well sometimes to beat a good team, but has a lot more learning and experience to gain. Therefore I wish India was the one that went through to the super 8 with us Sri Lankans.

If you look at what happened to India, many here seems to agree that the player are a over paid, spoilt bunch of professional sportsmen. While I have no idea how much they earn and what each of their sponsroship contracts are worth, let me say this is nothing new in the sporting world (specially here in North America which seem to have finally caught up with the South East Asian Sports as well) .... However I did see a more cohesive, united team effort from the Sri Lankans, than the Indians. Well, you don't have to take my word for it, as the commentators them selves were amazed how youthful, and excited Murali the old vetean was on the field. So was Vass and Sanath both of whom are in their mid or late 30's and played the game as if this was their last effort. I did not see such enthusiasm from India (or their VEteran players in the same age category) although it was their backs that were against the wall and needed to play their hearts out. Another thing they commented was how after each over their was a committee meeting of sort on the pitch as the SL captain, and some of the veteran players quickly discussed the tactics.... While some may see this as a negative, a shrewed captain can use his older player's experience as an advantage. Of course to do this one has to have a team spirit and STAR players who can check their egos at the door. This too I did not see from the Indians.

Some of you can check the Cricinfo interview done by Sanjay Manjekar, with the Chapell brothers. The topic was about the Captaincy and the roles of the coaches. Both brothers were adament about the huge role played by the Captains on the field and the Selectors, whose roles are more important than that of the Coaches. At the time listening to it I almost felt sorry for Greg Chapell wondering if he was trying to reveal something about the team he was coaching.. On hind sight I can now see that may be the Indian Selectors may have failed to give India and Chapell a united team he could coach, instead of team filled with stars huge egos. So hanging Greg out to dry may not be India's answer as well.

Finally the most telling story I saw was when Dravid got out after his long and painful innings (cramps and all) and the response he got from his fellow players. Sure you can criticize his Captaincy as soft and he may not be as good as his opponent Mahela, but the guy did try his best and scored some runs, something others didn't do on that day. So what did he get for his efforts...? A standing ovation from his fellow players? A pat on the back saying well done Skip. let's get them next time...? NO! All we saw was a bunch of sad faced players who hardly clapped, and sat their sulking how this was going to effect their next lucrative contract. This is all one needed to see why India lost and is not almost out of the World Cup.

Fans will always be fans and they have the right to cheer, jeer and show their emotions. After all they pay for their tickets and by the products players endorse. I am sure many agree that the Fans on the sub continent are passionate about the game of Cricket. They cheer you, dance, party and they fill up the grounds and the stadiums (unlike the empty ones in other parts of the world). They worship some of these players almost close to godliness, when they perform and win. So when you don't win you better expect some unhappiness and frustration from them, specially when you see there was no efforts made by their gods. Reminds me of the old ad age... you know the first half so I end with the last part. ".... It's how you play the Game! " and India did not play the game! Better luck next time.

It is sad to see both India & Pakistan go, being a Sri Lankan these are my 2nd and 3rd choice sides.

However i must add that there is also part of me that is very relieved to see India go, simply because of the hype the media was creating - it was getting very very irritating.

You would know what i am talking about if you were watching the cricket on Sony Max - Mandira Bedi & Charu Sharma talk as if India is the only nation watching the coverage.
The entire coverage was India centric and extremely annoying. I can understand more attaention being given to India due to the larger audience but this was too much to handle.
So i guess India being eliminated - Great fot the non indian viewers.

Bermuda defeating Bangladesh is still possible though not probable. With this comment, I want to raise certain issues. What if Bermuda really, I mean really beats Bangladesh (just as Bangladesh defeating India) without the any coercion from ICC or the so called "underground" bookies, will that be in India's interest? Lot of folks have said that India rightly deserves to back home. I am sure there will be a lot of raised eye-brows and suspicions even amongst the die-hard and other-wise guilt-free fans. Can we fans watch India play against the rest of Super8 teams without feeling some guilt knowing that it should have been Bangladesh, and will other teams have any respect for Indian team. Lets assume, just assume that Bangladesh does loose tomorrow, I feel that India should forego the Super8 spot and give it to Bangladesh. This will do a world of good to India and India's cricket. Any comments welcome.

Now, I am sincerely hoping that this will be the best loss for both India and Pakistan. I am hoping that this will be watershed not only for these two countries, but for the beautiful cricket game in general. I am a die-hard, ardent cricet fan, but things that I am hoping that these losses would bring are: i) more balanced approach by and expectations from fans. ii) renewed interest in other sports. iii) a rethinking and establishmenet of the right format to bring the hidden talent and youngsters to the fore iv) proper investment in the infrastructure (such as grounds, coaching staff at all levels etc.) that helps improve the success rate. (v) de-politicization of the selection committees and everything cricket.

No worries - give the amount of money theu have rising on this, I have no doubts that at this very time the ICC is no doubt running around trying to fix the Bangladesh-Bernuda game

Exactly, Mukul.

Cricket doesn't need the extreme nationalism that fans of Pakistan and India bring. These two nations going out is, in reality, a blessing in disguise, allowing, hopefully, for some semblance of sanity to return.

In India's case, I do whole-heartedly place the blame on the media for hyping the current team's chances to ridiculous levels. With a population as big as India's, the last thing you'd want to do is to give unrealistic hope.

And, as both Inzi and Rahul said at the end of their respective matches, their teams didn't deserve to go to the next round.

Good riddance. Next time, I hope they come prepared for the cricket and not for the fringe benefits.

someone named mr.alex said that all other countries shud boycott india and pakistan..

so what abt hanse cronje and gibbs episode? what abt marlon samules episode.

all countries are culprits here. so next time india shud boycott south africa and west indies. isnt it.

mr.moin, i dont know which country ur frm. same can be said abt inzamam too. isnt it

India out of the world cup? hard to believe, yet uncertainities always play a part when it comes to cricket. There are some questions that always arise in the minds of ardent cricket fans like me, why was kumble not given a chance in games against bangladesh and sri lanka? It is not fair for the team management to leave out a genuine match-winner like kumble for crucial matches. In kumble's case, anyone could tell that he was treated badly for the past two to three years. Everyone know's his nagging line and length would have been handy against inexperienced batsmen of bangladesh. The team's think tank doesn't have to bring kumble to west indies just to make him play against low-key teams such as bermuda. With lot of young players such as kaif & raina left out of the team, the fielding was always not up to regular standards and the batsmen seem to have forgotten the art of picking up singles (especially ganguly). Some of these issues needs to be addressed at the earliest to ensure that cricket doesn't become extinct in India.

it's a great piece from Mr Kesavan. Lankans deserve to be in Super 8 and i hope they go all the way to FINALS. Bangladesh deserves to be in Super 8 as well. It will be a shame if Bangla looses to Bermuda and India gets into Super 8. I am an Indian but am happy to see this spineless Indian team to pack the bags and take a flight. This team should learn from their Women Cricketers who give their heart out for the country. Without going into what went right/wrong..a simple fact of TAKING SINGLES would have made the huge diference. I thought Indians were good in grasping the importance of taking singles by watching chamara's Innings. What a controlled 'no airy shots' game he played. I wish indians would have [that includes the great Chappal] talked about his innings in the Dressing room before they batted. It's just a shame!! Dinesh [one of the most matured cricketers of this generation] and Irfan [as an allrounder] would have been good asset but it's OVER!!...it's NOT ONLY planning before the GAME but it's alse about planning and executing as the game progresses!! That's lacking in Indian Team!!Goodluck Sri Lanka..you folks deserve it!! Go all the way and make your country proud!!
Peace Out!

We deserved to lose. We just dont have the calibre now. Sachin, Dravid etal can just play test cricket. We are way behind in one day cricket. Just look at the aussies against SA. They were just clobbering bowlers like Ntini for slog sweeps. The same bowlers tortured india when we went there. When Gilchrist stood up for bracken, Smith just created room and clobbered him. We let Vaas to bowl to his terms and conditions. Murali was treated as if he is a chap who shouldnt be hit at all. Even against Bermuda with a total of 400 plus on board we didnt attack enough. 3 Slips, Gully and a short leg to start off with such a score on board agaisnt bermuda is mandatory. Where is the urgency. No one had that spirit except sehwag against SL. Only Sehwag, Uthappa and Yuvraj seem to be the guys capable of playing the kind of cricket thats required for today's one day game. We need fresh legs in batting.

dear sir,
it seems the loss to sri lanka and the possible elimination of india out of the world cup have put you in a foul mood, more than any other person that i know with exception of the fanatics that are running around trying to break and burn houses. please!!! it was a good game and india lost. period.
secondly, the media is solely to blame for all the fanatism that is linked to the game. i mean just have a look at all the news channels, on air in india today, each has devised its own way to name and shame the culprit (culprit, villan, player, your choice what you want to call depending on how good or bad he has played) of the day, and the comments or the "breaking news" healdines are appalling to say the least. and when you have such a large number of jobless youth being brain washed by the media, it is like bringing a burning match to a can of petrol. if the media does not clean up its act, then the bruning of some persons house or breaking a compound wall of an other player will not be a one time act. tv is a powerful tool and the news channel should be sensitive in what it is showing. and off course the media persons should also realise that it is JUST A GAME.
and lastly, for your information, betting is rampant through out the world, why, even this site has a link to make a bet. its just that in india and pakistan betting is illigal and once the bookies are caught, they are tagged as "match fixers" as well. so you calling for a clean up of the system is totally off the point.
yes the game, specially the indian cricket needs a lot of introspection to be done and a lot have to be acted upon to improve their act but then at the end of the day each should remember that it is just a game and winning an loosing is a part of it.

Yes, india lost this is a brilliant thing, no its not only a game, to many its a passion and to say that is very hurtful. but yes there are much bigger issues than india losing, such as the untimely death of woolmer.

First writing in demeaning manner to any player as it demeans the opposition as well who deserves better.
Secondly, it is just a game, losing and winning is always a part of it. See the way Australia and SA played today. Fun to watch. Excellent fight from SA. India should raise its game to that level. It is totally meek and weak. However India wins, there is no fun in it, as there is no fight in it. It is all about mental game. Be tough, guys. So what if two wickets fall. Go and play your usual game instead of getting into a shell thinking that a simple bowler is causing a havoc in the middle, and a simple pitch is behaving differently.
There should be only one strategy for India to win back its glory is fight with a positive attitude like SA. Otherwise, close your cricket & co.
As someone suggested, we need to form a setup similar to MLB in US, so it would bring only super performers with fighting instincts.
Against SL, India should have used Irfan Pathan and Dinesh Karthik in the places of Agarkar and Uthappa, and the result would have been totally different. But, it is too late.
Again, it is a game, and please accept it, and mov e on without insulting anyone...

My take on the team:

1. Sehwag - should not have been in the team to WC in the first place.
Dravid's obsession with Sehway cost India the WC.
(never mind Bermuda, he did precious little against BL)

Rating: 5/10

2. Ganguly - did not come back to the team on accoutn of any domestic

cricket, but proved his determination/ yet no agression or fire power as

before. Happy to hang in and be counted.
Advice: Look at videos of AB, Greame Smith (they lost the match not the

hearts)
He is not getting any younger as well. Should pave way for a new opener.

Rating: 4/10

3. Uthappa - Should go back to under 23 (if there is a squad like that).

It is one thing to hammer Zonals teams and another to play on foreign

soil

Should develop his Wk skills to be counted.
Rating: 3/10

4. Tendulkar - Please take a cue from Inzi bhai! No dont kill chappel,

just retire.
Can continue to play Test cricket

Ironically, Sachin's last WC matches have both been a Duck (2003 finals

and SL 2007)
Rating: 2/10

5. Dravid - a poor leader. We need him in ODI but at no.3. He performed

better when he kept wickets!

Rating: 3/10

6. Yuviraj - guessed he missed his pal in Kaif. The spirit ot fighting

when old heads are falling, can be difficult for anyone, even if you are

Yuviraj Singh.

Rating: 6/10

7. Dhoni - well ... his scores can tell more about him 0, 0 ..
Can play Test cricket though.

Rating: 0/10 (for his batting)

8. Kartick - did you play him to be counted?

The Bowlers:

1. Zaheer & Munaf - bowled as they could.
learn from SAF - even in 370 odd, count the number

of the extras they gave.
Ofcourse, they cannot bat or field (even like a 37 McGrath) but they are

the best available to us. Groom them

Rating: 7/10

2. Agarkar - sometimes I wonder, if he too wonders why is he in the

team?
Cant bat, cant bowl. Oh yes, then i must be an all-rounder.
A Robin Singh could have done better!

Rating: 4/10

3. Harbhajan - even since he was picked, I guess he was the green horn.

Not in his best of times, should have not been picked.
We dont expect him to score a 50, but when you leak away 50 runs, please

pick up a few wickets, will you?

Rating: 2/10

4. Kumble - Smile you are on Camera

5. Sreesanth - hope you enjoyed the beaches. please write an article on

the beaches of CArribean and Kerala.

6. Pathan - could have score more runs than Tendulkar.

Stop taking it too seriously! It's not the fault of players or coaches. It is the fault of whole process. Change the process and everything will set right like it does in Australia. It is not a bad idea to follow a proven method. Be emotional to performer not the name (big big..)

In any case, it's a great tragedy that India has not qualified for Super 8. The INVINCIBLE Indian Batting, RIP!

I think this has been posted several times. But, India did NOT act as a team. Dravid was hurt at the end of First innings on the India V SriLanka matach. And if I remember correctly, no player came by his side to look out for him. The only people I saw were Dinesh Karthik and the Physio. This is NOT considered a team. Team is something when Graeme Smith pulled leg muscles today and about 7 people were near him making sure he received the correct treatment Physically as well as mentally and also received some coaching in the meantime. Indian team lacks the word TEAM. If that is fulfilled like it was when Dravid along with his team was winning mataches in early 2006, then I believe India would have no problems going to the Finals. On Paper, the team looks like a perfect fit, but looking at the communication practices among the Indian players, there is no way they would win.
P.S. - I am Indian and I support Indian team whole heartedly.

Hi Everybody,
Cricket is a funny game..Isn't it? England who ooked down and out in CB series went on to win the Cb series finals.. India , who looked down and out at the beginning of last world cup went on to reach till finals... SO many things happened so far like this.

I am also disappointed like other indians but the fact is I still beleive we are not bad as some think. We are still a force to reckon with. In my opinion , the run-out of Yuvrajis the cause for the disaster. But our players looked like as though playing with more than 200% pressure. I feel for those guys. They deserve to be there in Super 8 but the game of cricket goes like this. And Srilanka is not that much a better team as others think. If you take Murali out, their bowling looks conquerable (6-1 and 2-1 thrashing happened to them in India). And I wonder how stupid the bowling rules are that Lasith Malinga's bowling action is considered legal. Indians showed Jayasuriya is vulnerable against quality fast bowling. He looks down and out yesterday.

Sometimes. something goes bad and things suddenly may look unwell. But I still strongly beleive we are a strong bunch. May be we have to get rid of some body like Harbjana( wicketless for so many times), Robin (careless) and bring back Sreesanth and Powar and Kaif. It will a stronger bunch then

Lets hope Bermuda beats Bangla...

And Mukul, dont bluff yourself..your comments are useless

I am an avid follower and suppoter of "Team India". Hence, was naturally disappointed when India lost to Sri Lanka the other day. After the emotions settled down and thinking about the situation now, I feel that this is actually a good thing for Indian cricket to bow out of the WC in the first round.This has highlighted the fact that India is not up to par with the other cricketing nations in terms of mental strength, pressure handling and most of all quickly adapting to conditions (pitch, tournament format etc.) which are required for playing good competative modern day cricket.

This provides for a good opportunity to analyse the problems and implement solutions even if they are harsh for the betterment of Indian cricket in the long term. India has a lot of important series ahead of them this year and steps must be taken by the board, selectors to get things right. Had India progressed to the super 8's I am sure that the underlying problems would have lingered on and would not have been given as much focus as they are being given now with these defeats.

Its a clensing period for Indian Cricket, I hope that this is viewed and looked at and adressed in the correct manner by all concerned.

Looking at the Worldcup, Bangladesh has come up leaps and bounds and they need to continue on developing themselves further and surely the super-8's will give them much needed exposure as long as they show the same courage and determination as they did against India. Makes the India - Bangla series in May more interesting.

Above all I would really like to see Sri Lanka give the Aussies and the South African's a good run for their money - they have the team and the potential to do that. Best of luck !

Who beat India ? Any body support me if I say that it is a saga as "Radio killed the Radio Star" ?.... Now Why do I say this ?

We all need to accept the fact that India is the best batting line up on paper - full of stars not even the sky has so many. But do they perform as a "TEAM"? What matters the most is not individual glory when it comes to cricket. Seldom that an Individual effort has won a game of cricket. India seldom seems to perform as a team.

Well, now let's go to the reasoning. Never a cricket playing nation puts so much of pressure on their players as the Indian public do. Starting from the Cricket Board, Past players, media and the public. In what other country do we hear players houses being burned downed, stoned or their families put in to jepordy just because you loose a game ? How do you expect Dhoni to play a memorable inings with the pressure of having his house burnt down if he does not ? I had never in my life seen the great Thendulkar so nervous even before a wicket has fallen before he came in to bat. Why is this happening to agreat like Sachin ? It is not Sri Lankan attack... It is not even the quite reachable score of 255. It is the pressure of loosing the game and facing the public.

I blame the rest of India i.e. excluding the coach and the team players for India's lost. You should be supportive and tell them that you will love them no matter what the end reasult is. What happens in India is that you win you becme a hero and you loose you go below zero to minus scores. I was watching ESPN and Star on build up for cricket and they hyped up India to extends that they were not. We all know that India doesn't have a good bowling attack... it is the batting that holds the key. So the chances are not 100 %. So why pressurise a team un-necessarily saying that they are the best and they must win ? Say that they have a chance that they are good enough - not a must. In 96' Sri Lanka won with a good batting line up - no big names in bowling (Vass and Murali were new at that time)- why? because the public was behind the team no matter what happened. Arjuna and Aravinda could have come home to their familes knowing that they were safe in their homes. At no time they were under pressure.

The great Aravinda said to the Sri Lankan team this year that he feels that this team is better than the team that won in 96'. But he never said 'hence you should definitly win and do not come without the cup' - statements like this boosts moral and adds no pressure to a team. This is the big difference I see from India to all other cricket playing nations.

I am a Sri Lankan and pround of my team's performance. At the same time I am quite saddened that India is out Glips of hope if Bermuda wins today). India out of World Cup means the glamour of the world cup is gone - India adds so much glamour to the sport. I really hope that the Indian public treats the wonderful players good and respect them, act more mature and not put all the3se unwated pressure on to a performing team. Let the horses free - they would know where, when and how to run.

Mukul, another good article from you. I especially liked the piece you wrote earlier about the Indian Cricket Fan (ICF). An ICF is an idiot who has never played sport in his life. He indulges in breast beating when the Indian team loses and can't keep his emotions in check we win some inconsequential match. An ICF never introspects, never tries to understand anything deeply, never reflects. Even though I feel sorry for Rahul, Chappell and some of the boys (not including Ganguly here, who got in because of the ICFs of a certain eastern Province), I am quite pleased to see the misery an ICF is going through at the moment. Hope India loses many more matches and cricket which will result in shrinkings the number of the disgusting ICFs.

If somebody is hoping that Bermuda will beat Bangladesh then stop dreaming. Bangladesh team is quite experience and young instead of Bermuda team and they will win easily.

Srilanka and Bangladesh deserves to go to super eight and Srilanka will go till the semi-final. The team is young and they have a good mix in bowling and batting like Aussies. On top of it thier fielding is superb.

I agree with Mukul that India & Pakistan don't deserve to go to super eight and whatever happened to them was fair enough. Althought Pakistan bowling attack was not strong after the elimination of two main bowlers. But the cricket culture in both countries is corrupt. Players have a big impact on selection and other things. The boards are corrupt. I would rather enjoy Australia vs South Africa match rather then Pakistan vs India.

There was a time for a change. We used to sit in front of TV for hours to see a good match. The team like Australia, South Africa, New Zeland & Srilanka are preserving the charm of cricket. Teams & Players involve in match fixing should be banned for life. ICC should come up with some strong policy. They have no rights to make us fool.

Cricket is a different game now. It's not a game of an individual player. It's a team effort. We have seen the results in Pak Vs Ireland match and Bang Vs India. Also one important factor is captain. The top performing teams have dynamic and talented captain. You can not campare Pointing, Smith & Fleming with Dravid or Inzi. There is a BIG difference.

I hope both teams will learn thier lesson and will stronly come back in the next worldcup and we might see world top eight teams in the super 8 and all those interesting matches. Right now what they gave us is matches like .. Ireland Vs Australia .. Ireland Vs SouthAfrica .. guess what will be the result. No comments!

I think that both India and Pakistan are going through a bit of ill-timed ODI slump. It cost them dearly in the World Cup but these things happen. It would be good if the fans and those who analyze don't make mountains out of mole hills.

india are strong team but what i dont understand is they never have the confidence since before many years ago even sachin, unlike other teams like new zealand, aussies, etc

hey fellow cricket fans is the sri lankan bowler named malinga bowling legally? i saw his action it looks like a illegal action

As we mourn the early eliminations of India and Pakistan, and Woolmer's death, the focus has been shifted from other interesting facts. Will someone care to explain it to me that why Rana Naved and Umer Gul were handpicked for a random dope test on quick recovery from injuries, while nobody noticed Mathew Hayden and Andrew Symonds almost miraculously getting fit for the clash against S.Africa? If the reason for choosing Gul and Rana is that their team mates have been involved in doping controversy, then well, I can still remember the nationality of the player who was the first to be suspended for a doping offense. Wasnt that Shane Warne from Australia? It was amazing to see Hayden's free swings of the bat and Symond's dives and throws on the field the other day. Food for though, isn't it?

I cannot understand why India did not play Pathan instead of Agarkar in the game against Sri lanka. It would would have given them both bowling and definitely a batting stength. If a team chooses to misuse a good all rounder , then of course, will get results that it got. I think SAreesanth should have also played instead of Patel.

I am south asian and am very offended by your article.The reactions to sports(soccer,cricket,rugby etc.) are becoming more volatile worldwide.I don't think you appreciate the size of our populations.If in
percentage terms populations from southasia reacted the way it happens say in soccer it would be chaos.
Now to corruption, there have been charges of
corruption in the county circuit, much before
we 'chauvinist south asians' came to the scene.
It is all fine to say that people should watch test cricket but how watchable is it? When there is some excitement (eg:ind V aus 2000,ind v pak 1999) there are crowds even at test matches.Anyways sports is for the people not other way round.If test cricket is
good enough it will survive,else it gives
way to some thing 'better'.

Read the article and every post. Thanks for an entertaining hour.

Indian and Pakistan cricket would be better served if they were at arms length from government. If you place your trust in politicians you will be forever disappointed. Here in Australia, the government supports cricket (hard to get elected if they don't) but has no say whatsoever in its management. Cricket is run by cricketers (past and present) and the broader cricket community. Been that way for over a century and it is a system that works.

Cricket's roots are deep in our communities and consequently our culture. No matter where you live in this vast continent there is a cricket club and the cricket ground is more often than not lovingly prepared by volunteers so it's in a beautiful condition each weekend for a match. Cricket is an inclusive game where all are welcome. No matter what colour, creed, politics or religion you can play. Age and athletic ability are also unimportant. If you want to play cricket in Australia you can! There are no obstacles.

If all the money on the sub-continent evaporated overnight, it would not make an iota of a difference to cricket in this country. The professional players may be paid less but cricket would continue much the same as always. 99.9% of cricketers gain no financial advantage from cricket, they play it for love, enjoyment and education.

India has produced some of the greatest philosophers that have ever walked the planet and yet when it comes to cricket wisdom is absent. Baffling. Emotion clouds the intellect. Try to remember that.

As for India's coach, I fear a mistake was made in his appointment. His coaching record in Australia is poor not because of his cricketing knowledge but because of his atrocious man management skills. He would not be in the top 20 coaches in his homeland. I kid you not. Both Dav Whatmore and Tom Moody would be above him and there are others above them. However, Tom's star is rising and Dav is a gem.

As for India and Pakistan going out in the first round, is for this cricket fan, disappointing. The World Cup (apart from the Champions Trophy) is the only serious ODI tournament. The rest are essentially practice matches to generate some extra funds. Australia attempts to win every match they play but experimentation and player rotation are common between the Cups. I was looking forward to the IND v PAK clash. At a neutral venue in the only tournament that counts. It would have been special.

There is much that is dysfunctional in sub-continental cricket but please remember that the fish rots from the head down. Don't be too hard on the players (they tried there best) the finger of blame should be pointed squarely at the administration. They have neglected the grass roots of the game. They have taken their eye off the ball and instead of being caretakers of the ancient and noble pursuit of cricket they sold their souls to Mammon. It is commonly known that you reap what you sow. The results are there for all to see.

I do not blame tendulkar.After all he was paying a defensive shot and was done by an in swinger and was unlucky that the ball hit the wicket even after hitting his pads.

The blame mainly goes to the BCCI + the Indian Media.

Look at India's past record in 2006 and pre 2007. Even with this sort of performance the media organizations + BCCI painted a picture that they were champs :-) to the general public.

Also the general people of India should realize that when the Indian teams wings the players are like gods, and when they loose they become less than garbage. Why? Straight from deny to despair. No in between. No rational thinking.

As for the team members they some times think too high of them selves and this sometimes leads to their downfall. Look at how australia and SAfrica were in pre 2000 and where they are now. It is a lot of hard work and discipline. (They did not have the natural talented players coming in. Even there commentator praised very highly abt Asian batsman and abt their timing and shot selection. They studied hard using videos and etc).

The main problem was India loosing to bangs. They thought they could crush the banga bowling and played some wild shots. (Again things others are lesser). (This may also come as a result of cast issue, and the mentality around it).

As for the squad selection most names are from the so called upper cast. Today in some teams I see players coming in as average players, who then work hard in their technique, and fielding and become great players. (Indian cricketers come with very high talents and then they think they are comfortable after establishing and they do not improve). Same goes for some of the SL and Pakistani crickets.

As for the BCCI it very easy for them to say that Dravid and Coach did poorly but should some blame go to the BCCI it self and some of it's members????

I fail to understand how it would be a better world cup without India and Pakistan. Without being emotional, let us ackonwledge the fact that both teams have players of true class who, when they get it right, do offer exciting cricket. With India and Pak in, 8 fairly matched teams would have been fighting for 4 semi-final spots. Now that would have been a cracker of a world cup.Now, every other match will be fairly one-sided-- no offence meant to Bangladesh and Ireland; they have played well against India and Pakistan respectively but to do that over a period of a month is another story.

We Indians love the blame game and it has started. Sure the team suffered two humiliating defeats and all Indians are disappointed, but to blame any one or two or three players is, in my opinion, not correct. Cricket is a "team" game and the team lost. It is sad to see the pubilc throw stones at the players' homes or damage property owned by them. I firmly believe that the public in general and the media in particular are responsible for such public reaction. The media should behave responsibly and avoid inflammatory remarks. Unfortunately one news channel has being doing just that.

I only hope people come to their senses. I am sure even the players are very depressed after these games. They've been off colour and it could happen to anyone. Standby them, for this is when they need us the most. But change the system so that professionalism can be introduced into Indian cricket - and treat the players like ordinary humans!

Sad, but Indians are poor losers - we have to learn to take bith victory and defeat in our stride.

I m from Bangladesh&also a urdent fan of Bangladeshi cricket.Sorry for India not go through super8.Now we r hoping we go through super8 by beating Bermuda very easily.Please dont call us minows because we have number of talented young cricketers like Shahriar Nafees,Tamim Iqbal,Aftab Ahmed,Saqibul Hassan,Mohammad Ashraful,Masrafee,Rahim who can easily be star in international cricket arena.Indian cricketers play for money not for India.Its not good sign for Indian crickets.No young players are coming today.Most of the cricketers are over-aged now.This is now really concern for India.

Bermuda 225, Bangladesh 197 all out, India somehow survive and then lose all 6 matches in the Super 8. For all those praying for a Bermudan victory, please think how humiliating THAT SCENARIO will be.

Malinga 's action is probably the most legal around. You try bowling with a bent arm with a round-arm action. It's common sense, something that we,judging by our recent actions, seem to lack.

I agree with what you are saying Mukul in its content. However, the question must be raised. Wouldn't there be a reaction of sheer elation if India was celebrating a semi final berth? That's part of the problem, in that the same people who question the system also applaud it when the system reaps rewards, albeit temporarily. They put it on a pedestal when succesful, and bring it down and abuse it when failure occurs.

I'm not going to make presumptions upon the cricketing culture of the subcontinent and its administration, because I don't believe anyone knows nearly enough about what they actually do to offer a solution. However, results indicate that such a system is not working.

And to be honest, I'm not sure whether a solution can be found. Such policies have been set in place for years now, and to suggest a total reform in the administration level is laughable and naive. The BCCI is run by businessmen whose job it is to generate profits, both for the company's sake and for their own cash pocket. They are the first to get rid of. Trouble is, how do you remove people who hold such economic and social power. The only ppl who can, surprise surprise, are more businessmen. The common Indian is helpless in this quest.

The only way this can occur if this businessmen put aside their own financial interests to view the cricket team as their first and foremost issue, with the willingness to compromise finance for performance. However, given the corruption and greed of such people, that is unlikely to happen, and therefore a solution unlikely to be found...

Yes. And look at some past Indian cricketers baffling around blaming Dravid + Coach and Ganguly and Tendulkar.

These past cricketers (if I remember correctly) were in the same situation in 1996 semifinal against SL. Believe the same score. Correct me if I'm wrong) And now they are balling current players like they have never failed in their careers :-D what a joke....

And the vintage players... look at what gavaskar said. Dravid and Kapil Dev were born on the same month. Dravid comes as captain after Gangully, and Kapil came after Him. Gangully and himself were born on the same month. And that this is a similar pattern thus India will win the world cup .... woahhhhh (my grand'ma thinks more rationally than this)

And the dude now goes on blaming every player, starting from the coach. Stupid really.

And one more thing, all this people who are very good at pointing fingers at others, given the same team performes better in a future series, will forget all about these stmts and praise the players like gods once again.......

The media and these people know that this is a very hot topic and they are just trying to take a share of the fame. (Not actually going to the root levels and finding talented players, coaching them, or giving suggestions to BCCI etc)

Hey Guys
Sorry to say that Indian team was just hyped by media. Pepsi Blue Billion, Indians as tigers blah blah blah comon get real. The team has not done enough in the past year to claim anything. These guys are only good at home soil and to work for advertising companies. Please get Sachin ask to retire himself with dignity rather than kicked out. Make Saurav Captain (Although being a Pakistani i dont like him) as he has the guts and knowledge of the game. Sehwag, Dhoni, and Harbhajan are over rated players. i am sorry to say that harbhajan cannot take wikets like murli or kumble and to compare him with top class spinners is their insult. this is purely a neutral opinion and after Pakistan exit i was hoping that india could at least go to the semi final.
Regards
Tariq

The Indian media and even some of the cricinfo articles written by the indian pudits tell me that they have got this all upside down and are responsible for this situation.

Elsewhere a Pre- match article would talk about pPlanning and how a team should bat, bowl and field. The article would prepare the reader to pray during the match and hope that the team would execute the plan. Post- match is for evaluating the stats, concentrating on your team.

Most Indian articles go like this: Pre- match for evaluating failure scenarios for others while boasting on arithmetic skills (lacking science) and the history of their players. How many balls Bermuda should face, How many run-outs Bangladesh should get. Possibility of injury to Jayasuriya’s neighbour’s granny. How good Sachin was - 20 years ago. How good Dhoni’s sixers were– can’t remember when it was.

Also articles through hype prepares the reader not to expect a failure. Hence during the match when they see the so called impossible happening they looking for ET intervention while dreaming how comfortable the article or the calculator was compared to the red cherry or the fat willow that the Indian players are carrying in the field.

Post-match there are two sessions, immediately after and one week after. Immediately after: Back to evaluating stats focusing on ‘If only’ scenarios, - if Only Sachin was not bowled-out for zero,- If only Dhoni was not bamboozled by Murali.- If only all Bangladeshis get diapherria morning tomorrow. After one week: Back to stats and comfortable calculators to show how bad the other teams are in 2010 World-cup.

Only when things go wrong, you sit back to analyse, so what happened is the best for Indian cricket. Consider what if, India had beaten Bangladesh, we would have reached Round 2, then what we all would have been crying over disastrous loses against the might of New Zealand, South Africa, Australia etc.
The solution, have an Indian top 50 rank list of players based on a cumulative performance either on a domestic or International level. So only those who are performing on a consistent level need be in the team, past will remain past.
The other is performance based rewards, a stipulated amount for playing a match, and the rest based on individual and team performance.
Endorsements are a private issue, but nobody knows Sachin, Shewag, Rahul or Saurav if they did not play for India. Thus any signing amount for endorsements should be done only with the approval of the BCCI and only 50% should go to the player. The remaining 50% should go for a new body SDAI - Sport development authority of India.
Which will use this money for various sport development activities throughout India.

Nice article . but i have only one doubt. Has anybody thought that BCCI should be an autonomous organisation. does anyone know what that means. it means the government should have no say in the running of BCCI or for the matter of fact in the Indian team itself. but here we have a government minister who is the president of BCCI and the Parliament is discussing about the cricket team rather than issues that really matter. doesnt it show a rather deeper chronic problem in the whole setup? will ICC do what UEFA and FIFA did to the greek football association when the greek government try to intervene?

It is shameful for India to have hope in Bermuda to enter super 8!!! They say SOUTH ASIAN giant, India and depending on some one in greedy to enter super 8, game is a game. You have to perform to go to the next stagy. The best thing for Indians is to pack all your goodies and fly home from Caribbean instead having a hope on World Cup 2007

This article is biased....tailor made for British population who cannot digest the powershift from London to Mumbai.
I think the world's obsession with our fans is uncalled for. Atleast we dont go to other countries and indulge in vandalism.We are upset with OUR performance. The fans have no problems with Bangladesh or Srilanka performing well. So whats disgrceful about it. Burning effigies of OUR players and coach is OUR internal problem. There.s no need to interfere.
Indian cricketers are in no way different from te english footballers. Mediocre, but expected to win everytime they take to the field. Both are overpayed and overrated.Both always lose. But no englishman would evr writean article condemning them in a FOREIGN forum.....rightly so!
I will not say we are perfect. But we cannot accept blame for everything that goes on.
Stop the India bashing and talk sensibly. Constructive criticism is acceptable, but blaming everything on India from dissapointed fans to advertising is taking things a bit too far.

This is not the first time India has lost the match like this.
On the papers, these heavy weight batsmen look like can score upto 500 in a match but when it comes to deliver, they are the worst on this earth.
Before the start of the world cup,we at home were discussing which team can defeat India and the final answer was "India", India is the team which can really defeat India. Lack of confidence, too much of media hype and fanatic viewers.
Its very easy to defeat India... no runs in first 5 overs,2 quick wickets and then you can bundle these heavy weights under 200 anyday.
I don't understand the policy of Mr. Chappel and Mr. Dravid to play Sachin at number 4. Sachin was never a shock absorver (in fact he always gives shocks at number 4 in ODI's)
If you all review the past 2 years, it is India's batting which has lost the matches and not the bowling. But the bowlers like Harbhajan should be thrown out of the team if he says "no wickets no problem, atleast I am not giving runs (10 overs none for 30 against Bangladesh) and making runs is not our work, if we make some will be bonus for the team".... this is not the way cricket is played...
There are 15 teams in this Indian Squad and everyone is playing for himself. There is no unity and that is causing problem.
My sincere request to the selecters, throw old guys out, bring in Gautam/Shikar/KKD and then see the diffrence.
I hope something will change....

Hi Mukul

Like you I am also a terribly disappointed Indian fan on their defeat.I believe they don't deserve to be in the super 8 looking at their preformance.Shame for India to play like cowards If the players had really in their mind that 1 billion people are desperately behind them ,they can never loose those games.The Indian cricketers are more on theirs fame & money.They are more committed to be brand ambassoders than a cricketer.I think it is time for Indian cricket fans to stop promoting this useless bunch of cowards.

Sorry, but this is a extremely skewed view of South Asian Cricket you have presented and I must also say very wrong. One day cricket and the passion which is generated is a form of entertainment which allows one to forget his daily stresses and endulge in thier passion without consequences. bookies and other nonsense (violence) are exceptions taken up only by a minority of the audiences, and should not be allowed to take the entire subcontinent hostage.

Come on guys, Are'nt you being too harsh on the Indian team? (I am a Sri Lankan)
I mean think about it - what really happened? India had a bad day against Bangladesh and on that very day Bangladesh fought like tigers, and that cost India a place in the super eight. (It could happen to anybody ... even Australia have lost to BD)
The loss to SL - I know your media has created a lot of hype about India winning the world cup, but the fact is on current form and on all round ability SL is a better team. Only Australia & South Africa are better placed than SL at the moment. So it is definitely not an embarrasing defeat.
Bottom line - Do not sack your coach or players, support them. However get your media to be more realistic next time, it would create less pressure on the team.

To Abu Safiyah: Please don't joke about Inzi and Bob Woolmer when you say, "Tendulkar - Please take a cue from Inzi bhai! No dont kill chappel, just retire."

It's in really bad taste.

Indians are in a state of denial, but Srilanka was a better team and they won, period. Lots of hype with the indian team, but no substance. India and Pakistan have corrupt cultures and it is no surprise they have corrupted cricket as well. The selection process in India is corrupt as well, the players tend to be from the upper-castes and are neither athletic nor spirited. A casteist selection process effectively eliminates talent at every level of the game and the end result is bunch of pampered, fragile pretty boys ready to be hammered by the professional, athletic, able-bodied teams. Upper castes are not fit to play physically demanding sports like football, hockey etc, so they took to cricket and promoted it and imposed themselves on the masses as heroes all along being nothing more than a mediocre bunch. Good riddance, hopefully other sports will get a boost.

I know this forum is not for the purpose I am going to use for but still, looking in to the fact that this is a message board, read by majority of Indian fans, I am going to pen down some realities here.
A few days ago after the humiliating defeat of Pakistan against Ireland, Zee News, a well-regarded TV channel of India who never lets an opportunity to disgrace Pakistan slip away, claimed with authority and emphatically that the said match was fixed and the so called reporter from Caribbean tried to prove this crap by pointing out the gambling rate on Pakistan and Ireleand on that specific day. Despite being dejected by this defeat and scolding our team for this paltry performance, I would like to query this very honored channel if they would mind revealing as to what was the gambling rate on India and Sri Lanka on March 23rd and how much the Indian players were paid to loose the matches against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. I am sure millions of Pakistanis would be interested to find out the answer. Zee News, better stop stoning while sitting in the glass houses. Indian fans, no intention of offense here. I am disappointed like you and would have always supported India, had Pakistan been expelled out, however not this time only because of the attitude of Zee news.

excellent article Mukul. I always fancy reading your work because you almost always throw in a remark that will induce some drama! What's life without the drama eh? I'm a Sri Lankan living in Canada by the way.
You nailed it on the head when you said this world cup is a rid of it's toxic elements and it's fan following. I dont mean to be direspectful but plenty of Sri Lankans who wanted match tickets will now see an influx of tickets surfacing on ebay for a nominal price. The exit of India and Pakistan will giveway to more Irish, Sri Lankan and Bengali fans who support and cheer every moment of the game and not just when India or Pakistan play well.

Its true we only lost a game. After all, in sport losing sometime is but inevitable. Its also true that the best teams can have a bad day in the office once in a while.

But a wimpish performance is something unpardonable by a team on whose back rides the hopes, happiness and expectations of a billion people...

India's defeat is the culmination of several fundamental problems with cricket in the country. Nothing plagues our national sport more than the Tendulkarization of ordinary sportsmen. A greedy media and a moronic obsession by marketers for creating brands out of nobodies is the real culprit. We mistake statistics for greatness, idolize individual brilliance and falsely believe scoring on placid tracks against sub-standard bowling will help us unearth world-beating talent...

I'd say sack Tendulkar. He is India's shame. Strip him of the last 25 of his hundreds because they have come against Kenya, Bangladesh and the likes on Indian pitches... and when its inconsequential. When was the last time Mr. Genius took on top bowlers and won a match chasing totals? Tendulkar seems a sissy, a cat in tiger's clothing hyped by a carefully cultivated media and a close coterie of ex-players and TV commentators. Tendulkar epitomizes India's obsession with personal records and statistics at the expense of team effort.

I know its harsh on an individual. But tough times need hard decisions. Shake this establishment out of its stupor. Let no future cricketer think he can take the nation for a ride by relying on just statistical record making. You either are a match winner or you are out!! No room any more for pretenders.

Just sack Tendulkar. Please!!

Just a quick question to Hilal. Indian and Pakistani fans want to watch their tams play and they are ready to pay. So whats wrong with it. Sri lanka and bengali fans want to watch their matches. they are welcome to do so. We are not toxic. Our passion has kept the game alive. We do accpet Srilanks has been a better team. well done. We are passionate about India,s performance. But that doesnt mean we are against other teams performing well. Please et that into your head. By the way most Indians I know are now cheering for Srilanka to win the world cup.( including myself)

We Indians are fanatics! thats why out country doesnt progress ...we still have the same level of poverty because we are such a fanatic country

It's time people realize 'Lara and the 11 dwarfs' are better than 'Dravid's overpaid, over-hyped blue billion'.

Dear Manish:
you just said what i wanan hair from every indian i e to strip off sachins 25 (so called hundreds)against menows. For Instance just compare Lara, Ponting and Inzi Hundreds and most of them are match winning. And i have to agree with Imrans Comment on NDTV that Sachin is no Viv Richards.
Its time to realise that indian team is just a bunch of flat track home bullies who are over paid and only perform against under rated teams and in home grounds. Greg Chappel and Bob late are good coaches but for wrong teams. we have to stop making these palyers icons as they are not worth it. and for GOD sake , i request indian media to wake up and stop making news of nothing,
Reagrds

Tarik

Mukul you article makes one think.I feel that any sport that arouses so much passion as does cricket in Asia arouses baser emotions as well. Look at football in the UK - hooliganism which appears organised by its practioners. What about the murder of the South American football player who was killed for an 'own goal' which could have been accidental?
Gambling on cricket in the East seems to have a criminal element. The cricket authorities of Eastern countries and for that matter all cricketing countries should take a forensic audit of all players assets - money well spent.
Gambling on sport is everywhere.
The S8 without the Asian giants diminishes cricket. They come with baggage - mostly unwanted. It is high time that the Cricket authorities step in now and lead those wonderful cricketers from the shadows. let me put it this way - let those officials get off their fat backsides and work out a system that does not cast a stigma on those cricketers when they fail.

the way people are reacting on indian defeat and probable exit from the world cup, i think people started to believe that they are over paying and also was over expecting. i knw its very tough to see ones country exiting so early, specially when it got players like dravid ganguly and tendulkar. but i always thought that india had top class players but wasnt a good team. people in india should seriously think about their team. their are players who arent doing well but are in the team for their past reputations and some big support on the top level. seeing their game doesnt make me believe that they are fully comitted or play for their team or play according to the need. the performance india is showing, i think in future this team of men in blue would be like a hype, they will all say how great this team was but while looking at the records they wont find anything to support it.

It's good news & high time that India went out of the world cup. Imagine players being selected on past performances. And then some players want to make world records of their own just being in the team, yes the great Sachin Tendulkar. He wants to play for 2011. Why? Because that will be another world cup record for the most sppearances. It does not matter whether his country wins. Has India won a single world cup since the Great Tendulkar got into the team Or was he a bad Omen for the Indians? Or did the Indians think that he was God almighty that he should be in the team?

its really a shame. just think of the immense talent indai had. but thats not justified by the results f india. indian players have big records but not big results. tendulkjar was one of the greatest batsman ever but not a good player. in the middle he stopped bowling but why? india always had a problem with 5th bowler. why doesnt he offer his service. most of the time i saw him bowl lately was that if he gets out cheaply. that is ridiculous. this team is full of ego. there are too many big guns and are not ready to follow one leader. big guns are not going along how can you expect the team to do good? sachins record can not be ignored but his most big scores came against weak opponenet or in the subcontinent n i believe he doesnt do well when it comes to pressure to anchor the innigs which dravid is very good at. this is the problem of sachin ahy many doesnot recon him as the best in the business. by naming team india doesnt make them a team. in my eyes their nothing but a group of indivisuals. they need to b a team first. they need unity if they want to succeed. they need to play for the team, the country, not at their will

It is absurd beyond belief that ordinary well educated people still believe in media hype such as 'carrying the dreams of a billion people' and so on. Such is the seductive power of the medium of TV and the advertisers who make the whole system run. We have always had great players and occasionally a great Indian side. This has been true from the Merchant-Hazare era through Mankad, Pataudi, Gavaskar-Wadekar down to today. There are only two big differences: the inordiante amount of cricket being played, with cricketers being treated like a three ring touring circus with no holidays; and the second difference is the enormous amount of money both officail and unofficial that rides on the game. The sooner we get rid of these two offending elements the saner our attitudes will become.

Mr Kesavan,
You and/or your editors have spelt longueur incorrectly in your piece.

Wait guys please.........!
India lost.... Unbeleivabale...???
Infact Indian team is innocent. I blame to this media. Before they go to WC match MEDIA present the W.CUP to them. Infact they made IND team mind " No body can beat INDIA ". Its Over smart.
IND beat SL 6-1 & 2-1. So why worry about SL.. & Bangladesh... What is that team.... Loosers only.. So IND team got ready to face AUS , SA , NZ , WI in semi finals.. They made plans for beat AUS/SA. But what happend last...?? They lost minnows ( Im sorry.. Bangladesh is no more minnow )as well as SL also. Dear IND people & Media .. Reality is may not digest easy.., This is a game. SL took best revenge for 6-1 defeat to IND by 1 game.
Now SL have big responsibility as a South ASIA country to make the WC 2007. Congratulations........!

Solution for both India and Pakistan.......try finding a home grown coach, then organize a six man selection panel and let the coach and the captain pick the team. Oh and get rid of the other 20,000 people who seem to have a say at the moment.
No offence intended but when I listened to Inzy speak English I could barely understand a word, how then must Bob Woolmer (RIP) have struggled to get any coaching points across? A strong captain -regardless of cricketing ability- is worth two Ul Haq's.
Greg Chappell spent the first three months of his tenure trying to oust Ganguly who in turn fought tooth and nail to stay....Ganguly has been their best player -by a mile- since his return. He is feisty and courageous...just the man who should be captain.
I know other countries have had foreign coaches, it just does not seem to work for India and Pakistan.

Manish Sharma made me laugh so much and Harish too, thanks for the wonderful post like most West Indian We were hoping that India made to the super 8 also Pakistan it would have been good for the wc (financially), i am always surprised when i hear of the celebrity status of these players in india and the money they make,i have ask myself are these indian players that good , it just makes me realised that our team is not that bad considering the money they make, if west indian cricket had the kind of money indian cricket has we would have been unbeatable.

We are also very hurt at the murder of Mr Woolmer,we wanted it to be the best WC ever but after this it can never be my symphaty goes out to his family .

Cricket is just a game , lets keep it as that.

Mr Mukul !
I am a cricket fan and and a Pakistani who would love to see his National team winning every time they play. Same is the case with other cricketing Nations.However, there is a special sentimental involvement in case of subcontinental fans.We are poor nations and our criketrs are cosidered as Stars. Just cosider the amount of poor nation's money spent on this sport and the players.Our players are among the richest people in the country. Unlike their 80% country fellows who live below poverty line.How can we then compare the maturity of our fans with those of England or other Nations where almost 100% people enjoy atleast the basic ammenities of life. It is in their culture that no body is cosidered as VIP where as in our countries roads are blocked when some VIP is traveling.I think it will take some time before we will over come this problem.Till that time our fans have all the right toexpress their emotions on the defeats of our teams (which dont play like teams).
I live in USA and the people here are as crazy for sports as our people back home are.People are crazy for Footbal,basketball and baseball.These are like edictions for people. They are least pushed that what is going on in Iraq or Afghanistan but the certainly know that what is current on these games.Betting in the these games is an organised bussiness. So what is then the difference between our fans and these fans? I will still rate our fans higher given the condition in which they live and also they are much more involved in NationalPolitics as well.
Apart from above I have two suggestions:-
1. I was impressed by your article "They say murder". However, you ahve also started speculations about the murder and murderers. Please tight your lips and let something come from the investigators.
2. I am a regular reader of blogs posted by you and MR.Abbasi. My observation is that there are many elements who are using these blogs to curse Pakistn as a country and as a Nation. These blogs should not be alloewd to be used for such purpose. This is what you people claim as well but every now and then there is a sugar coated comment by some paople who have some grudge against Pakistan and the write a lot rubbish against the Nation in between the lines. Please block such people an you are duty bound to do so.
This is a cricketing forum and we should remain focussed on the cricket.
Thanks
Khalid Durrani,UDSA

What a World Cup !!! Runs aplenty. Pace attacks m.i.a(missing in action). We are in the land of the quicks, but are they dominating ? I would like to have seen India and Pakistan in the super 8s. Instead we play Ireland(say what) and Bangladesh(well done) 4 points you should get if your team want the world cup. Its looking like a Sri Lanka, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand semi-final showdown. Sorry West Indies but i think the super 8s will show your position in one day statue. I think you would be lucky to get a different top 4. Look at the icc odi rankings. look who tops the pools and runs scored. Australia will be the team to beat. South Africa will want it, Sri Lanka could do it, and New Zealand, well lets just wait and see.

I am a passionate Indian supporter but I think our fans need a reality check. We may have a strong team on paper but that means nothing. We are lowly ranked and there has to be a reason for that. The fact that there is so much money invested by sponsors at stake, riding on the fortunes of the Indian team does by no means make the Indian team so great. It just makes them "cardboard superheroes" so to say.

It is just unbelievable how our views change from time to time. When we are losing, everyone criticizes the team and there are some "passionate fans" who actually start calling our beloved team crap, whilst they were tooting that our team is the best in the world just the day before. What angers me most is how a series of losses brings us all down to the level that we don't even really want to talk cricket anymore and then one win against a minnow or even a top country, and we are the world's best cricket team again. We behave like dogs who have been kicked in the ribs and yet foolishly come back for more. Every time we tout that we are the best, we get kicked in the nads again.

I happen to live around people of various cricketing nationalities, and I've learnt to support India passionately but to keep my mouth shut till they actually achieve something, instead of some worthless world record against a minnow. Why don't we realize that playing the likes of Bermuda, thrashing them, and setting world records means absolutely nothing. We are still the same team that lost to Bangladesh and are now struggling to make it to the Super 8s. Therefore I have chosen the path of keeping my trap shut till we at least make it to the semi finals. Somehow, as bad as I want that to happen, I have serious doubts that we can make it there. At the end of the day, we lost to Bangladesh in the showpiece event of the cricket world. Having bad days are normal, but having a bad day to the extent that we can't even make 200 against Bangladesh? Well, I think we have some serious heartache coming our way so I am prepared. At the end of the day, it is just a game, and our boys are only human. We should never forget that. It is because these basics have been forgotten that such a great man like Bob Woolmer had to pay the ultimate price, when in fact he was one of the best things that ever happened to the game we all love.

What is with India's and Pakistan's crazy fans? Are we dogs? Lose a match and there are effigies being burnt, pictures being burnt, houses being burnt, stadium seats being burnt, and sponsors being boycotted. Are you reading this??? Sponsors being boycotted??? The companies that actually bring us this beautiful game are being boycotted because our team has lost??? Where is the sense in that. If it wasn't for them, there wouldn't be any cricket. First of all there are more consistent teams we are doing battle with in the tournament. They are more favored to win. If we were ranked number one, then perhaps there is minimal justification for such revolt, but when we are just an average team in the rankings, how can we expect a guaranteed win? So how come our other neighbors Sri Lanka and Bangladesh don't have such mad supporters? I don't think it is a lack of passion on their part, but a sense of knowing that cricket is a game and not a religion keeps them well behaved. I have watched numerous matches with Sri lanka playing in them. Their supporters are singing, dancing and playing music throughout the game, no matter what the outcome is likely to be. At worst, they will get up and leave the stadium or just sit silently if they are losing. Our fans however feel the need to burn the seats and throw missiles onto the ground and opposition players. Really....... are we dogs??? Destroying our own property by setting seats ablaze? Risking our cities not getting another match for ages to come? Have you looked at our stadiums? There is that fence barrier all round to keep objects from being thrown on the field and to keep fanatical spectators off the field. It is like a zoo and we're obviously the animals caged within that fence. We can't even enjoy watching our cricket without having to see a metal grid in front of us. How sad. Our administrators think we are animals, and we might as well be. I feel awful saying this about my fellow Indian fans, but it's true. We have no class as supporters and we do our team no justice.

This is a plea to all Indian fans. Let's all unite in our attempt to look at cricket as a sport and not a religion. The sooner we can do that, the sooner cricket will be fun rather than a heartache. Let us change the "animal" image we have bestowed upon us and let's not attract so much attention by talking our team up before we actually achieve something. I am sick and tired of our team being called "cardboard superheroes" by others, all because of the high expectations we have of them. We need a change..... and we need it now. We didn't need the death of Bob Woolmer to open our eyes.

I totally dont agree with the article India slip is good for cricket.My conclusion is past cricKeters,Journalists and TV anchors(who dont know anything about cricket) are jealous oF Sachin,Dravid,Sourav because they have earned money,whct is wrong in earning money their career is short unlike in service.Pl show me one cricketer like Sachin in this world,no one in the past or in future will even come close to Sachin.Sachin should be made the Captain of the team and Yuraj the vice captain.Common these palyers have given their prime years to the country pl dont illtreat them for GODS Sake.I am sure they will bounce back after all they are just 33 or 34 and have 4 years of cricket left in them.We Indians should hang our face in shame as we cannot take victory and defeat in the same manner.Pl dont crticise your players.After all cricket is just a game. If the fans,TV cahnnels ,journalists behave like this there will be no stars in future.The problem is India is not asserting itself enough in ICC,the forma of this world cup is useless without India and Pakistan.Of course Australia,NZ,SA are very happy because India and Pak are out.Indians should learn to behave properly with respect to cricket.

The current Indian team has been a lot of hype and the results of the World Cup are quite fair. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh both absoultely deserved their wins. Pakistan is in a more pathetic position than India is. As far as crowd frenzy in India is concerned if you have a population of over a billion the odds of finding a group of crazy, extremely passionate people are quite high, though the majority of the population you see are sane and do not worry about the game results the next day!
On a lighter note, things the Indian team needs to do before returning to India:
1. Organize an emergency Sharjah tourney between India, Bermda 1 and Bermuda 2 teams before going to India!
2. Go to Pakistan and cross over the Wagah border disguised as shepherds!

'extravagantly gifted Sri Lankans '...? jeez mukul what are you smoking??? Sri Lanka is an ordinary team at best, their win loss record in the past 10 ODIs against india reads at 2-8 or something similar to that. I felt that both india and srilanka played bad cricket in this match, srilanka just happened to have luck on their side.

It is certainly an interesting thought, and although I am disappointed at Pakistani and Indian teams' exits from the world cup, I don't agree it is good for cricket. How can it be good for cricket if out of almost 150 billion people, there is practically only 11 crickets who have any chance of winning this world cup, and by that I don't mean Bangladeshi team. Indian and Pakistani criketers do not just come from other countries, they grow up, learn their cricket and live in India and Pakistan. They have the same vices and qualities as our societies then why do we only blame them for lack of discipline, getting their heads too big and being unprofessional. I can't speak for India but as a Pakistani I know how big the "VIP culture" is in Pakistan. Once these cricketers become stars they start acting like VIPs and forget they are professional athletes, not some "VIP politicians". They stop putting in their 100% but then isn't it true for pretty much all walks of life in Pakistan? On the other hand, look at Sri Lankan team; they have some biggest stars in cricket right now but they still function as a well oiled machine. Look at Murali; he still gives his 110%, and there aren't any bigger names in cricket than him.
We need to remember the rot doesn't start or end in cricket but in fact it is much much deeper thant that, and we don't need to look far to find the remedy. All we have to do is to look in the mirror.

I have lost more hair by watching India playing cricket and thinking about feature than my work related stress in last 3 weeks. Well, India is out of world cup. Always first thing comes to mind is blame coach and players, do some changes in Team.
Let’s talk about Coach Greg Chappell first. Is he to blame for defeat? I say hum… No. Why? Well, Coach is a like a Guide Book which helps you to get better, but Coach isn’t the one playing on Ground. Players do. Lot of People is saying that Greg Chappell is responsible for disrupting team balance by changing batting line ups and doing too many experiments. In beginning it worked, and worked really well. I think changing batting line up was and is still a good idea. Reason I say that is, if you remember India’s Cricket History from Past 12 years than you will notice that India doesn’t have players who perform consistently. If top two wickets falls down in first 5-10 over than middle order will have to come and bat early anyway and that’s where they tumble with unfamiliar situation. “Greg Chappell tried to fix this situation by trying to make batsman more flexible than making batting line up more flexible.” Yes, there are times when He did little too much of experiment but he is not the one person to blame most for draining billions of hope.
Now the Players. Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, these are the big names of Indian Cricket. First let’s make one thing clear that if these five players perform than there is no other team that has stronger batting line up than India has. We blame all of them that they didn’t perform and we lost. True. For some of this Great Players, this is likely to be the last World Cup, don’t they feel as much worse as we feel for their performance? Pointing at Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid and saying they are not like they were before doesn’t solve the problem. They may not be what they were in performance level before their 30s but they still are good and best players. Just think of Indian Team without Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly and see what you are left with. I tell you that there isn’t and there will never be any replacement for these players. We should thank them for good games they have given us and hope they perform at their best and keep playing game of cricket that we love for long years.
People forget that there are two teams playing against each other. And both want to win. End of the day only one can win, one who players better and every day is not the same. We win today and we lose tomorrow. India has never played better cricket on foreign soil. Even if they would have made it to Super 8s, I don’t think they would have done any good against the likes of Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. These are the teams that believes in “it’s not over till it’s over”. Face it, India isn’t good as we like to think of.
Cricket is our Religion and Sachin is Our God, they say. People in India are the biggest fan of Cricket I would say. But loving the game and playing the game is different thing. Let’s Face it, India has best players that world cricket has every seen, but as a Team it’s as much bad. We have Players who performs but as a Team we fail to perform. We do not have consistency to perform as a Team, if one player or may be two players performs at his best than others fail. If Batsman does well and bowler lets us down and sometime it’s bowlers who perform good and batsman are the one who lets us down. Whatever it is, one may say India is a good Team but reality is they are not. People hope too much and believe too much in players than in Team.
So who is to blame most? It’s People. People are to blame for hoping too much in Team that is good but is not better or best. People are the one who wants to watch players playing cricket every other day. I remember 7 year ago when Cricket had its Vacation for 3 to 4 Months each year. But its Greed of People to watch more and more Cricket and Greed of Cricket Boards to make more money, there is no more vacation at all. Players need more rest, players want to do something besides cricket, and they deserve some peace from cricket just like any other person who wants to get away from his work and get fresh.
In end its not just team to blame for their performance; People are equally to blame for it too. People want more, they pay more and Cricket Boards give it to them. So People get to watch their game and Crickets Board gets more money, but all at cost of draining our players & excitement of Game.
There is no reason to go on riot. We all including players are equally disappointed. We just look forward to another day in cricket and hope they do better this time. At end of the Day it’s just a Game.

If the Team Indian has even the slightest sense of self-respect and shame (i seriously doubt it has), it will not look forward to Bermuda beating Bangladesh and then Team India qualifying to Super-Eights on the strength of their net run-rate which they gained against Bermuda. They should simply pack their bags and return to India to avoid suffering further humiliation for themselves and our Nation because of their dismal performance.
If my opinion is to be of any weightage, i feel that the match between India and Bermuda was rigged.. otherwise, when Bermuda knows that it is a very very weak team, after winning the toss it made no sense in chosing to field first knowing fully well that they might have to bowl and field for the whole 50 overs (which they did) and then get all-out in a brief span for a petty score.. i feel that the match was rigged only in order to help Team India pile up a huge total against Bermuda and improve their net run-rate..
Team India is filled with worthless, shameless and spineless guys.. i m using the word guys because in my eyes, they are not players..
Come Back Team India and save us from further humilliation of seeing ur bad performance..

The new indian team members are hot headed, I liked the 10 or 15 years back, when Azars and Kamblies were playins the only modest men in the currebt team is the two from those years, Sachin and Kumble.
If they were not Hot Headed and Modest enough they would have enjoyed the game and even won....

The match between India Vs. Srilanka, which was a crucial on lead to a terrible disaster among the hearts of Indians. Were we waiting for 4 years to see such a pathetic performance by the players. It is really sad to see that this situation had lead to a situation of hug humiliation among the public. Things could be better if players could concentrate in the game rather in commercial ads.

It is sad to note that India is out of WC 2007. The blame will have o be taken by the coach for trying too many things without settling for any combo and Captain for being the unfortunate India's captain which has always consisted of 11 individuals. The highly charged Indian public no doubt is pained very much at our ousters , but within their anger is partial to the core. So far the praises for Sachin used to indiacte that he was the only Indian player and rest of 10 players amount to Zilch. It used to happen in Gavaskar's times too. How many in this distress hur are prepared to concede that it was only Rahul Dravid with 60 and Sehwag with his 46 scored some respectable runs, although one might say thay should have gone on to score centuries. How often in the past have thses two not played steller innings ? Likewise others too hae played steelar innings earlier, but in this most important innings of their lives, it was sad to know the failures of Robin Uthappa, Sachin Tendulakar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Dhoni. I was expecting that these seven names between themselves must each contribute 50+ with may be just one player failing to go that far. Harbhajan's bowling was not something which could justify Anil Kumble to be rested. Our bowlers too had to give fewer runs. Whether our field placing was bad or the Sri lankans field placing and their fielding was good was there for all to see. Added to that we had three umpiring decisions going against us, while maybe just one went against SL. We Indians take our cricket heroes to the status of demi gods, which they are not.We need to inculcate killer instinct OR even mild gentlemenly win at any cost attitudes when most required. This time no excuses can be accepted from the members who failed to contribute collectively. An aging Muralidharan can run yards and take a wonderful catch but not our fielders even younger lot. When SL bowled, we knew their bowling was good, but not venomous. We too had "supposedly good" who were quite near SL standards except perhaps Vaas and Murali. But we raised every SL bowler to the standards of McGrath and Shane Warne.

Let us view the happeningso objectively and put out all team members for 5 matches and bring back only those who promise solid contributions not because they have world standings or they are young, but because they will be playing for India.
This team also a few members young and old who should be continued but all should some punishment.

Mukul Kesavan's description "cricket will be less toxic" is most unfortunate. It only serves to reinforce the perception that Indian cricket fans do not know how to enjoy their cricket and seeks to tar all of us with the same brush. Having said that, I am sure Mr Kesavan would look forward eagerly to selling his forthcoming book in large numbers in India. If so, then this article reeks of double standards. Sad!

This is to mr Alex. Do u really think that corruption only exists in India and Pakistan!!??
Hmm have u forgotten mr cronja and co?? Everytime something like this popps up u lot love to point out india and pakistan. And u wrote that in south africa, australia, england etc there is playt "sane" cricket. Dont u think that we are trying to change the way people see the game?! And to some extent we have maneged it also but u try and show me a fast way of changing the way 1 billion peaople see the game! and the boycott part... sorry to say this but that is typical, always looking for an excuse not to play the asian teams.... its sad to hear.

being already disappointed with the pakistani performence and now with India almost exiting, one would agree with your comments. Maybe in the face of this humiliation, both these nations produce more professional cricketers for future fixtures!

Sir, Betting Started in england only...Mark waugh and warne were found guilty of providing info to bookies... but wat the action tken by Ca or ICC against them? Do they have guts to suspend them???Dont show the slave mentality to English Masters.. Also there seems to be gr8 conspiracy against india and pak.. Look at the pitches in which SA , Eng and Aus played.. perfect 100% batting tracks with no movement anywhere in the pitch.. but India and Pak were handed over seaming tracks for Crucial matches...and also look at the umpiring in the crucial match against SL.. atleast 4 LBW's ruled out against india,.. and the ball ganguly dismissed was a Clear No ball.. but no commentators or News channel seems to bother abt that... but i accept our players also badly...

yeah right kick Pakistan and India out of cricket. only these countries have brought life to the game of cricket. otherwise it would have been found in history books. just check the number of players from south asia playing for other countries. check how many cricket fans belong to south aisa residing everywhere in the world. the support they get in the grounds in the whole world. do you think the World Cup in England would have been succeeful without South Asian fans. No sir I saw the interviews of English people. they didn't even know there is World Cup Tournament in England. Perhaps thats the way cricket should be supported in new era. you cannot apply the British rules of calmness in the game anymore. Remove Pakistan and India out of cricket world you will kill cricket. if these teams are there then you have to live with diferent set of rules. where fans are passionate about this sport. The only thing should be done is to check the corruption.

You said it Mukul, this has been the best reality check the Indian team got!! Drastic changes will have to be made now. First, Greg Chappell should be sacked as coach. Greg has not done anything for the benefit of Indian cricket. The board have also invested alot of money in hiring Greg as the coach.

Dravid, I think should be retained as captain, he is a good strategist and thinker of the game!! He cannot do much when his other team mates are not playing to their potential!!

Tendulkar, I think that he should be talked into resigning. He's been out of sorts for four years now, ever since his glorious performance in the 2003 World Cup!! He seems to be very nervous and edgy when he bats, and has lost that killer instinct he once possessed!! He also repeats his mistakes far too often, and the opposition have started to read his mind very well!!

I think that the mistake was committed by the media hype given before the 2007 World Cup itself!! India and Australia were hyped as the favourites, which should not have been done!! This made our players very over-confident and we lost to Bangladesh!!

Sri Lanka has very good players like Jayasuriya, Muralitharan, Vaas. They are so humble in their approach towards cricket, they're not over-hyped like our Indian cricketers!! I feel that our players should be punished in some way or the other for this miserable showing!! The BCCI should cut their salaries and should adopt the approach of Cricket Australia: if you dont perform, you're out of the team, simple as that!!

I feel that this World Cup has been very fair and the teams that have played well on merit have advanced to the Super 8s and will eventually make it to the semi-finals and finals. This has been a very clean contest, no signs of match-fixing and the "clean" teams will progress!! This is very good for the spirit of cricket and that is the way cricket should be played!!

I think many of you have a great inferior complex and believe in the 'white is right' mentality. For those who don't, appologies in advance for the generlisation.

Regarding SR Tendulkar being a flat picth bully. Those who lack knowledge make such comments and such comments should not be taken seriously but must be addressed. I think those who believe in such things are Post year 2000 cricket fans.

Firstly Until 2003 onwards, SR Tendulkar was the most consistent batsman in Test and ODI's throughout the 90's and early 2000's and for those Ranking and statisticholics he was Number 1 in the Rankings for the best part of a decade when the Rankings were under the control/sponsorship of PriceWaterhouse&Coopers (PWC), both Number 1 for ODI and Test matches. By the way the Rankings were based on Opposition, bowlers and pitch and result.

To give further weight to my statements, Richie Benuad the ONLY Man who has seen all the greats of cricket play with his own two eyes placed Tendulkar in his all time Cricket XI between Sir Donald Bradman and Sir Vivian Richards. No Inzaman, Ponting nor Kallis even considerd in the selection only Lara.

Another point is that Ponting has recently come into the limelight after the 140 in World cup 2003 against a poor bowling line up who delivered leg stump half volleys.

Just remember Ponting nor Lara ever had to face their own World Class bowling line up's. Ponting has only become 'World Class' after 2003 where the picthes have become flat as a pancake and so is the opposition bowling. Ponting has been playing cricket for over 10 years for Aus but what was be doing in 1996? to 2003? nothing much whilst Donald and Pollock were around, Ambrose and Walsh, Waqar, Wasim, Saqlain and Shoaib, Murali et al.

Also just remember what happened to him when he toured India in the famous 2001 series. HE got destroyed by Harbhajan. Never has Tendulkar or Lara had such a pathetic tour. These two greats have always been great whereas Ponting has somehow acquired the title by benefitting from Post 2003 lack of quality bowlers to face, and easy pitches and lack of pressure due to 10 other World class players in his team, thus their is no dependance on him alone. The same can't be said for SR Tendular or BC Lara.

Even now when he comes up aginst Shane Bond (One of a few World class bowlers avaiable to bowl to him as the Other world class bowlers as in his team, thus he never will face them) he gets put in his place. Right now in World Cricket there are not enough World class bowlers nor Sporting pitches which has led to an influx of flat pitch bullies, the most notorious of which are Pancake Ponting and Selfish Kallis.

Inzaman ul haq is a 'Great' against the average Indian bowling but what has he done against better bowling line ups? Nothing much which Ponting highlighted in a recent intereview a week or so ago, same with Kallis who is an accumulator of runs, he collects like its a hobby. What has he done against the best bowling line ups around again nothing. Only Lara is comparable against SR Tendulkar. Inzi and Kallis have done nothing against the world class bowling line ups of their era and they got found out again in the Aus vs World XI match that was held in 2005/06.

But Lara made his name making 375 and 501(then 400) on the flattest pitch know to man with short boundaries and a poor bowling attck. But he has delivered some of the finest kncoks ever seen in Cricket against Austrailia so his place as a cricketing great is sealed. But he is very vulnerable against quality Fast bowling such as Lee and Bond and has been found out with his leg stump being blasted off. If he faced Ahktar more often then he will be shown up.

To conclude if Tendulkar had the luxury of facing the Indian bowling line up I honestly feel he would have a Bradmanesque like average. India has never had a World class bowler except Dev. Our bowlers are only good when the conditionssuit them, this does not equate to world class when they succeed on such wickets. Apart from Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, batsmen have their best statistics against India.

I can go on forever about what Tendulkar has done against the best bowlers of his era on the bowler friendly pitches. I can also string quotes from legends like Viv Richards and Bradamn about Tendulkar, more or less saying he is the undisputed greatest batsmen ever, in Bradmans case joint.

But yes there has been a clear decline in his performance after 2003 which people seem to think is when his career has started. Please leave SRT alone he is a decent, honest, charitable and clean human being and has given his all for Our Land. Unluckily for him, he has never had a single World Class bowler to defend his runs, which have led to many wasted runs.

You should just remeber who put Waqar (although he took out Sachin in 1989/90) and Wasim into retirement in South Africa 2003, and if Ahktar never got his wicket he would have been retired too.

My heart drops every time his wicket goes. I'm angry aswell but Leave him alone.

I think many of you have a great inferior complex and believe in the 'white is right' mentality. For those who don't, appologies in advance for the generlisation.

Another point is that Ponting has recently come into the limelight after the 140 in World cup 2003 against a poor bowling line up who delivered leg stump half volleys.

You should just remeber who put Waqar (although he took out Sachin in 1989/90) and Wasim into retirement in South Africa 2003, and if Ahktar never got his wicket he would have been retired too.

Why do we blame the fans so much? We are all fans, and we burnt nothing. In every country, and over time, there have been such fans. Why does Mr. Mukul make this some specific subcontinental activity (and why do we rush to provide him with reasons)? Could it be that cricket is no longer the pristine sport it was once thought to be (despite bodyline, despite a hundred controversies, Mr.Mukul holds on to such fantasies), and there is no denying the powerful economical support that our fans provide, and from which cricket benefites? Mr. Mukul, England and Australia are playing 'different' cricket too, and their fans aren't all sporting blokes (we have those too you know).

Andre Nel abuses Sreesanth, who hits him for a six in the next ball and hip-thrusts-gyrates most entertainingly. Mr.Mukul probably turned red and changed the channel.

I'm really surprised to see lot of people harshly criticising the greats like Sachin. Mostly the Indians. I mean, yes they lost and they lost badly, but it's only a game. And in sports you are bound to loose sometimes. Even the best of players and teams. And it's really disappointing to see that most of them have forgotten what the likes of Sachin and Dravid had done for the game, not only in India, but all around the world. He has inspired millions, and for that alone he(Sachin) remains one of the greatest cricketers of all time. That's something Indians should be proud of. We, Sri Lankans would have LOVED to have someone like Sachin in our team - or any team would have liked, for that matter. He's such a great batsman. And how many games has he won for India? Singlehandedly? He may be approaching the end of his career, but I think he deserves a better goodbye than this.
There's another point that I like to make. Had not the Indian public pressurised the team so much, they might have done better against Sri Lanka after all. Had they were allowed to play freely, they may have come up with better performances. It's just.... well, the Indian public should be a little more understanding. It's only a game, after all!

P.S - perhaps he should rename his book 'Men Who Missed Being White'.

Definitely very shameful and disappointing for Indian cricket fans who follow cricket as religion. The team is more focused on endorsements (Tendulkar who makes 180 Crore Rupees) and care less about their job. They are very careless and lack commitment. No matter what anybody says, it was a shoddy performance. The players should not be given any endorsements and should only be paid like a normal person becuase they have a job to fulfil. These days, if you don't perform you get fired. This should apply to the team as well. There are millions of people who would die to get the job of representing India at international level.

:-(

India never had a good enough team to win world cup but they do have a lot of companies advertising. With India's economy booming, Indian cricketers do not need to worry. In coming weeks, if India wins against Bangladesh, all these companies will line up and pour in millions of dollars to sponsor cricketers.

I have great ideas to start National Cricket League in India just like Football League in US. We can make tons of money. With Indian economy growing, we have a lot of potential to develop around 12 teams including palyers from all over the world.

Indian fans can forget this world cup and move on!

"There are over one billion Indian fans Praying to Lord Krishna for Bermuda to win. HE won't let them down"

So what did Lord Krishna do with the earlier prayars?

Hi Fans and Experts,
I feel so sad for the Indian Team. I am a Sri Lankan but I love Indian Cricket too. I wanted India to go to the super 8 round along with my Team(Sri Lanka) I wanted to see my favorite star Sachin ,Dravid , Ganguly,Sehwag and Yuvaraj to get those elegant and stylish runs against Australia,England,South Africa and show them what these South Asians can do.
I fell so sad to see the sad faces of these Legends. Faces of these star players were like they were in a funeral of their dearest ones. I felt so sad for them.
Media and Fans react as if these players lost the match on purpose.
I totally agree with Dravid on this issue. These players put in a lot of pain and effort in practicing . Cricket practice is not an easy task. They tried their best and lost the match and they are the ones who really felt so sad and disappointed with the outcome.
I have never seen Dravid with tears, Sachin with such a horrific face of lose, guys they are after all human beings, please realize that Cricket is a sport.

What is wrong with Indian Cricket? Please read this…..

Guys just realize that when each of these Indian crickets came to the national team, they were firing like guns. For example Sachin’s aggressive batting against Pakistan (against the likes of Wasim Akram) when he was just 16 years, Dravid and Ganguly’s back to back Test Centuries and etc.
All these star players have fired and were more aggressive than now. When they came into the Team they played more positively. This attitude applies to all the Indian Cricketers. There is no doubt about their exceptional skills and talents.
After a while when these players play for India they get the pressure on them. And change the whole lot of their approach. Once before 6 years Sachin was carrying the whole India on his back. Every time he goes to bat, million of people want him to get a century and see India winning. He was the only player who withstood Indian pressure for long time. Looking at the Indian batsmen and bowlers on papers they are the best in the world by their individual performance and achievements. So why India loses crucial matches? And what is needed to be done for Indian Cricket?
Mind Power is the only answer.
Indians (of course the whole south Asians cricketers) have to believe in themselves first. Indian’s are very soft in their minds and approach. They have to be aggressive. Aggressiveness should come into their blood. I wouldn’t mind to employ a professional to lift up the Indian attitude in this regard. Each player should put the real fight.
India had 7 world class batsmen in that Team that lost to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
When the top 4 failed barring Ganguly why the rest of them couldn’t put the real positive fight? I am not blaming the players here; it is how the Indian mentality is developed over the years. It is how the Cricket is played in India so far. They allow the pressure mount on them. They lose confidence; they start to play defensive game there by allowing the opponents to dominate them.
Come on dear Indian players, Come on my stars FIGHT, FIGHT, NEVER GIVE UP.
Indian team is admired by the whole world not only for their cricketing skills but also for their Charming personalities. Give up the thoughts of sacking the Cricket players.
Do something to boost up their mental strength. This is the only difference between Indians and Australians. Please make these players mentally tough, every player has to truly believe in himself that he can win every match for India. Train them how to get the power to fight and let them play their normal game. Train them in putting a Team Performance rather than Individual show. Train them the importance of partnership building.
Train them to be tough, tough and tough. We need a 100% improvement in Indian fielding department. Few of the players give us an impression that if they throw themselves for fielding they might get hurt. If you want to be number one then you have to be number one or at least match the other leading sides like South Africa and Australia. This is again the mental strength.
Come on India, You can do it. Bounce back with new power the real aggressive power.
I am a Sri Lankan; of course I want my team to win this world cup. I love my Sri Lankan Team BUT I can’t see the downfall of my loving big Brother INDIA. Cheers.

Jaya Aravind

Hello CS,

I India is great only in their own soil. All those 10 matches were played in India. But you guys have very poor record outside India. Pls admit that and do not take the gloss out of S/L victory. Remember what Tom Moody said prelude to world cup soon after 1-2 loss to India?

By the way, fancy coming to S/L for a tournament?

I think it time to settle back and enjoy Bangladesh as a team!! There are a much better team than on paper. Unlike Sri Lanka, India wasn't fully prepared for the Bengali Tigers. I guess the way Bangladesh is playing right now, if any team in super 8 is complacent in their preparation and execution like India was, then they will be in for a surprise. True this world cup has already lost India and Pakistan… but I think it has also unearthed Bangladesh.

may i remind mukul that the brief hiatus of cricketing ties between ind-pak were not because india repeatedly lost against pakistan ...its because of the kargil conflict and other tensions between both the nations.

ya i agree tht india's slip from the world cup is good for the indian cricket..as nw v knw whr v stand in the cricket world..v need to introspect ourselves..and i also think tht SOURAV shd b called back for the post of CAPTIAN instead of DRAVID..and JOHN BUCHANAN or STEVE WAUGH shd b our new coach..but i'l always prefer john over steve as he's got a very gud experiance of coachin tht steve..and u knw tht thr is a hell lot of diff in being a gud player and being a gooud coach;-)

It's only fair. I think its fitting that the cover page of the Hindustan Times and the Times of India showed angry fans burning/blackening posters of Sachin Tendulkar. It's perfectly understandable that similar such fans grouped together and went to the Tendulkar residence and turned off the electricity mains to his apartment after he got out for nought in the crunch game against Sri Lanka. Thanks to every news channel for showing scrolling sms's and emails from angry fans about how a bunch of "overpaid individuals interested only in making money" have let the nation down.

Serves the whole bunch of 'em right, especially Sachin Tendulkar. He should've known. He should've known when he first appeared on the test team as a 17 year old. He certainly should've have had an inkling when he stroked a hundred at Perth or when he set about redefining the term 'opening batsman' in one-day international cricket by going after the new ball in New Zealand. Over the years, he stubbornly refused to learn from the zillions of opportunities. Each time he set about dominating attacks or playing rear-guard on foreign pitches. Each time he raised his bat for having completed triple figures. Each time that opposition captains and their bowlers huddled together to work out ways to dismiss him and celebrated like the match was won when his was the first and only wicket to have fallen. He cannot feign ignorance when that 'hard-as-steel' veteran Steve Waugh said in his post-match interview that "We were beaten by a better player" (and not team). Not only that, he even had the audacity to exhibit his love for the game, I mean, how dumb do you have to be to celebrate a direct-hit runout as wildly as you celebrate a ton? oh, and especially when the throw wasn't even yours?! Ridiculous!

Just because he was born with a rare combination of talent and temperament that will most likely never be seen again for several generations, he can't just ignore the fact that his performances are the closest that, millions of people come, to a sense of achievement. He might claim in his defence that he is only a sportsman and only went out to give his best and that the rest was never under his control, but that would be indeed weak. That it was unfair for spectators (and of that category, we have hordes) to shirk the responsibility of their own ambitions and need for fulfillment, and to tack it to the blade with MRF printed on it. He might plead that rarely have sportsmen maintained superlatives levels of performance for the duration of time that he has. What of his debt to the millions of this nation who, bereft of ability or temperament, will never amount to anything in the duration of their existence? He owes those teeming masses who will live their lives in utter mediocrity never having the opportunity to taste success for themselves. He owes them big.

As for the other 14, several of whom might've first picked up a bat because of the person discussed above, who are currently wondering about the physical safety of themselves and their families. For Rahul, Zaheer, Ajit, Sehwag and co. The teeming blue billion have extracted the ultimate pound of flesh. Never again will they enjoy a game of cricket like they must've when they first picked up a bat or a ball. For they will now, more than ever, realise that this country does not understand the concept of competition or sportsmanship.

Sachin Tendulkar and the rest should be ashamed to be Indian. I know I am.

Just face the facts India are just not good enough - end of. Four years wasted for everyone involved and all the hopes and dreams of these people have gone but the bottom line is that India arent much better than Bangladesh with all the over-rated players they have and they are a long way off the likes of Australia, Sri Lanka, SA and New Zealand in ODI Cricket. Any individual who knows anything about this sport knows that and if you can't see that then don't bother watching the sport else more of these disappointmens will be coming up for India in the near future.

Yeap, we unsophisticated Indians are chauvinistic. Can we claim anything ours - apparently not our national cricket team, not our land? May we should ask Chinese to defend us and boycott Pak when Pak attacks us. May be we should Australians to root for Indian cricket team and we can all watch bowling, if you allow us.

If we were such brutes won't we be burning down town centers and burning cars like rioting English or Koreans or Americans after their favorite teams loses.

You guys, apparent cricket analysts, take our money, our support, sell books, and then call us junglees. Nice gig. May be you should move to society that's not passionate about anything. May be we brutes shouldn't buy your book. Dumb analysis from a dumb analyst.

I still don't understand why Momo Kaif wasn't in the squad. He's India's best fielder and is a better batsman compared to Karthik or Uttappa (who is just a lucky player only good in Indian conditions). Also Singh is losing it - nothing at the WC and even in the games in India prior to it against a weakened WI and SL team he couldn't get many wickets on spin-friendly tracks. Kumble is retiring and most likely Ganguly, Sehwag, Tendulkar and Dravid have a few years left (only Dravid and Sehwag I feel may make it to the nxt WC). Sreesanth is not yet the finished article and it may take a couple years for the kid to be a real force and the same with Patel but both are promising. Bottom line is that I believe changes have to be made sooner rather than later if India want to have a chance for the next WC - bring back guys like Raina, Kaif, RP Singh and develop the youth and where the heck is Raidu - I heard he was something. So changes have to be done now!

HOWEVER SAD THE EVENT OF WOOLMER'S MURDER IS AND HOWEVER FINANCIALLY CALAMATOUS THE EARLY EXIT OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN ARE, I THINK THESE TWO EVENTS ARE BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE FOR THE GAME OF CRICKET.

WOOLMER'S DEATH WILL PUSH THE WORLD TO LOOK MORE INTO, AND HOPEFULLY TAKE ACTIONS TO ERADICATE, ALL THE CORRUPTION THE GREAT GAME OF CRICKET HAS BEEN SUFFERING FROM.

EARLY EXIT OF THESE INDIA AND PAKISTAN WILL PROMPT THESE TWO NATIONS TO SCRUTINIZE AND HOPEFULLY AMELIORATE THE STANDARD OF THEIR DOMESTIC CRICKET. ADDITIONALLY, THE TWO COUNTRIES WILL NOW REALIZE (ONCE AGAIN, HOPEFULLY!) THAT 'CURRENT FORM' IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN PAST RECORDS/ACHIEVEMENTS. INDIA AND PAKISTAN WILL ALSO REALIZE NOW THAT WINNING ABROAD IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN WINNING AT HOME.

I EARNESTLY HOPE:
1. CRICKET BECOMES A 'MORE' HONEST SPORT.
2. INDIA AND PAKISTAN IMPROVE THE STANDARD OF THEIR DOMESTIC CRICKET AND PRODUCE BETTER TEAMS.

once again tendulkar blinked when India needed him most .True GREATS like Kapil Dev( remember the catch to dismiss Viv Richards and THAT 175) Jimmy Amaranath( the most important 30 runs EVER scored in any match) , Viv Richards , Clive Lloyd ,Imran Khan , Wasim Akram , Inzamam Ul Haq , Aravinda De Silva , Steve Waugh , Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting have the ability to ABSORB PRESSURE and SINGLE HANDEDLY win IMPORTANT matches . In this aspect Tendulkar has time and again failed the acid test on BIG matches . Sachin’s supporters claim that his 98 against Pakistan in the 2003 world cup as a shining example of his big match temperament , but let me REMIND you that even BEFORE the match was played India had qualified for the Super 8 whereas , for Pakistan it was a ‘must win’ situation . i.e. India had nothing to lose and all the pressure was on Pakistan , so Tendulkar comes out blazing all guns in yet another INCONSEQUENTIAL match but fired only blanks in the final , whereas Ponting played a blinder and for god’s sake he hit 8 sixes in a world cup final ! Now, that is a record that will never be broken ….a good batsman can hit a hundred in a world cup match or hit 8 sixes , but to do BOTH is no mean achievement and a feat that is impossible even in Sachin’s dream.

Sure , there are 11 players and it’s a team sport , but the afore mentioned LEGENDS have the ability to SINGLEHANDEDLY turn a match on its head and affect the outcome in a HIGH PRESSURE WINNER TAKES ALL encounter . Sadly , Tendulkar has not been able to raise his game in crunch situations.

There is no point in having a high average and the highest no. of centuries if a champion cannot win on the biggest occasion. Mohammed Ali will not be Ali if he did not win the world title thrice .

This obsession by Tendulkar to have a good average and playing for records and posterity should stop . Winners do not trot out excuses for their failures nor do they expect help from a team mate , they just go out and do the job ……When Steve Waugh had to bail out his team against South Africa in the 1999 Competition , he scored 120 priceless runs as did Aravinda by scoring 66 in 1996 semi final against India, in addition to the century in the final. Champions do not buckle under pressure . Even in the test arena , Sachin unlike Dravid or VVS LAXMAN , has not played LONE RANGER in big matches against big opponents . In this aspect Lara , towers head and shoulders above Sachin by virtue of making match winning centuries against the best team at home and abroad ( N.B key words , match winning , best teams, home and abroad ) .

It used to be sacrilegious to criticize Sachin , and for this reason he has been mollycoddled and protected , whereas similar courtesy and RECOGNITION was not extended to Kapil Dev , Jimmy Amaranath , VVS Laxman , Dravid or the tireless and genuine match winner Kumble . Also what a waste Kambli is , here was a rough diamond that the public and the selectors did not take to heart , for whatever reasons . But Sachin was the golden boy who could do no wrong and given money , fame and national awards et al , but has he given India what he should ? Anyway Who cares about a world cup win as long as Sachin has the highest no. of centuries and a good average ! LONG LIVE RECORDS AND AVERAGES. INDIA IS NO 1 and WORLD CHAMPS IN RECORDS .

GOOD that India is out of Super 8. Now Men in Blue will not be rediculed 6 more time. Dravid's men stand on chance winning any team in second round.

hi mukul,

u pointed out some good facts about corruption.Its true to some extent....
Not all is corrupt as was stated.But there s a real problem with the most southern parts of india.I think the problem is Ind have Boards there.We should have more like club structure and kick out these political corruption in southern india.I say these cause i live in that part.In some parts of southern india we have the worst/corrupted/evil politions of whole of india.(actually we all know what that state is....)Nothern parts are like angels when in camparison.So no wonder the board here is also corrupt..I think we all can c the link....
So wat i request is ,wipe out these malice,double minded,evil politions out of Ind cricket before other parts also get infested of the wound.......

Hello Mr.CS

It is because of fans like you that India lost yesterday, your fear and impatience to accept the reality has put your team in immense pressure!! as you've mentioned.. yes! SL won only 2 times in their last 10 encounters with India (in India).. But HELLO!! they did win when it mattered the most... didn't they? It was a high pressure match & Sri Lanka played brilliantly... JUST ADMIT IT!!!

hi mukul;
i dont think ind team is all that evil as shown,,
what we ve 2 do is wipe and clean the wound of corrupt politics in cricket.
In some few states of most southern india we have the most malicious, evil,terrerist like politics influencing the Crick boards...immediate action has to be taken b 4 they cause the wound to spread..wound actually has gone too deep and good luck to the players in thouse state.(actually we wont have any players comming to team from there,,)..in comparrison northern part is good and doing its best.. we have to get a club system and get a youth rotation system to feed the national system..just like eng. premiership clubs. eg.Man united have u21, u19 teams with excelent foreign expossure and they go straight to national team to play from u19...

have to have some club system at least in south india to save the country from amputating its foot.......

Lotsa un-substantiated statements! and Stupid reasoning :)

An observation I had was that most Indian fans follow Cricket not because they loved Cricket but mainly because they associated cricket with some patriotic pride especially considering that cricket is the only game where India has any international recognition especially same cannot be said of Indian Hockey any more. It is very odd to see that in a country of so much Cricket fever, hardly any one follows or watches local or national matches on the other had when a foreign team arrives life comes to a stand still.
I think some psychiatric evaluation needed here.

On a serious note: BCCI, Sharad and Gavaskar and politics need to go. All the ground picthes need to be redone to facilitate rise of pace bowlers and batsmen who can play pace. My 2 cents.

-Joydeep

India not a dysfunctional giant like Pakistan:
-----------------------------------------------------

Out of the two South Asian stars, only team Pakistan with its current fiasco can be termed as a dysfunctional giant.

The cricketing affairs in Pakistan are being run on an Ad-Hoc basis with direct intervention from the top which is a sorry state of affairs to continue for so long.

How the hell on earth, the head of the state that has a plethora of domestic issues as well as heaps of political problems at hand to deal with at the international level would want to continue focus on this entity called PCB (Prized collection of buffoons). The fall out for the PCB is going to be positive though, and that includes delinking the Presidency with the actual functioning of the PCB.

To label team India which had a stable look going into this World Cup as such is a little harsh and an unjust overreaction.

Mega stars like Tendulkar, Ganguly, and others who racked up lucrative deals in the past and continue to do so are going to be affected the most as they stand to loose a great deal as a result of team India making an early exit from the World Cup.

On their part, the players had no motive but to play good cricket to the best of their abilities. The fact of the matter remains that they indeed put their best foot forward. How, it did not translate into a success story is for a different reason, altogether.

The loss against Bangladesh was in part attributable to loosing the toss but again this should take nothing away from the resurgent and an aspirant team Bangladesh who have been knocking around/at the door for rather long and are just about ready to make a splash in to the big pool. This is a factual reality and should be recognized as such.

For their part, Sri Lanka continued their build up with a strong all around talent and hardly had a weak spot showing anywhere all the way down the order. This apparently was not the case with team India and certainly a far cry for team Pakistan.

Remember the proverbial sayings: A chain is only as strong as its weakest link!
A structure is only as strong as it weakest element!

For team Pakistan, the harsh reality has dawned for those at the helm of affairs after it’s too late. The supporters can draw their own parallels in the case of team India but again the reckoning would be a little late!

We have no choice but to embrace the reality that has dawned wearing a different look.

I READ YOUR BBC SOUTH ASIA ARTICLE:

"Cricket will buckle under the weight of the sullen, thin-skinned nationalism that Indian and Pakistani fans bring to the game and it can certainly do without the bookie-driven corruption that feeds off this perverse enthusiasm. The probable elimination of India and Pakistan will leave the World Cup in the West Indies a happier, less toxic tournament; it might even give the fans of these countries the time to actually play some cricket. Or they could use the break to switch their loyalties to a sport that doesn't bring out the worst in them. Test cricket, anyone?"

NOW, BOOKIES ARE INDIVIDUAL VILLIANS. RIGHT. BUT AS FAR AS YOUR COMMENTS ON THE INDIAN AND PAKISTANI PLAYERS AND FANS ARE CONCERNED, DAMN YOU.

So should Greg Chappell ensure he has a good bodyguard and a food taste tester now India is officially out of the tournament. You need to get a life....

The problem with the Indian cricket team is 'the fear of loosing' causes them to loose a crucial match even before they play the match. The managment should work on the psychological aspect of the team and should have a psychologist assisting the team continually or at the least in big tournaments.What is the point in loosing the game due to pressure even before actually loosing it.Hope the managment gets it.Look at Aussies more than the talent they have the right mindset.Indians though with lots of talents will play like a mediocre(a little worse than that) bunch of guys,cause their minds are totally off colors when it comes to big moments,which is most of the times.May be I'm posting this in the wrong thread of blogs.

Dont blame the defeat on the players.They always try to give their best.They are the people who work much harder than the general public.
In my opinion if it is the responsibility of players then the 50% share goes to general public for the defeat.The public put so much pressure on players and then how can you expect players to play normally in such abnormal circumstances.
I am also very disappointed as would be players but it does not mean that I will kill/beat players or throw stones on their houses or burn posters.They would have tried their best I believe and lets back them and support them rather making their exit from the world cup more painful.

The most striking thing about India's loss to Sri Lanka was the vast difference in the athleticism of the players on the field. Sri Lanka's speed and agility made us look like a bunch of weekend warriors. India is great when the ball is finding the middle of their bats (like the Bermuda game) but have very little to fall back upon when the batting boes not fire. This is in sharp contrast to Sri Lanka........who have a world class bowling attack and one of the best fielding teams around. If India are serious about winning at cricket then they should look at what has happened over the past 30 years..........the teams with the match winning bowlers tend to dominate the game. The mediocrity of India's bowling is unquestionable and so their defeat on the world stage, although earlier than expected, is not surprising.

When it comes to cricket indian cricket team is like brazilian soccer team in recent FIFA world cup.... too many super-stars...in a sense Indian team has too many cheifs but very few Indians.

If the diehard cricket lovers and the former cricketers in India felt that the Standards of Indian Cricket had its demise on 23.03.07,they have to stand corrected as it was on 09.02.2003.

Thanks to the Broadcaster of 2003 World Cup who pioneered and engineered the demise to perfection by transforming the Gentleman’s Game to a Conjurer's Paradise where Fortune Tellers with cards and crystal balls held the center stage by predicting the outcome before the game could be even be played and due to this some gullible Indians who did not know the rules of the game even performed Pujas and Yagnas.

I honestly expected Voodoo to be introduced this time as an added attraction during their Extra Innings as it would have definitely enthralled and enchanted our Indian audience.

If one analyzes the outcome, one example stands out i.e when a dedicated farmer hits a jackpot of few million dollars, will he ever attempt to plough his field or even hold the sickle?

Likewise the day Sachin ripped the Manufacturer’s Logo from his Bat, the nation failed to comprehend the catastrophe, which was to happen, and when it did happen they reacted like barbarians by burning effigies rather than Introspecting and realizing that the team has talented cricketers but above all Money was the root cause of the Debacle.

If India ever wants to reconstruct this Sport or at least try to attain the minimum level of Patuadi or Wadekar or Gavasker or Kapil Dev’s Era, Strict Ordinance should be constituted so as to ensure the players chosen to represent our Country in any sporting event focus on the assigned work rather than wasting their time by teaching us how to drink Beverages and to eat Biscuits through the Idiot’s box.

Above all BCCI should be presented with a wake up alarm clock in order to implement the development of this sport at Grass root level rather than wasting their time in treasure Hunting for the Highest Bidders.

Mr. Mani Shankar Iyer’s statement stands justified when he said “If the nation stays away from this cricket madness, then life would be much more productive”.

But who will Bell the Cat???? Is the Million Dollar question!!!!
Lloyd

For me , the WC never excited me. It is simply not cricket. The real cricket is Test cricket. ODI cricket would have remained a nice refresher, had we not had so many tournaments already in place round-the-year.
We all can be real upset about all these performances, but its the same Indian team (with almost all the same players) which got to WC Finals last time. The bigger frontier is winning credibly against teams abroad on bouncy pitches.

Just because some individuals (read ICC), serve up the sport to us in this manner because it fills up their coffers BIG-TIME, I am not being fooled by it. I not losing any sleep because of this. Infact I am happier at their financial losses.

India OUT of the WC, Enjoy the Shows "Indians"..lol

I am a disappointed Indian, and my feelings here may be mixed on various subjects. I disagree with the article. Fanatic fans are every where and fanatic fans are only a few. Most fans are just that, fans. When every one just sit, have a tea or a beer, and start enjoying the game the english way, then there is no fun in it. Adrenalin, excitement, disappointment, fun all go together, as long as no one is physically and mentally hurt. I think both Indian and Pakistani teams need psychological training. The minimal of pressure does them. I get amazed at the competetiveness of Australians and South Africans. When the fans in India and Pak give the sport up for a while, then the players realize how important it is to have them back. Also it may ease some pressure on them. As to the Indian team, I think Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid have scored enough useless, inconsequential runs and centuries, they should let the youth take over. If not the selection committees should be strong enough to show them the way. And by the way, I feel the selection should totally be rid of politics, which of course is impossible. At the end of it, I feel there is no solution, these teams continue to show some glimpses here and there, bull shit about wc preps, and continue to fail. Stupid fans. I feel stupid about myself.

First of all, fans should stop thinking that the players are somehow obligated to them to put on a good effort. A fan is not obligated to watch sports. I watched cricket from 1994 to 2003. After that I seldom watched cricket. Can someone demand me to watch cricket? Similarly a player is not answerable to fans. He is only answerable to those who pay his salary. Dont start saying that fans enable players to earn millions. You just stop watching cricket and sponsors would stop paying millions. Thats the proper way to put bad players in position... not shouting, calling bad names, burning effigies or attacking houses. Also, I think teams should not represent the nation. That is a bad idea. If Indian team fails that doesnt mean India is somehow inferior or if Indian team wins that doesnt mean India is superior. Only the status of the average man decides how good a country is. Teams should only represent clubs. That will stop fans getting all passionate and emotional.
When the match fixing scandals surfaced, a friend of me said that he would never watch cricket again. Though he did watch after that, his sentiments are justified. Now cricket has taken a life? Things need to be checked urgently. No sport which is taking lives are worthy of existing, soccer or cricket. We have armies and wars and plenty of other things to do that, already.

mukul kesevan seems to be reproducing the journalistic equivalent of effigy burning - an irrational, emotionally unstable over reaction. to argue that india brings nothing to the game except money is a serious loss of perspective. even their worst critics would admit that they bring more flair, class and elegance to batting than anyone else. a big contrast from the australian brutes or the effiminate poms. the same is true of pakistani bowling. unproffesional and maddeningly unpredictable as they are, they bring to cricket what latin america brings to football. the end of latin football would probably 'detoxify' football as well (anyone wants to discuss brazilian football politics) but i wonder if anyone wants that.
as for the fans, you can always offer the 'small crazy minority' argument which would be fair and appropriate ( i am a crazy fan, but i wasn;t burning any effigies), but that would be too easy. south asian fans (and let me get a little 'chauvinistic' here), bring more passion, color, music and noise to the game then you can ever imagine he sterile brits or the uber-racist australians bringing. the australian fans don;t burn effigies, they only try to strangle english bowlers they don;t like on the boundary line (circa 1940/50) or do what they did to murlitharan. and then again, they always have the darrel hair's of the world to do their bidding. as for south asian chauvinism, 'aussie pride' anyone?
coming back to the financial clout issue, someone below rightly pointed out that even though indian cricketers are among the highest paid, they are extremely humble. they were never the jerks that ricky ponting is and greame smith desperately tries to be. and the pressures they have to face are beyond something western players can even begin to comprehend. i wonder how long a damien martyn would have survived in india or pakistan. and for a change, instead of criticising ourselves for putting so much pressure on them, maybe we should give them credit for handling it.

I think the sponsors of the players should cancel their contracts, then the players will have to concentrate on the game. It seems the players are now bigger then the game. Why would you like to buy a product sold by a loser?

Let me put my two cents into this. this is the defeat of stupid media that never asked pointed Question. some uneducated fans worship this guys as a god. ( move star like Amitabh bachan, Shahrukh khan, politician like Sonia Gandhian all those swami`s and now this cricket player`s). and committee member who give and take favor`s. God save our cricket our National pass time.

guys lets face it we lost badly and its the entire indian teams fault.specially the captian and coach. what the hell they were thinking not taking kumble vs. srilanka. he is best bowler we got and not using him against bangladesh either. ... harbhajan cant even bowl. indian team defentely at fault of being taking money. iam not sure if it is true about indian team match fixing but it defenetly seems that way. i am so not happy to see my team in worldcup and iam still supporting them but they need a team work and disipline. more like leader like ganguly as captain again. best of luck india in next matches

The loss of India is more to do with the Indian caste system than anything else. I have follwoed cricket in the subcontinent for a along time and there is no other reason for a nation of a billion people not being able to find a bunch of 11 players with the metal calibre to stand up on the internatinal stage. Everyone knows the upper caste of indian society controls the BCCI and the lower castes are shunned. This is a disgrace, not only to India but to all of humanity that this kind of social structure even exists in this day and age. Get your act together India or be always be a defeated nation.

INDIA the great cricketing nation has floundered once again!!.

If you cant dominate the world of cricket with a billion people and New Zealand, Australia and Sri Lanka play with less than 20 million people a much more consistently something drastic is wrong. Firstly this is a team sport, all the bis Indian names starting from Dada and their ego's were rendered absolutely useless. Big names, in India also unfortunately equate to big heads, people even of the calibre of Greg Chappel cannot execute a strategy due to the ego's of these big players, their connections, and the shabby politics of Indian Cricket. Why for "F-sake" don't you Indian authorities, allow the coach thatyou pay millions for after a stringent selection process be allowed to run the select, recruit, induct, train and develop a team like a professional business and a professional team sport must. When such authority is not given the result is the disaster as seen now, by the disgraceful elimination of team that should be true mighty force in world cricket. It finally boils down to decision making, professional management, and no interference in management by stake holders (who ever they may be).
India, you need to make some whole sale changed in your administration starting at the top, no time to fins a scape goat in people like Chappel, as a good coach is only as useful as a CEO of a public listed company with no authority with all the shareholders (and staff) voicing and influencing decisions. Its a Shame isn't it.

It all started in 1983. That’s the year India lost its perspective. A congregation of plucky individuals decided to try out something novel for a change: Put aside differences and work toward a common goal, to wit, the World Cup. That is not to say that we didn’t have talent: We had Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Kirmani and Amarnath, but they shone individually, as opposed to collectively. With success in the ’83 World Cup, the bona fides of the legends were fully confirmed, while the lesser players, not to detract from their talents, were promoted to legendary status. From that day forward, the Indian cricket team, to a man, was above the law [of courts]. Omissions would be henceforth be judged by a jury of a billion of its bipolar peers: While they might, quite literally, get away with murder (held, in the view of the selfsame jury, as a petty misdemeanor), they would find losing in the international arena to be a blatant crime, atonement for which was the summary burning in effigy (which, if you stop and think for a moment, is pretty bitter recrimination).

There is no basis for the kind of sycophantic loyalty—which turns rabidly ugly on a dime—that seems to be ever so readily proffered by the lionizing acolytes of cricket in the Indian sub-continent—uh, that would be India and Pakistan to anyone who’s still following this post. Over the years, we’ve acquired new—and admittedly more combative—talent, but our cricketers either lack the drive for success (I refuse to resort to the cliché, “killer instinct”) or slough it when they become tenured. Still, the question remains: Why cricket? Of all the aspects of the sub-continental life, why should cricket alone bring out nationalistic hubris in such disproportionate measures? Surely there are matters—an elementary civic sense, for instance—closer to the heart, and home, that can benefit from a modicum of nationalism. Cricket is rapidly replacing religion as the opiate of the masses, and is proving to be infinitely more detrimental to the public weal. Why? We have the 1983 Prudential World Cup to thank for this.
Indians and Pakistanis have traditionally done very well individually. A glance at history books will reveal that we’ve contributed significantly over the millennia to science, technology, language and arts. Heck, if it weren’t for Indians, we wouldn’t be able to numerically depict Dhoni’s average in this World Cup: yes, we invented the all important numeral, zero. We form the world’s quintessential immigrants: highly skilled and educated contributors to societies that are foreign to our own. We shine, you see, as individuals. When we choose to pool our resources for a common cause, the end result is either abject failure (all team-based sports without exception), or mayhem (as evidenced by irate, effigy-burning mobs in response to the former abomination). And then—sneaking up on us even as we were enjoying our quietly egocentric lives—came 1983 and threw our sense of proportion into utter disarray.

Now, 24 years later, we are at Square 0. I vote that we indulge in a spot of good old age discrimination and politely ask our more senior stalwarts to retire; replace them with fresh, young and, above all, unknown talent, effectively grounding expectations of the masses.

Sorry for the abrupt ending: my wife's forcibly wheeling me away from the keyboard.

And, now that we're out of it: Go Sri Lanka!

this is the worst i have ever felt in my life........

Sachin will hit 50 centuries if not 100 centuries. BCCI will make sure this Mumbaikar will hold all the batting records at the expense of Indian team. So in next 3-4 world cups, we will be minnows because he will always be under pressure (?) to perform. Indian bowling is below par and BCCI is not interested in finding the talent as long they fill their coffers.

Australia will reign the cricket for next 3 world cups. I hope SA/NZ will win this time.

The author has gone overboard looking for scapegoats and coming up with what can only be termed extremely speculative explanations of what led to Bob Woolmer's murder. Let the investigation run its proper course and then pass a judgement on what are the larger issues at stake. Yes, there are problems in 'South Asian' cricket, but it is also the only reason cricket has not been wiped off the face of the earth yet. Even the Brett Lees of the world make a nice packet courtsey the voracious apetite for cricket in the sub-continent. The enthusiasm borders on an unhealthy obsession and that is a concern, but to say world cricket will somehow benefit if India and Pakistan are off stage is ludicrous.

Yeah, let England, Australia, NZ and SA form their own little clique and play each other to boredom if they so wish. I'm sure they will do it without 'bringing the game into disrepute'. Let's hand over the reins of power back to the benevolent colonialists because they know what's good for cricket, don't they? If that's a ridiculous thing to say, what Mr.Kesavan says is equally so. If indeed the game needs Indian cricket's financial muscle so much, India will have a say in things. And if sub-continent cricket has to reform, it will have to come from within.

For reason's sake, stop saying that sub-continental cricketing culture has claimed a victim (Woolmer). First it was the stress of the job brought on by relentless public and media pressure. Now it's the corrupt cricketing culture that is still in bed with anti-social elements. As for the first reason (even though it's no longer valid), let it also be mentioned that nowhere else would the likes of Woolmer or Wright have been received with such affection as they were by the public. As for the latter, There are bigger issues than cricket there. And if indeed the 'D-Company' has a hand, how are the cricket fans responsible?

There is absolutely no doubt that Sachin was one of the greatest batsmen in his era. Presently there are many who are better than him. Ponting, Hayden and Lara defenitely stand out as examples. These are players who have succeded under varying conditions and pressures. Please do not offer pathetic excuses like JP above. The Indian bowlers are not that bad. Sachin's Tour of Australia was disastrous. These are the same Australian bowling attacks SA, NZ & England have played against and won in recent times. I agree he is a decent man who has done his best for his country and I also wish he could regain his previous status and become better than Ponting in both forms of the game. This is my final comment to all the die hard Indian fans. Please stop the boasting of things past and do not find excuses for why you lost. Give credit to those who won against you. Your countries mentality has to change. Cricket is just a game. There are many other sports and also many more important things to do in India than dwell on cricket and waste time & money.

With the exit of India and Pakistan all bokkies and crooks will not spoil the worldcup! We can expect a match-fixing free worldcup! Sri Lanka have a good chance at the cup and Bangladesh will propbably shock a few teams out ofthe semi-finals! It is going to be an interesting cup!

"Just remember Ponting nor Lara ever had to face their own World Class bowling line up's. Ponting has only become 'World Class' after 2003 where the picthes have become flat as a pancake and so is the opposition bowling."

So why hasn't SRT's average shot ahead of The Don during this period one wonders ??? LOL

I've read one of ur long blogs praising Tendulkar's commitment and resolve, let's not forget the main fact that when a dutiful dog becomes ill, he has to be put out of his misery; if Tendulkar (& Dravid) don't realise this, it is our duty to make them see this before they come on television weeping of their innocence like Kapil Dev!

Ur so rite in this article yar... I'm so fed up with this blue billion thing, all it has brought us is fake hope for the common public and Billions of dollars for these good-4-nothing cricketers, I propose that we just dispense with the slogan for the time being.

I think we should stop living in the past like Pakistan, their top brass has resigned, in all probability they'll get over their probs (which are much more than what we have in our plate)... which makes me even more miserable as we had a more stable team, a better batting line-up and a respectable bowling. Alas, our performance on these credentials merits the sporadic acts of violence on the properties of these cricketers. Is it not true that we have given them all of those things and we should have the liberty to take them back?

We as a team have failed Tendulkar like he has failed us on most occasions, he hasn't won us a series abroad, not a world cup, his records are in our losses... I wonder if he were an australian wud he have done 20,000 runs now? But he's not an Australian! He's misfit, old and needs a break, same for Ganguly and Dravid... let's have an energetic captain like Muhammad kaif, he can build the team from the ruins like Greame Smith.

with out india and pakistan world cup is going to be less competitive . its is sad for the all criket fans . with sort of bowling india got they had no hope in the woldcup anyway . i just dont undestand why indian fans can not face the reality that they are not really good as you think its been proven over in the past many times

worldcup cricket has just lost the sheen ,once the pak n indian team got eliminated in the 1st rnd.If u look at the teams qualified for super 8's, 3 of the teams (ireland,england,bang) doesnt carry the 2 pts or have the ability to march past the other teams to make it to the semis. so, it has come down to super 5 even at the strt of this game.Also ireland n bangladesh cant make consistent upsets, though they have beaten a bigger team on a given day.Its all tht one bad day which cost us all the tournament.Dont forget these are the same which had beaten Westindies n southafrica very convincingly in their warmup matches.Both the teams are suffering from mental attitude problems.Nothing else

Its good to watch Bangaldesh in super 8 and its a better team than India. I dont blame the player, all i do is blame the selectors. They had left better players saying they are no good fielders. Consider Kumble, i have never seen him spin the ball and never has he fielded properly and even Harbajan comes with mishaps in fielding. Why are they been backed so much. Instead they could have gone with extra batsman. We all know that out main strength is batting not bowling. Even if a team goes with 3 bowlers we could have faired somewhat better. Its nice to watch better teams in the super 8. Our team has done nothing but earned money and played with the emotions of millions of fan. Better they be banned from the team for 6 months, so that they understand the value of our backing. Enough is enough

I think it is unfair to target the coach and the captain for the failure of the Indian team. What coach can do is only to guide the player beyond that it is upto the players to perform. In the case of dravid, he still a pretty go player and perform under pressure too. I guess Sachin has become a burden to the team. He was a great batsman but now he does not even time the ball very well. He does not perform under pressure. I think it is good for him to retire now. People will only respect if you retire at the right time. Shane Warne has done it. Shewag is another player who should never play circket. He has no consistency and very irresponsible.

I think all the senior players should be removed from the team and all new set of younsters should be brought in. And it should be that only if you perform one should be in the team.

Mr. Kesavan, you do a lot of injustice to Indian Cricket fans (I am referring to your disappointing article on Indian Cricket Fan). Do you know how many of Indians (atleast in towns and cities.... the outrage is more in these places anyway) play or would have played some form of cricket? By the way, I have also played, albeit at my college and firm level. So, we do understand the game and what it takes to play it.
And if it is only a sport, you guys (and the sites like cricinfo.com) whouldn't be thriving. It is the passion of the game that is driving the whole thing. But sometimes passion does get out of control. Nobody is perfect. So, you should not be viewing these isolated incidents of 'property destroying' as a norm. Even otherwise, in a country of billion people, even if you assume 10% are cricket fans, perhaps a couple of hundreds are involved in these acts of vandalism. That is a pretty poor sample by any statistical method.

Coming back to the state of Indian Cricket:-
As someone pointed out earlier, BCCI has so far concentrated in commercializing the game rather than putting in place good system for improvement of cricket.
Sharad Pawar made a significant statement saying that BCCI is contemplating to go the way of Cricket Australia by looking at current form and not past glory. I believe this is a step in the right direction. It keeps everyone on his toes and enthuses those playing domestic cricket.

Also, now-a-days I see more pitches in India helping the seamers than in 70s or 80s. This should be encouraged. If we have to play well against the fast bowlers of the world, we should know how to play well on seaming tracks. And I don't think there is a dearth of Kapil Devs and Zaheer Khans in this country.

Why the team is in such a state? Here is my view:
- A player works hard to get into the team
- He works really hard for two or three series to 'cement' his place and to get noticed by ad agencies.
- That's it. His life is made. From now on, he needs to just play enough to keep his place (and our selection committe always gives him bonus marks for past performance anyway). Rest is taken care of Ad. Industry, by way of endorsements.

The Advertisement industry also has to play some responsible role, if it does not want to kill the golden goose. Perhaps by inserting performance clauses in the contract?

My worst fear: Indian Govt should not take the current state of affairs as an excuse to takeover BCCI. If this happens, it is RIP for Indian Cricket.

I disagree wit some of the points made bu Mukul..
Well hes write about some corruption part...

Well those BOOKIES ARE REAL ANIMALS.we all know that...But the dangeris when some(south indian)politicians also join some companies like bookies and help the wound to spead......

Cricket is a money launding machine..and what better time for these Malicious, corrupt unscrupulous,ill-looking terrorist like politician to make money for his organization....

We have to accept there are good ppl @ BCCI.and most parts of india has good boards and players have best facilities...But when this south india(T..amilna...) states Rotten the game ,ind has to take action.. I know the facts and what we need is pvt club system....

the comments "premiership clubs. eg.Man united have u21, u19 teams with excelent foreign expossure and they go straight to national team to play from u19......"
well relatively good eg.England football side isnt the best, but their club system is the best....
Clubs chelsea,Arsenal,Man Utd even Wigan have good youth system..and they invest heavy in that.If Eng government was controling those ,then good luck for eng football...

Well,, there we have to take the good from the english and wipe the parasite from southern state of india.. and make the system clean.................

resident.

Why do you publish these hate by Mukul ? He has annointed himself as a colonial master, who can speak all the hate he wants and publish it . Did you read his hate against the fans ? Isn;t the same people that feed cricinfo and other cricket sights ?

Having talented bowlers, batsmen, wicketkeeper, fielders is not the only thing that makes the team wins. It is as much of a mind game. Our team lost on that front. In match with Bangladesh they were overconfident and in match with Sri-Lanka they were full of fear. We should have a special coach that trains our team to think positive and be humble in any kind of circumstance. That is when we would go somewhere.....

India rules and should have been the winners of the WC, oh well 2011 wil be fine.

Well, well, well Mr Kesavan, how many extra pounds from the masters for writing a post critical of the economic might of the cricket establishment (over and under ground) of the sub-continent. Your choice of subjects and the publications shows an uncanny capability of being on the side of the paymasters. And you have the cheek to lament on the commercialization of cricket!!

For the love of sport why don't you blog on hockey, badminton, figure skating or kho-kho? Don't tell me you love the game so much that you wouldn't think of moving to another sport.

Or why don't you oblige your fans (refer the comments above) and move to writing on English or Australian cricket?

For other reasons, I do belive that neither team India nor Pakistan deserved to go to Super 8's. My congratulations and best wishes to SL and B'desh - though it is also clear that the only match B'desh is likely to win will be the one they play against Ireland (maybe). They will not be lucky enough to have other teams showing the same level of idiocity as shown by you-know-who.

It is with great disappointment and anguish as a cricket fan that I'm writing this. Millions of Indians who went to bed with a numb feeling, will take a few days to come back to normalcy. After all itz not every day that ur country is knocked out of the World Cup. Maybe we should stop being emotional and passionate about our team. We are not strangers to this sinking feeling - rewind to 87 SF,96 SF,Zim 99 and Final 03. The fact that we lost becoz of our shambolic batting is all the more painful. Aren't we natural batsmen :-). Don’t we all want to be batting heroes and not bowling heroes even in our galli cricket ??? Don’t we take pride in the fact that we have the best batting line up at least on paper? I some times wonder who came up with this cliche !!! If a batting line up fails to deliver time and again in alien conditions how can it be called best batting line up even on paper??

Three batsmen have averages in excess of 40 with 35000 runs between them while three other batsmen have strike rates in the late 90s. We all thought that a semi final berth was there for the taking. Or was it a case of the media making us believe the impossible, for more eyeballs. I feel that most of us have the ’03 hangover still. Hype or not, I sincerely believe/d that this team was, or rather still is the best that India could pick for the WC. But where did it all go wrong – is it in the mind(after the loss to B’desh) or is it the case of carrying too many ageing bodies who have done stellar services to Indian colors over the past decade ???

Watching the Big -3, has been an exhilarating experience over the past decade for a generation of Indians(in fact for all Indians spanning across generations). But of late, Tendulkar’s body is not able to cope up with the demands of his mind. Ganguly it seems is more than satisfied with his stirring comeback and has lost the motivation for greater things. And then there is Dravid. His mind has been cluttered with the burdens of captaincy. His shoulders droop at the slightest setback and he just could not lift the morale of his team when it mattered the most. Oh!!! Huv cruel life is?? It gently taps on your shoulder when the time has come, and the time is now or so it seems. A couple of years down the line we might be watching the Indian team taking the field without the B-3, and I’m pretty sure nobody in India is prepared for that moment( You can add Anil Kumble to that too). There are a lot of uncomfortable questions to be tackled first before that tho.

Is there somebody out there with a bat/ball in hand and a glint in their eyes, turning up for team practice earlier than usual and staying up later than required? Will someone catch Ramakant Achrekar’s eye with some tremendous shot making or searing in swinging yorkers ???. Will some one among them be ready to take over the mantle that the B-3 have donned for over a decade now. In Sachin’s case it has been more than 15 years in fact. Will the B-3 give way to others gracefully or will they face the boot ??? I dread to think the very thought of the B-3 being nudged out of the team for none deserve that disrespect. Who will walk up with his head held high and without fear for the toss with the opponent captain ??? Only time will come up with the rite answers.

Meanwhile what does the rest of the team add up to ??? Sehwag has cobbled up some sort of form. But the bigger question is he ready for takin up a bigger responsibility as a more reliable run scorer. Yuvraj is a fine prospect and if groomed properly can be excellent captaincy material. Dhoni has to realize that not much can achieved by swagger, style and flair that he has in abundance. Dinesh Karthik deserves a look in. As far as the bowling department is concerned it looks more workman like than threatening. Even the relatively young Munaf Patel has cut down on his pace. I seriously doubt his one-day capabilities. Zaheer has been doing well without instilling fear and awe in the batsman’s mind.Ajit Agarkar has been the perennial under-achiever with performances veering between the sublime and the downright atrocious. V.R.V Singh must be fancying his selection chances. It is in the team’s interest that a better spinner is found in place of Harbhajan Singh. Murli Karthik,Ramesh Powar, Piyush Chawla are the likely contenders. Piyush has to be given a full license to attack and a longer run in the team. The fielding has to be lifted to international standards and for that to happen, Kaif and Raina have to be in the team. Their batting capabilities do little favor to their selection tho. Barring a few miracles the Indian team will be in a major mess for the next 3-6 years.

And finally tho I fear the day the B-3 hang up their boots, I would have that day sooner than later. Because if it happens after 2-3 years India’s chances for the 2011 WC will be severely dented. Ah.. Did I mention something about emotion and passion in the beginning?

I am pakistani and a fan of Pakistan Team. I think the problem starts when Ganguly drop from the team and Dravid became the Captain. Ganguly was the best captain india ever had. Dravid was the best batsman. But india drop the best captain and after Dravid became the captain india also lost best batsman. I think india should again appoint Ganguly as Captain with Yuv as a vice captain so he may have some experience after 2/3 years because yuv is a fighter. Sachin should retire like inzi (who is much better match winner than sachin) no doubt he is one of the best batsman but when you say professionalism like aus then he should be replaced. in aus no big name can survive without performance like hyden, macgrath and even the great gilchrist.

Regards

Most of the comments are centred around India losing to Sri Lanka as the reason why India is not in the super 8. In reality India is not in because they lost to Bangaladesh. All teams qualified did not win all matches. India vs Sri Lanka was a well balanced match and any one could win where as Bangaldesh match was the must win match. Big teams cannot afford to loose to the weaker teams it is OK to lose to anotherbig team as SA lost to Aus, that does not mean SA will not make the semis. But if SA lose to Ire or Bangaldesh they may not make it.

What rubbish! Now you are blaming the fans for the miserable performance of the team. How ridiculous can it get? Are you saying that cricket shouldn't be as popular as it is today? Aren't there other sports in the world where players have to perform under pressure? Do you ever watch football?

It sounds just a very easy excuse to me. Because corruption exists and the game is very popular, the team can not perform on the field. There we have it. No more analysis is needed.

Why are you hiding the real issues that lead to this debacle. The poor planning and selections over last few years. The incompetence of Greg Chappell as the coach. The axing and humiliation of Ganguly. The mistreatment of players such as Kaif, Mongia, Pathan, Gambhir, Powar and RP Singh. God knows what Chappell has done with Pathan. Now he is trying to overhaul Dhoni.

With everything there as it is, the Indian team under John Wright and Sourabh Ganguly would never have made the first round exit.

Hi everyone
More upsets in match results in 2007 world cup, only brought to high light how the team been managed. The teams who thought will be in super eights (Indian and Pakistan) has some similar qualities of team management, include selections, coaching and Captioning. Let’s put it this way, who is responsible for the losses in the matches in cricket??? Coach?? or Players (included Captain) in my way of looking at the world sports such a ice hockey, base ball, basket ball and even Foot ball games, players only play and coach manage the games to win. its a great takeaway for anyone see those sports been top of the highest paid sports in world for accuracy, fairness and entertainment. There fore coach need to be the leader to make the teams wins and held accountable for the results... players jus need to play the game. That’s why the Coaches been paid big bucks. I hope this will change to Coach managing cricketing to revleve the pressure off the players to jus to play.
Thanks

I think Greg chappell is responsible for the downfall of Indian cricket. he has created so much confusion in the name of experimentation that every player forgot HIS ROLE IN TEAM..Over the years Tendulkar developed himself as an opener for the country.. But Greg asked him to bat at no. 4 which took of the pressure from the oppossition team and allowed them to overpower India..Just imagine tendulkar taking on the bowlers early on.. what Impact it would have created on the oppossitions mind..Just like jayasurya or Matthew Hayden doing for their team..In every important match for India the pair of Ganguly and tendulkar has clicked...cricket is a team effort not individual game.. Both t'dulkar and ganguly have supported each other in all the opening p'tnerships they had..dravid was just like a back up in team supported by laxman in the middle.. I agree that greg chappell has done good job in Bowling Department but u always need batsmen to support good bowlers..As for dravid he never was a good captain as he lacked common sense on field.. He lacked that aggression which ganguly had.. He has always failed to put pressure on oppossition at the right time.. He has been a very cool captain not bothering about the indian fans...he is dumb in taking strong decisions and fails under pressure..It always looked like he has been brainwashed by coach greg in team selection..It was clearly seen that the team lacked unity..and were playing only for their personal records..Look at australia.. they only play for the record of winning..I think john Wright was better than Greg because he exactly knew what it takes to be the coach of Indian team..Greg just over hyped everything and tat's why he failed as a coach.. John always got respect from Indian fans as he himself respected them and knew how much they are attached to their team and country..whereas coach greg is concerned he only knew to show his middle finger to public..He has been the most controversial coach India has ever seen..U cannot experiment the same things u do in Australia..Australia as a country is different and India as a country is different..Australian is rugby playing nation and are very stong.. whereas in India the emphasis of growth is always on the intellect.. Look at Indian cricketers they have their own 5 star restaurents which they will look after their retirement..may venture into some other busines b'cause of their popularity.. and will be successful in it..whereas coach greg is concerned he may not even be considered for the job of coach by any team in future..He has failed miserably!!!

Those of you who think that India and Pakistans early exit means that Bookies will sit idle live in fools paradise rumours are already circulating that Aus VS SA was fixed the way smith became retired hurt all of a sudden and turned the whole game around was quite suspicious,the wayward bowling by both sides it looked more like a wwwf wrestling match spectacular to watch but some how gave the outlook of a fake contest.
Again ICC provided the perfect conditions to make it happen.It seems somebody in ICC has a masterplan for WC 07 and its being implemented quite effectively.

India is one of the largest nations in the world with Cricket as a religion. But why does India keep losing most of the time, when abroad ? Does it mean that there are no good players in India ? I strongly feel that there are a lot of young talented players and they are not given chance by the politics around BCCI. That's why few players remain forever in the team even though they don't play well. Please bring in the ones who are good allrounders and are good at fielding but not the so-called "specialists and seniors" who can't even run properly for the fear of injury. I appeal to everyone to reduce the importance of cricket which would prevent the commercialisation of the sports.

India is a cricket crazy nation, with a fan base of over One billion. Just because a few people go out of their way to act irrationally, doesn't mean that the entire nation is insane. And Indians are still a good side. Every team has its ups and downs, and this is just a bad time for the team. Probably, this will be a welcome break for the team to consider their options and start all over. I am just hoping for a more vital, and youthful side.

High time Sachin should retire. Shame that they are thinking of making him captain.

From 1.1 billion people, we are not even capable to train 11 players, we have to depend on old and big headed people like Zahirkhan,Sachin and Sehwag. Until sports will not free from these politicians and opportunist like Sharad Pawar and Niranjan Shah, our standard of sports will not come to international standard. They are totally aware that memory of Indian people is very short, they will forget within few days and that's why they are taking advantages. I think now people should wake up and oppose these corrupt politicians; otherwise we are going to loose next world cup also.
Jai Hind

World cricket need Pak and Ind. Winning the world cup without beating Pak and Ind will be a little less confincing. Who knows what is wrong with these two teams. The way they dealt with the minnows are really confusing. They should have beaten them. Anyway it is history now and the super 8's a bit of a dissapointment. Hopefully SA can regroup after our loss.

We wanted our neighbours India and Pakistan in the Super 8s. Unfortunately, they are out. But this is not the end of Cricket, they will bounce back in the coming months and in the next world cup. For this world cup, the Indians and Pakistanis are kindly requested to cheer the Sri Lankan team. We look forward for our team to repeat their 1996 performance.

As a cricket lover, I am not so happy that team like India and Pakistan will not participate in the Super 8s. As a Bangladeshi, I am delighted that we are participating there. Even though, I believe my country won't do much there, but a statement has already been made. India as giant neighbor could have been more positive in developing neigboring cricket. Sorry that Dalmia and Sourav are not there. They were more positive in developing our cricket than the present regime. The current regime doesn't want us to play in India because they believe it wouldn't bring in much money. Where goes Cricket?!

How ironical it is that Bangladesh is mainly responsible to cause a great monetory loss to the current regime by kicking India out of the World Cup.

I think the team selection is completely political. One can make this out from the beginning. media ia also part of this drama. They hardly get their act together. They never follow and finish a story. Imagine the bench strength for India (in Batting) - NIL. Dinesh Karthik/Irfan Pathan/Sreesanth/Anil Kumble - these guys have to be considered as replacements for batting. Laxman has been completely killed for the stupidity. We knwo the fiteness levels of Tendulkar/Sourav/rahul Dravid. Tendulkar for one is a big liability to this country. I think he shoudl just reitere.

India slip is really good for cricket. India were going with big names rather than good performances of players like POWAR. I think AGARKAR should be given exit & young players like R.P.Singh, Sreesanth should be given more chances. I think INDIA shold find good spinners soon especially left armers & leggies. Players like Kaif, Raina should be given more chance. Enough with experience players. Youth should be given more importance. India were out of world cup when sehwag was out against bangladesh. We didnt had the spirit & body language which we had in last world cup which was clearly seen from body language of players. Give coach the pick team rather than selectors who are selecting players from their region. There is nothing Greg can do about this. It is all up to players to perform.

I think a lot of good will come out of the early exit of India and Pakistan . Heads will , hopefully , roll for the non performing past it icons . Theam selection will be based at least a bit more on merit . Opportunity will come the way of new talent which deserve to be given the opportunity .

More importantly , there will be a huge increase of interest in cricket in Bangla Desh and Ireland - both the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland .

At leasat as far as the Pakistan team is concerned , I am sure if they play the Pakistan " A " team they will loose and loose badly , if they have the courage to play . This is how bad the selection process is in Pakistan .

The Indian elimination may be due to the fact that the Gods felt threatened with the sudden elevation of Indian cricketeers from Demigod to godly status in the 2007 World cup.

I agree. If only to keep the news hungry visual media and the crazed sponsors quiet for a while.

I think Dravid is responsible for india's early exit from WC.
He can not bind the team together,have no plans,doesnt know how to use bowlers,put so much pressure on every batsman.result wud have been different,had he come at no. 6 position in batting.Dhoni,Yuvraj,Sachin were not used acc. to their strength.
batting line up against Bermuda was so planned and it shud have been verses S.Lanka too.but due to Dravid everything happened.HE SHUD BE AXED FROM THE TEAM .not only as captain but as a player too.There is absolutely no need for such players in indian team.
Yuvraj shud be the new captain.

It's a good experience for BCCI look to be very arrogant for last year. Even always apposing and refusing ICC's views. Also BCCI needs to invest in some productive areas.....like India doesn't need imported Coach or biomachanic but needs professional selection committee to select players.
Just appoint some Australians or South Africans on selection committee and give them rights to select team free from quota system. I would like to request Mr.Sharad Pawar not to ruin Indian Cricket…..To win BCCI elections and to crush Dalmiya is not only our target…..Dalmiya atleast not killed game…..Please keep in mind….

Unlike you or Mukul - I am just a big fan of Indian cricket and would have loved to see India in the Super eight - even with help from rains.
While the whole nation of cricket followers and some (like Imran who are waiting for an opportunity to belittle ) are beating Sachin tendulkar blue - I am a proud fan of Sachin. I would blame him only if he plays a horrendous shot like he did to Giles in the Natwest trophy - trying to play a forward defensive stroke to an incoming delivery at 92 mph is not irresponsible and the inside edge getting to the wicket is a little bit of bad luck combined with newness to the crease (ask Chamara silva - how many edges flew close..)
Yes, Dravid abandoned the Chappel strategy and we paid the price for it. Now, coming back to Sachin - his problem lies with trying to be too much of ateam man - he just has to take on the Mcgrath's and Muralis just like how he took on the Warnes and Akhtar's (who by the way did not seem to have exploited his so called 'weakness' for the incoming delivery).
Let Sachin not be unduly bothered about playing any role other than the destroyer of reputations of the bowlers world over - let the Dravids, Yuvrajs and Kaifs nudge around and get to victory (that is exactly what worked against Pak last world cup)
The cricket team had one off-day with Bangla and they are thrown out - it is fine - I will still support Team India - they do not owe us anything (how stupid can John get) - they are just entertainers - how many superstars of Bollywood are crucified because they turned out a bad performance - Thank you Team India for all the great times you have given us and I am sure you will give more in the future

Interesting thoughts something i have already subscribed to ages ago and normally people dont agree - look it is simple if you have more than a star or 2 in your team or a DREAM TEAM this is what is going to happen - look at the US basketball DREAM TEAM of Majic Johnson and Micheal Jordan lost to Serbia (if i am not wrong) in an Olympics match. Same happened to Pakistan in 2003 too many big names - Pakistan was on the road up after 2003 WC debacle because there were no big names as Wasim & Waqar - Saeed Anwar - it is not that players are bribed - it is just that they leave it for one another to perform and by the time they realise it is too late. Lets say no body betted and lets say everything is clean then that shows how unprofessionally these professionals played.

Another good example is the English Premiership how many overseas professional make their mark in the Premiership and the European leagues but when they play world cups for their countries - we know what happens - come on Beckham is one of the most expensive players and he did nothing for England in recent history. Unfortunately that is the story of profesional sports and their players but lets not forget that cricket is not there yet with football and these defeats to India and Pakistan might just keep it from getting there YET!

India's early exit must serve as an eye opener to the Media and the BCCI. The Media is half as responsible as the players and the BCCI for exalting the status of mere mortals and painting a rosy picture with all those cheap advertisemnts.
The BCCI on it's part did nothing other than pursuing their sinister goal of making as much money as possible. The Indian psyche is such that we tend to shift the blame on others for our own bungling. Greg Chappell is a case in point. He came into the reckoning with a clear vision of overhauling the system albeit with some experiments which were disasters. We ought to have taken him into confidence and yielded to his suggestions. However the BCCI made sure that he had little or no say in the selction of the final 15 for the world cup. Poor Vengsarkar, even he had to yield to Dravid's whims and fancies. The coach is not to be held solely responsible for this defeat as it is of our own making. As a coach one can only provide an insight on how to go about one's task. The coach cannot take the field instead of the player's. The most depressing part was Dravid's captaincy which was less than inspiring. I hope the following suggetions would be of use in the future

Suggestion 1: Bring in a desi coach
oppurtunity : No culture clash
Risk : Outdated approach

Suggestion 2 : Revert to the opening pair of sourav and sachin
oppurtunity : Time tested and a succesful approach
Risk : An ageing sachin who is nowhere near his prime.

It is good that India and Pakistan is out of the tornament. The huge loss suffered by Set Max will stop non sports channels to enter into broadcasting big sporting events. The 3rd class telecase and advertisement as soon as the last ball of the over is bowled will not irritate viewers. At times the last ball is a no ball, but the add starts even before they realise the their is one extra ball in the over. The part time commentry team are also nowhere near to the class of ESPN STAR Sport team. It becomes really difficult to keep one awake in the late night matches in such a dull commentry and poor telecast. Those who have put money ahead of the spirit of cricket will definetly learn a lesson from this. Though I feel very bad for the traven agents who have to suffe huge losses due to the exit of the Indian team.

I think too much is always made about the money earned by the cricketers whenever they lose. Its unjustified in my view and probably reflects on the envy that we have since we cannot earn that much. Most people with extra ordinary talents would wish to reach the top and earn a lot of money. People dream of doing MBA from harvard and join an investment bank and rake in millions every year till they retire. A top doctor or an engineer would similarly earn huge amount of money till he voluntarily stops working. We need to understand that when we discuss test cricketers, we are talking about best few men among billions around the world. They make a lot of sacrifices to get to the top level like giving up on academic careers or any other talent that they may have. Cricket becomes their only source of earning. Also unlike most of us who keep on earning till the age of say 60, the earning time span for them is far less, not more than 8-10 years till they are at the top of their game. So I do not see much wrong in trying to maximize their earning during that time. How many ex cricketers do we know who live comfortably and how many sad stories have we heard about how a once great player is struggling to make ends meet. Let us not assum that providing for the families and future of children is not something a cricketer should worry about.

To imply that they play for money and put it above the country or the game is difficult to digest for me as I have read that top players do not commit more than 8-10 days in a year for the brand endorsements which is quite reasonable.

I am completely disgusted with the Indian team's performance but do not think it has anything to do with money. The money has come into the game in last 10-15 years. Was the Indian team performing better in the 70s and 80s when they were not earning so much ? Not at all. In fact India was regarded as a minnow and the stronger teams often sent their second string sides to play India.

terrible article mukul, its as if india and pakistan are an evil force, you have the same type of contempt for these two as english football fans have for man utd or chelsea. its not india and pakistans fault that they are, on their day, so good. They may have slipped up here, but it is NOT good for the world cup for either to be out. The quality has greatly declined now that we have to make do with ireland and bangladesh, but isnt their fault, its all down to india and pakistan bungling. trust me, the world cup is going downhill from here...
having said that, i will be supporting ireland for the rest of the tournament, however long it lasts for them. ireland have done themselves proud, they really have gone forward a long way, bangladesh however will be brought down to earth with a massive bang, i can see them getting big headed and cocky already, for the time being they can wine and dine on beating india along with sri lanka, both of whom hate india equally.

Australia
Sri Lanka
West Indies
New Zealand
South Africa
England
Bangladesh
Ireland

The next few weeks are gona be great - too bad for the Indian fans that they will be too bored and for the peeps in the W.I - money wasted lol.

My opinion India is out of ICC WC is very good and healthy for cricket. The nature of cricket has changed since Hong Kong Sixers started in 90s. Indians top order have hard time batting aggressively let alone hitting sixers every other overs. My opinion Indian top order is other teams bottom order. You can't teach Indian old top order dogs new tricks.

My opinion most other teams have no money motive to win ICC.

I have new equation for Indian top order.
Overpaid + Under perform = 420.

Now we are getting past the madness stage into the sublime ridiculous stage. People calling for the sacking of Dravid or asking Sachin to retire should have their head examined. Sachin has been the mainstay of our team for ages, so much so that Dravid had to ask him to bowl 7-8 overs against SL knowing fully well that the little man would deliver the goods - and he did. Sure he has failed with the bat and India has not qualified, so what? Heavens are not going to fall down. He is justt 33 years and had atleast 4 years of solid cricket left in him. Tell me, who is going to replace him? Is the Indian bench strength overflowing with talent? No.We've all seen what fantastic performances that guys like Gambhir, Mongia, Raina, Kaif et al came up with.And why the hell are we judjing players based on ODI performances? Test cricket is what should be the benchmark. Sachin still has a lot to offer. And the talk of replacing Dravid with Ganguly is even more disgusting. Darvid is a class act; look how he put up his hand and owned moral responsibility. He is one of the three players (Sachin & Kumble being the other two) who is non-controversial, a clean decent guy and a fabulous cricketer. It is only in a life time that we get such good captains and we want to chuck him for a single loss. WE are losing our marbles here. WE are over-reacting and if we can show the same anger aginst our politicians who are responsible for our country and our future then we would be doing the right thing. Not picking on our cricketers. Why can't we just watch matches and be done with? What gives us the divine right to stone these players' houses or burn their effigies? Will we do that to our political leaders? No way. Do that and they will literally kick the shit out of us. We pick on cricketers because they are a soft target. Don't we have better and more important things to do in our life? Get a grip guys.

Here is one more author as I read more about the performance of the Indian cricket team. I refer to the last blog of his which goes onto hail the same Indian team a match before the world cup with his passion. Ofcourse we Indians are hypocrites all right. But to torment a team one day and opposite when they lose is shameful to cricket in general as a game. My question to all readers would be asking a simple question. Does a so called minnow have allowance to win a game or not? Is it necessary whether it was Australia, Southafrica or India?
What good is the ICC in promoting cricket if Bangladesh and Ireland are in the world cup or any international game only to lose? Just because they played well on their days and made a show of it, the country goes in frenzy.
Its pathetic to know that no one is out there supporting the wins of Bangladesh and Ireland who sweated out to win their games.
All teams when joining cricket would have been minnows at their days. So was India at one time. We were washed out in 1979. 1983 was unexpected. How the mighty WestIndians were crushed?
I think this is what cricket needs. It needs more competition from other nations apart from the 8 that have played it. Its a chance to unite the world under this.

I don't see anything good in this at all. You seem to be deluding yourself so you won't feel that bad. It is not good for world cricket or indian cricket. All it is, is a reality based on facts, that the indian team sucked. Nothing to feel god about or find things to feel good about. That would be sadist, or probably a feeling best explained by your psychiatrist.

The Indian cricket requires reshuffling. they should get rid of all the oldies and bring in fresh 18 to 22 year olds. The present guys are so arrogant that they think they have gold coming out of them. They need to be taught a lesson. Tendulkar is so slow and blind that he could not see the ball swish past him. Dravid cannot make proper decision. Agarkar and Harbajan should be put to rest on an old shelf. Doni should be given a lesson that he can be replaced. If this team comes to UK in June for the test they will be washed out in the rain that falls in England disrupting the games. The Indian team has prooved that they can only beat players like the Bermuda team. Hope the selection teams would look at the game rather than any politics like having their cousins in the team. Sack the useless coach. India will be better off with Indian coach? And save. I am disgusted by their performance and hope to see some real cricket cup.

In my opinion we pick on crickers because:
They represent national team
They get paid by Govt. branch
They play in public forum
Millions watch their performance or lack of in real time
They want to be heros or zeros to millions mad followers including youngsters who look up on them
And more reasons..... (please fill in fellows)

I was very delighted to see my country win over the so-called giant INDIA. The country that fails to respect player like Sourav Ganguly and his contribution to Indian cricket, must face the order of the nature. After earning the international status, India never took any positive initiative as to improve the cricket of Bangladesh thinking if they invited Bangladesh to host, they will loose money. Greediness opens the path of destruction and it comes gradually. What India did with the great Mohammad Azharuddin, was not his fate rather was imposed on him and the most successful captain of Indian cricket history remained quiet helpless. It is the law of nature - newton also proved it that every action has its reaction. Indian team and its players are its biggest enemies. It is no different than Pakistan.

In any case, it was really unexpected for me to see our both India and Pakistan out of WCC. I am sure the Indian and Pakistan team will emerge even stronger in the coming months and Bangladesh will too follow their foot steps.

If I choose to be arrogant like Indians, I would say, if Indian fans and players haven't understood the power of Bengal tigers and the win over India is still a question or if they still doubt, wait untill India comes to Bangladesh in MAY!

However, ENJOY YOUR VACATION WATCHING BANGLADESH AND SRI LANKA PLAY IN THE SUPER 8! HAHA....

The reason India and pakistan perform so sporadically in major tournaments, has more to do with the pressure exerted on them by fans from home rather than the inabilities of the team itself. No matter how many youngsters you bring into the side, and train, they will inevitably follow in the footsteps of the current team. A case is point is Mahendra Singh Dhoni. When he first burst onto the scene, he was a big hitter, yes, but also supposed to be a "fearless cricketer". I personally still believe he is. But what happened as he gained more and more success, was that expectations grew of him. A man originally meant to keep wickets, and explode against modest bowling on flat wickets, while he rotated up and down the order, suddenly became a consistent middle order batsman expected to bail the team out when the top order failed. To Dhoni's credit, he's chased down several games for us, and provided the impetus at the end of an innings, but the more pressure placed on him, the more likely it is that he will morph into another Tendulkar (A great talent, and an accomplished batsman, but "inconsistent" in the eyes of the media and the public)
When Dhoni tries to play the role of the big hitter, he is criticised for playing recklessly; when he knuckles down and grafts a fluent innings with a decent strike rate, there will be speculation that he's lost his touch, and the crowd will demand big hitting once more.
The bottom line is that while India's massive cricketing public is a boon for the team in many ways, it is a curse in others. I am confident that any youngster following this current team will do no better, not until the whole nation is rectified.
Which is why, I believe that this current team should still be unchanged; Sachin, Sourav and Rahul should play till 2011, Dhoni, Sehwag and Yuvraj have grand careers ahead of them, and the bowling is the only department that needs a makeover.
Ponting may appear a fantastic batsman, but what makes Sachin's record so spectacular, is that he's scored 25,000 International runs with a billion people breathing down his neck.
So let's all back off and let the team recover on their own time. The world cup defeat is as much their loss as ours.

I think all you people criticizing Sachin, Sourav and Rahul should have your heads examined. ganguly's performed more consistently than anyone in world cricket since his comeback; the only time he failed was in this Sri Lankan clash. Tendulkar is at a stage when he is playing fully for the team, and you can see it in him. He fields with more commitement than even Yuvraj, and his batting is still the best in the world. And Dravid, albeit still has a lot to learn about leadership, is still our stable wall. Enough has been said about karthik or Raina or even Gambhir. Karthik is about as useless a cricketer as the journalists speculating about the reasons for the team's loss. He has no experience, no sense, no reason, and he is a selfish batsman. never once has he played for the team. Dhoni, despite his poor world cup showing, has put it in his best with the gloves every time. the moment a cricketer gains fame in India, it is assumed that he is a bigger star than he is a good cricketer. So just shut up about the team, leave it be the way it is; sack the coach, give the team a chance, let Sachin, Sourav and Rahul play till the 2011 world cup, and let the billion Indian followers learn to shut up for once.

To call yourself a bengal tiger is about as ridiculous as reading the article that said India and Pakistan's exit was good for cricket. The only point I agree on with you is that Ganguly was treated unfairly. The three giants of Indian and world cricket, Sachin, Sourav and rahul should continue for a long time.
In the meanwhile, Bangladesh can go to you-know-where. You have a team of cocky, arrogant little ... who need a dose of reality. When we come to Bangladesh in may, we'll certainly find out who the superior team is. In the meanwhile, why don't you watch your team's progress in the super 8; my guess is, it'll be the fastest elimination in the middle stages of a world cup ever.

to those baffoons criticising Ganguly-try watching a few games before letting you petty prejudices take over. Ganguly averaged over 50 in his 3 WC games and he was the only top order batsman to get over 50 against Bangladesh. Yes he failed against Sri Lanka but then so did most of the team!

India needs a team, not 11 players..

At certain points this discussion seemed to move a bit away from the main topic and one such instance was, 'Anjo' saying Murali a chucker and then 'Pradeep' asking about Lasith Malinga's action.

And Rohan gave a very good answer to that about Malinga's action. Yes, you shoud give it a try and see how it is to bend your arm bowling round arm. You'll see.

And about Murali, I think you need to hear this explanation.
Before the rules were changed, a fast bowler, a medium pace bowler and a spinner were allowed to bend their arm 10, 7.5 and 5 degrees respectively. After so called "Chucking" issues, ICC conducted a surway during the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy which held in England. They measured the action of every bowler who bowled during that tournament (And I need not say that all the Test playing nations participated in that tournametn) and they found out that Ramnaresh Sarwan of West Indies was the only leagal bowler according to then-rules. Everyone else was bending the arm more than allowed. In short, everyone was breaking the law.

Now, who's the chucker? Though everyone was happy accusing Murali, everyone else too was bowling illegally. McGrath and Lee were chuckers. So were Bond, Harbajan or Pollock. Not just Murali.

Hence, ICC was left with only two options. Either they had to ban all the bowlers who broke the law (and think about it, you would have only Sarwan to bowl for all the teams!), or allow everyone to continue and change the rules to a fair way so that everyone is treated the same. That's how the new 15 degree rule came in. Now, regardless of whether the bowler is a spinner or a paceman, everyone can bend their arm upto 15 derees, which is only fair.

So, people, don't call Murali a chucker! If he is, so are the others!

Secondly, Mukul, about you saying the South Asians involved in match fixing. They may have, but don't forget Cronje, Gibbs, Warne or Mark Waugh. They confessed their guilt! Only Cronje got a serious penalty. Warne and the rest are treated like nothing happened and you never accuse those countries of match fixing. Only the Asians to be blamed? Shame on you!!!

We missed Phattan & Mohd Kaif.

If both are in the world cup squad, result could be different.

One is a good all-ronder & other is a wonderful batsman plus awsome filder.

Girish,
CA, LA

Mukul's latest article on this blog and some of the other post-mortem articles on Cricinfo are as corny, predictable as they are disappointing. Readers do expect articles devoid of such flashy rhetoric and hope for better judgement and understanding from these senior cricket experts. Every single time India has played poor cricket to lose a tournament, a line of calls for change has been imminent. Suggesting that the game in India has suddenly become a Frankenstein, or that the talent we have in India is rotten, or that this will help cleanse the dirt in the system or that Indian players are suddenly physically unfit is quite clearly hyperbole rather than any good sense. What if India had gone on to the next round or even all the way? Yes in the aftermath of this early exit, some tough decisions regarding the performances of players will and must happen, but to suggest that the game as a whole in India has come to some form of cross-roads reflects badly on the understanding of the larger scale and scheme of cricket in India. The game will go on. For a writer to shun patriotism and think objectively is commendable, but to partake in unreasonable, bigoted, accusational and anti-national journalism is pretty sad. To imagine that we need to exorcise some demons in the closet is an exercise in panic and hallucination.

The dumd asses did not play like they wanted to win. So what if they set a new record, it will be posted in a book. Where is the thrpohy?
This event takes place every 4 years which they had the time to prepare, so there should have been some urgency to win. By the time for the next World Cup these players will be a bunch of washed up old farts sitting in front of the
TV saying shouda-coulda-woulda. Indian cricket is corrupt.

Why do you guys make such a big issue about the loss? India is a known slow starter. Remember in 2003 World Cup, they started disastrously losing very badly to Australia, everybody started burning effigies of the players but the boys picked themselves up after the 3rd match and reached the final. This time, the format is different and they did not get a second chance. Even Australia lost to Bangladesh once last year and Sri Lanka lost to Kenya in a World Cup match 4 years ago. The big positive from this loss is that Greg Chappell may now get kicked out. This guy is the real villain. He ruined the careers of young cricketers like Pathan and Raina which is a bigger harm to Indian cricket than the World Cup loss.

Now you guys know how West Indies felt in 1983 when they had a far superior side to us and lost the final.
How can I say they were better.......they came over to India less than 6 months later and absolutely mauled us in both the Tests and One-day matches. Now they were true champions......gifted, athletic, underpaid and most importantly PROUD........THEIR GREATNESS LIES IN THE FACT THAT THEY HATED TO LOSE AND TO DISAPPOINT THEIR PUBLIC. Total combined population of those islands is less than 5 million wich is smaller than some single cities in India. Comapare this to our so-called superstars........worshipped by a population of 1 billion and richer than all those former greats combined.........for all their money and popularity they can not win a major international tournament or even post a winning away record. I guess the solution to keeping Indian cricket fans happy is to keep all the matches in India!

I do not know what game you guys who defend Ganguly are watching......he should consider himself very lucky to have been selected for as long as he has. Please tell me of any other test or one-day opening batsman who is completely at sea against short-pitched bowling the way he is. Look at the players down the years......Gavaskar, Richards, Lara, Tendulkar, Ponting. These guys know how to take on aggressive fast bowlers and hook or pull when it is on. Richards did it for 16 years without a helmet!!!!! Ganguly looks like a lost schoolboy next to these chaps and when he gets frustrated he charges and plays some ghastly, agricultural shots. Stats are not everything......he can't handle quality aggressive fast bowling and he does not have the ability or resources to adjust when things are not going his way!

This will keep happening as long as the present selection system stays in place. Players think that it there god give right to be in the team once they are selected into the team. The players act as if the JOURNEY IS OVER, I AM ON TOP OF THE WORLD...(here come endorsements blah blah blah...). The one key word that a player always uses freely is FORM.. media and commentators say that is OK that you have a off year.. it is Ok in DOMESTIC not in INTERNATIONAL sir. You have got to elevate the domestic cricket in INDIA to levels in AUSTRALIA or even the Baseball leagues in America.. the core concept is you have to be in shape (form) all the time, so that players who are clicking well get to play ODI. Then there will be no question of form. some kind of league system within India adequatly sponsored will get us the right pool of talent to pick the team for ODI. Please someone in BCCI listen to this suggestion and get it started. NO MORE STOP GAP FIXES.

I agree with Mukul's comment. I am a long-time avid follower of Cricket-India and I've decided to give up cricket-watching as a hobby after the toothless show last weekend,. I've been fooling myself into thinking all-along that Indian team has the potential but don't play consistently but after a series of mediocre games I am convinced that they are not just capable and only play second and third-rung teams well. I am not going to give one more cent or spend one more hour of my time to this madness where 1 billion people are being cheated and held hostage to a cricket-team that is not any better than say Indian soccer or hockey (ie. we suck). We are better off as a nation taking this billions of dollars and investing on other sports where we have a chance in the future..
It is not just an angry outburst of a life-long cricket fan(atic) but someone who has become rational and realistic.

Senthil

There should be movement among cricket loving public so that they should stop buying any product endorsed by some of the self serving cricketers and administrators.If a particular cricketer is not performing or giving more than 100% then we should stop buying any product endorsed by them. If administrators are not providing decent facilities to viewing public during matches then boycott those matches. Violence is not a solution, if we unite and demand what we should get for our hard earned money then only these sleeping giants would wake up.

girish phattan was in the squad, just didn't play, we need someone to replace sehwag, he is out of form and like ganguly did before, he should be out of the team for a while to gain his form again. we have players like bose in india that are better than brett lee and asif sitting at home watching cricket while out of form players are in the squad.

now all of the blame would be put on the coach, when ... no good selectors gave coach 14 idiot players. dravid is a great player and a very good captain but he supported sehwag why???.

if they just wanted to score a zero, they should called on me to play as i can score a big 0 too.

The more I think of it, the more convinced I get that the only reason for this article is to get published on BBC. It presents a very myopic view of the reality on the ground and has a touch of self-loathing that is found in some people of the sub-continent.

I propose Kapil Dev as the next coach for Team India. If we are going to get a foreign coach, please not from Australia.

Form a selection panel with people who have guts. Don't get swayed by public opinions and don't read the blogs. Spend your time watching and evaluating players instead. Don't look at the last-names or the place of residence. Have a plan and then pick the team.

And people, please stop demeaning the players when they fail. Tendulkar, Ganguli, Dravid and Sehwag have given a lot to Team India. They need the support not the abuse. Not to say that they can't be criticized or dropped. When there is time for change, make the change. But support'em until then. The players need the support and the confidence when they are in the team.

Dear sir/madam:

No matter, whether we like it or not, Cricket is linked to our national pride and the team's performance in field does impact the country's image in people's mind.

I would like to bring few facts to your attention, which I think are making Indian Cricket go the way Indian Hockey went where our team slid from being world #1 to being a constant national embarrassment. These are:

1. Performance gap between the team of Australia and India has been steadily widening in place of narrowing that we might have hoped.* This is in spite of great popularity of Cricket in India and in spite of Indian Cricket board being far the richest in the world.

2. Physical fitness of top teams like Australia have greatly improved while fitness of Indian team has remained constant or further declined. This has created a wide gap between the Indian team and those who are in top physical form.

Cricket is No Chess! Playing cricket requires top class physical strength, stamina, agility, endurance in addition to skills, intelligence and talent. Fact that cricket is played over 100 overs (which translate to about 8 hours) unlike other sports which require only 2-3 hours, makes physical stamina and endurance even more important.

While other teams complement their skills with excellent physical strength, agility and stamina , Indian players lose any edge in skill and talent because of poor physical fitness.
Only Yuvraj among current players has the skill and fitness level that can match top athletes/players from teams like Australia.

3. Rahul, Sachin and Saurabh have been main stay of Indian batting for about 10 years now. They are ageing and tiring yet, there is no replacement is in sight. There are no young batsmen who has shown enough promise, talent and performance to seriously challenge them now and to adequately replace them when they retire. If it remains this way, it can sink Indian team further once this trio retires which may not be that far away.

4. Indian spin bowling resources are running nil! In the country once famous for its spin bowling, today, there is no real replacement for aged Anil Kumble and no real challenge to Harbhajan Singh among young players. This is a matter of national shame and actually, a matter of great urgency. Our greater guiles and greater skills in spin bowling could have helped us make up for our lack in other areas now, quality spin bowling too might become one of our serious lacks. Perhaps, it is a high time to recognize our spin bowling heroes like Bedi, Chandra, Prassana and to start a real spin bowling academy!

5. General fitness level of our players is very poor and to make it worse, they have shown lack of any real motivation to gain and maintain top level physical fitness on their own. This is among the main reasons that we are being left farther behind by the teams much fitter than ours in spite of being more or less equal or better to teams like Australia and South Africa in terms of sheer talents and skills. We need a courageous and bold change*** to change this poor attitude and in order to ensure that our team is fit enough to compete with the best in the world.

6. Cricket is no longer a leisurely gentleman's only game. It has entered the era of TOUGH, competitive, professional international sports in which those who are 'tougher' win far more often than not.

In addition to making one physically strong, rigorous physical exercise and training also makes one. . . mentally 'tougher'. With little attention, we can easily see that those who are weak and 'unfit physically, those who lack physical stamina and endurance, lose heart and give up far more quickly than those who are physically strong and are bursting with energy and stamina. We can see it everyday in International Cricket, now***.

With warm regards and best wishes,
Arvind

---

* Increasing performance gap between Australia and India
=================================================

In 1985, India won Benson and Hedges cup in Australia without losing even a single match. After reviewing Indian performance, Ian Chapel said that India team was the strongest and most well suited for ODIs and that India might become the #1 force in ODIs.

In 1996, India was favorite to win he World cup but, was eliminated only because of having to bat second against Srilanka on a crumbling wicket Calcutta wicket.

In 2007, India was ranked 6th among ODI teams when entering the world cup.

*** Physical toughens can easily translate to mental toughness on the sports field
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We see that physical unfit players and physically unfit teams drop their shoulders quite easily while those who have strength and stamina fight till last and many times, win seemingly lost battles through their sheer endurance. Presence of strong, fit players is what makes a team like Australia fight much harder than others and it makes them 'outlasts' the opposition more often than not.

Among Indian players too, we can easily notice that fitter Players like Yuvraj or Kaif tend to fight Much Longer and last much longer than those who are physically unfit! We can see it by remembering the 'fighting win' against England in final when all seemed lost. And, also only 2 test centuries that Yuvraj made came when. . . everyone around him was crumbling.

******Courageous, bold measures are required to ensure that our team has physical fitness level comparable to those best in the field
=========================================================

Board, players and media in general, pay little to no attention to the issue of physical fitness gap between the Indian players and those from countries like Australia, South Africa. Importance of physical strength, agility and endurance in top level sports can not be over emphasized. This is where India lost big time in Hockey and now it has started to slide in cricket too.

Most players have shown little to no interest in maintaining themselves in top physical form and thus, changing it might require courageous and bold action on part of the board and selection committee. Set strict, high international standard fitness parameters, publish them in an open format, set a goal of 2 years and require every player to pass that level in order to play International Cricket for India.

For example, set a time-table of 2 years and require every test/ODI player to be able to run 9 miles in an hour, be able to 200 pushups, be able to throw ball 80 yards for 30 times in an hour.

Similarly, set a timetable, a strict physical fitness goal and require each player to meet them at first class level too and for all age groups. In addition to improving physical fitness level of the national team, this will also greatly change player's attitude towards discipline, practice, training and fitness which will bring great dividend to the team and greater unity and team discipline. Implementing them on first class level for all age groups will improve overall fitness among players in the country and greatly improve its awareness in addition to improving the bench strength.

Granted there will be some exceptions, where a relatively 'unfit' player can make the team because of being immensely talented such as a Shane Warne. However, an effort should be made to treat them as 'exceptions' and to keep these exceptions to a minimum. For example, a minimum of 80% of players in team should meet these criteria.

Among other things, setting open high standard for physical fitness would also provide simple, clear, straight-forward answers to questions like:

- Is Player 'A' fit to play.

- Is player 'B' too old to play.

- Should player 'C' retire (or not be selected )because he is too old and thus is not fit to play.

If you meet the fitness criteria, you are fit to play else you are not irrespective of your age. Simply meet the criteria and then practice and train to maintaining it and you are fit enough to play competitive professional sports at the highest level for India.

Wish my theory goes wrong. I don't think there will be any drastic changes in Indian team.The most they will do is remove Dravid from captaincy , then drop Dhoni or Zaheer .
BCCI and senior players ( class A contract) protect each other. After SA tour last year they dropped Raina, Kaif and Pathan and even VVS Laxman. They did not touch Sehwag, Sachin.
Its all about politics, power and money. There was no reason to bring Anil Kubble for WC looking at his fielding abilities and Oneday record. But Dravid helped him. If there is any decency/professionalism left in the players/or BCCI members or selectors you would have seen people stepping down ...

ANOTHER JP POST

I knew this would happen --> Ind/Pak getting kncoked out. One reason is that the 'Western' Coaches have sabotaged our teasm preparations for example look at the Ganguly/Chappell saga. It is a real possibility that these foreign Coaches come to our games to ruin and disrupt and setback our teams.

The 'Western' pundits must be loving the WC2007 now that Asias big guns are out especially people like Mard Nicholas that Anti-Asian commentator likewise with the Barry Richards and Racist Dean Jones.

In addition CRICKET IS NOT A RELIGION IN ASIA. This is a misconception drawn up by the WEstern media who fantasise about such things. I repeat Cricket is not a religion in ASia it is merely a PASSION.

With regard to A BILLION PEOPLE WATCHING INDIA. Again another false statement drummed up by the fantasist Western media and the Asians media seemed to have jumped on the bandwagon (inferior complex as usual). THE FACT IS half the country is thinking about living their normal lives: waking up , go to work TO EARN A LIVING, come home and spend time with family then go sleep. Half the nation has to worry about earning a living rather than watching sports. So maybe India has 600 Million fans not a Billion.

Regarding INDIA CAN'T FIND 11 CHAMPIONS OUT OF A BILLION.

I don't think the entire population play in the Ranji trophy now do they?

The talent has always been their but so has politics, when Dalmiya was in charge BENGAL players were favoured, NOw that MUMBAI POWER is in charge Maharashtra players get favoured.

In addition we always have a QUOTA policy whether we admit it or not. Ther has to be representations from all states and religions, THATS WHY Harbajan Singh played in all the crucial matches. How rubbish he played. So if the 11 greats cricketers of India are based all in Mumbai, they will never ever all get selected as the team has to comprise fromt he states of the land. What a shame. I dont care where the player is from or what religion.

Another questions is why we cant' find 11 world clas players in a pool of 'bILLION'

Well compared to smaller populous countries like NZ, SA and AUS you will find that they have HUNDREDS OF MORE SPORTING FACILITIES THAN YOU WILL FIND India. No point having large population if ther is nowhere for them to play. FACILITIES IS WHAT IS NEEDED, WHICH IS SSEVERELY LACKING IN SIAS WHEN COMPARED TO Western countRIES. Therefore PEOPLE should avoid and refrain from silly comments such as why can't India find this and that when they have a population of so and so. Please analyse the issues before making such trivial statements.

As for Ponting and Kallis they are the flat pitch bullies of all time. When the bowling is good they get found out but at this era of cricket there is a dearth in world class bowlers to get them out. But kudos to ponting for still putting them away as they should be.

The reason players such as SRT and BCL are not raking it in is because there bodies and minds are not what they used to be in SRT's case hes had back problems thorughout career then 1 year off with tennis elbow then another 6 months off with shoulder problem preventing him from bowling SPIN he always has broken toe and dislocated thumb. Masybe if he and BCL were 100% they would be profiting from the lacklustre bowling.

Oh yes and another thing when did HILHARA FERNANDO START BOWLING FAST, he only used to bowl 84mph thorught his career MAYBE HE NEEDS A STEROIDS TEST.

NZ to Win WC.

I have read some of your blogs and some of them made sense. But not this one. Being Passionate about a game is no sin and I believe in every part of the world there are people who behave in the same way for their favourite sport. Unfortunately we happen to be the second populous conunty in the world so the expecations rise that much higher. To castigate them like fanatics and wat not is uncalled for. Even now a avg cricket lover has taken this defeat in his stride and moved on. yeah it hurts to see papers and websites and some annoying blogs but life moves on. But I dont think you need to question the commitment of Indian Cricket players. Accepted that they were second best and they didnt deserve to go through and they didnt. And also according to your Theory India and Pakistan is where match fixing happens. If that is true they cant be out of the tournament so early, Can they? Talk abt their techniques, their mental frame work, their weakness not about the other stuff. I know like me there are so many Indians who love to see and play this game and we will still go and support India when India plays Bangladesh in May. Until that time see the world throught a different Window Mukul, if possible and if BBC still allows..

It is astounding how many armchair generals we have in our midst with perfect 20-20 hindsight. On the small matter of pointing out deficiencies in team selection after the results are out, they remain matchless (sic) :-)!!

I think it makes most sense for us fans and members of the public to provide broad feedback regarding potential areas of change. Delving into specifics, such as "fire Dravid", "make Yuvi captain", "retire Aggy", etc., is rather a fruitless exercise that just adds to the noise without having any hope of making a real impact. There is a small chance that decision-makers, who operate within the framework that governs cricket administration within the country, may heed sensible uncluttered feedback from the masses on future direction. Not so when the shrillness of a thousand different prescriptions bump into each other and get lost in the din.

The few suggestions I've heard that resonates when it comes to the subject of future focus includes...
- make fitness - strength and stamina - a priority
- build and reward teamwork...individual performance should be evaluated within the context of team objectives
- build a ruthless meritocracy (eliminate parochial decision drivers)
- provide incentive and rewards for high- performance (performance to include components like teamwork, fitness, etc., not just runs, wickets, catches, etc.); provide disincentives and starve non-performance
- concentrate on investing in youth (at the domestic and international levels)
- Build team-depth and bench-strength position by position, i.e., wicket-keeper, opening batsman, finisher, etc.

There are many different ways to successfully incorporate these strategies. The decision-makers should be the ones to identify the tactical approach and the action plan for accomplishing these strategic objectives.

My fingers are crossed. Cheers!

Ram: The current problem with two of the Big-3 is a certain softness that sometimes comes with age. They've lost the edge that is needed to raise your game when the going gets real tough. And it's not the seniors alone who've lost this capability. I think Harbhajan, Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, and Agarkar are also guilty...maybe among others. Dravid and Kumble, on the other hand, haven't lost their competitive edge, and they are two of the older lot. Sreesanth too is very spirited and on the basis of current temperament, doesn't get overawed by match situations. Dhoni is a question mark in my mind, although he gave a very poor account of himself in the Carib.

I'm not necessarily for or against the seniors / Big-3 retiring. It's just that without mental toughness and physical strength, no amount of talent and skill will prevent cricket in India from going the route of hockey.

Cheers!

i have to applaud the comment of duleep and
THIS S ALL WHAT I HAVE TO SAY;
kick the politics out of domestic boards..Game have to be cleaned from grassroot levels.We need to kick these corrupt SOuth indian politicians out of their boards.those south india board dont show there is politics ,but theres direct influence from them to the players.Look who gets selected to teams in southers parts of Indian states(Actually the problem is with this 1 state....we all know that....). plz let the good of the india suck out the poison from this south part and let we all be cured.....

my dear if you dont know about Dilhara Fernando Please dont talk about him, actually he started his carrier bowing at 92 mph, but within a year his performance came down due to fitness and injury ever since he was bowling around 84 mph but he occasionally came and bowled in some seasons at 90 mph, thanks to the new physio he looks good back again but he is injured again.

I watch every match Sri Lanka plays and have seen many times Dilhara bowling fast.

If you are one of those typical indians who can't watch Sri Lanka perform, dont watch the match any more.

Thats the most stupid point of view. This going to be the worst world cup ever. Aus made 300+ and SA gave good chase but no one is pumped up over that. India and Pak's exit has cost this world cup and cricket. your "plucky" Bangladeshis are going to be mauled by EVERY team except Ireland. Viewership will fall by 80%. Interest in Indian cricket will also fall, and ICC will be wasting time and money on "promoting cricket" in countries that couldn't care less about it. Cricket will be dead in a few years if this goes on.

I think India paid the price for leaving out match winners like VVS Laxman. Agreed that Laxman lacks in fielding and running between wickets but he would have certainly made a difference in atleast one of the matches that India lost. As long as our selectors give more importance to record makers than match winners, there is no hope for the team.

Indian Cricket, at the first class domestic, and international level, has to function more harmoniously. It is said that a gentleman from The Gujarat Cricket Association, is influential in the BCCI. If so, he must act, in concordance with advise of the knowledgeable personalities of Indian Cricket. Mr Sandeep Patil, Mr Gavaskar, Mr Vengsarkar, Mr Arun Lal, etc, must be allowed to render their services, if they so offer. The Indian Teams performance in the World Cup was due to an absence of confidence, and belief. Past performances do not matter. One must look at the situation, and circumstances, of a game, and 'Just Do It'.
I feel Mr Chappell had an unfortunate tenure as the Indian Coach. The Indian Players did not have confidence in him, and they also capitulated easily. Perhaps, if he was more articulate to the Indian Team, about his Vision, the situation may have been different.
Mr Vengsarkar, and Mr Patil, must be more visible on the coaching scene. Mr Lal, must give his valued opinion, on diverse matters, to the cricket administration, and, perhaps, should be a part of that administration, if he so desires. The Board, must work, around the enlightened opinion of certain gentlemen. Administration should be, if I may use the term, "cricket-centric". The Young People must be encouraged to play cricket, and take note of it's functioning.

While in the process of playing cricket, one must not have anything but the game in mind. What has been, and what can be, is of no consequence, as the situation, is in a state of change, throughout. India must inculcate this view, to be successful. All that is required is to play the game.

No one died.. no one did. So what if the Indians and Pakies were thrown out in 1st round? They didnt deserve to be in the super 8s or in the semis not to mention the tournament itself!

Look at the professionalism of the Lankans or the thoroughness of South Africa. They paly with flair, common sense and mental grit. These qualities were absent when India chased Sri Lanka's 255. If only Sourav could have been more patient. If only Sehwag had tried to bat out Muralidharan like a straight ball bowler (believe me, an off spinner bowling doosra round the wicket has to be palyed like that). If only Dravid & Yuvraj has been more vigilant in that ill-fated run. I wont speak about Sachin since he deserved the mediocre ball that got him.

There are lots of "ifs" in Team India's performance and in its lackadaisical selection criteria. Its heartening to note that this team is back where it belongs (in the trash can)and has not found it way to the most exalted place in world cricket.

IF A MAN DOES NOT KNOW WHICH HARBOUR HE IS SAILING TO, THEN NO WIND IS THE RIGHT WIND

My recommendation :

India and Pakistan , now that they have made an early exit from the World Cup , should play a 5 match ODI Series for the Asian Pye Dogs Trophy . Both sides are very well matched to play each other . .

As far as the Pakistan team is concerned , they may agree to play with the Indian team . However , they will be dead scared about playing with The Pakistan " A " team . They will fare much worse against the Pakistan " A " team as compared to their perfomance at the World Cup or at South Africa last month . PCB( Prized Collection of Bufoons ) may also be very reluctant to allow the Pakistan team to play against the Pakistan " A " team .

Hi Tariq,

Between 1992 and 2002 Tendulkar was leagues ahead of Inzi and the others. The Tendulkar of the last 4-5 years is a genius that has waned and continues to be in the team by dint of sheer media hype and the fact that multi-million dollar marketing and brand contracts ride on his presence in cricket. My reaction was to this aspect of his influence on Indian cricket - over commercialization, which makes individuals more important than the team and budding cricket talent, media icons.

If Tendulkar's 25 centuries (of the 60 odd he's scored) must be stripped because they have failed to contribute to team India's effort (and I still contend they must be), Shoaib Akthar's and Saqlain Mushtaq's 300 wickets and Salim Malik's few runs scored exclusively against India ought to be considered too as they have probably not always been achieved by fair means... As a genuine cricket fan, wonder what you have to say to that.

Lets put it this way. We have hugely talented individuals just like any other nation but poor teams. The reasons for lack of team ethic is probably now in the genetic makeup of people in the subcontinent. We are busy fighting ourselves than collectively facing up a common adversary...

Who are you trying to kid? Most likely yourself. Having India and Pakistan out is like Brazil and Argentina going out of Football World cup in first round and teams like England and Denmark playing boring long ball games. I can see why Indian and Pakistani dominance (ok even if it is only on economical level and not on field anymore) is so painful for Western teams.They are not used to this, "How dare we Indian and Pakistanis Dare to dominate2 kind of attitude. Now that we have burnt the houses of 'Highly overpaid' Indian Cricketers and Done the worst ever media trial of 'Rich' Pakistani ones. Lets just spare them a thought for one moment. A world cup format in which loosing one game agianst a minnow means you are out is highly biased against any team with a big fan following and pressure resulting from it. Lets ponder why the groundsman made an Irish pitch for Pak Ireland Match. Please lay off Indian And Paki cricket, thats one of the biggest entertainments for billions of poor third world people. Please dont be happy they lost cause with them Billions of cricket fans lost too and it is disrespectful to fans and to cricket.

Before we sweep out the players, the entire selection committee should resign that is if they have any self respect.

WHY IS DRAVID'S & GREG CHAPELL'S HEAD ON THE LINE?
Now that its in the news that the India-Bangladesh matches were fixed (arrested bookies in Bangalore claim), lets analyse who were the main culprits. Look aT ganguly & Yuvaraj batting in the middle overs. They had slowed down & didn't bother to take even the easy singles. To top it all comes The Great Unreliable Tendulkar with a very negative body language and slow tortoise reflexes and gets plum before the wickets. Again there was Shewag the Great, Dhoni the Great(again unreliables)in thr team. Why were no young people selected in the team? Was it because it was easy to fix matches with the old players, as there were already involved earlier?
Then that would mean that the selector's & the board is involved as well. Then why make a SCAPEGOAT of Dravid & Greg? I think the Board should be dissolved and should be privatised like they have it in the U.S. Let's be proffessional.

as an indian i was very disappointed on hearing news of that india had been out of the world cup but if indian players continue to perform like this they wont get anything in forthcoming series as well as in the next world cup

Corporate India and Indian Media have been slowly killing Indian Cricket since the mid 1980s - Hyping up matches and players and building up unrealistic expectations among largely cricket-ignorant fans who are led to believe that Sachin and Ganguly are no less super-heros than Amitabh Bachan or Sharukh Khan in their masala movies. This in turn builds up immeasurable pressure on these talented players for the crunch matches. Thank God Sanatha and Murali are not Indian cricketers. Otherwise, they would have also been spoilt and would have choked under pressure.

Corporate India should sponsor matches and awards (i.e. Man of the match, batsman of the match, etc.) instead of signing up cricketers to promote their products, which leads them to promote these mere human beings as superhuman heros! BCCI has to enforce this. Corporate India should also undertake Cricket Schools, such as the MRF Foundations in Chennai. It would also be good to see a South Asian Cricket League with teams such as Lahore, Mumbai, Chennai, Kandy, Colombo and Dhakka. This will allow Murali to play for Dakka and Ganguly to play for Kandy if he wants to. It will also allow the Robin uthappas and Munaf patel's of the world to play freely without the pressure of holding a billion people's hopes. People allover the world support ManU and RealMadrid. There is no nationalism since players are contracted from all over the world to play for these clubs. I honestly think that such a setup will identify and allow more indian cricketers to play to their potential without coming under the pressure of a billion hopes every time they walk out. And for a change, Indian fans can openly appreciate and support a Sanath Jayasuriya early onslaught or an Imzy rear-guard assualt. We can see Gayle playing for Kolkatta and Ponting playing for Mumbai! Very similar to County Cricket.

I don't think it is unimaginable. If Corporate India wants it, it will somehow make it happen.

Dear Fareed,
Whilst seeing India & Pakistan go out is disapointing as i too am an asian (Sri Lankan), i think all this talk of conspiracy to get rid of the asian teams is nonsense.
Pakistan should have beaten Ireland under any conditions, Ireland are a bunch of amateurs who would probably not even fit into the sheffield shield system in Australia.
As for the format i think this is the most exciting format i have ever seen in a cricket world cup - It's almost like the format of the football world cup - Have one unexpected defeat and you could be out. Ecxellent stuff!
Usually the first rounds of the cricket WC's are so boring but this time around was absolutely fantastic! (In terms of all the excitement and tension it created.)
I hope they dont change the format in the next world cup because of what happened to India & Pakistan.
By the way most of us have no problem with India or Pakistan performing well, it's just the Indianisation of cricket by the media that i personally cannot stand.
Can u imagine what it is like for a non indian to watch the cricket coverage on MAX channel - They talk as if India is the only team in the world cup.

It is quite evident from watching top teams play today that Cricket has transitioned from being a leisurely, gentleman's only game into a tough, intense, competitive, professional sports. To ably compete this game now, it takes greatly more physical and mental toughness. Those with higher endurance and stamina 'outlast' their weaker, more fragile opponents more often than not even when the opponents is slightly better in terms of sheer skills.

Greater physical fitness not only means improved performance and stamina, it also means a greater ability to wage and win long, hard battles. Those who get tired quickly are also likely to give up easily. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that fitter teams like Australia are also known for fighting very hard, for not giving up and for converting a seeming lost match into a win through sheer endurance. On the other side of it, teams with physically unfit players are also the ones known to easily panic, collapse, give up easily and lose easily anytime going gets tough.

It is very hard to sustain a fight after your legs and arms have already 'given up'! Therefore, it is no surprise that the players who lack physical stamina and endurance are among the first to drop shoulders and lose heart. Once the body is defeated, mind follows quickly. Someone might pull an exception once in while and might sustain a battle after body has already tired and given up. Yet, we can see that mental strength to stay put and wage long battles come quite easily to those with higher physical endurance.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that teams like India are known to crack easily under pressure and are found lacking in appetite to wage and win long, hard battles. Indian team winning a long, hard event is an extremely rare event primarily because physically fit and 'durable' players are a rarity in the Indian team. In the very few events such as Indian win in the hard-fought NatWest series final in England came because of the sheer endurance of the two of the fittest members of the Indian team. . . Yuvraj and Kaif.

Sachin Tendulkar has been a fantastic player for India. But I feel it is time now he should retire because the way his performance has been going in recent past one year,it is not only harming the team but his own reputation as well. I do not wish to see him go the Mianddad way out with humilation.Maybe he should play Bangladehs series only to teach them their real place and maybe just maybe tour England.Then retire. Same for Sarouv Ganguly and Kumble. Harbhajan was always a overhyped spinner becasue of one or two good series. To me Ramesh powar looks like a spinner who may give a 15-20 extra runs than Harbhajan but he is more likely to pick up lot more vital wickets.In todays type of ODI,only wickets can stop someone from scoring 300+ which is a achievable score nowdays. Sehwag and Pathan need a long rest to regain his form and reomve fear of failure.
Players like Joginder sharma,Cheteshwar Pujara,Piyush Chawla,Powar,Raina and some others from the U-19 team need to be introduced in the team for longer phases because they have lot more potential to excel.I mean if we keep on giving chance after chance to old stalwarts and they keep failing and failing again and again,we might as well try younger players becos even if they fail they will eventually come good.
I also feel that the ODI team and test team should have only 5-6 common players. For eg test matches will need player like karthick,pujara,shikhar dhawan,manoj tiwari etc

I would suggest a little change to the Challenger trophy to give more players a chance to prove their mettle.We should have the India Seniors,India A,India B and a U-19 team competeting against each others. This way the U-19 team will be considered a minnow and India will learn to play against minnows properly.On the other hand the true class of the U-19 players will also come to the front and invaluable experience.Well maybe they can make it U-21 instead of U-19. This will give the youngesters great experience right from captainship experience against the big guys as well as experience to plan strategies to bring down big teams if they defeat them.
I am sure BCCI has so much money they can implement this idea.

Nothing succeeds like success. If this same team goes to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka later in the year and is victorious in these series, they will become gods again. The pressure that we, as fans, as well as the media and the corporate sponsors put on these players is enormous. Having said that, it is understandable because a lot more is at stake both emotionally as well as commercially in the subcontinent (especially India) because of the numbers and the economics involved. That is why teams like India and Pakistan are relatively more vulnerable compared to their peers in other teams. It is a veritable Catch-22 situation which is difficult to resolve. How can we emotional warm-blooded people be expected to take things in perspective when our heroes let us down? After all we need to have some kind of global achievements and status to celebrate. The politically dominant western nations have changed the rules of every game (for instance- field hockey and now one-day cricket and the 20:20 version) where we had excelled to shift the emphasis from skills to power play which suits them better. Don't be surprised if the same happens even to kabaddi which is getting increasingly popular. It may be too premature and a knee-jerk response to change the entire team radically because of the world cup exit. After all we need to understand that our reaction is on the basis of their performance in two games. It hurts us more because it puts paid to our World Cup dreams. However, that does not mean that we will give up cricket. After a few weeks of mourning and cursing we will reconcile to it and start talking about the next series. We will always need a balance of experience and youth if we are to improve.

First of all we need to acknowledge and accept that Bangladesh and Sri Lanka played better than us in these matches. That does not mean our team is the pits. It depends on how well you play on that particular day. We were complacent in the first match and crumbled under pressure in the match against Sri Lanka. The responsibility for the failure has to be shared by the Coach, the Captain, the selectors, the Board, the entire team and even us fans-for putting them under such enormous pressure of expectations. However, one thing that becomes clear is that Greg Chappell has certainly not delivered the goods. He will probably go down as the coach who was most unpopular with the team. He has contributed a few good things but failed to deliver the expected results for which he was engaged. He needs to quit gracefully rather than start SMSing journalists with confusing messages. His time is up. He may have faced certain difficulties but he had been authorised to deal with them. In contrast to John Wright who was certainly more successful as well as popular, he is a whinger and a politician. He has contributed significantly in undoing a lot of the good things that his predecessor and the previous captain had contributed.

Having said that, everybody agrees that no player, however great he may be, is above the basic discipline and training needs of a team. If players like Sehwag, Ganguly, Zaheer and Harbhajan (as reported in the media earlier) have breached this some time then they needed to be reined in. However, Chappell's long run of experiments has actually left the team without any tenable and concrete strategy. Also the young players have been particularly vulnerable because they have been out of the team after a few failures, not having been given sufficient number of outings to prove themselves. A valuable player like Pathan has been wasted because of Chappell’s own fancies. For this the selectors as well as the Board must share the responsibility along with Chappell and Dravid. The clash of two strong personalities (Chappell and Ganguly) left the team weak and divided and Dravid did not have the charisma and the aggression of his predecessor to repair the damage. More importantly he did not have enough time until the World cup to set things right.

There have also been insinuations (if some of the fellow bloggers are to be taken seriously) against Dravid's backing his Karnataka colleagues more often than not at the cost of other players who have performed better in Ranji and Duleep matches. His persistence with an out-of-form Sehwag I think does enough to refute the above allegations of regional favouritism and Sehwag did eventually justify his captain’s faith in him in the last two matches though one wishes he stayed around a little longer. Dravid may not have impressed viewers and fans with some of his field settings in crunch situations and slog overs, and in retrospect some of them have been costly mistakes but it is too early to write off Dravid as Captain. He has, in the beginning of his captaincy won quite a few matches and was an able Vice-Captain under Ganguly. Detractors may argue that he had inherited Ganguly’s good work but supporters will argue that he had a hand in Ganguly’s success (both as India’s best batsman and as vice-captain). Ganguly's strength was the acceptance by his team mates of his impartial nature and his backing to the hilt of some of the younger players despite initial setbacks. Fans will remember that he supported Dravid during his lean one-day patches and got him to do wicket-keeping in order to justify his continued inclusion in the team-a decision that Dravid vindicated by returning to form and improving his strike rate. Notwithstanding his share of controversies, Ganguly’s cricketing brain, talent scouting abilities, his aggression on the field, his placements and ability to motivate team members, the loyalty he gave and commanded from his team, and more importantly results shown by him (with able guidance and support from John Wright) will place him in the ranks of most successful cricketing leaders that India has had. Some of Dravid's recent decisions have indeed proved to be costly in retrospect and to elaborate the most costly decision of all -The loss to Bangladesh already put enormous pressure on the team and the game with Sri Lanka was a must-win game. Under the circumstances he could have elected to bat so that the team was not under further pressure chasing 254 runs. With every wicket that fell this pressure mounted and the resistance simply crumbled. To Dravid's credit he fought on alone trying to get to the target but the damage had already been done at the toss. We will not allow one or two failures to cloud our judgment. We need to think positive. He leads from the front and deserves another go. Maybe having Saurav as his Vice-Captain with Sachin to back them up may not be a bad idea until the likes of Yuvraj and Kaif get ready for leadership over the next couple of years. The transition needs to be managed carefully by the Board and the selctors rather than going like a bull in the china shop.

Coming back to the recent World Cup debacle- Sachin and Saurav have been a proven one-day opening combination and arguably the best in the world to date. Since an in-form Saurav returned to one-day cricket this combination should have been tried out before the World Cup. Saurav chose to play the anchor role at the cost of his natural strokeplay so that at least one end held up in the event the other end collapsed. This strategy would have worked better if Sachin was his partner allowing both to play their natural games and to their relative strengths while rotating strike and supporting each other. Why Chappell and Dravid did not use this is a mystery. With Dravid, Sehwag, Yuvraj and Dhoni to follow- a good opening partnership would have paved the road to victory easily like in the past leaving the middle order to pile on the runs without any anxiety. Sehwag's return to form unfortunately was rather late-otherwise he and Saurav could have been as effective as a Sachin-Saurav combination. Robin Uthappa, a young and promising player must have been under tremendous pressure to prove himself as a worthy opener and the lack of experience cost him heavily in the crunch situations where India had to chase. Dravid needs to learn from these mistakes and as a thinking captain we can rest assured that he will rise to the occasion.

Anil Kumble’s retirement from ODIs is sad news for many of his admirers. He has been India’s match winner on many occasions and it is sad that his retirement is on the back of a failure. It is very easy for us to recommend the immediate sacking of senior players but remember that will cost us the optimum balance necessary to orient the younger players into high pressure international cricket. We also need to build our bench strength and for that purpose we must have the India-A, B and C teams play enough international matches as well as against each other regularly. We need a mix of both competent overseas coaches as well as former Indian players to guide these combinations. If Viv Richards or Richard Hadlee were available then they need to be looked at seriously. Kapil Dev, Sandeep Patil and Mohinder Amaranth or Wasim Akram could be other choices. An Australian team can easily summon the likes of Hussey, Hodge, Hogg, Bracken and Watson when senior players like Lehmann, Fleming, Warne or Lee either retire or are injured. That is why they are world champions. We already have players like Yuvraj, Sehwag, Powar, Kaif, Raina, Rayudu, Karthick, Sreesanth, Gambhir, Jaafar already in or waiting to fill the vacuum while Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid and Kumble retire over the next few years. While we do that we also need to groom players like, Badrinath, Piyush Chawla, Ranadeb Bose, Manoj Tiwari and others to form the next crop of India players. Planning has to be long term and the zonal representation system has to definitely go. Merit unquestionably has to be the main deciding factor. There is hope as long as we learn from our mistakes.

Sorry for the length of the piece and apologies if at times I seem to be sermonising. Just wanted to share my views with all of you in these difficult and emotionally exhausting times for all of us.

Regards