Indian selectors humiliated

The five National selectors, headed by K. Srikkanth, returned to their respective homes after being humiliated in Chandigarh on Tuesday. Their ‘mysterious' absence at the Punjab Cricket Stadium (PCA) in Mohali was not to be missed on Wednesday as India clashed with Pakistan in the World Cup semifinal.  The selectors, who had confirmed room bookings at the Taj, were denied accommodation by the hotel authorities. PCA sources confirmed that the selectors were turned back by the hotel despite holding confirmed bookings.  The hotel, which has a tie-up with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), was facing unprecedented demand for rooms. The hotel did not offer any alternative arrangement and the selectors —Srikkanth, Yashpal Sharma, Narendra Hirwani, Raja Venkat...

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The crucial first 15 overs, and mysterious Misbah

As it turned out, almost all the experts read the wicket wrong. MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar admitted as much in the post-match presentation, and from the scores it's obvious that run-making was a lot more difficult on this Mohali pitch than it was expected to be. The team composition and the early overs suggested a score of around 300 would be a par total, but later events showed it was another subcontinent track on which run-scoring against the hard new ball was much easier. In that context, the difference between the two teams was the runs they scored in the first 15 overs, when the ball was new. Pakistan's top three played useful cameos too, but none of them exploded in the manner that Virender Sehwag had. Sehwag's 25-ball...

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Tendulkar knock takes India to the World Cup final

Pakistan began well in their answer to India's fighting total of 260 but lost both openers Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez for 70 runs.  Openers Mohammed Hafeez and Kamran Akmal mixed strokeplay with cautious pushes and kept the scoreboard ticking in the initial overs. But Akmal was dismissed for 19 runs off 20 balls caught at point by Yuvraj Singh off a sharp delivery by Zaheer Khan.  Pakistan lost their first wicket at 43 in the eighth over. India pulled back the free scoring a bit and in the 16th over, an increasingly impatient Hafeez went for a wild shot and was caught behind by M S Dhoni. Munaf Patel scalped him.  At 103 runs for 2 wickets, when it seemed like Pakistan was going to take the match away from India, Yuvraj Singh delivered two fatal blows in the...

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Trying to stay away from the distractions: Dhoni

Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni says the team is trying to keep away from all distractions ahead of the much-awaited World Cup semifinal against Pakistan here on Wednesday.  Dhoni said at a news conference on the eve of the match that the hype surrounding the encounter had little effect on the team. We all know it's a big tournament and we have prepared a lot for it and it's better to take one game at a time. We are playing the semifinals but the most important thing is how you prepare yourself irrespective of what stage it is. I think one needs to prepare for every game in the same way and that is what we have been doing," he said. The Indian captain said his players are aware of what is expected of them. "We...

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Cricket-India and Pakistan battle nerves to clinch final ticket

Fierce rivals India and Pakistan will have to deal with huge expectations from their cricket-crazy fans when they clash on Wednesday for a place in the World Cup final. Anything but a win will be a shock for either set of supporters when the neighbours, who have fought three wars since their 1947 independence, meet in Mohali under a heavy security blanket. The presence of the prime ministers of both countries in the stands will also add a political fervour to the match. "The biggest, distinguished guests will be there to see the game, but they are here to enjoy cricket, so we have to be at our best," India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni told reporters on the eve of the match. India will bank on their powerful batting line-up while Pakistan will pin hopes on their bowling variety in...

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Not clash of the century, it’s just a game: Yuvraj Singh

India’s inspirational all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has urged fans to tone down the hype around the semi-final match against Pakistan and enjoy it as a game of cricket. "I don't believe this is the game of my life, or the clash of the century, and all that jazz,” he said. “It is a game, which is there to be won.Yes, emotions will be high, and that is not new.” And was he even willing to contemplate a reverse?  "Well, we’ll prepare well, give our best, and leave the rest to destiny. A loss will be disappointing, to say the least. But let it be just a game.” Yuvraj is confident that India’s unbeaten World Cup record against Pakistan and the players’ temperament will carry them through to the final. "I think our clashes...

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Dhoni's unnerving equilibrium

The modern India is predominantly an India of stability, a point that can and often does get swamped by all the sound and fury of Indian cricket. Since Sourav Ganguly took over as captain in March 2000, India has had just four full-time captains for all formats. The more recent India is that of MS Dhoni, who has mostly kept his counsel and preferred to win matches rather than get involved in the screaming and shouting around him since 2007 when he took over as Twenty20 and ODI captain. It sounds unremarkable but how Pakistan would love that kind of unremarkable, where the biggest controversy of the last four, five years has been that of a divisive coach, one that would struggle to make it to the back pages of most newspapers in Pakistan. Since...

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'Pakistan must guard against Yuvraj'

Dhoni’s captaincy has been smart. He has kept teams guessing with his team selection, writes Wasim Akram. Nobody could have asked for a better ICC Cricket World Cup semifinal than India versus Pakistan . It is the mother of all battles and the world will be watching every ball of it. I have been reading quite a few opinions by former players, saying India will be the favourites, but in matches where mental preparedness and the ability to soak pressure transcend cricketing skills, I would not like to stick my neck out. Having said that, India will be the team under pressure, not Pakistan. The media in India is big and strong. The pressure created by them is simply mind-boggling and then there are a billion people with massive expectations....

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Dhoni refuses to equate Mohali SF with T20 final

Life has come full circle for MS Dhoni Or, has it? In 2007, not long after assuming captaincy, he led India to a five-run win over Pakistan in Johannesburg; it enabled India lift the inaugural T20 World Cup.  World Cup coverage Four years on, Dhoni and his men face the same opposition on a bigger stage -- a World Cup semi-final. And the Men in Blue have a similar task ahead -- beat Pakistan to move a step closer to that second world title, one that has proved elusive for the last 28 years, since that memorable triumph in 1983. Asked if Wednesday's match in Mohali is the biggest in his career, Dhoni was a tad philosophical.   "I don't believe in comparisons," he quipped, adding, "I have said this a few times earlier...

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India-Pakistan World Cup semifinal takes cricket to another dimension

Sachin Tendulkar features prominently on a big, handpainted advertisement hanging over a rickety conveyer belt at the Chandigarh Airport, a promotional campaign inviting World Cup visitors to "Watch countries fight to protect their boundaries." Looking around Mohali two days before the epic World Cup semifinal between archrivals India and Pakistan, it's obvious the government and police are taking the message literally, and very seriously. Police and soldiers, some heavily armed, some carrying bamboo canes, are omnipresent around the Punjab Cricket Association ground, venue for the match. Some are in armoured vehicles and four-wheel drives, others on horseback. Mostly turban-wearing Sikhs, they're stationed at every intersection along...

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Divine assistance: Fasting, praying for the success of Team India

From February 19 onwards, Sakshi Dhoni has been fasting every day the Indian cricket team has played a match in this World Cup. She would continue her fast on Wednesday, when India plays Pakistan in the second semifinal, in the hope that this routine will culminate on April 2, when the final takes places in Mumbai. While Indian skipper MS Dhoni's wife performs her vows, Yuvraj Singh's mother Shabnam, too, has been interceding with the Gods. She has completed many rounds of visits to religious places in Chandigarh-her hometown and the venue of the India-Pakistan game -- praying for the success of her son and the Indian team. Those prayers have borne fruit so far: Yuvraj has been in sublime batting touch, scoring 341 runs in...

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Indian eyes on Yuvraj as he reaches home ground for World Cup semifinal against Pakistan

Yuvraj Singh started the World Cup assured of a place in the playing eleven but unsure of his role and batting position in India's powerful team. By the time he reached his home ground Sunday to prepare for the World Cup semifinal against archrival Pakistan, he has proven to be the team's key match-winner. It was no surprise that he was the most sought after by fans in a city where cricket is overshadowing everything, and he duly obliged by signing autographs at a practice session. Yuvraj has been voted 'man of the match' four times in the tournament, including in the quarterfinal win over three-time defending champion Australia. Yuvraj took 2-44 with his left-arm spin and smashed an unbeaten 57 to help carve out the five-wicket win...

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WC Cricket Semi - Why India Should Fear Pakistan

This one isn’t for the faint-hearted. A match tipped to be the greatest ever played between the two arch rivals, has already been in the limelight for it’s high-volatile atmosphere, both on and off the field. When India’s man of the moment, Dr. Manmohan Singh meets his counterpart, the two cricket-mad nations will lock horns in a mouth-watering clash, where only  the fittest will survive. Little does the Indian nation know that this Pakistani outfit aren’t pushovers. The team that absorbs pressure the best will emerge victorious. This will go down as a match where there will be no room for error and where the emotional aspect comes into play. Both teams are on the backdrop of remarkable victories thereby making this encounter...

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For Kapil, Yuvraj will make the difference

Yuvraj Singh’s imperious performances in the World Cup have come as a pleasant surprise to many cricket fans who have seen the player slip in and out of the team for many years due to injuries and poor form.  However, one man who’s not surprised by Yuvraj’s brilliant run is the 1983 World Cup winning captain, Kapil Dev. Describing the Chandigarh player as India’s ‘Most Valuable Player’ of the World Cup, the former all-rounder said Yuvraj - a virtuoso talent often shrouded in a cloak of indolence - has not been given his due by the fans.  “Many people have been surprised by Yuvraj’s good run in the World Cup. Over the past year he has had a few injuries and his form wasn’t the best, and many were quick to forget what a unique...

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India vs Pakistan: Calm before the storm

Despite a World Cup semifinal looming over them, the Indian players took a relaxed approach to training at the VCA Stadium on Sunday. Their schedule comprised a football game, a light fielding session and then a game of volleyball, but no intense cricket drills.  It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that the way they trained was reminiscent of their lead-up to the game against Ireland in the group stages. A high-stakes India-Pakistan knockout is a world away from a match against an associate team, but as was the case in that match, the Indians have a long gap before Wednesday’s encounter. The Indian team, throughout the tournament, has trained precisely according to their requirements, even if this makes them look — to the casual viewer — like they are casual about practice.  As...

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Taufel, Gould to officiate in high-octane India-Pakistan semis

Ian Gould Australia's Simon Taufel and England's Ian Gould will be the on-field umpires for the high-voltage World Cup semifinal between India and Pakistan in Mohali on Wednesday. New Zealand's Billy Bowden will be the third umpire and Australian Rod Tucker the fourth umpire. Sri Lanka's Ranjan Madugalle will be the match referee. Simon Taufel The International Cricket Council (ICC) has also announced the umpires for Tuesday's semifinal between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Steve Davies of Australia and Pakistan's Aleem Dar will be the on-field umpires while Marais Erasmus of South Africa and West Indies' Billy Doctrove have been chosen as the third and fourth umpire. England's Chris Broad will be the match refer...

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Ganguly is 'The warrior Prince' in new docu-feature

Former teammates such as Sachin Tendulkar and known rivals, including Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, will open up on the enigma called Sourav Ganguly in a docu-feature on the ex-India cricket captain titled 'The Warrior Prince'. ESPN/STAR Sports network, the official broadcaster for the ongoing cricket World Cup, will broadcast the docu-feature on March 27. The 80-minutes docu-feature, directed by Mitali Ghoshal who has been a cricket journalist herself, has Amitabh Bachchan lending his voice for narration in major parts of the film and has Ganguly's world-record holder partner in one-day cricket Tendulkar speaking about him. Currently preparing for the semifinal of the World Cup, Tendulkar has recalled his feelings about the...

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Team India arrives in Chandigarh

Led by skipper M.S. Dhoni, the Indian cricket team arrived here Saturday amidst tight security for the World Cup semi-final clash against Pakistan at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium in Mohali Wednesday. Indian players, including Sachin tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina, Zaheer Khan and Gautam Gambhir, reached hotel Taj amidst tight security cover.  Security personnel were lined up on both sides of the road between the Chandigarh airport and the hotel. Traffic was stopped at various points and diverted to alternate routes to make way for the team bus and the escort vehicles. The stretch of road in front of the Taj hotel was also closed to traffic.  "Around 1,000 police officials...

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