Book round up - December 2011

It’s been a while since I posted, and I thought that I would resume with a round-up of a few books that I have read in recent times. So, here goes, in no particular order.

Graham Greene – The Comedians

I must confess that I haven’t read as much of Graham Greene as I should, however this book showed me what I am missing. The Comedians is set in a crumbling Haiti in the middle of the 20^th century and Greene manages to capture the air of desperation and hopelessness adroitly. The story follows three passengers who meet on a ship en route to Haiti. Brown is a returning expat whose once grand hotel is being run to the ground, the Smiths, an American couple (He has run for President on a vegetarian ticket!, she is the first lady in waiting) who seem so naive that one wants to shake them by the shoulders and Jone, a man who is seeking his fortune in Haiti, but has nothing but his wits to help him. The stories of all three intertwine under the menacing shadow of Papa Doc.

As the story unfolds, one senses it ending inevitably in tragedy, however one can’t stop reading. Brown as an expat sees his adopted country disintegrating before his eyes, however he can’t bring himself to leave as it is the only home he knows. The Smiths are led up the garden path by the Minister and one cannot but admire their sense of conviction in their own ideas. Jones goes from being thrown into jail to the favoured man who is playing for high stakes with an empty hand and back to being hunted. The sights and sounds of Haiti are inextricably linked to their stories.

I have travelled to Africa in the 90s, and even then I could sense that it probably had not changed much since the time in which The Comedians is set. I can’t wait to read more of Graham Greene.

Lee Child – The Affair – the new Jack Reacher novel

What can one say ? It is a new Reacher book, so readers of earlier books know what to expect, a situation that is primed for action, an investigation that is going nowhere and the US Army being pushed between a rock and a hard place. The novel is set in the time towards the end of Reacher’s career in the US Army, and he has been sent by his boss Leo Garber, to a town on the outskirts of an Army base where an unexplained homicide has taken place. Reacher is the ultimate male fantasy, a combination of Rambo, Bruce ‘Die Hard’ Willis and the deductive abilities of Hercule Poirot.

The story has some good twists and Child has attempted to write in the style of a detective story. Unfortunately, we can see how it will unfold and I could guess the ending way before it happens. This one is strictly for fans of Jack Reacher (and I am one of them!), however the rest can safely pass.

Peter James – Dead Man's Grip – the new Roy Grace novel

When I first discovered Peter James, I thought that he was a real find, a worthy contemporary to Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson, however I have been disappointed with his books off late. The new book starts with Grace and Cleo expecting their first child while Grace is being drawn into a gruesome road accident investigation. The story veers off on a US tangent with a New York Mafia connection which is very unconvincing and a cold blooded assassin. The story gathered my interest as the character of the assassin unfolds and he easily upstages Roy Grace (never a good sign in a series based on the central character of the detective). I suspect the assassin captured Peter James’ interest more than the story and I think we can expect to see more of him elsewhere. Overall a disappointing read.

Martin Cruz Smith - Stallion Gate

I hope that you (the reader) have persevered till here and if so, this is where it pays off! Stallion Gate is the best book that I have read in the entire year! It is not a new book and was first published in the 80s, however I got my hands on it only recently. The book is set around the time during the end of World War II and is set at Los Alamos the site of the Manhattan Project (the code name for the US nuclear bomb project). The action is set around Trinity, the first real test of the nuclear device being developed under the leadership of Robert Oppenheimer (the father of the atom bomb).

The atmosphere is tense as the scientists are by turns excited and despairing at the magnitude of what they are undertaking. The story is told through the character of Joe Pena, a Pueblo Indian, ostensibly as Oppenheimer’s bodyguard and general liaison with the Indians (Native Americans would be right way to phrase it today), but who is in reality planted there by Captain Augustino to spy on the scientists and ensure that there are no Communists being harboured there (this is pre-McCarthy, however the paranoia is clearly evident). Joe Pena is a fascinating character, a giant of a man, an ex-boxer but whose first love is music (Jazz!). Though outwardly showing signs of not being too smart, we can’t help thinking that it is a mask he wears.

The story fascinated me and the climax builds towards Trinity which will make or break the bomb effort. Some insights into Native American culture are thrown in as also the huge divide between them and ‘regular’ Americans.

If you have read Martin Cruz Smith (and if not, you must, one of my very favourite authors), you probably know that he writes about Russia and his stories feature criminal investigator Arkady Renko. The setting of Stallion Gate is far removed from those stories, so it may surprise regular readers, however it is just as satisfying as any of his other books.

Movie Review – Delhi Belly (English) – 2011

Delhi Belly has been getting a lot of attention even before its release, partly due to it being smartly promoted and partly because of its soundtrack and the infamous but catchy “Bhaag D.K. Bose” and also the can't get it out of your head "Switty, Switty". Aamir Khan is also known to take active interest in the movies he is associated with, and the teaser ad on MTV also showcased this. Also, relatively rare for an Indian movie, Delhi Belly is released in both English and Hindi and is a crisp 96 minutes long. It is unapologetically targeted at adults with a well-deserved A certificate and is released with a soundtrack (with music videos which are standalone and not just a cut from the movie) as opposed to the norm of Hindi movies which include full songs in the movie.

The movie finally released yesterday (Friday, July 1, 2011) and today it was time for me to find out whether the movie was indeed as buzz-worthy as it was made out to be. Before I get to the rest of my review, a very clear warning to viewers, if you are easily offended by foul language and/or scatological humour, then it is best that you stay away and not watch it. If you still venture in seeing it, then I suspect you will secretly enjoy the movie and also catch yourself laughing aloud in a few places.

To begin with, the background score really caught my attention and draws you into the movie. The movie is about a situation in which three room-mates (Imran Khan, Kunaal Roy Kapoor and Vir Das) find themselves in, after the girl friend of one of them becomes a diamond courier unwittingly. Of course due to events beyond anyone’s control, the diamonds get misplaced, and the intended recipient duly comes looking for them. The bedlam and mayhem that ensues is the main plot of the movie. There are various sub-plots about the room-mates’ landlord, the news reporter who seems a little off-kilter herself and the antics of Nitin (Kunaal Roy Kapoor) who is one of the three room-mates.

One of the highlights of the movie is Vijay Raaz who plays the role of the mafia boss whose diamonds are misplaced and who now sets out to “strike down with great vengeance and furious anger” – (yes, yes, not quite the exact quote from Pulp Fiction, but you start getting my drift for the inspiration behind this movie?) all those who have wronged him. Vijay Raaz is an underutilized actor, you may remember him as the contractor from Monsoon Wedding and he has also played bit parts in many movies, definitely deserves to be seen more on screen. The gangster he plays in this movie is nobody’s fool and far from the bumbling buffoons that one normally sees in Hindi movies.

Coming to the main lead, Imran Khan does a decent job, but is not required to display much in terms of acting prowess. Thankfully there are no concessions made to his star image and he is smacked around (you would have seen his beaut of a shiner in the promo photos) like anybody else. Of the remaining cast, Kunaal Roy Kapoor does well (though his is the butt of much of the humour – pardon my pun!) with Vir Das very forgettable (apart from the one Disco Fighter dream song where he lets himself go). Imran Khan’s girl-friend is played by a very perky Shenaz Treasurywala and later love interest by Poorna Jagannathan (who does a very nice line as the jaded, been there done that, what the hell let’s see how this ends, journalist).

The weak link is the plot, that has no complexity, just complications and the main cause of the movie lasting only 96 minutes. The direction is fast paced, and except for a few minutes about a third into the movie it retains its momentum. The climax is a shoot-out very reminiscent (if not a straight lift) of the scene from Pulp Fiction when Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta confront the boys who have stolen the suitcase. This movie tries very hard to replicate the cool and edginess of Pulp Fiction and the effort is commendable though it falls a little short on the cool front and considerably short on the edginess. I found the English dialogues quite smart and clearly effort has gone into speaking correct English (with even a sly dig being taken at a wannabe singer celebrity early on in the movie).

Aamir Khan has a cameo in the end where he has an “item song” which owes more to Tom Cruise’s hip hop moves at the end of Tropic Thunder than to anything in Indian movies.

In the final reckoning, Delhi Belly is a smartly made and marketed movie, clearly targeted at an urban audience. It does not aspire to be an art movie and neither does it take its audience for being brain dead and meant to be mindlessly entertained. I think this movie will not necessarily appeal to everyone, however if you see it with an open mind and leave your sense of indignation at the door, you will probably enjoy it. I did.

Updated: July 5, 00:00 - corrected mix-up between the two female cast members

Home WiFi Signal Woes

Many of you who know me may have been surprised by my blog posts to date. What is this? Movies, food, random posts, is this the same Nilesh? Well, for all those who may have wondered, I have unleashed my inner geek, here is a tech post.

For many months now, I have been plagued by a poor WiFi signal from my home ADSL Modem+WiFi Router. While the signal is good enough to reach about half my home, it does not reach all corners and this has been a constant source of irritation for me. I have been meaning to do something about it, however I have been hampered by the fact that my current ADSL modem is provided by my ISP and is a pretty old model (at least 3 years old). I have been looking for a newer generation modem+router that supports the 802.11N standard (for those who came in late, WiFi typically comes in 3 flavours – 802.11b/802.11g and 802.11N – leaving aside other complexities, N is the current standard and offers the best range, g is usually more prevalent everywhere and b is close to being obsolete).

I searched high and low (bear in mind this is India and that too Pune), however I could not find a suitable ADSL modem+router which supported 802.11N. Meanwhile, I got distracted in seeing whether the Olive Nexus could work with my existing Reliance NetConnect broadband USB dongle to create a hotspot, however got dissuaded when the store which sells it, itself did not make any warranties about suitability of the product. I also looked for a WiFi signal repeater, but again could not find a suitable product locally. I had almost resigned myself to living with this situation till a chance visit to a nearby Croma store got me thinking.

No, they did not have a suitable ADSL modem but they had a lot of 802.11 N capable WiFi routers. However, all of them were designed for working with Cable Modems or with a Leased Line kind of situation (possibly for offices who want to create a WiFi hotspot could find them suitable). Then I had my bright idea, why couldn’t I get a 802.11N WiFi router and connect it to my existing ADSL Modem? I tried to explain what I intended to do to the store network guy, but I don’t think he even understood what I was trying to tell him.

On a hunch, I bought it anyway (it was a Belkin N150 WiFi Router which cost about 2100 Rupees or just over US $40) and took it home. The first question was how do I set it up? The way I worked it out was that my current ADSL Modem would be the device that connects to my phone line (obviously since the Belkin was not a ADSL modem). The modem would be the primary internet gateway for the home network. I would need to suppress the WiFi capability of the modem, use the new WiFi router to connect to the modem and then have the WiFi router act as a DHCP server for ad-hoc wireless connections).

I needed to now setup the new WiFi router in a way that it thought that I had a dedicated connection to the Internet. My modem was assigned the LAN IP address of 192.168.1.1 and the WiFi router a WAN address of 192.168.1.50. Thus, my modem and WiFi router came onto the same network and my WiFi router thought that I had a dedicated internet connection, since its gateway was set to 192.168.1.1, the fact that my modem WAN IP was dynamic was completely hidden from the WiFi router. I now turned on WiFi on the router and assigned a different subnet (192.168.2.x) with its LAN address as 192.168.2.1. I used the DHCP capability of the WiFi router and devices connecting to the WiFi network got a gateway IP of 192.168.2.1. It now only remained to set the same WiFi credentials onto the new WiFi router to what used to exist on my ADSL modem and voila! devices connecting in the new setup didn’t even realise that anything had changed! My daughter who had been curiously watching me mutter to myself as I was flailing around with various wires and IP configurations was suitably impressed, more so since now the WiFi signal reached her bedroom and she no longer had to come out to the living room to connect to the internet!

I checked and the 802.11N enhanced signal now reached through my apartment. Mission accomplished! Any of you who would like further details are free to email me.

Movie Review – Kung Fu Panda 2 (English) - 2011

Let me get this out of the way, the awesomeness is back!

I was looking forward to Kung Fu Panda 2 with great anticipation since I had loved the first instalment. A panda conjures up visions of cute and cuddly and the choice of Jack Black as a voice actor was probably the most inspired bit of casting in recent times. Whatever you can call him, cute and cuddly, Jack Black is not! The first part was a runaway hit and the only fault one could find in it was that the Furious Five did not get enough time for themselves. Part 2 settles the issue.

The first movie ends with Po proving that he indeed was the right choice as the Dragon Warrior and fulfilling Oogway's prediction. Part 2 gives us some insight into Po's back story, how his father is a goose must have been a question that all of us have asked ourselves, and this movie answers it. We also get a brand new villain in Lord Shen, and while Tai Lung was a mean leopard, Lord Shen is a peacock, but far from being a preening dandy, this peacock is one mean dude. Knowing that his Kung Fu might not cut it, he goes ahead and creates a WMD and has plans of taking over the whole of China.

It is upto Po and his trusty Furious Five to thwart the ambitions of Lord Shen and ensure that peace again returns to the land. One of my favourites from the first part, Master Shifu (voiced with just the right pitch by Dustin Hoffman), does not have too much of a role to play in Part 2, however he does make his presence felt, saying more will be saying too much.

Though the Furious Five do figure in Part 2, Master Tigress has the lion's (or should I say tiger's!) share of the action. One also sees shades of the Jedi in the way the masters of kung fu are shaping up, call it homage, or maybe aligning with universal themes of a band of protectors benignly offering protection to common citizens.

Po's back story is tied up with Lord Shen and involves the search for his birth parents, as he learns that he has been adopted. Lord Shen has parental issues of his own. But Po can prevail only if he learns to achieve Inner Peace, which Master Shifu has himself learnt only as recently as Part One. How Po and the Five with their allies Master Ox and Master Croc, battle Lord Shen and his WMD, forms the major chunk of the movie.

Part 2 has some good Kung Fu action and has been shot in 3D. However as is the case with most 3D movies, being in 3D does not seem to add much to the experience. IMHO, Avatar is the only movie in which 3D has been used so well that it is a completely immersive experience. Based on the box office numbers, James Cameron does know a thing or two about film making J

As with all successful animation movies, Kung Fu Panda 2 can be enjoyed by children of all ages as well as adults. The animation is uniformly excellent and the voice acting good with Jack Black and Gary Oldman (as Lord Shen) standing out. The movie is relatively short (under 90 minutes) which helps to keep the story moving. This is one of the better movies in recent times and gets a big thumbs up from me.

Should you go ahead and watch it? Go today! I can't wait for the DVD to come out (but I will buy the 2D version).

Movie Review – Dum Maaro Dum (Hindi) - 2011

I was on a quick trip to Gurgaon where my work got done a day early and given that it was too expensive to change my flight, I found myself with a day to kill. I had previously seen a couple of Gurgaon malls, however they were mostly sad, empty affairs where I seriously doubt that anyone goes to shop (I must have visited the wrong malls as Gurgaon is bursting at its seams with malls). However, this time I did some research and found myself at the Ambience Mall in Gurgaon. The mall is pretty large by any standard and is full of premium outlets (when you have a BMW dealer in the mall then you know which kind of mall you are in!). I had a quick lunch of Shish Taouk at the food court (the outlet promising Mexican, Lebanese and European food should have warned me that authenticity was not likely to be on offer) which was the strangest Shish Taouk I have eaten in my life. It was served with a reasonable pita bread and a side of raita and tomato chutney. The chicken kabab itself was ok, though it was clearly nowhere close to being authentic but the icing on the cake was that it was also served with nachos (aah, the tomato chutney was probably supposed to be salsa). Anyway, I am digressing, in order to kill time, I wanted to see a movie and given that the other choices did not appeal (Chalo Dilli, Shor in the City, I Am, whatever), I decided to watch Dum Maaro Dum.

Right from the beginning the movie caught my attention with the story of Prateik (Babbar). A fair amount of time elapses before one realises that the stars of the movie, Abhishek Bachchan and Bipasha Basu are nowhere on the scene. AB Jr. does make his appearance in due course, however Ms. Basu is introduced into the plot when the movie is more than 40 minutes in the running. The movie is about Goa and drugs which are inextricably linked to each other (at least in the movie). Abhishek Bachchan is a cop who is seeking redemption in elimination of the drug mafia and has been given a mandate by his political boss to spare no one (AB Jr's motivation is established however why his politician boss wants the drug scene cleaned up is never made clear).

AB assembles an unlikely team of a young police officer, Mercy (I couldn't find the name of the guy, even the film's official site does not list him), and Rane (Govind Namdeo). There is also Bipasha Basu's ex-boyfriend floating about, who is the new kid on the block, Rana Dagubatti (yes, that's a mouthful!). Lording over everyone is a sleazy character called Lorsa (no kidding, where do they dream up these names from!) Biscuita, played woodenly by Aditya Pancholi. The stage is set when Prateik is being used by the drug mafia as a courier to send drugs between India and the US (hang on a minute, I thought drugs move from South America, Afghanistan and the Far East to everywhere around the world, but what do I know). The drugs are supposed to be carried in a suitcase with a false bottom (come on, the plot really loses it here, is this the most that the script can come up with?) and our boy Prateik is the conduit.

The movie takes all of the first half to set itself up to this stage with various back stories being filled in till the time Prateik and AB are brought together.

The first half moves reasonably quickly, though not at the frenetic pace that one associates with out and out thrillers (like say a Kaminey). There are interludes for songs, a couple could have been cut out without any loss to the narrative. The movie is shot very stylishly and though Goa is clearly the focus, we are never distracted with eye candy shots of beaches, etc. Of all the actors, Abhishek Bachchan gives a measured performance, Prateik is convincing, Mercy (the mystery actor) steals almost every scene he is in and Govind Namdeo is competent, as the cautious veteran. Though, Bipasha Basu's character is quite critical to the script, she has very little screen time, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Rana Dagubatti is a surprise package and one could easily imagine him in Abhishek Bachchan's shoes in this movie. He can act and assuming his dialogue is not dubbed by someone else, his delivery is also good. Aditya Pancholi is best forgotten.

The final plot resolution is too pat and quite unconvincing. The unmasking of the kingpin Michael Barbarosa is also quite obvious and one can see it coming from a mile away. Deepika Padukone duly makes her 'special' appearance almost at the end of the movie, maybe to ensure that the audience doesn't walk out mid-way! Actually, I am being a bit unfair, the movie is not that bad and definitely worth one viewing. So, in the final reckoning, all the style and great plot setup is squandered in the last 20 minutes of the movie. A more imaginative script probably could have made a big difference. But, do go and watch it .. once.

Android – LG Optimus One P500 – 2 month update

I have now been using my Android 2.21 based LG Optimus One (P500) phone for about two months now, and this post is an update on my experience so far.

At first glance, the phone does not look sturdy at all (my standards of sturdiness have been set by Nokia, whose phones are virtually indestructible), and gives a very plasticky feeling. This goes more for the back of the phone, which picks up dust very easily when left on any surface. It is a good idea to keep the phone in a cover. However don't go by the initial experience, as the phone has withstood a couple of minor falls and come out without a scratch.

Call quality has been reasonably good. I have also been using the WiFi, GPS Receiver and Mobile data (2G and 3G) features regularly and all work without a problem. The FM radio sounded a bit scratchy and reception was not very clear, however I don't use the phone as a radio, so it doesn't affect me much. I had a bit of a struggle to get 3G enabled on my phone, nothing to do with the phone the issues were all with my provider (Vodafone). However, now 3G also works well on my phone, though I don't use it much except for sync'ing my email.

I have had a lot of issues with the battery life, with my phone battery getting drained before the day was over (after being charged fully overnight). This caused me a fair bit of concern since I expect my phone to last at least for a day without having to be charged. I did a bit of digging around and I found the answer to my problems in an app called Juice Defender.

The heart of the phone is Android and to get the best out of the phone, some understanding of Android is necessary. First and foremost is to not keep applications running in the background but end them on use (in the best case they will take up only memory, worst case they will take up both memory and CPU when in the background). Next is an understanding of how connectivity options affect battery life. Primarily, one has to keep WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth OFF in order to get the best performance out of the battery. Given that all of these are embedded under various menu options, the simple solution is a neat app called Quick Settings. Download this from the Android Market, put it on your home screen and presto! you can turn the significant options ON/OFF right from your home screen in one tap.

So, the key is to have the right apps installed on your phone to ensure that you get the best out of it. Here is my list of must have apps for your Android phone:

Juice Defender – This is a must have app for the Android phone. It claims to conserve battery and after installing I have observed about a 50% increase in my battery time. I have the free version installed and as yet it has worked well for me.

Quick Settings – This app helps in turning options ON/OFF in a very handy manner without having to navigate through multiple menus.

Angry Birds – THE must have game on the Android. If you haven't played it, you don't know what you are missing. Highly addictive and simple enough to pick up within minutes, however the combination of luck and skill needed to pass (the endless!) higher levels will ensure that you don't get bored.

CardioTrainer – If you work out (walk, jog, bike, whatever) and want to record details of your workout, then this is the app for you. Again, I am using the free version which is working well for me. Great integration with GPS allows you to see the path that you followed and the ability to post directly to facebook or twitter means that you don't have to enter any data by hand. I have been using it for about 6 weeks now and it works great (except for a tendency to use the battery heavily when it is active). One tip is to reduce the frequency of GPS lookups (can be controlled from the Settings menu within the app) to about 30 seconds (I have kept it to about 10 seconds for now).

MyBookDroid – This is *not* an eBook reader, but an application that helps you to organize the books that you own, want to read, etc. What makes it really useful is its ability to integrate with a bar code scanner app. Thus, you can scan the ISBN code from a book directly from the phone (using the built-in camera) and MyBookDroid will look up the ISBN code from the internet and voila! details of your book magically appear in the app (including the book cover). Its magic! MyBookDroid is probably not the best such app out there, the killer app would be one which allows you to scan all of your books, CDs and DVDs. That would be cool.

Apart from these, one would of course install apps such as facebook, twitter, LinkedIn and dedicated apps from the news sources that you browse regularly.

Some thoughts on the passing away of Sai Baba

Sai Baba passed away on Sunday, April 24, 2011 and his passing away is being mourned by millions of people around the world. Seeing some of the scenes and coverage a few thoughts came to my mind.

We are told that thousands of people are gathering at Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh, India, to pay their last respects. It is very clear that given the size of the gathering mourners, some kind of queue will be formed and that it could potentially take hours if not days for everyone to file past and get a final viewing before the last rites are performed. At the same time, we are shown images of VIPs who are dashing to Puttaparthi and are given preferential treatment in getting to the final resting place before the ordinary crowds gathering outside.

I wonder how does this reconcile with the teachings of Sai Baba? Or am I mistaken in thinking that equality of all people is not a basic principle that not just Sai Baba but all other religious / spiritual leaders profess? Clearly if the VIPs were to queue up like ordinary people then there would be some level of chaos, either security issues or mass hysteria (imagine a Sachin Tendulkar or a Amitabh Bachchan getting into a queue). So, on one hand we have practical considerations of crowd control but on the other hand trying to follow the path laid down by Sai Baba. In a setting such as an airport such considerations do not apply and VIPs are happily escorted through Security checks while the rest of us wind our way through the queue.

The same situation arises in cases of VIP darshan in any significant temple of note, Tirupathi and Siddhi Vinayak are just two well known examples. Again, we have VIPs getting to commune with the deity when ordinary people (whose need to commune with the deity is at least on par with the VIPs) wait, very often in not a very comfortable situation.

I am not questioning anyone's faith, simply the hypocrisy of VIPs bypassing everything, even in religious/spiritual matters.

What prompted this blog post was actually a photo of Sachin Tendulkar (who is a deity in many eyes himself!) at Puttaparthi, visibly grieving at the passing away of Sai Baba. Again, I am not questioning the genuineness of Tendulkar's grief just the fact that he gets to grieve before others.

I hope this post provokes the reader to respond with your point of view.

ICC WC2011 – A billion dreams come true

What more can be asked from a match for an India fan ? Quite a lot actually, a Tendulkar century, a Sehwag blitzkrieg or a Pathan rocket. However what was on offer on Saturday was enough for a billion eyes that were glued to their television sets and browsers as India chased a very competitive score set by Sri Lanka. However, before I get to the match proper, the team selections had left both India and Sri Lanka fans bemused.

India made one change with the injured Nehra making way for Sreesanth. This was another rabbit that MSD pulled out of his hat after having replaced Ashwin with Nehra for the Pakistan match. Do MSD and Gary Kirsten know something about Ashwin that we don't ? If so, please enlighten us as to how you can keep a guy who has performed every time a ball has thrown to him is kept out of a team ? Contrast that with Sreesanth (and I will be the first to admit that I am a big fan of Sreesanth's bowling), who would have been low on confidence after having been benched after the Bangladesh match and is clearly the fourth choice seamer. The logic that Sri Lanka play spin well works only to a point, current form and team composition has to count for something.

If the Indian team selection showed up MSD's contrarian nature, the Sri Lanka team changes were simply baffling. Angelo Mathews being injured was a big blow, so his replacement was a given, however Sri Lanka made four changes with Chamara Silva, Rangana Herath, Angelo Mathews and Ajantha Mendis making way for Kulasekara, Perera, Ranadiv and Kapugedara. Of the changes, Kapugedara for Silva on form seemed reasonable and one of Kulasekara/Perera for Mathews was necessary (as a result of injury to Mathews). However, the dropping of both Herath and Mendis, both of whom had performed very well in the previous matches to bring in a seamer and spinner was inexplicable. The only possible reason is that Ranadiv had posed problems to the Indians on their last tour of Sri Lanka and it is thought that Mendis has been 'sorted out' by the sub-continent batsmen. This seemed very defensive logic.

Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat and Dilshan and Tharanga started at a snail's pace. They were kept on a tight least by Zaheer Khan, who bowled an outstanding first spell and some inspired Indian fielding. Sreesanth after some initial nerves also seemed to be settling down and Tharanga succumbed to the pressure. This brought Sangakkara (arguably the best no.3 batsman in the world today) to the crease and he and Dilshan dropped anchor and built a good partnership. Sreesanth brought back for his second spell quickly dispelled any hopes of his bowling his overs out quietly and Dilshan helped himself to a couple of boundaries. A breakthrough was needed and provided by Harbhajan Singh when Dilshan had a deflection from his pad go on to hit his stumps.

The old pro Jayawardene now joined Sangakkara and both were looking inseparable when Sangakkara got an edge to Dhoni off Yuvraj ("Phoenix") Singh. The Sri Lanka lower middle order was suddenly brought into play with 20 more overs to go and it seemed as if India could restrict Sri Lanka to less than 250. Jayawardene had other ideas and was effortlessly stroking and ball and scoring at a strike rate of more than 100 even when wickets were falling around him. After Samaraweera and Kapugedara fell cheaply, he got excellent support from Kulasekara and Perera and Sri Lanka reached 274, a total that had looked very far off by the 30^th over. India bowled badly at this stage and their fielding too wilted under the assault from Sri Lanka. Jayawardene reached a very richly deserved 100 and it looked as if Sangakkara's comment at the toss, "whatever total we will get will be good enough", was coming true. India would have gone into the break thinking that Sri Lanka had got at least 30 runs too many and would have wanted to get away to a good start with Sehwag and Tendulkar.

It was not to be and hardly had the India innings got underway when Malinga produced a searing delivery which thudded into Sehwag's pads. Up went the finger and though India asked for a UDRS review, the verdict was upheld. If this was a body blow, there was a knock out punch to come shortly in the form of Tendulkar's wicket. Tendulkar had started very confidently and it seemed as if he had forgotten his tentativeness in Mohali and was batting as only he can. A drive through the covers was as good as any he has played and the crowd at the Wankhede roared its appreciation. It was too good to last and Malinga, who can produce a wicket taking ball almost every time he comes in to bowl, got Tendulkar to edge and Sangakkara happily accepted the catch. A stunned silence from the crowd among wild celebrations from the Sri Lankan team was enough indication of the importance of this wicket to both sides. Out strode Kohli and joined Gambhir who had been dabbing the ball around till then. Both Kohli and Gambhir did what Dilshan and Sangakkara had done earlier in the day, cut out fancy shots and stuck to rotating the strike. Strangely, Sangakkara seemed content with Tendulkar's wicket and there did not seem any great effort in trying to prise out another wicket.

Eighty priceless runs were added by this pair and it came in good time (about 15 overs at a rate of 5 per over). This kept the asking rate within limits and brought India perceptibly closer to the target. Kohli got out to a great Dilshan return catch and MSD sprang another surprise by promoting himself ahead of Yuvraj. Gambhir now prospered in Dhoni's company and both batted brilliantly. They saw off Murali and scored off everyone else and broke the back of Sri Lanka with their partnership. By the time they were separated, when Gambhir waltzed down the pitch to Perera when within touching distance of his century, India had only 50 odd runs to get in even time. Yuvraj settled down very quickly and Dhoni started asserting himself with some crisp pulls. In the end Sangakkara threw in the towel and Dhoni provided the perfect end by clubbing Kulasekara over mid-wicket for a massive six. Team India had achieved what every Indian cricket fan had been demanding ever since the start of the tournament, a victory in the World Cup final!

India's brilliance in batting cannot mask the strange tactical choices made by Dhoni or the frailities in the Indian bowling and fielding. However sheer desire to succeed and of course great skill, helped Dhoni guide India to a memorable victory. Ultimately India were good enough on the field in all the knock out games that they played whereas the other teams succumbed to pressure. It was thought that playing at home would add to the pressure on the Indian players and no doubt it played a huge role, but one would like to think that even the support that the team enjoys from the crowds at home would have helped to some extent in giving it an extra edge.

Some scenes from after the match linger in memory, Tendulkar being carried around in turns by all the players, Kohli acknowledging in an interview that every Indian cricket fan knows ("Tendulkar has carried the weight of the Indian team for the last 21 years, it is time that we carried him now"). It had all the marks of a clichéd sound byte, however it touched a nerve in every fan watching and Kohli has only risen in the eyes of however witnessed it.

With this monkey of his back, one expects Dhoni to create a very strong cricket legacy and become an even better captain and as for Tendulkar, only he knows what more he can achieve ...

ICC World Cup 2011 – XIV – Semi-finals

The two semi-finals were expected to provide two different types of matches and both expectations were fully met.

Semi-final I – Sri Lanka vs New Zealand

On current form, New Zealand had overachieved in reaching the semi-final. After producing the upset of the tournament by humbling South Africa, they were unlikely to produce a repeat performance on the trot. Sri Lanka on the other hand were waiting for New Zealand (SL had beaten NZ by 10 wickets in the league game) and the real fear was that another mismatch would leave fans (both NZ and SL) disappointed. Sri Lanka had been clinical in dispatching England in the quarter-finals but would have been a little cautious of New Zealand's David vs Goliath characteristics.

New Zealand did themselves a favour by winning the toss and electing to bat as chasing at the Premadasa has traditionally been more difficult, however their batting again let them down and they could finally post a total of only 217. All of their top order batsmen got starts but none other than Scott Styris were able to cross 50. The lower half went in search of quick runs and though New Zealand did post 217 on the board, it was unlikely to test Sri Lanka, however memories of the New Zealand vs South Africa match would have been fresh in both teams' minds.

Sri Lanka started their chase cautiously, however Tharanga was starting to get away and hit some boundaries. New Zealand got aggressive on the field and words were exchanged. This probably got to Tharanga and he got out to a great catch by Jesse Ryder diving horizontally. Sangakarra arrived at the crease and he and Dilshan continued serenely. The run-rate was never a problem and the target was slowly but surely being whittled down. After their 100 run partnership, Dilshan was itching to have a go at the bowling and got a couple of pull shots going. However he perished soon after in trying to clear the mid-wicket fence. Everything still looked hunky dory for Sri Lanka, however Jayawardena had an off day and was out LBW to Vettori. It was up to Sangakarra to see them through and he seemed to sense it. He had Samaraweera for company with Silva and Mathews yet to come and less than 60 runs to get. A strange aspect of the New Zealand bowling was that Andy McKay had not only not been given the new ball but was brought in to bowl only around the 20^th over. Given that he was New Zealand's fastest bowler it was a little hard to understand. McKay had now been bowling well and was keeping the batsmen quiet. He dug one in short outside the offstump to Sangakarra, who tried to play the 'Upar' cut a la Sehwag and Tendulkar. Unfortunately he got a thick outside edge and the ball ballooned nicely to Styris at third man.

Vision of the South Africa match now started rising in the minds of both New Zealand and Sri Lanka and when Silva was bowled by Southee, it looked like New Zealand were just a wicket away from causing another upset. Mathews (the Yusuf Pathan of Sri Lanka) held his nerve and though he was injured and had Jayawardena running for him, hit some big blows to take Sri Lanka home. The last 10 overs were quite tense and Sri Lanka would have been happy to escape with a win. Sangakarra (rightly) did not sound very happy at the post-match presentation and blamed himself and Dilshan for not seeing the match through. New Zealand were not disgraced and on current form this was probably the best they could have hoped for.

The only weakness to Sri Lanka's game seems to be in chasing and with the middle order not having to do much through the tournament, it offers their opponents the only window of opportunity. The Sri Lanka bowling is spoiled for riches and Mendis and Herath had a good game against New Zealand.

Semi-final II – India vs Pakistan

You would have to be on another planet to not realise that there was an India Pakistan game on Wednesday. The news media was in its element and the poor viewer was left wondering whether this was a game that was being discussed or had war broken out. With the Prime Ministers of both countries also in attendance it seemed that cricket was the last thing on anyone's mind! It was a wonder that both teams managed to retain their equilibrium and the actual match was played without any incidents on or off the field.

Afridi retained the same squad that beat West Indies (Shoaib Akhtar having missed out and now effectively has ended his career since he had already announced his retirement) but Dhoni sprang a surprise by preferring Nehra over Ashwin. Both choices were slammed by pundits on both sides of the fence, however it was clear that these were the teams that Afridi and Dhoni wanted. Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat, playing to India's strength and potentially to Pakistan's weakness (as teams usually come under increased pressure as they chase).

India started in whirlwind fashion with Sehwag singling out Umar Gul for punishment. Gul had been Pakistan's best bowler in the World Cup, however in the early overs he completely lost his line and was repeatedly hit for fours on both sides of the wicket by Sehwag. Tendulkar was also looking steady and it seemed that Pakistan were in for a real leather hunt. Against the run of play Sehwag was caught in front by Wahab Riaz and even a UDRS review could not help him and he walked back to the pavilion without even completing 50. Tendulkar and Gambhir settled down and Tendulkar played a couple of good drives and seemed in good touch. However this was short lived as the introduction of spin in the form of Ajmal and Hafeez caused both Tendulkar and Gambhir to be all at sea. Tendulkar in particular seemed to be having all kinds of problems and when the umpire upheld a confident shout for LBW off Ajmal it seemed that it was all over for India. However the UDRS which had deserted Sehwag came to Tendulkar's rescue with the ball trajectory being shown as missing leg stump. Having got a reprieve, Tendulkar stretched to meet the next ball and Kamran Akmal for once made no mistake with the stumping. A TV replay was called for and while it seemed that Tendulkar's foot may have been in the air, it was inconclusive with the benefit of doubt being given to the batsman. Not satisfied with these two lucky breaks, Tendulkar rubbed salt in the wounds of Pakistan by offering four more catches before finally getting out for 85. I have never seen Tendulkar play so badly (probably the other times he was playing badly he got out at the first opportunity so the bad form was rarely on display like yesterday) and struggle so much against bowling which though good was definitely not menacing.

While all this was going on, Gambhir waltzed down the pitch to be stumped and Kohli could not keep a cut shot down and hit straight to Umar Akmal. Wahab Riaz now produced the ball of the match by yorking Yuvraj first up and India were in deep trouble at 141-4. Tendulkar and Dhoni left within a span of 20 runs and India were in real danger of being bowled out before their 50 overs were used up. Raina played sensibly and with some support from Harbhajan and Zaheer, the total crossed 250 and eventually reached 260. Ironically this was what Australia had scored against India in the quarter-final in a losing cause. Given the hold the Pakistani spinners had on the Indian batsmen it seemed that Nehra's selection was going to boomerang on Dhoni.

Pakistan started steadily and though Kamran Akmal got out early, both Hafeez and Shafiq did not look in any trouble. The run-rate was around the four and half mark and it looked like Pakistan were in cruise control mode. Munaf Patel was bowling with his usual consistency and probably this was construed as predictability by Hafeez. He tried a pre-meditated scoop over fine-leg, however the ball was wider than he thought and it took the outside edge for Dhoni to complete the catch. The next phase of play was inexplicable as between Kamran and Umar Akmal the rest of the Pakistan batsmen scored a collective 142 runs off 200 balls (including Misbah's tortoise crawl in the early part of his innings). The slow run-rate by itself could have been dealt with, however Pakistan was also losing wickets regularly and finally the last few batsmen were left with a task which was beyond them. The Indian bowling in the middle overs was restrictive and all bowlers played their parts well. Yuvraj was used as a proper fifth bowler and after a very long time, India used only five bowlers to bowl the 50 overs.

Ultimately it was pressure and bad planning that let the Pakistan chase falter after their fielding display in the first innings had cost them 50 extra runs from Tendulkar. The MoM award to Tendulkar was a travesty (you can't reward bad batting, even if it is by Tendulkar) and Wahab Riaz was ignored despite having a standout bowling performance. Is it a rule somewhere that the MoM has to be from the winning team ? Nehra bowling well made his selection look like a master-stroke however the fact was that the wicket was more conducive to spin than pace. India fielded and bowled much above their standard for the rest of the tournament and one hopes that they are able to manage one more such effort for the final.

Finals prediction:

India will win, primarily because of home advantage. If Sri Lanka bat first, then it is likely to be a closer contest. Sehwag is due for a big score and is likely to reserve it for the final.

All my earlier predictions have come true, except for the New Zealand vs South Africa match and that I had predicted a closer contest in the England vs Sri Lanka quarter-final !

On to Super Saturday and one hopes to see a game worthy of a final.

ICC WC2011 – XIII – QF3 and 4

What does one say about the third and fourth quarter-finals ? One produced a massive upset and the other an unexpected thumping.

New Zealand vs South Africa

South Africa had won one close game against India and lost another to England in the group stages, so while the chokers tag was not quite on display it was not buried either. South Africa chose the worst possible way to remind the cricketing world about it in their quarter-final match. As a professional outfit New Zealand would of course have been playing to win, however even they would have admitted that South Africa were firm favourites in their match-up and if they had run South Africa close it would not have been a bad result for New Zealand. What happened was straight out of a nightmare which every South African cricket fan must be having when their team plays in a crunch match.

New Zealand batted first and while they never dominated, they got to a total which required South Africa to put on a reasonable batting display. The South African bowling probably under-performed but still a modest New Zealand total of 221, thanks primarily due to a battling innings of 81 from Jesse Ryder and good support from Ross Taylor, was not meant to seriously challenge the South African batting. South Africa started badly with Amla being desperately unlucky to see the ball balloon to Vettori off McCullum's boot. Smith hung around without looking convincing but Kallis was looking good and the target was being steadily run down. When Smith got out and AB de Villiers walked in, many would have thought that now at least we would see some decent batting. Kallis and de Villiers were in no trouble and the asking rate was well within control when Kallis got a real rush of blood and holed out in inexplicable fashion (with Oram taking a great catch in the deep off Southee). Even then with just over a 100 to get and over 25 overs and 7 wickets in hand, only the most foolhardy would have predicted anything other than a South African victory.

New Zealand applied some pressure by deploying extra fielders inside the circle and given that South Africa were seeking to win without taking risks, scoring suddenly became difficult. In this environment, Duminy and Botha managed to get themselves bowled and de Plessis probably made the blunder of the innings in causing de Villiers to get run out. Now there was real pressure and the last four batsmen were simply not good enough to handle it, probably all the later batsmen when they looked at the scoreboard saw "Choke" written there instead of the score. Vettori marshalled his resources well however even he would admit that he was helped to no small extent by the way the South African's played.

With the win, New Zealand wiped away some memories of their last tour of Bangladesh (the quarter-final was played in Mirpur) and would have left the country in good spirits looking forward to the winner of the England – Sri Lanka match as their semi-final opponents.

England vs Sri Lanka

This was expected to be a close game, especially after England won the toss (all the pundits had predicted that chasing would be difficult). England started cautiously with a new opening pair of Strauss and Bell. Both looked to be seeking to play out the initial spells of Malinga and Dilshan, however Strauss was unable to replicate his form from early in the tournament and was bowled. Bell and Bopara had a couple of useful partnerships with Trott (the new rock for England's batting) but the innings got some momentum only when Eoin Morgan was batting. England were still reasonably placed with about 180 odd on the board and about 7 odd overs to go, however the batting power-play exerted its influence over proceedings and after Swann got out first ball, England seemed intent on ensuring that they played out their 50 overs instead of hustling as many runs as they could. Trott's ability to anchor the innings was marred by his failure to accelerate and with the others unable to get to terms with the bowling, England probably finished about 20-30 runs short of what they could have achieved.

Sri Lanka was expected to have a tricky chase on its hands and Tharanga and Dilshan were uncharacteristically subdued in the beginning. Runs were being scored but not at the rate at which one expects from the successors to Jaysuriya and Kaluwitharana and England would have been hoping that they would be able to replicate the result from the 3^rd quarter-final. However, it was not to be, the awaited break-through just did not happen and whatever England's bowlers tried was not good enough to separate the opening pair. Ultimately it was one of the most one-sided victories in a World Cup match (the Pakistan / West Indies being an earlier reminder of another) and England washed away all the good work of the winter and the Ashes with their World Cup campaign. While all the right noises were made by Strauss during the World Cup (we are here to win, etc.) it seemed as if the team was playing against their will and it seemed a huge effort to turn up on the cricket field.

In a tournament which carried so much importance for other teams, England's lack of enthusiasm stood out and they paid the price in being unable to summon up any reserves when they were needed.

Thus, of the four semi-finalists, three are from Group A with India being the sole survivors from Group B.

Semi-final prediction

New Zealand have been punching way above their weight and even their win against South Africa was 50% their own effort and 50% disintegration by South Africa. With this background, it is hard not to see Sri Lanka as firm favourites to win the first semi-final.

The second semi-final would be absolutely a pressure game with past results counting for nothing, simply because it is an India – Pakistan game. There are various reports of Shoaib Akhtar playing in the semi-final, but in my view, it would be a huge mistake for Pakistan to play him. Shoaib holds no terrors for anyone at the moment and it is likely that he will end up as cannon fodder for Sehwag and Tendulkar. It is hard to predict a winner, however I think India is likely to hold their nerve better and probably fear failure less than Pakistan, so I tip India to win.

ICC WC2011 – XII – QF 1 and 2

It is a cricket broadcaster's dream match-up, India vs Pakistan in the first semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. Both teams entered the semi-final in a contrasting but equally deserving manner.

Pakistan vs West Indies

I had predicted that Pakistan will win easily unless Chris Gayle does something extraordinary for the West Indies. As it turned out, Pakistan bowled first and when Gayle got out early, the match was almost over. West Indies could not handle the Pakistan spin attack at all and did not do anything great against the seam attack either. West Indies got one aspect of their selection right by including Chanderpaul and it was he who ensured that West Indies crossed at least a 100 runs. The West Indies batting collapse or rather disintegration was beyond belief and it was hard to relate this team to the teams of bygone eras. This match and particularly the West Indies batting was particularly symptomatic of the problems in their cricket.

Sammy in the post-match interview after their loss to India (in the last group game) had said that they will need to bring their 'A' game against Pakistan, as it turned out, West Indies 'A' would probably have fared better than the senior team. After posting such a low total, West Indies had to hope for a miracle, however Pakistan did not let them off the hook and ensured that they won by a thumping 10 wicket margin. Afridi as a bowler seems to be going from strength to strength and the inclusion of Saeed Ajmal was also a good selection choice. As an outsider, it is hard to figure out the exact issues with West Indies cricket, however choosing a captain who would be hard pressed to retain his place in the West Indies side (I don't think he would make the cut in any other international side, including Bangladesh) is probably part of the problem.

India vs Australia

This was expected to be a close game and it was. Australia won the toss and expectedly chose to bat. Watson went cheaply, however it was clear from the beginning that Ponting was determined to not leave the World Cup without making his mark. He was not as fluent as he normally is, however he was busy as usual and very effective in his placement. Though he did not dominate the bowling he was not troubled either by any bowler. Ponting duly got to a well deserved century and when David Hussey down the order threw his bat around, it looked like Australia had done enough to post a challenging total and their bowling and fielding would see them through.

As I had said earlier, I thought that this would be a match-up of India's batting vs Australian bowling. The first innings had resulted in a stalemate of sorts as the total was not large enough to be out of reach of India, but enough runs on the board for Australia's bowlers to think they had a chance. India started well with Tendulkar and Sehwag batting calmly and as the case when this pair bats, the run-rate was quite healthy. Sehwag survived a caught behind when reviews whether he had nicked the ball were inconclusive, however he perished soon after. Gambhir joined Tendulkar and both settled down to play safe cricket, however Tendulkar got out soon after he completed his fifty against the run of play. There were no experiments in the batting line-up and Kohli duly joined Gambhir. Neither batsmen looked in any trouble and Australia soon turned to spin in the form of Krejza and Clarke, however neither bowler could make much of an impression. Runs were leaking from both ends and it looked as if India would win in a canter.

Playing percentage cricket seemed to bore Virat Kohli and he tried to hit David Hussey out of the ground but managed to only sky it towards Michael Clarke at mid-wicket to take an easy catch. If this dismissal was needless then the next wicket to go was bizarre by any stretch of the imagination. Yuvraj came at the fall of Kohli's wicket and all the time he had spent in the middle in previous matches seemed to be paying off. He was striking the ball well and the run-rate was well under control. It was now Gambhir's turn to get a rush of blood to his head. There were two consecutive occasions on which either of Gambhir or Yuvraj could have been run out, once comically the Australian fielder threw at the wrong end (in fact he made an effort to throw to the wrong end when it would have been much easier to throw to the other end). Gambhir was not content to be let off twice and he attempted yet another suicidal run, however this time the fielder did not oblige and he was run out by yards. It needed the calm of Dhoni to see India through at this stage.

Yuvraj by now was scoring comfortably and Dhoni started in his busy manner, however the re-introduction of Brett Lee into the attack induced Dhoni to cut a wide delivery straight to Clarke at point. With 70 odd more to get, and the last recognised pair of Yuvraj and Raina at the crease, the script seemed all to familiar to Indian supporters. Lee and Tait were digging it short to Raina and though Raina was clearly not fully at ease, he managed to pull a few deliveries and did not let the short bowling intimidate him. The runs to get kept decreasing rapidly and Raina hit the final nail when he lauched Brett Lee over long-on for six, probably the shot of the match. Australia's reign in the World Cup had ended and a semi-final between India and Pakistan had been setup.

Australia had probably too many easy matches earlier in their half and the only real match they faced against Sri Lanka was rained off. By the time they got to Pakistan in their last group match, they had not really been tested and an inspired performance by Pakistan meant that Australia would have come into the quarter-final with at least some loss of confidence. India as always has been supremely reliant on their batting and this match finally showed the reason why Dhoni is sticking to 7 batsmen. Australia fielded poorly and India had their best fielding display to date, which probably resulted in an unexpected swing of about 20-30 runs (runs saved by India and given away by Australia).

A special mention needs to be made about Yuvraj Singh. I have been saying in the past that Yuvraj needs to play with the authority of old and he finally seems to be justifying the faith of his captain and the long rope given to him by the selection committee. All I can say is I hope this run of his continues and today he was deservingly man of the match and the best Indian player on the field.

Semi-final prediction:

History is against Pakistan as they have never beaten India in a World Cup game and I expect it to happen this time around as well. Home advantage will see India through.

ICC WC 2011 – XI - Group Stage Round-Up (So long and thanks for all the fish!)

The rather cryptic heading is taken from the title of a Douglas Adams book (the 4^th instalment of the HGTG 'trilogy in 4 parts'). What I mean is that the associates have been now seen off and the tournament proper can begin. Lip service has been paid to extending the game to other areas of the world and we can bid the associates good-bye for the next four years.

So, what has the last four weeks really thrown up and what does that augur for the quarter-finals ? Let's go team by team and find out.

QF1 – Pakistan vs West Indies

Pakistan has remained inconsistent as expected, capable of great highs and also of abysmal lows (the keeping of Kamran Akmal for example). Afridi seems to have forgotten that he can bat and seems to be happy that he is taking wickets. Younis Khan and Misbah ul-Haq have been solid without being feared by opponents, Shoaib Akhtar maybe has already played his last match, unless he can summon up one final burst of energy. Umar Akmal has reinforced his image as an exciting batting talent. Pakistan should get by the West Indies (one hesitates to use the word 'easily') and will await the winner of the India-Australia match.

West Indies have surprised no one in the tournament. They have played well in parts but the problems that have plagued West Indies cricket for the past few years have been on full display in the tournament. A lack of consistency both in batting and bowling, means that they have struggled to score runs and defend totals. They have capitulated badly against both England and India and these are the last two performances that they are taking to the quarter-finals. Their future in the tournament rests on the broad shoulders of Chris Gayle. Period.

Prediction: Pakistan wins

QF2 – India vs Australia

India have played below potential in almost every match. Their batting has only truly clicked once (in the first match against Bangladesh) and since has promised much but not delivered. The one positive has been the batting of Yuvraj Singh, however he will need to produce the goods for the next three matches. Ashwin made his long awaited debut in the World Cup and everything he did suggests that he should have played much earlier. India will look to Sehwag and Tendulkar to dominate against Australia in the quarter-finals and for the support bowlers like Munaf and Yusuf Pathan to hold their nerve.

Australia have been scratchy in form, however their excellent work ethic and hard playing style has ensured that they keep winning. Their batting is now heavily dependent on Watson and a late contribution from any of the middle-order. Their bowling is what has kept them in the hunt and Lee and Tait have been bowling well. Ponting continues to struggle and he is going to be under increased pressure against India in the quarter-finals.

Prediction: India wins

QF3 – South Africa vs New Zealand

New Zealand have dominated the associates like a school yard bully but have found the going tough against the established sides. The absence of Vettori is not doing them good and they would hope for him to return for the key match against South Africa. New Zealand need Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor to fire against South Africa and for Jesse Ryder to find some form. Their bowling looks capable but may not be enough to dent the South African line-up. New Zealand have to bat well to win.

South Africa have looked like the best prepared team till the quarter-finals stage. They had just the one blip against England but played well in every other match. The surprise of the tournament has been that Peterson and Imran Tahir have not just been able to contain batsmen but also taken key wickets. Smith is the only batsman who has not scored big and the main relief for South Africa must be that Kallis is finding some form. I expect Steyn and Morkel to blow away New Zealand and cruise into the semi-finals.

Prediction: South Africa wins

QF4 – Sri Lanka vs England

Sri Lanka have played well for most of the tournament as expected. What is ominous is that Murali is getting among the wickets. Their three main batsmen, Sangakarra, Jayawardena and Dilshan have all scored runs but their lower order has not contributed much. Sri Lanka remain a dangerous team especially on sub-continent wickets but will come up against England who have reserved their better performances for test sides. I expect the Sri Lanka – England match to be closest in the quarter-finals.

England have to dig deep to find the reserves necessary for a final burst over the next 3 games. England need to find a way to rejuvenate Anderson and ensure that Bresnan continues to perform well. At the moment Swann is the only fully dependable bowler in the squad and I don't expect Tredwell to play against Sri Lanka. This match will also be about the England batting against the Sri Lankan bowling. Given the way the last few England matches have gone, this is likely to provide the closest finish for the quarter-finals and though Sri Lanka will be expected to win, it is not likely to be easy.

 
Prediction: A tough match with Sri Lanka prevailing in the end

ICC WC 2011 – X - ENG vs WI (Swann on song makes sure this is not England’s swansong!)

All the buzz in the cricket world is – what is the deal with England ? They have beaten South Africa and West Indies, tied with India (by all rights a game they should have won), survived by the skin of their teeth against Netherlands and lost to Bangladesh and Ireland. A more bizarre set of results could not have been imagined three weeks ago.

Today's game was no exception to the pattern of England games, see-saw, edge of the seat stuff till the last ball was bowled and the last wicket was taken. If this is a cunning plan devised by the likes of Blackadder and Baldrick, then the only thing I can say is that it is working spectacularly. To start with, England left out Anderson (injured), Shahzad (unwell) and Collingwood (form?) and drafted in Tremlett, Luke Wright and Tredwell (who? Bowls? off spin? hmm.. ok), it seemed basically a question of putting 11 fit men on the field rather than any active selection (yes, leaving Yardy out did show some judgement – finally!). West Indies left out Chanderpaul - this is going to ignite a lot of debate in the West Indies as in the context of the match, he was the one man who could have stayed around and got WI over the finish line, and played Bishoo (brave!).

England batted first and started off briskly. Roach bowled with pace but Strauss seemed set and Trott was going at better than run a ball after Prior had departed. However, no England batsmen capitalised on their starts and ultimately they reached 243 as a sum of parts rather than built on a couple of big innings. West Indies fielded with enthusiasm and took a couple of good catches. So far, it seemed to be going West Indies' way and total seemed pretty gettable. One aspect was that the pitch was very dry and the outfield was pretty fast.

West Indies started their innings as if they wanted to win inside of 20 overs. Gayle went berserk and was clubbing 4s and 6s at will, with a particular brutal assault earning 18 off an over (0 4 6 4 4 0). Swann (who opened the bowling with Bresnan) rode out the storm admirably, though it was Tredwell who got the breakthrough. Sammy (captain ? give me a break) took off from where Gayle left and WI continued on their rollicking way. England was in real danger of being shut out of the game in the first 15 overs as WI had a run rate of over 6 and the target was comparatively modest. When a few wickets fell, WI were suddenly five down with a 100 odd on the board when Sarwan and Pollard got together. Pollard took a few balls to settle down and then started to play the big shots he is known for. This is when Swann came back for his second spell and it was he who got Pollard to get a leading edge (shot intended to be played over mid-wicket ballooned between cover and deep cover). Bopara running backwards got his hands to it but could not hold on, and Swann seemed ready to tear his hair out. Luckily for Bopara, Pollard missed the line on a Swann delivery a little later and was out LBW. It was hard to judge who was celebrating more, Swann or Bopara ! With 6 down for 150 and 90 more to get, it seemed like England were finally on the ascendancy, however Andre Russell had other ideas.

Russell seemed like a clone of Pollard and he too seemed to want to finish the match in a hurry. Russell and Sarwan (who was not scoring but not looking in great difficulty either) put on close to 70 runs and suddenly with 20 odd to get and plenty of overs to go, it seemed like a repeat of the England vs Bangladesh match. Earlier, Swann seemed to have got his man when Russell hit down Trott's throat at deep mid-wicket but Trott fell and touched the boundary rope with his shoulder, resulting in a 6 being given. It seemed like the writing was on the wall with a final piece of luck going the Windies way. England were not done yet and Tredwell got into the act by dismissing Russell, but England nerves were still jittery as Sarwan was still around and the target was within striking distance. Swann now returned for his final spell and in one over accounted for Sarwan and Roach in one over. Sarwan got out to a classic off spinner's dismissal (caught at forward short leg when he attempted to tickle a ball to the leg side but the turn defeated him) and Roach slogged and holed out like a good tail-ender of an earlier era (not really, tail ender slogging never seems to go out of fashion!). A last panic run-out meant that England had won and defied their critics and baffled their followers yet again.

For my money, Swann deserved the Man of the Match though it was Tredwell that finally got it – doesn't quality of bowling count over absolute number of wickets ? Swann exhibited tremendous courage under fire when Gayle was running amok at the beginning of the innings and it was Swann who came back every time and put the brakes on the scoring when West Indies were threatening to run away with the match.

The qualifying situation in Group B says that spots may still change if Bangladesh beat South Africa, but I don't think anyone sees that happening. None of the top sides have lost to the lower teams (except for England) and I don't see South Africa succumbing to Bangladesh anytime soon. Famous last words ? time will tell !