Onto the World Stage: India – The Romantic’s Champions.
Twenty years after they won the world cup, India entered the finals in South Africa in 2003, but only managed to deceive the world. They lost to the only team who could beat them in that edition, Australia. Four years hence, they take on the world again in a bid to bring the cup home after a long time.
And they can actually do it this time. Ever since the “process” began under guru Greg Chappell, they have been through a lot of ups and downs to finally achieve what they aspired to. Atleast what Chappell aspired

Sehwag’s in

That is the stellar difference between the team of 2003 and the team of 2007. That’s the difference between Ganguly and Dravid as captain, or for that matter, John Wright and Greg Chappell. Chappell might have tried his best but lets be frank, the bench strength is poor. So much so that, we can’t even find proper replacements for Kaif or Raina when they are not good enough any more. That we have to fall back upon Dinesh Karthik as a batsman to bolster our middle order? Which brings us to the point that this actually is not a bad choice on hind sight. What if Dhoni gets injured? That he needs to miss a game of unimportance, say against Bermuda, in order to be fit for an important one in the super 8 stage. Atleast we know that Karthik won’t be a traveller like Parthiv Patel in 2003.
That’s because Sehwag’s form will be a barrier to his selection in the playing eleven. I don’t predict him starting more than three matches in the tournament on his reputation. After that form will be considered, as on this basis Karthik has a stronger case. Maybe a fourth start as a spin bowler. But no more, unless he performs. Why am I comparing an opening bat with a middle order one? Because simply put, India’s opening pair for the cup is fixed i

Yes Tendulkar is no more required at the top. And the good point is that he agrees with it. He took to it as fish takes to water, in the last two home series. The middle order hasn’t borne this safe and settled look for so long, so much so that my memory betrays me. With Yuvraj, Dravid and Dhoni still to come, it won’t be a bad idea to let him play at no.3 because whatever some anti-Sachin fans may say, he still is our best batsman and is only logical to allow him as many overs to bat as possible. Dravid can do a fine job at no.5 as he has showed us so many times. I don’t think that this is either Tendulkar’s or Dravid’s last world cup, as many may think. I mean how can they not play in 2011 at home is beyond me. But that is another issue. Because for one player, it is definitely his last ODI outing.
Nobody in the w

Nowadays no talk of an Indian bowling line up is complete without mentioning Irfan Pathan as according to many team members themselves, he is the one who gives the side a balan

No talk of India’s chances at a world cup is complete without discussing Tendulkar’s past exploits. And this alone makes him the most important cog in the Indian wheel at the cup. Even after the tournament is over, he will have a lot to offer to the side but since this is the most open tournament in years, I am putting my money on him to produce the fireworks again. It is the best chance for him to silence his critics by collecting the missing feather in his crown.
Past form sees the team on a world record run of 17 successful run chases to the lows of defeats in Win

As guru Greg said, it’s all about reaching the semi-finals. In this particular tournament, it is. After that any team can do anything. An Indian team in form and high on confidence then becomes more than a romantic’s champion.
My verdict – They have the gift, can they do it? Fingers crossed. Come on guys, I wasn’t even born in 1983.
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