I kinda had a feeling something like this would happen. If we don’t make it to the super 8s, Gaurav will be right.

I am sure plenty of people will blame Greg Chapell for this. But surely he can’t be blamed for the Indian team’s amnesia. Forgetting how to bat can only be explained by that.

#1   Posted by MadMan on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 6:31:38

Bangladesh win comprehensively, this was no fluke. We need to get out team combination right. Dump Sehwag, take Karthik in, replace Agarkar with Sreesanth. And show some energy in the field, please.

#2   Posted by Mohib on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 7:31:11

BCCI’s team have always been poor starters in World Cup, I am sure that Dravid’s men will play better in the remaining group matches. Somehow I feel it would have been better if BCCI XI had started off against Sri Lanka. But credit to the Bangladeshi team, this win didn’t seem like an upset, they were on top from ball one.

#3   Posted by Gokul on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 7:39:14

it sux being an indian. We are setting records in propogating the species (a 100 crore) and we still are holding on to people who are just icons and nothing more than that. T

hese guys are better at being advertising guys than playing cricket, and the bolstering ego of the fatheads - that they were looking at huge margins against bangladesh, you could tell that these guys are born losers. You could compare this with David Beckham - an icon but nothing more than that.

I think its time to ring in the new.

#4   Posted by eda on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 7:42:24

hey gokul, just read your first statement :- “BCCI’s team have always been poor starters in World Cup”. i agree but is the indian team like some cranky car that requires a kick or two to start?

frankly speaking im pissed at the indians, a billion dollars of t.v. contracts, all that sponsorship, a 100 crore indians watching all night (i luv my sleep you know) and the best they can dig out is this.

#5   Posted by eda again on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 7:48:38

Good show! Now I can short Nifty futures on Monday with a degree of confidence.
There’s a high degree of correlation between India’s cricket performance and the Nifty’s.
DD

#6   Posted by devangshu on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 8:04:51

Eda, perhaps so. But what did you expect? The team’s performance in the last year leading to this event has at best been patchy. As fans, we tend to forget this and hope that our team creates magic.

#7   Posted by Gokul on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 8:15:24

Bangladesh had nothing to lose and everything to gain by a victory and they went all out for it. For a nation like Bangladesh with an extremely low cricketing self-esteem this victory will be quiet a morale booster. One day cricket is a fast paced sport like football, hockey or basketball and on its day any team can upset any other team. Rahul Dravid and his boys will be remembered in Bangladesh for having started the turnaround in Bangladeshi cricket.

#8   Posted by Dev on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 9:27:07

This was no fluke. While watching Bangladesh field, I was reminded of Zimbabwe of 80s - bowl wicket to wicket, filed brilliantly, keep it simple, nothing fancy: sounds cliche, but works.

While batting, Bangladesh and especially Tamim reminded me of SL (and Kaluwitharna) circa ‘96. What gumption from this young lad of 17 !! It hurt that was doing this against India, but as a cricket lover, you could not help but be amazed !

The average age of Bangladesh team is something in early 20s - hopefully they will retain Whatmore and go on to bigger things from here.

India......sigh ! Enuff said !

#9   Posted by bongopondit on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 9:27:12

I feel that it will be better if we lose and crash out of the world cup. A mass rejection of cricket by the fans is what Indian cricket needs to get the passion for the game back where it belongs

#10   Posted by Jagannath Moorthy on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 9:32:17

Isn’t there too much of an analysis on the Indian side.Judging by sponsors,fans etc etc everyone makes a lot of noises about Indian cricket.And that’s why when we face a stumble or two like this we get overtly disppointed.The other day the TV channels were all getting mushy about Sachin’s record,Ganguly’s comeback,Indian fan singing under water and a plethora of yagnas etc etc.
My points are:
1. we played badly because we were overcautious.
2. Indians had a real bad start and that made them all the more cocooned.
3. Sourav got out at the bad moment.He failed to pace his innings.But then he crafted a good partnership.
4.Yuvraj has a great future.
5.Sachin mania should go and saneness restored.
6. Credits to Bangladesh.They had nothing to lose for and they beat India in all departments of the game.
Having said this I still believe that India can pull it off judging grom past experiences.

#11   Posted by Abhirup Ghosh on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 9:32:21

Dev,

With due respects, please do not offend football fans by comparing ODI with football!

More than cricket, it is funny to see people and media equate BCCI’s team performance with patriotism!

#12   Posted by F e r r a r i on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 11:02:37

IMO, its all about incentives. This Indian team has but few incentives to push their game up. Most of them are millionaires.. raking in more moolah promoting biscuits and colas than winning matches. What is in it for them to put their heart in the game (and in turn risk injuries..) when they are doing quite good as it is.

Bangla team on the other hand was enthusiastic as a team can be. All of their 11 members were gunning for their spot in the limelight. You could feel it on the TV screen.

I dont think replacing a few players here and there would make that much of a difference.

I mean cmon, this IS World Cup. and you know Sehwag is woefully out of form. And still you want to tag him along. That itself speaks for the way they planned. If it was another warm up tourney I wouldnt blame Dravid for giving him another go, but here on the biggest arena, it was sheer madness… playing your luck too far.

I personally would like to see India out of the Cup in Round 1 itself, and that should catalyze into retirement for the ‘stars’, although I doubt if the stars would share the blame even now.

Anyway at the loss of India’s chances we have a better team gunning for the cup.. almost.

#13   Posted by Sandeep on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 11:11:33

hi amit..i am consistent reader of your blogs...but not really a comentator..you write exceptionally well. what you ahve highlighted today is what should have been highlighted days before. team inda has gone lousy and has lost the will to win...i guess the pepsi logo of ‘ladega to jeetega’ did not seem to enter their minds and bodies as the pepsi..just a vague connection!!
keep it up..i look forward to more writeups.

#14   Posted by vipasha on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 11:25:27

- Drop Sehwag and promote Uthapa to open the innings with Ganguly.
- Play Kumble instead of Harbhajan.
- Play Sreensanth instead of Agarkar.

No team spirit whatsover could be seen in the Indian team. Body language was as if they were playing some local Ranji match. Not sure we can beat the bigger teams with this kinda attitude.

#15   Posted by pent on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 11:43:11

We have a few wickets down in the space of a couple of overs, and the ads during the break go “Ooh aah India” and the team changes into tigers.

Watching the patriotic ads on TV during matches where India is battered is beyond humiliating.

#16   Posted by Matt on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 11:53:43

I do agree that Bangladesh bowled well.
But if u look at how the indian batsmen got out, esp the top and middle order, you would be telling your self, man i could have played a better shot.

India unnecessarily choked under pressure with some very poor short selection. And to rub more salt to the wound, their bowling was very ordinary. It didn’t look like a team that could win the world cup. Other than Patel, all of the indian bowlers were very confused on their line and length. They simply didn’t go for the kill like the australians do.

And to top it all the fielding was horrid. India has a long way to go if it has to win the world cup. But i think that journey will be short lived. I hope the indian team proves me wrong.

#17   Posted by Pramod on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 12:13:06

Thanks all.

DD, but if Nifty’s and the Indian cricket team’s performances are related, won’t everyone be trying to short Nifty futures tomorrow? Please do write an article about how it works.

What I find particularly revealing about the tournament format is how everyone took the ‘minnows’ for granted. If a team loses a Super-8 match, they still have a bunch of others to claw back into the tournament, much like Pakistan did in the league system in 1992, after losing four of their first five. But not in the initial stages of the tournament, where two bad days and you’ve crashed out. It was almost as if the ICC assumed that none of the good teams can be shocked. Well, serves them right.

This will almost certainly have some commercial impact now. Pakistan are going home early, and if India follow, viewership will drop massively. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing—Pakistan made their own deserts, and India will have only themselves to blame if they fail to qualify—but the tournament format is weird: a period of insecurity where two bad days can kill you (first stage), a stable league where you can always fight back (super 8), and then the knock-out stages.

The charm of the World Cup is that the drama is more elongated than the simple knock-out action of the Champions Trophy. I wonder what structure would work best…

#18   Posted by Amit Varma on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 12:36:47

Let me just say that the defeat yesterday was good for Indian cricket. I am saying, good for Indian cricket and not the cricket team. Too much hype and hoopla is surrounding cricket. A little pricking was needed to get it all out. Hope this serves the purpose

#19   Posted by dhananjay mhatre on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 1:02:39

Well if it takes a bloody defeat to get Amit to open comments up…

#20   Posted by Anand on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 1:30:46

Bitter Truths…

1. Bangladesh fielded superbly… They saved atleast 30 runs on the field and that made the difference…

2. I don’t think that this was due to any “blunder” from Indian team..... The match was lost because Bangladesh “played better cricket” in batting, bowling and fielding

The truth is that we were overplayed..... And the most interesting game will be Bangladesh vs Srilanka....

(I know what will happen in the other game… No use watching that)

Dav Whatmore is to be congratulated....

And then, this system (super eight) has to be reconcidered....

We have seen that in 1992 and 1999 where teams which performed poorly in the initial stages have actually won the cup

But two defeats and a team is out of contest.... You have have knockout tournament instead

#21   Posted by Bruno on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 1:30:54

... yeah, and Pakistan, tsk tsk!

#22   Posted by Anand on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 1:31:43

These are the kinds of games Australia almost never loses. Despite many saying we are a bit shaky I’m thinking the Cup is pretty well ours for the taking.

#23   Posted by Phil on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 1:45:50

Everybody say “Ooh Aah India ... Aah Yaah India” :P
But seriously all this over-commercialization, the hype about being the blue billion is nauseating!
Ireland and Bangladesh’s victories are like a whiff of fresh air.. showing that the game is greater than the people!

#24   Posted by Kartik Desikan on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 2:08:32

Should we make such a song and dance of this defeat? We lost the first match of the 2003 WC too, remember? Of course, it was to a much stronger team, but what is to prevent a repeat?

On the subject, I saw this:

http://tinyurl.com/2h68ad

#25   Posted by Aatmasakshi on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 2:20:07

Ah. Finally a post with open comments:)

Well while India’s loss to Bangladesh was humiliating, I hope it serves as a wake up call to the Indian Cricket team which has plumetted to shameful levels recently. I was laughing at the performance till Yuvraj Singh fell.  And then, like mere dominoes the stalwarts fell.

I really couldn’t understand why Sehwag and Agarkar were in the team, though Sehwag took two wickets too late in the game. Barely anyone performed. If not for Ganguly, the defeat would have been even worse.  Even apna Sachin was simply pathetic.

Also, it’s about time the cricket board stops cultivating cricketing icons and focuses on putting together a decent team. The sheer energy of B’desh team crushed the myth of Indian cricketing superiority. Reminded me of France vs. Senegal in the 2002 Soccer WC. The joy of minnows turning into sharks.

Anyways, not all’s lost for the Indian team. I hope they take Bermuda seriously and give their best in the match against Sri Lanka. Or else, someone please tell them that all their endorsements will be cancelled. Then watch Tendlya and the rest perform! No need to despair as yet, fellow fans.

As for Ireland, they are such a pleasure to watch. Seriously amazing. Given that these folks handle a day job along with their cricketing aspirations, it makes their performance all the more inspiring. And they have no endorsements to speak of. Perhaps it is only because they have nothing to lose that they are playing well.

Anyways, this World Cup will definitely be one to shake up a lot of accepted beliefs. Keep watching.

#26   Posted by Abhinav on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 4:12:16

Send that bugger Sehwag home! We need an example.

Send Laxman in. He’s hungry to play in the World Cup. We need hungry players in the team not “recommended by the captain” shit.

#27   Posted by Atlantean on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 4:38:44

I think the real pain and agony will be felt by the advertisers who have spent millions into buying TV slots or space on radio and internet. 
It truly is sad to see such a miserable performance by the Indian team.

Sarcastically put i think the team should now focus on some better grooming styles to bag a new endorsement contract rather than focusing on the next game.

#28   Posted by Deepak on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 5:21:09

Not only the defeats but the nature of defeats was even more telling. Both India and Pakistan were comprehensively outplayed in all three departments and it was a complete reversal of tags of minnows and majors. Both the teams did not stand a chance after losing first couple of over and the inexperiences sides played like true professionals, never allowing them to come back in.
Smart Alec

#29   Posted by Smart Alec on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 5:38:42

It was a pleasure to watch Bangladesh bang the daylights out of our team. Can’t remember the exact moment when I stopped feeling horrible about the situation and enjoying the fireworks. I had earlier laughed at a placard saying ‘World Cup 2011 Champions- Bangladesh’, but if these guys continue like this, who knows?
Tend to disagree with the view that our guys are spending too much time doing ads. In fact, it could very well be because of the pressure of hundreds of millions of crazy fans that they continue playing without enjoying the game. The Bangladeshis were out to win and enjoy, and it showed. They were not worried about their houses being stoned.
Some possible solutions from this armchair critic:
1. Cut down the no. of ODIs
2. Make cricket a viable option at the grass roots level. Given our population, sheer probability would work in our favour.
Ah, but all of this has been said before, hasn’t it?

#30   Posted by Nandan Pandit on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 6:18:25

Amit and India fans,
I believe India is done in this WC.  It will be a hard slog for them to overcome this defeat.  What did them in was very simple (after a pathetic batting display) - pedestrian bowling and bad captaincy by Dravid.  While it was very clear that the wicket was slow and batting was difficult with slower bowlers, Dravid kept using a spin-pace attack thru-out the match.  In addition, he had Sachin bowl medium-pacers instead of his leg-spinners and bought on Sehwag very late.  With such overall pathetic performance, it is appropriate that India does not deserve to qualify for Super 8.  I can now feel better that I was not among those who bought the $2000+ packages to see Ind-Pak play.  Ooohh, that hurts....  ICC will have to prove to its sponsors taht an Ireland-Bangladesh match is worth - milions of dollars of their sponsorship moeny.  That hurts - big time for the Pepsi’s, Hero Hondas, etc.... This is turning out to be a fun one:)

#31   Posted by Achyut Jajoo on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 8:32:32

Team India is not a good product, and no way they can make to the next round. Sri Lanka won their Bermuda match by 243 runs, and they will be hard to beat for India too. IF they manage to do it somehow, Bangladesh would know exactly by how many runs they should beat Bermuda and in how many overs. The hype over a bad product (Team India)has led to attacks on Dhoni’s house. India is going the Pakistan way, in more ways then one.

#32   Posted by bhopale on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 8:47:36

Among all these, I feel sorry for the Sony TV. When India goes home, just after 3 games, what are their hopes of making a profit.

And just like India benefited from Kenya (coz of New Zealand, and England) in the last world cup. Now somebody else will benefit from Bangladesh, Ireland (coz of India and Pakistan)

#33   Posted by Senthil on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 10:52:14

I have a tendency to be quite fond of underdogs, so I’m quite proud of Ireland.
I do wish, however, that Bangladesh had pulled off an upset on some other team.
The Indian team, of course, in my very humble opinion, is composed of a bunch of twits (save Ganguly, who is still my eternal favourite! :D).

#34   Posted by a traveller... on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 11:00:12

having thought and generally agreed with everything above, what if:

India beat Bermuda and Srilanka.

Bangladesh beat Bermuda and Srilanka?

Wouldn’t that be sweet?

#35   Posted by Sleepyface on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 11:13:24

While I am terribly disappointed by our defeat to B’desh, I am not a wee bit surprised. I think B’desh has the ability to upset every “top” team in this WC with the exception of may be Australia and SA. Remember they defeated NZ, now considered a strong contender to win the Cup, in a warm-up game. Indians knew this and I guess they were too much under pressure. That showed in their batting. Picking out-of-sorts Sehwag did not help us either. I hoped that, after the batting failure, the team will come out with great determination and give it all to defend a not-too-hopeless total. It was not to be. Now our chance of making it to the next round, in my opinion, is less than 10%. As Amit said, I think this format is a little cruel. Every team should have a chance to come back after a bad day but I don’t think this format allows for that.

#36   Posted by Mohan on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 11:16:01

Watching the Aussies today… look at their opening batsmen Gilchrist 57 runs from 64 balls. Indian opening - Ganguly 60 odd runs from 130 balls - disgraceful.

Our players play for their own records and not for the team. Our batsmen will play safe until they get their 50, risking nothing, no matter how many balls it takes or what situation the team is in. While the world class teams play as a team.

The only indian batsmen who played like batsmen were - Yuvraj and the 2 tailenders. They at least showed some pasion to score runs…

The selection process, dont get me started on Sehwag…

I agree with comments above we need to have players on the team hungry for the win. Bench these poor performers. Let them know there are consequeces to playing poorly.

#37   Posted by sal on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 11:44:57

Many questions somebody answer please:
1. Why did Ganguly open the innings instead of Robin Uthappa?.
2. Why did Ganguly use 20 overs to score 65 runs (wasting 10 overs)?
3. Why didn’t Ganguly bat up when he scored fifty?

#38   Posted by Anonymous Coward on Sun, March 18, 2007 at 11:46:47

Oh my god.....I just read that Bob Woolmer has died. I am shocked and numbed. And am positive that this couldnt have been a natural reaction to that loss. After all, he seemed quite strong at the press conference, disturbed but strong. Any miscreants perhaps?

#39   Posted by jethro on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 12:13:31

RIP - BOB !

WE LOVE YOU!

#40   Posted by anonymous coward on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 12:21:30

Jethro, it’s tragic, and I’m shocked as well. But let’s wait for further details to emerge, no point speculating. Tony Irish, the general secretary of the SA Cricket board, just said on TV that he heard that it was a heart attack. Woolmer was 59, he reportedly described yesterday as the worst day of his life, and that isn’t unlikely at all.

#41   Posted by Amit Varma on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 12:32:56

Update: Ehsan Malik of the PCB just said on TV that it is probably a heart attack, but the conclusive medical reports have yet to come through.

#42   Posted by Amit Varma on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 12:34:41

India has not played Bangladesh since 2004. I think India (not the team only, the nation as a whole) misread Bangladesh and did not follow its progress in 2006. Bangladesh played Zimbabwe and lesser nations more and won most of the time. Their technics improved and India missed out reading those.

I have <a href="http://rezwanul.blogspot.com/2007/03/bangladesh-have-arrived-but-what-went.html">pointed out<a> one of the reason arrogance as the cause of this Indian defeat.

In DD’d fourth Umpire Kris Srikkanth remarked there is a vast difference between India and Bangladesh so Bangladesh cannot win. India has come to win the world cup. If they loose to Bangladesh they should take the next flight home. Chetan Sharma commented India should not take Bangladesh seriously. If India should respect Bangladesh then they should not have come to this World Cup.

Its only a game, why making it too complicated? However Chetan and Srikkanth were not available for their post match comments.

#43   Posted by Rezwan on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 2:31:18

As for India’s performance, they got what they deserved. There is no point in blaming the coach. I don’t think it was such a disgraceful defeat. I hope the players learn the lesson & come back with all cylinders firing.

[Editor (AV) Prashant, apologies, I’ve edited out the first part of your comment. I’m legally liable for anything that appears on this website, even if not written by me, and speculation on Bob’s death could be a problem. Sorry!]

#44   Posted by Prashant Varma on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 2:59:55

Good to see comments section finally open!
I do not remember anyone complaining about the “cruel format” before we lost 2 matches in a row! Or did I miss something?
Quite simply, there’s way too much money in this sport without any attendant linkage with performance. Defeats like these are what we need more of. Maybe if we had 10 of these ignominious defeats, that would turn lots of viewers away, thereby seriously hampering the cricketers’ advertising income. And re-focussing their attention on the sport!

#45   Posted by Just Mohit on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 4:15:49

Will nobody think of the impact of India’s defeat on Airtel and Pepsi?

Oh, the humanity ;)

#46   Posted by Manish on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 6:28:33

Quick response to some comments:

Rezwan, agree about the arrogance. This Bangladesh team has improved out of sight, and I have a feeling we batted first because Dravid assumed a routine win, and wanted to give Sehwag one more chance to get into form, in what he thought would be an easy outing. If this match had been against Sri Lanka instead of Bangladesh, I suspect India would have approached it differently. That says it all.

Sal and AC, I’m surprised you should blame Ganguly after what the rest of the top order did. It wasn’t easy out there, the Bangladesh new-ball bowlers bowled as well as any top attack in the world, and I think Sourav coped very well in the circumstances. This was a wicket where 230 would have won us the game, and Sourav and Yuvraj played their part: the rest of the batsmen failed us.

I am so impressed with Mortaza. If I had to draw up a combined South-Asian XI, Mortaza and Vaas would open the bowling for me, with Munaf coming first change.

#47   Posted by Amit Varma on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 8:17:27

I was pretty devastated two nights ago at Pakistan’s exit at the hands of Ireland, but the sadness and shock I felt a night later when the news of Bob’s death broke was nothing in comparison.

And all of us here are saying it has put things into perspective, but some of the reaction that continue to come to Pakistan’s loss and even India’s seem to completely defy that notion. I read that Dhoni’s house was attacked by angry mobs. Here in Pakistan, security outside all players’ houses has been increased, people have been burning effigy’s, taking out protests, chanting anti team slogans, emailing and calling the media and request the team to be stripped off their test and one-day status, some madmen have even called for Inzi and co. to be arrested, and their bank accounts be sealed! Even after the news of Woolmer’s death having broken over night, we’re still having a protest outside the Karachi Press Club today, how insensitive is that? I’m outraged, embarrassed, and deeply saddened, all at the same time.

I wrote analytically of Woolmer’s role in our side yesterday too, and I even held his responsible in part for our disastrous loss to Ireland, but I’ve had nothing personal to say about him ever. But some people it seems even though they don’t have anything personal with him against either completely forget in their over reaction that it is after all just sport.

And we all have bad days at work as professionals, and the most we get as a result is a bit of one on one with the boss, or at worst, a sack, but if you’re a cricket player, you have one bad day and people start stoning your house and chanting bud-duaing in your favor! Where’s everyone’s sense gone?

Cricket followers in our part need to get their priorities sorted out. The extreme reaction to both the success and losses of our cricket teams are totally uncalled for. It puts way too much stress on the players, who are as it, in a stressful professional with so much traveling and more at stake in matches then ever before.

I find it unfair on Woolmer him self to speculate if he died of the stresses of his job, but you can see why his son has said so. I just hope and pray that his soul rests in peace, and that he forgives us, for being perhaps a bit too judgmental and hasty in forming our opinions of him. Thanks Bob, we’re sorry. RIP.

#48   Posted by Zainub on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 2:45:26

Zainub, I agree about the extreme reaction from so many fans to the game. The media is partly to blame for this, for going out of their way to fuel up hysteria over the game, often with nationalistic overtones. (I’ve written more about this here.)

Btw, in case any of you are interested, NDTV just shot some bytes with me on the hysteria around cricket in the subcontinent, in which I made these points and some more. I’m immensely clumsy on television, but it’s on NDTV 24x7 at 9pm tonight, or so I’m told. I won’t be in front of a TV at that time, and if I was, would probably prefer to watch the cricket. Just fyi…

#49   Posted by Amit Varma on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 3:04:50

Bangladesh played superb...Indians batsmen had no chance in front of bangladesh’s bowling...but still, Sourav played well...at least tried too(clearly am a Sourav fan:))...What I don’t understand is why are they still keeping players like Sehwag and Agarkar?!

Okay, am no expert on cricket...but my two cents.maybe Indian players thought that Bangladesh would be an easy win and so didn’t want to expend all energy on this match when they’ll be playing against SriLanka on the 19th?And so took it easy? Am I being too optimistic?:( hopefully, we will see the blue men in action today:)

#50   Posted by Yashita on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 3:45:22

Poor Woolmer, may his soul rest in peace.

Hype about anything remotely associated with cricket has always been on the ascent for quite sometime.

However the over-the-top analysis dished out by all & sundry has made anybody & everybody an expert on pontifacting.

Plus the tons of statistics & details ....  any knock by Sachin would also reference to his 35 test centuries, his one-day century tons, etc etc...or Murali & his test wkts,etc etc .plus common phrases- Tendulkar’s determined look, Dravid’s steely defence & other assoted bs....now who woudn’t like to dish out judgements .

#51   Posted by jm on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 4:24:10

psst...some typos & errors exist in my earlier comment.

#52   Posted by jm on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 4:29:02

Having followed South African cricket closely in the 90s, I was deeply saddened by Woolmer’s death. RIP.

#53   Posted by Pratyush on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 4:47:01

I made a post containing these words after the Indo-Bang match:

“We can go on and on elaborating on the surprise results of the two 17th March games in this fashion. But are we giving credit where it is due? Probably not. Yes those results were surprises, but they were not upsets in the true sense of the word. An ‘upset’, so far as history of such matches go, is a loss that resulted mainly (sometimes solely) from the big team playing badly. I’m not sure that was the case yesterday either at Trinidad or at Jamaica (unless we have reports of post-match upsets of a visceral kind in the Pak camp).”

Now I wish I hadn’t said that last part even in jest - it would have made me feel much better today.

I added my first thought on Woolmer’s demise, trying to imagine how a coach is judged on uncontrollables, in the link.

#54   Posted by Angshuman Hazra on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 6:33:19

I am just happy to see a cricket related post on your blog. Keep it going!

#55   Posted by Arvind on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 10:12:03

It is sad to lose someone like Woolmer especially since he was the one who brought professionalism into cricket.

About Ireland and Bangladesh, well, they surely have spiced up the World Cup! Wonderful game, isn’t it?

#56   Posted by Ranjeet on Mon, March 19, 2007 at 11:49:47

I may be late to the mourning. But its time to rejoice. Though my stand still remains that if Indian team really “deserves” the Cup then it should know how to get “out” (pun not intended) of these situations and fight back.

Like they did against Bermuda. The only way they can redeem their fan following is to fight hard and win against Lankans.

Amit, congrats for the new site. It rocks.

#57   Posted by Vishesh Agrawal on Tue, March 20, 2007 at 3:25:15