Blog Posts by AR Hemant

The stakes have never been bigger. A billion or more people are expected to tune in. Thirty-three thousand more cheering your every move loudly, having spent tens of thousands rupees to be there. There’s noise, there’s scrutiny, there are thousands of prayers going up every second. Wagers will be made, work hours will be lost, appointments will be postponed. There’s also pressure. Lots of pressure. And it makes you do funny things. Lance Klusener would know.

The most successful bowler ever is pitted against the most successful batsman ever. There’s a $3 million purse on the line. Let’s not even start about the life-making windfall awaiting the victor. Above all, here’s the chance to be remembered as the greatest among the greats. In the most even playing field in recent memory, two teams have filtered through layer upon layer of challenges – injuries, controversies, ups and downs, wins and losses, and – as India discovered in Mohali – lunches which were not served on time.

Beneath all

If you look at Sachin Tendulkar's performance in Wednesday's semi-final in absolute terms, 85 runs off 115 balls with four dropped catches and two favourable reviews make it atypically ordinary by his standards.

But when you factor in the opponent, the stage, the pressure, the wicket which behaved in an un-Mohali manner and how much batsmen after Tendulkar struggled, you realise the innings' worth.

In a game like that, you'd take your runs whichever way they come. Tendulkar has now played three World Cup semi-finals, scoring 65 in 1996, 83 in 2003 and 85 on Wednesday.

This is what the South Africans call BMT - big match temperament. Except 2007, Tendulkar has shown plenty of BMT by scoring heavily in all World Cups. Now all that's left is one final push in his home town.

MS Dhoni praised both him and Suresh Raina for playing the two innings that made the difference in the final analysis.

"He batted really well," Dhoni said of Tendulkar. "When's he's there, he makes batting

Pat Symcox highlighted an excellent point today after the Pakistan-WI match. He said the previous World Cups have been won by captains who've led by example during the tournament.

The thread connecting Clive Lloyd, Kapil Dev, Allan Border, Imran Khan, Arjuna Ranatunga, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting is that they'd been among their teams' top performers.

By that yardstick, who has been the best leader by example at this World Cup?

Afridi and Sangakkara are the leading bowler and batsman respectively in the tournament. Dhoni, Vettori, Ponting and Smith have catching up to do.

Who will be the last man standing?

Steve Waugh with his red hanky.

It’s that time of the World Cup when die-hard fans would go any distance to keep their teams from losing. Indians being a people with a thing for the irrational, expect them to do some crazy things when their team meets Australia in the quarterfinal.

The most well-known superstition among cricket fans in India goes something like this: when the team is doing well, do not move an inch from your position. A slight movement risks tilting the planets off their favourable positions and bring bad luck to the team.

I can tell you of my own experience.

+++

In the Natwest final of 2002, India were down in the dumps, five-down chasing 326 when Yuvraj Singh unleashed three fours in a Ronnie Irani over. Sensing a build-up, I took my position on the drawing room carpet in front of our TV.

While Yuvraj and Kaif got India closer, I stayed still, not moving a millimetre. My legs fell asleep, my back hurt and the tension made me uneasy. As three wickets fell, I began to doubt my method but decided to

Sri Lankan umpire Asoka de Silva was the most notable omission from the list of match officials for the quarterfinals. This isn't surprising.

Chennai's legendary heat seems like a jacket soaked in warm water clinging to you. The newly built stands at the Chidambaram Stadium with the white canopies on top have been neatly cleaved, allowing a steady sea breeze into the ground. But despite the breeze and Saturday's relatively pleasant 32 degrees Celsius, the humidity can leave your throat parched if you as much as took a walk along the boundaries.

 
This writer doesn't possess Olympian fitness, and his thoughts immediately turned to Yuvraj Singh who had joined the Indian team in a warm-up game of football in the middle.

 
A few minutes into the game, Yuvraj had veered towards the sidelines. His hands were on his hips as he let the others pass the ball around. Even Munaf Patel and Ashish Nehra, Universally Recognised Slouches, seemed fresh as daisies as they enthusiastically partook in the game.

 
Despite his runs and wickets in the World Cup, Yuvraj's sluggishness is becoming the stuff of cricketing legends. Remember Gary

When was the last time MS Dhoni trusted a spinner to finish off a tight ODI or T20I? There's a simple, one-word answer to that: never.

Ever since he became India's captain in the 2007 World T20, Dhoni has always turned to a seamer to do the job. Most times, he has got it right.

From Joginder Sharma's over in the T20 final against Pakistan, to Irfan Pathan's cup-winning bowling in Brisbane, to all the times when Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra have been called to do the job, there are enough instances to show why Dhoni trusts his seamers.

The last two instances, however, have backfired.

Munaf Patel conceded a six to Ajmal Shahzad in the Bangalore ODI which ended in a tie. Similarly, Nehra conceded the six to Robin Peterson, showing their inability to produce yorkers when it matters.

The following lists show instances in ODIs and T20Is when India have gone into the final over with the mathematical possibility of all three results.

You could exclude the Ravindra Jadeja instance

In 2009, Rafael Nadal was at his wits' end in a match against Mikhail Youzhny. The Spaniard had seen a shot from the Russian go out. Hawk-eye was used and the replay showed the ball touching the line, ruling the point in Youzhny's favour.

Nadal reacted in disgust. "The mark of the ball was still on court and it was outside. But in the challenge it was in, so that's unbelievable," he said. "The Hawk Eye system is not perfect. I told the chair umpire: 'Look, the ball is out' and he said: 'I know'."

Two years later, cricket players and fans are still arguing over the usefulness of technology, UDRS (in one of those humorous asides, the 'U' has been dropped by the ICC in order not to hurt the ego of the umpires) and the enforcement of laws. The fire has been further fanned by the different application of LBW laws in three similar cases where Ian Bell was ruled not out, and Elton Chigumbura and Alex Cusack out.

An aside: Nadal and Federer have gotten away with calling the ATP and its