Another India Pakistan Thriller!

 To start with, I would have been much happier had India won this one. We came sooo close; the good old Afridi was the difference again. India out of Asia Cup 2014! :(

 So my day started early today at 6:30AM. Pretty early I would say, especially after doing late shift in office and sleeping around 01:30AM. Had to catch the 0750 Deccan Queen train to Mumbai. I was kinda already late when I left my apartment, getting an auto in the morning was also a problem. Somehow, I reached station 5 mins early, and boarded the train on time...a relief to have not missed the train.

 Reached Mumbai, went to uncle’s place. Had wonderful and lots of good delicious home food, 3 farsan and jalebi along with the wonderful lunch was too good. Meanwhile Pakistan won the toss and chooses to bowl. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli left early, however Rohit Sharma was in terrific form, and was making batting look very easy. He made a free flowing 50 for India before getting caught, mistiming on a short delivery. Rayadu also played well for his fifty in the middle order. Jadeja finished off well for India with a good knock of 50 too. India managing 245 for 8 in 50 overs.

 245 was not a winning total but a fighting total. India had got in Amit Mishra for this match, making it 5 specialist bowlers. Amit Mishra bowled wonderfully well ended with figures of 2 for 28 in 10 overs. Match was very tight, went till the last over, it was anyone’s game. Pakistan had an upper hand for most part, but then 3 quick wickets in final overs made it very interesting.

 Pakistan 9 down, around 10 to win in last over. Afridi still there and what does he do? 2 sixes back to back to seal it off for Pakistan. What followed on facebook was a round of abuses, some for Afridi and some for R. Ashwin, who was the unfortunate bowler on the receiving end in the last over. Man of the match was Mohammad Hafeez for his knock of 75 and his 2 for 38 in 9 overs. Jadeja did well with the bat, but was disappointing with the bowl, he was bowling too quick and not giving enough flight like Mishra.

 Ne ways, winning and losing is part of the game, and part of life. India already has a, not so strong bowling attack as I said in my last post too. If batting does not click, the chances to win becomes very less. India out of Asia cup, too bad...I had high hopes. Ne ways good news is I am getting my brand new Nexus 5 tomorrow, so looking forward to that!!

MS Dhoni: Champion of Champions!!

 What a day it was yesterday! Final between India and England for the Champions Trophy. India the favorites, showing tremendous form and remaining unbeaten in the tournament. England having the home advantage, with familiar home conditions and quality bowling attack. India's batting on the other hand was clicking superbly, however the middle order was not tested yet.

 To make things more interesting, the rain God's decided to make their presence felt. It rained frequently and there was no reserve day to make things worst. Finally in the evening, the umpires decided to have a 20 over match. England had already won the toss, and decided to field, sighting the wet conditions, an early advantage for the Poms.

 India went into bat, but had 3 breaks due to rain. Well, it does affect the concentration of the batsmen, who has to come on and off the field and start all over again. To make it more challenging, it was a shortened game and there was no time to settle in again and again. Due to all this, some batsmen perished in the cause of making quick runs, before getting settled.Finally, India managed 129, thanks to good knocks by Virat Kohli and Sir Ravindra Jadeja.

 England play a very different side in T20, then what they play in a 50 over game. Without their specialists players, they were found wanting at 46 for 4. A big and potentially match winning partnership between Morgan and Bopara, saw them in good position to make it home. Then , Ishant Sharma bowled an over where he gave away a six and 2 wides, well he did get both the settled batsmen out too, in the same over.

 Finally, England tumbled after those 2. Last 2 overs were bowled by spinners. A master move from Dhoni, which payed off. 15 required off the last over, 6 off the last ball. It could have gone either way with Tredwell on strike, he went for the big six, missed it and Dhoni, Team India and more than a billion people were ecstatic, Dhoni had delivered once again for India!

 MS Dhoni, he has one each and every trophy. T20 world cup, ODI World Cup, Test Championship, One Day Championship, IPL, Champions League and now the Champions Trophy. Dhoni, is a wonderful guy with great temperament. Always lets his team celebrate and goes away from limelight, and always takes the blame if the team is not doing well...what a wonderful captain indeed.

 Comparisons with Ganguly will always be there, is he better than Ganguly, well I would say,better by leaps and bounds. I am a fan of Ganguly too, but Dhoni has got all the results and trophies for India. One might say, Ganguly had laid the foundation for the 2011 World cup, but Dhoni has done a lot more after that!