Indians love cricket and Indian cricket loves Sachin and his quest for the 100th ton. And as I write this post, he walks back to the pavilion with a score of 41. It has been almost an year since we began reading about it in various papers. Before every match there was speculations on whether this would be the “One”. I am sorry, not speculation but every match was supposed to be the “One” where the “God of Indian Cricket” was to conquer the ultimate hurdle and cement his place as the supreme deity forever. SCG was his ground and most papers had already begun to call it, the Sachin Cricket Ground.

It has been a case of a complete media hype. Since, the World Cup triumph, our cricketing fortunes have gone down faster than the sketch of a rectangular hyperbola in the first quadrant. And to top it all, in a nation crazy about Cricket, other sports and sport-stars are given step-motherly treatment. Is a Cricketing landmark so important that it should eclipse every thing else in the sports pages for such a long time?

Moreover, we are trying to hide the fact that we are performing poorly in the sport, based on a hope that one of it’s icons is going to create a record. And even if he does, then at what cost? When what we need is the battle training of the younger recruits, we are sticking to an old war horse. If the 2011 World Cup win was enough to satisfy our hunger, then I am sorry to say, we can kiss our dreams of becoming a Cricketing superpower good-bye.

Hero worshipping is not a bad thing. We all have heroes we look up to, but sometimes when the adulation for a hero breaches the borders of fanaticism, it becomes ugly. Over arching expectations of admirers cannot but affect the mind of any player and causes unnecessary tension.

When Glenn McGrath said that India would lose 4-0, social networking sites were filled with die hard supporters, attacking him and his remarks. But, besides being a supporter, one should also see that there seems to be some truth to his statement. As a supporter of my country, nothing would please me more than watching my National Team establish it’s dominance, but that looks rather bleak whilst our mind is obsessed elsewhere. A wait that takes such a long time and at the cost of so many matches, is not worth it in my personal opinion. And Sachin has taken a hell lot of time, to try and reach his goal.

Now, I am not a Sachin hater but am not a big fan either (personally, I will always place the batting talents of Rahul Dravid a notch higher), but this hoopla over a century is beginning to irk. Why are we acting as if the 100th hundred is our god-damn right and that the other teams are standing on it. No, my dear Sachin fanatics, the other teams are not going to hand it to him on a silver platter, so stop acting like they should. And if not, then as someone had pointed out on twitter “lets have a match on a flat track against a minnow team and get it done with”. Maybe then we would be able to focus on more important stuff, like regaining the top position in the ICC Test Rankings.

Photo credit: susanta.com

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I’ve started spending more and more time at the M. Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium here in Bangalore.  As media spokesperson for the upcoming KPL (Karnataka Premier League) season I am now starting to go to the stadium more frequently for meetings with the KSCA (Karnataka State Cricket Association).  And as the head of marketing for one of the KPL teams, the Bijapur Bulls, I hit the stadium clubhouse periodically to meet with potential sponsors and partners.  The stadium is fantastic and I love watching the practice sessions.  Running around the stands sort of freaks the players out and distracts them a bit ‘cuz they aren’t used to seeing a white girl running around the empty stadium, which I find quite fun!

For me, I wasn’t exposed to cricket back in California when I was a kid so until I moved to Europe 18 years ago I was completely unfamiliar with the sport.  And in Spain we saw a lot more futbol but here in India it is impossible not to be entranced and 100% sucked into cricket.  It’s the national pastime.

And for whatever reason, or for a bunch of reasons, women find cricket players extremely attractive, if not more attractive than other guys.  Well, at least my girlfriends do!  Maybe it’s sportsmen in general we find attractive but I have a few ideas about why we women adore cricketers.  Now surely my list will fall short of all the reasons why, so please feel free to comment after and round out my list.

Here are a few of my reasons:

• Confidence:  it certainly takes – excuse me for this – balls to get out there in front of thousands or millions of people and do ANYTHING, especially something that is “live” and you don’t get any do-overs when you screw up.  I mean, when I am writing I can delete and you never know about my goof-ups.  But not cricket players.  They stand tall, walk proud and WORK IT every time they play.  And that is certainly attractive.
• Sex appeal: I think probably the confidence and sex appeal could be considered one thing in my book but these guys look cool in their sunglasses and tracky bottoms running around the field.  They generally have great attitudes and smiles and that is hot.
• Fame: I know none of us want to admit it but there is definitely something fun about being able to see action photos in a magazine or newspaper of your favourite cricketer – or watch them on TV.  That “star power” is something that is universal anywhere around the world and most people are drawn into the glow, whether we want to admit it or not.  The more famous someone is, the more they become like a brand – and we all have our favourite brands!
• Fit body: Of course this is on the list!  In the U.S., our sports heroes don’t always have to be fit given what sport or possibly what position they play, for example football line backers.  But here, the cricketers all seem to be in shape and have the most amazing arms.  And if they would just get a bit more excited like the Spanish footballers and take their shirts off after a great play – I bet they have amazing abs under their uniforms too!
• Talent: They are the best of the best so that makes them power guys.  At least to me, power is sexy when it’s used for good and not evil.
• Uniform:  I love a man in a uniform!  I suppose that was how the musical group the Village People originally became so popular back in the 70s!!  Military, Star Wars Rebel Alliance, pilots, super heroes, policemen…it doesn’t matter.  Hell, I even dated an actor who played a cop and THAT was sexy to me even though I knew he was just playing dress up!  Uniforms rock, and cricket uniforms are just slightly baggy where they should be and snug where it counts.  They certainly beat the very unattractive basketball uniforms (sorry, guys!).

Now don’t get me wrong, there is much more to a man than how he looks and what he does for a living.  Just like there is an ocean of complexity and spirit behind every woman’s eyes.  I am certainly not suggesting that all male cricketers are great guys, amazing husbands or perfect friends.  But… I am looking forward to getting to know a few of them better soon when KPL starts up.  So I will have to check back to confirm if what is on the inside is as delightful as the packaging!

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Any Indian would happily replay the moment in their minds, such a glorious and perfect moment it was, but I’ll do my best to describe it anyway. Under the guidance of this formidable leader, the fear in Indian hearts was past; all that remained was to put a final seal on this wonderful occasion. He looked around one last time, as calm and collected as ever, wanting to round off his finest performance in style. A stray bead of sweat crossed his brow, a product of the heat rather than any nerves, and he wiped it away as he stooped to take guard.

The Sri Lankan bowler charged in, the ball pitched on just the right length, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni swung through the line for a perfect six. In addition to their number one ranking in tests, India were now world champions, and the celebrations in Mumbai lasted all night. Under coach Gary Kirsten and Dhoni as captain, they’d worked long and hard to reach the pinnacle of world cricket. Better yet, the team had an excellent balance of youth and experience that suggested a long reign for India over the coming years..

Unfortunately, the money-oriented nature of modern cricket dictated that India’s euphoria would be short-lived. The World Cup, which should have left the nation on at least a month-long high, was followed a mere week later by the Indian Premier League – an upstart, a circus, surely unfit to challenge the international game’s flagship event, and yet it took over our TV screens for longer than the World Cup had. With a Twitter scandal getting founder Lalit Modi out of the action (publicly at least), the way opened for seasoned politicians like Sharad Pawar and prominent industrialists like T Srinivasan to agglomerate their cricketing interests into the IPL, further streamlining it into a rolling juggernaut of cricket and crores.

It’s hard to judge whether the IPL is the new emperor or merely a supreme distraction from the real thing, but it was followed by a bizarre tour by India of the West Indies. Several of India’s top players – including Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Dhoni himself – were rested after their World Cup and IPL exploits, confirming that in certain cases at least, the IPL is bigger than the international game. The West Indians, meanwhile, were hardly at the top of their already sub-par game as players, with their saga of infighting building up to an extraordinary $20m lawsuit brought by the players against their own board. It wasn’t a surprise when India won both the test and one-day series, but that they did so in a rough, unconvincing scramble rather than the expected march was cause for concern.

Then came the test series against England. Having reached the pinnacle of cricket, India had everything to lose – their status as the number one test team, their aura as a new generation of invincible one-day cricketers. With the test series complete, India’s humiliation and fall from grace is half complete. India were very well beaten by an English team that could not be called superior on paper, but they were better balanced, mentally tougher and a lot hungrier for victory. The one-dayers have yet to be played but after such an abject performance in the tests, and with team and public confidence at a low level inconceivable a few months ago, a dramatic turnaround is hoped for but certainly not expected.

Businessmen are revolutionising the sport and bringing in billions via IPL franchises but at every level, and in nearly every country, the game is tainted by accusations of corruption and cronyism. The global game is effectively run by India nowadays; it would make sense that the national team should also be the best. However, if the game remains as broken and easily corruptible at the administrative level as it is at present, India’s cricketers will merely find themselves at the centre of the dogfight as it degenerates further. In a superb article on Cricinfo, Peter Roebuck writes:

“[...] ultimately everything goes back to the quality of decisions taken and the calibre of the men involved. And the best way to guarantee that is to develop the sort of accountability and judgement that is expected of the boards of major companies.”

This lack of accountability, I feel, is linked to a severe attention deficit disorder suffered by nearly everyone involved with the game. Players look to securing one IPL contract as a measure of success, rather than in building a career at the highest level. Fans are directed from one cricketing circus to another, wild with delight when their team succeeds and sick with frustration when they fail. The administrators, meanwhile, are businessmen concerned chiefly with the bottom line – or, more accurately, with increasing that bottom line as quickly as possible.

The responsibility – and accountability – has to begin at the top. When the game’s leaders start looking further into the future and thinking deeply about how they could improve cricket as a whole, rather than their own individual standing, everyone involved will benefit. If the system they were part of was more clearly fixed, instead of drastically switching focus every few weeks, India’s national team would be less fragmented and more likely to build the dynasty that they should be building right now. Most importantly, cricket supporters might actually have a long-term sporting narrative to follow rather than a disjointed series of ever-more-bombastic money-making ventures for the powers that be.

Photo credit: Ally Colledge

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Move over cricket; its golf that is fast becoming a popular game in India with youngsters now dreaming that they become the next Tiger Woods instead of becoming the next Sachin Tendulkar the famous Indian cricketer.

Jessie Grewal, India’s top golfing coach says, “Golf has moved from being a social status to a sport. We have a whole different section of society coming into golf, people from non-golfing backgrounds.” The sport is opening up to those on lower incomes due to the availability of subsidised green rates and public golf courses; and further investment, including the leasing of government land for courses, could revolutionise the game in the country. India has about 200 official golf courses. Plus, now with tournaments such as the Indian Open and the Avantha Masters offering prize money of millions of dollars it is changing the sporting landscape.

In India golf has traditionally been a game played by the super-wealthy because of the expense of joining a private club which could be anything up to $90,000 (£56,000) for life membership. The National Golf Academy located in Chandigarh, the Punjab and north of India is where Mr Grewal coaches. The Academy reflects the changing face of the game as now some 90% of the people who attend the Academy are from non-golfing backgrounds. It is estimated there are now about 50,000 active golfers in India with this figure set to grow.

Yet, it is in Mumbai’s slums that here lies the real story and proof that the game has a wider reach, and appeal. Here players swing off from a range of vantage points, including a rubbish mound, a vegetable cart, and a truck. The players improvise and get round the expense of buying new clubs by using handmade irons made from bent pieces of metal and instead of a putting green, the keen golfers hit the ball into holes marked out of the dry earth using stones.

Bappu Shahane who earns 4,000 rupees (£56/$90) per month as a caddy at a local elite golf club organises golf tournaments in the nearby poor areas where the winner can win 100 rupees (£1.40/ $2.24). Mr Shahane has dreams and aspirations, he says, “I want to take my game to the next level as a professional and to do that we need some kind of help and sponsorship from outside.” As more money is injected into the game, and more land being given over for public golf courses Mr Shahane’s dream could slowly become a living reality.

Photo credit: Kaushal Karkhanis

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India are the Cricket World Cup Champions, and in winning the tournament, perhaps they have shed the ‘brilliant-but-erratic’ tag once and for all and established themselves as quite simply the physically and mentally strongest team currently in the game.

This was not a victory based on luck or flashes of brilliance, like so many Indian performances of the past two decades. In the final, and throughout the tournament (after a couple of learning experiences in the group stage), India were consistently the best team in this World Cup, particularly in the knockout rounds. The bowlers, led by Zaheer Khan, performed as an efficient unit with clearly defined and well-executed roles. The batsmen, marshalled by the peerless Sachin Tendulkar, astutely balanced calm strokes with bursts of aggression to ensure they remained in control for every moment at the crease. In the field, no team was hungrier or livelier, and the efforts of the first 10 overs after Sri Lanka walked out to bat set the tone for the entire match.

The balance of the squad still isn’t perfect, and there will likely be a few changes to the squad over the rest of this year, but the simple fact is that India won this World Cup with a steady ten-year overhaul of the team’s entire ethos. It began with John Wright in 2000, instilling new standards and drive in a team renowned for being more a collection of individuals than a cohesive unit, and culminated in Gary Kirsten and MS Dhoni’s masterminding of victory. An army of psychologists and specialists helped filter out the talent’s uncertainty and overexpressiveness, sure. Kirsten, however, opened the batting for South Africa for a decade; his mental toughness lifted this India team up to this worldbeating standard.

Dhoni, on the other hand, has a legacy before him. He’s won one World Cup, with one of the most glorious and gutsy captain’s innings in the game’s history, and it’s hard to imagine anyone else having a less distractible appearance on a cricket ground. Nothing seems to faze him; indeed, it often looks like he’s barely thinking at all, but the complex tactical manoeuvres and articulate press conference answers suggest otherwise. History now beckons for a man who, having led India to the top at 29, could conceivably lead the team through the majority of the next decade – and to possibly even greater heights. (Here, one must spare a thought for Kumar Sangakkara. Had Sri Lanka won, almost the exact same words could be written about him.)

Whatever mountains the Indian cricket team climbs during the years to come, it’s hard to imagine a bigger or wilder party than the one that unfolded across India on the Saturday night. The semi-final win over Pakistan sent half the country into the streets to celebrate; after Dhoni hoisted that last six to take the cup, the other half joined them. Everyone will have their own stories to tell, be they in Mumbai or Mangalapuram, and the communal Sunday morning hangover will have sat just fine against the background of such ecstasy, with memories of a billion-man festival to cherish for the rest of their lives.

(My own experience of the match? Not with a huge and boisterous crowd but with a few close friends from work, applauding every Indian run and cheering every four with plenty of back-slapping and laughs. It’s an experience I’ll always cherish.)

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With one last effort from Zaheer Khan, the entire country went wild. India’s Cricket World Cup might just become theirs to keep on Saturday if they can topple the ominously well-performed Sri Lankans. If India were indeed to emerge victorious in Mumbai, it’s almost impossible to imagine the celebrations being more deafening or rapturous than they were on a balmy Wednesday evening. From the stadium in Mohali, to the many streets of Mumbai, to my sleepy tourist town in south Kerala, firecrackers exploded, music blasted, and people… well, people did just about anything they could think of to express their excitement.

This wasn’t a run-of-the-mill World Cup semi-final, however, like the previous day between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. This was India v Pakistan, or WAR as a disappointingly large proportion of India’s TV channels hyped it, and a face-off between two monumentally passionate rivals both on and off the pitch. You may have heard about how fierce this Indo-Pak rivalry is, but only being here at such a time can really make you understand. Cricket is more than a game here, and the Indian national cricket team is the one religion that has more followers than Hinduism and Islam combined; that said, if the Muslim green of Pakistan stands in opposition, the nation’s fervour doubles or triples beyond normal levels. The small matter of it being a vital knockout match remained relevant – but only just.

Everyone talked about this match, from the moment India closed out their match against Sri Lanka to the moment Misbah-ul-Haq finally skied the penultimate ball of Pakistan’s allotment. In-between, the merits of seamers Munaf Patel and Ashish Nehra were debated alongside the zest of young spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. (Patel and Nehra surprisingly won selection, and made vital contributions.) Pakistan’s power hitters, the all-action captain Shahid Afridi and the sullen Abdul Razzaq, were rubbished from all quarters.

And if there was nobody else to talk about, one could always talk about Sachin.

Thank God India won, because if they hadn’t… well, that’s a thought best left unimagined. On top of India’s present #2 ranking in ODI cricket, on top of the Pakistan factor, and even on top of the fact that they are senior co-hosts of this World Cup: this is to be Sachin Tendulkar’s last tilt at the trophy. He’s the greatest cricketer of the last twenty years and one of the greatest of all time – perhaps the most revered after Don Bradman – and at 36, he isn’t likely to be back. What better way to close out his international career than with a World Cup win for India, a team he’s carried on his back for so long that his delight at being suddenly surrounded by fellow matchwinners has manifested in a run of form so exquisite that it almost seems predestined.

India did win, of course, and they won in a similar manner to that of their Sri Lankan counterparts the previous day against NZ: comfortably on paper, but not without struggle and a few mistakes. The infallible Sachin was, for once, fallible as he gave five clear chances for his wicket before finally going. (He still made 85.) The opening bowlers, Zaheer and Nehra, were smacked around by the Pakistani openers before some loose shots opened the game back up. That India managed to triumph by nearly 30 runs is a testament both to some solid bowling and some typically strange batting by Pakistan.

The other semi-final was, as stated, much the same, but with somewhat lower margins. The passion of the Kiwis came through in a way we haven’t really seen before – with constant, occasionally vicious sledging of the type more associated with late 90s Australia – and this effectively created a game out of nothing, with the Sri Lankans batting themselves into a great position and then threatening to throw it all away with a rash of silly strokes. Sri Lanka’s passage to the final was, however, effectively assured by their remarkable bowlers. They were marshalled by the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan – perhaps the one contemporary of Sachin whose stature is comparable – and the fresh talent of Ajantha Mendis.

The story of the final is likely to be told in the battle between that varied Sri Lankan bowling attack and India’s much-vaunted batting lineup. Or the match could just as easily be won or lost in how well India’s bowlers cope with Sri Lanka’s first four, one of the most in-form top orders of all time – all of whom are in excellent form. All that matters over here is an Indian victory, for then those deafening and rapturous celebrations of Wednesday will scale the greatest heights and contribute to surely one of the proudest moments in the life of any Indian who witnesses it.

Oh, I almost forgot – here’s the draw for the final (my prediction in bold):

India v Sri Lanka

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Two mismatches, two classics. These were the quarter-finals of Cricket World Cup 2011. We are left with three South Asian heavyweights – India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan – and an outlier both in location and expectations, New Zealand.

Here’s the semi-final draw (my predictions in bold):

Sri Lanka v New Zealand (March 29, Colombo)
India v Pakistan (March 30, Mohali)

I picked against NZ last time, so I’m sticking with it. After all, what better time is there to indulge in superstition than during the knockout stages of a World Cup? On March 30, millions of Indian fans will be recreating their actions and movements from the day of their victory over Australia, from simple events like having idli and sambar for breakfast to complex rituals like dressing oneself with specific clothes in a prescribed order – all in the hope that their collective will and connection to their team will somehow influence the result. It’ll be the same across Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The butterfly effect, however, had little to do with what transpired in the quarter-final matches. In all four matches, one team emerged victorious by performing substantially better on the night than their opponents. What have we learned from it all, and what should we be thinking about going into the semi-final round? Five things to keep in mind:

1. Different teams respond to pressure in different ways
Pressure is a curious thing in team sports. Some players are able to handle it better than others, and all other things being equal, each individual’s performance should depend on their own mental capacity to deal with pressure situations. But it just doesn’t work that way. South Africa, a team stacked with proven performers at the highest level, fell apart yet again in a Cricket World Cup knockout match. New Zealand, on the other hand, an inexperienced and out-of-form side, elevated all aspects of their game and beat the favourites. Already one of NZ Cricket’s finest hours, and one of South Africa’s lowest, this match will live long in the memory for New Zealand’s outstanding efforts in the field, where they absorbed all of the pressure of the moment and threw it right back at the South Africans.

2. Form is temporary, class is permanent…
We probably won’t see Ricky Ponting in a World Cup again, but he signed off in fine style: with an uncharacteristically gritty hundred against India. Ponting had been subjected to a lot of criticism in the past year for a string of weak performances, with some calling for his head, but on the day his class shone through. The same goes for Brett Lee, who has been injured so often in his career that it’s a wonder he could bowl over 140 kph at the age of 34, charging in and giving it everything like he was still in his 20s. Not surprisingly, these two players were Australia’s outstanding fielders in their match, and neither will be back again. Much as we’ve all loved to hate them over the years, their competitiveness and quality will be missed.

3. … although a player in form can turn any game.
Yuvraj Singh has now gone past 50 in five innings out of six at this tournament, with four Man of the Match awards, and he appears to be in the form his life at the best possible time. It was Yuvraj who came in with India beginning to look a little shaky against Australia, got through Gautam Gambhir running himself out and MS Dhoni capitulating again, and steadied their chase to see them through to an awkward target. With the hopes of a billion people and a series of erratic performances contributing to an intense situation every time India walk out to play, what they have needed is someone reliable. Yuvraj has been that guy, and all Indian fans will be hoping he keeps his current state of mind.

4. Do your jobs well, and the results will follow
It’s a common refrain for captains at press conferences on the eve of a match: “We’re just focusing getting our own performance right, regardless of the opposition.” This strategy was clear enough in the New Zealand vs South Africa match, but it was even more evident in the effective walkovers that Pakistan and Sri Lanka were afforded against West Indies and England. Having been set a desperately poor and a poor target respectively, both of the former teams knocked off their chases without even losing a wicket. Part of this was down to the inferiority of their oppositon, but both the Pakistan and the Sri Lanka players – save for a few blips, such as Sri Lanka’s spate of bizarre and uncharacteristic dropped catches – did their jobs effectively and well, and as such took the match in their fierce grips right from the outset. It will be interesting to see whether they can retain that consistency and focus on performance in the semi-finals.

5. How much pride do NRIs feel?
As an expatriate New Zealander, my heart beat harder with a profound pride when my country’s team beat South Africa. I was at work at the time and followed the live commentary from Cricinfo on my mobile phone, annoying my workmates with constant, gleeful updates. I’m curious: do NRIs feel the same way? I already know of one NRI who has become a cricket convert during this World Cup: my colleague Maria Francis in Singapore, stirred by TV images of India triumphing over the world champion Australians. That pride and interest may only be temporary, but whether you’re a fair-weather fan or in it for the long haul, do please sound off below.

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It’s taken us 42 matches to get right back where we started: the eight best cricket teams in the world are the eight major test-playing nations of the game (with respect to Bangladesh, you’re not quite there yet). This is not something we have learned from Cricket World Cup 2011’s group stage. In fact, it’s something that most cricket fans expected, or indeed were resigned to. Variety of opposition is not one of the great draws of cricket.

Here’s that quarter-final draw (my picks in bold):

South Africa v New Zealand
India v Australia
England v Sri Lanka
West Indies v Pakistan

However, just because the World Cup has merely reinforced something we already knew doesn’t mean it hasn’t offered anything of value. CWC 2011 has in fact been the most exciting edition of cricket’s showpiece event since the last time it was played on the subcontinent in 1996. There have been upsets, thrilling finishes and great individual performances, but most fascinatingly, there’s been an ebb and flow throughout that tournament which has made a lot of variables hard to predict.

So, just what have we learned from CWC 2011 so far?

1. Sometimes, 200 is a better score than 300
Since Twenty20 burst on the scene one-day cricket has suffered a glut of massive scores, great for the casual viewer but painfully dull for the enthusiast. However, it’s not just the cricket fan who benefits when a team gets bowled out in the first innings for 200 or less. First Pakistan managed to defend 184 against a pumped-up Canada then, even more surprisingly, England kept South Africa at bay having racked up only 171. A poor batting effort seems to bring the best out of a team fielding second, and the atmosphere becomes more like test cricket: tight, tactical and aggressive. More of this, please!

2. South Africa has the most balanced squad
Yes, they may have been beaten by England when seemingly assured of victory, but South Africa remain the favourites because they have the best squad balance by a clear distance. They have superstar batsmen in Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers, a rich vein of experience in Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis, terrifying fast bowlers in Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel and wily spinners in Imran Tahir and Johan Botha. It’s hard to see them being outplayed again, especially when you add in the all-round talents of players like Faf du Plessis and Robin Peterson, whose cameo won the match against India.

3. MS Dhoni is not an infallible Captain Fantastic
I really thought MS Dhoni was the saviour of Indian cricket, the catalyst for their march back to the top. He may yet be, but in this tournament his leadership and control of the team has been poor. That loss to South Africa will live long in the memory: he batted like a tired old man while his teammates imploded, resulting in a total nearly 100 short of what it should have been, and then tossed the ball to Ashish Nehra for the final over – who was dispatched, four-six-four, to lose the game. He was just lucky that another badly juggled batting performance against West Indies did not meet with such ruthless opposition.

4. England are entertainment machines – wait, what?
Six matches, six thrillers. England and their fans must be utterly spent after a group phase which comprised of a string of extraordinary efforts and baffling failures, often in the same match. The Ireland game, in which they failed to defend 327, was an absolute classic, and the 338 tie with India is likely to be the game of the World Cup. England, that traditionally dour old foe, are suddenly the most exciting team left in the competition.

5. Associate nations are getting better, but the debate rages on
Should associate nations (i.e. non-test-playing nations) be allowed so many places in the World Cup? In CWC2011 four of them were allowed in; next time, it will be only two. If we look at their performances in this edition, the argument for their greater participation could go both ways: Ireland and Netherlands were consistently impressive and competitive, while Canada and Kenya never stood a chance of going through. The wisdom is that Twenty20 cricket is better for developing the game, so 50-over tournaments will be kept for the most skilful teams. Whatever the case, if cricket wants to grow, associate nations need more opportunities to play against the best.

6. “You never know if Pakistan are going to play properly”
Ian Chappell’s words, not mine, and they reminded me of playground cricket games: one annoying kid would always mess around bowling beamers and throwing the ball miles from the stumps, and everyone else would yell at him, “Play properly!” Which is, of course, exactly like Pakistan. They played some utterly ludicrous cricket, particularly in the final five overs against New Zealand, but still topped Group A. Like 1992, they stand a chance because they are capable of anything.

7.Yuvraj the most consistent performer, who’d've picked it?
A year ago, Yuvraj Singh could barely make it into the Indian side. Now, he’s their most consistent performer: a well-rounded mixture of bludgeoning and finesse at the batting crease, and an increasingly useful wicket taker with his left-arm off-spin. Sachin may have scored two centuries, and Sehwag may have scored more runs, but Yuvraj has crossed 50 in four out of five innings and outshone them both. It’s great to see this charismatic cricketer smiling again.

8. The Decision Review System has reopened the walking debate
We all slowly became acquainted with the DRS over the course of the CWC 2011 group stage; normally it came out in favour of the umpire, but sometimes it didn’t, proving something that we have known all along: umpires aren’t perfect. At the Sri Lanka v New Zealand game, however, things came to a head when Nathan McCullum claimed a catch which was given not out, a decision which stood on video evidence – evidence which, although equivocal, pointed towards a fair catch. Then, even more glaring, Ricky Ponting clubbed a thick edge to the keeper against Pakistan; his head dropped, but he still waited for the review system to send him packing. Should players walk if they know they are out?

9. My beloved Kiwis just aren’t all there
I’m from New Zealand, so cricket world cups are a tough thing: we always do a bit better than expected, but never well enough to be completely satisfied. It’s been the same this time around. Even if it weren’t for the massive distraction of a fatal earthquake back home, the team is in a rebuilding phase and probably would have struggled at this tournament anyway. I’m not expecting a miracle against South Africa – but secretly, I know we can beat anyone if our stars align and play to their potential.

10. Australia can lose in World Cups (thank God)
34 matches unbeaten was getting a bit farcical. May they have an equally long losing streak.

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