Sachin Tendulkar
It is after three complete years when the archrivals India and Pakistan meet in an ICC World Cup match which has a “final” attached to it. The last one was in inaugural ICC World Twenty20 finals way back in 2007 and we all know that the Indian boys got the trophy home! The constantly vacillating match at Mohali was worth every penny of time and money devoted to it. It had its fair share of media hype, superstars’ presence, overwhelmingly passionate and frenzied fans and also some intense moments. Both the nations share equal craze for this sport and when it comes to matches between the nemeses of the continent, defeat is usually unacceptable by either of the countries.
Pakistan entered the ICC World Cup without its star players – Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Mallik and were considered a broken team. But with Shahid Afridi as their captain and with unparalled discipline, correct balance in the team players and ample confidence they climbed their way to the semi-finals against India. Their team showed a good variety of bowlers ranging from pacers to spinners, all in their classy form and included several all-rounders too.
Indian team on the other hand houses the luck factor in their pockets. They have a quite batting lineup that at quite some situations have been unreliable. The favorite of the season has definitely been Zaheer Khan with his good present for and ability to take wickets at proper time. Bowlers like R. Ashwin, Munaf Patel and Ashish Nehra have also proved their mettle. The quality of fielding in the team has improved considerably in the series. With the recent successful bowling strategies being used by Dhoni, India qualifies to be an equally competitive team!
Virender Shewag thrilled the audience with his blasting boundaries which gave a good kick start to the Indian innings but unfortunately he had to depart early. A mention about Sachin’s dropped catches should be made. Sachin was dropped four times by the Pakistani fielders and was twice given a “not out” decision on appeals by bowlers. Usually Sachin has a record of being a favorite amongst umpires to take their wrong decisions with. I mean, it was like 6 life-lines for him, seemed even God wanted him on the crease. Now that is some luck you carry with you, Lil’ Master! Afridi’s stance with Sachin’s wicket ball in his hands was a view to watch! Under a strong bowling variety, India somehow managed a score of 260/9. Pakistani bowler Riaz managed to pull of his career best too with a 5 wicket haul. In the Pakistani batting innings, the openers did a good job pulling quite some runs for Zaheer Khan. Pressure started building up when Kamran was taken by Khan and the required rate was soaring. It was a good show of patience from Misbah who was standing at the crease without ever making any mistake till the end. The turning point of the match was when Shahid Afridi was caught while going for a big shot. During the last batting power play, there were few good shots but, at the 299th ball i. e. at 49.5 overs there was no stopping the screams and cheers from the Indian fans as the last wicket fell down!
With such a lot of excitement, twists and expectations in a match; this definitely qualifies to be the MOST NEUNONAL Match of the Series….!
Tags: Cricket, ICC World Cup, India, Mohali, Pakistan, Sachin Tendulkar, World Cup, Zaheer Khan
