Friday, March 25, 2011
"India will beat Pakistan in Mohali"
India and Pakistan come face-to-face for the fifth time in the history of the mega-event. Although there is still nearly a week left for this mega semi-final clash, the anticipation for this high-voltage encounter started the minute Team India booked their place in the last-four with a tense win in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
Interacting with journalists at the Sardar Patel stadium after his team crashed out of the mega-event, Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting made his prediction for the Mohali encounter. “If you look at the bowling attacks of both teams, they are quite similar. Pakistan and India, of late, have been using a two-pronged pace and two-pronged spin attack. But India’s batting gives them an edge. I think India will beat Pakistan in Mohali,” said Punter.
India and Pakistan have faced each other four times before in ICC Cricket World Cups. The Men in Blue have emerged victorious in all the encounters played in the 1992, 1996, 1999 and 2003 editions.
Cricketing ties had all but normalized between these two nations in this decade with regular bilateral series taking place. But after the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008, the arch-rivals have faced-off on the cricket field only twice. While Pakistan beat India in the ICC Champions Trophy 2009 encounter at Centurion, Team India took revenge for that loss with a thrilling three-wicket win in an Asia Cup match at Dambulla last year.
Hero of Thursday’s victory Yuvraj Singh mentioned that it was important for the team to relax and take some rest for a couple of days before they turn their attention on this mega-encounter. “The Australia match was a high-pressure game. So, we will take some time off before we start making plans for the Mohali match. We have played a lot of cricket against Pakistan except for the last two years, so we are aware about what their strengths and weaknesses are. I am sure the same is the case vice-versa as well,” said the Punjab southpaw.
Pakistan coach Waqar Younis, after his team’s crushing 10-wicket win over West Indies in Mirpur on Wednesday, had expressed his desire to face India in the semis. Now that his wish has been fulfilled, what kind of performance will the Men in Green come up with against their arch-rivals?
I am playing for a very special person: Yuvraj
"I am playing for a very special person that comes in my mind and whenever things are not going well I think of that person and things work out," man-of-the-match Yuvraj said after India's five-wicket win over Australia in the quarterfinals in which he made an unbeaten half-century and grabbed a couple of wickets.
His dream of guiding India to a win over Australia in the World Cup realised, Yuvraj said he is now focussing on the semifinal against Pakistan, saying the much-anticipated game would be a battle of equals.
Looking ahead to the clash in Mohali on March 30, Yuvraj, who collected his fourth man of the match trophy in the ongoing World Cup, said it would be another dream game.
"The India-Pakistan game is going to be another dream game after India-Australia. It's a great victory for India today. We would be playing our best cricket against Pakistan. They know our game we know theirs both teams are equal. They have had a very good tournament and have beaten West Indies and Australia," Yuvraj told reporters here after India's five-wicket win over the defending champions.
"We don't want to think about the Pakistan game now. It has been a high-pressure game for us (against Australia) and lot of our system has been drained. We would like to relax for a couple of days and then make plans about Pakistan game," he added.
Yuvraj it was very difficult to keep his emotions in check in the high-octane quarterfinal.
"Over the last one year I have been dreaming of staying till the end and taking the team to victory against Australia in the World Cup and the moment has come. This is the moment I have lived for as a cricketer," he said.
He admitted that it was a tough situation with enormous pressure on him and any small mistake on his part could have thrown India out of the World Cup.
"It was very hard to control emotions. It was difficult to control oneself in such a situation as one mistake and you will be out of the World Cup. I tried to just watch the ball, play down the ground and not lift the ball in the air," said the left-handed batsman.
Yuvraj conceded that the dismissal of Gautam Gambhir, who was run out due to a misunderstanding with him, and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in quick succession had put the team under pressure but Suresh Raina lived up to the challenge in crucial stages.
"When Gambhir got out I thought I will get a good partnership going with MS (Dhoni) but when MS got out I knew I was in trouble. When Raina came in I told him to take his time and let's get 20-30 run partnership. He has shown nerves in a crucial stage and this will boost his confidence also," he said.
He said he had already apologised to Gambhir for the mix-up that resulted in his partner getting run out today.
"I have apologies to Gautam for the miscommunication on the field. We have not played together much. I think it was probably my fault," said Yuvraj.
Though he got his fourth man-of-the-match award in the tournament, Yuvraj sounded modest and said the team effort was crucial.
"I feel good to have contributed to the team but the victory cannot be achieved by one person, it's a team effort," he said.
He said though he cherished the centuries he had scored in his career, even scores like his 52 not out last night were special as they resulted in the team winning a crucial tie.
"Though centuries are very special for a player, when you are able to contribute 20 or 30 runs which help the team win crucial matches they also become special," he said.
Looking back at the past one year which had seen him being axed from both the ODI and Test teams, Yuvraj said he was very happy that things have turned around for him.
"Last year everything I touched turned into mud. This year it has been a good year," he said.
Praising coach Gary Kirsten for the contribution he has been making, Yuvraj said that was the vital difference from 2007 when the team was knocked out in the first round of the World Cup.
"In 2003, the team was very great (when it made the final). I don't want to talk about 2007. In 2011 with Gary coming in, our confidence in each other has grown. Players confide in each other and the way Gary keeps the team like a family that shows in our performance," he pointed out.
Pakistan team arrives for SF, hotel turned into fortress
| The Pakistan cricket team arrived here this evening to play their high-voltage World Cup semi-final match against India at Mohali on March 30.No sooner the team landed here, the hotel here where the team is staying was turned into a fortress. | |
| The Shahid Afridi-led Pakistan team, which had the West Indies in their quarter-final in Mirpur, reached here after a brief halt at Delhi. The team members, coah Waqar Younis and manager Intikhab Alam, quietly slipped into their rooms at Hotel Taj here. The team will have an extended practice session at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium, about 12 km from here, tomorrow. The Indian team is also scheduled to reach here tomorrow.Meanwhile, tight security has been put in and around Hotel Taj here where both the teams are staying. "Nearly 1,000 cops have been deployed for the security of the teams and officials," Chandigarh's SSP (Security), H S Doon told PTI. Asked about reports of terrorists planning to strike at the ongoing cricket World Cup venues, Doon said, "We are aware of this. We are not taking any chances with the security and even the teams have been asked to strictly adhere to the guidelines." He said the teams had also been asked to give four-hour advance notice to the concerned security official if any member wanted to go out of the hotel so that adequate safety measures could be taken well in advance. "We also want to ensure that there is no security concern about the place where any team member wants to visit," Doon said, adding they had written to the ICC and BCCI about alleged security violations by some officials of the West Indian cricket team when they were here recently to play their league match against Ireland. He said it was for the first time that a jammer had also been included in the team's security. The Mohali stadium has also been sealed and nearly 2,000 cops would be deployed in and around the PCA stadium on match-day as part of foolproof security measures, a Punjab police official said. Police sources said that adequate security would also be ensured for the visiting Pakistani fans | |
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