THE BEST, most vaunted, feared, dreaded, accomplished, murderous BATTING LINEUP in the world Could not bat out its quota of 50 overs against the (so called) minnow's bowling attack %u2013 or the Srilankans.
The media hype, cricket frenzy, NEWS channels (for crying out loud) running shows trying to heighten the cricket wars long b4 the tournament, priests performing sacrifices and wat not-- All thaht is to get the people to watch their channels -- to make money! n in the process they dont mind catapulting mere cricketers to the status of demi Gods n Gods! ALL these being money making, money grabbin schemes!
These "carnival freaks" ought to dig a hole for themselves (even deeper than the one they dug when batting against Bangladesh and Srilanka) and jump in it to never show their ugly, talent-less faces ever again! -- Sheesh, n to think of it , these television channels have wanted us to beleive that this is the team that will win us the World Cup!!! A multitude of television channels and media houses were touting the team as favourites. HAHA! -- All i can say to that is, day-dreaming is fine but should be left for ones personal time -- NOT aired to a billion people the country over!
The ICC has already eased eveyones lives by allowing ALL 8 PLAYING teams to qualify to the next round --so that everyone feels like they have EARNED it. But the truth is that the REAL competition i.e biggest prize in the game SHOULD not start at some qualifying stage. People should be made to really EARN their spot -- atleast like the SUPER SIX in 2003!
But India (and Pakistan), despite being served a berth on a golden platter (just like every other test playing team) have floundered even this chance. In actuality, making it to the semi finals too IS NOT and SHOULD NOT b a big deal at all because there are only 8 'competing' nations and 4 semifinal berths -- SO if India cant make THAT cut, it HAS ABSO-freakin-LUTELY NO RIGHT to call itself even a modestly "good team" -- let alone THE SECOND BEST TEAM behind AUSTRALIA!
After every loss in the matches preceding the cup, all the management including Greg Chappell always said that they were building a team for the WORLD CUP AND THAT THEY WERE FOCUSSED ON THE BIGGER PICTURE. Where is that team and wat picture?
The population of India is more than the combined population of all the other countries playing the world cup. Still India has always struggled to produce 11 decent cricketers. All the cricket management, the cricketers themselves and the uber-hyping media ought to jump in a dry well and choke each other to death %u2013End of story!
Bottom line is -- There wallets are bulging %u2013 there main problem is not baling India out of trouble but that their wallets are too small for their Rs.1000 notes. Playing for INDIA is no more a matter of pride for them but merely an access to a money making-machine -- So as long as there is no pride in playing for ones nation, these utmost ridiculous bunch of losers, collectively called - Men in Blue %u2013 will disappoint the Indian cricket fan over and over again.
The day the Indian cap will be worn wid pride and to uphold the esteem of a nation and a billion hearts, this team will become unbeatable!
Sadly enuf, that day is not anywhere near the horizon.
