Munaf Patel indeed was unsung hero of India's World Cup triumph

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Munaf Patel indeed was unsung hero of India's recent World Cup triumph as pointed out by their bowling coach Eric Simons. He was the bowler who stood tall in the pressure-cooker situations in the friendliest of batting conditions.

The Indian batters were flashed prominently on the front pages of the newspapers for making the runs but there was little mention of their bowlers who stuck to their task and delivered at the right times.

The Indian bowlers, in fact, were being targeted by the media for leaking far too many runs in the earlier part of the competition without realizing that the pitches were flat with no margin of error whatsoever.

India’s problems were compounded when their leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, drafted in the team as a secret weapon, was unable to perform beyond the warm-up games and Shantikumaran Sreesanth, the liveliest of their medium-pacers, was all over the place. The fitness of injury-prone Ashish Nehra remained an issue as ever.

There were not too many options up their sleeves and the pressure was on Patel to stop the flow of runs from his end to allow Zaheer Khan to attack with the new ball. Both these bowlers put in great effort to let the spinners play their part according to the plan.

While the success of Zaheer Khan was not unexpected for he has been the spearhead of the attack for a long time, the performance of Patel, who might not have even played the World Cup if Praveen Kumar was fit, exceeded expectations. With a tally of 11 scalps, he was India's third-highest wicket-taker in the World Cup.

Simons made the right observation that the high degree of technical skills that India's bowling attack possessed made up for its lack of express pace all through the tournament.

"We had singled out the bowlers for the last 3-4 series and Praveen's injury had been a setback for us as he was part of our plans,” the Indian bowling coach stated, adding that it was Patel who had given the bowling unit reassurance when he arrived, with both an awareness of his own skills and his ability to adapt.

"Munaf is one of the unsung heroes of the World Cup for us - he stepped in and played a vital part for us, after we lost Praveen and Ashish suffered from injuries during the tournament. Munaf has learnt to understand his bowling and stuck to his game plan taking some crucial wickets," he complimented.

"Munaf never once doubted himself or what he could offer the team. His work ethic is enormous; he has a very strong and steady head on his shoulders and calmness in any situation. He gave Zaheer the freedom to bowl very freely and aggressively." Simons acknowledged.

The terrific performance in the World Cup opens the floodgates for Patel, who was once rated as the fastest bowler in India. He used to generate tremendous pace at the start of his career but he lost his radar and momentum resulting in his disappearance from the scene far too quickly than anticipated.

He has staged a very forceful comeback in international cricket and he should now be deemed a certainty for India’s tours to the West Indies, England and Australia later this year.

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Life may not be same for India after Kirsten

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

What a fascinating sight it was to watch Gary Kirsten, a South African, lifted on their shoulders by the young Indian brigade while celebrating the World Cup triumph at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 2!

It was a clear reflection of the huge impact Kirsten had made in grooming and trusting the promising youngsters like Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina, who benefited tremendously with the vision and consistency of their coach.

People come and go that’s indeed the story of life. But there are certain individuals who are hard, if not impossible, to replace and a huge vacuum is created after their departure from the scene. They are missed and remembered.

I think the history of Indian cricket will remain incomplete without a mention of Kirsten, whose contribution in transforming an unpredictable lot into world beaters has to be classified as legendary.

Wasn’t it in the fitness of things that his tenure as the Indian coach came with the World Cup trophy in the hands of his boys? He was instrumental in taking India to the top of the tree in Test cricket and more importantly keeping them in this position for so long.

Kirsten had the desired attributes that were needed to take the team through. He nearly had every quality that allowed him to enjoy the position that could have brought tension and agony to many others in same position.

Remember Kirsten was not the first foreigner to have coached Team India. John Wright of New Zealand was the first one, having taken over in 2000. Then it was Greg Chappell, the celebrated Australian top-order batsman, who took the command in 2005.

Kirsten must have studied a lot of things beyond cricket while taking up the most challenging task of his career in 2008. It was his knowledge about the Indian culture which helped him run the show smoothly.

While Wright had enjoyed success as the Indian coach because of his mild temperament, Chappell encountered all sorts of problems when he decided to take on the ‘system’ instead of finding ways and means to implement his plans in the given circumstances.

Wright had helped India reach the final of the World Cup in 2003 but the team suffered the most embarrassing of first-round exits four year later under Chappell.

Kirsten has had better record Wright because the team has now regained the trophy after 28 years. In fact the former South African opener has proved to be the most successful of all coaches to have been associated with the Indian team.

Obviously it’s not going to be easy to replace a man like Kirsten and it’s no surprise that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is in no hurry to appoint a new coach even though their international commitments resume with the tour of the West Indies in a few weeks time.

Andy Flower, Duncan Fletcher and Stephen Fleming are being tipped as the front-runners for the job. All of them do have the coaching skills but it may not be easy to pick up from where Kirsten has left. With so much high expectations all around, whoever gets the nod as the coach, will need to have nerves of steel to deliver.

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Imran Khan hails Dhoni’s brilliance as batsman and captain

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It’s not often when Imran Khan, arguably the greatest-ever cricketer to be produced by Pakistan who remained one of the leading all-rounders of the world for quite sometime, pays tribute so generously. That’s why he is revered as one of the topmost analysts and experts of the game.


One person who seems to have impressed Imran thoroughly, and very rightly so, is none other than the Indian captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whom he described as the most assured, relaxed and confident captain going into the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

Before the start of the mega event, Imran, who had led Pakistan to title victory in 1992, had singled out Dhoni as India's biggest strength being their captain having the respect of his players.

"He is the most assured and relaxed captain in this tournament and he has the respect of his players. He is also a very astute tactician and a match-winner on his day," Imran had was quoted as saying in a television interview.

Dhoni has proved Imran absolutely correct. If the legendary Pakistan all-rounder was dead right in his assessment, the present Indian captain has delivered to live up to the huge expectations.


Dhoni played the match-winning knock in the final to steer India to a very comfortable win in the end against the dangerous Sri Lankans at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 2.

Although the target wasn’t very stiff when Dhoni went out to bat, ahead of Yuvraj Singh, but there was enormous pressure considering the fact that it was the final of the tournament and no hosts had ever did it before. I think he played the innings of his life to control the game and win it for his team without any hassles.

Dhoni has remained an impressive captain and a batsman throughout his career and Imran, of all people, had indicated it at the outset. “Dhoni is a dynamic captain. A captain evolves and he must have a few basics in him to excel. A good leader must have courage. He must be able to lead from the front. Dhoni does that," Imran had remarked around three years ago.


"A good captain must believe in taking risky decisions; something Dhoni does seem to have; and a captain must lead by example; when a captain puts in his 100 per cent, the team follows. When I saw Dhoni for the first time as captain, I thought he had all the qualities, but he will evolve tactically with experience," Imran assessed.

"India have some of the qualities that a great team needs. There are two bright sparks in Indian cricket right now. One is Mahendra Singh Dhoni (both as a captain and as a player) and the other is fast bowler Ishant Sharma. They also have depth in their team. Just imagine someone like Yuvraj Singh not able to get into the Test squad. Of course I would pick Yuvraj Singh into the Test squad first, and then look at filling the remaining slots, simply because he is a 'match-winner'," Imran had elaborated.

Now don’t be surprised that Dhoni was the Man of the Match in the final of the CWC 2011 and Yuvraj was Man of the Tournament. Imran’s assessment skills need to be complimented.

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Dhoni does it for India to recapture crown after 28 years

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Yes it took close to 28 years for India to repeat their act of winning the Cricket World Cup. They had done so in 1983, having entered the competition as rank outsiders. Now they have done it in 2011 after being installed as pre-tournament favourites.


There is one thing common, however, in the two title triumphs. The role of the captain was significant on both occasions. Kapil Dev had led by example in 1983 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni has proved again in 2011 how much difference could be made by leading from the front.

While Kapil Dev was credited for having inspired his team throughout the event with his terrific all-round performance in that glorious summer of 1983, Dhoni had reserved his best for the final battle.

Kapil Dev was more consistent and resilient. In fact the team rallied around him in all the matches. Dhoni was fortunate to be the leader of an outfit that possessed far more talents and experience than their competitors.


But Dhoni was under no less pressure to deliver because of the media hype and so many non-cricketing factors involved. He was captaining the side alright throughout the tournament but his own batting form was leaving much to be desired.

For someone having been rated as the top ODI batsman in the world only a short while ago the quantum of runs was far too less as the expectations remained very high whenever he went out to bat irrespective of the situation.

India had to chase down a target of 275 in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 2, after having leaked too many runs in the death overs. It didn’t look a challenging proposition for their star-studded batting line-up with short boundaries and quick outfield offering value for shots.

But there was a hush around the stadium when speedster Lasith Malinga removed both the openers, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, in quick succession to bring Sri Lanka right back into the contest. Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir tried to repair the damage but the job was half done when the former departed.


Then Dhoni’s master-stroke came into play. He promoted himself in the batting order and came ahead of left-handed Yuvraj Singh, who has bagged as many as four Man of the Match awards during the competition.

The skipper trusted his own ability to cope with the pressure and came out trumps. He played the innings of his lifetime to ensure that the initiative never slipped out of his team’s hands.

Wasn’t it in the fitness of things that Dhoni himself executed the shot that brought home the World Cup! The winning stroke said it all. The manner in which the Indian captain clobbered Nuwan Kulasekara, a fast bowler, straight over the fence was reflective of his authority and control.

He showed to the world that he was in complete command of the situation. Rather befittingly Dhoni was declared Man of the Match for the innings that decided the fate of the final. He silenced his critics and proved the pseudo-experts horribly wrong with the power of his bat.

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India, Sri Lanka avert miracles to cruise into final

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Well it’s never easy to predict the outcome of a cricket tournament to last over a month and with all the leading teams of the world participating. I had made an assessment on this blog before the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 that India and Sri Lanka are more likely to be the finalists this time. And I have been proved correct.


My assessment was based on the fact that these were the best two teams to have entered the competition being held in the Indo-Pak sub-continent where the pitches were to suit their style of play. Obviously they also had the resources and the firepower to do it. And they have done exactly that, albeit after some tense moments.

Both India and Sri Lanka had to prevent miracles in the quarter-finals as well as semifinals at the hands of their respective opponents to cruise into the final. India obviously faced the tougher task of knocking out the formidable Australia and then their arch-rivals Pakistan while Sri Lanka just had to play their normal game to rout England and New Zealand, both of whom had come that far exceeding all expectations.

So after a long time the top two teams of the tournament will be clashing in the final of the World Cup. India and Sri Lanka would be battling it out at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, for the trophy on April 2.


After having eliminated Australia and Pakistan, hosts India would be in a happier frame of mind in the final but they won’t be taking anything for granted because Sri Lanka have always been their bitter rivals.

Talking about rivalry, there was enormous tension before and during the semifinal tie between neighbours Pakistan and India at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on March 30.

Pakistan carried with them the confidence of whacking big guns Sri Lanka and Australia in the league matches to finish at the top of the points table in Group A and their morale was boosted further with a cakewalk win over the West Indies in the quarter-finals.

The decision of the team management to persist with left-arm quickie Wahab Riaz instead of risking veteran speedster Shoaib Akhtar paid rich dividends as the youngster responded with a five-wicket haul to limit the Indian total to 260 after a whirlwind start provided by Virender Sehwag.


Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal also bowled exceptionally well to bamboozle the Indian batting stars who were clueless against him. Not surprisingly the catching was terrible to say the least otherwise they could have bowled India out inside 50 overs.

The Indian bowlers, for the second time in as many matches, were right on the money and they were shrewdly handled by Captain Cool, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The late charge from Misbah-ul-Haq couldn’t change the course of the proceedings. Both the losing semifinalists, Pakistan and New Zealand, deserved to be complimented to have progressed that far because neither of them was expected to go beyond the quarter-finals.

Australia and South Africa, who were considered the main challengers for the India and Sri Lanka, crashed in the quarter-finals. While the Australians, the winners of the last three editions of the World, went down fighting against India, the surrender of the South Africans against New Zealand came up as a big shocker.

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Pakistan safely through, India on tenterhooks

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Pakistan have accomplished their first task of securing a place in the quarter-finals with a resounding victory over Zimbabwe on March 13. The victory allows Pakistan a chance to have a go at the title. In fact they are now only three wins away from the title.

Their last league game against Australia would merely be of academic interest in the context of the tournament because both the teams have already secured their places in the knockout phase of the competition.

It’s Pakistan maiden entry beyond the first round for 12 years. They had powered their way to the final in 1999 but crashed in 2003 as well as in 2007, despite in possession of a formidable outfit on both occasions.

Although there’s no element of surprise in Pakistan’s advancement to the quarter-finals given the scenario in their Group but nothing could have been taken for granted after the debacle in 2007.

The Indians, on the other hand, have done enough to keep their millions of supporters on tenterhooks with their incredibly poor performance so far. They have fared more miserably than any of the minnows.

Even the teams like Canada, Kenya and the Netherlands have shown their greater will and determination to fight. Look at the way how Ireland have gone about their business with the limited resources at their disposal.

I think every team, other than India, has come up with better display than was being anticipated. The Australians have lifted their game during the World Cup. The New Zealanders have surprised their own fans with terrific showing. The West Indies haven’t looked bad either.

England have struggled to an extent but that was not unexpected after their dismal outings in the ODI series against Australia on the eve of the World Cup. They had far too many weaknesses to be considered serious contenders for the trophy.

India, at the moment, are living to the billing of compromising on their own interests. In the past as well they have annoyed many and probably obliged just a few with their below-par performance against the heaviest of odds.

The Indians have now given the much needed confidence to South Africa, who were labeled as chokers after their failures from position of strength. It was a different story altogether at Nagpur where India let them come out of the jail with the kind of self-destruction least expected from any team in a World Cup encounter.

My assessment to that game is simple. It was just not cricket. Because you cannot justify that kind of collapse and let-offs. Batting power play is no excuse. If their batters don’t desire it they should discard it from their plans altogether which should at least ensure that they last full 50 overs.

The manner in which the fancied Indian batting line-up had crashed in the final phase of the innings against England and South Africa, after being in total control, should be of some interest to the heavily paid officers of the Anti-Corruption Unit of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

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England’s shocking win over South Africa opens up Cricket World Cup 2011

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

England, who were at the receiving end in what has been the upset of the tournament so far, have opened up the Cricket World Cup 2011 by shocking South Africa, one of the favourites to life the title, in Chennai on March 6.

The unexpected result not only keeps England afloat in the tournament but it also sends some definite signals to other fancied teams. South Africa, by no means, are in danger of not proceeding to the quarter-finals but their defeat from a position of strength will certainly make the other contenders for the title breathe a little more comfortably.

In fact South Africa’s loss at the hands of England would not only mean something to the teams in their own group but it would also have an affect on the outfits in the rival group.

There is a clear message to the teams like Pakistan, Australia and Sri Lanka, who are more likely to share the top three positions in the Group A that a possible clash with South Africa in the knockout stage, would not necessarily mean the end of the road for them as was being anticipated before the start of the tournament.

The South Africans have a very powerful side but their indifferent performance against England should certainly serve as a wake-up call for the think-tank. If their top batsmen can succumb to the pace or swing of James Anderson and Stuart Broad on a turning wicket while chasing the most modest of targets they need to go back to the drawing board to reassess their strengths and weaknesses.

England, quite amazingly, have had close encounters in all their four outings in the competition so far. They had chased down successfully a target close to 300 in their opening game against the Netherlands before overcoming a sensational middle-order collapse to tie the following match against India after being set a mammoth target of 339.

They, however, were found wanting in defending a 300-plus score against minnows Ireland for whom Kevin O’Brien played an innings of lifetime to turn it around in most emphatic of styles.

With Ireland having come into the reckoning with the surprise win, the pressure was on England to deliver while taking on the mighty South Africa. Although the pitch was offering purchase to the spinners from the outset England didn’t seem to be having any chance after being bowled out for a below par score.

Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla kick-started the South African chase and an early finish to the game looked round the corner. But a drama followed and all the big guns of South Africa choked in the same manner as they are notorious for in crunch games. Their premier batsmen like A B de Villers and J P Duminy, who are otherwise exceptionally talented and skilled, need to take crash courses to learn how to cope with the pressure.

It’s quite extraordinary that the South Africans lose the plot so quickly from the driving seat despite being in possession of heavy arsenal. There’s something wrong somewhere which prevents them from coming up with the kind of performance that’s expected of them in global tournaments.

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