So, I've been meaning to write about the Cricket World Cup and the debacle of sorts that it has been on several fronts:
India crashed out in the first round. The 1983 champions (That final is still one of my favorite matches!), the 2003 finalists could not quite make it to the second round! They lost their opening match to Sri Lanka, an extremely talented and passionate team, but a team they had beated in an ODI series just a month ago! Then they proceeded to win their only match against Bermuda - a first time qualifier in the ICC World Cup. The third match was a debacle - we lost to Bangadesh! A team comprising of some of the greatest cricketeers ever lost their crunch match to a handful of newbies - talented and inspired, but rookies nevertheless. I (and over 1 billion fellow Indians) watched in horror as our World Cup dreams were dashed. I've been talking about the World Cup for over a year now, even considering going to the caribbean to watch a game or 2. Guess I'm glad I wasn't there to watch this disaster.
And then there is the whole Bob Woolmer story. Considered one of the most talented coaches ever, he was murdered in Jamaica right after the Pakistani team (1992 champions) ignominiously crashed out of the tournament. There were rumors of cancelling the World Cup, the Pakistani team was held back for investigations for a couple of days, conspiracies theories seemed to fly out of everywhere, but the investigation is still ongoing.
It seemed too painful to write about cricket all along, but I finally have a new team to champion - Sri Lanka! The team that was (for too long) treated as the poor stepchild from the indian subcontinent has been playing some beautiful cricket. Though they lost the match against South Africa, it was a thriller to the end. Malinga's fabulous bowling almost won the match for them, even after the Sri Lankan batting lineup failed to impress! But the last match against England ... o.m.g. It was fabulous! A real nailbiter to the end. And Fernando bowling out Bopara was the perfect end to the match. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
P.S.: Malinga's hair *rocks*!
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