• Sachin Tendulkar & Sourav Ganguly (Ind) — Rested for ODI series in Bangladesh
• Virender Sehwag (Ind) — Dropped from Test squad
• Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar and Irfan Pathan (Ind) — Dropped from Test and ODI squads

Sure there are details as to their status, but is he suggesting something? Naughty, naughty! The last line does make some interesting reading, though. What do you think are the chances of Harbhajan, Agarkar and Pathan returning to the team anytime soon? Or anytime at all?Do say!

I predict Australia will win.

Don’t ask why. And god, I hope I am wrong!

UPDATE: Too easy in the end. Congrats Australia!

“For the Australia captain to be kept waiting for nearly an hour after a day of travel just 36 hours before a World Cup final and for 100 journalists to have their shots ruined because the sun had gone down because the Sri Lankan captain didn’t turn up was clearly unfortunate,” Australia media manager Phil Pope told Reuters on Friday.

Steve Bucknor, meanwhile, is going to officiate in his fifth successive World Cup final. He would have preferred to sit and watch had his team made it through, but alas and alak… he has to officiate yet again. This time, though, he will be partnered by Steve Bucknor and not David Shepherd. Bucknor, it is reported, was happy:

“It is a dream come true,” Bucknor said in an ICC news release announcing his appointment. “I was happy knowing I was umpiring in a Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean and now being asked to stand in the final again makes it even more special.”

What makes me happy is this circus finally ends tomorrow. About time.

Sri Lanka has had a stutter or two along the way in the World Cup and none bigger than the thrashing they received at the hands of Australia. They were doing pretty okay until they went and lost 7/59 to collapse from 1657/3 to 226 all out. And this came about thanks to disciplined bowling from Australia.

In their last few encounters, since 2000, Sri Lanka has played Australia 20 times but won only six. Of the most recent five, Sri Lanka has won only once. None of these are good signs and the loss in the Super Eight will certainly rankle the Lankans no end.

Australia seems invincible and immune to pressure. But it was only in February that England showed the world it could be done. Sri Lanka needs to re-look at those tapes and see what England did right. For once!

Has this been the worst World Cup coverage in the last five events or 15 years? (Interesting there have been five tournaments in 15 years, no?). I think so. Even Doordarshan does a better job than SET Max.

This has been my fifth World Cup on TV. The first I really remember was back in 1992 when cable TV was all new and just getting started. On the whole, for a first real attempt at global broadcast, it was well done. The times were not too convenient for India, but the event was well presented on TV. Highlights were available twice, if memory serves me correct. So even if you missed a match, there were ways to catch the best moments again.

Then came the 1996 tournament and the coverage was once again above average. Remember, that by this time, satellite TV had become rather competitive and proving that STAR TV is better than DD was the point. Point was made, coverage was good everyone was happy.

Come 1999 and the expectations were higher and the timings ideal for watching cricket in India. The coverage was once again very good and the viewers were allowed to watch the match in addition to ads. By 2000, the rights were up for bidding again and unfortunately (from a sports fan’s POV), STAR-ESPN lost the rights and SET won it.

2003 came about and we were subjected to Mandira Bedi and Charu Sharma. Not bad for the first time. It also helped that India made the final. Mandira also made news and made it big. The coverage wasn’t all bad, really. It was eminently watchable.

So what happened this time around? Mandira and Charu went from bad to worse, the set got darker and more disconnected. Cricket talk took up only about 60% of the airtime for ‘Extraa Innings’. But that was okay. One could tune out of the pre- and post-match show and watch only when the game was on. The only trouble was that the ads wouldn’t end.

I have stopped getting upset at the ad operator switching to an ad everytime the bowler was about to start an over. The last ball of the over is invariably lost. Up until 2003 (I think), there would be about 2 ads in the break between overs. This time, the minimum is three and if possible, four or five. I kid you not.

It has been a frustrating experience watching and boy, am I glad SET Max isn’t going to be the broadcaster in 2011. For one, I cannot take more of Mandira (who has looked grumpy for almost a month-and-a-half; how do you do that?) and no matter how hard Charu tries to keep cricket as the focus, it’s too far overriden by commercial interests.

Just five days left. Thank you Max, but no thanks!

There are no reviews for the show on Mouthshut.com either. Howzzat? But here’s a good one on cricketfundas.com!

I want it to be a turning point in my form. What I will say is that I
am a fighter. Today was a fighting performance from Michael Vaughan

With the first semi-final just about to start, who will win? Sri Lanka or New Zealand? I am inclined to think SL has the experience to go through, but NZ look hungrier. A good match is promised. I daresay New Zealand will win.

Let’s see.

And after a prolonged headroll in India, it’s time for other countries. England’s set the ball rolling with the sacking (or resignation?) of Duncan Fletcher and if Tony Grieg is to be believed, Michael Vaughan is next. There have been many asking for Fletcher’s head including the outspoken Sir Geoffrey Boycott and now, it’s happened.

Next in line looks to be Bangladesh’s coach Dav Whatmore. It’s not surprising since he has expressed interest in taking up the job available in India. Speaking about it, the BCB President, M Abdul Aziz said the decision is yet to be taken, but the writing seems to be on the wall…

“We will see what he wants and decide accordingly,” BCB president M. Abdul Aziz told reporters on Thursday.

And moving into the hot seat as captain for Pakistan is the young turk Shoaib Malik. After Younis Khan turned down the job, former cricketers came down on him pretty hard, but why the PCB ignored the experienced Mohammed Yousuf is something that will remain a mystery like many things about Pakistan cricket. Right after his appointment, Malik is making all the right noises too:

“Our team has the capability of bouncing back from the early World Cup
exit and we just need to get our confidence back that was dented after
what happened in the last few weeks.”

Interesting developments as the West Indies struggle against Bangladesh. Very interesting indeed.

Michael Vaughan (England)
His time as captain has come. For far too long has England done without a specialist captain for the one-day game. And even if they don’t regard this as the ‘true’ form of the game, they need to put up a good show. Paul Collingwood looks like a good and worthy successor with Andre Flintoff more interested in drinking binges…

Duncan Fletcher (England)
Ten years as the coach of a team and very little to show for it. How he survived that long itself is a mystery. Of things that matter to the English, there is only one Ashes win to show and a few overseas series wins that extended his career this far. But now, it’s time.

Brian Lara (West Indies)
He has already put to rest any speculation about his career by announcing his retirement. Good man, Lara! But a great player would be lost. Let’s hope he can continue to help the West Indies as they struggle to find 11 good players consistently.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies)
Is it time for him to go? With Lara gone, the captaincy debate would open up and Chanderpaul has already relinquished it once. Will he bite it again? Hope not for it is in the interest of the WI team to let a youngster take over and take the team further.

Habibul Bashar (Bangladesh)
The Bangladesh captain seemed overawed and completely unimaginative about his captaincy. That Bangladesh bat India and South Africa is a bonus but the team’s condition looks a bit like the frog trying to get out of the well… one step ahead and two behind!

Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan)
Gone. No point mulling.

Greg Chappell (India)
Ditto! Gone!

…to be continued (after the semis, that is)

“There must be two Justin Langers in the world I think,” Ponting, the Australian captain, told The Australian newspaper when informed of Langer’s call. “I don’t know what’s happened there. But I know the little fella was never too far away from it if something was going on.”

Over in Pakistan, the result of the World Cup failure has seen not one, not two but all of 80 heads roll! Let’s rock? The job cuts, though, are not only at a high-level. They are at all levels and this is what baffles us. Why would a daily-wage labourer or clerk be fired for what the higher-ups and on-field stars did?

A statement released by the board said that the affected employees belong to various categories including contractual, permanent and daily-waged through all management levels.

A complete overhaul of the system is being sought, but here, they are really throwing out the baby with the dirty water! Very interesting move, but not in the most positive sense of the word. One just hopes that all of it doesn’t have to do with the on-field events.

The reasons behind the lay-offs were, according to the statement, because staff qualifications and skill-sets did not match the relevant requirements of their positions.

If England can beat South Africa today, they would have three wins, as would South Africa [Points Table]. And then the whole circus comes down to net run rate. The whole ‘who beat whom’ formula won’t work since England would have beaten South Africa, who beat the West Indies, who beat England. Whooppee doo! One merry go round, that!

Of course, all this hinges on the hope that England can beat SA. And WI would have to play out of their skins to get their run rate up. At least they have the chance against Bangladesh. Such straws we are now clutching on to make this tournament exciting…