The World Cup in India -- after a gap of 15 years

The World cup is back in to the Indian subcontinent and there can be no other place than the sub continent to get the crowds in. Which part of the world would you see a packed stadium for a practice match ? The India Australia practice match played at Bangalore on Sunday had a good turnout and the match was watched with intensity and with India running out winners, what more can you want from a Indian fan perspective ?!

With 14 teams and 49 matches to be played to decide the eventual winner , cricket fans all over the world will be talking nothing else but obviously cricket and their favourites.
While the West Indians dominated the first three editions ( 75 & 79 ) and were the favourites to win the third time ( 83 ) , till Kapil's Devil's turned it on , with Kapil's catch to get rid of Viv Richards and Sandhu's in swinger to Greenidge being the talk of the town even today. Kris Srikkanth hit only 38 runs in that final match but he can still be proud that it was the highest score in that final.

India were the favourites on home turf in the 87 cup till in the semi final they were swept off the ground by Graham Gooch and Eddie Hemmings turned it on with his spinners getting Kapil Dev out and England went to meet Australia. England had the cup for them waiting until Gatting employed the reverse sweep, that reversed their climb towards the title and it set up Australia for winning not just in 87, but 99 ,2003 and 2007.

The 1992 world cup belonged to Imran Khan who led the Pakistanis to their win and largely due to Wasim Akram's heroics in the final.
The 1996 edition saw a new trend. Jayasurya and little Kallu smashed the ball all over the park in the first fifteen overs and that was game changer to one day cricket. Srilanka played solidly to outwit India in the semis and Australia in the final. Aravinda DeSilva played some vintage cricket and his shot selection and timing was awesome. I watched the semi final re telecast the other day ( three sports channels have been on a rewind mode on the previous world cup for sometime now ) and his 66 of 47 balls against the Indians was magic. Kumble tells us today that team India decided to chase because they lost a league match against SL not chasing and that the Indian think tank did not expect the pitch at Eden Gardens to crumble that badly for the second inning. Rest is history as Srilanka won and the team flew back from Lahore in a special plane to Colombo and the pilot was none other than Siddarth Wettimuny who used to open their batting a few years earlier !!

1999 was South Africa's( Under Hansie Cronje and Bob Woolmer ) best chance to win the World Cup before they took up their title of "chokers". A last ball run out and Gibbs dropping Steve Waugh are historic. Lance Klusner was in prime form and no targets threatened him, but still South Africa lost in a mad last over scrable for 13 runs of which Klusner slammed 12 in three balls .
A damp squib final followed with Pakistan and Australia was on their way to the title.
2003 was India's best bet but Ponting in the final batted Australia to a win. India would like to forget the 2007 edition quickly as they were shocked by Bangla Tigers and eased out of the Cup and Australia showed their batting power to get rid of Srilanka and continue their world cup.

So what we have got for 2011 ?

My last four stage teams are :

India -- Key things in their favour - Sachin ( last world Cup ? Wants to win ) , Yusuf Pathan and matches in the subcontinent to favour their spinners and part time spinners.. Wait-- I missed out Sehwag !!

Australia -- The speedsters are good -- Tait , Lee , Bollinger and Johnson can take out batsmen. Their batting looks suspect except for Shane Watson and they will miss Mr Cricket ( Mike Hussey ) but I still expect them in to the semis.

South Africa -- They are rated no 2 in the world and should qualify on all around abilities -- Steyn and Morkel can be handful to play

Srilanka -- Consistent and have the spinners with them who can make batsmen dance ( Murali / Mendis ). Malinga can be a tricky customer and Angelo Mathews can handle the bat and ball well.. Not to forget Sanga and Mahela

Surprise packet is Pakistan -- We can never tell what they can do but they are contenders in every category right from winning the world cup to exiting after the first round. They are capable

England -- Can they re bounce after the 1-6 defeat against Aussies just a few weeks back ? I doubt

The Final -- India - Australia ( or Pakistan ) and the result going just the way the practice match against Australia went .. An Indian win

I remain an eternal Indian optimist !!