World At Your Feet

With 60 over format, white traditional costume & red cherry, the biggest colloseum of cricket started on 7th June 1975 in England. Yes the Cricket World Cup. The Cricket World Cup is an international One Day International (ODI) competition in men's cricket. Organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the tournament has taken place every four years since it was first held in 1975 in England.For the first three editions it was called as Prudential Cup which was consequently played in England.

History Of World Cup:

1975

West Indies tasted the Glory of the First WC in 1975, continuing the trend in second edition as well in 1979. 

The 1975 world cup final was played between West Indies and Australia. Under the leadership of Clive Lloyd, WI won the finals by 17 runs. 

1979

 In 1979, again under the leadership of Clive Lloyd, West Indies reached the finals. This time, they defeated the host England by 92 runs.

1983

 In 1983, a new rule of field circle with in 30 yards away from stumps  was introduced. It was mandatory to have 4 fieldsmen inside the circle at all times. Basking in the glory of victory for the first two Wc finals, WI entered the finals of third edition. To spoil their party and shatter their dream run, Kapil’s Devils gave a big jolt to Clive Llyod & co. We clearly remember the sight of Joel Garner falling flat on the ground and weeping following the defeat.

1987

By 1987, Reliance group had grown big time world wide. This was for the first time,the tournament was played outside England and moved to Indian Subcontinent and was called Reliance Cup.

Considering the sub continental conditions, the format was reduced to a 50 over format. It was Australia who defeated England with a close margin of 7 runs.

1992

The popularity of WC was immensely increasing. Considering that, 1992  event  saw lots of changes in the format. It was from 1992 WC in Australia/NZ we (Shams&Wags ) started following the game closely as we were of the age where we started understanding all aspects of game. The traditional whites made way to colored clothing. The red cherry was replaced by the white balls. Day & Night matches came into picture. South Africa was allowed to participate in the event following the end of the ban on them due to racism. Out of no where; Pakistan rose to the occasion and defeated England by 22 runs. To England’s plight, it was their third time defeat in the Finals.

1996

In 1996, the cup came back to the subcontinent. Under an inspirational leadership of Ranatunga, Srilanka emerged with flying colors due to their attacking cricket by flamboyant opening pair of Jayasuriya & Kaluwitharana and awesome Aravinda D’silva. They defeated Australia by 7 wickets in Finals at Lahore.

1999

In 1999 the event was hosted by England, with some matches also being held in Scotland, Ireland, Wales. Australia entered the Semifinals.

There were many anxious moments in the match. The most famous incidence was when Herscelle Gibbs dropped a easy catch of Steve Waugh. Waugh was quick enough to tell him “You have dropped the World Cup Mate’ . In the final, Australia dismissed Pakistan for 132 and then reached the target in less than 20 overs, with eight wickets in hand. 

2003

South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya hosted the 2003 World Cup. Australia again featured in the finals. This time against India. This was for the first time after 1983 when India featured in finals of World cup. Australia made  a quick fire 359 runs for the loss of two wickets, the largest ever total in a final, defeating India by 125 runs. It was at Wanderers where Ricky Ponting   played a super attacking innings scoring an unbeatable 140 runs

2007

In 2007 the tournament was hosted by the West Indies. This cup saw some serious and shameful defeats for India and Pakistan. Bangladesh defeated India and entered to the second round for the first time and they later went on to defeat South Africa in the second round.  Pakistan faced similar shameful defeat by the minnows Ireland. Following the defeat against Ireland, the Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room; it was later found out that he died of heart failure. Australia defeated Sri Lanka in the final by 53 runs (D/L), extending their undefeated run in the World Cup to 29 matches and winning three straight World Cups. 

ICC Trophy

Trophy Design:

The current trophy is made of Silver and gold. The Golden Globe is held up by 3 Silver Columns. These columns are in shape of Stumps& Bails that represent 3 fundamentals of cricket ie, Batting, Bowling and fielding. The Globe characterizes cricket ball. It stands 60 cm tall & weighs approximately 11 kgs. The names of winners of previous editions are engraved on the base of the trophy. The original trophy is kept by ICC and a replica is awarded to the winning team
Prior to 1999, different trophies were designed for each world cup. In 1999, the ICC world Cup trophy was created. It was designed in London by a team of craftsman from Garrard & Co in over 2 months.

Individual Performances:
Swashbuckling Master blaster from India Sachin Tendulkar holds a bouquet of individual records in the World . Tendulkar has made more scores over fifty, hit more centuries and scored more runs than any other cricketer in World Cup history. In his 36 appearance in World Cup, he has  4 centuries, 13 half centuries against his name. In the bowling department, Australian Glenn McGrath(Pegion) dominates the individual bowling records, having featured for his country in four World Cups. He has taken more wickets at a higher strike rate with a better economy rate than any other bowler, and has the best individual bowling figures in the history of the tournament.7/15 is his best record and in his 39 appearance, he hs taken 79 wickets. 
Australians Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist lead the individual fielding records. Ponting is the leading fielder in terms of catches made, in both an individual World Cup tournament and in the competition's history. Wicketkeeper Gilchrist has made the most dismissals in a single match, an individual tournament and in World Cup history. Australia hold several team records, including those for the most wins, the highest win percentage, the most consecutive wins and are the current holders; they were undefeated in the 2007 Cricket World Cup campaign.
Let’s wait and watch whats in store for every one in this world cup that will be held in the Subcontinent again. The opening ceremony will be held in Bangladesh and the Final match will be played at Mumbai's very own Wankhade.
Till then lets keep our fingers crossed.

Kangaroos Canned, Time For Kiwi Polish.

After sending the Kangaroos hopping back with no victory against their name both in the Test and the ODIs, its now time for their neighbor to get a similar treatment. The Kiwis are not in the best of their forms as they have faced a shameful defeat against Bangladesh. With the current form of the Indian players and the home conditions, its yet another chance for the Indians to send the Kiwi bird flying high in the air and then havesome Kiwi Shine on the Shoes!

We are sure that our boys wont be complacent and Danny's men would fight hard to gain some respect and thats expected. It will be a treat to watch even as some of the key milestones will be arrived at. The one the entire world is looking forward is 50th Test Century for the Little Master Blaster Swash Buckling God- Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. 

Victorious Asians- Men In Blue!

Fifteen years is what it took India to win back the Asia Cup Title. What better time than this time where the belief of the supporters in the team was in complete doldrums after the defeat in Zimbabwe. It was the bowling attack that made the difference. Zaheer bowled peach of a delivery to get rid of the dangerous Sangakkara. The ball kissed the top of the stumps while Sangakkara tried to leave the ball. Dilshan’s wicket was very important as he always makes it big when it matters a lot. Nehra didn’t allow Dilshan to trouble at all by claiming his wicket for a duck. Angelo Matthew followed his team mate by giving his wicket to the same bowler at the same score of duck. Nehra applied brakes at the right time and it was too late for the tail enders to guide the Lankan’s to the shore. His 41/4 wrote the script of Indian victory and he also bagged the Man of the Match award

It was clearly seen that Sri Lanka depends heavily on some of the senior players. The younger lot has to do lots of catching up as the middle order does not seem to provide a solid support.

Dinesh Karthik grabbed the opportunity with both the hands. He replaced injured Viru for this match and scored a brilliant 66 runs at the right time.

This victory is going to be remembered for a long time as the eventful match against Pakistan was also played in the same series.Well played team India. continue the winning streak as we have the big debacle coming up to be played in India- World Cup 2011

Photos: Courtesy: Cricinfo.com

Roaring King Harbhajan!

Six of the second last ball reminded us of the 1986 match against Pakistan  Sharjah. It was Javed Miandad then who hit six of the last ball of Chetan Sharma and winning the match and ruining Sharma's career . Harbhajan Singh was super charged when the ball crossed the ropes and with that India registered victory against Pakistan. It was a very exhilarating match like all India Pakistan match. Bhajji has always shown his potential with the bat and is a true match winner. He was roaring like a Lion King and one could not miss the tussle between him and Shoaib Akthar

Pakistan could well have made runs in excess of 280 but credit goes to Indian bowlers who restricted to 267 runs. It came down till the last over where Harbhajan Singh came to the party and hit a six when 3 runs were required of last 2 balls.India has now qualified for the Semis  along with SrilLanka. 

Clash Between The Asians!

In the midst of the Football World Cup, lets revisit the other super game thats Cricket.
The Asia Cup has started featuring Bangladesh, India, Pakistan & Srilanka. India will take on Bangladesh in Dambula today i. e, 15th June 2010. Tamim Iqbal from Bangladesh has shown some super form in Test Match against England in England. A century at Lords has already made him special. Talking about India's form, the series in Zimbabe was a series to forget. The seniors are back in the team, so lets hope for a explosive start. It will be good opportunity for Saurabh Tiwari to show his exploits with the bat for team India. He has already impressed everyone with his performance for Mumbai Indians.
The match to watch out is on Saturday- 19th June 10  as India take on their arch rival Pakistan.

So while everyone is glued to Football World Cup, lets stay tuned to Cricket as well.

When Tigers Roar!!

They entered International cricket arena as Bangladesh Tigers but were considered as minnows. Time has changed and as we say that its an unpredictable game and whoever perform better on field can change the table, same has happened with Bangladesh team as well. Time and again they have shown their skills and have upset giants of the game.
Who will forget their victory against Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup? “We lost to our brothers “were the words of the Pakistan captain. Be it Pakistan, India, West Indies or Australia for that matter, they have always displayed their skill and have won ODIs against them.
To add to the victory list, in the recently concluded series, Bangladesh won both the ODI and Test series by 2-0.
The new captain Shakibul Hasan took the charge and performed with both bat and ball to lead his team in historic win in Carribean. He was adjudged “Man of the series” for his all round performance.
Shams & Wags wish Bangladesh team all the best for their future series and hope to see good contest in time to come.