He is not injured, he experimented with Sushi a few days ago and is believed to be down with a stomach bug now.
I keep hearing cricket news these days without making any effort on my part to hear them. =p

I didn't see the match either, but I honestly wish I could have. When did Ireland get so good at cricket? The last I saw, their team was being beaten by the likes of Bangladesh...Kevin O'Brien did a fantastic job though, so full credit to him - 100 runs in just 50 balls?! Wow.

Even in the 2007 World Cup, Ireland surprised cricket pundits by tying with Zimbabwe, coming close to a win over South Africa and defeating Pakistan and advancing to the Super 8 stage (which even India epically failed at). They aren't as bad a team as most people think, even the England team seemed quite wary of them before the match. But chasing a score that big after being 111-5 at the half-way stage was indeed a great effort. Yeah, Kevin O'Brien did a fantastic job! I wish I had seen his innings, but I did see a short replay of it. =D And I suppose the fact that England had just played India a couple of days before resulted in them not playing their very best.
And Chinnaswamy stadium seems to be a great batting pitch. Two matches and all four teams have scored over 300.

India now plays Ireland. That is making me slightly nervous now.

nathanielandbartimaeus wrote:India now plays Ireland. That is making me slightly nervous now.

India will be fine. We've got Tendulkar; 'nuff said. :P

Nero wrote:LOL NFL WANTED OBAMA TO HELP WITH NEGOTIATIONS

It just says that in the press conference someone asked him whether he would intercede in the dispute. I don't think NFL would have asked for Obama's intervention.

^ True.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/sport ... 5nets.html

So...how was the NBA game British people?

Nero wrote:So...how was the NBA game British people?

The what?

Sentynel wrote:

Nero wrote:So...how was the NBA game British people?

The what?

It's baseball or something.

David Cat wrote:

Sentynel wrote:

Nero wrote:So...how was the NBA game British people?

The what?

It's baseball or something.

Hmm. Thought so.

Nero wrote:

David Cat wrote:

Sentynel wrote:

Nero wrote:So...how was the NBA game British people?

The what?

It's baseball or something.

Hmm. Thought so.

xD!

Well, both India and England had a good cricketing day today. :D

n&b: I missed the England/Bangladesh match and I didn't manage to catch the first partnership of India/South Africa, but I saw the rest of it. My mom got really annoyed with me because the minute I woke up and came downstairs Gambhir's wicket fell... (she can be quite superstitious like that when it comes to cricket :P ) Nehra definitely shouldn't have been called in for the last over - Yuvraj maybe? It was frustrating to watch, but at least it'll motivate them to try harder to win their next match - beating the West Indies won't be easy by any standards.

nathanielandbartimaeus wrote: England seem to be winning against the big teams and losing to the minnows. >_>

So true - it must be difficult for them though, especially with coming straight out of other series into the world cup, and losing players like Broad to injuries. :(
Have you been to see any of the matches?

Epic_Footstool wrote:n&b: I missed the England/Bangladesh match and I didn't manage to catch the first partnership of India/South Africa, but I saw the rest of it. My mom got really annoyed with me because the minute I woke up and came downstairs Gambhir's wicket fell... (she can be quite superstitious like that when it comes to cricket :P ) Nehra definitely shouldn't have been called in for the last over - Yuvraj maybe? It was frustrating to watch, but at least it'll motivate them to try harder to win their next match - beating the West Indies won't be easy by any standards.

nathanielandbartimaeus wrote: England seem to be winning against the big teams and losing to the minnows. >_>

So true - it must be difficult for them though, especially with coming straight out of other series into the world cup, and losing players like Broad to injuries. :(
Have you been to see any of the matches?

Yeah, I saw all of India's matches so far. I know I said I would see matches only if and when India entered the semi-finals, but it is quite difficult to do something else and know all the while that India is playing a match. And I almost always see the full match; at most I miss 5 or 10 overs.
And my whole family watches the match along with me too. They don't sit through the whole thing, just mostly when India is batting or the last few overs.

You didn't catch the first partnership of India/South Africa? :( It was one of the best I've seen in quite some time. But India totally deserved to lose. 9 wickets for 29 runs! I still find it difficult to believe. I won't really blame the bowling or Ashish Nehra particularly for the last over. I think the bowlers on the whole did a good job. The stadium they were playing in had an average team score of 316 runs or something. It was quite clearly a brilliant batting pitch. But yeah, I hope Dhoni had given the ball to Yuvaraj (he had 2 overs left) or Harbhajan Singh (1 over).

Yeah, England just came out of a series, they must be tired. And losing good players to injuries always sucks. I hope they defeat West Indies.

n&b: did you watch the first innings of the India vs West Indies match? It's very distressing how unable we are to bat properly in the powerplay overs. We didn't make it to the end of the innings this time either. :/
On the other hand, Yuvraj's century was nice to see. :D

Yeah I saw it. Apart from Yuvaraj's innings, there was little to celebrate.
And I am watching the West Indies bat now. I think they will win. But thankfully, India has already entered the quarter finals. And they will face Pakistan or Australia. And they will mostly lose. I have kinda lost faith in the Indian team. Every time they bat against the big teams, they become all out. And the bowlers in their current form (barring Zaheer Khan) are no where near the standards of bowlers in other teams. And the fielding isn't great in any way too.
But I'm glad Dhoni and the selectors have given Ashwin a chance. And that they haven't dropped Kohli or Pathan (like there were rumours they would).

---

Okay, India won. =D
I must say the bowlers did a good job. I am most impressed with Zaheer Khan. He is okay in his first spell, but when he comes for that deadly second spell of his (reverse swing), I'm left amazed. He is excellent. Hope he stays fit throughout!
And Yuvaraj and Pathan and Raina seem to be doing the job of full-time bowlers. They bowl well, but it would be foolhardy to rely too much on these part-time bowlers. Hope Bhajji and Munaf get back their brilliant forms.
As for the middle-order batsmen and tailenders, wtf is going on? They all crumble like a pack of cards. There is real reason to worry there. Again it was something like 7 wickets in 17 balls or something equally appalling. Yuvaraj Singh and Virat Kohli saved them the blushes today.

Now it is India versus Australia. Sigh. It is going to be very tough. And so will England find it difficult against Sri Lanka.
Let us predict, shall we? About which teams would go to the semi-finals. My predictions:
India vs Australia = Australia
England vs Sri Lanka = Sri Lanka
Pakistan vs West Indies = Pakistan
South Africa vs New Zealand = South Africa
Your predictions?

Oh, and how very rude of me. I forgot to wish you for Holi. Happy Holi! Did you celebrate it in any way?

Happy Holi to you as well! We did absolutely nothing to celebrate it, but we had called some friends over to eat pizza and watch the match. I was shouted at quite a lot for wanting India to win this match - most of the people watching with me said that India should lose because they have a better chance of beating Sri Lanka than Australia. I can see their reasoning but honestly, how far is a team going to go if they have to keep avoiding stronger opponents just to reach the semis? =/

These are my predictions:
England vs Sri Lanka = Sri Lanka
Pakistan vs West Indies = Pakistan
South Africa vs New Zealand = New Zealand (though this match could go either way)
India vs Australia = India (this prediction was driven by generous amounts of blind faith and extreme optimism)

I'd love to see any of these teams in the final, but if Australia wins the World Cup *again* I'm going to be in an extremely foul mood...

Epic_Footstool wrote:Happy Holi to you as well! We did absolutely nothing to celebrate it, but we had called some friends over to eat pizza and watch the match. I was shouted at quite a lot for wanting India to win this match - most of the people watching with me said that India should lose because they have a better chance of beating Sri Lanka than Australia. I can see their reasoning but honestly, how far is a team going to go if they have to keep avoiding stronger opponents just to reach the semis? =/

So true. My mom was rather hoping that India would lose too for the same reason. And my dad, typical as ever, called every ball hit high by the West Indies a six (it was far more likely to be a catch) and every ball that touched the ground a four. And ofc, every ball that India hit or missed was a "nearly out". =p He always vocally supports the team or player opposing the team/player I'm supporting. Just vocally. In his mind, he is supporting my team/player too. As to why he does that (he told me with some reluctance) it is because he feels I would be very disappointed if my team loses after all my enthusiastic backing. So he preparing me to accept a possible loss and not feel completely let-down. Or something of that kind. =p
My dad is very sweet. :D
Anyway, my mom thinks India would lose the quarters because India is playing in Motera. India mostly loses there. Just like India mostly wins in Chepauk. My mom is full of stuff like that. According to her, whenever Sachin hits a century, India would lose (sadly, all she says have some basis in facts. It is not always like that, but majorly it follows that pattern). And there is that Nelson on the Board which mostly doesn't work.
I am definitely not superstitious! ;)
No honestly, I don't pay any attention to them.

BTW, do you think Sachin would retire after this World Cup? I know this is a totally scary thought and sorry for bringing it up, but do you honestly think it is a possibility? I think if India wins the World Cup, it could happen. Think about it. He is 37 years old, this is pretty much undoubtedly his last World Cup (it is cool to retire after a World Cup, don't you think?), winning the World Cup for India has been his biggest ambition, he would mostly complete a record of a century of centuries, the World Cup is hosted in India in front of his fans and the final is in Bombay, his home. It seems a perfect setting and an amazing end to an amazing career. And he has been working so hard and his friends say he very badly wants to win the World Cup. But ever since I got this idea in my head, I haven't been feeling all too well... I swear I'll cry if I hear him announce it.
But if he does retire, we will still see him in the IPL, right? But it definitely wouldn't be the same.

wrote:I'd love to see any of these teams in the final, but if Australia wins the World Cup *again* I'm going to be in an extremely foul mood...

Yes, anyone else winning would be acceptable but not Australia! I would scream if they win again.

And looks like our Pakistan vs West Indies prediction would come true...

nathanielandbartimaeus wrote:Anyway, my mom thinks India would lose the quarters because India is playing in Motera. India mostly loses there. Just like India mostly wins in Chepauk. My mom is full of stuff like that. According to her, whenever Sachin hits a century, India would lose (sadly, all she says have some basis in facts. It is not always like that, but majorly it follows that pattern).

My mom has been giving me exactly the same dialogues, word for word. I can't even call myself cricket-obsessed after one conversation about it with her. :P I recall her saying something like "Whenever Sachin makes a century we lose, but whenever Yuvi scores at least 50 runs we pull out a win." She then proceeded to tell me how many runs he made in each match and several other stats like that...

I really want India to step up their game tomorrow - a match against Australia seems more like something that belongs in the final, not the quarters!

I have a feeling Sachin might retire after this World Cup too, but I really hope he stays on. Murlitharan's and Brett Lee are over 40, but they're still playing as enthusiastically as they were before (yes, I know they're spin bowlers and so have slightly less running around to do than the others, but the point still stands >>)

Epic_Footstool wrote:I really want India to step up their game tomorrow - a match against Australia seems more like something that belongs in the final, not the quarters!

Yes, totally!

wrote:I have a feeling Sachin might retire after this World Cup too, but I really hope he stays on. Murlitharan's and Brett Lee are over 40, but they're still playing as enthusiastically as they were before (yes, I know they're spin bowlers and so have slightly less running around to do than the others, but the point still stands >>)

Muralitharan is 38 years old and Brett Lee is 34 years old. And Brett Lee is a fast bowler, not spinner. I've watched them both play a lot in my time. =D And have you ever heard Brett Lee play the guitar? He plays it very well and is part of band too. And since he isn't arrongant like most Australian players, I do like Brett Lee a lot. :D He and Adam Gilchrist are my favourite Australian players. (And Michael Clark looks handsome. =p)
And Muttiah Muralitharan would retire after this World Cup. The Sri Lankan's are saying they want to win the World Cup for him. Like the Indians say they want to win it for Sachin.

I'm watching India vs Australia now.

---

India is in semifinals!!!
And Australia is not going to win the World Cup!
Thank you so much Yuvaraj Singh! And Suresh Raina and Sachin and the rest for making my day. =D

India beat Australia!!! My joy knows no bounds (although I never doubted them for a second. :D)
Managed to catch the last 15 overs after school and it was truly awesome. Just need to beat Pakistan next, then a World Cup victory could be on its way! xD