Well, the champions trophy is currently going on and 'experts' do give their guess/take on the possible semifinalists. Ian Chappell, the commentator that I regard highly, has got it wrong and I have got it right :) It is not a case of being 'wiser on hindsight' but I had given my comments in his analysis of Group A, I had commented that Australia and Pakistan will go through. I always thought India was over-rated ever since Sourav Ganguly retired. Dhoni is a good captain but I dont think he is able to get the best of his team, especially the bowlers. Harbhajan Singh, Sehwag, Yuvraj seemed lot more inspired under Dada than Dhoni. Of course, I always felt Sachin and Dravid are never going to win matches and at best can perform 'supporting roles'.
Ian Chappell, in his analyis midway during the tournament or even before, didnt fancy England's chances. I suspect, with Australia being naturally hostile to England (atleast in Ashes), one cant expect Chappell to view them favorably. Again I had commented immediately (can be seen in the page) that England and Pakistan would do better than 'what people expect'. So am I boasting my 'capabilities' to predict? Of course I am. Profundity does not come by playing or captaining a team. It comes from observation, which itself is a science according to me. In cricinfo roundtable where it was concluded with the obvious statement - Lara is the best, John Wright made an observation - 'record's do not matter when we estimate a person - "For me it is just the look and then you say 'he is a great batsman'". Figures just bear it out and Ian concurs - you dont see a person who bats like a bloody champion averaging 10. I remember long back when I just saw one ball (NOT A WICKET TAKING delivery) in a Under-19 World Cup bowled by Irfan Pathan and I told my roommate - he is going to play for India. That is profundity, according to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment