India and World cup 2015...

Let me tell start with a story. A crow was sitting on a tree, practically doing nothing. A rabbit passed by under the tree. He saw the crow sitting on the tree and asked the crow “ Well, I love the way you are sitting doing nothing. Can I do that too” . The crow replied” Why not. Join me . You can sit under the tree relaxed”.  Rabbit sat there for a few minutes , when a fox came by , and one look on the rabbit under the tree, pounced on it.

Moral of the story: In order to sit simply, you should be sitting at the top.

Recently,  Virat Kohli and Steven smith has come up against the pitches in Australia. The pitches were flat and hence the bowlers had a very tough time in those pitches. The test series is followed by a one day series with England and definitely the pitches shall be once again under scrutiny.

Fist thing, India should understand is that Australia really needs to come back into the cricketing proficiency and this is possible only if they win the world cup. After 2007 world cup, Australian cricket saw some of the great legends that have ruled the pitch retire one by one. This includes Ricky ponting, Adam gilchrist, Mathew hayden, Symmonds, Macgrath and this really created a dent in Australian cricket for some time. This was clearly obvious in the 2011 world cup exit to the ultimate winners India in the quarter final,  although Australia had defeated India previously when they had played in the sub continent in 1988 in spite of a strong , rejuvenated Indian team.

The Sheffield Shield, Australian domestic cricket, has long been considered the best domestic competition in world cricket that produced champions such as Warne, Steve and Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Mark Taylor, Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath in the 1980s and '90s. However, the ailing format of the game and declining interest in cricket in Australia is a serious concern for the board that is in fact eroding Australia’s status as a cricketing superpower.  The reason why Australia has sticked to injured Michael Clarke to lead the team shows the desperateness of Australia to bring back their lost glory or spell doom to cricket in Australia.

It is also to be understood that MCG (melboune), Adelaide Oval and SCG (Sydney) are the grounds where the final, semi and the quarter finals of world cup 2015 are scheduled. Australia will be putting their 100% effort this 2015 to bring the cup back to their showcase.

Looking in a broader point of view, Australians really wanted to know the depth of Indian batting in the recent concluded test and going to start one day series thus providing flat pitches. However, I am sure the relaxed attitude of Indian batsmen will not be there the day the world cup matches start for the pitches will definitely give surprises and nightmare to Indians as well as rest of world batting giant. I hope India does not sit comfortably as the rabbit in the story above to be devoured. Hope the 2007 World cup exit in the first round be a lesson for them.