After the wake-up call from the Kenyans in their previous tie, one hopes the Indians will not repeat the mistakes against Sri Lanka today. They have to beat the Lankans to be absolutely sure to reach the semifinals. Frankly, I am rather surprised at this premature celebration by the fans because I don’t think till March 23 (day of the final) we can afford to live in the glory of beating our age-old rivals Pakistan! If India win today, they will finish second to Australia for the semi-finals and will not have to play each other till they reach the summit clash. However, in the days of Duckworth/Lewis rule for rain-hit matches, it will not be prudent to count the chickens before they are hatched. The Zimbabweans seem almost out of race after their loss to the Kiwis and even if the co-hosts get past Kenya, they will find it difficult to snatch four points from Sri Lanka unless the latter decide to reproduce similar display as they did against Kenya. In all probability, both Kenya and Zimbabwe should be at the bottom when the Super Six gets over. This World Cup will then get some credence if the semifinal slots are filled up by Australia, India, Sri Lanka (all former champions) along with New Zealand, who are doing exceedingly well these days with their professional approach. But I fail to understand the need for India to ask for a change in the day-night schedule. Now that the team is really gaining in confidence, where is the necessity of the BCCI raising doubts about it’s ability to play in difficult conditions which is applicable to all the teams in the World Cup. They had already assumed that India would sail through the Super Six and that they would be playing the semi-final at Durban for sure! Is it also likely that they know in advance that Saurav Ganguly will lose the toss and be asked to bat later in night with dew and whirling wind all around the ground? I’m glad that the other teams did not bother to go with BCCI. The objection could have been raised much earlier before the World Cup started. Like any other participating country, BCCI must have also sent their officials in advance to check the security, accommodation, travelling etc. Probably, the Indian delegation did not give much thought to such problems arising since they were not aware about final details of playing conditions in the game. It was good that the proposal was turned down outright by the hosts. On the other hand, the Australians are running with full steam ahead and quite ruthlessly too. They seem to have a knack for finding solution for any crisis. Why can’t the Indian team go with the same confidence now that they are almost assured of a berth in the semi-final.
