India puts down the remote8230;

8220;The turning point in India8217;s World Cup campaign was the match we lost to Zimbabwe in the pre-league,8221; is the general feeling among Puneites, most of who preferred to stay away from their television sets yesterday, knowing that win or not, the cause was already lost.

8220;Imagine, just three more runs, and almost an over to spare on that day, and we would have been through to the semis today.8221; Quite possible 8212; India would then have been sitting pretty with four points while Zimbabwe would have been reduced to three.

Even though newspapers screamed that India was a goner, and Anshuman Gaekwad informed that the tickets had already been booked for the return on Tuesday, die-hard optimists continued with frantic calculations throughout the match against New Zealand.

8220;Is there absolutely no way that India can go to the semis?8221; asked a lady who, along the way to dreams of an Indian World Cup glory, had cancelled two appointments with the dentist despite a throbbing tooth 8220;What are a couple of pain killers in comparison to an Indian win?8221;. The calculations of a teenager on Saturday gave the hope that if India beat New Zealand by something like a 150-run margin, and if South Africa defeated Australia by a similar differential, we would be tied at four points with Australia and might go through on a higher net run rate NRR.

They finally switched to another channel when it was revealed that at the time of rains interrupting play New Zealand were ahead on the Duckworth-Lewis.

To rub salt on raw wounds, it is Pakistan which is emerging as favourites for the title. Not a healthy reaction, but not a surprising one either in a sub-continent where cricket is equated with religion and Kargil. So, if the win against Pakistan had brought firecrackers to the streets, yesterday8217;s match brought only an eerie silence, punctuated occasionally with a few words best remaining not repeated.

Rumours of match fixing are rampant. The Reiki sessions and the poojas are silenced, the window displays are coming down, the advertising campaigns are off the air and the life size screens are being folded away. There are some who feel sorry for Rahul Dravid, because, 8220;Despite an excellent run, he will be deprived of his place in history as the highest run-getter in the World Cup 8217;99!8221; Otherwise, for once, except probably the skipper, the country is targeting not individuals but the entire team for a collective failure. It is not going to be a pleasant welcome for anybody on Tuesday.

Old jokes are doing the rounds. Like this one A judge in a child custody case asks the 10-year-old whether he would like to live with his mother after the parent8217;s divorce. 8220;No!8221; says the kid, 8220;She beats me.8221; 8220;Well! Would you then like to live with your father?8221; The reply once again is, 8220;No! He also beats me.8221; The judge, by now getting panicky tries once more, 8220;Who would you like to live with then, little guy?8221; The answer this time is loud and clear, 8220;I would like to live with the Indian cricket team. They never beat anybody!8221;

A nice joke that. So how come no-one8217;s laughing?