West Indies---Reduced To 'Minnows'! And Tomorrow's Big One!

The once mighty West Indies is on the verge of being reduced to a status of minnows. From being less unpredictable they beat even the most unpredictable by playing one of their worst games in WC history. What a way to start the much awaited Quarter Finals!

West Indies can blame only themselves. Their negative mindset was palpable in the match against India. They decided to rest few of their best players signifying their 'will to lose'. It has been widely discussed that they wanted to meet Pak and not the Aussies in the QF. Well, there must be some truth in all this. If you become choosy and want to experiment about losing you just lose the competitive spirit and so cannot perform to win from there. You cannot expect a player like Gayle to just come and deliver, he lost such a huge opportunity of having some invaluable practice against India.

Pakistan has been becoming less unpredictable meaning more consistent of late and this is a healthy sign. They are already in the semis and need to win just two more matches to achieve their second title since the 1992 victory. Incidentally in that 1992 WC  WI beat Pak by this same margin of 10 wickets inspired by young Brian Lara.

And, now for the big one tomorrow! India meet Australia in the second QF at Ahmedabad. Problem is India has been very predictable of late in engineering huge batting collapses and not able to bat through the full fifty overs. Like their neighbor Pakistan India too need to be a little unpredictable. They need to perform fully to their potential if they want to reach the semis. There is always an inherent spirit of competition between Ind and Pak, what one does or achieves, the other naturally tries to overdo or achieve the same. Right! Pak beat Australia, so India must do the same or even better! They should also learn from Pak bowlers to add more sting to their bowling effort.

Tomorrow must come and come sooner for this big one!