Best of Luck Team India! Cricket Climax Now!

ICC World Cup 2011 is about to begin. The inaugural ceremony is taking place at Dacca tonight. The first match is between Team India and Bangladesh on Feb 19. Cricket is set to climax in full glorious uncertainly. All the best to Team India! They have already beaten Australia and thumped NZ in practice matches. Team India has a balanced side with several players vying for a place in the final eleven. Healthy competition will enable them to play the best. Sachin Tendulkar is playing, but Team is not dependent on him. Recent experience show that Team India now has a will to win despite the odds like even after losing nine wickets! No TV viewer can afford to switch off on them any more! They are well equipped to win it!

But the beauty of this world cup is that almost any team can win it! You can hardly write off any. Beaten down Aussies have come again by routing England recently. Sri Lanka can do it sitting strong in its home grounds. Pakistan is Pakistan, always unpredictable. Now under ebullient and gloriously unpredictable skipper Afridi Pakistan can be on the top spot or in the bottom. South Africa is one of favorites, but their recent losses to India in nail biting finishes can have a bearing when they face India. Except for Aussie drubbing England has a good record in recent times and can make it to the top. On a given day West Indies can do two things: win in a majestic one-sided affair or lose equally majestically. Nobody can tell how good or worse they will field or bowl or bat, but potentially more predictable than Pakistan. New Zealand also has in them to rise to the occasion despite all the recent reverses. Not to forget, they are still the best fielding side. Zimbabwe, Kenya and Bangladesh can strike anybody unawares!  Three of four minnows left...Canada, Netherlands and Ireland, well, cause for concern?

League matches will be played within the two groups A and B with seven teams each. Four teams will qualify from each group for the quarter finals making it the knockout stage onwards to the semi finals and finally the final in Mumbai.

Hosts India Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are ready,  grounds and pitches are ready and the millions of cricket lovers are ready to celebrate till April 2, 2011.

Let the wonderful game begin in true cricketing style and spirit. Lets enjoy!

Day 18: Egypt Liberated!

Tahrir Square has become Liberation Square! Egypt creates history! Celebrations! Congratulations!

Finally Hosni Mubarak had to quit bowing to people's will. The 82 year old President fled Cairo and then resigned as disclosed by the Vice President after 30 years of 'rule'.

Greatest victory for a true committed and non-political revolution. Hey politicians, learn the lesson again! When people decide you must oblige. We need such a revolution in India! Corruption has almost eaten out this great country. While the poor masses still subsist, the shameless politicians and bureaucrats are making such dirty money that they cannot even deposit inside the country! Time to decide between Scam India and Team India!

The army has taken over Egypt for now, but democracy must prevail. The Egyptians must safeguard their most sacred and precious victory forever. Congratulations once more!

Egypt Revolution: Victory For Democracy?

Bravo Egyptians! You have proved again what a revolution can do. We have seen it quite a few times in world history.

When the masses come out in the streets demanding govt should go, options for the govt get extremely limited. As in Egypt case the govt did throw up their supporters to counter. Only that led to some violence in an otherwise peaceful opposition.

Hosni Mubarak and his govt had no choice when millions of citizens thronged Tahrir square giving him a deadline to resign. After the expiry of deadline the govt had to relent. There were resignations and for the first time main opposition parties were invited for talks with the government. Strategic considerations apart President Obama too recognized the mass upsurge and asked for inevitable change.

After thirteen days of unrest things are coming back to almost normal with revolutionaries observing martyrs day in honor of those dead. Now, follow up events are most important so that democratic values are kept high and the great people effort does not go in vain.

We wish all the luck for Egypt and the great Egyptian revolutionaries. When people want change, nobody can deny them that. The powerful ones should learn the lessons one more time.