Politics-Cricket: General Elections-2014, Political Violence and Asia Cup!

General Elections-2014 starts on 7^th April with the largest number ever of 9 polling phases till 12^th of May and the counting of votes will be taken up on Friday, May 16. In 2009 General Elections there were 5 phases, but lasted for a period of 73 days as against 69 days this time. The Chief Election Commissioner of India declared the dates and phases with all details of polling in different states and union territories of India at a press conference in New Delhi last morning. The Model of Code of Conduct is thus being ushered in from yesterday till the end of elections during which time governments and authorities would be prevented from announcing policies or any sort of new schemes of development. For most other normal administrative decisions the consent of the Election Commission of India would be required. The General Elections will be held along with assembly elections in three states of Sikkim, Odissa and Andhra Pradesh which had just been divided into Telangana and Seemandhra. In Maharashtra we will have polling in three phases—10^th, 17^th and 24^th of April with all the seats in Mumbai slated to go for voting at the last phase.

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Political violence erupted in the capital and other parts as the country got set for the biggest democratic exercise of the world. The Common Man’s Party (AAP) showed this time that they could be as violent as any other party. Their runaway ex-Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal was briefly detained in Gujarat by the police reportedly owing to a possible violation of the model code of conduct. And as is usual with the self-styled ‘untouchables’, there was a mix-up with Kejriwal making allegations against the police of the BJP ruled state where Narendra Modi has been Chief Minister for three consecutive terms. The AAP workers in their typical ‘righteous’ spirit attacked the BJP offices in Delhi and other places leading to ugly clashes. The AAP is now viewed as a party that can hardly impact at the national level with some following mostly in urban areas that too seems to be dwindling after that Delhi ‘Governance’ experiment. Maybe, that is why the party workers are desperate for some consistent media attention.

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In Asia Cup Cricket neither Sri Lanka nor Pakistan came to India’s mathematical aid and the latter crashed out of the tournament as was apparent. Sri Lanka routed Afghanistan and Pakistan beat Bangladesh in another incredible thriller led in the end again by Shahid Afridi. In a match totally devoid of any importance Team India, of course, defeated Afghanistan yesterday with the expected bonus point. However, it came a little too late. Indians have themselves to blame for having to bring their overseas misery back in familiar tracks too. Sri Lanka meet Pakistan in the Asia Cup-2014 Final this Saturday, 8^th of March. Sri Lanka have already beaten Pakistan in the very opener of the Tournament, but Pakistan have become more resilient and spirited of late thanks to thrilling victories over arch-rivals India and Bangladesh. Today there is another inconsequential match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh which is the last league encounter.

Asia Cup-2014: Pakistan Beat India By 1 Wicket In An Incredible Thriller!

Shahid Afridi today reminded all India and Pakistan fans of the Sharjah one day international in 1986 between the two countries when Javed Miandad gave Pakistan an incredible victory by sending the last ball of the match sailing over the boundary. An impulsive cricketer, as always, Afridi today became the hero of his fans after quite a long time. 

 

Pakistan beat India by 1 wicket today in the sixth match of Asia Cup-2014 ODI Cricket tournament played in Bangladesh. This Pak win almost ends India's hopes of staying afloat.Now India would like to beat Afghanistan with a bonus point and hope Afghanistan beat Sri Lanka. Pakistan is on top now with 9 points (one bonus point earned against Afghanistan) and is almost through the final even if beaten by Bangladesh in their last encounter.

Pakistan bowlers did better than India in both pace and spin; Pakistan batsmen did better than India building longer partnerships and Pakistan fielded better than India in terms of letting go the least chances.

For India the same nightmarish story of missed opportunities continues. The Kohli centric team folded up for less than 250 being put in to bat as Kohli failed to get going this time. Stand-in wicket keeper Dinesh Karthik continues to mess up huge stumping chances. However, for the avid fans this encounter too lived up to a typical India-Pakistan blockbuster with ups and downs till the last minute. When Indian fans resigned to accept the verdict of a defeat Team India turned the match on its head reducing Pakistan to 235 for 8 needing 11 runs off the last over. First ball 50th over one more Pak wicket making Indian fans celebrate victory. Next ball a single and Afridi regains strike. He hits two huge sixes next two balls and Pakistan finally prevailed overhauling the target of 246 with 2 balls to spare driving Pak fans into an ecstatic frenzy! 

The Scorecard: 

India disappointed again, but then what a match!

Asia Cup-2014: Sri Lanka On Top, Do Or Die India Vs Pakistan Tomorrow!

Kumar Sangakkara

Team India seems to be suffering from the overseas hangover in terms of missed opportunities, weak bowling by the pacers in particular, indifferent fielding and Virat Kohli centric batting line-up. In their second match of the on-going Asia Cup-2014 in Bangladesh against Sri Lanka last evening India dropped as many as five catches, other run-leaking fielding lapses, ineffectual bowling by the fast bowlers, a huge stumping chance gone a begging and a batting performance somewhat saved again by a Kohli-Dhawan partnership.  Thanks to the duo it was good going at 130/1 in the 27^th over when Ajantha Mendis, the continuing mystery for Indian batsmen, struck and struck and struck reducing India to 200/5 in the 40^th over making them crawl. Some lusty hitting by Jadeja and Shami enabled the team to reach a somewhat competitive total of 264/9. However, with the aforesaid hangover still lingering it was finally not enough for a strong Sri Lanka. Spinners Ashwin and Jadeja did create winning opportunities, but once they ran out of their overs Sri Lanka, with Sangakkara batting on brilliantly, easily overcame the pacers winning the match by 2 wickets with 4 balls to spare.

Both are proven masters in dry and slow pitches. On this day Sri Lankan masters prevailed with their slow bowlers controlling and suffocating the Indian masters. India sorely missed a third spinner after having Amit Mishra in reserve. They decided to give a second ODI opening to all-rounder Stuart Binny, but it was a totally wasted effort. One could say that Mahendra Singh Dhoni was not missed as a captain, but he was definitely missed as a batsman in the middle order especially on his favorite sub-continental pitches. Continuing with his tremendous batting form from the first match against Pakistan keeper Kumar Sangakkara notched up a super hundred (103 off 84 balls). What was more significant about his innings was that he stuck on to his job ensuring his team’s victory and leaving India ruing the stumping chance offered by him early on that keeper Dinesh Kartick could not capitalize upon.  The Scorecard:

Sri Lanka have already defeated both of the strong contenders Pakistan (Sri Lanka winning a thriller by 12 runs in the opening match on 25^th February with a magnificent Malinga burst of 5 wickets) and India, and now faced with only the minnows, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, they are almost through to the final. India and Pakistan are in similar positions—the former depending heavily on Kohli to beat Bangladesh and the latter winning easily against Afghanistan. Therefore, tomorrow’s match would be a do or die encounter for both to stay alive for a place in the final. Since it is now almost confirmed that only one of them would possibly reach the final the Super Sunday encounter tomorrow between the arch-rivals is set to be the virtual final of the Asia Cup-2014 for millions of fans worldwide. At home Bangladesh is not exactly a minnow, but with their present team issues and their skipper’s fitness problem it will be uphill for them to reach the final. However, used to causing major upsets rather consistently Bangladesh is still a force to reckon once they win the match against Afghanistan tonight. Stand-in Indian captain Virat Kohli has a lot at stake presently in terms of giving good leadership and doling out brilliant performances with the bat.