Its not the team but its the Occasion to beware of this time!!!

With a quite amazing world cup Finale on our hands and after the First three quarter finals where in the first two produced quite expected results and the third with an totally unexpected one we head to a mouthwatering treat for the Semis!! Well if there had to be one upset then there can be no better team to entertain an upset other than the PROVEN CHOKERS –“ SOUTH AFRICA”!!! This world cup has been as thrilling as an AGATHA CRISTIE or SIDNEY SHELDON’s novel where no one can predict with full confidence who is going to win because every team has it in them to beat any team on their day!!! While every team has some weak points like the PAKISTAN’s fragile batting order, Sri lanka’s inconsistent lower order and England being the total definition of Unpredictable and Inconsistent the only team that seems to have minimal of flaws is INDIA whose bowling weakness seems to be good enough to hold on for a successful World Cup campaign!!! And after Today’s unexpected exit of South Africa the Indians are even bigger favorites to lift this World Cup and thus are under even bigger pressure!!!
Well after a match that ended the 12 year long World Cup dominance of the Australian team we can safely say that we would have a new World Champ and that too most probably will be a subcontinent team!!! And after the end of the EPIC battle INDIA vs ASTRALIA it is again safe to say that though it was a tensed match but INDIA had an upper hand right from the start as they never let Aussies go out of control. India was always an edge ahead at every point of time in the match. Not to forget one of the greatest Knocks by an Australian captain that too under immense pressure regarding his Captainship and form with people calling to chop off his head.. RICKY PONTING replied with an amazing knock that defines his Character!! That’s what why they say that ‘When the Going gets tough, the tough gets going’ and that surely doesn’t apply to the South African team. But besides Ponting’s Career saving century there was nothing formidable from the Aussies.
Now coming on to the Baap Of all the Contests INDIA vs PAKISTAN the biggest match of this World Cup India again would start as the favorites and should be able to win it unless they Choke like..well everyone should know by now!!! The reason for downplaying Pakistan a bit is that their batting line up is too inconsistent and unreliable. While in their bowling I see only one threat in the form of UMAR GUL the rest are just overhyped. Yes no one poses a threat for Indian batsmen not Whab RIaz nor Abdul Razzak nor Shoaib Akhtar and I go to the extent of saying not Even Shahid Afridi. And here is the logic behind this.. no doubt Shahid Afridi is the leading wicket taker in this tournament but out of the 21 wickets that he has taken 10 are against Minnows, the 4 against Sri Lanka didn’t involve either Sangakkara Jayawardene or Dilshan another 4 against West Indies who had already lost early wickets.His wickets mostly are of tail enders with 2-3 wickets of quality top order batsmen in rarity. And adding to his woes Indians can handle spin better than anyone in the subcontinent. The only thing to beware of is the Big Occasion of the INDIA vs PAKISTAN semi final clash for the World Cup that too in INDIA!! And with temper high and the adrenaline rush things can go wrong easily and Pakistani team becomes deadly dangerous under such high pressure situation!! This bitter hard fought rivalry and the mutual hatred brings out the best of everyone and Pakistan team at its best is not what Indians or for that matter any team would like to face!!!
Here is a situation where in the talent and skill and the past performances can count for nothing if you are unable to handle the pressure!!! Great teams have lost crucial battles for lack of sensible approach and what India needs to do come this Wednesday is to follow the basics of the game as if things go as planned India have enough fire power to kick out Pakistan form this tournament.
Data Courtesy: castrolcricket.com