As the Asia Cup comes to an end, without the much-speculated/awaited India-Pakistan final, it is time to reflect on a few things.
Churn in Asian cricket's pecking order
This Cup has firmly displaced Pakistan from the hegemony of claiming the - forget #1, even the #2 spot among the top couple of teams in Asia.
Sample this:
India of course, has had an edge over the Pakistanis for a long time now. The time from 1987 - 1990s is the only time Pakistan had an edge over India.
In the present times, India have been dominant almost every single time.
But India aside, it is pertinent to note that Team Green has now also lost to Bangladesh consistently every single time in their last 4 outings against them.
Even Afghanistan, the most promising team from the Asia Cup, almost beat Pakistan. It was only their inexperience and Shoaib Malik's calmness that saw Pakistan through.
Silence, Please!
The brouhaha over the fluke that was June 18, 2017 is officially over now. After having lost comprehensively to India in that tournament too except unfortunately on the day of the tournament final, one had the same feeling of injustice not taking place again.
We do not grudge them their good day in office too, but the way they began jumping and taunting an anyday-better Indian cricket team on the basis of just that fluke of a win, has never been in good taste. Hopefully, now that they have been chastised and chastened, at least the less shameless among them might have been silenced.
To all supporters of the Pakistani team who have gone hoarse shouting from the rooftops about last year's one-off fluke, it is now time for: Silence Please!
We beat Pakistan handsomely in both the matches of this tournament, and one felt that another one-off lucky day for the Pakis would too much of a travesty of justice for the decidedly better team.
Thankfully, helped by their own implosions, they could not even qualify, and perhaps even their most ardent supporters would agree that given their performance, and the calibre shown by Bangladesh and even Afghanistan, Pakistan do not deserve to be in the final when as per pure performance in the Asia Cup, they have been only the fourth-best team in the tournament.
As Harsha also tweeted, maybe the world (and certainly the Pakistanis) got carried away by what was just an off day for the Indians.
India's Gains from this Cup
India's batting bowling and fielding supremacy over all other Asian countries, Rohit's captaincy, the re-emergence of Jadeja and Jadhav, and the efficacy of our bench strength are only some of good things that have come out of this tournament for India.
Tuning in for the World Cup
Time to reflect on preparing a solid middle order now for the World Cup - Ambati Rayudu and Kedar Jadhav seem to be our best middle-order bets at the moment for positions 4 and 5 in England, sandwiched between the greats - Kohli (at 3) and Dhoni (at 6). KL Rahul is my backup opener hands-down.
Just avoid too much chopping and changing, and get the Cup home, Team Blue!
Jai Ho!
Bye Bye, Pakistan!! :-)
Though we all wish the Pakistani team does well, for the good of cricket's health globally, what gets people is their (and their supporters') vanity - of even thinking, let alone believing, that they are better than India - which stems more from impish bravado and jingoistic grandstanding, and less from logic and facts.
This is why, many Indians derive special joy in always sending them home: Happy to send you home again, Team Green...it's Bye Bye, Pakistan!! :-)
Churn in Asian cricket's pecking order
This Cup has firmly displaced Pakistan from the hegemony of claiming the - forget #1, even the #2 spot among the top couple of teams in Asia.
Sample this:
India of course, has had an edge over the Pakistanis for a long time now. The time from 1987 - 1990s is the only time Pakistan had an edge over India.
In the present times, India have been dominant almost every single time.
But India aside, it is pertinent to note that Team Green has now also lost to Bangladesh consistently every single time in their last 4 outings against them.
Even Afghanistan, the most promising team from the Asia Cup, almost beat Pakistan. It was only their inexperience and Shoaib Malik's calmness that saw Pakistan through.
Silence, Please!
The brouhaha over the fluke that was June 18, 2017 is officially over now. After having lost comprehensively to India in that tournament too except unfortunately on the day of the tournament final, one had the same feeling of injustice not taking place again.
We do not grudge them their good day in office too, but the way they began jumping and taunting an anyday-better Indian cricket team on the basis of just that fluke of a win, has never been in good taste. Hopefully, now that they have been chastised and chastened, at least the less shameless among them might have been silenced.
To all supporters of the Pakistani team who have gone hoarse shouting from the rooftops about last year's one-off fluke, it is now time for: Silence Please!
We beat Pakistan handsomely in both the matches of this tournament, and one felt that another one-off lucky day for the Pakis would too much of a travesty of justice for the decidedly better team.
Thankfully, helped by their own implosions, they could not even qualify, and perhaps even their most ardent supporters would agree that given their performance, and the calibre shown by Bangladesh and even Afghanistan, Pakistan do not deserve to be in the final when as per pure performance in the Asia Cup, they have been only the fourth-best team in the tournament.
As Harsha also tweeted, maybe the world (and certainly the Pakistanis) got carried away by what was just an off day for the Indians.
India's Gains from this Cup
India's batting bowling and fielding supremacy over all other Asian countries, Rohit's captaincy, the re-emergence of Jadeja and Jadhav, and the efficacy of our bench strength are only some of good things that have come out of this tournament for India.
Tuning in for the World Cup
Time to reflect on preparing a solid middle order now for the World Cup - Ambati Rayudu and Kedar Jadhav seem to be our best middle-order bets at the moment for positions 4 and 5 in England, sandwiched between the greats - Kohli (at 3) and Dhoni (at 6). KL Rahul is my backup opener hands-down.
Just avoid too much chopping and changing, and get the Cup home, Team Blue!
Jai Ho!
Bye Bye, Pakistan!! :-)
Though we all wish the Pakistani team does well, for the good of cricket's health globally, what gets people is their (and their supporters') vanity - of even thinking, let alone believing, that they are better than India - which stems more from impish bravado and jingoistic grandstanding, and less from logic and facts.
This is why, many Indians derive special joy in always sending them home: Happy to send you home again, Team Green...it's Bye Bye, Pakistan!! :-)
