My Pick : Catch 22

The West Indies  thrashing Australia in the all important semi-final of the World T20 gave us the sneak peek of the great West Indian side we had always heard of. Sir Clive Llyod,Viv Richards,take all the stars of "Fire In Babylon",they played fierce Cricket,intimidating the opposition while commanding respect.That is Cricket for any purist,utopian! Always playing for nothing less than the win.Can’t get better than this.

But wait,not everything has a happy ending.Who would have imagined that the once mighty West Indian side,winner of the first two Prudential Cups (1975,1979),would be struggling even to pick the best 11,board-player issue took for the worst with WI Cricket being the ultimate sufferer, not undermining the ever supporting WI fans.The collapse wasn’t overnight but the gradual weakening was quite a shocker as the new WI side lacked world class players,for the exception of the batting legend Brain Lara,so much we had heard of the Llyods,Richards,Holdings that it was difficult to relate the present team to its past glory. Surely, it must not have been easy,especially for the fans.

The final appearance in the World T20 is the 2^nd best performance by the post WI legendary team,apart from winning the 2002 Champions Trophy.A win here against the favourites Sri Lanka would serve as an elixir to all the troubles hopefully and surely would be a great tribute to its great past and the games most talented stars or “GENTLEMEN” should I say! It been ages since any West Indian side entered a tournament as favourites, now here is the chance for them to ask their critics to just shut up,they cannot afford to lose this, at any cost*,can they?

Here are some of the famous tweets after the game b/w West Indies and Australia ended with a huge semi-final victory for the West Indies;the messages clearly show how the tournament which started on a low has hit pamir.

Harsha Bhogle ‏@bhogleharsha

one of the reasons the west indies have always been so popular is that they bring joy. there is no rancour to their cricket

Harsha Bhogle ‏@bhogleharsha

everyone said the aussies couldn't win if they were 10-2. guess they were right. but astonished by the collapse.

Cricketwallah ‏@cricketwallah

How do you think Gayle (& Co) will party tonite? Most imaginative answer is not guaranteed participation, but a retweet for sure...

Sanjay Manjrekar ‏@sanjaymanjrekar

Gayle an exceptional batsman & character too..Said to me in post match with a big smile " The cup is ours, sorry Sri lanka "

Sanjay Manjrekar ‏@sanjaymanjrekar

Saw Ian Chappell, the ultimate purist of the game get all xcited when Pollard & Gayle went hammer & tongs..Who said T20 not for purists ?

Tony Greig ‏@greigtalks

I haven't seen anyone hit the ball harder than Chris Gayle! He would be my first pick in a T/20 World team

Sri Lanka on the other hand, played consistent cricket ever since they broke into the international arena.Cricket is the aorta connecting the war torn nation,its now inseparable from the Sinhalese culture,an integral part of it.Sri Lanka Cricket saw greats like Ranatunga, Jayasuriya, Jayawardene, Sangakkara, Murali, they won the 96 World Cup and shared the Chanpions Trophy 2004 with India.And since then no other major tournament title for them,they have been runners-up for the 50over World Cup in 2007(lost to Australia) and 2011(lost to india),also they finished 2^nd in T20 World Cup in 2007(lost to Pakistan).They have no option other than winning this World T20,a win at this time would heal the wounds from these huge looses they suffered in recent times.

Harsha Bhogle rightly mentioned in his twitter handle and I quote,” they talk of a spirit of nationalism to sri lankan cricket. is this why?”

In this article author Wright Thompson beautifully narrates what cricket in general means to the SriLankan masses,Jayawardene speaks out,Sangakkara also has his experiences shared.Here is the link to it.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-world-twenty20-2012/content/story/585585.html?fb_action_ids=4750064271993&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=timeline_og&action_object_map=%7B%224750064271993%22%3A231586200303919%7D&action_type_map=%7B%224750064271993%22%3A%22og.recommends%22%7D&action_ref_map=[] 

I am in a catch 22 of whom to pick as the winner for the mega event,don’t want to see another defeat to Sri Lanka in a big tournament at the same time the West Indies haven’t done well after their Champions Trophy victory against England back in 2004,a loss doesn’t seem fair to them either,sole reason I can come up with is their glorious past.Both Sri Lanka and West Indies have already won playing some good and competitive cricket.Its just that the format doesn’t provide for a tied game, there has to be a winner,they already won our hearts.