India Are the Favourite To Win the World Cup

"We have an extremely well-balanced team and the best part is everyone seems to be in form," Kirmani told PTI.

"We are playing in the sub-continent and in our own environment so it would not be too difficult to bring in a replacement wicket-keeper immediately in case of a casualty. So, probably taking this fact into consideration, the selection committee did not go in for a second wicket-keeper," he said.

Stating that the current Indian squad is one of the favourites to lift the ICC Cricket World Cup, the 61-year-old said he has been hoping and praying for the last 28 years for the country to bring back the glory.

"We have a very good chance this time as our side is a very competent one. They are equally competent, if not more, than some of the other teams. We have been hoping and praying for the last 28 years for India to lift the Cup again and it seems that this team has it in them to fulfil the wish," said the former India Test cricketer.

Kirmani admitted that the four-time World champions Australia will be a weaker side compared to India, South Africa and England in the upcoming mega-event but cautioned that the Kangaroos can never be taken for granted.

"You never know, Australia can come back any time. You can never count them out. Obviously, the experienced players, who won the Cup thrice for the country are not there anymore but Aussies are in a process of re-establishing themselves.

"The youngsters will certainly take some time to reach that level. So, as a team they definitely look a little weaker at the moment as compared to some of the stronger sides like India, South Africa, England," he opined.

"But again if you look at the ongoing ODI series between England and Australia, the latter are doing well and the English, who thought it would be a cake-walk for them after their 3-1 Ashes victory, are finding it tough," added Kirmani.

Kirmani, who played 88 Tests, predicted that India, South Africa, England and Sri Lanka would make it to the semi-finals of the mega-event, starting February 19 in Dhaka but warned that there could be a few surprises as well.

"The New Zealanders, Pakistanis and Australians could never be underestimated. Just like Australia, Pakistan also has some talented young players who can spring up surprises," Kirmani said.

Asked to compare the current Indian side with that of the 1983 World Cup winning team, he said, "Unlike ours, which was a weaker unit and were given a tag of the underdogs, this team is very strong."

"We never thought we would lift the Cup. We were the most inexperienced team in the competition. We just aimed at qualifying for the knockout stage. That was the only thing on our minds. In fact, no body even expected us to reach the knock-out round also," recollected Kirmani, who was awarded the best wicket-keeper in the 1983 World Cup.

"But we gained confidence when we won our opening match against then reigning world champions West Indies by 34 runs. After that game, we thought if we could beat the Windies in the very first encounter, why should we look back?"

Attributing Indian team's success in the 1983 Cricket World Cup to their positive approach, consistency and complacency of other teams, he said, "Whosoever we played they thought that we were a very weak side and took us lightly. But they were under a wrong impression. They failed to realise that on a particular day we were the better players."

Looking back at his own most memorable contribution to the team's success in the 83' World Cup, Kirmani said the match where captain Kapil Dev scored unbeaten 175 against Zimbabwe to turn the tide in India's favour, had him as a silent contributor at the other end.

"One of our most important matches of the tournament was against Zimbabwe when India found itself reeling at 17 for five with Kapil Dev trying to pull us out of trouble single-handedly. At 140 for eight, I joined Kapil who was playing at some 50 plus score with another 30-35 overs more to go in a 60-over match.

"I walked in very boldly, as usual, without losing my concentration and before I took the stance I just went to Kapil and told him 'don't worry, you just play your natural game and I will be at my best at the other end, giving you the maximum support and maximum strike. I will just take a single and leave the deliveries for you to face'," narrated Kirmani.

"From there on it was one of the most fabulous knocks of Kapil that I have seen -- perhaps the most devastating one -- and I gave him the strength and we remained not out till 60 overs. He scored 175 and I scored somewhere between 23 to 30."

Kirmani, who remained not out on 24 till the end of 60 overs, shared a crucial unbeaten 126-run stand for the ninth wicket -- a record in itself -- with Kapil, to help India reach 266 for eight and set Zimbabwe a competitive target.

Zimbabwe, in their chase, faltered and were all out for 235 in 57 overs to hand over India a 31-run victory.

"This victory put us in the semi-finals where we beat England comprehensively and then went on to create history by defeating West Indies in the final, which is needless to say, is one of the most memorable moments of my career and life," concluded Kirmani.

We will go beyond 2003 World Cup- Harbajan

Senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh believes that the team's impressive performance in South Africa will be of little consequence at the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup.
"From my personal experience, I can tell you that our good show in South Africa may give us a bit of confidence but that's about it. Doing well in bouncy pitches in South Africa and playing in the Cricket World Cup is a different ball game altogether," Harbhajan told PTI in an exclusive interview.

To elaborate his view he gave example of India's tour to New Zealand in 2002 before the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa.

"If you remember, we had a disastrous tour of New Zealand where we lost in both Test and ODI series. But when we played in the Cricket World Cup, it was a different story. In fact, we completely dominated while we beat New Zealand and played in the finals. That's why I feel that a bilateral series can never be an indicator to a team's performance in a big event," the feisty off-spinner said.

Talking about Cricket World Cups and Harbhajan, who will be playing in his third, still fondly recollects the memories of the 2003 edition when the team reached the finals under Sourav Ganguly's captaincy.

"I sincerely hope that we can emulate our 2003 feat and even do one better by winning the Cricket World Cup. It will be a great gift for millions of fans. On our part, we can assure our supporters that we will give more than 100 percent when we get out there," he said.

When asked what was special about that 'Class of 2003', who looked unstoppable till Ricky Ponting singlehandedly took the final away from them, he said, "Have a look at the squad of 2003, you will find guys like myself, Zak (Zaheer Khan), Ashish (Nehra) and Viru (Sehwag) were all young having only played couple of seasons in international cricket.

"We were fearless and never believed that we would cow down under any sort of pressure. If you enjoy playing in pressure situations, you tend to give your best. That's what happened. Also we had seniors like Sachin (Tendulkar), Sourav (Ganguly) guiding us."

A veteran of 93 Tests and 217 ODIs, Harbhajan, who is now second in the list of seniormost cricketers after Sachin Tendulkar, feels like 2003, this time also India's Cricket World Cup campaign will depend a lot on how the likes of Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan handle pressure situations.

"As a senior player, I have loads of expectations from guys like Virat, Yusuf and Raina. Just like we (Sehwag, Nehra, Zaheer, Kaif) were the youngest lot in 2003. These youngsters will be eager to show how well they can manage to hold their nerves on big stage.

"They have had enough exposure in international cricket and I am really hopeful that they would come up trumps."

On personal front, Harbhajan, nicknamed 'Turbunator', is happy that he is in a good frame of mind going into the big event.

"If you are an Indian cricketer, then you become adept at handling pressure. I have played long enough to not let pressure affect my game in crunch situations. It has come with years of experience at the international level," said the spinner from Jalandhar, who has 393 Test and 246 ODI wickets to his name.

His batting has been a revelation of late and one gets a feeling that his perspective towards batting has changed.

"My mantra is simple. If the ball is in my area, I will hit it. Earlier, the approach used to be a slam bang one and I would try to hit any delivery out of sight. Now I try to get my eye in first and then go for attack. Also, if I am batting with the batsman, I try to rotate and give the specialist as much strike as possible," Harbhajan said.

On various captains that he has played under in international cricket, Harbhajan terms Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ganguly as the two who always back their bowlers.

"Both Sourav and Dhoni have been able to get the best of out of me. The reason being both are good bowlers' captain. It is essential for a captain and his bowlers to strike a good rapport. In case of Sourav, he exactly knew what to expect from a Javagal Srinath, a Zaheer Khan or a Harbhajan Singh.

The same is for Dhoni.

"Another aspect is their faith in bowlers to let them set their own field. Both Sourav and Dhoni would allow me to set my own field which means the skipper has faith on my thought process," he added.

Asked whether figured out any difference between the two, Harbhajan said, "Yes, Dhoni can remain very calm in the most trying circumstances but Sourav was more expressive in his body language."

When the topic of Eden Gardens was broached, he became a touch sad.

"It is sad that we won't be playing in front of a packed Eden Gardens crowd which always behind you. It's one of my favourite grounds but there are things which are not under my control. What I can control is that, whenever I play at the Eden next, I would like to ensure the crowd that they will have smile on their faces," he concluded.

India Are Favorites To Win the World Cup : Smith

South Africa captain Graeme Smith believes India are the team to beat at the forthcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India are co-hosting the event alongside counterparts from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni's star-studded squad are already the bookmakers' pick for the trophy.
Smith guided the Proteas to a 3-2 ODI series win over India in their recent series in South Africa but he accepts that India will be an even tougher proposition on their own turf.
"I think the home teams will be right up there when it comes to the World Cup," Smith told the ICC Cricket World Radio Show.
"I think in the sub-continental conditions they'll be very crafty, knowing how to read conditions while other teams need to find ways to be successful there.
"I think for us we need to be versatile and I think India will come in as favourites."
Despite picking India as the best-placed team prior to the event, which begins on February 19, Smith sees plenty of potential victors.
"Personally I think there are five or six teams that could win this World Cup which is probably going to make it a very exciting one," he added.

BCCI Pleads ICC to reconsider its Decision

BCCI have asked the ICC to reconsider their decision to strip the Eden Gardens of their match between India and England.
"We have written a letter to the ICC to reconsider its decision. Now it is up to the ICC to decide, but we are confident that the stadium can host the crucial India-England match," Ratnakar Shetty, tournament director and chief administrative officer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said.

Former ICC boss and Cricket Association of Bengal President, Jagmohan Dalmiya, had appealed to the BCCI to ask the ICC to reconsider their decision.

Dalimiya had based his argument on Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium and three other venues getting an extension of 14 days- the former BCCI president suggested CAB will be able to get the Eden Gardens ready in the next 10 days and hand over a finished ground on February 7.

An ICC inspection team determined the Eden Gardens, which had hosted an ICC Cricket World Cup final and semi-final would not be ready to host the fixture on February 27.

The Group B match - England's second of the tournament - against the co-hosts in the 100,000-capacity stadium in Kolkata was set to be one of the highlights of the campaign for Andy Flower's side, who must now wait to hear where the February 27 fixture will be moved to.

Besides the India-England encounter, Eden Gardens is scheduled to host three other games -- South Africa vs Ireland (March 15), the Netherlands vs Ireland (March 18), and Zimbabwe vs Kenya (March 20).

Eden Garden Dropped From World Cup Venue

ICC's decision to drop Eden Gardens as the venue for the India-England game has been greeted with utter dismay in India.
Eden Gardens could not deliver on time, failing to meet the deadlines for renovations to the stadium. It hardly went down well with the ICC inspectors, who declared a venue change for the February 27 match between India and England.

"We were all looking forward to this match. We were dying to see a renovated Eden Gardens which was already looking so beautiful," former India batsman Arun Lal, now a commentator, said.

"Every cricket fan, every Kolkatan will be devastated by this."

Nearly 100,000 people screaming at the top of their voices make Eden Gardens one of the most atmospheric cricket grounds in the world.

"Is there no chance of this decision being reversed? I am just hoping that they can reconcile," Lal said.

Former India opening batsman Chetan Chauhan shared the view.

"I would suggest to the ICC and the Indian board that the Eden Gardens should be given another opportunity," Chauhan said.

"They should be given about 7-10 days. The game is on Feb 27 and there is still a lot of time.

"If they don't give them one more chance, I think they will deny a great centre and cricket-loving people the opportunity of watching a high-profile ICC Cricket World Cup match."

Eden Gardens, which hosted the 1987 World Cup final, will stage three other matches on March 15, 18 and 20, none of which feature the home side.

A furious Madan Lal, a member of India's 1983 World Cup-winning team, said the organisers should be taken to task.

"One question is why was the stadium not ready?," he said.

"Once a deadline was given, they should have completed the work before that deadline.

"It's not about the venue but about the people who have lost everything now."

Former ICC chief Jagmohan Dalmiya heads the Cricket Association of Bengal, which is based at Eden Gardens.

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