INDIA....INDIA....INDIA

Come March 2007 and the whole nation will come to a standstill. People will forget about their problems, productivity in offices will go down, producers will hesistate from releasing their movies, products will come up with fancy advertisements and guys will have the full control over the TV. That is because the "baap" of all cricketing events is starting in early March. And it will go till end of April!!!!! so guys, lots of fun coming our way.

Everyone is busy doing their own analysis, making strategies, selecting a team. Everyone in India can Bat and is also a cricket pandit. I am no different. Since World Cup is round the corner, I thought I (like everone else) will help the selectors make a decision by picking my list of 15 players. Though I must say that it is a tough task. West Indies have built some new stadiums and most pitches are brand new. If I were to believe the statements of the West Indian officials then "no one" knows how will the pitch behave. So it is going to be difficult to pick the team, especially the bowlers. But do not worry guys, I am here. Here is my XV;

1. Robin Uthappa
2. Sachin Tendulkar
3. Sourav Ganguly
4. Rahul Dravid
5. Yuvraj Singh
6. Virendra Sehwag
7. Mahinder Singh Dhoni (He should be promoted up the order if we get a good start)
8. Irfan Pathan
9. Ajit Agarkar
10. Zaheer Khan
11. Anil Kumble

Others: Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Munaf Patel, S.Sreesanth

I think, the above mentioned is the final team that will travel to the WC and to a large extent this is the right combination. A couple of players like Ramesh Powar and Gautam Gambhir are likely to miss the bus even after some good performances. Gambhir has been inconsistent and the conditions at West Indies generally does not suit spinners, ruling out Powar. There are good chances that both these players may not make it to the caribbeans but a lot depends upon the performances of Virendra Sehwag and Munaf Patel in the Srilankan series. Powar deserves a chance though, on expense of Munaf Patel. I would go with Virendra Sehwag instead of Gambhir.

Some sense has finally prevailed amongst the 5 wise men of Indian cricket and they righthly dropped Suresh Raina after a series of dismal performances. Talent is never enough; it has to be backed by good performances. If Raina does not get his act straight soon, he will go the Hrishikesh Kanitkar way.

So guys, I took care of the tough part. Now you guys help me with the easy part. Lets CHEER for the Men in Blue. Something tells me that we are in for a special treat. In all probability (you never know with Sachin), it will be Sachin's last World Cup. I am sure he will sign off in style.

And we have the winning combo.....11 PLAY & A BILLION PRAY......after all, a billion prayers cannot be easily denied!!!!