My 5 favorite dishes from MasterChef Australia 2012

Hope you enjoyed reading my last post on MasterChef Australia. Last week, I had promised this week’s post would be on my five favorite dishes on the show. Picking five dishes out of hundreds I watched on the show is a bit tough, actually. My methodology in picking the five dishes I love the most is simple – I’ll choose three savory and two sweet dishes. These dishes were so much a treat to my eyes that it pains me that I could not taste any of those!

Eight Textured Chocolate Cake – the first dish that I pick from the show has to be this. A connoisseur’s delight, the presentation of this dish was simply awesome. Peter Gilmore, the renowned chef, brought this dish as a challenge in one of the eliminations. Each of the eight textures complements the others so well that the balance of the dessert as a whole is perfect. There is something heavenly about the eighth texture – the hot chocolate sauce. You have to see it to believe it – when you pour the hot sauce on to the middle of the cake, the cake caves in a little – a beautiful sight to behold!

The next dish that I pick as my favorite is a savory dish – Modern Seafood Basket. This probably clinched Andy Allen’s title as the presentation was very beautiful and spot on. It is a marriage of some of Australia’s well known seafood – marron, oyster, abalone and flathead. Of course, each of those has to be cooked to perfection to make the dish a success. The oyster emulsion is just spooned over the dish at the end so as to give the dish a real kick. Breadcrumbs and potatoes give the dish the crunchiness needed.

It was a pity that the contestant who made the next dish did not make it to the finals week. The dish was so out of the ordinary that I questioned whether it would be liked by the judges. To my surprise, they seemed to love this very much. The dish that I pick as my third favorite on the show is Tea Smoked Duck Breast with Chinese inspired Salad by Amina Elshafei. It looked like an amalgamation of the different techniques that Amina was exposed to – Mediterranean, Middle East, Continental Europe and Asian. The choice of tea to smoke the duck breast is probably the trick in the dish as too much strength would give the dish a burnt taste that does not go down well in the mouth and tea that is very light would be overpowered by the taste of the duck. To Amina’s credit, the dish was a great hit on the show. On the MasterChef website, this dish receives a rating of 4.5 on 5 which speaks volumes.

Ranked fourth on my list is a dish that seems so simple in its concoction but looks very beautiful in presentation. Contestant Sam Davis’s Seafood for Two was too good to pass. For me, this is a romantic dish that you can have with your true love on your wedding anniversary. The champagne jelly gives the dish a very subtle edge. The caviar crème fraiche goes well with the dish and it was no wonder that the dish rocked the judges’ world. The presentation of the dish was so out of the world and I actually did wonder whether the dish would fill the appetite of a hungry and love smitten couple. There is no doubt that this dish brings a lot of love to the table!

Lastly, I pick a dish that is a dessert. Melting Moments Biscuits by Julia Taylor established her as the dessert queen on the show. As the name implies, this dish is supposed to melt in your mouth and I’m sure the judges would vouch for this fact. The biscuit itself is a light brown which suggests it needs to be baked for just the right amount of time. Too much of a brownish color would rob the dish of the aesthetic beauty it gives. What melts the mouth is what is sandwiched between the biscuits – vanilla butter cream and raspberry jam. The combination of vanilla and raspberry was a revelation to me. I never thought these two would work together. My mouth is watering as I’m writing this so I can imagine how good it would be to actually eat this.

Having selected my five favorite dishes, it would not do justice if I did not mention the dishes that almost made it to the top five. They are:

Rack of Lamb with Lemon Myrtle and Macadamia Crust

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Cherry Soup

Prawn Stars

Salmon Sashimi with Korean Dressing

Sticky Fig and Caramel Cake with Vanilla Custard

If food had eyes and ears, some of them would forgive me for not listing them in the top five or the ones that almost made it. I’m sure all your mouths would be big oceans now! What are you waiting for, cook yourselves some of those and know how it tastes as well as looks! The recipes for these dishes can be downloaded from the official website of MasterChef Australia - http://www.masterchef.com.au.

A culinary adventure that is a joy to watch

I was never a big fan of cooking. I considered cooking nothing more than a painful chore. I did not care about the ingredients that go into the food or about the balance and the texture of the food. My mind was not of a food critic and was rather of a person who would eat good food whether it is vegetarian or non vegetarian. Of course, I was critical of food that was not cooked properly or that did not taste right, but not like a food critic. That was until I began seeing the show – MasterChef Australia from 2010.

MasterChef Australia is a cooking contest to determine Australia’s best amateur chef every season. From thousands of applicants, a few are shortlisted for the contest and the show proceeds with an elimination process at every stage of the competition. By the process of elimination, the number of contestants is whittled down to a competitive few and the grand finale is to cook a hatted dish – a dish that is worthy enough to be served at hatted restaurants. The winner takes away the title of MasterChef Australia, the opportunity to write their own cookbook plus multiple other benefits.

It really is a pleasure to watch these amateur cooks slug it out on the show. Even though these are amateur cooks, they have the burning desire to become professional cooks one day. It is this desire that attracts them to the show. There is joy in knowing that the dish they cooked was the dish of the day and despair in knowing that the dish was not up to the mark and is a ticket to elimination! The contestants for Season 4 which was aired on Star World till last week came from varied backgrounds such as an electrician, school teacher, account manager, hair stylist and so on and so forth. They all share a common passion – food and cooking – and this is what holds them together. The friendship and bond shared by the contestants was endearing, especially the one between Andy Allen and Ben Milbourne.

Unfortunately, I cannot taste the dishes – the honors for that go to the three good judges – Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston. While Gary and George are embellished chefs themselves, Matt is a well known food critic. It really is worthwhile to hear from them about balance, texture and other techniques of food. The food that is cooked on the show is encouraging; it is not junk food, but very healthy food. The contestants sure have a fair idea of what is good for the health when they set out to cook. I’m sure millions over the world watching the show will be as inspired to devour healthy food that is good for their body and mind.

The title of MasterChef Australia 2012 was coveted by an electrician named Andy Allen who cooked his heart out in the grand finale against the dessert queen of the show, Julia Taylor. The final itself was aired in three episodes – one for the entrée, one for the main course and one for the dessert. Andy said post winning that nobody would have bet on him winning the competition, which was true. I had my favorites on the show – Dalvinder, Debra, Beau, Emma (despite her inability to not cry in front of cameras!) and the big Wade and never expected Andy to clinch the deal. Of course, this impression changed first on the Italy week (the contestants flew to Italy to cook Italian food for Italians!) when his presentation skills improved dramatically. From then on, I knew he was a serious contender for the title. Julia surprised with her ability to cook savory dishes in the finals week but honestly, I did not expect her to make the grand finale. Andy was a worthy winner in the end as his main course outscored Julia’s and his dessert was, surprisingly, better than Julia’s as well.

There is so much to tell about this show that one post would hardly be enough. Next week, I’ll talk about my five favorite dishes on the show. For fans of cooking out there, it’s an opportunity to try out some mind blowing dishes! Don’t miss it!

To retire, or not to retire, that is the question

Learn to live well, or fairly make your will;
You've played, and loved, and ate, and drunk your fill:
Walk sober off; before a sprightlier age
Comes tittering on, and shoves you from the stage:
Leave such to trifle with more grace and ease,
Whom Folly pleases, and whose Follies please.
— Alexander Pope

From the time when the India – New Zealand test series concluded and over the past week, there have been numerous articles and stories on Sachin Tendulkar and what has gone wrong with him. Sanjay Manjrekar and Martin Crowe gave interesting insights and here I want to pen my thoughts as well. Readers will apologize if I’m blunt but these are my genuine thoughts on a player I deeply respect and like watching play.

Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s cricketers were simple minded individuals who wanted to represent their country at the highest level – Test cricket. One-day internationals were crowd pullers but Test cricket was considered the highest test of a players’ competence. It was during this time that I too began to watch and study the game seriously. Being an Indian, Sachin Tendulkar was something of an exciting character because he started playing for India at a very tender age. He used to play in the lower middle order then but as I watched him play his shots my love and admiration for the guy only increased. He was playing Test cricket facing ferocious pace bowlers and I could barely put bat to ball!

The 1992 World Cup made me adore Tendulkar even more because among a team of elderly men, there was this bubbly young lad whose ambition and zeal was supreme. A substandard performance saw India bow out before the semi-finals but a crucial wicket he took in the match against Pakistan remains forever imprinted in my memory. Pakistan went on to win the World Cup despite losing to India that day. As I watched Imran Khan proudly receive the trophy, I had no clue he would announce his retirement. Who would retire after such a big achievement was how my thoughts went. Of course I was only 13 at the time and realized the importance of the decision only at a later stage in my life.

Time passed on and Sachin Tendulkar became a personification of batting perfection and was on his way to become a colossus. As I saw through his statistics sometime in 1998 – a glorious year for him – I couldn’t help wondering how many he would score and that depended on how long he played. I didn’t want him to stop because those numbers and projections were mind-boggling. It would be proud for me as an Indian to see him making 20,000 Test runs, for that was what my calculations had yielded.

As he reached mid-career there were some slumps but like a great sportsman he overcame those and became stronger. The loss of his father was a big blow to him but perhaps his hunger for scoring increased more as his eyes searched the sky after each milestone – was he proving something to his father? The early 2000s was a period where the team started to find its groove under a stubborn captain – Sourav Ganguly. By 2003, Sachin knew that the Ganguly era was there to stay and that he could bat unreservedly without being saddled with the burden of captaincy. The World Cup of 2003 provided ample testimony of his burning desire to win a world title but he chose the wrong time to peak – the semi-final against Kenya rather than in the final against Australia.

By the late 2000s, India had drawn a better picture of themselves as tourists and Sachin was eating away at records galore. Age was catching up with him and the rate of scoring evidently decelerated – a sign that he was maturing as a player and was willing to grind for the runs. Greg Chappell came and went, he played under Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and as we approached the second decade of the 21st century, he seemed to have no parallels. Of course, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis were breathing down his neck but the gap was too far to bridge.

The 2011 World Cup was held in the Indian Subcontinent. Sachin would be 38 at the end of the tournament and I thought – what a perfect occasion for him to hang his boots. The team won the World Cup and on the night of April 2, 2011, as he was chaired by Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina, I couldn’t help but wonder whether he would do an Imran Khan on the night. When he didn’t, there was a tinge of disappointment in me. By the age of 32, I could understand what Imran Khan’s gesture in 1992 meant and what an opportunity Sachin had frittered away. It was the opportunity that God gave him on a platter to go out with his head held high in his proudest moment.

Today, he is past 39 and says he is not finished yet. But watching him miss full length deliveries and the dismay on his face, I feel very sorry for him.  He is unable to control his body even if he is fully conscious in his mind when he faces bowlers. What is he trying to prove today? That cricketers can play past 40? That his records are not safe? I really do not know but I do know that 15,500 runs in test cricket and 18,400 runs in One-Day Internationals is a staggering achievement. He really does not have anything else to play for. Those records are unparalleled and unlikely to be broken anytime. He should humbly realize that his body has reached a level where it is unlikely to respond like it did 10 years back.

When I look at his statistics today, I’m impressed and not the least bit disappointed that he has not scored 20,000 Test runs yet. But unlike in 1998, I want him to stop because his time is up. It is still not late to call a press conference and make the announcement. The nation adores him and will continue to do so even after he calls it a day. Of course, he has gone on record that nobody needs to advise him on retirement. People including me talk about his retirement because we love him and cannot watch him playing like a zombie. If he chooses to play against the wishes of his ageing body, then his eventual exit will be embarrassing.  Before a sprightly young cricketer comes and knocks him off the stage, it is better to walk off.

Italy needs to surprise Spain for wresting the European crown

Two teams – one that was expected to reach the summit clash and one that was mired in controversy and was least expected to reach the final – make up for a cracking culmination to the three week long Euro 2012 Championships.  Spain comes on the back of their Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010 triumphs and start as big favorites. Italy have fallen off the charts since their 2006 World Cup win and are in the process of rebuilding. The match fixing controversy back home does not seem to have affected them and they have very well earned the right to play the final on Sunday.

While Spain start as firm favorites for Sunday’s big match, the Italians can upset their applecart by playing some intelligent football and not being overawed either by the occasion or by the opponents. In Gianluigi Buffon, they have one of the best goalkeepers not just in Europe but the whole world. At 34, he brings a lot of experience to the young squad.  With such a safe pair of hands, the Italian defence has a little breathing space but still will have to be very tight against the marauding Spanish midfielders. Christian Maggio, Giorgio Chiellini, Federico Balzaretti and Leonardo Bonucci should be the defenders that Coach Cesar Prandelli picks for tomorrow’s game. Chiellini and Bonucci can easily switch flanks without compromising their natural game and Maggio and Balzaretti can well complement each other in the pivotal central defence.

The selection of midfielders can be tricky for Prandelli. If I were the Italian coach, I would go with Daniele De Rossi, Riccardo Montolivo, Andrea Pirlo and Alessandro Diamanti. The choice is really between Diamanti and Antonio Nocerino but the Bologna midfielder could get the nod because he is far more attacking than Nocerino. The Italians should always have a surprise up their sleeve because it is so powerful a weapon to outsmart your opponents. Emmanuele Giacherini could well be that surprise package if he comes on sometime during the second half.

The Italians are known to adopt the catenaccio style but with some superb forwards in their line up, they can really afford to play two of them tomorrow – the unlikely duo of Mario Balotelli and Antonio Di Natale.  With their differences in style of play, they could be more than a handful as a pair.  For that, they need to put way their apparent dislike for each other in the locker rooms. Fabio Borini and Sebastian Giovinco are unlikely to get chances in the pressure game.

The 4-4-2 formation is the most likely to get the Italians a result in their favor. Bonucci can feed passes on to the dangerous Pirlo or the hardworking Montolivo and then Balotelli and Natale will have to ensure that the chances they get are converted. Chiellini could have one-on-one efforts with De Rossi that can be damaging to the Spanish midfield and defence opening up plenty of opportunities for Balotelli and Di Natale to exploit. Italy will have to look to attack and score the early goal. The catenaccio could be reserved for the final ten minutes of play.

Spain will be well aware of the dangers that the talented Italian players pose. They have the advantage of a well set team and a group of players that understand each other really well. Iker Casillas will no doubt be guarding the Spanish bastion with his defenders likely to be Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Alvaro Arbeloa and the impressive Jordi Alba. Unfortunately for Spain, these defenders do not have the capability to switch flanks like their Italian counterparts and this could prove decisive.

Five midfielders and one forward should be Coach Vicente Del Bosque’s plan for retaining the title. Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Cesc Fabregas and Xabi Alonso pick themselves. The competition for the fifth midfielder’s slot could be between Jesus Navas and David Silva. Frankly, there is nothing to choose between them and both of them deserve a place in the playing eleven. But, probably only one of them will play, leaving room for Del Bosque to pick Fernando Torres. They will really need this because the struggles in regulation time to score a goal against Portugal cannot be repeated in the big match. The Italian defence is far better than Portugal’s. With Torres’ uncanny finishing, Spain would definitely be the better side. Torres is angry at having been sidelined and there really is nothing like a wounded lion.

Spain’s strategy would be to negate the Italian defence with through passes to Torres or Fabregas who can play a bit more forward than he usually does. Iniesta’s playmaking skills will be very important to counter the one-on-one dance that the pair of Chiellini – De Rossi is capable of offering. Gerard Pique will have the unenviable task of stopping the tall Balotelli. Jordi Alba’s quick runs through the left can be effective for Fabregas and Torres to capitalize on.

Italy will certainly need to have the surprise element at some point of time in the match to take the initiative while Spain will look to control the outcome by waiting for their opponents to make mistakes. While a mouth-watering penalty shootout with two of the best goalkeepers in the world is certainly something to watch out for, it would pain me to see the winners being decided on the shootout. Nevertheless, a win would be fitting for both teams – for Spain, to prove that their past record of perennial underachievers is unquestionably put to rest and for Italy, to go home with their heads held high in spite of all the negative things happening to their football association as well as players.  May the better team win!

Gambhir and Dhoni shine as India lives its dream

What a night it was! Unbelievable scenes of jubilation engulfed the nation as India were crowned World Champions defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup. Egged on by a boisterous 33,000 spectators that included a galaxy of Bollywood stars, politicians, business tycoons, industrialists, sportsmen and other celebrities not to forget the common man and also billions watching on television, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men in blue scripted a new chapter in the annals of India’s cricketing history.

In a match that lived to up a tournament final, both teams engaged themselves in a witty contest between bat and ball. Chasing 275 to win the final, India were rocked by Lasith Malinga as Virender Sehwag first and then Sachin Tendulkar were back in the pavilion by the 7th over. However, the impressive Gautam Gambhir and the no-nonsense Virat Kohli buckled down and raised a partnership that made the people believe that we could do it. When Kohli fell to a brilliant moment of inspiration from Tillakaratne Dilshan, the script was not complete. Mahendra Singh Dhoni promoted himself up the order ahead of the in-form Yuvraj Singh and played perhaps the most significant innings of his life.

Dhoni shed the diffidence that had characterized his innings in the matches so far in this tournament and batted like a man possessed. He seemed to have saved his best for the last. Gambhir and Dhoni played with such composure that slowly all began to believe that India would finally end a wait of 28 long years. Gambhir was cruising towards his hundred when he made an unnecessary charge at Thisara Perera and lost his stumps. As Dhoni was to say later, only Gambhir himself had to blame for he was at the doorstep of a historic century in a World Cup final – a feat only six men had done before. This was a minor glitch as Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni helped India coast to a fabulous victory in the 49th over. The winning shot will forever be etched in my mind. Dhoni’s eyes lit up as he saw the ball sailing over the long on boundary and the swing of his bat on the follow through was as delightful as that murderous six.

Earlier, there was drama at the toss as Kumar Sangakkara’s call was not heard clearly in the din of the crowd and he won the re-toss and decided to bat first. Zaheer Khan imposed on the batsmen with the new ball and with an unusually sharp Indian fielding, the Sri Lankans found the going tough. Tharanga scratched around for 20 deliveries but could only score 2 before finally edging to slip off a Zaheer Khan delivery that moved just a shade. Dilshan tried to sweep Harbhajan Singh but the ball kissed his glove and dislodged the stumps to leave Sri Lanka in trouble. However, their stalwarts – Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene – put the innings back in its groove before Sangakkara found a thick inside edge trying to cut Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni took a good catch. Jayawardene was ably supported by Thilan Samaraweera as Sri Lanka started to realize that 250 would be a good score on the pitch.

Samaraweera and Chamara Kapugedera departed in quick succession as Sri Lanka appeared to be wilting under pressure. Nuwan Kulasekara displayed some cool manners as he helped Jayawardene negotiate the tricky period in the lead up to the batting Powerplay which was taken by default in the 45th over. The Indian bowling and fielding deteriorated under pressure as Sri Lanka plundered 63 runs in the final five overs to take them to a healthy 274/6 in 50 overs. Jayawardene reached his century during the process – a masterclass that was to be in vain as proved by the subsequent events of the night. The Sri Lankan total appeared a strong one at the innings break as the pitch had been showing signs of slowing down. But the Indian batsmen had other ideas and on the night nothing could stop them.

The win set off celebrations like India had never seen before in its history. People were out on the streets waving the tricolor, honking horns and cheering their heroes. The cricketers themselves shed tears of joy, understandably so, as this was something every one of them wanted to achieve so badly. Sachin Tendulkar was beaming with pride and was carried on his shoulders by Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina. Tendulkar went on to say that this was the proudest moment in his life. Indeed it was, for his story would not be complete without such a glittering feather in his cap. The team did it for Tendulkar, who as Kohli rightly said, had carried the burden of the nation on his shoulders for the past two decades. It was indeed time for them to carry him on their shoulders!

Sri Lanka will be disappointed to finish second best for the second time running. It was perplexing why they made such wholesale changes to their side and upset that winning combination. The batting was understandably strengthened but the bowling lacked bite which undid them in their search for wickets. The only change they had to make was to bring in Thisara Perera for the injured Angelo Mathews, which they did. The decision to bring in Kapugedera for Chamara Silva was also a right one. But the decision that backfired was the one to leave out both Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath. The result was that only Malinga looked threatening and the others just did not come to the party.

India’s cup of joy brimmed over on the night thanks to the performance of their batsmen – Gambhir and Dhoni in particular. Gambhir kept his focus throughout and lost it only when he threw his wicket away. Dhoni was the good old Dhoni we all wanted to see – aggressive and spirited. The batsmen made up for the poor showing of the bowlers and fielders in the final overs. The next step for India is to be dominating as the Australians once did, but for that, these Indian cricketers need to put their heads down and their feet firmly on the ground.

Evenly contested final between India and Sri Lanka on the cards

I will start with an interesting stat. India and Sri Lanka have met each other 21 times in one-day internationals since 1st January 2009, with India winning 12 of those and Sri Lanka 9. This would perhaps be the most prolific instance of a bilateral encounter. Their paths have been star-crossed and they meet again, with a valuable prize at stake – the title of World Champions. Come tomorrow, the attention of the whole cricketing world will be glued to Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.

Sri Lanka looks in good shape ahead of the final. Their tournament has been very consistent. Barring a loss to Pakistan and a rain ruined contest against Australia, they have won every match of this tournament. Their strength lies in bowling and top order batting. The quarter final and semi final showcased Sri Lanka’s bowling prowess with the spinners reaping most of the rewards. In Lasith Malinga, they have a match-winning bowler. Malinga was not at his very best in the semi final and would be a bigger threat in the final. His slinging deliveries are hard to read particularly the ones that take the pitch out of the equation. He can be wayward as well and the Indians will be praying for Saturday to be a bad day for him. It remains to be seen whether Sri Lanka stick with their three spinners strategy that worked well against England and New Zealand. There are fitness concerns for Muthiah Muralitharan and Angelo Mathews. I think Sri Lanka should play Thisara Perera in the final for two reasons – he has a good record against India and he can be trusted to take wickets better than Mathews.

The batting looks settled though I still feel that Chamara Kapugedera is a far better option than the defensive Chamara Silva. Sri Lanka will again look to their opening batsmen to give them a rousing start and Sangakkara and Jayawardene to consolidate. They need to develop a new strategy for their lower middle order. Thilan Samaraweera should go further down the order as he would be better off carrying the tail and pushing the score along. Following Sangakkara and Jayawardene, Silva or Kapugedera should come in with Perera/Mathews sandwiched between either of them and Samaraweera.

India will have to shore up their batting big time. Batting remains India’s strong point but poor performances in the batting Powerplay during the league stage and inability to convert starts during the knockout stage have been the case this tournament. Mahendra Singh Dhoni would do well to outthink Kumar Sangakkara. But with a settled batting position, there is hardly any room to make an innovative adjustment. Dhoni needs to shed his diffidence and go after the bowling like he has done in the past. Like Sri Lanka, India too look towards it openers to get a great start.

The bowling has improved but there is still a lot of work to be done. Inability to take early wickets – and by early wickets I mean wickets in the first or second over – has been a problem. On an average, in the tournament, India has succeeded in taking the first wicket in the 9th over and the average first wicket partnership against them is 43. This should be food for thought for the seamers. If Dilshan and Tharanga are allowed to stay at the crease, then the match is as good as lost. Harbhajan Singh should derive a lot of confidence from his showing against Pakistan. India will think twice before deciding whether to play two seamers or three.

The pitch at the Wankhede stadium is expected to aid batting during the first half of the match and then assist the spinners later on. When Sri Lanka and New Zealand played earlier at the ground in their Group A encounter, Sri Lanka made 265 and won by a comfortable 112 runs. It is not clear whether the same pitch will be used for tomorrow’s final but it gives an indication of what to expect. The captain who wins the toss would decide to bat first and avoid the pressure of chasing in a big match. The final is a day/night encounter and it is debatable whether the final of a tournament as big as this should be a day/night one. Either of the teams is at the mercy of the dew at night, which means it does not give a level playing field for both the teams. This should be some food for thought for the ICC.

All said, the final should be exciting. Two illustrious players from both sides will hope for the pinnacle of their careers. Sachin Tendulkar will be playing the World Cup final at his home ground bidding to win his first one whereas Muthiah Muralitharan will be playing his last match before retirement aiming to add one more World Cup to the one he won in 1996. Sadly, one of them has to lose but cricket will be the winner on the night of April 2, 2011 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

I shall conclude with an interesting stat as well. Clive Lloyd was the tallest captain to win the World Cup at 190 centimeters while Allan Border was the shortest at 173 centimeters. For the record, Dhoni is 173 centimeters tall while his Sri Lankan counterpart Sangakkara is 179 centimeters tall. Plotting the heights of the World Cup winning captains on a trend line will give you the probable height of the captain who will win the World Cup this time. It is 180 centimeters with a 64% probability.

India enters final with hard fought win over Pakistan

A collective effort in all the three departments of the game helped India overcome Pakistan in a hard fought second semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup at the PCA Stadium in Mohali. The Indian bowling, which was a spinner short, rallied strongly to overcome a stiff resistance from the Pakistan top and middle order. The team now goes to Mumbai where they play Sri Lanka in the final on Saturday, April 2.

The Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first. India dropped R Ashwin and brought in Ashish Nehra expecting the pitch to offer more assistance to the seamers rather than the spinners. Pakistan made no change to the squad that defeated West Indies in the quarter finals. The start could not have been more electric. After a quite first two overs, Virender Sehwag launched himself on Umar Gul, who had said that he would target the Indian top order. Five fours came off the over as the crowd went delirious. Umar Gul was taken by the scruff of the neck and he wilted. India raced to 47 in the first five overs. Wahab Riaz was introduced into the attack in the 6th over and soon shocked India with the wicket of Sehwag. He got the ball to pitch in line with leg stump and the ball held its line when it beat Sehwag’s attempted flick and struck him on the pads. It was a big wicket for Pakistan and India lost the early momentum.

Sachin Tendulkar took over the scoring responsibilities with Gautam Gambhir. Right from the introduction of spin in the form of Saeed Ajmal in the 9th over, it was evident that everybody got the pitch wrong. This pitch was not a batting belter as was expected. On the contrary, the pitch aided spin hugely and batting would get very difficult later on. Tendulkar survived two close shaves in Ajmal’s second over – an appeal for lbw was upheld by the field umpire but was reversed on review as the ball was missing leg stump and the very next ball a smart stumping effort from Kamran Akmal was just not enough as the batsman had landed his feet in the nick of time. Tendulkar was to play perhaps the luckiest and chancy innings of his career as he was dropped by Misbah-ul-Haq off the bowling of Shahid Afridi in the 14th over.

The run rate dipped to just above six an over from the heady nine an over in the early stages of the innings. Gautam Gambhir was the next man to be dismissed in the 19th over as a flighted delivery from Mohammad Hafeez drew him out of the crease but he missed the ball and saw Kamran Akmal take the bails off in a flash. Tendulkar continued to be lucky as he was dropped once again off Afridi. Wahab Riaz was brought for a second spell in the 24th over and in the 26th over made an immediate impact on the match. First he had Virat Kohli weakly hit a ball straight to the fielder at point and off the next ball got the big wicket of Yuvraj Singh with a swinging low full toss that crashed on to the stumps.

Tendulkar, meanwhile, had crossed his fifty and along with Dhoni pushed India along before he was dropped again off the bowling of Afridi. The ball was changed in the 34th over and soon Tendulkar was dropped yet again, this time off the bowling of Mohammad Hafeez! However, he fell soon after as Saeed Ajmal got the batsman to drive but Afridi at short cover took the catch to the palpable relief of Pakistan. Scoring runs was increasingly difficult now especially against the spinners. The Indians lost their sixth wicket as Wahab Riaz continued to impress. He got a ball to pitch in line with the stumps and rapped Dhoni on the pads and the batsman had to go after the review confirmed that the ball would have hit the stumps.

The batting Powerplay was taken in the 44th over and thankfully for the Indians the runs started flowing again though not at a hectic pace. Suresh Raina with the lower order carried India to 260/9 but not before Wahab Riaz completed a fine five wicket haul. He was the pick of the bowlers with 5/46 and was ably supported by Saeed Ajmal with 2/44 and Hafeez with 1/34. Umar Gul was thoroughly disappointing to finish with 0/69 in his 8 overs. Pakistan were happy to have restricted India to this total after it looked like India would score in excess of 300 when the top three were batting.

The Pakistani openers chose to play positive cricket right from the time they started the chase. Kamran Akmal found two fours in the first over and Hafeez took a couple of boundaries against Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra. Further boundaries came off Munaf Patel as Pakistan appeared to have found the ideal way to go about the chase. Akmal, however, was guilty of not reading a slower delivery from Zaheer Khan and his attempted drive went so far as only the fielder at point. Hafeez continued to impress with his range of strokes and when the cool Asad Shafiq cut Harbhajan Singh in front of square for four, things were not looking good for India.

Munaf Patel, whose second spell was far better than the first, then accounted for Hafeez. The batsman attempted a sweep against Munaf but could only edge the ball to wicket keeper Dhoni. It was a poor shot from Hafeez. Asad Shafiq and Younis Khan nudged along and the score reached 100 in the 23rd over. The required rate was climbing at this stage and there was a sense of urgency in the Pakistan camp. This translated to pressure and Shafiq tried to play a cut shot against a full delivery from Yuvraj but missed and saw his middle stump uprooted. It was just the breakthrough that India needed. Yuvraj continued his good work as he tempted Younis Khan to drive but the batsman could only hit it to Raina who took a good catch.

The match was growing in intensity now and very much hung in the balance. Umar Akmal decided that attack was the best defence and hit a four and two murderous sixes off Yuvraj to tilt the scales back. After the drinks break, Harbhajan struck with his first ball and found the gap between Akmal’s bat and pad and the ball crashed on to the stumps. The Indians were cock-a-hoop now. Abdul Razzaq was not at all comfortable in his brief stay at the crease and was soon done in by a beautiful delivery from Munaf Patel that clipped his off stump. Pakistan were losing their way here and only Shahid Afridi remained before the tail arrived.

Afridi hung around with Misbah-ul-Haq who batted very defensively. The combination of Afridi’s attack and Misbah’s defense did not work. Afridi tried to hit a full toss from Harbhajan Singh but could not find the distance and the ball went to cover where Sehwag made no mistake. The required rate was approaching 10 an over at this stage and the match was all but over. Wahab Riaz, pressurized by four dot balls from Nehra, hit out to Tendulkar at cover and Umar Gul was trapped in front by a full delivery from Nehra. Misbah-ul-Haq flashed his bat for some boundaries but it was too late. He was the last man dismissed in the 50th over as his wild swing landed safely in the hands of Virat Kohli at long on. India had won by 29 runs and marched to the final of the World Cup! The crowd erupted and the whole of the nation celebrated this win.

Pakistan were done in by some poor bowling from Gul and absolutely poor catching from their fielders. The spinners did an excellent job, so did the impressive Wahab Riaz. The batsmen started positively but a defensive approach from Misbah-ul-Haq was not what they needed. Misbah cannot be blamed for that is how he has batted all his life. All their batsmen got starts but none of them could convert those into a match-winning innings and they slid to defeat. But they can hold their heads high, for the events over the last six months had put Pakistan cricket at its nadir. Afridi held the team together in times of turmoil and showed the virtues of unity.

India will be very pleased with the team effort. The batsmen, the bowlers and the fielders combined to beat Pakistan. Tendulkar was lucky but it was his focus despite all that was happening that helped India reach 260 which was enough on the night. The batsmen will have to do better in the big final. When the tournament started, batting was India’s strong point but it is less so now. The bowling has improved but the seamers need to learn to take wickets very early. India will assess its chances against a formidable Sri Lanka in the final on Saturday. If the team work in this match is anything to go by, then the Indians have every chance of winning the big prize.