In the previous edition, Srikrishnamangal has said, If God and Indian bookies do not intervene the following teams may qualify for the Super-Six.

Group A : Australia, India, Pakistan

Group B : South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies

Let us see what happened. Rain seems to have deprived West Indies of a place in the Super Six as they had to share points with lowly Bangladesh. However their defeat against Sri Lanka & New Zealand showed that except Lara, they do not have Match-winning Batsmen or Bowlers.

Pakistan also did not deserve to qualify for the Super-six on the basis of their dismal performance. If reputed names alone can win the World Cup India would have included Kapil Dev & Sunil Gavaskar in their present Squad. With all respects to Wasim Akram & Waqar Yunus, they are beyond their prime & their best is over long ago. Persisting with them was a folly.

As in Politics, in Cricket also Pakistan had its priorities wrong. Just as excessive obsession with Kashmir has ruined Pakistans economy, the priority given to Wasim Akrams 500th wicket & Shoaib Akhtars fastest ball has robbed Pakistan of a chance to enter the super six.

The case of South Africa is even more pathetic. Being a host country & because of past performances much was expected of South Africa. But again Brian Lara, rain & miscalculations have robbed South Africa of a place in Super-Six. However even if they would have qualified it is doubtful whether they would have reached the Semi-Final stage. Their over all performance in the tournament was lack lustre. Their so-called great all-rounders failed miserably. In fact the only all rounder who succeeded in the Tournament with Bat & the Ball was Flintoff of England. Others just failed to click.

The surprise inclusion of unfancied Kenya & Zimbabwe in the super six can be explained only by the Law of Karma. There was absolutely no justification, for England & New Zealand to Boycott their matches against Zimbabwe & Kenya respectively. In 1996, Australia & West Indies boycotted their matches against Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka won the World Cup then.

In this matter, New Zealand & England should take a lead from Indias attitude. Though India is boycotting all bi-lateral Cricket ties with Pakistan, it has not run way from any international commitments. They played against Pakistan in the triangular series in Australia & also in the World Cups. Thus England deserved to lose their place in the Super Six. Though Zimbabve can be considered Lucky, Kenya has proved to be a deserving qualifier with their victory against Sri Lanka.

In spite of their boycott of the Kenya match New Zealand has qualified for the Super-Six. However they have only 4 points with their victories against non-qualifiers. To reach the last 4 will be an uphill task for them under such circumstances. Let us see what happens.

Sri Lankas overall good performance was marred by their loss to Kenya. Chaminda Vaas, Attapattu, Jayasurya & Aravinda DSilva performed well in important matches.

Australia had an unblemished record throughout the Tournament so far. However experts still feel that they have not been really tested so far. McGrath is not the lethal bowler he once was. Bret Lee though quite fast is still playable. Their so called spinners are no where near the quality of Shane Warne. Hence it is believed that they are succeeding because of the weakness of the opposition rather that their own talent. In the absence of the Waugh Brothers, no batsman has put the Thames on fire, an occasional quick fire century by Symonds notwithstanding. Let us see how they perform in the Super-Six.

Finally we come to India their first two matches against Holland & Australia was almost a continuation of their dismal performance in New Zealand.

Then came the turning point. Whether the reactions of fans at home motivated them to perform in subsequent matches is a moot question. It is rumoured that the players were not so much worried about their houses & cars being stoned. But they were really worried about the loss of revenue due to the boycott of the products they promote. Hence the turn around. We hope that this is only a rumour.

Whatever it may be, with each subsequent match India's performance improved step by step. All its players except Ganguly's blue-eyed boy Dinesh Mongia clicked. Only God & Ganguly can explain Ganguly's preference for Mongia in place of V V S Laxman & his persistence with him in this World Cup so far in preference to Sanjay Banger.

But Ganguly fully deserves credit for including Ashish Nehra in preference to Anil Kumble against all expert advices. Nehra fully proved the faith reposed on him by his Captain through a dream of 6 wickets against England. On the whole all our bowlers & our evergreen Tendulkar have done India proud so far.

We hope the remaining players also click at the right time & help India win the World Cup.