We are blessed with a colleague who used to say this whenever he overheard a conversation around the World Cup: ‘Bangladesh will win the Cup'. It seems he heard from some source linked to bookies, that they were expected to win.

As outlandish as that seemed, to achieve that, the Bangladeshis needed to beat South Africa on Saturday. The result is there for the world to see. Given the stone-throwing against the West Indies after their win against hosts Bangladesh, let's pray for the safety of the Proteas post the match!

There was an improbable possibility of Bangladesh beating South Africa, and thereby India's entry into the quarter finals was a little less certain. That led to considerable excitement even in India when the two teams played.

And now, when we're watching the much richer quality of cricket between Australia and Pakistan, we're more focused on who plays who in the quarterfinals, not about ensuring that India makes the grade. A lot of people who weren't on the ball with the points table have woken up this weekend.

The men in blue are the cynosure of all eyes – possibly more than they have been since the start of the Cup – as they take on the West Indies at Chennai on Sunday. Even with both teams assured of a place in the knock out stage post Bangladesh's disastrous performance against South Africa, the match assumes significance as it is expected to usher in the return to winning ways for India – at least among Indian fans.

Even outside the context of the points table, and of which teams will face off in the first knock out matches, the India-West Indies game is appointment viewing on Sunday.

What will happen is anybody's guess. But for Indians who have grown up watching Kapil Dev, Mohinder Amarnath, Kris Srikkanth, Sunil Gavaskar and co., the words ‘India', ‘West Indies' and ‘World Cup' are ingredients of a time capsule from the year 1983.

It's getting hotter. And it's not just the weather.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW