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The Force Beckons

Politics, rain, Al Qaeda...everything seems in favour of a gung-ho India

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The Force Beckons
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The wise in this world have for long known that every act causes another event, but not essentially in a manner that Newton and Narendra Modi had in mind with the equal-and-opposite-reaction theory. This is different. It goes: be careful when you pluck a rose, for it may kill a star.

In this World Cup it came true. Seemingly distant events in Pool B, Robert Mugabe's views on white farmers, Al Qaeda freelancers in Kenya (who apparently will kill only the Kiwis), weather gods with no cricketing brains, one unidentified man in the Proteas dressing room who misread a piece of paper, and the icc's queer points system have greatly contributed to Indians walking into the semi-finals with an ease unthinkable after the loss to Australia. Kenya's win over Zimbabwe may have extended the divine intervention to the final, for, contrary to all expectations and analyses, India now meets them in the semis. A billion people could not have asked for an easier foe in a knock-out match.

"It's an India-Australia final," Sri Lankan coach Dav Whatmore had said after his team's embarrassing defeat to India, even before Kenya's place was secure in the final four. If that happens, South Africa will become India's home ground. To a vast population of South Africans who want to see the Aussies beaten, India is the only hope now. At the time of writing, India has won six matches in a row, a statistical landmark for a nation that has never won so many back-to-back in a single tournament. But despite their showing, there was something throughout that kicked some strong teams out and lifted weaker ones into the second round in a manner that favoured India. Ma Chandi, who Saurav Ganguly's family has appeased for decades, it seems, has chosen the World Cup to acknowledge receipt.

To begin with, it was not India's Pool A that was the "group of death", as originally presumed. While Australia performed as programmed, among the humans England and Pakistan were hardly the teams they were projected as. The English simply couldn't bat and Pakistan's pace attack was touted as lethal only because the world was fooled into believing Wasim and Waqar would never age. Except for Australia and India, it was a pool out of form. Compared to the mad competition in Pool B with four strong teams locked in fatal combat till the very end, the Pool A table ended up neat in the statisticians' eyes.

England's forfeiture against Zimbabwe not only made its own second round entry onerous, but also Pakistan's. There were three logical outcomes possible to the Pakistan-Zimbabwe match. If Pakistan won by a mammoth margin, it would go through. If the margin was not big enough, England would qualify. If Zimbabwe beat Pakistan, they would make it. But the match got rained out, points were split equally, and Zimbabwe went through. And this too affected India's future. Kenya, carrying 10 points from the first round, needed only one win in the Super Six to reach the semis. They could hardly have beaten England or Pakistan. The greater purpose behind Zimbabwe's entry was to help India play Kenya in the semis.

How Kenya made it to the Super Six is another plot in a tale full of inextricably strung events, all devised to push India gently to the Wanderers on March 23. New Zealand gifted Kenya four points because they believed Al Qaeda would bomb only them. Then came the only real upset, Kenya beating Sri Lanka. Though Kenya was outplayed by SA and West Indies, with the help of a forfeited match, one shock victory and after polishing off Bangladesh and Canada, it ended with 16 points. It still would not have qualified but for the fact that the Windies match against Bangladesh was rained out, keeping the Caribbeans to 14. In SA's rain-affected match against Lanka, Mark Boucher was misled about the Duckworth-Lewis victory target. As a result, the match was tied and points equally split. So South Africa too ended with 14. That's how the friendly force carefully eliminated stiffer oppositions.

Though Kenya was placed second in Pool B, it went into the Super Six with the highest number of points from that group. With the strange system in place, four points are given for a victory against a second-round qualifier and one point for a win against a non-qualifier. Kenya went in with 10 points, and pool leader Sri Lanka with a mathematically frustrating 7.5 because of the tied match. New Zealand, despite four wins went in with only four, having to win a minimum of two matches to have any chance of qualifying for the semis. If South Africa had scored that one run and made it to the Super Six, it would have gone in with 7 points, making the job more difficult for India.

The points system also favoured India by putting the Kiwis and the Lankans under immense pressure in the second round. As World Cup executive director Ali Bacher admits: "We don't want to make an issue of it right now but after the tournament is over, we'll definitely sit together and see if we can improve the system." The fact that Pool B teams had to play Australia in the Super Six was another factor aiding India, for it was like inviting other semi-final contenders to crash into a wall. It also meant that Pool B teams had only two matches each to look for a win.

This doesn't for a moment suggest that India needs intricate, divine plots to win; it's only to review how this Cup has behaved that has midwifed India's safe passage. And while everyone talked about an India-Australia final, Ganguly made a simple point while going on about not counting chickens: "Even Australia has to qualify for the final, right?" It seems no benevolent force can prevent that from happening.

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