Dear Editor,
Almost everyone in India strongly believes India will win the World Cup this year. This is according to the findings of an informal survey I have been conducting during my presence in India. Surprisingly, some people feel West Indies will create some upsets and make it among the top four team – that means a spot in the semis. I am not seeing it from the point of view of a cricket analyst evaluating the various teams. I think the WIndies will make it through to the quarter finals and depending on their opponent could very well get eliminated at that stage. Indians feel our Guyanese stalwarts Shiv Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan are reliable batsmen and will aid the WIndies through the quarter finals into the semis. Let us hope their analysis is correct, for WIndies future fortunes depend on their performance in the World Cup.
I believe India has a good shot at the finals. My other assessments for the semis are Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa, with an outside chance for England, and this has nothing to do with polling – just analysis of the teams.
So far, the only match that has attracted much Indian attention and commentary is the India-Bangladesh match. No one expected any surprises in any of the matches played so far with Bangladesh, Kenya, Canada, and Zimbabwe thrashed. People expect South Africa to triumph over WIndies on Thursday and India to beat England on Sunday.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
