its been better than the US for years....

i always carry 2 laptops when coming back from delhi....never had a problem....

i'm in....just let me know where & when....

Great. I think we're getting to a critical mass now!

Okay, i will try co-ordinate this!

Perhaps Sat 12th feb as an initial option when savage25 is in town.

Superflyboy, can you make that day? We could consider a lunch in case you wanted to just do a day trip from BOM...

Wonder where aniruddhh77 is these days....

very cool....if you need recommendations for venue then i can suggest a few places....

and I just had a few issues trip :-)

That works for me. Have dinner plans already for the 11th and attending a wedding on the 13th.

Free minibar at the IC for the pre/post party :D

Wow Delhi DO sounds cool. Sorry I wont be around in India at that time.

Yep...true. Actually based on this stat (batting performance at home in 2010), Raina, Kohli and Yuvraj qualify as top 3 batsmen (in that order). However, Pathan provides a more-than-part-time bowling option and in the absence of a genuine all-rounder, he'd probably make the team. Also, his explosive batting can turn the game on his head (Remember 123*?)

Did a little bit of analysis using statsguru and filtered stats for matches played in India (one can also use Asia filter but doesn't change things relatively) since Jan 1, 2011:

Raina: 191 [email protected] (SR - 121)
Kohli: 440 [email protected] (SR - 89)
Yuvraj: 178 [email protected] (SR - 75) and 5 wickets@33 (ER - 4.85)
Pathan: 211 [email protected] (SR - 132) and 12 wickets@24 (ER - 5.23)

Raina is the best batsman of the lot and should be #1 in pecking order. Pathan has the best bowling figures and a stunning strike rate of 132, he should make the team as the allrounder batting at #7. To me, the choice is down to Kohli and Yuvraj. Depends upon what Dhoni wants - pure batsman vs. extra bowling option, he'll pick one of these. If he plays Ashwin/Chawla as 2nd spinner, Kohli should ideally be picked else Yuvraj should come in to add an extra spinner to the team.

Lets get real. This team is not going into the World Cup without Yuvraj in the playing eleven as long as he is fit. His experience is too valuable for that. He is not suited to playing at #4, but putting Kohli in at #4 and Yuvraj at #5 makes more sense. Dhoni is perfect at #6 and Pathan can be devastating at #7.

You cannot drop Kohli for Raina right now. He is in sublime form lately while Raina has been struggling a bit.

Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, Kohli, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Pathan, Chawla/Ashwin, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Praveen/Munaf is the likely lineup. Raina and Nehra are the odd men out IMHO. At least we don't have Rohit Sharma wasting a spot.

Since we're on a World Cup trend here, I'm gonna throw my two cents into the pool with some real unknown names to keep an eye on as potential breakout players this year.

a) Paul Stirling (Ireland) -- a potentially devastating opening batsman who can pace an innings very effectively.

b) Ruvindu Gunasekara (Canada) -- young left-hander with sublime technique and grace.

c) Pieter Seelar (Netherlands) -- solid left arm spinner who might be able to step up to the next level on subcontinental pitches.

d) Luke Woodcock (New Zealand) -- a scrappy player in the mould of the Kiwi little-bit-of-everything all rounders. An excellent finisher at domestic level.

Let's see how well these predictions turn out in a couple months time!

i could not agree more....

Heart breaking match. I think Yusuf should have got the man of the match award. I hope Yusuf continues with this devastating form, he might end as India's weapon of mass destruction. And now that Bush is not around, I think its safe for him fire his missiles :p

You really like your cricket. Any predictions on who will win? I think we can't write Australia off. Even after a sound walloping in tests they are on top of their ODI form.

you can never write australia off....but my pick for the 4 semi-final teams are australia, india, south africa & sri lanka....from there its whoever plays best on the given day....