Not so magical to you guys ..., but very magical here... in India
All of the game dedicated to Sachin Tendulkar.

Ahhhhhh... What an evening....

I think, Cricket is like a religion in India. Millions of fans.

Yes and Sachin is the God!!!

This is for those millions who care!

You owe that win to your captain.

YES - So true!

In this world cup we saw some outstanding performances from individuals as well as teams that participated.

I would specially like to mention one gentleman (cricket is s gentleman’s game) who not only proved his excellence in the game but showed his class as a true gentleman. A great statesman and ambassador of peace and harmony - on and off the ground. And he is none other than the great Pakistan Captain - Shahid Afridi. Such people make this world a better place - A true 'Missionary' for world peace. This is my personal opinion.

I suppose congratulations are in order. Well done, India!

I quite like cricket, and even started a thread on it here once.

Americans are tied up with attachments to too many different sports to quite understand the ONE TRUE SPORT mentality that rules most of the rest of the world.

Here in Germany, the ONE TRUE SPORT is soccer. Nothing else comes even close to being close. Now, on an individual basis, Germans can join clubs in everything from archery to zorbing, and with that support bring Olympic-level competitiveness to many or most of those sports. But that is deceptive, because there is ONE TRUE SPORT, called "Fussball".

What is never disputed, however, is that soccer is one of the world's GREAT SPORTS, and is worthy of some attention, even if Americans can't seem to really get a handle on why it's so popular.

In the Indian sub-continent, the ONE TRUE SPORT is cricket. Now, remember that if you add up the populations of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, you get something like 1.6 billion people (a lot more than in China; had the Partition not taken place in 1947, India would be the largest country in the world, by far). The kids play cricket in the fields, on dirt lots, in the streets, in playgrounds, wherever they can set up two wickets and have a go.

Add in the other countries that have a significant interest--if not necessarily a preference for--cricket, and you probably get close to the 2 billion mark.

Which is an astonishing figure, when you consider how widely cricket is ignored in the rest of the world.

But American had (has) to be different. We took cricket, mixed it with rounders, and came up with baseball. We took soccer, mixed it with rugby, added pads and a forward pass and came up with American football. We lacked a good indoor sport, and invented (well, Naismith invented it) basketball. Then we thought that that crazy game the Canadians were playing was kind of cool, so we borrowed ice hockey from our neighbors. THEN we divided up all our loyalties among these ***ized games.

So in American, the ONE TRUE SPORT mentality is a point of dispute. I myself think that baseball is the ONE TRUE SPORT, and that Cal Ripken, Jr. is one of the greatest athletes in the last fifty years, period. But others disagree.

But my entire point here, is that given the numbers and popularity and talent involved, that cricket is one of the world's GREAT SPORTS, and its best athletes are among the world's great athletes. And if Ustaad singles out Shahid Afridi for accolades, then perhaps we just pay a wee bit more attention and raise a glass to him.

So, here's to Shahid Afridi, and his sportsmanship and gentlemanliness.

I don't understand cricket, but I care enough to follow.

Hope there's a big party all over India!

To Shahid Afridi!

John

For those truly interested you should follow the run up to the World Cup for Afridi. He plays for Pakistan. They had three players including their then captain banned for spot fixing in a match. The other two players were their two top bowlers. No-one gave them any chance. Afridi became captain in that situation. He has done a great job.
I naturally am very disappointed at South Africa not making it, but what could I have expected? We can win everything except an official tournament.

Some nice pictures for Cricket Lovers at the Boston Globe web:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/04......ion.html

Take a look!