Nav varsh ki Shubhkamnaaye

At a metaphysical level, Deepawali is a festival signifying the victory of good over evil; the latter is destroyed and reduced to ashes by fireworks is the belief of the people. This festival is celebrated on a grand scale in almost all the regions of India and is looked upon mainly as the beginning of Indian New Year. The first day of Diwali is also regarded to be the New Year for business houses, who pay off their debts and decorate their offices for getting wealth and prosperity in the coming year.


In the Indian civil calender,the initial epoch is the Saka Era,a traditional era of Indian chronology that is said to have begun with King Salivahana's accession to the throne,and is also the reference for most astronomical works in sanskrit literature written after 500 AD. In the Saka calendar,the year 2011 AD is 1934.
The other popular epoch is the Vikram era that is believed to have begun with the coronation of King Vikramaditya. The year 2011 AD corresponds to 2069 in this system.


New Year dates of many religions coincide with each other. Baisakhi falls on April 13 or 14 every year and so does Bihu in Assam, Nabo Barsho in Bengal, Puthandu in Tamil Nadu and Pooram Vishu in Kerala. New Year in different regions of agriculturally rich country of India is usually celebrated to mark the time for harvesting of crops. While in some places, the religious minded people celebrate it to honor Lord Brahma for his universal creation.
This year today forth of april is the hindu or Indian new year celebrated all over.

Made history repeat......

 Obviously, it was for the special man here (Sachin Tendulkar) standing next to me. We're all very happy for him," said a beaming Zaheer

    History repeted Itself ........
Amitabh Bachchan believes that if he watches a cricket match, India will lose. But he not only sat in front of the TV to see the India-Sri Lanka World Cup final here Saturday, also hit the road in open car to celebrate with others when the home team won. 

"Me superstitious about watching match coz' we lose... but after 33 for 2 (sic), don't know why, sat in front of TV till the six from (M.S.) Dhoni," he tweeted after India's six wicket victory at the Wankhede Stadium. 

"Diya ghuma ke, ghuma ke, ghuma ke!!," he wrote, very excited. 

The 68-year-old says he hadn't previously witnessed the kind of euphoria in the city that followed India's victory. 

"No one is saying anything...just screaming!! It is bizarre!!! Roads lanes everywhere jammed with people and screams!! Never before!" 

"Anhonee ko hooni kar de, honi ko anhonee ! Ek jagah jab jama hon tinoh - Rajni, Gajni aur Dhoni!!!" he tweeted. 


Not without controversy or melodrama, the Indian dream came true. In the euphoric atmosphere of the Wankhede Stadium India won the 10th World Cup final by four wickets with 10 balls to spare.

The Finale

First time in the history of World Cup cricket the hosting nation will be crowned as World Champions. India versus Sri Lanka Final will be remembered not only because its World Cup final but for two great players one who will play his last international game and one who may be playing in his last World Cup.

Both players are greats which will be remembered till the game of Cricket will remain alive because of the contribution both made to the game. One has taken most number of wickets while other has scored most number of runs.

However there can be only one winner whether it’s Tendulkar or Muralitharan only time will tell. But whoever emerge out as World Cup Champion, the legends will remain in the heart of million of fans around the globe for many years to come

The key to this game will be the start given by the openers for both teams. Sri Lanka openers just like India are in good form and from my point of view that is where the game will be decided in the Final clash between India and Sri Lanka.

They know each other weaknesses and stronger point so nothing is hidden from any teams, it’s all about handling the pressure and playing freely. If India wins then it will be after long gap of 28 years and if Sri Lanka wins then this will be there second world cup triumph in 15 years.

No team has won a world cup playing their back yard so far but as we have witnessed in last few games, India are not looking back they are raring to go forward and prove every experts wrong.

Wankhede.............The no nonsense venue.

In its essence, a cricket match is a battle between free will and pre-destination.  This is not to suggest that the result of Wednesday’s clincher between India and Pakistan in Mohali had been decided (by the Fates,before it even started. Pre-destination had it  

clash between the star batting line-up and a powerful bowling juggernaut.

Instead, it turned out to be a sterling bowling display by the team feted for its batting prowess that didn’t quite click against a crumble of a performance — marked by nightmarish fielding — by the bowling power that showed only a glimmer in the form of a five-wicket haul by Wahab Riaz.

The pundits had also pitted MS Dhoni’s and Shahid Afridi’s teams in a ‘white swan-black swan’ duel, a fight between two sides of the same subcontinental coin, the former marked by a quiet, no-nonsense Apollonian rigour, while the latter containing Dionysian brilliance waiting to erupt out of the shell of disorder

This model did withstand the test and if Pakistan’s mad, bad and dangerous ways had won them matches in the past, this time round their maverick talent fuelled a semi-final loss and a one-way ticket out of the World Cup.

India’s famed batting display was well below par. The national obsession with Sachin Tendulkar scoring his 100th international century almost succeeded in protecting the icon from being ever dismissed.

But with Pakistani butterfingers making the team’s intent rather suspicious at least for cynics — especially after the Pakistani interior minister had earlier wagged his firmer finger at players tempted to fix the match — it was left to captain Afridi to step in and latch on to the ball that came flying low from Tendulkar’s bat.

The fact that India’s most potent weapon was allowed ‘five lives’ before being dismissed tells the full story — with the additional twist of the batsman being declared the man of the match. The semi-final match at Mohali came with great expectations and proved that a scrappy game can be exciting too. But the bottomline is: India delivered when they needed to and proved to be made of the stern stuff that many of their supporters perilously take for granted.

Which brings us to the final match in the 2011 World Cup between India and Sri Lanka tomorrow. Minus the cloud of backstories and trans-cricketing mythology of India-Pakistan, what will be on display in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium under warm lights will be pure cricket.

Unlike Pakistan (and India) Sri Lanka is a ‘complete’ side, with freeflowing batsmen such Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga as as well as lethal bowlers like Lasith Malinga prowling like professional hitmen.

Whether India can turn on their batting machine and tug on the generator chord to get its bowlers to get wickets — as opposed to ‘restrain runs’ — will decide whether the free will of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his players will match what has already been determined by the Fates.

The latter are getting restless now to officially announce a new champion on Saturday.

Bleed Blue Bleed........Welldone !!!!

At last  the boys did what was expected from them at the right time .


Blue Bleeded and the sours can be seen on the faces of  Pakistan .What a match ,What a match...high voltage.


India has won bragging rights over Pakistan after beating its arch-rival on the cricket field and advancing to the World Cup final match against Sri Lanka set for Saturday.
 The biggies in the stadium were the biggest with both the prime ministers sitting and watching what big can it be ?
People were asking each others ....Is it a war or a match!

Life for more than a billion people across India and Pakistan came to a standstill during the semi-final match Westerday.  India beat Pakistan by 29 runs, 260 to 231.


The team owed this to Sachin. If not for anything else, India has to win this World Cup for Sachin as world cup is the only sweet which Sachin has not tasted. Pakistan did a pretty good job for themselves, but were defeated by the Bleeding Blues.


High performance Delivered


The roads all around were crowded with people to cheer for the victory and loads of crackers were fired it was a greatest feeling of ones love with his country.
well done Men in blue.......well done!


But still a last leap is waiting to get the cup....Notthing less than the World Cup 

The Big Day

India Vs Pakistan- Overall

Total	India Won	India Lost	No Result
119	46	69	4

India Vs Pakistan- World Cup

Total	India Won	India Lost	No Result
4	4	0	0

The build-up has been intense and to cap it all, the prime ministers of the two nations are going to witness the game from the presidential box of the beautiful stadium.

History is in India's favour as they have never lost to their neighbours in the World Cup. The most exciting of their encounters was eight years ago when they beat Pakistan by four wickets chasing a 270-odd target thanks to Sachin Tendulkar's classic 75-ball 98 at the Super Sport Park at Centurion. They went on play the final, only to be thrashed by Australia.

Both sides have their own viewpoints on their much-awaited clash. The Indians think they have their best chance of winning the Cup a second time, having won it in 1983, and the Pakistanis want to tell the cricket world that their country deserves international cricket at home.

Both captains tried to play down the pressure factor on the eve of the match. India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni insisted that his team is aware what is expected out of it -- playing good cricket -- while his counterpart Shahid Afridi was equally vehement in saying that they were not expected to come so far and so there was no pressure on them.

The two teams won their quarterfinals in contrasting styles. India came through a much tougher game against Australia and the Pakistanis cantered to victory against the West Indies without breaking sweat.

An India-Pakistan clash has always transcended beyond sport and the team that keeps its emotions under control will prevail. It is easier said than done as when the whole world will get to witness a battle between two greats -- Tendulkar and Akhtar. That is assuming Afridi has the courage to take the bold step.

tommorow's match is the biggest match in the world cup history

As India take on Pakistan in the World Cup semifinal on Wednesday at Mohali, it will be interesting to watch if Shahid Afridi's men can shed the losers' tag asscociated with them this time. Pakistan have never beaten India in a World Cup match. Both the teams have clashed four times on the World Cup stage with India having an upper hand everytime.

India captain Dhoni will look to carry forward the legacy.

With Sachin Tendulkar looking ominous, the question on everyone's lips is if he will slam his 100th international century at Mohali and lead India home. Tendulkar has never failed with the willow against his favourite enemy Pakistan. The last time the two arch-rivals clashed in 2003 at Centurion in South Africa, Tendulkar plundered 18 runs off Shoaib Akhtar's first over, setting the tone for the match that saw India dumping Pakistan out of the Cup. Tendulkar (98) played one of greatest knocks of One-day cricket against a formidable pace attack that included Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis as Saeed Anwar's century went in vain.

With a team that is improving its performance, Afridi is keen on beating India.

Talking of India's batting line-up, Yuvraj Singh, who has a record four MoM so far in the tournament, looks hungrier than ever for runs, while Sehwag, on his day, can decimate the opposition single handedly. As for the youth brigade, which showed lots of courage during the game against Australia, it would be a litmus test to come good at the big stage even as Afridi-led Pakistan are getting better and better with each game.

So, ahead of the mega clash, we take a look at how the two teams have fared against each other:

1992 Benson and Hedges World Cup: Pakistan were bundled out for 173 runs in reply to India's 216 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, thanks to Sachin's attacking 54 and a 26-ball 34 from Kapil Dev. India's 43-run win had also some drama attached to it with keeper Kiran More and Javed Miandad lending a touch of colour to the high-octane encounter.

The 1996 World Cup match saw Ajay jadeja score 22 runs off a Waqar Younis over.

1996 Wills World Cup: Ajay Jadeja, who looted 22 runs off a Waqar Younis over in a pulsating quarterfinal tie at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, will remain a sore point for Pakistan. India's 57 runs came off the last four overs as they folded for 287. In the high-voltage match, Venkatesh Prasad sent Aamer Sohail to pavilion soon after the latter indulged in sledging. India won by 39 runs as Pakistan crumbled under pressure. An injured Akram withdrew ahead of the match. His effigies were burnt in Karachi and Lahore by fans who saw something else in his pullout.

Pak players celebrate the dismissal of Rahul Dravid in the 1999 World Cup.

1999 ICC World Cup:The game, fought in the background of Kargil War, at Old Trafford, Manchester ironically did not see any friction. Venkatesh Prasad stole the show with a five wicket haul as Pakistan's wickets fell at regular intervals chasing India's modest target of 228 (Tendulkar's 45, Azhar's 59 and Dravid's 61). India won by 47 runs.

Sachin Tendulkar helped India beat Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup.

2003 ICC Cricket World Cup: Saeed Anwar's 101 runs helped Pakistan score an imposing total of 273 runs at the SuperSport Park, Centurion. However, it was Sachin's day all along. By the time Akhtar claimed Tendulkar, who suffered cramps, it was all over. India won by six wickets.