Congratulations INDIA....T20 World Cup Champions

WOW..What a game, what an event. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/7009035.stm)

Was lucky enough to a 'working at home' day today so that I could watch the T20 final. Could it be poised any better, India v Pakistan, 20 overs each, 3.5 hours of pulsating cricket.

I lived through all the emotions today, firstly I saw India have a solid start, then the wickets started falling, the newcomer Pathan was a bit poor but he did his part. For me the poorer performance was was Uthappa who has not really performed in batting. Then Yuvraj came in and I held my breath for some sixes..but alas these were missing as he also looked out of form. Trying to set a target of 180 we were falling well short with only Ghambir hitting any runs of notice and then being backed up by Rohit Sharma towards the latter stages. A target of 157 was easily gettable on a pitch that was doing nothing. But I thought to myself, if RP Singh can bowl to his best there is always a chance, and the pressure would tell on a young Pakistan team.

The India starting bowling and I felt I was able to tell the future with RP Singh being in fantastic form, taking quick wickets. Unfortunately we also had Sreesanth in our team, who seemed to have used all his skill against Australia. Being hit for 21 off his first o ver, I thought this was it.

What unfolded over the next 18 or so overs was nothing short of breathtaking. We had run-outs (Uthappa redeeming himself), we had off stumps flying all over, we had the usual Indian team giving away a bucketful of extras. A few moments stood out, Afridi, walking onto the pitch, me crossing my fingers he did not get too many runs, two balls later he is caught. Sreesanth turns to being a semi-god again. Danger man gone but then more stress. What was Harbhajan doing bowling weak deliveries. His over against Australia got us to the final but this time, 3 sixes in one over and it should have been a walk in the park for Pakistan.

The stress went to the final over and after a wide, dot, a six, we had a hit at a ball that came from the hand of god. Straight to someone who had now turned into a god...Sreesanth. What a game, what a finish, 3 balls left, 5 run victory over the arch enemy.

What a game, and also played in what spirit. The parliament of both countries should watch this game, the friendship of the two nations was something to behold, especially after the finale. Pakistan were not sore losers and it was good to see, credit where credit was due, it took two teams to create this spectacular of an event.

Well India had won, this team as the commentar mentioned had not realised their new status in the hearts of all Indians. The money offered to them by the BCCI would give them some indication of their supreme eing status in India. Yuvraj picking up 1 crore will be extremely happy no doubt, and no doubt his dad has fired off more bullets in India (http://cricket.indiatimes.com/Fans_rejoice_as_Yuvi_lights_up_T20/articleshow/2395069.cms).

The most impressive person no doubt was Dhoni. What carisma, he plays with a smile all the time and I think that helps him and his team. You can see that life is more important to him and that relaxed attitude has definitely played a big part in the success on India. He has extreme trust in his players and what them to better themselves rather than focus on the bigger picture, I think he is going to impress everyone in many years to come..mark my words.

Well as the news channels are all filled with fireworks, dancing and celebrations, again I say congratulations to India. Hopefully then can continue in this vain and look to replace the ageing Australia side as the best team in the world and stay there for years to come. We do not want this to be just a flash in the pan, it needs to be built upon and moved forward.

A final word of thankyou to Pakistan, again they played extremely well and I see many future bettles between these two great young teams.

Chak de India....

Just one question? Who does Shah Rukh Khan support?? Maybe we will touch on this in my next blog.

Mourinho leaves Chelsea....so what...!

No doubt you have all heard about Mourinho leaving Chelsea last week. I remembered waking up, turning on the TV to watch the cricket and there is was in the bottom corner...latest news...Mourinho leaves Chelsea. I have to say I was extremely shocked as you all probably were. I mean there was this 'special' manager who has come first, first, second, semi-finals of the champions league, FA Cup, Coca-Cola Cup. Anyway we all know the credentials, and this manager leaves of so called 'mutual -consent'.

Were I begin to get annoyed is when I hear Gordon Brown is going to make a speech about him leaving Chelsea...half the papers do not agree with it, there is going to be demonstrations by the supporters, and then you have the final straw of Andy Townsend on Talksport (www.talksport.net) talking about Abromovich having to explain his actions. This is all football gone mad.

Abromovich has put his own money into the club, he is the one who has brought the success to the club, he has bankrolled the players and now he is being asked to explain his actions. People seem to forget that Fabio Cappello, having brought the title to Real Madrid (www.realmadrid.com) after a four year absence gets sacked by the president, and no one batters an eyelid. Compared to that this Mourinho incident should be one of a manager leaving a Unibond division team. Madrid is so much bigger than Chelsea and they make do with a change of manager, whereas this Chelsea event has been ridiculous.

I am not saying there is nothing personal in this, as a Liverpool supporter I have never like Mourinho but have respected what he has achieved. Not losing a game at home over 99 matches is a statistic that speaks for itself. But this incident shows that sometimes football needs to be put into perspective (can't believe I just said that), a manager leaving a club is an everyday event, and just because it is Chelsea it should not be treated any different.

Anyway, hopefully you can agree and see where I am coming from. Would like to hear the view of Chelsea supporters on this.