India aim to break home jinx in World Cup

S S Ramaswamy
Mumbai, Feb 8 (PTI) Having faltered twice at the doorstep
of the title contest previously when they hosted the
World Cup, India would be eager to break the jinx this time
around and regain cricket's most coveted trophy when they
commence their campaign in the mega-event against co-hosts
Bangladesh at Dhaka on February 19.
In 1987, Indian cricketer Kapil Dev failed to lead the
country to their second successive crown as his team was swept
off the perch by Mike Gatting-led England in the semi-final at
the Wankhede Stadium in the country's western state Mumbai.
Mohd Azharuddin also could not pilot his squad back
on to the throne of One-day cricket nine years later when
India co-hosted the World Cup along with Sri Lanka and
Pakistan, as his team was knocked out by eventual champions
Lanka in the semi-final at Kolkata's Eden Gardens.
This time around Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men are
aiming to disprove India's jinx as host nation of the World
Cup, aiming to make it third time lucky in the tournament that
the country is co-hosting with Lanka and Bangladesh.
The Dhoni-led team has the iconic Sachin Tendulkar, who
will be playing in his sixth World Cup that would place him at
par with Pakistan great Javed Miandad, to look forward to --
besides a very talented and balanced team -- for ferrying back
the World Cup to India after 28 years.
Seeded second in the tournament and ranked number one in
Group 'B', India's passage into the knock-out stage appears
reasonably smooth if they play to their potential and are
careful to avoid some pitfalls. (MORE) PTI SSR
PRI


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