Little things determine the big verdicts!

there has been much criticism of mahendra singh dhoni's tactics in this world t20. i am not trying to stand up for him or absolve him of misjudgement, he has admitted to most things anyway, but i think we need to take a step back and look at things dispassionately sometimes.

dhoni's instincts were lauded when he threw the ball to joginder sharma for the last over at the 2007 world t20. he could have asked harbhajan to bowl but his instinct told him that joginder was a better option. and instinct is something a leader must follow in a crunch situation. now if misbah's paddle sweep had got a couple of more yards on it, dhoni would have been roasted. we would have used the great boon of hindsight and told him what he should have done and everyone would have called for his head.

agreed the decision to send jadeja at no 4 wasn't the greatest, or using an out of sorts ishant for an extra over, but think about this. if stuart broad had been three inches shorter, jadeja’s shot might have cleared the boundary and the game might have turned. again dhoni went with his instinct and fell marginally short. often it is the little things that determine which way the big verdict goes.

personally i am delighted that the west indies and sri lanka have got so far. sri lanka are again showing, like delhi daredevils did, that if you have a fine bowling line up and a couple of batsmen in form you can go far in this format. the return to form of jayawardene could well be the clincher for sri lanka because they have seemed a bit short of ideas when the openers have failed. i think the best time to attack sri lanka is in the first six overs when they bat and in the first four when they bowl because they are a bit uncertain of when to begin using malinga.

sri lanka v south africa would be the fairest final but sport never works that way! pakistan are looking dangerous after razzaq because it is taking the pressure off afridi. if they get a good start they could trouble south africa.