Deja Vu

Its just over 11 years now.

Under lights at Eden Gardens, the Indian innings is disarray in Wills World Cup semi final. After a freaky Tendulkar dismissal, Indians over the country begin to hope for a miracle as wickets begin to tumble.... Images of Kambli walking back weeping and stands being burnt are vividly splashed in the papers, the next day.

And then on March 18, 1996, the Ceylon Tigers beat the Australians, courtesy a DeSilva gem... the 60 to 1 outsiders lifted the World Cup - the first chasing team to do so.

Fast forward to present.... Its Sri lanka versus Australia again.

Sri Lanka are probably currently at their peak since the 1996 triumph. Although they have always been a team to contend with, they have relied on individual brilliance a lot. The new crop of players in the team is a talented & enthusiastic bunch.

Australia have been on the top of their game ever since their victory in the 1999 version of the World Cup. Despite showing chinks in the armor in losses to England in the series prior to the World Cup, the team has been ruthless in this tournament.

Sri Lanka shall look for a repeat of their sub continent win a decade ago.

Australia shall aim to make it three in a row - a feat no team has achieved yet.

At an individual levels, the players from both the teams have a lot of play for..

From the Sri Lankan camp, Jayasuriya, Vaas & Muralitharan are over 34 and shall probably bow out after the tournament. Amongst the Aussies, Hayden, Gilchrist and McGrath fall into this category. These are world class players, amongst the best in recent times. A world cup final is a big occassion for any player, and they shall be the ones to watch out for. The bowler-batsman battle that ensues that be a fine exhibition of cricket.

Amongst the other players, Lasith Malinga and Shaun Tait are two players to watch out for. They have taken the World Cup by storm by their aggressive bowling. It shall be interesting to see how Hayden and Jayasuriya match up against them.

Between the captains, Ponting is naturally a more aggressive captain. However, the soft spoken Jayawardene is as shrewd as his mentor Ranatunga, is well aware of the Australian pressure building tactics.

In retrospect, it seems only fair that these two teams are meeting in the final.

One may criticize the format of this version of the WC as much as they want, the fact is - we did have the four best teams in the semi finals, and now have the best two in the finals.