Rahul Dravid and his men may have their concerns with injuries and form, but Pakistani legend Abdul Qadir believes India are "favourites" while Australia will fail to reach the semifinal of the World Cup in the Caribbean.
The former leg-spinner said India had more strengths than weaknesses, and that made them genuine contenders at the quadrennial event starting from March 13.
"India have a formidable batting line-up, and their bowling is well balanced too, which makes them a favourite to reach the semifinals," said Qadir, in India to lead a Pakistan veterans' team in a three-match series this month.
"It's a mediocre fielding side but their superior batting can make up for that," he said.
Qadir said he would prefer that Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth opened the bowling.
"Zaheer has come back as an improved player ... Sreesanth at times tries too hard but he is a fighter to the core. They can be lethal with the new ball," he said.
Qadir said that in the wake of Australia slipping from their world number one ranking, every other team would believe they had a chance to win cricket's coveted trophy.
"The last six matches (that Australia played and lost five of them) have given new lease of hope for all other teams," he said.
"The competition has become more even and I feel Australia might fail to make the cut in the semifinals."
Harvard students condemn Oxford University
Publish Date : 3/5/2007 7:11:00 AM
Two Harvard students, including an NRI, have condemned Oxford University, where they are Rhodes scholars, as "outdated" and "frustrating" and dismissed its world famous Bodleian library as "less than inspiring".
Indian embassy to outsource jobs to American firm
Publish Date : 3/5/2007 7:10:00 AM
After taking thousands of American jobs through outsourcing, India is planning to give a few back. The Indian embassy in the US capital is planning to outsource processing of visas to a US-based company.
Badal heads 18-member coalition ministry in Punjab(Final lead: Badal)
Publish Date : 3/3/2007 7:29:00 AM
Octogenarian leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Parkash Singh Badal, on Friday took oath as Punjab's new Chief Minister and will lead an 18-member SAD-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition ministry.
Bareilly eunuch adopts a girl child
Publish Date : 3/3/2007 7:22:00 AM
It was a day of celebration for Saroj, a eunuch in Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, as 'she' has become a 'mother' by adopting a baby girl.
Kalam offers prayer at Fatehpuri Masjid
Publish Date : 3/3/2007 7:16:00 AM
Keeping a promise made two years ago, President A P J Abdul Kalam today offered prayers at the historic Fatehpuri Masjid in Chandni Chowk here along with thousands of Muslims.
Union Budget directionless, says Modi
Publish Date : 3/1/2007 8:41:00 AM
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today criticised the Union Budget by terming it as "directionless".
Centre allocates over Rs 100 crore for minority zones
Publish Date : 3/1/2007 8:38:00 AM
Unfazed by the BJP's criticism over its welfare schemes for Muslims, the Congress-led Central Government has allocated over Rs 100 crore for development programmes in select districts with a sizeable population of minorities.
Kins of political bigwigs fail to find voters' favour
Publish Date : 3/1/2007 8:27:00 AM
The assembly polls in Punjab turned out to be unkind for several kins of political bigwigs as voters rejected most of them barring some of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) supremo Parkash Singh Badal's near and dear ones.
High Court order on age of nursery admission tomorrow
Publish Date : 3/1/2007 8:24:00 AM
The Delhi High Court today observed that the city Government's submission that a child should be four-years-old to get admission in nursery class was contrary to the law.
Parliament session may be stormy tomorrow on Quattrocchi issue
Publish Date : 3/1/2007 8:18:00 AM
After the lull, it is going to be storm again in Parliament tomorrow.
Total Results : 709
More News (Opens in New Window) : [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 Next Page
|