ICC World Cup 2011: 6 Reasons Why India Will Beat Pakistan

By beating Australia in the quarter-finals of ICC World Cup 2011, India have set up a much awaited clash against Pakistan in the semi-finals, at Mohali, on Wednesday, March 30. While Pakistan have belied the pundits and done much better than pre-tournament predictions about their prospects at this year's mega-event, their journey is likely to end on March 30 for these 6 reasons:

1. Batting: In batting, there's simply no comparison between the teams. The Indians are solid from the openers onwards, and barring Dhoni who is out of form, everyone is in fine fettle. Yuvraj's return to form is the biggest boon for India, while Raina, supposedly vulnerable against short-pitched deliveries, confounded his critics by hitting Lee for a six. In contrast, Pakistan have a walking wicket, in Mohd Hafeez, at the top of their order. Kamran Akmal is extremely inconsistent, and the batting relies overly on Misbah and Younis Khan. If these two batsmen go early, the innings is likely to flounder, with Afridi looking clueless in the lower middle order. For some strange reason, Pakistan don't seem keen to exploit Razzaq's batting talent by pushing him up the order.

2. Bowling: Pakistan are said to be strong in this area, but other than Gul, nobody is likely to trouble India. Gul has been getting the ball to wobble, but he hasn't yet come up against a batsman like Sehwag who can hit the best fast bowlers out of the attack. Pakistan's spinners don't hold any terror for the Indian batsmen, least of all, part-timers like Hafeez.

3. Fielding: While neither team has men with quick-silver reflexes on the field, India have been improving steadily, as their display against Australia showed. Pakistan's poor fielding was shown up by New Zealand who plundered 92 runs in the last four overs of their innings in the league match against Pakistan. Sehwag and Tendulkar who are adept at finding gaps will be licking their lips in anticipation.

4. Captaincy: While Afridi has led well and got the Pakistani team to unite behind him, he failed tactically when the going got bad, as against New Zealand. Dhoni in comparison has made all the right moves and his astuteness must be credited with keeping India in the fray till the very end, even in the lost match against South Africa.

5. India's home advantage: India will be playing at home at Mohali and will be backed by a vociferous crowd. Pakistan will find the atmosphere daunting.

6. Pakistan's history of choking: Pakistan have always succumbed to nerves while playing against India. This happened even in 1992, when they won the title, and in 1999, when they reached the final

For the latest sports gossip, including the ICC World Cup, click http://www.sportingattitude.com.

Suresh Iyer is an avid sports fan and blogger.

3 Reasons Mexico Will Win the 2010 World Cup

Image : http://www.flickr.com

Mexico has had a tough go with getting to the world cup. They have had three different coaches and more than sixty players play with the green jersey and raise the Mexican Flag. Despite the uncertainty, Mexico has gotten their act together through Javier Aguirre. Javier has been the coach that the team needed to organize the young stars and established veterans with confidence and chemistry.

The first reason Mexico has a great chance to win is their road to South Africa taught the Mexican team discipline and chemistry. The Mexican teambeat the Belize team handily in the second qualifying round. The problem is Mexico drew a tough set of competitors including Jamaica, Canada and Honduras.

The Mexican team continued with its unpredictable play by losing to the USA in a 2-0 defeat and then defeated Costa Rica and then lost to Honduras. Because of that loss, the previous coach Eriksson lost his job and Aguirre was hired.

Aguirre turned this fragmented, yet talented team into a machine defined by chemistry and teamwork. Mexico went on to win five games, ushering their way into the finals with one game to spare. They beat Trinidad and Tobago and ultimately gave them second place behind USA.

The star players are the second reason Mexico will win the world cup. Cuauhtemoc Blanco singlehandedly help facilitate the turnaround. Aguirre convinced him to come out of retirement. While the 36-year-old is getting up there in age he helped bring life back into this team. Additionally, the team has a great set of young players including Guillermo Ochoa, Efrain Juarez, Andres Guardado and Giovani dos Santos.

The last reason Mexico is a winner at world cup 2010 is their coach. Javier Aguirre is a name synonymous with victory, teamwork, and winning culture. He helped Pachuca win the championship in 1999 and was given the job in the 2002 World Cup, and ultimately brought the Mexicans to the head of a tough group including Italy, Croatia and Ecuador, but ultimately lost to their eternal rivals, the USA.

Kevin Dare is a passionate American whose is excited that the US is in the World Cup. Kevin is a freelance writer whose interests are soccer, Vexillology including Mexico Flag and the Mexican Flag