In spite of the title, this post is about cricket! The Dew refers to the presence or lack of it in the second half of the day-nighter quarter final between India and Australia which begins in about five hours at the Motera in Ahmedabad, India.
The Prince in the title refers to the eponymous Yuvraj Singh who, I reckon, will play a pivotal role in about five hours time! The big question of course, is who will prevail, who will face off against a confident Pakistan outfit in the semi final at Mohali.
Its late March and the festival of Holi has been celebrated. Holi heralds the summer in India and with that, dew in the late evening should be absent. However, the facts belie such expectations. If there is dew, no matter how well the fielding side dry the ball, the pitch will quicken up and given a dearth of express bowlers in the Indian line up, dew will make batting easier should Australia chase an Indian target. Even a target of 320 isn't safe!
If India bat second chasing around 300, it will be a cracking contest given that Australia do have 2 quality fast bowlers and a mercurial Shaun Tait who will find an added zing with dew around and the ball staying a touch low.
If there is no dew at all, or the dew comes in too late to matter, I reckon, India will pip Australia to the finish line, no matter what.
Enough said about dew; lets talk about the Prince! The Prince should have been king by now, but alas, a string of injuries, a not-so-fancy attitude and other conspiring factors have kept the throne from the prince - the throne of a cricket great that is!
That being said, there is a pivotal battle to be won today. If the Prince leads his side to triumph today, he will stay to battle another day. The throne is just 3 games away and he is in decent form with both bat and ball to make a telling impact on the outcome of this world cup. His captain believes in him, has stood by him during the leanest phases and now its time for Yuvraj to repay his captain's faith.
There are other gladiators of course, on both sides. There is that demi-god called SRT who is still searching for that elusive triumph in a world cup; then there is that maverick Sehwag, the warrior Zaheer and the belligerent Harbhajan. On the other side, there is that legend who answers to the call of Captain Ricky. All is not well with Ricky. He looks rusty for runs but super fit, he tries to project assurance but his charges keep slipping every now and then, his future as captain seems threatened. The cornered tiger metaphor seems apt on Ricky right now!
Its a very difficult battle to predict, what with so many variables and warriors. With so many heroes around, this match runs a close parallel with the Trojan war. Who's who, is anybody's guess!
O India, May the fours be with you, all the way!
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