The goal of winning the Cricket World Cup, a dream for Indian Cricket fans around the world seems to be now within India’s reach. This dream has been eluding India since 1983 when it won the World Cup in England under the captaincy of the all time favorite Indian cricket hero Kapil Dev.

Under the captaincy of Saurav Ganguly the Indian team’s performance has been excellent this season. Sachin Tendulkar, our lion is at his best and is the leading run scorer in this world cup. Watching him play is a special treat for cricket fans. Rahul Dravid down the order has helped India win many matches and his consistency is unquestionable. This team is very lucky to have batsmen like Sehwag, Yuvraj and Kaif. We have an equally strong bowling support by seasoned Srinath, and ferocious youngsters Zaheer and Nehra. This team definitely deserves to bring home the cup.

The team has crossed the first two hurdles. It reached the super sixes by defeating Pakistan and is now in the semis by routing Sri Lanka. Australia and Kenya have secured their position in semis, while the fourth team will be either Sri Lanka or New Zealand. The India-Kenya semi-final match will be played on March 20th at 2:45AM EST.

Australia is the other strong contender for the world cup. The Australian team hasn’t lost a single match in this world cup. They are the defending champions and have won the world cup twice - in 1987 in India and in 1999 in England.

Locally, cricket can be viewed only by purchasing the service provided by dish networks. South Asian communities at various schools in Boston have made arrangements for common viewing places. These places can accommodate very few people, I am not aware of any public place where any one can go and view matches.

Thanks to technology, fans in New England can watch this game live, even though it means waking up in the wee hours of the night. It can be viewed by purchasing the service provided by dish networks. At Tufts, ISAT (Indian Society at Tufts) has made arrangement for viewing world cup for Tufts cricket fans.

Watching the India – Pakistan match at Tufts with students, department chair and the provost of the university is an unforgettable experience for me. The excitement and the energy one can find in this small room is no less than that in real stadium. Some fans even go to the extent of preparing banners and holding it in front of the television. Superstitious fans often pick lucky seating positions, touch wood, hold lucky stuff, etc. to overcome the nervousness during the tense situation in Indian matches.

Lokvani wishes the Indian cricket team the very best and hope they win the world cup.

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