Dhoni winning the toss
Chasing 250+ in a World Cup semi-final is not an easy task. The Mohali pitch was not ugly, but contrary to what most Pundits – Saurabh dada included- had predicted, it not a batting beauty either. As the inning progressed, the pitch turned slow, the balls stopped, and the batsmen found it difficult even to rotate the strike. All the experts had read the wicket wrong!

Dhoni opted for Ashish
Millions of eyebrows were raised when Ashwin was left out in the World Cup semifinal. Justifiably so. How could Dhoni ignore Ashwin whose bowling and fielding was talk of the nation? But Ashish today bowled with the heart and brain of a miser: he gave just 33 runs in his ten overs. His last over to Wahab Riaz was a treat to watch- four consecutive dot balls and then a wicket!

Sehwag beats Gul – black and blue
Although Sehwag had changed into a red tea shirt at 2:55 PM, his assault on Gul -21 runs in the third over of the match- had left him completely demoralized. Gul’s final figures have a story to tell- Pakistan’s best bowler leaks 69 runs in 8 overs.

Cat has nine lives – Sachin had four
Add to that two close decisions which went in his favour- a LBW and a stumping. Sachin could not have asked for more. Pakistan lent a generous slippery hand to the Indian Victory at Mohali. MSD will always acknowledge this fact in his memoirs- but for Pakistani fielders, team India would not have taken a flight to Mumbai.

Sachin fell short of a ton
What a relief! While Sachin’s much-awaited century would surely have been an icing on the cake, thanks God he did not achieve this milestone. For, Sachin’s century and Indian victory seldom go together.

The Power Play Enigma
A mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma. Shahid Afridi will curse himself all his life for not taking the final power play between 40 and 44 overs. By the time he took one, both he and Razaak were cooling their heels in the pavilion and the asking rate had crossed 10. A fatal delay.

A mystery called Misbah
Misbah again! Not too long ago, it was Misbah who denied Pakistan a certain victory in the world cup 20-20 championship. History repeated itself- what a tragedy for Pakistan! Misbah at Mohali was trying to hone his defense in a World Cup semifinal match – he perfected the art of blocking the balls by offering a dead defensive bat to the ball, over after over. He played out 42 dot balls-seven maiden overs! What was he aiming at? Trying to save a test match? Did he forget that each dot ball in the dying overs would take his team farther from Mumbai and closer to Multan? When it came to the final over, 30 of six balls, he still thought that he could hit five sixes- refusing several singles in the previous overs. Only four batsmen in the last hundred years have hit six sixes in an over- Garfield Sobers, Ravi Shastri, Herschelle Gibbs and Yuvraj- and Misbah is not even remotely close to either of them. As my colleague rightly said, more than Sachin, Misbah deserved to be named match of the match. For, it was he, who changed the destiny of the match!

Shahid Afridi, the batsman
While all through the tournament, Shahid kept on tormenting batsman after batsman with his mesmerizing spinning fingers, his batting form had completely deserted him in this world cup. In no inning, did he last for more than five overs and did not cross even 20. Pity for a batsman who has scored the fastest century in a fifty- over ODI and has amassed more than 6000 runs.

MSD: Mr. Cool
What a contrast between the two captains! While Shahid Afridi would yell, shout, and scream at his bowlers, MSD was calmness personified- ignoring the occasional fielding lapses with trademark nonchalance.

260: a magical number
At Motera, India successfully chased 260, kicking Australia out of the World Cup. And at Mohali, India successfully defended 260, defeating Pakistan five times out of five in a World Cup. Is 260 a magical number?