Minar Travels announces special packages for 2011 Cricket World Cup in India

Minar Travels having its main office in Delhi, Connaught Place, has announced special packages for tourists visiting India during 2011 World Cup. The tours are focused at Cricket matches as well as an enjoyable holiday experience in India for their customers. The General Manager stated that “We are expecting a huge crowd this year during the 10th World Cup. Minar Travels has always been keen in promoting destinations at highly competitive rates our mote has always been that we need to keep our clients satisfied”.

He also added, “We have made special efforts in arranging the rooms and local sightseeing for our tourists visiting the World Cup”. This company is keen to pamper the guests with tour packages like exploring the land of Buddha, Golden Triangle tour, tour to the Heart of India, Wildlife tour, Yoga tour, Luxury Trains tour etc.

The 2011 World Cup will be played in three countries India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh starting from 19th Feb continual till April 02 2011 and there will be 14 teams contesting this year’s World Cup. The 14 teams have been divided into two groups with the top four from each qualifying for the quarter-finals. This company is arranging exclusive deals for the tourists visiting India for all the 8 matches of World Cup.

Offering million experiences, countless roads to wander on, and many doorways to walk through in your explanation of the land India is the hub on this trip with flights throughout the country as needed depending on World Cup tickets secured. This company guides you with a travel partner who knows the where and how and what and who of making a visit to India - a journey into the multitudes of sights, colors, customs interactions - a true discovery. So visit the unique aura of India with the special packages catered by Minar Travels during this festive season of World Cup 2011.

Minar Travels is one of the leading ISO Certified Aviation Management Company. Their target is to accomplish tourist’s combat every time they excurse with them. Minar Travels swirls ahead as the most ideal organization marked by a technology focus, coupled with being a business oriented travel service provider. With almost two decades of service, and expertise in every area of travel, tourism, aviation services and conferences, Minar Travels is India’s inaugural aviation and travel company that travelers and associates turn to for everything.

For more information, please visit www.minartravels.net (or) 
write to their Corporate Office at minar@del2vsnl.net.in

Zimbabwe lose CWC opener by 91 runs

Zimbabwe lost their opening game of the 2011 World Cup by 91 runs to Australia in the 55,000-seater Sardar Patel Stadium but they caused the defending champions plenty of problems and emerged with considerably more credit than most observers thought was possible given the disparity of skill and experience between the teams.

Having restricted Australia to a modest 262-6 in fine batting conditions, Zimbabwe slumped to a disappointing 171 all out in reply but won plenty of new admirers and had much to feel satisfied about. 

Although the top order batting displayed it’s all-too-familiar fragility against fast bowling in the run chase, the bowling unit rose magnificently to the challenge of containing Ricky Ponting’s champions and their final total was both below ‘par’ for the conditions as well as general expectations.

The three front line spinners were outstanding. Ray Price shouldered the burden of opening the bowling while both he and Prosper Utseya delivered the majority of their overs during power-play situations with scant protection in the deep. Both men conceded just 43 runs from their 10 overs – there will be few better performances in the tournament from spinners against a top batting order.

Leg spinner Graeme Cremer enjoyed the comparative ‘comfort’ of bowling in the middle overs but still deserves great credit for maintaining an immaculate line during ten overs which earned him 1-41. Both Cremer and Utseya also made a significant point to the officiators of world cricket by claiming lbw wickets with the aid of the third umpire.

Time and time again in recent years Zimbabwe’s bowlers have noted with mounting frustration how international umpires are less inclined to award decisions in their favour, especially when the opposition are a major power. Despite it being the first game Zimbabwe have ever played with the use of television referrals, they trusted their instincts and had two decisions reversed in their favour.

Sri Lankan umpire Asoka de Silva and Englishmen Richard Kettleborough gave openers Brad Haddin (29) and Shane Watson (79) ‘not out’ but first Utseya and then Cremer asked for a ‘review’ and got their men.

Team management’s decision to select Reggie Chakabva as an ‘extra’ batsman instead of Shingi Masakadza as an additional bowling option meant that Elton Chigumbura had to share the fifth bowler’s allocation of 10 overs between himself and part-timers Taylor and Sean Williams. It was certainly the correct selection option – or would have been if captain Chigumbura was not so wretchedly short of form and confidence with the ball at the moment.

Chigumbura’s only two overs cost 18 runs while Taylor, who conceded 12 in his first, bowled three overs for 23. Their five overs for 41 gave the otherwise bogged down Aussies the room for manoeuvre and escape they desperately needed.

So it will fall to another team to end Australia’s 12-year, 30-match unbeaten run at the World Cup while Zimbabwe travel to Nagpur where they will be strong favourites to beat minnows Canada in their second match on February 28.

Different strokes at 2011 World Cup

Gone are the days when in Test match, a team would score around 220 runs in a day. Later, with the advent of one-dayers, the scoring rate increased to around 250 runs in a day. However, with the latest T20 format, the teams are scoring in the vicinity of over 300 runs in the 90 overs of play.

That has really made the Test matches quite interesting. More longer-version ties are producing results as was seen in the recent Ashes series in Australia.

The quality of cricket, too, was top class and it was good to see Test cricket in healthy condition. It’s up to every cricket board to ensure better quality of wickets and infrastructure to lure the crowds to five-day cricket simply because if Test format survives, cricket will survive.

However, the T20 format has really changed the face of the game. In the past, nobody could imagine that a batsman would score a double hundred in a 50-over game. Well, it requires tremendous fitness to not only bat for that long but score briskly as well. 

Sachin played a glorious knock to achieve this improbable feat against the Proteas only recently. I guess it was possible only because cricketers are nowadays playing in the T20 format.

While on Sachin, he is the one who has always improvised in different situations and adapted to the conditions beautifully. He innovated and played the upper-cut with authority, slashed hard at anything short outside the off-stump that went over the third man and into the stands, played reverse sweep with elan and 

executed paddle sweep with great delight.

Under the circumstances, it becomes difficult for a captain to place the field. The bowlers, too, become clueless as to what line or length they have to bowl. A captain can manage it in a T20 format, but if it happens in a 50-over game, he really has to think out of the box to stop the run flow.

I guess this World Cup, too, will be a litmus testfor the captains and the bowlers with batsmen adapting to different shots and tactics. They will have to have more options if that happens.

Only recently, I watched tennis ball cricket in Mumbai with great interest. The ball used, of course, is heavier and harder than the normal tennis ball but the strategies of the captains and the bowlers are really interesting to say the least.

They are absolutely unconventional and while batting they employ more reverse sweeps to perfection. They hit it hard and manage to clear the ground by a few yards. The bowlers, not to be outdone or outsmarted, vary their line, length and speed to be effective.

The man of the match even gets a car as a present and the matches are normally watched by as many as 10,000 people. I wonder when was the last time a Ranji game fetched so much crowd!