Five wishes for 2012

Would love to see them batting together once again!

There are a lot of things I would love to see happening in 2012… but I have picked out five of them that I dearly wish for:

1. Tendulkar getting that 100 and many more

I hope it happens in a few days time now at Sydney. Having three there already and with a Test average of more than 200 at SCG, there’s every chance that the 100th ton for Sachin Tendulkar finally arrives there. I wish to see that 100th ton out of the way, and then many more runs and tons from the Little Master in 2012. India will be playing Test cricket against Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and England over the next 12 months; so I hope we have another special year (like 2010) from Sachin Tendulkar.

2. Cheteshwar Pujara making his way into the team

His last appearance in the Indian squad was a year ago, in the third test during India’s tour of South Africa. An injury in the IPL caused Pujara to miss virtually the remainder of 2011. He made a comeback for Saurashtra mid-way through the Ranji season, but could not get back his form that saw him force his way into the Indian team. With Saurashtra not making it to the quarterfinals, and his spot uncertain in the West Zone team, it could be a difficult path for Pujara now. Taking into consideration that Virat Kohli has been given his chance at No. 6 for India in tests, with Rohit Sharma right behind him, Pujara will have to work extremely hard and pray for a little bit of luck along the way. I hope to see him reclaim his spot in India’s test squad very soon.

3. Afghanistan qualify for the World Twenty20 Championships

The qualifying tournament for participation in the World Twenty20 Championships 2012 will be held in United Arab Emirates from the 13th to the 24th March, 2012. A total of 16 teams will fight for the meager 2 spots open for them in the main event. Realistically, the teams that have a good chance to make it through are Ireland, the Netherlands, Afghanistan, Canada, Kenya and Scotland. I would love to see Afghanistan make it through once again and participate in their second major global tournament after the 2010 edition of the same. Having followed Afghan cricket closely for the past one year, I find the prospect of Afghanistan in top-flight cricket a very realistic and exciting one.

4. An exciting U-19 World Cup

The Australian state of Queensland will be hosting the U-19 Cricket World Cup in August 2012. The U-19 World Cup tournaments showcase a lot of unknown exciting talent that are not always from the regular cricketing nations. The highest wicket taker in the 2010 edition of the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand was a fast bowler from Papua New Guinea. India is placed in arguably the easiest group – Group C – alongside the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea. I would love to see the Indian juniors perform well and for a lot of young, new and exciting talent to emerge from this tournament.

5. India gets a small measure of revenge in November – December

India will be hosting England for a 4-Test match series in November and December. There is nothing Indian fans would like to see better than a reverse whitewash after the humiliation faced over the English summer of 2011. But one’s got to be realistic here; the English cricket team in test cricket is a fantastic one, and though they are not the most comfortable team playing in sub-continental conditions, they can still be a handful. A good pace attack can work in any conditions, and the South Africans have shown that admirably in India – twice. But, I would love to see India gain some big wins over England during the winter season, and show them why this land is known as the Final Frontier.