Kanan Das

Kanan Das, a 42 year old woman belonging to the Scheduled caste hails from Nadia district of West Bengal. Kanan Das has been earning by making thread out of scrap tyres. Kanan Das lives with her husband who is also in the same business and two children who are studying. Their assets are a house, a television and a cycle. Kanan Das needs a loan of Rs.14000 to purchase scrap tyres and two charkas. She will have to buy the scrap tyres and boil them and remove the thread from it and that shall be softened using the charka. She shall repay the loan within a year's time.

T20 final a perfect tribute

Two of the most consistent teams have made it to the final of the World T-20, challenging the myth that anything can happen in this format.

By Boria MajumdarThe current tournament is evidence that the best do progress to the title round and teams that are inconsistent, including our very own India, fall by the wayside. And consistency, it is important to point out, does not only mean the end result. For example, West Indies may have lost to Australia in the initial stage of the tournament because of a rain interruption, but even in that contest they had scored a healthy 191, thanks to half centuries from Gayle and Samuels.

They are the only side to have crossed the 200 mark in the competition in the semi-final against the very same opponent. India, on the other hand, struggled to reach 160 every time they went in to bat.

The stand-out feature in both the finalists is the completeness in these teams. To start with, the West Indies: surely they have in their ranks the best T-20 bating line-up in the world. Gayle, followed by an in form Samuels, Pollard, Bravo, Sammy and a host of other lower-order hitters, it is a batting line-up, which, even on a relatively bad day, will get to 150. And in bowling they have the express pace of Edwards, the swing of Rampaul, the guile of Bravo and the spin of Narine and Badree. Sammy and Pollard are more than fill-in bowlers.

Compare the West Indies to India, Australia and Pakistan and the difference is palpable. While the Indians are way thin in bowling, the Australians are particularly over reliant on Warner and Watson at the top of the order. Pakistan, on the other hand, has a fantastic bowling line-up but aren’t up to the mark in batting with a fragile middle-order letting them down.

If the West Indies are the most complete side in the competition, Sri Lanka isn’t very far behind. And with home advantage and a 30,000-plus crowd to cheer for them at the Premadasa, they are more than a match for Gayle and team. In Mahela they have the best player in the world in big match situations. Perhaps not as celebrated as many of his contemporaries, Mahela’s record speaks for the Sri Lankan captain.

In the semi-final of World Cup, 2007, in the Caribbean, captain Mahela had scored one of the best hundreds in the fifty-over format to propel his team to the final. He bettered it with an even better hundred in the final of World Cup, 2011. And in the semi-final of the World T-20 against Pakistan on October 5, it was his innings that made the difference between the two sides. Ability to handle pressure and bring out his best in high pressure situations is the hallmark of the Sri Lankan skipper, making him one of the standout performers of our times.

If it is Mahela, Sangakkara and Dilshan in batting, in bowling it is Malinga, Mendis, Herath and Kulasekara in these conditions. Each of the four are capable of chipping in with match-winning performances on their day and a couple of examples will help illustrate the point better. In the Super Eight encounter against the West Indies, Kulasekara picked up Gayle with an absolute beauty, which hardly ever reached Gayle and finally caught the toe end of his bat before landing in the wicket-keeper’s gloves.

And in the semi-final against Pakistan, Herath bowled an absolute beauty to pick up the inform Shoaib Malik. The ball landed on good length, beat Malik’s lunge forward, spun past his bat and uprooted the off stump, bringing to an end Pakistan’s resistance.

From the evidence at hand there is little doubt that the final will be a high-intensity affair. Having lost three major finals in the last five years, the Sri Lankans are definitely looking to overcome the final jinx. West Indies, on the other hand, has been fighting hard to regain their lost status in world cricket and a win in Sri Lanka will give their cricket a huge boost.

I am in fact tempted to say that it is great for world cricket that these two deserving teams have made the final, giving the game a fillip in islands across the world. Time then to call play with Gayle taking strike to Kulasekara and Malinga.

ICC T20 World Cup: It`s Gayle versus Watson as Windies take on Aussies

Colombo: A determined Australian outfit will be aiming to eliminate the `Chris Gayle factor` when they meet a rejuvenated West Indies in the semi-final of the ICC World Twenty20 here on Friday.

For Australia, it will be a chance to get into the final for the second time in succession after the 2010 edition and once again stamp their class as world`s premier cricketing outfit.

For West Indies, it`s more about the identity and trying to fight the inner demons which have affected their cricket since late 80`s.

A berth in the final of a global event can be a big boost for the Caribbean nation where basketball, athletics and soccer have captured the imagination of the masses.



Therefore, it`s redemption time for both the teams although their circumstances are entirely different. Behind every `Big Battle`, there`s always a mini-battle that spices up a marquee contest.

On Friday when the two teams lock horns, it will also be a battle between Shane Watson and Chris Gayle.

If Watson, who has won four man-of-the-match awards in five matches, will play a key role in Australian set-up, Gayle can change the complexion of the match at any point of time with his ferocious power-hitting.

By sheer statistics, Watson is miles ahead of Gayle having scored 242 runs in five matches along with 11 wickets which makes him the favourite to win the `Player of the Tournament` award.

However, Gayle who has so far hit 10 sixes in five matches, has scored two 50`s and on his day can tear apart any bowling attack in the world.

The law of averages did catch up with Watson in the last match against Pakistan but that means that he will be hungrier than ever to take Aussies to the summit clash.




While Gayle and Watson will hold fort as the main protagonists for their respective sides, there will still be a few competent cricketers who will try to play the supporting roles to the best of their abilities.

Marlon Samuels has beautifully complemented Gayle. He might not look as destructive as Gayle from the onset but once set, can be as devastating as anybody.

For Australia, the main supporting role has been played by Mike Hussey whose responsible innings ensured smooth passage into the semi-finals.

Hussey has been a perfect foil which has enabled Watson to express himself. David Warner has had his moments but his presence has largely been subdued.

There are some obvious weak-links in both sides.

Australia`s main problem is lack of match time for their middle-order batsmen. The only time their middle-order got chance to showcase batting prowess, it failed miserably.

It`s certainly time that their skipper George Bailey leads from the front and earns respect for his team`s superb show in the tournament.

Similarly, the West Indian team`s pace attack is a little inferior in quality compared to Australia.

Fidel Edwards has the pace and Ravi Rampaul can be skiddy but Watson has more variations up his sleeve while Mitchell Starc has always been incisive in his first spells.

Squads:

Australia: George Bailey (c), Dan Christian, Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brad Hogg, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Shane Watson, Cameron White.

West Indies: Darren Sammy (captain), Dwayne Bravo (vice captain), Samuel Badree, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith.

Match starts at 1900 Hours (IST).