No doubt they're still partying in India after what was a deserving win for their side who were the form team throughout the World Cup.

Now the challenge begins for Indian cricket to keep that consistency going over the next few years and hold their position at the top of world cricket, as the power of balance has shifted.

It's not going to be easy with a couple of guys heading towards the end of their careers and a re-jig to their team could bring them back to the pack.

What's on their side is depth and they're probably only going to have one or two players retire instead of four or five - which is what hurt Australia after the last World Cup.

Something tells me that Sachin Tendulkar will hang around for possibly three more years, which will no doubt help their cause, as he's still playing pretty well and certainly held his own in this World Cup.

As long as he's physically feeling alright he could have a couple more years left, and I think he has a few milestones in the back of his head that he wants to reach before he does give it away.

Is he the best cricketer of all time?

Don Bradman is one of those guys you can never compare to as he's out there on his own but Tendulkar is certainly the best player of the modern game.

His record and his consistency has been unbelievable.

The same goes for Muttiah Muralitharan whose record speaks for itself. He'll also be remembered as one of the best, with a little bit of controversy attached to him. He'll never get away from that but he's been allowed to play the game and you have to respect that.

Much like Murali's career the World Cup had a few road blocks as there were too many nothing games played due to the amount of minnows taking part in the tournament.

For a World Cup you want as many of the best teams playing each other as you can to create excitement for the fans and people watching on television. Every game has to have something on it. The ICC have recognised that with today's announcement of the 2015 tournament being reduced to 10 teams.

The minnows do have room to complain because they need the exposure against bigger teams or they're never going to improve. It would be more beneficial for both the World Cup and the minnows if the smaller nations had their own tournament and then play off for a spot at the World Cup.

As for New Zealand Cricket, their focus should be retaining the services of Allan Donald. I've always been a believer in getting people on board that have been there before and played the game at the highest level as they understand what it takes to perform at that level. Donald is certainly one of them.

He seems to bring a hard attitude to training and the way they think and the way they play on the field. That sort of stuff you can't buy. Someone like that can pass it on to the younger guys and the more they are exposed to it, the better they'll get. To have someone around that team with that calibre is a no brainer.

- HERALD ONLINE

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