Ok these are not predictions in the ‘astrological’ sense of the word. These are statements (or my memory of them) made by cricket commentators/writers in the last few years. Disclaimer: These are not ad-verbatim.

Sunil Gavaskar on Pakistan winning the 1992 World Cup:
This is one of those rare occassions when Sunil Gavaskar stuck his neck out, and got it right when he backed Pakistan during the 1992 World Cup, even though Pakistan got off to a bad start.

Dileep Sardesai on VVS Laxman before the 1999 tour of Australia:
Sardesai said that ‘…Laxman (is) as good as the big-three…‘! The big three being — Sachin Tendulkar, Saurab Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. This was the series where Laxman regained some pride for India with a masterful 167 in the last test at Sydney, which India lost (India lost the series too 0-3). Soon after that series Laxman made it the big-four!

David Gower on Saurav Ganguly before the 1999 World Cup:
‘…The player to watch from India is Saurav Ganguly…‘ This when we in India expected Sachin Tendulkar to be one and only name that should’ve cropped up for this. And Ganguly was the second highest run getter for India in the tournament — and hit that 183 in a (then) record-breaking partnership with Rahul Dravid against Sri Lanka at Taunton!

Ravi Shastri as a television commentator on India’s disastrous New Zealand tour of 2003:
After India, batting first, got out for 99 in the 2nd test at Hamilton. ‘…The crucial thing is India has got those runs, while New Zealand is yet to get them…‘ And then NZ got bowled out for 94 runs — Zaheer Khan taking 5 wickets for 29! (However, India still lost the match!)