KOLKATA: The rub of the green might just go against MS Dhoni’s boys if it comes to a final showdown between Pakistan and India, says an Indian “scientific astrologer”.

Having based their hopes on current form, the home-advantage factor and head-to-head World Cup history involving India and Pakistan, Indian fans might like to believe otherwise.

But astrologer Greenstone Lobo, who says his analysis is research-based and scientific and who calls himself a “scientific astrologer”, predicts India will not win the World T20 this time.

The reason: Dhoni’s stars are not favourable.

In a signed column on Friday in Ananda Bazar Patrika, a leading Bengali daily from Kolkata, Lobo in fact mentions Pakistan as the likely Cup winners — should they manage to reach the final.

He does not analyse Shahid Afridi’s stars, and a note in the bottom of the article says prospects of the other teams and captains will follow in the coming days. But of this Lobo is sure — Dhoni’s cosmic luck has run out as far as “big events” are concerned.

Lobo says the Planet X, or asteroid 2007 RH283 — apparently an important star astrologically — falls in Dhoni’s 10th house of the cosmic chart, which implies loss.

According to him, a skipper may win a “few smaller events” when he enters a lean patch astrologically, but not the big ones.

To buttress his theory, Lobo mentions a bagful of “smaller” wins for Dhoni after the World Cup 2011 — the 2013 Champions trophy, the 2013 Champions League for Chennai Super Kings, the historic 3-0 whitewash of the Australians in Australia in January and more recently, the 2016 Asia Cup.

On the other hand, he argues, the three “big” trophies after this— the World T20 in 2012 and 2014, plus the 2015 ODI World Cup — eluded him.

The astrologer says March 19 will be “favourable” for Dhoni, and India will overcome Pakistan in the league stage in the Eden encounter.

But it will be Pakistan who will be the winners in the final, says Lobo, author of a book on astrology, ‘What Is Your True Zodiac Sign?’

The astrologer’s predictions ought to make Pakistani fans happy at a time when there has not been too much to enthuse them.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2016