What does Sri Lanka's loss to South Africa mean to their hopes for a semi-final spot? Well, definitely not the end of the road but I am sure if one works out the permutations and combinations, it would leave them in a situation of needed to win all but one of their games. And looking how hot Australia is at the moment, it is likely that Sri Lanka would have to win their games against New Zealand, England and West Indies to be sure of securing a spot in the semifinals.
Can they do it? I think they are definitely capable of doing it provided the top order fires on a more consistent basis. It is well known that Jayasurya is sure to give a very good start in atleast every alternate game. Where Sri Lanka have been hurt in the past few games though is the poor form of Mahela Jayawardene and the lack of runs from Sangakkara. While I am convinced that Sangakkara's case is only temporary, Mahela's struggle with the bat is definitely a big concern.
After the amazing run in the Natwest series in England which saw him being named among Wisden's five cricketers of the year and firm his position as captain of Sri Lanka, Mahela has gone through a lean patch of 22 games in which he has scored just 1 fifty (85 against Bermuda after he was dropped off the first ball) and averages 25.11. Surely not the sort of numbers one would expect off him. And what this has done is placed enormous pressure on the inexperienced middle order consisting of Lanka Silva, Dilshan and Arnold. Sri Lanka really need him to get back to his normal fluency and touch to have any chance of progressing.
I think he is also currently batting at the crucial #3 position and while it gives him time to build an innings, he has been guilty of throwing it away after wasting too many balls. One option would be to play one of the lower order players at #3 or maybe even try Maharoof in that position and drop himself down the order. Of course, trying Maharoof there would mean that Arnold gets left out in favor of another bowler in the form of Dilhara FErnando. There may also be a case for giving Attapattu at the top of the order. Anyway, there are definitely issues to ponder for the team management. But the easiest solution would be for Mahela to strike form and get some fluent runs.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
The chokers are back
Check this out.. South Africa 206/5, need FOUR runs to win with 5 wickets in hand in 5.2 overs. Malinga is the bowler, he has had a horrible day going for 49 runs in 7 overs in a low scoring game. Match in the kitty you would suppose. But wait, this is South Africa, nothing is over till the last run is obtained. Then this happened:
44.5: Malinga to Pollock, OUT, BINGO! Finally Malinga strikes, that is a superb bit of bowling. It's a slower ball on the stumps, Pollock just does not pick it, plays inside the line of the ball and loses his leg stump. Even with the game all but gone Sri Lanka are fighting. Pollock played a good hand but now he's gone!
44.6: Malinga to Hall, OUT, ANOTHER! Andrew Hall goes off the very first ball! It's another speared-in yorker, Hall just about manages to dig it out, but he can't keep the ball down ... it bobs up into the air for the man at cover to pouch easily! Is there a twise left in this game
46.1: Malinga to Kallis, OUT, Would you believe it? Malinga has got the hat-trick! Full, furious, outside off stump, Kallis goes for a square-drive and nicks it behind. Loud appeal. Kallis stays rooted. Even louder appeal and Harper raises the fatal finger. SA eight down and choking real badly.
46.2: Malinga to Ntini, OUT, And then they were one! Malinga gets four in four. Unbelievable! Screaming yorker and Ntini drives, bat comes inside the line and ball crashes into the off stump. Malinga is slinging down magic deliveries and SA are nine down.
In between Vaas bowled an over where Kallis took a single off the first ball. Wondering if the last pair can get the 3 runs needed. Langeveldt just got a single as they negotiated the last four balls of the Malinga over. Surely they have to finish it off against Vaas before Malinga comes back to bowl his next over. Or Will we have a tie between these two teams again?. Surely everyone remembers the previous world cup where South Africa got the D/L wrong and ended up tieing the game. Will South Africa have another tie in World cup matches?
Vaas bowls a maiden to Langeveldt. Over to Malinga again and two runs needed. Something tells me Sri Lanka are actually on top here. South Africa win Pieterson gets the expected edged FOUR and South Africa hold on to win what must have actually been an easy and convincing 5-wicket victory. Surely, that must have sent a few jitters in the dressing room and I am sure other teams will pick on it to play some mind games.
44.5: Malinga to Pollock, OUT, BINGO! Finally Malinga strikes, that is a superb bit of bowling. It's a slower ball on the stumps, Pollock just does not pick it, plays inside the line of the ball and loses his leg stump. Even with the game all but gone Sri Lanka are fighting. Pollock played a good hand but now he's gone!
44.6: Malinga to Hall, OUT, ANOTHER! Andrew Hall goes off the very first ball! It's another speared-in yorker, Hall just about manages to dig it out, but he can't keep the ball down ... it bobs up into the air for the man at cover to pouch easily! Is there a twise left in this game
46.1: Malinga to Kallis, OUT, Would you believe it? Malinga has got the hat-trick! Full, furious, outside off stump, Kallis goes for a square-drive and nicks it behind. Loud appeal. Kallis stays rooted. Even louder appeal and Harper raises the fatal finger. SA eight down and choking real badly.
46.2: Malinga to Ntini, OUT, And then they were one! Malinga gets four in four. Unbelievable! Screaming yorker and Ntini drives, bat comes inside the line and ball crashes into the off stump. Malinga is slinging down magic deliveries and SA are nine down.
In between Vaas bowled an over where Kallis took a single off the first ball. Wondering if the last pair can get the 3 runs needed. Langeveldt just got a single as they negotiated the last four balls of the Malinga over. Surely they have to finish it off against Vaas before Malinga comes back to bowl his next over. Or Will we have a tie between these two teams again?. Surely everyone remembers the previous world cup where South Africa got the D/L wrong and ended up tieing the game. Will South Africa have another tie in World cup matches?
Vaas bowls a maiden to Langeveldt. Over to Malinga again and two runs needed. Something tells me Sri Lanka are actually on top here. South Africa win Pieterson gets the expected edged FOUR and South Africa hold on to win what must have actually been an easy and convincing 5-wicket victory. Surely, that must have sent a few jitters in the dressing room and I am sure other teams will pick on it to play some mind games.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Bangladesh dump India out of WC 2007 officially
Bangladesh beat Bermuda and comfortably made it to the super eights of the cricket world cup. They join Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, West Indies, South Africa, England and Ireland in the next round of the World cup. I pick them to win convincingly against Ireland and also win against England :). I think Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa and West Indies will be my favorites for the semi-finals now. New Zealand have progressed with 2 points but the injury to Lou Vincent is a major blow and I don't see then winning enough games to make the next stage.
Meanwhile, its time for the Indian team to head back and get a good break before a very hectic season. Its time for the people who matter to sit down and see how to take the team forward. I don't think its time to start thinking about 2011 yet. They need some short term objectives like how to make it to the top of the rankings in the two lists. The senior players need to decide about their commitment to the future of the team and the selectors need to decide if they see them in the future plans.
Lets hope something good happens out of this loss for the future of Indian cricket
Meanwhile, its time for the Indian team to head back and get a good break before a very hectic season. Its time for the people who matter to sit down and see how to take the team forward. I don't think its time to start thinking about 2011 yet. They need some short term objectives like how to make it to the top of the rankings in the two lists. The senior players need to decide about their commitment to the future of the team and the selectors need to decide if they see them in the future plans.
Lets hope something good happens out of this loss for the future of Indian cricket
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Go Bermuda, give us one more chance :-)
Can Bermuda stop Bangladesh tomorrow and give India a totally unexpected and according to many, an undeserving second life? Stranger things have happened in cricket. Go Laverock and Romaine and Hemp and others. You have the support of a billion people tomorrow :). It will not happen too often in your cricketing history when your aspirations will be so eagerly supported by so many people :).
Government and CEOs unite in fixing Indian matches :-)
In a latest startling revelation, it has been learnt that Indian cricketers were instructed to throw away their games against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and fail to qualify for the super eights. It is learned from unidentified source that the government was worried about potential fallouts from the whole nation being sleep deprived following games that last all night. The top CEOs from several leading corporations are also said to have chipped in with money to help fix the games. They are said to believe that the early exit will increase the efficiency of millions of employees in the organization as they will no longer be sleep deprived when they turn up for work.
Disclaimer This article is just meant to be a joke and has no truth to it at least to be best of my knowledge :).
Disclaimer This article is just meant to be a joke and has no truth to it at least to be best of my knowledge :).
Indian cricket team, I still stand by you
It doesn't feel too good when I read this or this. I think its really unfair to blame Chappell for this defeat. Also, I think the questions from reporters at his press conference yesterday after the loss were ridiculous and downright insensitive. I can't believe that the reporters think that the captain and coach were dancing up and down after the loss and didn't care whatsoever. To borrow a line from Dravid's interview: "Nobody realizes the enormity of the defeat than the players. The players are the one who put in a lot of time. They worked really hard for this. It is an opportunity they get once in four years. It is something that you really look forward to in your career. So no-one understands the enormity of this more than the players".
I agree with Dravid. All we do is sit back and criticize. But just imagine how much a player goes through. They all dream about winning the World Cup. I am sure there is no greater joy than leading a team to winning a championship. So, I am sure they are all disappointed a zillions times more than an average Indian fan, who takes to the streets and burns effigies and throws stones at public properties because he has nothing better to do. Rather, I wish we rally around the team and stand by them. If only people had put in more constructive efforts after the defeat against Bangladesh and rallied for the team, maybe things would have been different. Apart from the BCCI president, no one came to the support of the team and everyone slammed them for losing to Bangladesh and created undue pressure for the next game. But, any rational cricket fan will also realize that Bangladesh has worked so hard on its game and they are no longer the bunnies of cricket and are well capable of pulling off an occasional upset. They have spent so much more time in WI and have played a few tough games against the other minnows and were clearly better prepared. The tame win against WI in the warm-up followed by a long break clearly affected our rhythm and by the time we realized it, it was too late.
And we clearly lost to a far superior team in Sri Lanka. Once again, to blame the defeat to a lack of effort is silly. I think the strategy was good, just the execution did not pay off. Uthappa was clearly given the license to go after the bowling and he started off well before Vaas pulled off a blinder. Saurav could have carried on his anchoring role for a while longer given Sehwag was blazing away but once again, Murali pulled off a stunner. Anyone who watched Sri Lanka bat will remember the numerous inside and outside edges fly past keeper or slips for boundaries. Sachin had one and it crashed bang onto leg stump. It just wasn't our day guys. And 10/10, Murali would have nailed Dhoni with that delivery, it was a beauty to receive as your first ball. We just couldn't do anything. It just want not meant to be.
I was upset that we lost. I think we are a far superior team than Bangladesh and Ireland and once we find out feet, we can knock any team. One just needs to look back to the previous world cup to realize that we can be slow starters. Effigies were burnt last world cup too and Sachin came up and asked supporters to have patience and rally behind the team and they had one of the most sterling runs to the finals. However, the format of this Would cup just didnt give them the chance. Who knows, if Bermuda knocks off Bangladesh tomorrow, the team may come back strongly for all you know. One extremely bad day against Bangladesh caught us on the wrong foot and potentially caused our elimination from the championship. But that does not make the and hard work and processes wrong.
It is for this reason that I think its important for fans to rally behind the team and show support and faith. We have done the criticizing job a lot, let try the other option now. Greg started off two years ago, trying to streamline Indian cricket and introduce processes. Things worked beautifully before some people lost form and everyone scrambled for Greg's head. If we had shown patience, things might have been different, who knows. So, its time to show support to Greg and allow him to carry his process forward. Its time to bring the youngsters back and for the seniors to play the support role in building the team for the future.
I am not saying everything the team did is right. It still annoys me that they don't realize that some times the best option is to look for singles instead of hitting out. It annoys me that they can't hit the stumps with direct hits when it matters. It annoys me that they can't stop bowling wides and no-balls. It still annoys me that they cant win crunch games. It still annoys me that they don't show consistency in winning games. It still annoys me that a team with Dravid, Ganguly and Sachin cannot bully opponents. It still annoys me that the team cannot improve on its ground fielding, that the belief seems to be that 34-year old's cannot field well rather than the them taking an effort to improve like Murali showed . It takes a heart first to get things right. If your thinking is that I can score 10 extra runs to make up for my lapses in the fielding, you have lost half the battle. It still annoys me that there is a team starting with 'I' in the super eights of the World cup and that team is not India. But, I still want to stand by them and help them rebuild.
I agree with Dravid. All we do is sit back and criticize. But just imagine how much a player goes through. They all dream about winning the World Cup. I am sure there is no greater joy than leading a team to winning a championship. So, I am sure they are all disappointed a zillions times more than an average Indian fan, who takes to the streets and burns effigies and throws stones at public properties because he has nothing better to do. Rather, I wish we rally around the team and stand by them. If only people had put in more constructive efforts after the defeat against Bangladesh and rallied for the team, maybe things would have been different. Apart from the BCCI president, no one came to the support of the team and everyone slammed them for losing to Bangladesh and created undue pressure for the next game. But, any rational cricket fan will also realize that Bangladesh has worked so hard on its game and they are no longer the bunnies of cricket and are well capable of pulling off an occasional upset. They have spent so much more time in WI and have played a few tough games against the other minnows and were clearly better prepared. The tame win against WI in the warm-up followed by a long break clearly affected our rhythm and by the time we realized it, it was too late.
And we clearly lost to a far superior team in Sri Lanka. Once again, to blame the defeat to a lack of effort is silly. I think the strategy was good, just the execution did not pay off. Uthappa was clearly given the license to go after the bowling and he started off well before Vaas pulled off a blinder. Saurav could have carried on his anchoring role for a while longer given Sehwag was blazing away but once again, Murali pulled off a stunner. Anyone who watched Sri Lanka bat will remember the numerous inside and outside edges fly past keeper or slips for boundaries. Sachin had one and it crashed bang onto leg stump. It just wasn't our day guys. And 10/10, Murali would have nailed Dhoni with that delivery, it was a beauty to receive as your first ball. We just couldn't do anything. It just want not meant to be.
I was upset that we lost. I think we are a far superior team than Bangladesh and Ireland and once we find out feet, we can knock any team. One just needs to look back to the previous world cup to realize that we can be slow starters. Effigies were burnt last world cup too and Sachin came up and asked supporters to have patience and rally behind the team and they had one of the most sterling runs to the finals. However, the format of this Would cup just didnt give them the chance. Who knows, if Bermuda knocks off Bangladesh tomorrow, the team may come back strongly for all you know. One extremely bad day against Bangladesh caught us on the wrong foot and potentially caused our elimination from the championship. But that does not make the and hard work and processes wrong.
It is for this reason that I think its important for fans to rally behind the team and show support and faith. We have done the criticizing job a lot, let try the other option now. Greg started off two years ago, trying to streamline Indian cricket and introduce processes. Things worked beautifully before some people lost form and everyone scrambled for Greg's head. If we had shown patience, things might have been different, who knows. So, its time to show support to Greg and allow him to carry his process forward. Its time to bring the youngsters back and for the seniors to play the support role in building the team for the future.
I am not saying everything the team did is right. It still annoys me that they don't realize that some times the best option is to look for singles instead of hitting out. It annoys me that they can't hit the stumps with direct hits when it matters. It annoys me that they can't stop bowling wides and no-balls. It still annoys me that they cant win crunch games. It still annoys me that they don't show consistency in winning games. It still annoys me that a team with Dravid, Ganguly and Sachin cannot bully opponents. It still annoys me that the team cannot improve on its ground fielding, that the belief seems to be that 34-year old's cannot field well rather than the them taking an effort to improve like Murali showed . It takes a heart first to get things right. If your thinking is that I can score 10 extra runs to make up for my lapses in the fielding, you have lost half the battle. It still annoys me that there is a team starting with 'I' in the super eights of the World cup and that team is not India. But, I still want to stand by them and help them rebuild.
Its time to move on
What should the Indian team for the future read? I think it should have Sehwag, Uthappa, Kaif, Yuvraj, Raina, Dhoni, Pathan, Sreesanth, Zaheer, Munaf, Karthik, Romesh Pawar and a couple of other youngsters identified from the under 19 teams. I have purposefully left the big three out of this team but that does not necessarily mean they should call it quits from international cricket. Rather, I think they have a big role to play in building this team and for this reason, I recommend that they be in the squad for the next few tournaments but take turns in actually playing in the XI.
I honestly don't see Dravid, Ganguly and Sachin playing the next world cup. Even if they retain fitness and batting form, there is no way they are going to be a world class fielders and I hope Indians have realized from this campaign that fielding is a big part of today's modern day cricket. But, Indian cricket has a lot to benefit from the experience of these three cricketers and I am sure they are more than willing to help in the process too after the humiliating defeat in this World cup.
I think our other problem is that we cant see a new captain yet. Viru has struggled and Yuvraj seems to be the next option based on position in the team but I just cant seem him as a captain. My choice would have been Kaif but he is struggling to find a place in the team too. So all things considered, I think Dravid needs to continue in that role for a while longer till someone puts his hand up and stakes a claim.
I think all of us have been privileged to watch these three great crickets (and Anil Kumble) and it was sad to see them bow out the way they did. The perfect defensive pose of Sachin with the stump pegged back will be something that I will to forget for days to come. Its time for them to help rebuild the team over the next two years and then move out of the way in a dignified manner and cheer the team of youngsters in the next world cup.
I honestly don't see Dravid, Ganguly and Sachin playing the next world cup. Even if they retain fitness and batting form, there is no way they are going to be a world class fielders and I hope Indians have realized from this campaign that fielding is a big part of today's modern day cricket. But, Indian cricket has a lot to benefit from the experience of these three cricketers and I am sure they are more than willing to help in the process too after the humiliating defeat in this World cup.
I think our other problem is that we cant see a new captain yet. Viru has struggled and Yuvraj seems to be the next option based on position in the team but I just cant seem him as a captain. My choice would have been Kaif but he is struggling to find a place in the team too. So all things considered, I think Dravid needs to continue in that role for a while longer till someone puts his hand up and stakes a claim.
I think all of us have been privileged to watch these three great crickets (and Anil Kumble) and it was sad to see them bow out the way they did. The perfect defensive pose of Sachin with the stump pegged back will be something that I will to forget for days to come. Its time for them to help rebuild the team over the next two years and then move out of the way in a dignified manner and cheer the team of youngsters in the next world cup.
Friday, March 23, 2007
SL shatter the hopes of billions
So, here is the first big day in World Cup 2007: Will India win and stay in the tournament? Or will the two big teams from the sub-continent be eliminated by the second round with Sri Lanka left to carry the Asian hopes in the rest of the tournament? We have a cracker of a contest on our hands.
Toss and team news
Rahul Dravid got his first wish of winning the toss and chasing. Both the Indian captain and Sri Lankan coach emphasized the importance of toss yesterday and hence one should say: first strike India. But again, this is a decision that could backfire if the pitch deteriorates a bit, as it would mean playing into Murali's hands during the chase. I think for this strategy to work, the Indian bowlers really need to strike line and length in the early overs and capture a few good wickets, especially Jayasurya. He had not done well in two games in a row in a while if my memory serves me right. So, lets see.
Also, Indians have decided to just go in with only one change: Harbhajan for Kumble. This was not too surprising given how much Kumble has struggled against Sri Lanka. There might have been a case to play Sreesanth but the team management have kept their faith in Agarkar. Keeping faith is something that has worked for this management in the past and hopefully it will pay off again. I am going to keep my fingers crossed and hope that Indians improve on the 10-2 recent winning record against Sri Lankans.
World Cup final 2003 nightmare?
A poor first over from Zaheer, probably not as bad as the World cup but a very poor start. 2 wides down the leg and 4 out of 6 balls going down the leg too..
But what a start by Agarkar. Two lovely deliveries, the first of which was clearly OUT! But Harper probably thought it was going down the leg. Indians definitely need some luck going their way to have a chance to win this game.
Excellent bowling by opening bowlers
After the horrible first over by Zaheer, the Indian bowlers came back strongly to bown excellent lines and exploited the conditions perfectly. With a little bit more luck, they should have had Sri Lanka in dire straits but that was not to happen and they just had to be content with Jayasuriya's wicket after what was an amazing over from Zaheer. Jayasuriya fell in his usual fashion caught at third man. And then Zaheer followed it up with a beautiful over to Jayawardene and with a little bit of luck, should have had his man. There have been four boundaries in 11 overs, two of which have been straky edges and two frustrated heaves over the in field. However, one area of concern for Indians is that the wides still keep coming.
Sri Lanka have by no means run away with the game and Indians have done well to keep them in check. If India can get Jayawardene and Sangakkara early, it will be awesome from Indian point of view.
Game still wide open
It been tough cricket all morning for both team with neither team taking a clear hold on the game. Indians would certainly be happy with the way things have gone so far with Sri Lanka only scoring 78 in the first 20 overs for the loss of two wickets and the powerplays done. But they would have ideally loved atleast one more wicket. Sri Lanka on the other hand will be happy to wait for the fifth bowler now and slowly accelerate. If they can keep wickets in check for another 15 overs and get to around 150 at the end of 35 overs, they will still fancy a total of around 280 which would be a handful on this wicket against the Sri Lankan bowlers. Also, a special mention here for a stunning catch by Dhoni to see the back of Jayawardene. It was a bad ball from Agarkar but he deserved the wicket considering how well he bowled all morning.
Game set and match Sri Lanka
Yes, its over from India's point of view for this world cup (well there is a theoretical probability of BErmuda beating Bangladesh, but lets face it, its not going to happen realistically). Sri Lanka finished with 254, a tad more than they should have considering the big three were dismissed cheaply but the young guys held their nerve and batted beautifully. Chamara Silva has really come off age and he is definitely looking an excellent prospect for Sri Lanka.
Indian reply was a disaster. They started off well and the game plan seemed to be the stroke makers play around Ganguly. Uthappa started of well and was stunned by an amazing return catch by Vaas. Sehwag looked in excellent touch and Indians were well in the game having almost seen out Vaas when in a rush of blood, Ganguly charged him and held out to mid off. It was a needless stroke and was perhaps the turning point of the match and Tendulkar's dismissal immediately made things difficult. But, there was still a lot of batting to come and until the back-to-back dismissals of Yuvraj to a stupid needless run out and Dhoni first ball put an end to all hopes. It is this tendency to lose wickets in quick succession that has hurt India the most. Dravid stayed and played with cramps carrying the hopes of a billion people but it was a lost cause by then and just a formality.
I doubt if anyone even discussed the possibility of India and Pakistan not being in the super eight before the start of the tournament. I doubt there were many people who did not pick India in the semi-final either. Just goes on to show how wonderful this game of cricket is. I think they just had a bad day at office against Bangladesh and were totally outplayed today. I think such things happen and its going to be very difficult for the team to pick themselves up from this defeat. It will be interesting to see who will call quits at the end, but I still think there is nothing to be ashamed about and I am still a proud Indian cricket fan.
Toss and team news
Rahul Dravid got his first wish of winning the toss and chasing. Both the Indian captain and Sri Lankan coach emphasized the importance of toss yesterday and hence one should say: first strike India. But again, this is a decision that could backfire if the pitch deteriorates a bit, as it would mean playing into Murali's hands during the chase. I think for this strategy to work, the Indian bowlers really need to strike line and length in the early overs and capture a few good wickets, especially Jayasurya. He had not done well in two games in a row in a while if my memory serves me right. So, lets see.
Also, Indians have decided to just go in with only one change: Harbhajan for Kumble. This was not too surprising given how much Kumble has struggled against Sri Lanka. There might have been a case to play Sreesanth but the team management have kept their faith in Agarkar. Keeping faith is something that has worked for this management in the past and hopefully it will pay off again. I am going to keep my fingers crossed and hope that Indians improve on the 10-2 recent winning record against Sri Lankans.
World Cup final 2003 nightmare?
A poor first over from Zaheer, probably not as bad as the World cup but a very poor start. 2 wides down the leg and 4 out of 6 balls going down the leg too..
But what a start by Agarkar. Two lovely deliveries, the first of which was clearly OUT! But Harper probably thought it was going down the leg. Indians definitely need some luck going their way to have a chance to win this game.
Excellent bowling by opening bowlers
After the horrible first over by Zaheer, the Indian bowlers came back strongly to bown excellent lines and exploited the conditions perfectly. With a little bit more luck, they should have had Sri Lanka in dire straits but that was not to happen and they just had to be content with Jayasuriya's wicket after what was an amazing over from Zaheer. Jayasuriya fell in his usual fashion caught at third man. And then Zaheer followed it up with a beautiful over to Jayawardene and with a little bit of luck, should have had his man. There have been four boundaries in 11 overs, two of which have been straky edges and two frustrated heaves over the in field. However, one area of concern for Indians is that the wides still keep coming.
Sri Lanka have by no means run away with the game and Indians have done well to keep them in check. If India can get Jayawardene and Sangakkara early, it will be awesome from Indian point of view.
Game still wide open
It been tough cricket all morning for both team with neither team taking a clear hold on the game. Indians would certainly be happy with the way things have gone so far with Sri Lanka only scoring 78 in the first 20 overs for the loss of two wickets and the powerplays done. But they would have ideally loved atleast one more wicket. Sri Lanka on the other hand will be happy to wait for the fifth bowler now and slowly accelerate. If they can keep wickets in check for another 15 overs and get to around 150 at the end of 35 overs, they will still fancy a total of around 280 which would be a handful on this wicket against the Sri Lankan bowlers. Also, a special mention here for a stunning catch by Dhoni to see the back of Jayawardene. It was a bad ball from Agarkar but he deserved the wicket considering how well he bowled all morning.
Game set and match Sri Lanka
Yes, its over from India's point of view for this world cup (well there is a theoretical probability of BErmuda beating Bangladesh, but lets face it, its not going to happen realistically). Sri Lanka finished with 254, a tad more than they should have considering the big three were dismissed cheaply but the young guys held their nerve and batted beautifully. Chamara Silva has really come off age and he is definitely looking an excellent prospect for Sri Lanka.
Indian reply was a disaster. They started off well and the game plan seemed to be the stroke makers play around Ganguly. Uthappa started of well and was stunned by an amazing return catch by Vaas. Sehwag looked in excellent touch and Indians were well in the game having almost seen out Vaas when in a rush of blood, Ganguly charged him and held out to mid off. It was a needless stroke and was perhaps the turning point of the match and Tendulkar's dismissal immediately made things difficult. But, there was still a lot of batting to come and until the back-to-back dismissals of Yuvraj to a stupid needless run out and Dhoni first ball put an end to all hopes. It is this tendency to lose wickets in quick succession that has hurt India the most. Dravid stayed and played with cramps carrying the hopes of a billion people but it was a lost cause by then and just a formality.
I doubt if anyone even discussed the possibility of India and Pakistan not being in the super eight before the start of the tournament. I doubt there were many people who did not pick India in the semi-final either. Just goes on to show how wonderful this game of cricket is. I think they just had a bad day at office against Bangladesh and were totally outplayed today. I think such things happen and its going to be very difficult for the team to pick themselves up from this defeat. It will be interesting to see who will call quits at the end, but I still think there is nothing to be ashamed about and I am still a proud Indian cricket fan.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
My Indian team for vital clash against SL
Here is the team I would like to see play against Sri Lanka for the vital group match on Friday. Ganguly and Sehwag, Dravid, Sachin, Yuvraj, Dhoni and Pathan (floaters in the batting order), Harbhajan (I think he does a better restricting job in the middle overs than Kumble), Zaheer, Sreesanth and Munaf. Pathan is mainly in as a batsman given his performance against Muralitharan in the series in India. He was one of the few batsmen to play Murali convincingly both in the tests and ODIs.
I think Sreesanth is a risk worth taking due to his wicket taking abilities, especially with the new ball. We need to knock a few off the top order off early to have a chance. And I count Sreesanth and Pathan together as a fourth bowler and the usual assortment of spin finishing the fifth bowler duties unless both Sree and Pathan have a great day with the ball :). And Harbhajan gets in the team because of the risk of playing Sreesanth, need someone who can atleast pull things back in the middle overs.
I would like Pathan to be the floater in the batting line up. If India is batting first and the ball is swinging around and we lose an early wicket, Dravid should come out to bat and steady things down for the first few overs. But if the openers see the shine off the new ball, then there is a case for Pathan (or even Dhoni) at #3 to improve the run rate.
It is going to be a great game and I am still backing India to come through this game and stay in the tournament. Sehwag staying at the wicket is going to be really crucial because he has played Malinga well traditionally and it will be important to do the same here as Vaas is definitely to choke one end up in the early overs.
I think Sreesanth is a risk worth taking due to his wicket taking abilities, especially with the new ball. We need to knock a few off the top order off early to have a chance. And I count Sreesanth and Pathan together as a fourth bowler and the usual assortment of spin finishing the fifth bowler duties unless both Sree and Pathan have a great day with the ball :). And Harbhajan gets in the team because of the risk of playing Sreesanth, need someone who can atleast pull things back in the middle overs.
I would like Pathan to be the floater in the batting line up. If India is batting first and the ball is swinging around and we lose an early wicket, Dravid should come out to bat and steady things down for the first few overs. But if the openers see the shine off the new ball, then there is a case for Pathan (or even Dhoni) at #3 to improve the run rate.
It is going to be a great game and I am still backing India to come through this game and stay in the tournament. Sehwag staying at the wicket is going to be really crucial because he has played Malinga well traditionally and it will be important to do the same here as Vaas is definitely to choke one end up in the early overs.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Vaughan's insecurity costs Flintoff his vice captaincy?
Flintoff's sacking as vice-captain following his drinking episode following the loss to New Zealand in the first match has come at the wrong time for me. Even if one assumes that this has been on for a long time and that Flintoff has been given sufficient warnings, I don't think a big stage like the World cup is a place to publicly declare these things and punish the erring player. What more, he was the vice-captain of a team where the fitness of the captain is rather iffy (just as I write this, Vaughan tipped over a pot hole and injured himself again, though we are made to believe its not serious).
Just play this scenario out: Vaughan is injured and ruled out of a game, Flintoff is now sacked and the only other person who has led the team is Strauss and he is currently struggling to find a place in the team. So, who will lead the team? Presumably, it will go to Collingwood but definitely its not an ideal situation to be in. And it is for this reason that I think sacking of Flintoff is downright stupid. If England really wanted to get down hard on his drinking problems, they should have just suspended him for an inconsequential game and ended it there. It will be interesting to see now if he can recover from the public embarrassment and concentrate on the task at hand in England's crucial game against Kenya.
Finally, I think the whole issue also reflects Michael Vaughan's insecurity. It is no secret that Vaughan loves his captaincy role. So did Vaughan feel threatened by Flintoff's performance as captain and hence was looking for an opportunity to get rid of the threat? Some reports say that the publicity provided to the issue effectively rules out Flintoff's captaincy chances in future. If that is indeed the case, maybe Vaughan can now rest easy :).
Just play this scenario out: Vaughan is injured and ruled out of a game, Flintoff is now sacked and the only other person who has led the team is Strauss and he is currently struggling to find a place in the team. So, who will lead the team? Presumably, it will go to Collingwood but definitely its not an ideal situation to be in. And it is for this reason that I think sacking of Flintoff is downright stupid. If England really wanted to get down hard on his drinking problems, they should have just suspended him for an inconsequential game and ended it there. It will be interesting to see now if he can recover from the public embarrassment and concentrate on the task at hand in England's crucial game against Kenya.
Finally, I think the whole issue also reflects Michael Vaughan's insecurity. It is no secret that Vaughan loves his captaincy role. So did Vaughan feel threatened by Flintoff's performance as captain and hence was looking for an opportunity to get rid of the threat? Some reports say that the publicity provided to the issue effectively rules out Flintoff's captaincy chances in future. If that is indeed the case, maybe Vaughan can now rest easy :).
Ireland joins WI, Aus, RSA, NZ in super eights
Ireland is officially into the super eights of the 2007 World cup. With Pakistan beating Zimbabwe, it has officially confirmed Ireland's place in the super eight. I guess in some ways it calls for celebration that a minnow has made it to the next stage of this World cup. At the same time, I just hope that their one off performance does not reduce the quality of the tournament going forward. I mean, lets face it, Ireland were helped by the unexpected tie against Zimbabwe when Zimbabwe were cruising towards the target and some pretty shoddy batting by Pakistan. If Zimbabwe had won that game, it would have resulted in a 3-way tie and Pakistan might have actually sneaked through still. Realistically, does Ireland even stand a chance of making a match against the remaining teams in the tournament? My answer is a definite NO unless England makes it through :). So overall, it weakens the quality of the tournament. Granted Pakistan had an off day, but still you want to see the top teams battle against each other in the main stage of the tournament. It does not take long for one to realize how Pakistan themselves were almost knocked out of the tournament in 1992, but still came back to win the cup.
Anyway, rules are rules and Ireland is through to help create more World records. Who will be the other teams joining these five already in the super 8? I think Sri Lanka already has a foot in there, even if they lose to India. The drubbing of Bangladesh has improved their NRR drastically and it is unlikely that India is going to go above them in the points table even if they beat Sri Lanka. So, that would still leave the battle between Bangladesh and India for the second spot with Sri Lanka qualifying. My heart wants India to qualify and I think they will with a close win against Sri Lanka. If India fails to qualify, it would be a disaster commercially too.
Finally, I am not convinced England has an easy passage to the next round. Given their sorry state of affairs with respect to drinking and discipline issues, and their erratic bowling in the previous rounds, I think the match between Kenya and England is going to be a close one. And I am going to pick Kenya to come out winners, unless Mr Kevin Pieterson has one of those days where he murders the bowlers. If Kenya can restrict KP to a small score, I think they stand a very good chance of pulling off a surprise. And surely the semi-finalists of the previous world cup making it to the elite eight of this version won't be that big a surprise would it? :).
Anyway, rules are rules and Ireland is through to help create more World records. Who will be the other teams joining these five already in the super 8? I think Sri Lanka already has a foot in there, even if they lose to India. The drubbing of Bangladesh has improved their NRR drastically and it is unlikely that India is going to go above them in the points table even if they beat Sri Lanka. So, that would still leave the battle between Bangladesh and India for the second spot with Sri Lanka qualifying. My heart wants India to qualify and I think they will with a close win against Sri Lanka. If India fails to qualify, it would be a disaster commercially too.
Finally, I am not convinced England has an easy passage to the next round. Given their sorry state of affairs with respect to drinking and discipline issues, and their erratic bowling in the previous rounds, I think the match between Kenya and England is going to be a close one. And I am going to pick Kenya to come out winners, unless Mr Kevin Pieterson has one of those days where he murders the bowlers. If Kenya can restrict KP to a small score, I think they stand a very good chance of pulling off a surprise. And surely the semi-finalists of the previous world cup making it to the elite eight of this version won't be that big a surprise would it? :).
SL creams Bangladesh
Sri Lanka bought Bangladesh back down to earth with a convincing 199 run victory. Bangladesh, who must have had their hopes and expectations high after their wins against New Zealand in the warmup game and India in their earlier league game, were comprehensively outplayed in all departments of the game. To everyone's surprise, their fielding let them down with lots of dropped catches and missed run out opportunities and once SL had 318 on the board, it was always going to be a difficult task chasing.
The drubbing affects Bangladesh's chances of qualifying if India wins against Sri Lanka. If India loses, then Bangladesh just needs to win against Bermuda to go through to the super eights. But if India manages to win against Sri Lanka, I think it is almost going to be impossible for Bangladesh to qualify. Bangladesh would have to make up for the thumping loss against Sri Lanka in addition to beating Bermuda by a huge margin like India and Sri Lanka did (assuming India is not going to trash Sri Lanka).
Anyway, the match between India and Sri Lanka on Friday should be a cracker of a contest. And I totally back the Indian team to pick themselves up and get past Sri Lanka. The key to winning the game is how Indians tackle Malinga and Muralitharan (Vaas will bowl at his economical best but I think Indians should be wise not to lose wickets to him and play him out for 40 runs or so). Sehwag has done well against Malinga in general. There may also be a case for playing Pathan in this game as a batsman in place of Uthappa. Pathan is another player who has batted well against Murali and Malinga in the games in India. There would also be a case for playing Sreesanth in place of Agarkar who has looked a bit out of sorts in the first two games, although he ended with three wkts against Bermuda.
The drubbing affects Bangladesh's chances of qualifying if India wins against Sri Lanka. If India loses, then Bangladesh just needs to win against Bermuda to go through to the super eights. But if India manages to win against Sri Lanka, I think it is almost going to be impossible for Bangladesh to qualify. Bangladesh would have to make up for the thumping loss against Sri Lanka in addition to beating Bermuda by a huge margin like India and Sri Lanka did (assuming India is not going to trash Sri Lanka).
Anyway, the match between India and Sri Lanka on Friday should be a cracker of a contest. And I totally back the Indian team to pick themselves up and get past Sri Lanka. The key to winning the game is how Indians tackle Malinga and Muralitharan (Vaas will bowl at his economical best but I think Indians should be wise not to lose wickets to him and play him out for 40 runs or so). Sehwag has done well against Malinga in general. There may also be a case for playing Pathan in this game as a batsman in place of Uthappa. Pathan is another player who has batted well against Murali and Malinga in the games in India. There would also be a case for playing Sreesanth in place of Agarkar who has looked a bit out of sorts in the first two games, although he ended with three wkts against Bermuda.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Cricket world shocked by Woolmer's death
Just a day after Pakistan were shockingly thrown out of the World cup, their coach Bob Woolmer passed away. The exact reasons for his death are not known at this point but given the timing, speculation is that it was related to the pressure of his high-profile coaching job. Its truly an extremely sad day in cricketing circles.
I hope at least now fans around the world start to appreciate the amount of stress and pressure people go through just to perform at this stage. A nice article on this topic by Dileep Ramachandran can be found here
I hope at least now fans around the world start to appreciate the amount of stress and pressure people go through just to perform at this stage. A nice article on this topic by Dileep Ramachandran can be found here
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Ireland dump Pakistan out of World cup on St Patrick's day
What a day!! Just minutes after Bangladesh upset India, Ireland dumped Pakistan out of the World cup with their three wicket victory against Pakistan. After bowling them out for 132, NJ O'Brien batted beautifully to take IReland close to glory. But when he threw his wicket away, there was a minor flutter before his brother steadied the ship and Johnston sealed the match with a SIX, reaching the original target of 133 (even though the D/L target was only 128). Just a perfect finish for the Irish fans on St Patrick's day and I am sure the bars are going to be full in celebration.
The second straight loss means Pakistan is definitely out of the tournament and Ireland has a very good chance of progressing. Zimbabwe could win one of their two remaining games against WI or Pakistan, which would bring them level with Ireland. West Indies on the other hand needs to win one of its remaining two games to assure themselves of a safe passage to the super eights.
And what are my thoughts about the possibility of three unexpected teams being in the elite eight? Well, its mixed. I would be extremely thrilled if these teams go on to play at the same level in the remaining matches. But my sense is that it is probably a one-off performance (which has more to do with the favorite team throwing it away like Pakistan did today) and they will get walloped in all the 6 games in the next round making it a poor World cup for the fans. That said, I think Bangladesh really have the team to cause a few more upsets though if they proceed. They have a good team, there were in West Indies early and they are definitely well prepared under Dave Whatmore.
The second straight loss means Pakistan is definitely out of the tournament and Ireland has a very good chance of progressing. Zimbabwe could win one of their two remaining games against WI or Pakistan, which would bring them level with Ireland. West Indies on the other hand needs to win one of its remaining two games to assure themselves of a safe passage to the super eights.
And what are my thoughts about the possibility of three unexpected teams being in the elite eight? Well, its mixed. I would be extremely thrilled if these teams go on to play at the same level in the remaining matches. But my sense is that it is probably a one-off performance (which has more to do with the favorite team throwing it away like Pakistan did today) and they will get walloped in all the 6 games in the next round making it a poor World cup for the fans. That said, I think Bangladesh really have the team to cause a few more upsets though if they proceed. They have a good team, there were in West Indies early and they are definitely well prepared under Dave Whatmore.
Bangladesh upset tournament favorites India
Indian skipper Dravid won the toss and chose to bat on a pitch that seemed slightly iffy when Sri Lanka played Bermuda couple of days earlier. Most people were surprised to find Ganguly open with Sehwag but I expected that to happen. And despite Sehwag failing once again, I am not going to criticize the move that much. Sehwag is in the team of 15 people and needs every chance to find his form back. Or Dravid needs to be certain in his mind that he has had his chances and will not play any more in the World cup. With that it mind, I am sure he will play again against Bermuda. The danger then though is that if he fails again, it would mean the other option in Dinesh Karthik will have no match practice whatsoever if needed to play the big games subsequently.
What should be an even greater concern is that inability of Utthappa to play a big knock either. It is well documented that he can play good little cameo's but he needs to assert himself and play a big knock sooner or later.
These things aside, even the experienced duo of Ganguly and Sachin were struggling against some good line and length bowling from Mortaza and Rezel. As always, singles were totally non-existent and there were more than 70 dot balls in the first 13 overs. At the first drinks break, Indians were struggling at 38/2 in 14 overs.
Time to panic?
At the end of 28 overs, Indians were struggling further at 84/4 with Tendulkar and Dravid dismissed. Clearly not the start to the tournament that the Indians would have hoped for. But I still think a bit of sensible play and a good partnership between Yuvraj and Ganguly should easily enable a score of 220 which would be defendable. And if Indians can achieve it, they would still benefit from the work out. But if they don't, I dread to think of the repercussions :).
Total chaos
Things went exactly as they should have with Yuvraj and Ganguly stringing together a wonderful partnership and Indians were at 156/4 at the end of the 43 over with the two batsmen gaining some momentum and scoring a few boundaries. And then it all fell apart completely in a span of 3 overs. Indians lost 5 wickets for just the addition of 3 runs, yes you read me right. Yuvraj was the first to go top-edging a sweep and Ganguly followed immediately, failing once again in his numerous down the track attempts (he used to be the best in dancing down the track to hit a leg spinner over mid on but it never worked today). Then the big one, Dhoni cut straight to short third-man and any hopes of 200 total ended there. But with all the news about how tail enders bat a lot, you still hoped that the bowlers would be able to string together a total of 185 but Harbhajan and Agarkar followed in quick succession for ducks too to leave India at 159/9 with almost 5 overs left to play. How much can Munaf and Zaheer add? Can we get a few lucky runs to score around 175? Indians have won 8/11 matches defending totals between 175 and 200 according to homer, so will it happen again? Keeping fingers crossed.
Indians finish at 191
A good 32 run partnership between Munaf and Zaheer gave India a decent 191 to defend. It looked like they wont have anything more than 160 to defend at one stage but Munaf and Zaheer did will to add another 32 overs and more importantly consume all but 3 balls of the quota of 50 overs. Bangladesh would no doubt be extremely thrilled with this performance and a good batting effort should clearly see the upset of this world cup. But, I hope the Indians come fired up and take a left out of the Bangladesh opening bowlers and a few quick early wickets would make for a great game. In sum though, it was a totally disappointing performance from one of the favorites of the tournament. To put things in perspective, after Ganguly's 66 and Yuvi's 47, the next highest scores were 15* by Zaheer and 15 by Munaf. Even if the bowlers miraculously save the day for India, they have a lot of work to do to make any progress in this tournament.
Zaheer strikes after the opening bowlers were all over the shop
Just when one expected the Indians to take cue from the Bangladesh opening bowlers and bowl a tight line and length in the first few overs, Zaheer and Agarkar were all over the place for the first four overs before Zaheer got one to cut back in beautifully for first strike. The only way Indians are going to win this game is by bowling Bangladesh out and for that, Agarkar needs to bowl much better than he is right now. Zaheer seems to have found some rhythm and is doing a great job but needs support from the other end now. Or maybe its time to switch Agarkar with Munaf early.
And just as I say this, Tamim Iqbal hits Zaheer for two consecutive boundaries, the second an arrogant down the track shot. Makes you wonder how Gangs never connected any despite attempting the same numerous times.
Tamim Iqbal leads the way
Tamim Iqbal cut lose and played some audacious shots to put Bangladesh well and truly in a comfortable position chasing a small total of 192. He scored a wonderful 50, continuously waltzing down the track to hoik the fast bowlers over the in field. Granted that some of them were top edges, but you need to show the desire to take on the bowlers especially when chasing a small target. When he fell to Munaf's persistent delivery in the corridor, Bangladesh were comfortably placed at 69/2 in the 12th over. Can they hold their nerves to bat sensibly from here on? Can the spinners get a few good wickets to pull India back? A wonderful contest is on the cards for sure.
Bangladesh sitting pretty
Unless Bangladesh do something stupid like India and lose 5 wickets in 3 overs, they should be able to nail the remaining 82 runs in 25 overs comfortably. At the half way stage of the innings, they were sitting in a comfortable position at 109/3 with two well settled batsmen in the middle. And with Habibul Bashar and Ashraful to bat still, it is going to a very special effort from some to help India pull this one back. Apart from Munaf, none of the other Indian bowlers really look like taking wickets and this is where Harbhajan's inability to take wickets in ODIs is hurting Indians too.
Bangladesh complete memorable victory
Bangladesh held their nerve to complete a memorable win against India. Considering that they upset New Zealand in the warm up games and given their bowling attack that is well suited to these conditions, it would not surprise me if they make further progress in this tournament as long as their batsmen play consistently. This group is now wide open and assuming Sri Lanka will win their game against Bangladesh, it sets up the final game between India and Sri Lanka as a key encounter which India might have to win convincingly to have a chance. But it was indeed a great day with one big sub-continent team knocked out of the tournament and another one that is going to struggle to progress. What a tournament this is turning out already! We might have Ireland, Bangladesh and I won't rule out Kenya either in the last eight? Awesome :).
What should be an even greater concern is that inability of Utthappa to play a big knock either. It is well documented that he can play good little cameo's but he needs to assert himself and play a big knock sooner or later.
These things aside, even the experienced duo of Ganguly and Sachin were struggling against some good line and length bowling from Mortaza and Rezel. As always, singles were totally non-existent and there were more than 70 dot balls in the first 13 overs. At the first drinks break, Indians were struggling at 38/2 in 14 overs.
Time to panic?
At the end of 28 overs, Indians were struggling further at 84/4 with Tendulkar and Dravid dismissed. Clearly not the start to the tournament that the Indians would have hoped for. But I still think a bit of sensible play and a good partnership between Yuvraj and Ganguly should easily enable a score of 220 which would be defendable. And if Indians can achieve it, they would still benefit from the work out. But if they don't, I dread to think of the repercussions :).
Total chaos
Things went exactly as they should have with Yuvraj and Ganguly stringing together a wonderful partnership and Indians were at 156/4 at the end of the 43 over with the two batsmen gaining some momentum and scoring a few boundaries. And then it all fell apart completely in a span of 3 overs. Indians lost 5 wickets for just the addition of 3 runs, yes you read me right. Yuvraj was the first to go top-edging a sweep and Ganguly followed immediately, failing once again in his numerous down the track attempts (he used to be the best in dancing down the track to hit a leg spinner over mid on but it never worked today). Then the big one, Dhoni cut straight to short third-man and any hopes of 200 total ended there. But with all the news about how tail enders bat a lot, you still hoped that the bowlers would be able to string together a total of 185 but Harbhajan and Agarkar followed in quick succession for ducks too to leave India at 159/9 with almost 5 overs left to play. How much can Munaf and Zaheer add? Can we get a few lucky runs to score around 175? Indians have won 8/11 matches defending totals between 175 and 200 according to homer, so will it happen again? Keeping fingers crossed.
Indians finish at 191
A good 32 run partnership between Munaf and Zaheer gave India a decent 191 to defend. It looked like they wont have anything more than 160 to defend at one stage but Munaf and Zaheer did will to add another 32 overs and more importantly consume all but 3 balls of the quota of 50 overs. Bangladesh would no doubt be extremely thrilled with this performance and a good batting effort should clearly see the upset of this world cup. But, I hope the Indians come fired up and take a left out of the Bangladesh opening bowlers and a few quick early wickets would make for a great game. In sum though, it was a totally disappointing performance from one of the favorites of the tournament. To put things in perspective, after Ganguly's 66 and Yuvi's 47, the next highest scores were 15* by Zaheer and 15 by Munaf. Even if the bowlers miraculously save the day for India, they have a lot of work to do to make any progress in this tournament.
Zaheer strikes after the opening bowlers were all over the shop
Just when one expected the Indians to take cue from the Bangladesh opening bowlers and bowl a tight line and length in the first few overs, Zaheer and Agarkar were all over the place for the first four overs before Zaheer got one to cut back in beautifully for first strike. The only way Indians are going to win this game is by bowling Bangladesh out and for that, Agarkar needs to bowl much better than he is right now. Zaheer seems to have found some rhythm and is doing a great job but needs support from the other end now. Or maybe its time to switch Agarkar with Munaf early.
And just as I say this, Tamim Iqbal hits Zaheer for two consecutive boundaries, the second an arrogant down the track shot. Makes you wonder how Gangs never connected any despite attempting the same numerous times.
Tamim Iqbal leads the way
Tamim Iqbal cut lose and played some audacious shots to put Bangladesh well and truly in a comfortable position chasing a small total of 192. He scored a wonderful 50, continuously waltzing down the track to hoik the fast bowlers over the in field. Granted that some of them were top edges, but you need to show the desire to take on the bowlers especially when chasing a small target. When he fell to Munaf's persistent delivery in the corridor, Bangladesh were comfortably placed at 69/2 in the 12th over. Can they hold their nerves to bat sensibly from here on? Can the spinners get a few good wickets to pull India back? A wonderful contest is on the cards for sure.
Bangladesh sitting pretty
Unless Bangladesh do something stupid like India and lose 5 wickets in 3 overs, they should be able to nail the remaining 82 runs in 25 overs comfortably. At the half way stage of the innings, they were sitting in a comfortable position at 109/3 with two well settled batsmen in the middle. And with Habibul Bashar and Ashraful to bat still, it is going to a very special effort from some to help India pull this one back. Apart from Munaf, none of the other Indian bowlers really look like taking wickets and this is where Harbhajan's inability to take wickets in ODIs is hurting Indians too.
Bangladesh complete memorable victory
Bangladesh held their nerve to complete a memorable win against India. Considering that they upset New Zealand in the warm up games and given their bowling attack that is well suited to these conditions, it would not surprise me if they make further progress in this tournament as long as their batsmen play consistently. This group is now wide open and assuming Sri Lanka will win their game against Bangladesh, it sets up the final game between India and Sri Lanka as a key encounter which India might have to win convincingly to have a chance. But it was indeed a great day with one big sub-continent team knocked out of the tournament and another one that is going to struggle to progress. What a tournament this is turning out already! We might have Ireland, Bangladesh and I won't rule out Kenya either in the last eight? Awesome :).
Friday, March 16, 2007
Records galore, but do they mean anything?
Just a day after singing minno praise, I almost felt sorry watching South Africa tear apart the Dutch attack. With all the talk about 500 runs being scored in an one day game, one cannot help wonder if that would have been possible in this game if not for rain reducing it to a 40 over game.
But Gibbs scoring 6 sixes in an over was something I never thought will happen in an international match. I really don't know whether to celebrate the feat or just sit and feel sorry for the Dutch attack. Brings us back to the debate about what all these records mean when you have these minnows playing cricket once in a blue moon against the top nations.
While I perfectly agree that the best way for these nations to improve themselves is to play against the top countries and that diversity is needed for World cup, I think the record books should be kept exclusive to matches involving the main test playing nations. In other words, records from games like today should not be considered in the same page as records involving the top 10 nations.
Secondly, I think it is very important for ICC to force the test-playing nations to allow these minnows to play in their domestic cricket league on a regular basis. And as a reward for winning the associate nation tournaments, the minnows should also earn a right to play at least 3-5 ODIs against the leading nations on a yearly basis. That would be improving the quality of cricket rather than just have them play a match once in every four years in the World Cup. Something for the policy makers in ICC to seriously consider. But do they ever care?
But Gibbs scoring 6 sixes in an over was something I never thought will happen in an international match. I really don't know whether to celebrate the feat or just sit and feel sorry for the Dutch attack. Brings us back to the debate about what all these records mean when you have these minnows playing cricket once in a blue moon against the top nations.
While I perfectly agree that the best way for these nations to improve themselves is to play against the top countries and that diversity is needed for World cup, I think the record books should be kept exclusive to matches involving the main test playing nations. In other words, records from games like today should not be considered in the same page as records involving the top 10 nations.
Secondly, I think it is very important for ICC to force the test-playing nations to allow these minnows to play in their domestic cricket league on a regular basis. And as a reward for winning the associate nation tournaments, the minnows should also earn a right to play at least 3-5 ODIs against the leading nations on a yearly basis. That would be improving the quality of cricket rather than just have them play a match once in every four years in the World Cup. Something for the policy makers in ICC to seriously consider. But do they ever care?
Thursday, March 15, 2007
What a game!!!
Who says minnows can't provide interesting games. I am sure the Zimbabwe-Ireland game should rank right up there among some good games that have been so much fun to watch. It had everything: opener carrying his bat and scoring more than 50% of the runs, a hit wicket dismissal and then a tie for only the third time in World cup match history. South Africa were involved in both the earlier games, against Australia in 1999 and against Sri Lanka in 2003. Zimbabwe clearly choked in the later stages and Ireland will consider the tie a big victory.
Hit wicket in World cup games
Ireland seems to be on a spree with respect to creating rare events. After Jeremy Bray carried his bat earlier in the day, Vusi Sibanda of Zimbabwe was dismissed hit wicket by White. While there have been several instances of people carrying their bats in World cup games (see list below), I wonder if anyone else has been dismissed hit wicket in a world cup game before.
List of people who carried their bat in World cup games:
Ridley Jacobs did it in 1999 against Aussies.
Geoff MArsh did it in India in 1987.
And apparently Turner did it on the same day as Gavaskar's painful 36 against England.
Maraj of Canada and Atapattu of SL achieved the feat in the 2003 world cup in South Africa.
Not sure if I have missed any more.
List of people who carried their bat in World cup games:
Ridley Jacobs did it in 1999 against Aussies.
Geoff MArsh did it in India in 1987.
And apparently Turner did it on the same day as Gavaskar's painful 36 against England.
Maraj of Canada and Atapattu of SL achieved the feat in the 2003 world cup in South Africa.
Not sure if I have missed any more.
Memorable Minnows
When Bermuda's Hurdle bowled a 14-ball over this morning, you almost wanted to walk up and call off the game to prevent them from the misery. But they fought back in an impressive manner and if they had held on to the catch off Jayawardene's first ball, they could have restricted SL to an even smaller total.
Later in the day, Jeremy Bray of Ireland played a wonderful innings to lend respectability to Ireland's total against Zimbabwe. He scored a magnificent century, carrying his bat and finishing on 115. He contributed to more than 50% of the team's total. A wonderful performance indeed. I won't be surprised if Ireland can now successfully defend this total of 221 and 'upset' Zimbabwe.
Later in the day, Jeremy Bray of Ireland played a wonderful innings to lend respectability to Ireland's total against Zimbabwe. He scored a magnificent century, carrying his bat and finishing on 115. He contributed to more than 50% of the team's total. A wonderful performance indeed. I won't be surprised if Ireland can now successfully defend this total of 221 and 'upset' Zimbabwe.
Going through the motions?
Well, lot of people expected the first few games of this world cup to be just the big teams going through the motions. There will be a total of four big games, one of which was the tournament opener between WI and Pak. WI won that game convincingly and they would have a lot of cheer about from that win, especially after the trashing in the warm up game against India. That they managed to win that game without needing any part-time bowlers is also impressive for WI. And this game also provides further evidence for the fact that this might be a slower bowler's world cup, especially the wicket-to-wicket slow medium pacers.
Australia had a good win against Scotland and they would be happy with their typically clinical performance. They owe Scotland a lot for choosing to bowl first, giving Australia a good batting workout in the middle. Hayden and Ponting would be specially grateful for finding some valuable runs and all batsmen got some time in the middle. The bowlers too did a good job. With rumours that Symonds is ready to join the team for the next game, things are definitely looking up for the Aussies. But the main area of concern still remains the bowling attack and it will not be tested until the game against South Africa.
The semi-finalists from last world cup, Kenya, had a very good outing in their first game against Canada. In fact, I think Kenya actually stands a decent chance of making the super 8's considering they are in the same group of England and New Zealand. Both those teams are vulnerable to losing the occasional game and if Kenya plays well on a particular day, we might have a big upset on our cards. But amongst all minnows, they are the team that have the best chance of making the super 8 in this World Cup. And I am sure they want to prove that the previous World cup semi-final appearance was not a fluke and that they deserve to play in the elite league, ahead of Zimbabwe.
Australia had a good win against Scotland and they would be happy with their typically clinical performance. They owe Scotland a lot for choosing to bowl first, giving Australia a good batting workout in the middle. Hayden and Ponting would be specially grateful for finding some valuable runs and all batsmen got some time in the middle. The bowlers too did a good job. With rumours that Symonds is ready to join the team for the next game, things are definitely looking up for the Aussies. But the main area of concern still remains the bowling attack and it will not be tested until the game against South Africa.
The semi-finalists from last world cup, Kenya, had a very good outing in their first game against Canada. In fact, I think Kenya actually stands a decent chance of making the super 8's considering they are in the same group of England and New Zealand. Both those teams are vulnerable to losing the occasional game and if Kenya plays well on a particular day, we might have a big upset on our cards. But amongst all minnows, they are the team that have the best chance of making the super 8 in this World Cup. And I am sure they want to prove that the previous World cup semi-final appearance was not a fluke and that they deserve to play in the elite league, ahead of Zimbabwe.
Friday, March 9, 2007
Poor Windies batting effort ruins India's preparation
Its not often one complains when you bowl a team out for 85 and win a game with more than 30 overs to spare. Yet the nature of the preparatory games leaves one hoping that this did not happen and that the Indians had a better target to chase and its batsmen got more time in the middle. However, the team should be brimming in confidence as it now starts the tournament, definitely as one of the favorites.
Munaf Patel has been under the scanner even since his performance in South Africa in the third test, particularly when Gavaskar and co. picked him out for ridicule at every given opportunity. However, he has clearly underlined his value in the two games and could turn out to be India's trump card in this tournament. I definitely think he is an ideal first change bowler, as Dravid has used him so far and I believe he should also finish his quota before the slog overs.
At the end of the game, I think 10/11 players for the first ODI against Bangladesh pick themselves: Ganguly, Uthappa (really don't see Sehwag pipping him to the opening slot for the first game), Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Dravid, Dhoni, Harbhajan, Agarkar, Zaheer and Munaf. That leaves just one slot and I think that is going to be a toss up between Sehwag, Karthik and Pathan. And if India wins that game, then there may be scope for further experimentation against Bermuda.
The manner in which Sehwag keeps getting out ought to be a big concern for Dravid and the team, especially after Vengsarkar publicly announced that Sehwag was selected only on the insistence of Dravid. Today was the best opportunity for him to find some confidence with a good 30 runs or so to his credit. Pathan too had a poor outing, given the difficulty he had in finding his radar and pace. However, the three wickets should have given him some confidence and I actually vote for him to play at #7 against Bangladesh ahead of Karthik and Sehwag, though I am pretty sure Indians will still go in with Sehwag in the XI.
All things considered, Indians still seem to be the best team on view, at least based on the warm up games. How this translates to results when the actual tournament gets underway remains to be seen.
Elsewhere, Pakistan easily outplayed South Africa on a difficult pitch. South Africa have had a far from ideal start to their campaign and have struggled in both their matches. They must be hoping to get their act together as quickly as possible.
Australia got the better of England too after England failed to consolidate on a good partnership between Vaughan and Bell. And Gilchrist and Watson got Aussies off to a great start in reply. Gilchrist used the match in a perfect manner to spend some time in the middle after a long break from the game and his knock today must be given the Aussies a lot of confidence. Slowly, the pieces are falling in place and I think McGrath, Tait, Clark, Hogg and Watson should be the main bowlers for the first game. It will be interesting to see if Hayden walks to his opening slot when he recovers or whether they persist with Watson at the top. And finally, it looks like Hussey is having a lean trot for the first time in international cricket and will be interesting to see how he tackles it.
Munaf Patel has been under the scanner even since his performance in South Africa in the third test, particularly when Gavaskar and co. picked him out for ridicule at every given opportunity. However, he has clearly underlined his value in the two games and could turn out to be India's trump card in this tournament. I definitely think he is an ideal first change bowler, as Dravid has used him so far and I believe he should also finish his quota before the slog overs.
At the end of the game, I think 10/11 players for the first ODI against Bangladesh pick themselves: Ganguly, Uthappa (really don't see Sehwag pipping him to the opening slot for the first game), Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Dravid, Dhoni, Harbhajan, Agarkar, Zaheer and Munaf. That leaves just one slot and I think that is going to be a toss up between Sehwag, Karthik and Pathan. And if India wins that game, then there may be scope for further experimentation against Bermuda.
The manner in which Sehwag keeps getting out ought to be a big concern for Dravid and the team, especially after Vengsarkar publicly announced that Sehwag was selected only on the insistence of Dravid. Today was the best opportunity for him to find some confidence with a good 30 runs or so to his credit. Pathan too had a poor outing, given the difficulty he had in finding his radar and pace. However, the three wickets should have given him some confidence and I actually vote for him to play at #7 against Bangladesh ahead of Karthik and Sehwag, though I am pretty sure Indians will still go in with Sehwag in the XI.
All things considered, Indians still seem to be the best team on view, at least based on the warm up games. How this translates to results when the actual tournament gets underway remains to be seen.
Elsewhere, Pakistan easily outplayed South Africa on a difficult pitch. South Africa have had a far from ideal start to their campaign and have struggled in both their matches. They must be hoping to get their act together as quickly as possible.
Australia got the better of England too after England failed to consolidate on a good partnership between Vaughan and Bell. And Gilchrist and Watson got Aussies off to a great start in reply. Gilchrist used the match in a perfect manner to spend some time in the middle after a long break from the game and his knock today must be given the Aussies a lot of confidence. Slowly, the pieces are falling in place and I think McGrath, Tait, Clark, Hogg and Watson should be the main bowlers for the first game. It will be interesting to see if Hayden walks to his opening slot when he recovers or whether they persist with Watson at the top. And finally, it looks like Hussey is having a lean trot for the first time in international cricket and will be interesting to see how he tackles it.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Indians get a good workout against the Dutch
Indians should feel reasonably happy following their win against Netherlands in the first warm up game prior to the World cup. It was obvious that the thinking behind the game was to give all batsmen a hit and to search for the third seamer to support Agarkar and Zak (both of whom are sure to start the first game and hence did not figure in the team today). The two spinners also went head-on-head though its not clear how one would be favored over the other based on today's performances.
I guess the people to benefit the most were Sachin and Dravid, who used the game in the exact way it should have been. They spent a decent amount of time and then opened up to score a few runs too. It was unfortunate that the top three did not spend as much time as they would have wanted, but an opening partnership of 60 was pretty good and also it ensured everyone got a hit in the 50 overs. I personally don't both Sehwag and Uthappa will play in the same XI and hence I am sure these games are also a head-on-head clash between those two. Unfortunately, neither put his hand up today.
Other person under the radar today was Pathan and based on what I read, he disappointed again. The ball was apparently swinging and still he did not make much of an impression. I guess 6 overs for 12 runs is pretty good, but from what I read on cricinfo comms, he did not beat the bat much in the spell and lacked penetration. So, its unlikely to see him start ahead of Sreesanth and Munaf. However, there could still also be case to play him as a middle-order all rounder ahead of Karthik and Sehwag/Uthappa. Therefore, all these people should get another game against WI to stake their claims.
So, what would my team for next warm up game be? Assuming you can still play 13 people, I would rest Sachin/Dravid and Dhoni for that game and play the rest of the squad with Karthik keeping wickets. The players sure to start the first game are Gangs, Sachin, Dravid, Yuvi, Dhoni, Zak and Agarkar. The rest of the four slots are going to be a toss up between (i) Bajji and Kumble, (ii) Munaf and Sreesanth, (iii) Sehwag and Uthappa and finally (iv) the one who misses out between Sehwag and Uthappa with Karthik and Pathan. This decision should purely be based on how these people perform in the next warm up game.
Finally, India and Sri Lanka also need to watch out for Bangladesh. They have spent a lot of time in the West Indies playing games against Canada and other teams and hence are much better prepared from rest of the teams, as seen from their win against NZL today. So, it would be very dangerous to under-estimate them.
I guess the people to benefit the most were Sachin and Dravid, who used the game in the exact way it should have been. They spent a decent amount of time and then opened up to score a few runs too. It was unfortunate that the top three did not spend as much time as they would have wanted, but an opening partnership of 60 was pretty good and also it ensured everyone got a hit in the 50 overs. I personally don't both Sehwag and Uthappa will play in the same XI and hence I am sure these games are also a head-on-head clash between those two. Unfortunately, neither put his hand up today.
Other person under the radar today was Pathan and based on what I read, he disappointed again. The ball was apparently swinging and still he did not make much of an impression. I guess 6 overs for 12 runs is pretty good, but from what I read on cricinfo comms, he did not beat the bat much in the spell and lacked penetration. So, its unlikely to see him start ahead of Sreesanth and Munaf. However, there could still also be case to play him as a middle-order all rounder ahead of Karthik and Sehwag/Uthappa. Therefore, all these people should get another game against WI to stake their claims.
So, what would my team for next warm up game be? Assuming you can still play 13 people, I would rest Sachin/Dravid and Dhoni for that game and play the rest of the squad with Karthik keeping wickets. The players sure to start the first game are Gangs, Sachin, Dravid, Yuvi, Dhoni, Zak and Agarkar. The rest of the four slots are going to be a toss up between (i) Bajji and Kumble, (ii) Munaf and Sreesanth, (iii) Sehwag and Uthappa and finally (iv) the one who misses out between Sehwag and Uthappa with Karthik and Pathan. This decision should purely be based on how these people perform in the next warm up game.
Finally, India and Sri Lanka also need to watch out for Bangladesh. They have spent a lot of time in the West Indies playing games against Canada and other teams and hence are much better prepared from rest of the teams, as seen from their win against NZL today. So, it would be very dangerous to under-estimate them.
Monday, March 5, 2007
Sneak preview: West Indies
Hosts winning cricket world cup is relatively rare with Sri Lanka, the only team winning the edition hosted jointly in the sub continent. So, can West Indies defy the odds and win this world cup? My guess is No. And the reasons are similar to those raised by a number of people, lack of bowling resources. That said, this team has made the finals of two most recent champion's trophy winning one of them and have shown that matches can be won with just three specialist bowlers and bits-and-pieces bowlers. So, no one would rule them out totally yet.
On the batting front, West Indies are pretty strong. With the return of Sarwan, the line up of Gayle, Chanderpaul, Sarwan, Lara and Samuels looks good on paper. But the backup cast of Simmons and Devon Smith is no where in the same league and could be their weak point. Then they have all rounders in the form of Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith and Kieron Pollard. Only Bravo has been able to achieve some amount of consistency among these players with Pollard one of the very few debutants among the fancied nations in this world cup. Ramdin has struggled with the bat and thats another point against the West Indies.
That leaves Taylor, Collymore, BRadshaw and Powell to complete the bowling attack. There is clearly no matchwinner in this list. Collymore and Bradshaw can keep it tight and Taylor is their main wicket taker. Bravo bowls a good mix of yorkers and slower balls at the death but I am sure by now, teams would have worked him out by now as Dhoni showed in the tournament in India.
West Indies' strategy will clearly be to win the toss, send the opposition in and try their best to restrict them with front-line bowlers as well as spinners in the form of Gayle and Samuels bowing a tight fullish length, and then chase down any target set by the opposition.
However, their bench strength is very thin and unconvincing and hence it is difficult to see them winning consistently to make the semi-finals in this world cup. They will have their few great upsets during the course of the tournament (I pick them to defeat either Australia or South Africa), but despite having the advantage of home conditions, they will be eliminated in the super 8's.
On the batting front, West Indies are pretty strong. With the return of Sarwan, the line up of Gayle, Chanderpaul, Sarwan, Lara and Samuels looks good on paper. But the backup cast of Simmons and Devon Smith is no where in the same league and could be their weak point. Then they have all rounders in the form of Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith and Kieron Pollard. Only Bravo has been able to achieve some amount of consistency among these players with Pollard one of the very few debutants among the fancied nations in this world cup. Ramdin has struggled with the bat and thats another point against the West Indies.
That leaves Taylor, Collymore, BRadshaw and Powell to complete the bowling attack. There is clearly no matchwinner in this list. Collymore and Bradshaw can keep it tight and Taylor is their main wicket taker. Bravo bowls a good mix of yorkers and slower balls at the death but I am sure by now, teams would have worked him out by now as Dhoni showed in the tournament in India.
West Indies' strategy will clearly be to win the toss, send the opposition in and try their best to restrict them with front-line bowlers as well as spinners in the form of Gayle and Samuels bowing a tight fullish length, and then chase down any target set by the opposition.
However, their bench strength is very thin and unconvincing and hence it is difficult to see them winning consistently to make the semi-finals in this world cup. They will have their few great upsets during the course of the tournament (I pick them to defeat either Australia or South Africa), but despite having the advantage of home conditions, they will be eliminated in the super 8's.
WC2007 warm up games get underway
Just had the first day of cricket in the Caribbean in lead up to World cup 2007. This round of warm up games should also provide a sense of how the minnows match up against the big nations. The first signs are that we are in for some records in the first round of this World cup, be it for the largest totals or for the smallest totals or for the largest margins of victory.
Surprisingly, none of the three big teams (England, Sri Lanka and South Africa) scored big, suggesting some rustiness. South Africa were made to work the hardest after staring down the barrel at one stage at 92-8. However, Hall saved them the blushes and helped bat out the 50 overs to reach a score of 192. And Ireland fought courageously for the major part of the chase before crumbling. Is this a sign of some weakness for South Africa? I don't think so. I guess they were probably caught a bit unaware but I am sure they will be fine when the actual tournament gets underway. In fact, I guess this would have been a good wake up call for them to get their act together.
England got what they needed from the game. I was a bit surprised Strauss didn't play. I still think he has a key role to play for England and he needs to be restored back to the top of the order as soon as possible. KP got some valuable runs, which is good and so did Dalrymple. Vaughan needs to do more but at least he lasted the game! The bowlers ran through the Bermuda lineup but does that mean anything? Only time will tell.
Sri Lanka's single disappointment would be the lack of runs from Mahela again. I am sure they would have wanted Mahela to score a few runs here. They definitely need their skipper in good form to have a chance of winning the tournament. The openers got some runs and the bowlers got a decent work out too. So, thats as good as it gets in there practice games.
Surprisingly, none of the three big teams (England, Sri Lanka and South Africa) scored big, suggesting some rustiness. South Africa were made to work the hardest after staring down the barrel at one stage at 92-8. However, Hall saved them the blushes and helped bat out the 50 overs to reach a score of 192. And Ireland fought courageously for the major part of the chase before crumbling. Is this a sign of some weakness for South Africa? I don't think so. I guess they were probably caught a bit unaware but I am sure they will be fine when the actual tournament gets underway. In fact, I guess this would have been a good wake up call for them to get their act together.
England got what they needed from the game. I was a bit surprised Strauss didn't play. I still think he has a key role to play for England and he needs to be restored back to the top of the order as soon as possible. KP got some valuable runs, which is good and so did Dalrymple. Vaughan needs to do more but at least he lasted the game! The bowlers ran through the Bermuda lineup but does that mean anything? Only time will tell.
Sri Lanka's single disappointment would be the lack of runs from Mahela again. I am sure they would have wanted Mahela to score a few runs here. They definitely need their skipper in good form to have a chance of winning the tournament. The openers got some runs and the bowlers got a decent work out too. So, thats as good as it gets in there practice games.
Sneak preview: Sri Lanka and New Zealand
Before I go on to look at these two teams, the reason I have combined them into a single post is because I think one of these teams will be a semi-finalist together with Australia, South Africa and India.
Sri Lanka
This is another team that has had a pretty good run in one day internationals after the 6-1 beating they took against India in 2005. And they come into the tournament carrying some good form (despite losing the one day series in India again 1-2 without their bowling spearheads).
They have a pretty well balanced team. The batting lineup consists of Jayasuriya, Tharanga, Jayawardene, Sangakkara, Attapattu, Dilshan, Chamara Silva and Arnold. The problem areas here seem to be the lack of runs from the blade of Jayawardene and the lack of a clear role in the team for Attapattu. The former is a greater issue as no team likes to have its captain struggling for runs as it does rub off on your performance on the field. For this reason, it is very important for Sri Lanka to have Jayawardene score some runs in the warm up games (he failed again today against Scotland leaving him only one game to find some touch). Another problem of late has been the inability to deal with Attapattu. Sri Lanka did well to resist the temptation of handing Attapattu the captaincy when he came back from injury. Now, they need to find a better role for him if they plan to play him in the XI. I think the best position for him in this team is #3 with Jayawardene playing at #5. Other wise, they should just drop him from the XI all together so that they do not get totally bogged down in the middle overs.
I am convinved Sri Lanka will play 7 batsmen and 4 bowlers in the World cup with Dilshan and Jayasuriya sharing the burden of the 5th bowler. However, it may not be a bad idea to occasionally play both Malinga Bandara and Murali in the same team, in which case they may want to play an additional seamer at #6. Either way, that is the flexibility provided mainly by having Sangakkara in the team.
If the pitches turn out to be slow and sub-continentish as predicted by one and all, then they definitely have the upper hand over New Zealand. Vaas is clever bowler in the opening overs and Jayawardene needs to make sure he finishes his quota by the 35th over, maybe even bowl 10 on a trot at the start. Lasith Malinga holds the key and he was the main architect of many a victory in New Zealand. He is very difficult to pick and hence can be the main weapon for SL. He might also be their main bowler at the death with the ability to bowl fast inswinging yorkers. Murali of course will no doubt perform his role and most teams might look to play him out for 35-40 runs without conceding a wicket.
All things combined, Sri Lanka has a decently balanced squad and they can wreck havoc if the wickets turn out to be spin friendly. And I still think they will make the semifinals ahead of New Zealand and hosts West Indies, provided their skipper finds some form in time.
New Zealand
Clearly buoyed by their recent 3-0 drubbing of Australia, New Zealand remain the dark horses of the tournament (as they have been in the previous editions too). Chasing their maiden World cup triumph, this might be their best chance yet of getting there. Things turned around half way through the series in Australia when Astle retired and a couple of fresh legs in the form of Oram and Vincent joined the team and all of a sudden, they looked a completely different team. The stupidity of opening with McCullum was banished and they found some solidity at the top with Fleming, Vincent and Taylor and they are a much better team now.
The batting line up of Vincent, Fleming, Taylor (who has been in excellent form and a great find for NZL), Styris and McMillan looks pretty solid on paper. Add to it the hard-hitting lower order batsmen in Oram and McCullum and you will see why NZL will be a favorite in several predictions. The backup batsman is Fulton and he has proven himself well in his short career.
Bond and Vettori lead their bowling attack. James Franklin should start most games and I think they will be better off playing Jeetan Patel in most games, especially if the wickets are slow. If not, the toss up will be between the other seamers in the squad: Mark Gillespie, Daryl Tuffey and Mason.
Once again, if NZL can play their top XI including Bond, Oram and Styris in all games, they will definitely be a team to beat in the tournament. However, I am sure some of the injuries to these players are bound to resurface as the tournament progresses, which could cost them the semi-final place.
Sri Lanka
This is another team that has had a pretty good run in one day internationals after the 6-1 beating they took against India in 2005. And they come into the tournament carrying some good form (despite losing the one day series in India again 1-2 without their bowling spearheads).
They have a pretty well balanced team. The batting lineup consists of Jayasuriya, Tharanga, Jayawardene, Sangakkara, Attapattu, Dilshan, Chamara Silva and Arnold. The problem areas here seem to be the lack of runs from the blade of Jayawardene and the lack of a clear role in the team for Attapattu. The former is a greater issue as no team likes to have its captain struggling for runs as it does rub off on your performance on the field. For this reason, it is very important for Sri Lanka to have Jayawardene score some runs in the warm up games (he failed again today against Scotland leaving him only one game to find some touch). Another problem of late has been the inability to deal with Attapattu. Sri Lanka did well to resist the temptation of handing Attapattu the captaincy when he came back from injury. Now, they need to find a better role for him if they plan to play him in the XI. I think the best position for him in this team is #3 with Jayawardene playing at #5. Other wise, they should just drop him from the XI all together so that they do not get totally bogged down in the middle overs.
I am convinved Sri Lanka will play 7 batsmen and 4 bowlers in the World cup with Dilshan and Jayasuriya sharing the burden of the 5th bowler. However, it may not be a bad idea to occasionally play both Malinga Bandara and Murali in the same team, in which case they may want to play an additional seamer at #6. Either way, that is the flexibility provided mainly by having Sangakkara in the team.
If the pitches turn out to be slow and sub-continentish as predicted by one and all, then they definitely have the upper hand over New Zealand. Vaas is clever bowler in the opening overs and Jayawardene needs to make sure he finishes his quota by the 35th over, maybe even bowl 10 on a trot at the start. Lasith Malinga holds the key and he was the main architect of many a victory in New Zealand. He is very difficult to pick and hence can be the main weapon for SL. He might also be their main bowler at the death with the ability to bowl fast inswinging yorkers. Murali of course will no doubt perform his role and most teams might look to play him out for 35-40 runs without conceding a wicket.
All things combined, Sri Lanka has a decently balanced squad and they can wreck havoc if the wickets turn out to be spin friendly. And I still think they will make the semifinals ahead of New Zealand and hosts West Indies, provided their skipper finds some form in time.
New Zealand
Clearly buoyed by their recent 3-0 drubbing of Australia, New Zealand remain the dark horses of the tournament (as they have been in the previous editions too). Chasing their maiden World cup triumph, this might be their best chance yet of getting there. Things turned around half way through the series in Australia when Astle retired and a couple of fresh legs in the form of Oram and Vincent joined the team and all of a sudden, they looked a completely different team. The stupidity of opening with McCullum was banished and they found some solidity at the top with Fleming, Vincent and Taylor and they are a much better team now.
The batting line up of Vincent, Fleming, Taylor (who has been in excellent form and a great find for NZL), Styris and McMillan looks pretty solid on paper. Add to it the hard-hitting lower order batsmen in Oram and McCullum and you will see why NZL will be a favorite in several predictions. The backup batsman is Fulton and he has proven himself well in his short career.
Bond and Vettori lead their bowling attack. James Franklin should start most games and I think they will be better off playing Jeetan Patel in most games, especially if the wickets are slow. If not, the toss up will be between the other seamers in the squad: Mark Gillespie, Daryl Tuffey and Mason.
Once again, if NZL can play their top XI including Bond, Oram and Styris in all games, they will definitely be a team to beat in the tournament. However, I am sure some of the injuries to these players are bound to resurface as the tournament progresses, which could cost them the semi-final place.
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