The Front Runners vs The Dark Horses

The FRONT RUNNERS V/S THE DARK HORSES!!!!!

When it comes to the World Cup there’s always got to be some front runners and some dark horses for winning it!!! And its always been the Front runners vs the Dark horses who try to outperform each other in their surge to lift the most coveted trophy!!!  This time again just like the previous world cup INDIA are the top contenders with South Africa and Australia being the front runners with other teams like Sri-Lanka, Pakistan,New-Zealand, West-Indies and England being termed as the Dark Horses. While the only difference being  this time the gap between the Front Runners and Dark Horses is minimal. Now lets analyse the teams on the basis of their squads and their recent performance and try to decipher their fate:-

First of all lets start with the Defending Champions the four time winners and  the only team to have a hattrick of world cups.. AUSTRALIA!

Strengths:  

• ·         Batting looks formidable with Shane Watson in great form and players like Ponting Clarke Hussey and White who can destroy any opposition on their day.
• ·         Bowling of Brett lee has improved a lot and an in form Brett lee alongside Shaun tait can be devastating. One more man to watch out for and according to me the surprise package of the tournament can be John Hastings with his variations in bowling.
• ·         Fielding of the Aussie team can be their biggest strength in this tournament as compared to the other sides.

Weaknesses: 

• ·         Well their batting might be formidable but one of their weaknesses would be their ever changing opening combination as the pair of Watson and Haddin doesn’t look too convincing. Haddin is a kind of player who can give you a good looking quick fire 30s but is less likely to play a long innings.
• ·         Their spin bowling looks ineffective and harmless. The lack of experience and a quality spinner will come to haunt them in this tournament.
• ·         The absence of Mr. Cricket, Michael Hussey one of the best finishers of the game can be a major factor under pressure
• ·         One more concern would be their Captains lack of form and poor record in India.

Overall they have a great chance again in this world cup and I cant imagine them getting out any sooner than the semi-finals!!!!!

Lets move on to INDIA  The top contenders of the tournament. India  are ranked 2^nd in the ODI rankings but they promise to be a lot better than the 2^nd ranked side in the world.

Strengths:

• ·         Undoubtedly as ever India’s strength has been its Batting as ever. It might be the best batting line in the tournament alongside the South Africans.
• ·         Bowling has improved and is looking promising with the return of Zaheer khan and Piyush chawla alongside the Turbunator  Harbhajan singh.
• ·         The captainship of Dhoni and his ability to stay calm under tensed situations may prove to be a crucial factor

Weaknesses:

• ·         Well undoubtedly as again India’s weakness has always been their bowling. With bowlers like Munaf patel in the team who can rarely field leave alone his inconsistent bowling would prove to be a major setback compared to other teams.
• ·         Again the fielding of the Indian team is an area of concern with two of their best fielders Raina and Kohli struggling for a place in the playing eleven.
• ·         The two jackpot bowlers in Nehra and Sreesanth would be a weakness as you never know when they would come right as you always have less probability of winning in a Jackpot.

Overall if their bowling and fielding can hold on and perform at par then India can be the team to lift this World cup.

Now lets move on to The South Africans the team who have always been the front runners for any ICC tournament but has never managed to win any!!! 

Strengths:-

• ·         Their Batting line up is great and can be rated alongside the Indian team with Smith and Amla Opening with players like Kallis Devilliers and Duminy to follow. The recent batting form of Amla is terrific and he would be the man to watch out for alongside Duminy who can handle spin pretty well.
• ·         Their Bowling too looks to good as they have the Awesome duo of Steyn and Morkel  who can tear apart any opposition and the inclusion of spinners like Botha Tahir and Petersen gives an array of options in bowling.
• ·         Their fielding as usual is at their best and they are on the best fielding teams in this competition.
• ·         The ever positive and aggressive captainship of Graeme smith can also play a decisive role in their winning the world cup.

Weaknesses:-

• ·         The biggest weakness of the African team is their inability to handle pressure and thus they would face the toughest competition from themselves.
• ·         In bowling department they lack experience as their spinners have hardly played regular international cricket.
• ·         Their middle and lower order batting also looks quite fragile as after duminy it’s the new comers to follow so at any point of time if the Africans loose wickets early their inexperience can get exposed.

Overall South Africa have a great team to win this world cup and to shed off the Chokers tag that they have been now carrying for so long and I personally feel it could be their world cup.

Now lets move on to the another host nation Sri lanka who always remains under-rated for any and every tournament they compete.

Strengths:-

• ·         When you talk about Sri-Lanka how can you not talk about Spin. Their biggest strength over the years has been their spin department which goes on improving with the emergence of players like Mendis and Herath alongside the great Muralitharan.
• ·         Their batting has two main pillars in Sangakkara and Jayawardene who are ever consistent and highly gifted. With other batsmen like Dilshan and Tharanga the batting line up looks strong enough to pose a challenge to any team. Matthews with his allround skills can be a man to watch out for.
• ·         Pace bowling looks good with  bowlers like kulasekara who can make the new ball talk and Malinga with the unplayable reverse swinging Yorkers in the death overs.

Weakness:-

• ·         The Lack of a Potential match winner with the bat like Jayasuria can be a big problem.
• ·         Overdependence on Sangakkara and Jayawardene as other players are inexperienced and not so reliable not even Dilshan.
• ·         Lack of a bowler to compliment Malinga in the death overs.

Overall Sri lanka have a pretty decent team with a more than decent chance of winning the world cup.

Lets move on to the Lottery team of the Cricketing world known for its inconsistent performances alongwith its passion to fightback from any situation, PAKISTAN.

Strenghts:-

• ·         The Bowling attack of Pakistan looks good with shoaib akhtar performing consistently with the reverse swinging skills of Umar gul.
• ·         The spin department is also good with Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi who can do both i.e. take wickets and stop runs at any point of time.
• ·         The batting got boosted with the return of players like Younis Khan and Misbah Ul haq who also are in great form.

Weakness:-

• ·         Their batting looks brittle as it is pretty inexperienced and not reliable. The only promising new talent to watch out for is Umar Akmal.
• ·         Their bowling looks  depleted from the exclusion of Amir talent and Asif with shoaib akhtar though consistent but is nowhere near his best.
• ·         The fielding of the Pakistani team has been their main cause of worry for many years now and I don’t see it changing in this tournament.

Overall this team would do good to reach even the semi-finals and any further beyond there would be a lottery performance by them.

Now lets analyse the highly under-rated team for this world cup who is capable of many surprise performances and could shock some teams, NEW-ZEALAND!!!!

Strengths:-

• ·         The greatest strength of this New-zealand team can be the presence of some good All-rounders like Styris, Oram, Franklin, Ryder, Vettori and Nathan Mccullum. And thus they have great depth in their batting line up. Watch out for Ryder and Brendon Mccullum.
• ·         The bowling department would be headed by Vettori and Mills who are both highly skilled bowlers.
• ·         Their fielding is at par with the Africans and the Aussies.

Weakness:-

• ·         The most evident weakness of this team is their lack of form and under-performing players like Taylor and Ryder.
• ·         The recent record of consecutive losses which involves a series loss to Bangladesh would mean that they would be low on self-confidence.
• ·         Their bowling looks to be Ineffective with no great skill and talent to watch out for other than Vettori and Mills.

Overall this team has a good chance to make it to the semis provided that they play to their potential and one can look forward for some surprises from this team.

Now lets analyse the current T-20 Champions of the world, England.

Strengths:-

• ·         England seem to have a formidable batting line-up with players like Strauss, Trott,Bell,Prior and Pietersen. And the decision of KP opening the innings can be a game changer.Finally the English team has understood the importance of a good start taking a cue from its t-20 World cup stint.
• ·         The bowling line up also looks pretty good with pace bowlers like Anderson and Broad opening the bowling and the emergence of Graeme Swann who is arguably the best off-spinner in world cricket at the present
• ·         The availability of all-rounders  like Collingwood, Bresnan and Yardy would help to strengthen their batting.

Weakness:-

• ·         The main weakness of this team is their inconsistency and Inexperience.
• ·         The Injury to Eoin Morgan leaves a lot to be desired in the middle order .
• ·         The decision to promote KP up the order to open can backfire as it is an all or nothing decision wherein if he gets out early it can expose the brittle middle order of the English team.
• ·         The lack of Flambuoyant players in their team as barring KP and Prior all other batsmen are traditional in their approach.

Overall the English team has a very good chance of making it to the semi finals of the tournament as they are a pretty well balanced team.

Other teams like West Indies and Bangladesh look promising but can only deceive. Bangaldesh can spring in some good performances on the back of some players like Tamim Iqbal and Shakib al hasan while West Indies would rely heavily on  Gayle Sarwan and chandrpaul for winning a match. Bowling of both these teams looks unimpressive with Bangladesh atleast having the advantage of having Good spinners for the subcontinent pitches. 

All in all it promises to be a thriller of a tournament where most of the teams look evenly matched and capable of beating any team in the world on its day. We are in for what might be one of the best and closely fought tournament in the history of World Cup Cricket.

Captainship- A double Edged sword!!!!

In every sport  theres a CAPTAIN but when it comes to cricket the responsibility  of a captain increases manifolds and that’s why it is also known as The most glamorous role in game of cricket!!!!!! A  job that everyone desires and dreams of but very few can fit in!!!!!  In India it’s called “Kaanto  bhara Taaj” ( A throne full of thorns) and in Australia they say it’s the second toughest job to that of the Prime Minister..!!!! So one can understand how demanding  a captains role can be in cricket. A leader has to not only lead with an example but should also look for the overall growth…. And thus no words can overemphasize the importance of a captain in the game of cricket.  It’s said that the best captain is the one who makes things happen rather than waiting for them to happen!!!!!!!! So let’s look back and recall some of such great captains of the recent past.

Lets first start with ‘The Man with the Midas Touch’ Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The most amazing thing about DHONI is dat with the amount of expectations that an Indian captain carries and with all the pressure he is probably as calm as a person can be. And plus to his advantage he also has the MIDAS TOUCH as whatever he touches turns to Gold. If u can recall the 2007 world cup T20 semi-finals vs Australia with Joginder Sharma bowling the last over to Michael Hussey, and Aus requiring 22 runs to win of the last over  he was able to win the match for India n quite amazingly just 2 years later when the same Batsmen was Facing Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal in the( 2009 T20 Semi-Final) final over  requiring 17 runs of the last over he managed to score them successfully!!!! And its not only Luck or the Midas touch that works in his favour but  its also about his shrewd decisions and street smart thinking that makes him  a great tactician!!! In  IPL finals of the last year where Kieron Pollard was starting  to look dangerous  in the last few overs one masterstroke from Dhoni’s mind changed d whole game. What he did was when he realized that Pollard was hitting pretty straight he set a field positioning never before seen in history of world cricket which was to hav 2 players at the straight boundary i.e.  one at the long on and one at long off and also have 2 fielders dead straight in 30yards i.e. one at mid on and one at mid off and what happened was Pollard got caught at Mid off!!!!  Quite unconventional but highly effective!!!!

Another of the Greats of the recent past is Mr.Ricky Ponting.  The best thing about Ponting is that he is  The ultimate Trier…….!!!! When nothings goin his way he keeps on tryin everthing at his disposal but never Gives up!!!! Just the attitude dat describes the Aussie spirits!!!  He has been great as a captain as he has always lead from the front with the bat and his every bowling and field changes are all well thought of and thoroughly planned.. may it be covering gangulys strengths by packing up the off side fully and bowling consistently on the off stump or may it be to bowl short and into the body of sehwag to restrict his scoring etc. He is the only captain to have lifted the cricket world cup two times and is about to start his quest for the third.  He also has a great attitude as he is Arrogant in his wins and imposes on everyone that they i.e  Aussies are a superior race and that no-one can match them in skill and ability (this helps in developing self-confidence in the team)  but at the same time he is the humblest men on defeats and accepts gleefully that the other team played better than them and that they deserved to win!!!!  Right or wrong I am not sure but its his style and he has been successful up till the recent past!!! About the recent slump in form and consistent losses of the Aussie team one should note that a captain is only as good as his team!!! In the past he had great players at his disposal and didn’t need to worry much about results one can say that Steve Waugh made a team and ponting reaped benefits………….   Just as the case with dhoni and saurav ganguly…. But one should give it to Ponting and Dhoni as having resources is one thing and Utilising them effectively is a totally different thing.. Bringing the best out of every player is not an easy task.!!!

Another greats of the recent past and my Personal favourite is South  Africas Graeme Smith . He is the ultimate optimist and the most positive and risk taking captain ever….. In a test match against Aus.  The Africans were comfortably placed with a lead of around 270 runs at the end of 4^th day and with around 6wickets remaining. The match seemed to be heading towards a draw when surprisingly smith declared the innings and gave the Aussies arnd 272 to chase on the last day… and Guess wat The Aussies chased down that target comfortably with hayden Scoring heavily.. When on a post match presentation smith was asked about his decision he said that he didn’t repent it and that he thought the only way to win was to give the bowlers ample time to bowl the aussies out and this atleast gave them a chance to win irrespective of the result and den dat the crowd came to see results and not dead rubber draws..!!!! That’s positivity for u!!!! Smith in his early childhood used to stick a note on his fridge in which it was written dat “one day I will play for south African cricket team and captain it”!!!   And he did not just do that but also did it in style!!! One should also not forget that when Smith was given the captainship South Africans were fighting with the Ghost of Match fixing and it could have been tough for a 21 year old boy to captain a team under such a huge pressure and demon of allegations with public starting to loose faith in the genuineness of the game but OOHH boy did he not do a great Job!!!!!  And  in one more incident  After a series loss to Aussies in around 2005 for the next 2 consecutive years he prepared the team just specifically for the purpose to go back and defeat the Aussies . Every series that he played after dat he was only thinking about the revenge. He  identified the palyers with talent and backed dem up to perform at the top level and den in 2007 when the time can he didn’t only get his revenge but also humiliated the aussies with a test win where they chased around 420 runs!!!  That’s a man with Great determination!!!!!!!!

Now lets talk about the The captain Charisma… The DADA of Indian Cricket team “Saurav Ganguly” The man who carries the AURA of a born fighter. Just like Smith, Ganguly also was handed the captainship of  the Indian cricket team when they were fighting the demons of match fixing. Whats more was that India was never consistent in their performance. He didn’t just fight off the Match fixing black spot but also instilled in the team the attitude and the aggression of a champion team. He tought the Indian team how to fight and reply back to the opposition. May it be the Famous incident of Lords where after winning the natwest series final he removed his T-shirt and waved it off to symbolize a revenge on Flintoff’s incident at Mumbai  or may it be the incident where he made the Aussie skipper Steve Waugh wait for him During the toss time. IT was under his captainship that India reached the world cup finals after 20 long years. He also had a great eye for talent. He was the one who brought in players like Yuvraj,  Sehwag, Kaif, Nehra, Zaheer, Dhoni etc.  and backed them up even in their poor forms. He was the one who elevated  Sehwag to the opening position and the results are out there for everyone to see. He was a man of Passion and its this passion which made each match a treat to watch and every victory a moment to cherish. One more rather small but Innovative contribution of Ganguly to Indain team was the Formation of a Huddle!!! When there were rumours that the Indian team had internal disputes and were divided ganguly came up with the idea of whole team forming  a HUDDLE everytime just before the match or whenever a wicket fell so as to signify that the team was one and United in their purpose.  He will always be the one who Made team India what it is Today..!!!!

 Now lets talk about the man who ended a 19 year long drought of Ashes for The English team, Michael Vaughan. It was under Vaughan that the English team was successful in defeating  an seemingly Invincible Aussie team at  home in the Ahses series of 2005. This series is also known as one of the best series in the 120 year long history of Cricket. Vaughan was emacualte and suttle in his calculations. In that whole series his decision were accurate regarding his selection of the playing 11 and the timely bowling changes. He backed Kevin Pietersen to make debut in an ever intense ashes Rivalry replacing the out of form Graham Thorpe who had been great performer for England in the past. This decision proved to be one of the series changing decision as Pietersen went on to be the highest scorer for the whole series and was the only one who whacked The Aussie great Shane warne all around the park. He also brought in players like Simon Jones, Matthew Hoggard, Harmison, Ashley Giles and Ryan Sidebottom who all saw their hay days under his Captainship.  One of the Exceptional Tactics adopted by him was how he managed to keep Gilchrist quiet during the whole series. Whenever Gilly Came on to bat he ordered his bowlers especially Flintoff, Harmison and Jones to bowl round the wicket and full away swinging ball to him with packed off side field having 2 slips and 2 gullies and the whole series Gilchrist kept on falling to the same trap and getting out in the same fashion either edging it to slip or to gully.  He was one of the best captains that England has ever had and one of the finest of all time.

While were many others who made a notable contribution to the world of cricket like Stephen Fleming of New Zealand, Sangakkara and Jayawardene for Sri Lanka Nasser hussain and more but these are the few who stood out due to their attitude and unconventional strategies and tactics. One more promising candidiate in this field is the new entrant Michael Clarke who seems to have made a promising start to his captainship career with a very high win percentage. And whats more is that he has been trained and influenced by  Shane Warne one of the greatest captain of cricket never to be.  The future thus seems to be bright for him and we should look forward to his stint at the so called 2^nd toughest job only next to the PM of Aus.