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.