So, 4 years have passed since that unforgettable night when MS
Dhoni slammed Nuwan Kulasekara over long-on to create cricketing history, and
the Cricket World Cup is upon us. Straight to the point then – which are the
teams to lookout for? Who would be the players that can make this event their
own? Read on….
Australia
They are not yet the Australia that won 3 WCs back to back,
but they are very close to those teams. Warner and Finch to start, both can
play in all gears, can be watchful , explosive or consolidating. Yes, Warner
can do all three. But I think they have a headache, hopefully a pleasant one, in the middle-order. They like to play Watson because of the balance he provides, which means that only two of Clarke, Bailey and Smith can play. And Watson has not been in sizzling form, so some early wickets is the only way teams can put pressure on them. But then there is Maxwell - teams will not quite like the idea of Maxwell coming in early!
Bowling too is penetrating and diverse. The Mitchells swing the bowl at pace, Hazlewood is a hit the deck and seam bowler, while Faulkner keeps things steady and is excellent at the death. Infact, Australia have 2 excellent death bowlers in Faulkner and Starc. Again, one niggle they have is spin in the middle overs.Doherty is a canny bowler though - keeps things very tight.
But all the glitches notwithstanding, very hard to see who will beat them, particularly at home.
New Zealand
They are not the 'Dark-horses' anymore. They are a strong unit playing at home which has raised the expectations.
Guptill and McCullum to start, a solid middle order of Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor and a lethal death charge of Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi. They have covered their bases in bowling as well - Swing, seam and pace by Southee and Boult at the start and at the death. Momentum will be sustained with either of McClenaghan, Milne and Matt Henry in the middle overs. And of course the cunning Daniel Vettori as the tweaker. Anderson as well to keep things at a leash - though he will get carted for runs I feel. Make no mistake, their strength is pace - Boult, Milne and Henry can bowl at 150 while Southee and McClenaghan can clock 143+. Not many attacks in the world boast of such prowess at the moment.
But interesting to see how they perform with the favorites tag, as they are certainly expected to reach atleast the semis. This would be a new experience for them.
South Africa
They have always been among the favorites to win World Cups. And it is no different this time round. Classy batting order - Amla, DeVilliers, DuPlessis. Power in the form of David Miller. Bowling stocks are aplenty and full of variety. Conventional swing-at-pace-bowler Dale Steyn, ruffle-the-batsman-with-extra-bounce-bowler Morne Morkel and hit-the-deck-nick-the-batsman-bowler Vernon Philander. Imran Tahir would not be easy to play against, and JP Duminy is also a handful. Death bowling looks a bit dodgy, none of the above are quite known for death bowling, Wayne Parnell would come in handy, if they are able to play him. One guy they are persisting with and about whom I am not at all sure is Farhaan Berhardien. Is a lower middle order bat and a part time seam up bowler. A waste of a spot according to me.
The only question, as ever, for the Africans is : Will they choke?
England
Bowling set, batting not so. This would sum up England. James Anderson, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad and Steve Finn will give any side a run for their money. It is an obvious fact that the conditions will suit them, although the timings and venues do not. They would revel in day games bowling first scenarios, but bowling in the afternoon in small New Zealand stadiums can prove to be their undoing. They can get one dimensional and set batsmen would just bat them out of the game. Irrespective of what the experts say, I am not entirely convinced about Moeen Ali the spinner. Sensible batsmen would find him quite straight-forward. Only catch is they need to be sensible, which is somehow proving to be a daunting task when they see Moeen Ali after James Anderson and Steve Finn have tested them inside out.
They are a good side though and can use the conditions to their advantage. Absence of Ben Stokes would hurt - a real bad selection that.
Sri Lanka
They have been in the knockouts of tournaments consistently, but this time their entry into semis looks dodgy. As always, they will rely on their batting triumvirate to sail them through waters - be it rough or smooth. And this has the obvious problem of consistency - it will hard for them to fire every time, particularly in conditions amenable to bowlers. And talking of bowlers, it seems they are a bit out of depth here. Malinga and Kulasekara are formidable, but are not quite effective as past times. They have good spinners though, Herath can turn and Senanayake will get extra bounce and if Sri Lanka manage to play them both, then they can turn on the pressure, particularly with runs on the board. They would miss Dhammika Prasad, who would have been effective with pace, bounce and sling death bowling ala Malinga.
So, not quite the force, but as mentioned, they do find ways to get into knockouts. Cant really count them out.
Pakistan
Much has been said and written about their unpredictable nature, so I won't go into it. Batting looks solid, Ahmed Shehzad can turn it on at the start, Misbah and Younis Khan can anchor and stabilize the innings. Umar Akmal and Sohaib Maqsood would be extremely useful and coupled with a canny Sarfaraz Ahmed and boom-boom, the batting unit has enough. And for a rare occasion, it looks better than the bowling. Apart from Md Irfan and Wahab Riaz, Pakistan could find it tough to put up consistently good bowling performances. Rahat Ali is a good bowler, but remains to be seen whether he can step up.
West Indies
Some inexplicable selections have dampened their prospects, but still they remain a dangerous side, easily capable of making the semis. Explosive openers - Smith and Gayle, solid middle order - Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels, and firepower galore with Darren Sammy and Andrew Russell. Lendl Simmons can be used as a floater and would be a key batsman. Bowling can trouble batsmen on their day with Kemar Roach at the start and Jerome Taylor at the death. Suleiman Benn will extract bounce, so it will not be easy to play him. Just think if we could add Dwayne Bravo, Kieran Pollard, Ravi Rampaul and Sunil Narine to this mix. Sky would have been the limit. Still, a formidable side.
Associates
Zimbabwe
Batting looks decent - Brendan Taylor, Hamilton Masakadza, Sean Williams, Craig Ervine can put up significant amount of runs on the board while Elton Chigumbura can accelarate towards the end. Bowling is suspect. Really suspect.
Afghanistan
Looking forward to some good performances by them. They are decent in both the aspects. They have a good bowling attack - their opening bowlers Dawlat Zadran and Hamid Hassan bowl in good areas at pace and they have a canny left arm spinner in Md Nabi. Batting too looks decent with Nawroze Mangal, Asghar Stanikzai and Samiullah Shenwari. Any team that takes them lightly will do so at their own peril.
Ireland
They have proved time and again that they are not there to make up the numbers and we can expect some fighting performances from them. Captain Porterfield, Ed Joyce and Alex Cusack bring tons of experience to batting, Craig Young and Peter Chase bring freshness and pace in their bowling. And we all know about Kevin O Brien.
The rest - UAE, Scotland and Bangladesh would make up the numbers.
Players to watch out for
I will not mention the obvious ones - Williamson, Maxwell, Anderson, Younis Khan, Steyn and so on. But look out for the following
Trent Boult - lesser known than his bowling partner Tim Southee, but will do more damage
Luke Ronchi - a wicket-keeper who can flay the ball - he can play anywhere - open, middle, slog
Aaron Finch - he will get the most overs to bat and will pile on the runs
Sarfaraz Ahmed - from the unconventional wicket-keeper school of Pakistan - has a good temperament, unorthodox and effective under pressure
Sohaib Maqsood - Can be extremely dangerous in the slog overs. Only problem is if he comes in early, whether he can build an innings or not
Wahab Riaz - he has been injury plagued, but now he is fit. This can be his world cup - has pace, bounce, reverse ( yes, even with 2 new balls)
Jos Buttler - He should be playing at no.4 - seems comfortable playing pace and spin. Has a wide array of shots and is in good nick.
Andrew Rusell - he should be one of the all-rounders of the tournament - can bowl at 145 and more than decent with the bat. And one of the best outfielders going around.
So, set the alarms and plan breakfast brunches instead of night outs! Let the games begin!!!
P.S. One of the participating teams has not been covered yet. I think a separate post will be required for it :) Keep watching this space!
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