That India are the unbiased favorites to keep home the World Cup 2011 trophy is not flattery. It may be a convincing affair to adopt the wait and watch approach till the end of the one-dayers vs South Africa. But with India showing their tenacity in the second match nail-biter after a morale shocker in the first match, it is in all but writing that India are fully geared to make and get wins whenever needed, whether it is to level a series or to prove a point when followers readily write them off.
On paper, India could face competition only from the team they are playing currently, but that too may tilt to India's favor counting in the spinners so long as they aren't bowling second in a dewey day nighter. The 15 man squad announced just a while ago goes like:
MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Piyush Chawla, R Ashwin
The batting will strike fear, especially on high scoring wickets here in India. There is no respite for the opposition bowlers. Virender Sehwag, i needn't say much more. One expects him to provide a demo of his destructibility after a lean run in the tests vs South Africa. A concern exists about his opening partner Sachin Tendulkar's hamstring. Sachin who has been in unstoppable batting form, has an exceptional record in World Cups. Virat Kohli's form has been steady and notched up three centuries in 2010 and has proved to be an able match winner. Pinch hitter Yuvraj's form and fitness have been questioned by many and this is one player that needs to sort out his performances in the remaining chances in South Africa, else his spot in the starting XI will be up for grabs. And fortunately for India and unfortunately for him there are contenders ready to take it. Captain MS Dhoni propped up the ladder with his captain cool image and his decisions to make things work for India under pressure situations. There are arguably better captains taking part in the World Cup, but MSD has been a success as a captain and it is too dramatic for that to come to an end over the period of one month. As a batsman MSD has proved to be that expert innings steering person who is perfect at changing gears and resurrecting collapses with lower order batsmen, who more often than not explodes with a blitzkrieg at the close. Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan are the two trump card players for India who will look to play pacey cameos with settled batsmen and also roll their arm over while filling in for the 5th bowler.
India would lose out on the fast bowling front to a couple of teams. Zaheer Khan has been the only consistent bowler for quite some time now and he will have to get maximum out of the new ball, but thats something he is good at, so he will be hoping to do the same. Among the other three named in the squad, Ashish Nehra will compete with Praveen Kumar, but the latter with his pronounced swing and hitting abilities should get the nod. Having Munaf Patel in the XI is tempting from the view of adding variety to the attack, but whether he'll replicate his 4-for vs South Africa is something to look out for. It is in the spin department that India will look to control teams with. Harbhajan, as any other spinner, has a tremendous record in the subcontinent and is a sure performer. But he will have to be conscious of imparting proper flight and loop to his deliveries and avoid laments about him bowling too flat that have arisen at times. With Sehwag, Raina and Yusuf handy with spinning some overs there is no need to include a second spinner in the XI.
And the biggest blessing in disguise is the dismal form being displayed by many teams. Australia, the winner of the last three, the less said about them the better. Piggy backing on one player, Shane Watson alone, will get them nowhere. Sri Lanka seem to have a good blend in both the batting and bowling departments. Dilshan has always had a carnival in India. And their bowling attack of Malinga, Matthews and Muralitharan may be the best in this world cup, with both fine spinners and pacers. And Sri Lanka won the last World Cup played in the subcontinent. An omen, perhaps?. England have their best team in god knows how many years. They, wonderously, finally have a good spinner in their ranks, almost regarded as the best in the current generation by many. But their batsmen have never relished playing in India, and almost the same batsmen had a indifferent time in 2008. The same would have been said about South Africa's batting but for the likes of Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers turning that page over in recent tours to India.
I can conclude and say that India are the favorites from the following:
1. The batting is nautical miles ahead of any other team
2. Their bogey team in WCs, Australia, are now headless chicken
3. Their main competitors have some problem or the other- Having just played South Africa, India will know how to use the home conditions to tackle them. Sri Lanka are strong, but same story. India have played them too many times to slip up against them at home. England have to have imported batsmen from India to bat here, going by their recent past here.
4. And finally, the final is in Sachin Tendulkar's backyard.
I too think this is India's best chance in many years.
ReplyDeleteBut, for 5th bowler, I'll rather have Yuvi or Sehwag bowl, rather than Raina. Raina is more charitable to the opposition.
And in Lanka, there is Kulasekara, who is bigger threat than Matthews (pseudo Watson) with the ball.
As for SA, they are unable to pin their opponents down, choking with the bat and the ball.
Aus, like you say, are headless chickens.
Eng have already showed that they will struggle in slow tracks (MCG T20 and ODI)
NZ will not win even if superman played for them.
WI have some supermen, but nay, they lack competitive experience in this level, though they are on a high of almost winning a test series in Lanka.
But, I feel Pakistan will spring a few positive surprises. You never know, they can explode once in a while, and since the exit of the 3 controversial fellas, Pakistan have beaten Aus in a test to draw a series level, won a test series in NZ, prevented AS from winning any test by sheer means of defiance, and won 4/10 ODIs (both, lost 3-2). Mind you, the 4 victories were as dramatic is it could've been.
If SA play Pak, surely, SA will cooke and Pak will rise from the ashes like a phoenix!
Also, this is B;desh's best chance to enter into a quarter finals. they just need to overpower WI using their 3459035877 spinners