After 1987 and 1996, this is the third World Cup to be held in the subcontinent. And in both the earlier Cups at least two teams from the subcontinent have made it to the semi finals and on one occasion even won it (Sri Lanka in 1996). Since 1996, at least one team from the sub continent has reached the finals of the Cup only to be beaten convincingly by Australia. Pakistan in 1999, after splendid performances upto the finals played terribly to lose by 9 wickets in the finals to Steve Waugh determined team. India was in ominous in the 2003 edition till the finals, not losing a single game except for their group match loss to Australia. But lost steam and plot to lose the finals by a huge margin. In 2007, Sri Lanka surely didn’t look like the best team to win the cup, yet reached the finals, a spectacular Gilchirst took the game away from them single handedly.
Pakistan as usual don’t come into the World Cup as favourites. They have come in as the most mercurial underdogs. As their captain courageous has been recently quoted, they are “the most dangerous team” this World Cup. The team has a good mix of youth and experience. Bowling attack is lead by the very experienced and fiery Shoaib Akhtar and supported by Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz and less known Junaid Khan. Spin bowling department is headed by the specialist Saeed Ajmal who will be a handful on subcontinent wickets with his nippy offerings. Shahid Afridi and Mohammed Hafeez are expected to bowl a lot on these pitches. Batting looks quite stable, yet vulnerable. A lot will depend on the Akmal brothers, Younis Khan, Misbah if Pakistan are to put up and chase down big totals.
Bangladesh comes into this World Cup more confident than they have ever been. A 4-0 rout of New Zealand must be by far their best achievement in international cricket. Their captain Shaki Al Hasan is in terrific form with both bat and ball. Tamim Iqbal. Imrul Kayes and Shahriar Nafees are the top order batsman the co hosts will depend on. Tamim is expected to flourish on the big stage. He is someone to keep an eye on for the future. Mahmudullah, captain Shakib and Mushfiqur Rahim make for a strong lower middle order. These are batsman who can build as well as score at a quick rate. Bangladesh have recently relied on their slow bowlers to get them the breakthroughs. Razzak, Shakib, Shuvo, Naeem form their slow bowling armoury. Nazmul Hossain and Shafiul Islam are their opening bowlers in the absence of Mashrafe Mortaza.
This World Cup India certainly is the favourite for the form they have been in over the last year and a half and of course familiarity of conditions and pitches. Lead by Dhoni, India looks a fine unit with a terrific batting line up and without a doubt the most feared opening pair in Sehwag and Tendulkar. Bowling attack is expected to be lead from the front by Zaheer and Harbhajan. Munaf’s task with his accurate line and length would be to cut the flow of runs and contain. Nehra and Sreesanth can leak runs on a bad day, but on a day which is theirs, they possess the ability to run through a team. Indian team’s X-Factor though would be their lower order batting and their spin bowling options. Raina, Yusuf and Kohli are the best batsmen a team can ask for to finish games or set a challenging total. Harbhajan, Ashwin and Chawla have enough variety and talent amongst them to give the captain nightmares to choose whom to play. Backing them up, Sehwag, Raina, Yuvraj too can roll their arm over effectively.
Sri Lanka, with a confident captain in Sangakkara and a promising batting line up figure amongst the favourites in this World Cup. Dilshan, Jayawardena and Sangakkara are the core batsmen the team would depend on. Kapugedara and Tharanga are expected to make to the top five. In Angelo Matthews and Thissira Perera, Sri Lanka have two terrific all rounders. Matthews have more than proved his mettle in recent times with sold bowling and batting performances. Their bowling looks strong with two match winners in Malinga and Muralitharan. Kulasekara, Dilhara Fernando and Ajantha Mendis will fill up the other bowling positions. Angelo Matthews and Mahela Jayawardena will be very crucial to Sri Lankan game plan towards winning the Cup.
I get a very strong feeling this World Cup will come to one of the Asian nations. Bangladesh though will be very happy if they go past the qualifying round into the quarters. This tournament might see the last of one of the best spinners to have played the game, Muttiah Muralitharan. Also would be the last World Cup for the best batsman of our generation and one of the best the game has ever seen, Sachin Tendulkar. There will be many a tribute paid to the legends. But cometh February 19th, once Shakib Al Hasan and MS Dhoni come out for toss at Mirpur, it will be the on field action which will be talked about more than off field trivia and news. And mostly, what happens on the 22 yard strip is what makes the best news.
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