Finally, Some Real Cricket - A Champions Trophy Preview

With the most controversial season of the Indian Premier League having come to a close and England beating New Zealand to pulp in the two test home series, we are almost in time to cheer the top 8 teams in ODIs competing for the seventh and the last edition of the Champions Trophy. It’s the same tournament that started out as the ICC Knockout Trophy or also the Mini World Cup. By way of format, the Champions Trophy is way more challenging that the ICC Cricket World Cup, which gives the teams few easy matches against Associate nations to play against. Champions Trophy gives the teams no such leeway. Only teams that win all their three matches in their group are guaranteed of a place in the semi finals. Competitiveness is at its best!

Pakistan & England are the only teams that haven’t won the Champions Trophy since its inception in 1998 in Dhaka.

 Edition wise victors of the ICC Champions Trophy:

1998 (Dhaka) – South Africa

2000 (Nairobi) – New Zealand

2002 (Sri Lanka) – India & Sri Lanka (Shared)

2004 (England) – West Indies

2006 (India) – Australia

2009 (South Africa) – Australia

South Africa emerged winners in the inaugural edition in 1998 with some strong all round performances, captained by Hansie Cronje. 2000 edition saw New Zealand finally winning a global tournament, getting ahead of India who acted as giant killers till the finals with a fresh looking side. In Sri Lanka in 2002, two best teams in the tournament shared the trophy after competing in two incomplete finals. West Indies, with a rejuvenated side took the cricketing world by surprise by pushing other contenders aside with strong bowling performances. England was the other finalist in 2004. The 2006 edition, played in India again saw West Indies in the running for the trophy till the finals. Australia finally emerged victors and got hold of that one trophy missing from their cabinet all this while. Australia continued their dominance in the 2009 edition, played in South Africa, by winning their second Champions Trophy in a row.

 With the new season begins new challenges for the top teams. Their bid to stay in relevance, attempt to build the right team for the 2015 World Cup and of course to kick start the new season with a big win. Though it’s India that’s at the top of the ODI team rankings, it doesn’t top my list of favourites for the Champions Trophy. How? Lets go through the usual grind of analysis of teams, captains, pitches & conditions. Interestingly and in a way expectedly, most teams have selected players keeping in mind the World Cup 2015. Australian and Indian teams almost bear a new look.

South Africa & Pakistan are my pre tournament favourites (in this order) to win the tournament. These two are the teams with potent bowling attacks and strong batting line ups (Pakistan, not so much). Pakistan’s bowling more than makes up for their slightly brittle batting. Though they would be missing the services of Umar Gul, they have stocked the squad with good seam bowling options in Junaid Khan, Wahab Riaz, Ehsan Adil & the intimidating Mohammed Irfan. Saeed Ajmal, world’s best spinner today, & left arm spinner Abdul Rehman complete Pakistan’s well rounded bowling attack. Pakistan’s batting does not inspire much confidence. But much will be expected from Hafeez, Shoaib Malik & Misbah, the captain himself. In Nasir Jamshed, they have a reliable opener.  South Africa, with a batting line up consisting of Amla, du Plessis, de Villiers, Miller and bowling attack comprising of Steyn, Morkel, Tsotsobe are surely the front runners.

 Even though Australia is coming from a 0-4 blanking at India’s hands, they are still a force to reckon with in the ODI format. Clarke has men like Watson, Warner who on their day can change the game around and a bowling line up of sharp, incisive seamers in Johnson, Starc, Coulter-Nile & McKay. What’s exciting about the Australia squad is the inclusion of utility players in Faulkner, Voges, Maxwell & Mitchell Marsh. Australia will be looking forward to go into the Ashes with confidence of having done reasonably well in the Champions Trophy. With no Mike Hussey, he’d be looking forward for more from the likes of Hughes, Khawaja.

West Indies, from their World T20 win in 2012 will look to make a strong statement in the ODI format with a new captain in place in Dwayne Bravo and a strong team of performers who can turn a game on it’s head on their day. They would be looking towards Gayle & Charles for some riveting starts and depend on Darren Bravo, Sarwan to provide solidity in the middle order. Pollard remains a crucial cog with this all round skills. Roach, Rampaul will shoulder the pace bowling responsibilities. Newbie Jason Holder may not get chances in the all rounder heavy side. Sunil Narine will look to enhance his reputation as a match-winning spinner even in unhelpful English conditions. If West Indies progress ahead of the first round, Narine would have played an important part in it. Thus is his importance in the side.

Hosts England are engaged in a three match ODI series against the touring New Zealand, and faring pretty badly. This must be some ideal match practice ahead of Champions Trophy. But injury concerns are marring their run up to their first match versus Australia. Captain Cook has a relatively good side but England as an ODI side has never lived up to expectations. Without Kevin Pietersen, the middle order lacks the bite. Morgan, Trott & rookie Root will be crucial to England’s chances. Bowling though is a strong point for England. Anderson, Broad, Bresnan & Finn will do the majority of bowling. Tredwell is expected to fill in when required. Much of England’s chances depend on solid performances from Cook and combined bowling prowess of their pacers. They are up against a struggling Australia, Sri Lanka – team that struggles in unhelpful conditions & New Zealand – lesser known players with capability of springing surprises.

New Zealand comes into the Champions Trophy without the services of Daniel Vettori. Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill & Ross Taylor will be their pillars. Guptill will enter the Champions Trophy in fabulous form. New Zealand, high on confidence after beating the hosts in the first two games and winning the series, will look to carry it forward to the Champions Trophy. New Zealand were runners up in the 2009 edition losing to Australia in the finals. They won the cup in 2000 defeating India, with strong performance by Chris Cairns. They have had this knack of coming good in crucial tournaments. They will be a team to look forward to.

 Sri Lanka & India have off late struggled in unfriendly pitches, away from home. India line up wears an unfamiliar look with the likes of Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj, Tendulkar, Harbhajan, Zaheer missing. Others selected on merit have replaced them. Karthik comes into the tournament as the man in form for India, along with Kohli & Dhoni. India go in with an inexperienced opening combination and a weak set of bowlers. Ishant Sharma, even after 5 years in international cricket hasn’t been able to mould himself into a strike bowler. In Zaheer’s absence, Yadav will lead the pack. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be expected to deliver his promise. He will be a handful on seamer friendly wickets. Ashwin & Jadeja will be used a lot to slow down the pace of the going ons and to fasten over rate. Much will depend on Dhoni, as he too will look to enhance his reputation as one of the best ODI batsman of all time. Also, the team needs to put in a good performance to reinstate the faith fans have in Indian cricket after all what has happened over the past three weeks.

Sri Lankan side for the Champions Trophy wears a weak look. Despite the presence of Dilshan, Sangakkara & Jayawardena, the team looks bare. Bowling will be manned by Malinga, Kulasekara & Herath, but it’s their batting in English conditions which would be a concern. Their three best batsmen are coming off a very poor season in the Indian Premier League. Considering their potential, they were a let down, so was their captain Angelo Mathews. They have all the reasons to be excited about rookies Kushal Perera, Dinesh Chandimal & Sachitra Senanayake.

Batsman to watch out for: Kushal Perera (Sri Lanka), Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik (India), Alastair Cook (England), Mohammed Hafeez (Pakistan), Shane Watson (Australia), AB de Villiers (South Africa), Martin Guptill (New Zealand)

Bowlers to watch out for: Sunil Narine (West Indies), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (India), Mohammed Irfan, Junaid Khan (Pakistan), Mitchell Starc (Australia), Steven Finn (England), Dale Steyn (South Africa)

It is going to be an ideal platform for the teams to showcase their preparedness for the 2015 World Cup, which is just 18 months away. Team that wins here takes massive confidence of having defeated best of teams.

This tournament will miss some important names that have been a big part of cricket over the last decade. Some of the key players missing this tournament due to injury and other reasons are: Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior (England), Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh (India), Jesse Ryder (New Zealand), David Hussey, James Pattinson (Australia), Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul (Pakistan).

The Champions Trophy won’t be missed much in its absence after this edition. The format though is challenging and only the best of the teams can make it through. If similar format is adapted for the World Cup, I doubt we’d have any useless matches. But for now, let’s enjoy the madness that is One Day International cricket.

Calm Post The Storm

Almost nine months since India clinched the World Cup 2011, international cricket has witnessed a sea of change. Change of captains for various teams. Crucial personnel have hung their boots. Debutants have taken centrestage and proved their worth in the international arena. 2011 has been a year where no one team have been able to declare supremacy. India, England, Australia and surprisingly Pakistan have had their moments, but none of them have dominated. As teams are gradually going through a transition phase, the right captains are being sought for.

Post April 2nd, eight of the ten test playing teams (including Zimbabwe) have seen a change in leadership. Only Dhoni for India and Sammy for West Indies have retained their roles 9 months since the World Cup. Both Dhoni and Sammy would are a part of their test teams purely as captains. They would've struggled to find a place in their sides based on purely batting, bowling or in Dhoni's case wicket keeping skills. In the ODI teams though, both have greater value. Dhoni, is a match winner for the team and Sammy makes up for lack of ground breaking skill with passion, energy and positivity.

Dhoni, post a dream World Cup, had a nightmarish tour of England. Having been blanked 8-0 in tests, ODIs and the only T20I, the captain was under immense pressure. Once back home, the team gathered steam against the same opposition and brown washed the visiting England 5-0 in ODIs with a team of youngsters in the absence of several seniors. The visiting West Indies got a taste of India's comeback abilities in the 2-0 test series defeat. Dhoni continues to back the youngsters and gets the best out of them. Seniors too have seemed content with Dhoni's captaincy.

Most teams have opted for a younger captain, whilst the veteran in team the plays senior mentor. Puzzling though has been the case of Sri Lanka, the World Cup runners up, where experienced campaigner Sangakkara retired immediately after the defeat in the finals in order to hand over the mantle to a younger captain. As events took turn, Tilakaratne Dilshan, who is older than Sangakkara was handed captaincy as it was felt Angel Matthews, the natural successor IMHO, was too young and inexperienced for the role. Logic would've dictated Sangakkara to have stayed on for a while more and groom Matthews or put the responsibilty on Matthews' shoulders like Kiwis did in 1996 with Lee Germon and South Africa did in 2003 by naming Graeme Smith as captain. Dilshan's reign hasn't exuded confidence up till now. Defeat in England in both tests and ODIs was followed up defeat at home against defiant Australians. Latest tour to the Middle East against Pakistan too ended in embarrassing defeats in Tests and ODIs.

While South Africa have opted for separate captains for the longer and shorter formats in Graeme Smith (for tests) and AB de Villiers (for ODIs & T20Is), England have gone a step ahead and have named three separate captains for the three formats. Andrew Strauss will continue to lead the test squad, Alastair Cook for ODIs and Stuart Broad for T20Is. While South Africa recently played a closely fought home series against Australia, losing the ODIs 2-1 and drawing the test series 1-1, England have had a dream run in tests and a horror run in ODIs. While South Africa will visit New Zealand this summer, England will play a rejuvenated Pakistan and a dispirited Sri Lanka in away conditions in the next few months.

It is never uncomplicated when it comes to Pakistan. Shortly after the World Cup, Afridi citing incompatibility with the Pakistan Cricket Board and then coach Waqar Younis, quit captaincy and announced untimely retirement from international cricket. Misbah ul Haq took charge of captaincy. Recent series win against the Sri Lankans must've given the Pakistanis a lot of heart. Youngsters taking responsibilities and veterans playing their role to the 'T', has been something Pakistan has been aiming for. In between these successes, former captain Shahid Afridi announced his return from retirement and declared his availability for selection for the ODIs against Sri Lanka. Selected he was and played match winning roles in the 4-1 series win.

For Australia, expectedly, Micheal Clarke has taken over as captain for Tests & ODIs and Cameron White for T20Is. Former captain Ricky Ponting still is a part of the Test and ODI teams. But the scrutiny on every performance of his increases as youngsters like Usman Khawaja and Callum Ferguson have been knocking the selection doors quite hard. Clarke's run up till now have been impressive and his personal form too seems to have flourished off late. His captaincy will be though tested against the visiting Indians later this summer.

New Zealand, since the World Cup haven't played much cricket. In captaincy news, Daniel Vettori announced retirement from the shorter formats to elongate his test career. Ross Taylor was named his successor for ODIs and T20Is. Their tour of Zimbabwe was marked by some good performances by the visitors and creditable fight backs from the home team. They have a tough tour of Australia ahead and they will be playing hosts to the warmed up South Africans later in the summers.

Bangladesh and Zimbabwe too have new captains after the World Cup. Shakib al Hasan and Elton Chigumbura have been replaced by dimunitive Mushfiqur Rahim and the enterprising Brendan Taylor. While Rahim hasn't had the best of times to begin with, Taylor has had an exceptional run. The team under him seems to have found the will to fight and he himself has lead by example in both Tests and ODIs. The chase of 328 against New Zealand in the third ODI recently showed that the team has enormous will to fight.

While the ODI sides have already begun targeting the World Cup 2015 in Australia, there is immense commotion on the top of the test rankings. England snatched the top ranking from India earlier this year. India & South Africa too are fighting hard to challenge England's recent rest domination. The next four months should make up for an interesting viewing as New Zealand & India tour Australia, Sri Lanka visits South Africa and South Africa in turn will travel to New Zealand. England's test match skills will be put to test as they visit Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Indian Cricket since 1996 - Part 2

World Cup 1999 to World Cup 2003 eve

Pepsi World Cup 1999 in England

India headed for the World Cup with a good team and an experienced captain in Azharuddin. India began its campaign unsuccessfully with a defeat against South Africa, but hit a great low by losing to Zimbabwe in the next game falling prey to some extremely indisciplined bowling, terrible running between the wickets and Tendulkar’s absence from the team. This defeat made the next three group games must win for India. And they did just that. Ganguly & Dravid put up big hundreds to amass a score of 373 for 6 against Sri Lanka. In the super sixes, India faced eventual winners, Australia and lost convincingly despite a fighting hundred by Jadeja and a desperate partnership with Robin Singh. India faced Pakistan in the most awaited clash of the World Cup at a time when the two countries were engaged in a war back home. It was touted to be a high adrenaline match with tempers flaring. But it wasn’t to be, India trounced Pakistan in a relatively low scoring match where Indian bowlers came up trumps. India’s semi final hopes were dashed even before they played their last super six game against New Zealand owing to some funny calculation system adopted by ICC. India lost the match against New Zealand, and thus ended their campaign, where though lot was promised, not much was delivered. Dravid, Ganguly & Srinath were India’s stars from the World Cup. Dravid remained the highest scorers of the tournament.

1999

The unsuccessful World Cup campaign was dealt with severely by the BCCI and Azharuddin was sacked as captain & dropped from the team and Tendulkar was reinstated. Robin Singh was overlooked for he was the oldest member of the team at 36 and selectors looked at nurturing younger talent. India toured Sri Lanka for a tri series involving Australia. Indians played below par in the series and didn’t reach the finals despite Tendulkar’s century in severe back pain in a crucial match. Their next campaign was the Singapore Challenge against Zimbabwe & West Indies. India was crushed by Ricardo Powell who carted bowlers to all corners of the ground in the finals and we eventually lost.  Next up India won the DMC Cup, 2-1, played against West Indies at Toronto as Indian government refused to allow the team to play Pakistan even in a neutral venue due to political tensions. The team here was lead by Ganguly in Tendulkar and Jadeja’s absence. Ajay Jadeja was at the helm for the LG Cup held in Nairobi. India played the round robin games like real champions with unknown faces like Sunil Joshi and Vijay Bharadwaj making valuable contributions. But it was in the finals that India realised how inept we were at handling pressure.

After a more or less disappointing ODI season, India faced New Zealand at home in a three match test series. India won the series 1-0 on perfect featherbeds and dust bowls. The series would only be remembered for Tendulkar's first double century in the second test at Ahmedabad. In the ODI series that followed, India defeated New Zealand 3-2 in games most of which were high scoring. Tendulkar came up with his highest ODI score, 186* and India posted it highest ODI total 376.

This was followed by one of the most disappointing tours India has even been on, the tour down under. India’s morale wasn’t helped by the then secretary of BCCI predicting a 3-0 whitewash. It came true though. Australia blanked India 3-0 in the test series. Indians weren’t allowed to dominate a single session of play in the entire duration of the series. The only high points for India from the series were Tendulkar superb century at Melbourne, Laxman stunning 167 in an attempt to save the Sydney test and of course Tendulkar being adjudged Man of the Series despite his team’s loss. The test series loss affected the psyche of the players and the ODI series involving the hosts and Pakistan was no different. India only managed one win in the 8 matches they played in the series.

2000

South Africa toured India with a strong resolve to avenge their defeat in 1996. Hansie Cronje had put together a strong team, with a terrific batting line up and an equally strong bowling attack. India, for the first time in 13 years lost a home test series. South Africa defeated India 2-0. India had Tendulkar and Azharuddin scoring hundreds, but for South Africa it was their bowling which never let Indians dominate. Allan Donald was at his best, supported by Shaun Pollock and Nicky Boje. In the ODIs that followed India defeated South Africa 3-2 in the five match series. Sachin Tendulkar informed the BCCI that he would like to step down as the captain after the ODI series following two series defeats. The decision was shocking, but seemed to be in the best interest of the team as India really needed him as a batsman. Sourav Ganguly was soon handed over the mantle of captaincy of the Indian cricket team. His first two assignment as a captain were forgettable. The Coca Cola Cup at Sharjah against Pakistan and South Africa and the Asia Cup in Sharjah. India failed to reach the final in both and managed two wins both put together.

All was well with the world of cricket till Hansie Cronje decided to make a confession, a confession that was going to rock Cricket and scar the game.  Cronje, the maverick South African captain, pleaded guilty of accepting money to underperform. Not once, not twice, but on a number of times. This was going to open a can of worms. He would himself be banned for life by the CSA and his co-offenders Herschelle Gibbs, Henry Williams were handed suspensions. But for India, the can of worms was hurtful. Mohammed Azharuddin, one of the most respected figures in Cricket was banned for life for alleged involvement in the match fixing scandal, so were Ajay Sharma, former India cricketer and a Delhi Ranji player and Manoj Prabhakar. Five year suspensions were handed to current Indian cricketers Ajay Jadeja for alleged closeness with one of the bookies and Nayan Mongia who along with Prabhakar were accused to throwing a match against West Indies in 1994 by purposely batting slow. Indian Cricket stood jolted by two of their cult cricketers being suspended, one for lifetime and the other for 5 years.

With the appointment of former Kiwi opener John Wright and having got some time off the game to put behind the events that unfolded, India looked for some change of fortunes in the ICC Knockout Trophy in Nairobi, Kenya. India wasn’t rated too highly and weren’t expected do too well. India brushed aside Kenya to set a date with Australia in the quarterfinals. A match that will be remembered for Tendulkar sledging McGrath and charging down the track to hit him over long off. A mini collapse saw debutant Yuvraj Singh battling a lone battle. He scored a magnificent 84 off 81 balls as India toppled top ranked Aussies. Zaheer produced a peach of an inswinging yorker to see off Steve Waugh. Thus two warriors who would take India to the next generation were born. India defeated South Africa in the semi finals in  a clinical performance and met New Zealand in the finals. New Zealand had defeated the much favoured Pakistan in the semis and looked good as did India. India started confidently and looked to bat the Kiwis out of the game, but Chris Cairns had different ideas. He choked runs and Indian panicked. Lost wickets in a heap and could only manage a modest 264. Cairns again came to the Kiwi rescue and scored a brilliant hundred to break a million Indian hearts. India still took a lot of heart and positives from the tournament after coming back almost from the dead.

A disappointing three nation tournament in Sharjah against Sri Lanka & Zimbabwe followed. Indian batting hit rock bottom against Sri Lanka being dismissed for 54 on a senile Sharjah pitch. India also aided Muralitharan in getting his career best figures of 7/30 in one of the matches. India was one of the most vocal supporters of Bangadesh in getting their Test berth. Bangadesh also invited India to play the inaugural match in Dhaka. A workmanlike century by Captain Aminul Islam, a solid batting performance by Bangladesh & a fine all round effort by Sunil Joshi were the highlights of an otherwise dull game which India won by 9 wickets. India was then toured by Zimbabwe for two test and five one dayers. India won the first of two test and Zimbabwe managed to draw the second. Andy Flower was Zimbabwe hero scoring a mammoth 544 runs in two test matches that included a fantastic 232 not out at Nagpur. India thrashed Zimbabwe 4-1 in the one day series.

2001

India began preparing to host Australia for a three test match series. Australia had by then conquered everything they laid sight on. India was their “Last Frontier”. Indian batting looked strong but the bowling, feeble. Anil Kumble had been sidelined by a shoulder injury, and playing against Australia, India missed its frontline spinner. Harbhajan Singh who last played for India in 1999 was recalled into the team. The first test at Mumbai went as expected. Accurate Australian bowling had India in tatters in both innings and the visitors romped home by 10 wickets. Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and another test recall VVS Laxman were the only positives from the match. Before the second test at Kolkata, Indian selectors scrutinized spinning options from all over the country to support Harbhajan. Australia started the 2^nd test on the right note, scoring around 400 runs on the first day. A Harbhajan hat trick in the last hour of play on the 1^st day jolted the Aussie march but when India came on to bat, the Aussie scored looked Himalayan. Replying to Australia’s 448, India was skittled out of for a measly 174 and were expectedly asked to follow on. Ganguly, in one of the moves that makes him one of the best to have lead India ever, sent Laxman one drop instead of Dravid who seemed to struggle a bit. Laxman looked in ominous touch. He and Dravid put on a gargantuan partnership of 361 taking India to safety. Laxman scored a phenomenal 281 and was ably supported by Dravid who scored 180. Putting Australia into bat in the 2^nd half of 1^st session of play on the 5^th day chasing 260, India struck gold with picking wickets early and at regular intervals. Hayden was the only confident looking Aussie. Harbhajan snared another 6 wickets and Australia succumbed to defeat in what could be described as one of the best Test matches of recent times. India had well and truly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. The third test at Chennai too was keenly competed. After a Hayden double century, a century by Tendulkar and another Harbhajan special with the ball, India were left to chase 126 on the final day. In the bid to score the runs quickly, India began to lose wickets in a heap. Harbhajan & Dighe displayed composure and took India to a fabulous 2 wicket win.  This series has gone down in the history of the game as one of the best competed.

India’s next assignment was a two test series in Zimbabwe followed by a tri series involving West Indies. India won the first test but on a bouncy, seaming track in the second test India lost the plot and the game. The series stood drawn 1-1 and India were embarrassed by the result. The ODI series was won by West Indies after defeating India in the finals. This was followed by a tough tour of Sri Lanka where India had to deal with total absence of Tendulkar owing to a back injury. The series saw the Indians play around with the batting order with only Ganguly remaining constant. This is also the series where Virender Sehwag emerged as an opener for India. His blazing 108 against New Zealand gave India a place in the finals they was eventually lost. The test series will be remembered for Muralitharan magic delivery to remove Indian opener Sadagopan Ramesh, bowling him with a delivery that pitched way down leg stump. After losing the first test convincingly, India pulled back the second at Kandy, but lost the third test by an innings. 

India’s tour of South Africa will be remembered for two major events. One, the debut of Virender Sehwag who scored a magnificent ton his first test alongside Tendulkar who scored blazing ton to take India to safety and two the Mike Denness issue where the match referee accused Indians of over appealing suspending Sehwag for a match and accusing Tendulkar of ball tampering in the  second test. The issue was blown out of proportion by the BCCI and ensured change of match referee in the 3^rd test. After losing the first test and drawing the second, India played South Africa in an unofficial third test for India refused to play the test when Sehwag’s suspension wasn’t revoked. The tri series involving the two teams and Kenya was won by South Africa. India reached its low point when they lost to Kenya in one of the league matches. The final between India and South Africa was a one sided affair where accurate bowling by the hosts had the Indian batting hopping on a placid track at Durban. South Africa won the series and left India with some thinking to do.

2002

England toured India with a team less than full strength. But lead by shrewd Nasser Hussain, it showed it didn’t lack character and will to fight. After losing the first test in Mohali, they drew the next two tests. Hussain got Giles to bowl outside the leg stump to Tendulkar to curtail his run and frustrate him. Giles did succeed in getting the maestro out stumped by persevering bowling the same line. The ODI series that followed was again well competed in by England. After conceding a lead of 3-1 to India, England came back to square the series, 3-3.

India toured West Indies in the summer of 2002 hoping to change fortunes from their previous Caribbean tour in 1997. First test was a drawn after fine performances by Chanderpaul & Hooper for West Indies and a fine hundred by Laxman for India after which rain took over. India won the second test at Port of Spain but lost the third. The 4th match was a high scoring draw. Anil Kumble's dedication towards the game was at the fore when he came on to bowl after a Merv Dillon delivery broke his jaw while batting. He not only bowled but picked the wicket of Brian Lara. The hosts wrapped up the series with a fine win in the fifth test. West Indies gave a terrific account of themselves with brilliant performances by Chanderpaul, Hooper & Dillon.

India's tour of England in late summer was monumental for reasons more than one. India won the Natwest Trophy triangular series and also drew the test series 1-1. The Natwest final win is considered amongst India's best till date. The way the two youngsters, Yuvraj & Kaif took India to the finishing line was remarkable. A win became a distant dream when the India was at 140 for 5 in 23 overs. Yuvraj, Ganguly & Tendulkar had a wonderful series with the bat. The Test series saw the rise of Indian batting line which after losing the first test at Lord's played exceedingly well in the next three to win the third test at Headingly by an innings and salvage a drawn series. Dravid was in sublime form with two centuries and Sehwag, Tendulkar, Ganguly & Agarkar chipped in with a century each.

The Champions Trophy of 2002 boosted India's confidence going into the 2003 World Cup. India played with great flair and excellent camaraderie and eased through Zimbabwe, England to meet South Africa in the semi finals. In a chase of 262, Proteas were easing at 194 for 1 when Gibbs retired hurt after scoring 116. The rest of the team fell like pack of cards to lose the game by 10 runs. India met Sri Lanka in two rain curtailed finals and the trophy was shared. India seemed to have found its combination for the World Cup.

India convincingly beat the touring West Indies 2-0 in the test series and the ODI series was looked at as an opportunity to tinker with the team composition. India tried out many combinations and in a high scoring series West Indies outran India 4-3. India, before the World Cup made a trip to New Zealand for a two test and seven ODI series. In typical seaming, bowler friendly wickets India lost to the hosts 2-0 in a low scoring test series and 5-2 in the ODI series. India bowling was flourishing but the batting seemed to have taken a battering with the exception of Sehwag who scored two centuries in the ODIs. Ganguly was apologetic with his team's performance. These pitches seemed to India like how spin minefields seem like to visiting tourists in India. He though had no reason to be too apologetic about. India had done exceedingly well over the last 12 months and one off series wouldnt affect their World Cup preparations much.

Sourav Ganguly over the last year and a half had done world a good for the Indian team. Test wins in West Indies and England, the Natwest Series win, shared trophy at the ICC Champions Trophy; he had proved to be one of the best captains in recent times. Not only that, the team respected him as a leader and he showed confidence in youngsters in the team. Yuvraj, Kaif, Dinesh Mongia, Zaheer, Nehra, Harbhajan, Parthiv Patel were all players who bloomed under his captaincy. He showed confidence in Rahul Dravid by bringing him back into the ODI team and made him wear the wicket keeping gloves so he could have the luxury of playing an extra batsman. India were well on their way towards a great World Cup campaign lead by Ganguly, under the guidance of coach John Wright.