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.

Make Way, Virat's Here!

When he walked in to bat at Hobart, Indian team was precariously placed at 86 for 2 chasing 320 off 40 overs to win a bonus point and stay alive in the CB Series. He had already made a name for himself by then. With eight hundreds in his kitty in ODIs and his maiden test hundred coming against Australia a month back in Brisbane. Much was expected of him at Hobart. He was expected to support Gambhir and ensure India at least made a fight of it. He did just that and more. He smashed one of the most brutal centuries seen in recent times baring Watson's 185 against Bangladesh. He carted Lasith Malinga for 24 off an over. He scored 133 off 86 balls and India defeated Sri Lanka well within 40 overs and earned the bonus point. Though India got eliminated as Lanka trounced Australia in the following game, India had earned some pride from Kohli's knock and the resultant victory. Things around him began to change. He was named vice captain of the Indian ODI side for the Asia Cup in Bangladesh, a huge promotion for a 23 year old. Fans and supporters have begun to see him as a senior member in the team. He obviously has cemented his place in the side and dismissed competition from his closest rivals Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary.

Come Asia Cup, he alongside Gambhir put on another 200+ stand against Sri Lanka, got to his 10th century and guided India to another win. But what he has done today is magical. After the loss versus Bangladesh, India had to win against Pakistan. Bowlers gave away as many as 329 and Pakistanis made merry of the listless attack. A defeat loomed large. Defeat would've meant elimination. Kohli had different ideas. He, alongside Tendulkar, after Gambhir early exit, put on 133 and in quick time too.  Post Tendulkar's dismissal, Kohli built another fabulous partnership with Rohit Sharma. Both looked to play risk free cricket. Runs came freely. Rohit grew in confidence in Kohli's company and got himself a well made 68. But Kohli on the other end was exhilarating. When bowlers bowled length, he flayed them. If they bowled short, he pulled them. On occasions where they bowled tight, he was at ease while stealing singles too. Score of 330 was overhauled by the Indian with comfortable ease. Kohli scored a magnificent 183 off 148 balls. It's the 5th highest score ever by an Indian in ODIs. Pakistan captain Misbah termed it as one of the best innings he has ever seen. 

In the partnership with Tendulkar today and with Gambhir against Sri Lanka at Dhaka and Hobart, he was the dominant partner. Probably a sign of things to come. He has now taken over the mantle of being India's most consistent and talented batsman in ODIs. His runs tally since 2009 would point towards a batsman who is desperate to prove his worth and has done it flawlessly. 85 matches old in ODIs, Kohli has already registered 11 centuries. Put in perspective of the best ODI batsman ever, Tendulkar scored his first hundred in his 78th match and had 2 hundreds when he had played 85 matches. Kohli is racing ahead of his counterparts from other countries and is now surely THE most exciting young player in international cricket. 

Many more big things await the youngster. He is clearly being trained as a future captain of the side. When India goes into World Cup 2015 in Australia - New Zealand, he is expected to be the mainstay of the Indian batting. Much is said about his temperament and his tendency to spew profanities on field. To me, it's an expression of achievement or frustration of a 23 year old which isn't to be taken that seriously. He is a quick learner, he realises his responsibilities and will mature into a better player and would learn to control his desire to express himself openly. 

Asian Giants Chase The World Cup Dream

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 19^th, 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.

India's World Cup Highs - II

India and Pakistan met for the second time in World Cups at the quarter final stage of the 1996 edition. The match was played at Bangalore. There wasn't an inch the two teams could give one another. Wasim Akram, the Pakistani captain backed out of the match at the last moment citing back problems. Aamer Sohail was named the stand in captain. India led by Azharuddin looked good, they had played well in the group stages. Their star batsman Tendulkar was in prime touch and the middle order was scoring too.

 India won the toss and elected to bat. India had an unusually sedate start despite Tendulkar's presence at the crease. He was kept in check by Waqar and Aaqib Javed. India never scored at an alarming rate though Sidhu played well for his fine 93. India would never have reach 287 in their 50 overs but for some clinical slogging by Ajay Jadeja. He thrashed Waqar for 40 runs in his last two overs and scored a brutal 45 off 25 balls. India's total looked good for a win but Pakistani openers had different ideas. Sohail and Anwar come out all guns blazing adding 84 in the first 10 overs. Anwar was dismissed soon after.The most talked about moment of the match is the visual of Sohail challenging Venkatesh Prasad after scoring a boundary off him and the bowler uprooting his off stump. Soon after Sohail dismissal, Pakistan capitulated. With some contributions from the middle order, Pakistan reached 248. India romped home by 39 runs. 

Pakistani players went home to some rioting fans pelting stones at Wasim Akram's house for his absence from match and India went into the semi finals setting up their second showdown against Sri Lanka, the eventual Cup winners. 

India's World Cup Highs - I

This blog will come up with 5 of India's best World Cup moments since 1992 from here on till the beginning of the ICC World Cup 2011. Benson & Hedges World Cup 1992 in Australia and New Zealand was the first World Cup I watched as a 7 year old.

The 1992 World Cup down under wasnt the best campaign for India. Led by Azharuddin, we had already lost our first two games against England and Australia in closely fought games and the third game against Sri Lanka at Mackay had got rained out. India really needed a win to have a shot at the semi final slot. India's fourth game was against arch rivals Pakistan at Sydney. Pakistan, captained by Imran Khan, too hadnt had the brightest of starts to the World Cup. This was India and Pakistan's first ever encounter in a World Cup game. It was a tense game. It happened in the foreground as political tensions brewed between the two nations.

India batted first and put up a fighting total of 216 thanks to contributions from Jadeja, Azharuddin, Tendulkar and Kapil Dev. Tendulkar scored a fine 54 and was the only one to cross 50 for India. Pakistan's target of 217 wasnt steep but the pressure of expectations were immense. Both teams didnt give each other an inch. Fine bowling by Indians coupled with some nervous batting by Pakistanis resulting in a convincing India win. Barring Aamir Sohail (62) and Javed Miandad (40), no batsman could handle pressure. India registered its first win and Pakistan received a jolt to their World Cup dreams, which they eventually won.

This match was only the beginning of India Pakistan encounters in World Cups. The teams met in the next three consecutive World Cups, all of which India have won.