It was sometime in September 2007 and the Indian team was getting back to grips after getting knocked out from the group stage by Bangladesh in the 50-over World Cup in the Caribbean islands. The Indian cricket board at this juncture decided to elevate Mahendra Singh Dhoni to captain Team India in the new and fast brand of Twenty20 cricket for the World Cup in South Africa. Senior team members were left behind and the wicketkeeper-batsman was given a young, inexperienced squad.
Though the Indian team entered the fray as a learning experience, Dhoni’s daredevil approach helped India win the first Twenty20 World Cup. The rest, as they say, was history for the man who went on to popularise the helicopter shot and later in 2011 reclaimed glory for a billion plus souls by winning the ICC World Cup more than two decades after the nation won its first world cup in 1983.
Big favourites
Fast forward to 2016 with Dhoni and hosts India entering the Twenty20 World Cup as tournament favourites, hoping to claim the spoils for a second time after winning the inaugural series in 2007. After retiring in Tests, Dhoni will be aiming to go out on a high and will leave no stone unturned to achieve his goal. Though getting on in years and with his penchant for taking risks having diminished over time, the recent series victory over Australia Down Under must have boosted his confidence, and the team’s with it.
The Indian team will also be buoyed by the fact that when the 50-over World Cup was held in the subcontinent, Team Blue clinched the trophy, defeating Sri Lanka in the final in 2011. India’s batting will revolve around openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan and No. 3 Virat Kohli with Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Dhoni providing the finishing touches in the latter part of the innings. But it will be the spinners who will play a big role in the outcome of any match. Ravichandran Ashwin spearheads the hosts’ attack (read our profile on Ashwin on page 6), assisted by Ravindra Jadeja, Pawan Negi, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina.
Spinners play pivotal roles in cricket today, especially in the shorter formats and former Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq notes this transformation with pride and tipped the teams from the subcontinent as the favourites to win the World Twenty20 Cup.
“India and Sri Lanka are favourites. I’m not counting on Pakistan, especially after their recent lacklustre show in the UAE, where conditions are similar to India,” the inventor of doosra (a delivery that turns away from the batsman) tells GN Focus.
But bowling the doosra has inflicted a huge damage on many teams, including Pakistan. The team’s dip in performance came after their main off-spinner Saeed Ajmal was banned from bowling due to suspect action. Along with Ajmal, Mohammad Hafeez was also banned from bowling after it was found that his arm extended beyond the allowed 15 degrees while bowling the doosra.
Dangerous opposition
The 2009 champions’ chances were further dented when in-form leg-spinner Yasir Shah was banned for three months after failing a drug test. His absence could cost Pakistan dear as he could have made the most of India’s dry pitches during this time of the year. However, the return of talented left-arm seamer Mohammad Amir from a five-year match-fixing ban should add depth to the bowling, and any team writing off Pakistan do so at their own peril. On their day, Pakistan are an unpredictable and dangerous opponent.
After a brief suspense on the country’s participation in the tournament, fans across the world will now be able to watch the much-awaited clash against arch-rivals India on March 19 at Dharamsala after the government allowed the team to travel to India. While Pakistan have lost their main weapon due to the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) zero-tolerance, defending champions Sri Lanka will be without their two icons, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, who both retired recently. The team will rely heavily on players like skipper Lasith Malinga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Angelo Matthews and star spinner Rangana Herath to help them retain the crown.
Bangladesh, who have to come through the group stage due to their ranking at the time of cut-off, constitute a mix of youth and experience and their knowledge in similar to home conditions will give them the edge. Bangladesh should start as one of the favourites to qualify from their group given their form of late.
Different brand of cricket
Generally, in today’s world of cricket, the hosts are unbeatable in favourable conditions, but Twenty20 is such a funny brand of cricket that even an over can reverse a team’s fortunes for better or worse. Since the advent of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008, capitalising on the euphoria of the first World Twenty20 success, the country has become the home of Twenty20.
Nearly all Test-playing nations have their own version of Twenty20, which has resulted in many players getting much-needed exposure while also helping unearth talented finds. This has also narrowed the gap between the teams when these players turn out for their countries.
One country to benefit the most is the West Indian team, as almost all players from the squad take part not just in the IPL, but ply their trade across top Twenty20 leagues around the world. However, But factors like player revolts over payment issues and the subsequent pull-out of Kieron Pollard and Darren Bravo have threatened put a spanner in the works, despite Darren Sammy takingon the role of skipper. Mystery spinner Sunil Narine, who was banned by the ICC after suspect action, could have been the Caribbean side’s trump-card in the subcontinent, but the spinner also pulled out citing lack of confidence. Despite the troubles, the West Indian side will be one to watch and could go all the way towards their second title.
While playing in the IPL would have given the Caribbean players the required insight into conditions, the England players’ lack of exposure could prove a disadvantage, especially to their spinners. Skipper Eoin Morgan is the only one in the team to have played in the IPL, but the squad boast some excellent talents like Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, while Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali will man England’s spin bowling.
Redemption?
Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are the major cricketing nations who have not held the trophy despite the stars in their ranks. The Kiwis will be without talismanic captain Brendon McCullum, one of the few in the world to hit a century in Twenty20. The swashbuckling opener played a crucial role in New Zealand reaching the World Cup 50-over final last year and could have provided some quick starts to his team had he stuck on.
Skipper Kane Williamson is in form though, as are Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill and Corey Anderson, the latter holding the record for the fastest century in ODI. The Kiwis possess a varied bowling attack and are laced with all-rounders who can chip in with useful contributions if and when required.
South Africa will be aiming to end their international drought and players like A.B. de Villiers must be rueing the missed opportunity in Australia and New Zealand, where they lost narrowly to co-hosts Kiwis. An immensely talented cricketer (read his profile on page 6), De Villiers will be keen to make amends after his wicketkeeping workload reduced on the return of Quinton de Kock, who has also struck form. The team has a balanced look with Dale Steyn leading the bowling department along with leg-spinner Imran Tahir. But South Africa has had talented players in the past, and it remains to be seen if they can shed the chokers tag.
Australia, however, do not have the same potency in bowling after the retirement of Mitchell Johnson and injuries to Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. But the team, led by astute Steve Smith, can tilt the match in their favour with the likes of David Warner, Shane Watson and Glenn Maxwell.
With two qualifiers from the group stage, which begins March 8, joining the Super 10, the fireworks will start on March 15 with hosts India taking on New Zealand.
