tHe so cAllEd sUpEr8 tEeeamS...bAndaz sUpEr8 picKs anD The anAlysIS!

aT thE tiMe of tHis wriTing, 8 oF the 24 matCheS in the sUpEr8 are alreAdY played. So let us anAlyse the sUpEr 8 teAms at this stage! ofCourse the '07 woRlD cUP already lost it'z charm with 2 of the sub-continent giAnTs facing an early exit...thanks to the iCC for it'z iNNovative foRmAt!

The invinciBle ausSiEs and the ever impRovinG kiWis are playinG their besT crikKEt at the moMent!

It was only 4 weeks back that many crikKEting greats commented that the ausSiEs are a spent force and how they are loosing their hold on the ever changing one day cricket! But oh boY...now it looks like a longtime back...the ausSiEs have proved yeT again that they are the best in the businEss when it comes to the biG ocCasSion. Hayden and Mc Grath are having their best time with Hussey and Symonds waiting to prove a point or two. There is always the Ponting factor which works at the cruncH time! I hope the sub-continent teAms iNDia and paKisTan take a leaf out of the ausSIE booklet! I rate the ausSies number 1 favorite on the curRent WC form!

The other teAm to watcH out for is the kiWis...this is a well knit team with a lot of utility players in Oram, Styris, Vettori and Mc Millan with the coGitative captaincy of Fleming! If there is any team that can beat the ausSies on a consistent basis, it is the kiWis! I would rate the kiWis higher than the next ranked team the pRoteAs. I rate the kiWis number 2 favorite on the curRent WC form!

The pRoteAs and the laNkAns are equally good with a good mix of youth and experience! If it is Kallis, Smith, Gibbs and Langevedth for the soUth aFricAns then it is Jayasuriya, Murali, Malinga and Jayawardene doing the joB for the laAnkAns! I rate both the pRoteAs and laNkAns a the number 3 favorite on the curRent WC form!

The other teAm capable of winning the coVeted tropHy is the enGlisH. They have been a revelation in the past few weeks and are always improvinG with each matcH. Peterson, Colly, Monty and Freddie are doing the joB for the enGlisH with good support from the others like Bell, Bopara and Vaughn(juSt for the capTainCy)! The enGlisH are the only other team capable of de-throning the ausSiEs!

The carRibeAns though a good uNit are not good enoUgh to pass tbe sUpEr8 stage of the tournaMent but for the one greAt man Lara! Anything is posSible with this great man!

The iRisH and the banGlAs are just filling in the numbers for the second stage of the tournament like in the '99 and '03 when zimbaBwe and kEnYa snEaked thru'!

My favorites to reach the seMis are the ausSiEs, the kiWis and two ouT of the three from the pRoteAs, the laNkAns and the enGlisH!

uNtiL tomMorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz sUpEr8 picKs.

Date	Match	Teams	Winning chance	Winning chance	Actual Result
mAr 27th	sUpEr8-Match1	ausSiEs vs carRibEans	ausSiEs 65%	carRibEans 35%	ausSiEs
mAr 28th	sUpEr8-Match2	pRoteAs vs laNkAns	pRoteAs 60%	laNkAns 40%	pRoteAs
mAr 29th	sUpEr8-Match3	kiWis vs carRibEans	kiWis 60%	carRibEans 40%	kiWis
mAr 30th	sUpEr8-Match4	enGlisH vs iRisH	enGlisH 75%	iRisH 25%	enGlisH
mAr 31st	sUpEr8-Match5	ausSiEs vs baNglAs	ausSiEs 80%	baNglAs 20%	ausSiEs
aPr 1st	sUpEr8-Match6	laNkAns vs carRibEans	laNkAns 60%	carRibEans 40%	laNkAns
aPr 2nd	sUpEr8-Match7	kiWis vs baNglAs	kiWis 65%	baNglAs 35%	kiWis
aPr 3rd	sUpEr8-Match8	pRoteAs vs iRisH	pRoteAs 90%	iRisH 10%	pRoteAs
aPr 4th	sUpEr8-Match9	laNkAns vs enGlisH	laNkAns 55%	enGlisH 45%	laNkAns
aPr 7th	sUpEr8-Match10	pRoteAs vs baNglAs	pRoteAs 90%	baNglAs 10%	baNglAs
aPr 8th	sUpEr8-Match 11	ausSiEs vs enGlisH	ausSiEs 50.5%	enGlisH 49.5%	ausSiEs
aPr 9th	sUpEr8-Match 12	kiWis vs iRisH	kiWis 80%	iRisH 20%	kiWis
aPr 10th	sUpEr8-Match13	pRoteAs vs carRibEans	pRoteAs 60%	carRibEans 40%	pRoteAs
aPr 11th	sUpEr8-Match 14	enGlisH vs baNglAs	enGlisH 60%	baNglAs 40%	enGlisH
aPr 12th	sUpEr8-Match 15	kiWis vs laNkAns	kiWis 52%	laNkAns 48%	laNkAns
aPr 13th	sUpEr8-Match 16	ausSiEs vs iRisH	ausSiEs 90%	iRisH 10%	auSSiEs
aPr 14th	sUpEr8-Match 17	kiWis vs pRoteAs	kiWis 49%	pRoteAs 51%	kiWis
aPr 15th	sUpEr8-Match 18	baNglAs vs iRisH	baNglAs 60%	iRisH 40%	iRisH
aPr 16th	sUpEr8-Match 19	ausSiEs vs laNkAns	ausSiEs 53%	laNkAns 47%	ausSiEs
aPr 17th	sUpEr8-Match 20	enGlisH vs pRoteAs	enGlisH 51%	pRoteAs 49%	pRoteAs
aPr 18th	sUpEr8-Match 21	laNkAns vs iRisH	laNkAns 80%	iRisH 20%	laNkAns
aPr 19th	sUpEr8-Match 22	carRibEans vs baNglAs	carRibEans 49%	baNglAs 51%	carRibEans
aPr 20th	sUpEr8-Match 23	ausSiEs vs kiWis	ausSiEs 58%	kiWis 42%	ausSiEs
aPr 21st	sUpEr8-Match 24	enGlisH vs carRibEans	enGlisH 65%	carRibEans 35%	enGlisH

based on the curRent woRld cUp fOrm of the teAms!
uNtiL laTeR... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

tHe woRld cUp foRmaT!!!

thE gRoup round is over and here are the resUlts to get inTo the sUpEr8!!! It is sad to see the crikKEting gianTs iNDia and paKisTan to be knocked oUt. b4 discusSing the teaMs in sUpEr8, let us talk about a few facts about the woRld cUp tournaments of the past and the present.

It was only since the '99 ediTion that the tournament was desiGneD into having 2 rounds beFore playing the semiS. There are a lot of merRits atTached to this nEw forMat if implemented properly! In the '99 there were a toTal of 12 teams participating in the tournament divided into 2 groups of 6 each! The top 3 from each group went on to play in the sUpEr6. unFortunately better teams liKe enGland and sRilanKa gave way for zimbaBwe to progResS into the sUpEr6! tHe forMat was thus comMented to leaVe out the biG teams but there was not much to blaMe since each teAm had played 5 group games beFore progresSing into the next round.

If the '99 ediTion had left out 2 of the biG teams out of the sUpEr6, the '03 ediTion was even worse! This time there were a toTal of 14 teaMs participating in the tournament divided into 2 groups of 7 each! tHe tOp 3 from each group progressed to the sUpEr6. This ediTion saw betTer teams like enGland and paKisTan from group A knocked oUt and zimBabwE entering the sUpEr6. similaRly soUth aFricA and wesTinDies from group B were knocked oUt and kEnYa entering the sUpEr6. There was a lot of complaining about the tournament format without 4 of the maJor teams not progresSing into the super6! This was still better thaN the curRent 2007 ediTion since each team got to play 6 group games in the 2003 ediTion before the sUpEr6 were decided!

The curRent 2007 ediTion has the woRst forMat designed till date! There are now a toTal of 16 teaMs participating in the tournament with 4 teams in each group! The top2 from each group proceEd to sUpEr8. So this gives only 3 games for a team before their sUpEr8 faTe is decided!!! is thiS valid...is tHis acCeptable...i aM sure iT is nOT. any best teaM in the world can have one bad day and that is what happened to the crikKeting gianTs iNDia and paKisTan to be knocked out of thE woRld cUp without a sUpEr8 berth! I hope the iCC wakes up from the deep slumber and design a betTer format for the fortH cominG worlD cUP tournaments! a woRld cUp should have the best teaMs playing with each other atleast for half the time! iT does nOT make anY senSe for the one OFF teams like banGladesh, kEnYa, zimbaBwE or iRelanD making it to the second rounD!

If the '99 ediTion of sUpEr6 was a sUpEr5, the '03 ediTion of sUpEr6 was even worse...it was a sUpEr4. The iCC improved fuRthEr making the '07 ediTion of sUpEr8 into a virtUal sUpEr6!!!
God only can help crikKEt...to maKe the iCC come up with betTer forMats for the woRld cUps of the futuRe! If this does not change, the woRld cUp would defintely loose its charm!

The '75, '79, '83 and '87 ediTions had no flaws since there were only a toTal of 8 participatinG teams with 4 in each groUp. Each of the teams played twicE within themselves before the toP 2 from each groUp played the seMis!

The '92 ediTion of the world cUp had the beST forMat only to be comparable with the '96 ediTion! If the '92 ediTion had a round-robin format where each teaM played with all the other teAms before the top4 played the seMis, the '96 ediTion introdUceD an inNovatiVe way of quarteR fiNals being played before the seMis. I personally like the '96 ediTion...thouGh there are a toTal of 12 teams, each group had 6 teaMs each. The top4 from each group played into the quarTers and so ON...

now tHat the 2007 format is messed up, I hope the iCC gives a betTer thinkinG into this subJeCt!

as pEr the curRent world cUp form of the teaMs, the ausSies, the lanKans, the chOkers...am sorRy the proTeas and the kiWis should make the semiS! Don't be sUrprisEd if the milleaniUM warRiors...the ausSies or the maRauDers...the lanKans lift the 9th ediTion of the world cUp...thanks to iCC for their inNovative waYs to twEak the forMat tiMe and agAin!!!

bAndaz picKs for mAr25th...

banGladesH shud wiN over berMudA comfortably!
banGladesH -> 85% winning chance
berMudA -> 15% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!
Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr24th...

soUth aFricA shud wiN over ausTrAlia very narrowly!
soUth aFricA -> 55% winning chance
ausTrAlia -> 45% winning chance

enGlanD shud wiN over kEnYa comfortably!
enGlanD -> 80% winning chance
kEnYa -> 20% winning chance (surpRise element!)

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!
Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr23rd...

iNDia shud wiN over sRilankA very narrowly!
iNDia -> 55% winning chance
sRilankA -> 45% winning chance

wesTindiEs shud wiN over iRelanD comfortably!
wesTindiEs -> 80% winning chance
iRelanD -> 20% winning chance (surpRise element!)

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!
Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr22nd...

scOtlanD shud wiN over neTherlanDs in a close game!
scOtlanD -> 52% winning chance
neTherlanDs -> 48% winning chance

newZealanD shud wiN over caNadA comfortably!
newZelanD -> 90% winning chance
caNadA -> 10% winning chance (surpRise element!)

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!
Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr21st...

paKisTan shud wiN over ziMbaBwe comfortably and nicely!
paKisTAn -> 90% winning chance
ziMbaBwe -> 10% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

sRilankA shud wiN over baNglAdesh comfortably!
sRilankA -> 75% winning chance
baNglAdesh -> 25% winning chance (surpRise element!)

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!
Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr20th...

soUth aFricA shud wiN over scOtlanD with a huge margin!
soUth aFricA -> 92% winning chance
scOtlanD -> 8% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

newzEalanD shud wiN over kEnyA narrowly! bUt there is a possibility that the match could go either way!
newzEalanD -> 59% winning chance
kEnyA -> 41% winning chance (surpRise element!)


based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!
Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr19th...

iNDia shud wiN over berMudA with a huge margin!
iNDia -> 95% winning chance
berMudA -> 5% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

wesTindiEs shud wiN over zimbaBwE comfortably!
wesTindiEs -> 85% winning chance
zimbaBwE -> 15% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!

Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr18th...

ausTraliA shud wiN over neTherlanDs with a huge margin!
ausTraliA -> 97% winning chance
neTherlanDs -> 3% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

enGlanD shud wiN over canAda comfortably!
enGlanD -> 92% winning chance
canAda -> 8% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!

Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr17th...

iNDia shud wiN over banGladesH comfortably!
iNDia -> 85% winning chance
banGladesH -> 15% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

paKisTan shud wiN over iRelanD with a huge margin!
paKisTan -> 95% winning chance
iRelanD -> 5% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!

Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr16th...

soUth aFricA shud wiN over neTherlanDs with a huge margin!
soUth aFricA -> 99% winning chance
neTherlanDs -> 1% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

enGlanD should win a close game against newZealAnd
enGlanD -> 52% winning chance
newZealAnd -> 48% winning chance

based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!

Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr15th...

sRilanKa shud wiN on berMuda with a huge margin!
sRianKa -> 99% winning chance
berMuda -> 1% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

irElanD shud lOOse this game very narrowly over zimBabWe!
iRelanD -> 49% winning chance
zimBabWe -> 51% winning chance
based on the team form since the last 3 months!

Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr 14th...

thoUgh the result of the opening matcH looks one sided with the caRRibeans winning by over 50runs, it was not that way! The matcH did provide a lot of excitement until Shoib Malik was out! The presence of a certain Shahid Afridi who was baNNed for 2 matcHes would have given a diFFerent result!

ausTraliA vs scotLanD

eXpect the auSSies to wiN comfortably. watch ouT for Gilly, Ponting and Hussey in the baTTing and Tait and Mc Grath in the bowling. eXpect an all-round performance from Watson if he gets to play!
watch out for the scoTs captain Craig Wright!

auSSies -> 95% winning chance
socTs -> 5% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)

kenYa vs canAda

thiS is going to be an inTeresting matcH with both the minnows trying to prove a point!
kenYa should win a hard fought match.

watcH ouT for Steve Tikolo and Thomas Odoyo in the kenYan side and John Davison and Ashish Bagai in the canAdian side!

kenYa -> 60% winning chance
canAda -> 40% winning chance

Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

bAndaz picKs for mAr13th...

wesTindiEs shud wiN this game very narrowly over paKisTan!
wesTindiEs -> 55% winning chance
paKisTan -> 45% winning chance

based on the team form since the last 3 months!

Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!

soUth aFricA...cHokeRs tO tHe cOre.

soUth aFricA...play their best cricket always, the only difference being they cHoke at the big occasion. It was on march 12th 1889 that the soUth aFricAns played their first test againsT the then touring enGlisH side becoming only the 3rd test playing nation. It was until 1970 that soUth aFricA played international crikKEt during which time they were the third best after the enGlisH and the auSSies! In 1970, the ICC voted to suspend soUth aFricA from international cricket indefinitely because of its government's policy of apartheid, a policy which led them to play only against the white nations (England, Australia, New Zealand), and field only white players. The ban of the soUth aFricAns saw the caRRibeans rise and the rest is history about how the caRRibean kinGs dominated the cricketing world!

Ever since the soUth aFricAns were welcomed back to international cricket in 1991, they became a driving force on the crikKEt field played anywhere in the world! It has to be noted that the caRRibean downfall already started in the late 80s...a coinciDence...ofcourse noT!

soUth aFricA always produced some of the best crikKEters like the great Graeme Pollock, the agile Allan Lamb (later played for enGlanD due to the ban on soUth aFricA), shrewd leader Kepler Wessels (later played for ausTraliA due to the ban on soUth aFrica), aggresive captain and all-rounder Hansie Cronje (banned from crikKEt due to alleged match fixing scandals and later died in a plane cRasH!), the fiersome Allan Donald, the consistent all-rounder Shaun Pollock, the accumulator Kallis to name a few!

Since the soUth aFricAns returned back to international crikKEt they can be termed as under achievers missing on the crunCH situations many a times! The current soUth aFricAn team is well balanced with a good blend of experience and youth to break that jinX. The baTTing at the toP is in the hands oF their aggreSSive young leader Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers. The middle order boasts of the trio of Gibbs, Kallis and Prince, followed by the pinch hitter Kemp. The explosive wicketkeeper-batsman Boucher and the all-rounders Pollock and Hall make up the lower middle order! There is not much of a tail in this current soUth aFricAn team! The bowling is in the experienced hands of Pollock and Ntini. The support cast is excellent with Hall and Nel. Additionally Kallis, Kemp and Smith support equally good with the bowling options.

It remains to be seen if this soUth aFricAn team who chased a record 434 in march 2006 can break the jinX by winning in the moTHer of all tournaments to remove their tag of cHokeRs once and for all! It might take a few matches for these soUth aFricAns to get used to the slow pitches in the caRRibean islands but keep your fingers crossed, I would rate them to make it to the finals!

All said and done, I would rate them 1st favorite in my list to win this 9th edition of the coVeted tropHY!

Keep coming here for every day picks from the march 13th until the tournament ends...goOd eVening and gOoD luCk until our next meeting!

enGlanD...tHe genTlemen oF crikKEt.

enGlanD...it is the place where evrything started! This beautiful game of crikKEt was first played by the kings in 1212AD!. Yes this is true. It took a few centuries to evolve and finally the first official game was played as a timeless test match between the briTisH and the auSSies on march15th 1877. This was a timeleSS test match which lasted for 4 days and the auSSies had the last laugh!

A game of cricket should be watched in the enGlisH summers in enGlanD. That is when you get the real taste of the genTlemen's game.

The enGlisH dominated this game for much of the last century most of which was in the longer format...the tesT crikKEt. It was the auSSies first and the caRRibeans later that showed the world how to beat the once unbeatable enGlisH. The enGlisH had a very strong presence in the first 5 editions of the world cUP! Ever since they lost the finals against the paKisTan sultAns @ melbourne under the captaincy of Ian Botham, they were never the same! The enGlisH have a unique distinction of playing in 3 world cUP finals and never winning on a single occassion!

enGlanD produced many cricketing legeNds like Ian Botham, Mike Gatting, Geoff Boycott, David Gower, Sir W G Grace, Graham Gooch to name a few! There is one common factor between the enGlisH players of the paSt and the preSEnt...they show professionalism in their approach to the game.

The current enGlisH team is very much capable of breaking the jinX and finally wiNNing the coveted trophy which denied their cricketing legeNds of the paSt! The baTTing has a stable look at the top with the shrewd leader Vaughn and the young gun Ed Joyce followed by the stable Bell at one down. The middle order boasts of the ever consistent Collingwood, the pocket dynamo Petersen and the reliable all-rounder Flintoff. The tail is seperated by the veteran wicket-keeper batsman Nixon and the in-form all-rounder Dalrymple. The bowling looks with the opening combo of Anderson and Jon Lewis. The support cast is good with Sajid Mahmood and Liam Plunkett. The spin department is spearheaded by the sensational Monty Panesar! The all-rounders Flintoff, Dalrymple play a major role in the bowling department as well! Added to this Vaughn is widely applauded for this shrewd and tactical captaincy!

If the enGlisH believe in themselves, I would rate them to make it to the finals! All said and done, I would rate them 2nd favorite in my list to win this 9th edition of the coVeted tropHY!

We will discuss about the 1st favorite team to win the cUP tomorrow...until then goOd eVening and gOoD luCk.

iNDia...tHe tiGers oF thE easT.

iNDia...the heroes of the '83 cUP! This is what comes to mind when you first talk about tHe iNDian team's world cUP chances. Ever since that elusive victory @ LORDS, the mecca of crikKEt grounds happened, crikKEt has evolved in a biG way in iNDia. It would not be wrong to say that cricket is a religion in iNDia! You take a casual stroll on any of the internal roads in any part of the country and you would definitely get a sighting of crikKEt being played!

It was after '83 that the iNDian crikKEt team started believing in themselves that they can beat the best in the shOrter verSion of the gaMe as well! kuDOs to the team of '83 led by the legenDary Paaji Kapil and ably supported by Jimmy Amarnath, Yashpal Sharma, Sandeep Patil, Madanlal, Krish Srikanth and others! It has become customary to compare any iNDian team, wheTHer goOd or bAd to the herOes of '83. I would not discoUnt the victory of '83 which was hard fought and a well deserving win but comparisons should not be done for many reasons......1) the teaM of '83 had no pressure or expectations 2) the number of competing teaMs at the highest level were not manY 3) crikKEt was just a gaMe...not anything else like now-a-days it is termed more as a priDe! 4) though one day cricket evolved in the 70s it was not much popular by '83...only the auSSies, the enGlisH and the caRRibeans got a hanG of it by that time! The rest of the loT iNDia, paKisTan, new zeaLanD and the others are still learniNg the nauNces of crikKEt!

The current team led by the soliDary Dravid and his larGer tHan liFe deputY Tendulkar has a good mix of experience and youth going into the cUP. The baTTing at the tOp is good with the return of the Dada Ganguly and the explosive Veeru followed by the sensational Uthappa. The middle order is potent with the greatesT living leGend Tendulkar, followed by the reliable Dravid and the dashing Yuvraj. The bridge between the middle order and the tail is filled in by the pocket dynamo Dhoni. The boWling looks good with the return of the resurgent Zaheer and the agile Agarkar. The support cast is good with the promising Munaf and Sreesanth. The spin department is well balanced with the tireless magician Kumble and his wily partner Harbhajan. Let us not forget the young all-round sensation Irfan in the ranks as well who would be the trump card!

It is to be seen wheTHer these great names discussed above would take the preSSure within themselves and live to the expecTations! All said and done, I would still rate them 3rd favorite in my list to win this 9th edition of the coVeted tropHY!

We will discuss about the 2nd favorite team to win the cUP tomorrow...until then goOd eVening and gOoD luCk.

sri lanKa...the marauD eRs of crikKEt.

sri lanKa...rewind back to the paaaAAAst...how can one forget the huGe impaCt made by this team in the '96 cUP. Until then they were mere passengers in the world of crikKEt! It was the agressive captaincy of Ranatunga and his able deputy Aravinda De silva ably supported by the trio of Jayasuriya, Kaluwitharna and Murli which made this happen. Ever since then, the sri lanKans were never the same! They went on to become one of the cricketing power houses! If it was Martin Crowe who adopted the strategy of utilizing the first 15 overs by promoting Greatbatch in the '92 edition, it was Ranatunga who has fine tuned the strategy of how to clinically destroy the opposition in the first 15 overs by employing the marauD ers Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharna to the task, who has done the job to perfection!

Ever since the marauD eRs have claimed the trophy in '96, the team has improved to the better.The sri lanKans in the '99 cUP have witnessed a shock elimination from the suPer 6 but they have done much better in the next edition (2003) reaching the seMis. It is not wrong to quote that the sri lanKans dominated the first part of the seMis with the mighty auSSies in the 2003 edition! On a given day, sri lanKa is tHe team which is very much capable of beating the best on a consistent basis. It remains to be seen how the 2007 edition folds up for the marauD eRs!

The present teaM is very much capable of repeating the feat of '96 taking into consideration the balance of the team which has good blend of experience and youth. The batting at the top is in the able and trusted hands of the veteRan Jayasuriya and an able ally in Tharanga, followed by the trio of Jayawardena, Sangakkara and Attapattu. It is good to see Arnold back into the batting ranks of the middle order which would be very handy. Dilshan is an all-rounder who can bowl his skiddy off-spinners and bat with elan! The lower order boasts of the hurricane all rounder Maharoof and Vaas who too can bat a bit. The boWling looks more promising with the agile Vaas and the wily Muralitharan. The support cast is good with the pacy Malinga and the consistent Kulasekhara.

Now it needs to be seen how quickly this sri lanKan team can adapt on the tracks in the caRRibean(which suits them very well) to repeat their '96 performance! All said and done, I would still rate them 4th favorite in my list to win this 9th edition of the coVeted tropHY!

We will discuss about the 3rd favorite team to win the cUP tomorrow...until then goOd eVening and gOoD luCk.

austRaliA...tHe warrioRs oF thE miLLeniUM.

austRaliA....a name which brings to mind the sheer passion with which they play cricket! In my view austRaliA is for crikKEt like what braZil is for soCCer...the standard to be compared...in the moDeRn aGe! For over a decade, austRaliA have been the un-conquered leadeRs in both forms of the game. It is in '87 that austRaliA has won the first world cUP under one of their greatest leaders Allan Border! Though they have not done well in the next edition in '92 held in their own backyard, they have been consistent ever since reaching 3 consecutive finals in '96, '99 and 2003 and winning on 2 of these occassions!

It is not wise to write OFF the auSSies owing to their recent 5 game loosing streak! You have to discount the fact that 5 of their top players are missing either with injury or break. It is the same auSSies who have an an unconquered record of 18 consecutive wins since the '99 cUP (7 consecutive wins in '99 an 11 consecutive wins in 2003). The core nucleus of the winning auSSie team of the 2003 is very much alive in this edition as well barring the feaRsome Lee!

The batting is good with the return of Gilchrist and Hayden at the top followed by Ponting, Hussey, Clarke and Shane Watson or Brad Hodge. The bowling though in-experienced, is lethal with a lot of talented young pacers like Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait, Nathan Bracken. To top it all, the ever reliable and consistent Mc Grath is out there to prove a point or two before quitting from the great game of cricket! If all is well and Symonds recovers back in time for the crucial match against soutH aFrica, there is no reason why the auSSies cannot make it 3 in row to win the cUP!

It is to be seen how well the injury hit auSSies can bounce back and held on their nerve in tenSe matcH situations! All said and done, I would still rate them 5th favorite in my list to win this 9th edition of the coVeted tropHY!

We will discuss about the 4th favorite team to win the cUP tomorrow...until then goOd eVening and gOoD luCk.

wesT inDies...the undisputeD kinGs oF the 70s.

wesT inDies...the name was enough to create terror on any cricket field in the 70s. How can one forget the feaRsome fOur...Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding and Malcom Marshall. The wesT inDian batting boasted of all-time greats like Clive Llyod, Alvis Kalicharan, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes and the flamboyant Sir Vivian Richards in the same era. This was enough to see them thru' the first two editions of the world cUPs(1975 and 1979) with the highest honors. Make no mistake about it, the austRaliAn and the enGlisH teams were equally good in that era but the caRRibean kinGs had the last laugh!

It took an underdog team like India to de-throne the caRRibean kinGs from their world cUP winning streak in '83. Ever since then, the wesT inDian kinGs were never the same! It was only in '96 that the wesT inDians managed to reach the semiS. It is been over 2 decades that the caRRibean kinGs are de-throned from the highest honor of cricket...the coveted world cUP!

The tale of the current wesT inDian team is very different. Here is a talented young brigade building up and playing their best ODI cricket in the last few months under their veteran chief commander Brian Charles Lara. It is a testimony to their improved performance to see them playing the champions trophy finals with the invincible ausTraliAn warriors!

It looks like the captaincy of Lara is doing a lot of good to this young caRRibean team. Lara is out there to prove a point or two before his retirement from this wonderful game of cricket!

The batting is very settled with Chanderpaul and Gayle at the top followed by Samuels, Sarwan, and the great Lara. Then you have the dynamic all rounder Bravo followed by the stable wicketkeeper-batsman Ramdin. The bowling looks in-experienced but shows a lot of potential in the young Jerome Taylor, the consistent Bradshaw, the ever improving Smith and the competent Colleymore. A lot needs to be seen how consistently this young team can perform under the brilliant Lara!

All said and done, I would still rate them 6th favorite in my list to win this 9th edition of the coVeted tropHY!

We will discuss about the 5th favorite team to win the cUP tomorrow...until then goOd eVening and gOoD luCk.

nEw zeaLanD..kiWis..the most underRaTed bunch

kiWis are the most underRaTed bunch of crikKeteRs. nEw zeaLanD was the first team who started utilizing the 15 over fielding restrictions (imposed since the '92 world cUP) intelligently. The dynamic captaincy of Martin Crowe in the '92 cUP saw him promoting Mark Greatbatch to open the innings for nEw zeaLanD who tore the bowling apart (time and again) and has shown the world how to utilize the first 15 overs...and the rest as you all know is hiStorY. It was during the same time that the great nEw zeaLanD leader showed the world how to utlize spin bowling in the first 15 overs effectively by opening with Deepak Patel. ofcourse the game has progressed much more in the last 15 years but it was heartening to see how nEw zeaLanD made an impact at that world cUP. The last 15 years has seen a rejuvenated nEw zeaLanD cricket team with a good crop of multi dimensional players.

If it was Sir Richard Hadlee who put nEw zeaLanD on the cricket map of the world with his bowling exploits in the 70s and 80s, it was Martin Crowe who got them competing with the toP teAms of the crikKet world with his batting exploits and radical captaincy in the late 80s and early 90s. In the later part of 90s, nEw zeaLanD saw a true leader in Stephen Fleming who many a times led the team from the front.

I was fortunate to meet with Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle in '95 at a Bangalore pub on a weekend. The nEw zeaLanD team was visiting iNdiA at that time! I had a long chat with the 2 great men. It was really sad to see Astle retire before the world cUP! The cricketing world does miss him a lot...who can forget the fastest double century ever hit in a test match in just 155balls! I forgot to mention that I met with Martin Crowe as well in '95 on a different occassion. Watch out for a complete story on these in the coming days!

The current team has a good blend of youth and experience and the important thing is that they have quite a few all rounders in the form of Scott Styris, Jacob Oram(he's the one who wants to play even with a broken finger or amputating his finger!), Craig Mc Millan, Daniel Vettori. The batting looks good with Lou Vincent and Fleming at the top followed by the new exciting talents Fulton and Taylor in the middle order followed by Styris, Mc Millan and Oram(if he'z fit to play). Brendon Mc Cullum is the explosive wicket keeper batsman who is the bridge between the top order and the tail. The bowling looks good with the fiery Bond and the agile Vettori supported by Franklin and the other all rounders! Fielding is one of their greatest aSSets!

It looks to be seen how fast the nEw zeaLanDers can adapt to the pitches on the other side of the world in the caRRibean. All said and done, I would still rate them 7th favorite in my list to win this 9th edition of the coVeted tropHY!

We will discuss about the 6th favorite team to win the cUP tomorrow...until then
goOd eVening and gOoD luCk.

PaKisTan...tHe suLtaNs oF reVerSe sWing

paKisTan is one of the 8 teAms to waTch ouT for in this edition of the world cUP. Though this team would be sadly missing out on the services of the rawalpindi express Shoaib, the immaculate Asif and the dashing allrounder Abdul Razzaq, they are still a formidable teaM with a lot of talent. Infact this is the first time in a world cUP competition that paKisTan has a relatively in-experienced and weaker bowling attack!

Pakistan is a team which has excellent bench strength of good bowling attacks in the past. Nevertheless they can still boast of a good breed of young fast bowlers. It looks like the batting is finally coming to terms with the trio of Yusuf, Younis Khan and Inzamam lending solidity to the middle order followed by the mercurial keeper Kamran Akmal, the pocket dynamo Shahid Afridi and most probably the long forgotten dashing allrounder Azhar Mahmood!

There have always been problems with the paKisTan teams (in terms of integrity) of the past and present except for the times when Zaheer Abbas was an integral part and later when Imran Khan took over as the captain! It remains to be seen if Inzamam and coach Woolmer can instill the missing team spirit and unity within their 15players...which can make wonders. On their day, paKisTan is the only team capable of beating any of the top teams on a consistent basis!

All said and done, though pakistan has an equal chance of winning the cUP, I would still rate them 8th favorite in my list to win this 9th edition of the coVeted tropHY!

We will discuss about my 7th favorite team to win the cUP tomorrow...until then
goOd eVening and gOoD luCk.