The Aussies
Australia continues to dominate the list of the hot favourite teams. Even its recent run of defeats is alluring so to speak, for this sudden lapse has been rather good for the team on the whole. It has two small opponents to overcome before it stands face to face with South Africa, if all goes well.
Often known as the leviathan of the cricket world, the Australian team has run into some unexpected hurdles. Andrew Symonds will be absent in the initial matches, owing to his long-term injury, which is likely to reflect in the game. His medium pace and spin will be sourly missed, for these could have worked wonders on the Caribbean pitches. This explosive batsman and bright fielder was the balancing end in the Australian team.
His replacement in the form of Shane Watson is like a drop of water in a deep well. Shane’s failure to perform against England signifies that he needs to pull up his socks and gear up for the tournament.
Adam Gilchrist is likely to be absent from the initial matches, and Bret Lee, rated the sixth best bowler in one-day internationals, is out of the tournament, having been replaced by Stuart Clark. The inclusion of Shaun Tait in the team can prove to be risky. He is quite an enchanting player, but in a low-scoring tournament a more patient player, who flings the ball a lot less, would have been a better choice.
Another star cricketer, Matthew Hayden is recovering from an injury. Despite having scored a remarkable 181 in Hamilton, he has been way out of form of late. Ricky Ponting still stands out as one big hope for the Aussies.
South Africa
Many cricket fans have already singled out South Africa as the team most likely to walk away with the prestigious cup.
In the last two World Cups, the South African team failed to demonstrate a good form, and the best example that springs to the mind is Allan Donald’s famous run-out against Australia in the semi-final in 1999. Then again in Durban in 2003, it gave a poor performance after misinterpreting the rain regulations.
According to Graeme Smith, the South African captain, the team has come a long way since its immature days. After beating India and Pakistan, it has jumped to the number one position. Even without a quality spinner, the team has an awesome bowling attack. Both Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini are known wicket-takers. Andre Nel is famous for sending the batsmen back to the pavilion and Andrew Hall is well known for his formidable balling technique.
South Africa also has a well-defined batting line, starting with Jaques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs, two fantastic cricketers who well know the pros and cons of one-day cricket.
The team’s only prized slow bowler, Robin Peterson, is not likely to play at all and has been replaced by Smith, who will get a chance to bowl his occasional off-spin.
South Africa might encounter a problem with the Caribbean pitches. Among all the teams, it is least suited to the conditions. But on the other hand, it has an aggressive bowling line with its ferocious attacking power and it might well prove to be a good hunting ground for negative bowlers.
The surprising element is that the second hot favourites are facing Australia in the same group on March 24 at St Kitts and without doubt it promises to be one hell of a match.
West Indies
Playing on the home ground does not have any additional benefits. The Windies team is void of pace balling. The firepower is completely absent. Enter Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels known for twirling the ball around, once the fast bowlers are exhausted. The Windies are likely to shuffle overs, with all-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Dwayne Smith, two known medium pace bowlers.
Of course, the Windies know their pitch conditions thoroughly, so it will be interesting to observe how well they augur the behaviour of the wickets. They have a strong batting line, comprising of players like Gayle and Brian Lara. Of late, Marlon Samuels has also been playing well. As for the famous pair of Shiv Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, they are known to chase a target and speed up the pace of a match.
The West Indies match against Pakistan in Jamaica is likely to be a wonderful curtain-raiser.
Sri Lanka
Under the captaincy of Mahela Jayawardhane, Sri Lanka is beaming with glory. He is also a profound batsman and part of the sizzling top-order, starring Sanath Jayasurya, a rather dangerous player, and Atapattu.
Kumar Sangaekkara, the wicket-keeper is also a very talented player, and between the four of them they are likely to chase big targets with ease.
Sri Lanka also has a sound line of bowlers in Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan. They will produce 20 nerve-racking overs between them, with a fine display of Vaas’ slower balls and Murali’s heavily-spun off-breaks.
The lower end batting line has Tilakaratne, Dilshan and Chamara Silva, who will need to perform well. Farveez Maharoof, the all-rounder, back-up seamers like Dilhara Fernando and the sling-shot bowler Lasith Malinga are going to be players worth watching out for.
The team is also known for its great fielding potential and has improved immensely under the guidance of coach Tom Moody.
The Sri Lankans do have the capability to win the tournament, if they capitalize their resources in the right manner.
New Zealand
With fast bowler Shane Bond as the best prospect, it has boiled down to a one-man show. He has an outstanding record, with an average of 19.66 in one-day internationals. This record is shared by two West-Indian players, Joel Garner and Tony Gray, along with England’s Mike Hendrick.
Bond is a fast wicket-taker and transforms an otherwise slow team into one with a sharp edge. New Zealand’s hopes rest largely on him.
The Kiwis also have bowlers, like the left-arm James Franklin and spinner Daniel Vettori, who have immense potential.
The batting line consists of skipper Stephen Flemming, who is back in form and is known as one of the best left-handers in the world. After the retirement of Nathan Astle, the Kiwis might miss his ability to score fast.
Ross Taylor and Peter Fulton are quite inexperienced, although they have given good performances in the recent past. However, the Caribbean pitches are way too slow for the New Zealanders.
Owing to an injury, Jacob Oram was forced out of the vital group match against England, but is likely to be back for the super eights.
Pakistan
Pakistan’s hopes have suffered a massive blow with three of their mega bowlers – Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Abdul Razzaq – having been withdrawn. Two of the replacements, in the form of Azhar Mahmood and Mohammad Sami, are seasoned players, whereas Yasir Arafat, the third player, is not quite experienced.
Sami is known to be pretty expensive, but there is hardly any choice considering the limited bowling resources of the Pakis. Umar Gul might do well on the slow pitches of the Caribbean and the well-known spinner, Danish Kaneria, could also prove to be a good performer.
The Pakistanis have some majestic batsmen in Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan. They are experienced cricketers and consistent deliverers. Imran Nazir too is known to play his shots aggressively.
The Pak wicket-keeper, Kamran Akmal, needs to be careful about his glove-work.
The Pakistan team will face the Windies in Jamaica, which will be a game worth watching.
England
The captaincy of Michael Vaughan, in particular his physical fitness for the World Cup, has become a contentious issue with the England cricket team.
Vaughan is an incredible captain, but not a magnificent one-day player. The bowlers like Jon Lewis and James Anderson are inexperienced and their biggest concern could be staying fit throughout the tournament. Liam Plunkett, 21, too does not have much experience. Sajid Mahamood is known for being rather inconsistent and Monty
Panesar has played only half a dozen one-day internationals.
However, both Plunkett and Mahmood have the capability to perform and the slow Caribbean pitch might prove to be good for Monty.
It looks like Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell might have to do some bowling in order to relieve the others. The batting line comprises of Vaughan, Ed Joyce and Ian Bell.
England is not the best of one-day squads. They might have had some confidence lifting victories in Australia, but they have been highly inconsistent performers for the last ten years.
India
The trounced finalists four years ago might just walk away with the cup this year. The Indian team has some of the most incredible players. The top-order batsmen, namely Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly and Robin Uthappa, are known to hit over the top.
Ganguly, the ex-Indian captain, in spite of a wonderful record, was dropped from the one-day league for a while. He is back with vengeance and is performing to the hilt. India is a country where cricketers are treated as demi-gods and Ganguly has surely lived up to the expectations of his fans.
The middle order batting line comprises of two leviathan players, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, who have scored nearly 25,000 runs between them at an average of 42.
The lower end batting line too boasts of wonderful batsmen like Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Dhoni.
Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble are very experienced, dynamic and formidable bowlers. No other major team is playing two expert spinners and they are likely to perform well on the Caribbean pitches.
Much is also expected from the Indian seamers Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan.
The World Cup this year will be a roaring affair. The Caribbean pitches are unpredictable, but once the tournament commences it will be one enthralling treat for millions of cricket fans all over the world.
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