With
the round-robin stages of the tournament over, the tournament now shifts to the
knock-outs where the teams cannot afford to have a bad day at the office. If so, they go home, and it would be over. The Quarter finals will be held in
Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Wellington from March 18 to March 21. The teams
that have qualified for the quarters are New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,
India, South Africa, Pakistan and West Indies. So without any
delay let us look into what each team has had and they have to do look ahead
the next 2 weeks.
NEW ZEALAND:
The co-hosts will need to
play only the final in Australia on the event they qualify for the finals as
both their quarters and semis will played in New Zealand itself. Having reached
the semis 6 times out of the last 10 editions, they would like to do what a
Martin Crowe or a Stephen Fleming failed to achieve. They are at a strong
position and they solved the questions regarding the form of the middle order
with some displays against Bangladesh. With Boult and Vettori in fine form, and
the speed of Milne and swing of Southee their bowling attack is above par and
the batting led by the blitz of McCullum seems to get that fire-power needed at
the starting of the innings. With Guptill, Williamson, Anderson in fine form,
they are sure a hard team to beat at their own backyard.
AUSTRALIA:
The other co-hosts are
chasing history like what Brazil is chasing in football, to win the world cup
across all continents. Having won the cup in Asia, Europe, Africa and in
America (Caribbean), they need to win that trophy in the Antipodes, their home.
Having seen the group stages, they are very much intended on that approach with
their only loss coming in New Zealand where they do not have to play a single
game anymore. Their bowling is strengthened with Mitchell Starc, the best death
bowler at the moment and their batting is aided with fireworks from Finch and
Warner and Solidity in Smith and Clarke who can also go for the kill and the
BIG SHOW Maxwell. They have many all-rounders in their ranks which can provide
more options to Clarke should any of the main bowlers are taken to cleaners.
SRI LANKA:
The Asian Champions
magnificent run in this World Cup is all about a single player, Kumar
Sangakkara. Get him out, raise your hopes of winning, or else better start packing…
is what I have to say about the impact of that man in this edition. Having
raked up 4 centuries in a row, he is the lynchpin of the Sri Lankan batting
order. With Jayawardene and Dilshan playing their last World Cup they would
surely would like it to end on a high. The bowlers have not been under the
scanner so far in this tournament as they are provided by huge totals to defend
with and it was against Australia they came under the hammer and would like to
improve on that. Lasith Malinga is up to be fully fit and this was evident from
that Yorker that rattled Clarke’s stumps. The bowlers need to up their game and
need to support their batsmen if they want to get what they failed to get in
the last 2 final outings.
BANGLADESH:
The Bangladesh Tigers was the pick of any
pundit to have a team outside the top 8 teams in the rankings to qualify for
the knock-outs. And they did it in style. Having won against Afghanistan and
Scotland and a point from the washed out match against Australia, a place in
the quarter-final was at stake when they met England at Hobart. And against all
the odds they won the match and qualify for the first time to the knock-outs.
Their batting is having the fire-power of Tamim Iqbal and the in-form Soumya
Sarkar and Mahmudullah, Shakib gives some all-round performances and does the
job of a No.1 All-rounder and their bowling was at peak against that England
mach. Having to play in Australia for the rest of the campaign would make them
lessen that fatigue factor if they advance to the next stages. What they need
to do is be unified and not let that team morale go down.
INDIA:
The
Defending Champions. Could MS do what Ponting, Lloyd had done by retaining the
Championship and take home the 3rd ICC World Cup?? Yes, of course.
Going by their current form, there is no stopping them from doing that and only
a bad day at the office could rob them of the chance. What has surprised every
cricket fan worldwide is the Indian bowling attack. Considered as the weakest
link among the top 8 teams, India are the only team to take all 60 wickets from
the group stages. With Dhoni likely to retain Shami, Yaadav and Mohit for the
remainder of the tournament, India’s most experienced swing bowler Bhuvaneshwar
Kumar is fighting for a place in the squad which is a healthy competition. The
Batsmen are in fine form with all having at least one remarkable outing in the
tournament. With India to play only in Australia for the remainder of the
tournament, where they had been playing since December, it is hard to beat the
Men in Blue.
SOUTH AFRICA:
The
Proteas or now having reached the knock-out stages they would be known for the
other name they earned worldwide-CHOKERS. The South-Africans are this time an
even more strong line-up that what they played in the all the previous outings
and were the team to beat for the cup. Losses against India and Pakistan would
have hurt their morale but not their consistency and thirst to win matches.
This time they are to win something what no other South African team has done.
Knock-out wins and the World Cup. Their batting order has the world’s best 2
batsmen at the disposal, AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla. Apart from their batting,
it is their bowling attack that is more dangerous. With likes of Steyn, Morkel,
Abbott and Philander they could rattle any side and have Imran Tahir to spin
the ball and apply brakes on the run rate. A Quarter final win would result in
them travelling to New Zealand and then back to Australia on the event of
playing the final which could be fatigue given the amount of travel already the
players have undergone.
PAKISTAN:
The Men
in green, the Antipodes defending champions. Can the 40 year old Misbah do what
the 40 year old Imran did in the 1992 Benson & Hedges Cup?? If the swing of
Wasim Akram has won them the 1992 World Cup, this time it would be the four-pronged
pace attack that would do them the job. Their batsmen have found some runs
coming off the bat in the later stages of the group phase and with the inclusion
of gloves-man Sarfraz their batting and keeping have strengthened. The only
thing which is due in their armoury is that BOOM BOOM Afridi is yet to give the
fans some dhamakha and hope he will do so in the knock-outs as Pakistan need their
most experienced all-rounder the most at these stages. Having already played 2
matches in Adelaide, their venue for the Quarter-finals, they would have by now
known how the pitch behaves and if they go on with the current form, their
bowling can dictate victories and prove the world the point that BOWLERS
STILL DECIDE THE OUTCOME OF GAMES.
WEST INDIES:
The Caribbean
boys. The party continues for them, the advertisers of limited overs cricket
have not any remarkable outings since the retirement of the legends of that
West Indies which spelt doom over its opponents. The good thing to note is that
their batting does not revolve around a single player which is very good as all
players have contributed with the bat, starting from Gayle at the opening to
Holder at 9. Gayle apart from that record breaking 215 against Zimbabwe has remained
a mere shadow of himself in the remainder of the matches. The bowler aided by
Ambrose are now have some quality attack and Sammy and Russell continue to be
entertainers of the game contributing with both bat and ball. A victory at
Wellington would see them to wait at Auckland for the semi-final and with
considerable smaller boundaries in New Zealand, let the party continue for the
Caribbean boys!!!!!
Who
among these 8 will win the next 3 matches on their schedule and lay their hands
on the trophy?? Are we going to see India defend the cup, or a former champion
get the cup one more time or a new champion??....Let’s Wait and Watch…..Stay
tuned Folks!!!!!
-S.T.
Guha Karthikeyan
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