Cricket World Cup 2007

The Caribbean Carnival Begins

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Here we are! Cricket’s biggest carnival has finally arrived. It was fitting that the greatest cricketer of all time, Sir Garfield Sobers, declared the world cup open. The organizers departed from the usual formality of the head of state of the host nation declaring the world cup open, and instead asked one of its erstwhile greats to do the honors. Probably this was influenced by the fact that the West Indies is an entity which consists of many nations, and maybe to avoid any dispute which may arise subsequently they selected their greatest ever cricketer to start off their greatest ever sporting event.

This is one of the most open of all world cups in recent memory and also the least hyped one. One can vividly remember the hype that surrounded the world cup last time in 2003. Compared to that this year the hype has relatively low key. It is not until 2 days before the world cup that it has started showing signs of picking up momentum. This could be attributed to the fact that almost 50% of the competing teams in this world do not stand a chance of winning a single match other than among themselves. This has inundated the group stage with a lot of meaningless matches and with the results being a foregone conclusion in almost half its matches. Hopefully the tournament would really start off when the super-eight stage begins on the 27th March.

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There have already been some fireworks on and off the field for this world cup. If the opening ceremony showcased some spectacular fireworks display, off the field it has been the showdown between Ponting and Gavaskar that has been in the news lately. Ponting’s harsh reply to Gavaskar’s equally harsh criticism of their behavior on the field and his subsequent return to Ponting’s taunts have all added spice to an already simmering rivalry between India and Australia. The Indians are still haunted by the massacre they received at the hands of the Australians during last world cup’s final. Indian captain has already stated that he would love to play Australia in the final, above even traditional rivals Pakistan!!! If that doesn’t tell you how much intensity Indians have to a clash with the Aussies nothing else will.

Another confrontation that has just been heated up is that of Bob Woolmer, the Pakistani coach, taking on former greats Imran Khan and Javed Miandad. Woolmer has been subject to their criticism for quite some time now. He has finally hit back taking on both these legends and claiming that he will prove them. Boy!!! As if the pressure of the world cup was not enough, he has gone on and added some more pressure upon himself and his team. Nevertheless there is no denying the fact that this has added much needed excitement to the initial stages of the tournament.

Image Courtsey: cricket-worldcup.net

The opinion that this world cup is the most open in recent time has almost become passé now. Australia’s dominance has been severely dented by their recent losses to England and New Zealand. Their bowling does not seem to posses the same potency it used to posses. With the exit of Shane Warne and the ageing on Glenn Magrath they seem to have lost some of their lethality which had made them such a dominant force for such a long time. Their decline is welcomed by the whole cricketing fraternity as this opens up the door to glory for every other major team in the competition. But still, only a fool would take the Aussies lightly and to their own detriment.

The pitches would be the most crucial factor in this world cup. If it behaves as it has in the past few years then we would not be seeing the run feasts that we have grown accustomed to, and according to me that’s a good thing. The pitches could make it an equal contest between the bowlers and the batsmen, with only the ones with the necessary skills and with the ability to adapt prevailing in the end. Low scores could be the order of the day and this would force the captains to think on their feet and change their strategies as per the demands of the situation.

Image Courtsey: cricket-online.com

I believe that if the wicket plays out as it is expected to, the teams from the subcontinent could come to the party in a big way. These guys are champions anytime the ball doesn’t bounce above their hips. Every Indian must therefore be hoping that their team goes one better in this edition than what they achieved last time around. Nothing would give them more pleasure than dishing it out to the Aussies. If history is anything to go by, then the last time a team was poised to win a hat-trick of world cups they were thwarted by a team of no-hopers from this great country. I genuinely wish that history would repeat itself.

Related Reads:

Can India bring the world cup home?
The Big Fat Caribbean World Cup
Dropped, Doped or Duped? – The drug scandal in cricket
World Cup Unforgettables – Australia v South Africa, 1999
World Cup Unforgettables – India v Pakistan 1996
World Cup Unforgettables – India v Australia 1992
Rahul Dravid – The Great Wall of India
Saurav Ganguly – The Return of the Prince
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar - Hero, Villain or Victim?

World Cup Unforgettables – Australia v South Africa, 1999

Countdown to ICC Cricket World Cup 2007

This has to be the greatest ever match played in a world cup. The two teams resumed their intense struggle against one another from just 5 days before when they had played out a close encounter in the Super Six stage of the tournament. Australia had prevailed on that day, beating the South Africans with just two balls to spare, helped in no mean terms by an unbeaten century from their tenacious captain Steve Waugh. That was also the match in which Gibbs dropped Waugh early on in his innings and supposedly induced the now famous “You just dropped the world cup, mate” comment from the Australian captain.

Australia had a shaky start to their world cup campaign and came into the Super Six stage having to win all their matches in order to make it to the semifinals. They had lost their 2 initial group matches to both Pakistan and New Zealand. To make matters worse these two teams were Australia’s fellow qualifiers from their group. As a result Australia started off the Super Six stage with no points, knowing that nothing short of victory in all their remaining matches alone would take them into the semi-finals. Australia did just that and with some style.

Australia batted first and promptly lost Mark Waugh in the first over itself to Shaun Pollock. Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist put on a 51 run partnership before Ponting departed in the 14th over. Australia then lost the wicket of Darren Lehman in the same over. Steve Waugh walked in with his side in trouble at 3 for 58. His troubles were even more accentuated when Gilchrist got out with the score at 68 in the 17th over.

As has been the characteristic of his entire career, Steve Waugh then started a rearguard fightback as only he can. It is impossible to think of any other batsmen you would want to be in the middle when your team is in crisis. No other player must have rescued its team as much as Steve Waugh has in the history of cricket. Here he put on a superb 90 run partnership with Michael Bevan (arguably the greatest ODI player in the game’s history). before Waugh departed with his own personal score at 56.

What followed was some superb piece of bowling by the South African spearheads Donald and Pollock. They picked up the remaining Australian wickets one by one with Bevan standing helplessly at the other end. Only Shane Warne provided dome token resistance putting on 49 runs with Bevan. Bevan was the last man out for 65 and Australia was bowled out for 213 with 4 balls still to spare. Pollock and Donald finished up with figures of 5/36 and 4/32 respectively.

The South African innings started off steadily. The opening pair of Gibbs and Kirsten made a solid 48 in 12.2 overs. Then the magician Shane Warne got into the act. The ‘Wizard of Oz’ gave such a brilliant exhibition of spin bowling that at the time it seemed impossible that South Africa would ever recover from its effects. Warne teased and bamboozled out 3 quick South African wickets, including a controversial one of Hansie Cronje. Cronje was given out when replays clearly showed that the ball had come off his boot. The South African cause was not helped by the run out of Daryl Cullinan and the South Africa was left teetering at 61 for 4.

As with the Australian innings earlier South Africa too went through a period of consolidation through a gritty partnership between Rhodes and Kallis. They took the score to 145 when Rhodes departed trying to up the tempo. But Kallis and Pollock continued to take the score forward before Shane Warne came back to make one last impact on the game. He removed Kallis and gave very little runs away in the slog overs. In the end his figures read 10-4-29-4.

The match however was not over yet. Klusener came out and started belting the ball all over the park as he had done throughout the tournament. He would later on be voted the most valuable player of the tournament. Klusener would have taken the game away from Australia had he got some support from the other end. Unfortunately South Africa kept losing wicket before they found themselves with only Allan Donald and Klusener left to face the last over of the match.

This was one of the most astounding final overs in the history of the game. South Africa needed 9 runs off the last 6 balls with Klusener at strike and Fleming was the bowler. The first two balls were bludgeoned for boundaries and South Africa looked certain to romp home. But cricket is played as much in the mind as it is on the field. Steve Waugh applied more pressure to an already pressure cooker like atmosphere by bringing the field in.

Fleming bowled the next ball and Donald, South Africa's most experienced player, backed up too far on Klusener's push to mid-on and only Darren Lehmann's underarm throw at the stumps saved him as he scrambled back. This seemed to have fused out Klusener’s thought process as well. For off the very next ball Klusener pushed the ball to mid off and set off for a risky run. Why he did so when he still had two more balls to face is still a mystery. Anyway he did set off for the run and in the ensuing chaos of the situation Allen Donald did not hear his partner’s call for the single. He therefore started off late for the run. Mark Waugh scooped the ball and threw the ball at Fleming. Donald in the meanwhile was trying desperately to make his ground sans his bat, which he had lost in the confusion. Fleming collected the throw from Waugh and rolled it along the pitch to Gilchrist who easily ran out Donald. Australia exploded into a spontaneous celebration and the pain etched on Klusener’s face was heart breaking. The match was a tie!!!

Australia went into the final as it had beaten South Africa in the league stage and the tournament rules specified that in case of a tie, an earlier result should be taken into account.

World Cup Unforgettables – India v Australia 1992

Countdown to ICC Cricket World Cup 2007

The world cup of 1992 was one of the most memorable ever. It was the first world cup to be played under artificial lights, colored clothing and the white ball. However this was also a world cup marred by a stupid rain rule. In an effort to make the calculation of the target simpler, in case of the match being shortened due to rain interruptions, the organizers really botched it up with the most ridiculous rule ever. The absurdity of this rule was not realized until after the matches began and the rules actually implemented. We are featuring one such match now. It was also the first and only World Cup where the teams were not split into group and hence was conducted in a round robin fashion.

India came into the world cup on the back of an abysmal tour of Australia. They had lost the test series 4-0 and were comprehensively beaten in the final of a triangular tournament by the host, with West Indies being the other team. The world cup was being conducted at the fag end of that tour and the Indian team seemed to be devoid of motivation. Before meeting the Australians, India had already lost to England and their match against Sri Lanka was rained out.

Australia on the other hand came into the world cup as the firm favorites to lift the tournament in their own backyard. However they started poorly and came into the match against India having lost both their opening matches to New Zealand and South Africa.

Allan Border won the toss and elected to bat. They started really badly. They were at 2 for 38 at one stage when Dean Jones joined David Boon and began the recovery. The two took the score to 102 with some breath taking running between the wickets. After Boon fell for 43, Jones continued to take the Australian cause forward with partnerships first with Steve Waugh and then with Tom Moody. However the Australian innings fell apart after the dismissal of Jones, setting India a target of 238 runs.

To say that the Indian chase started off disastrously would be an understatement. Srikkanth got out for a duck when the team total was only six. The way Ravi Shastri batted then defied logic. When he got out he had taken up 75 balls for his 25 runs and the Indian total at that time was a paltry 58 with almost half the overs already gone. Tendulkar came next and was dismissed for 11 trying to up the tempo. Kapil Dev came in next and scored a rapid fire 21 off 26 balls thereby providing some much needed impetus to the innings. When he left India still was in a precarious position of 4 for128.

Then came the superb partnership between Azharuddin and Sanjay Manjrekar. The two took the score to 194 before Azharuddin departed for a well made 93. The partnership was broken in the only way it seemed possible, through a run out. Then the rain started playing its part in the match. 3 overs were reduced from the Indian innings while only 2 runs were reduced from the target. After the rain interval India kept losing wickets while inching towards the target.

Off the last ball India needed 4 runs to win with 1 wicket in hand. Javagal Srinath was facing the bowler with Venkatapathy Raju at the other end. To this day I remember vividly the commentary of that last ball by Bill Lawry while watching it on TV. Tom Moody bowls the last delivery. Srinath takes an almighty swing at the ball and hits it high towards long on. Bill Lawry screams “It’s a SIX!!!”. I start jumping up and down like crazy (I was 14 at the time). But I froze suddenly as both myself and Lawry realize that it’s not going for six but infact going into the hands of Steve Waugh. Incredibly Waugh drops the catch. Elation again!!! Waugh recovers quickly and throws the ball to the wicket keeper’s end. Raju sets off for the 3rd run which would make the match a tie. Lawry momentarily forgets that he is an Australian and yells “RUN!!! RUN!!! RUN!!!” The throw is wide and everyone including myself is praying that Raju does a superman. But the keeper recovers quickly enough to run him out and I was left with the biggest heartbreak of my life. That was the first and only time I had tears in my eyes after watching a cricket match. Just couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed!!!

Who can topple the Australian Applecart? – III

Countdown To ICC Cricket World Cup 2007

India

Presently India to cricket is what Brazil is to Football (Soccer in US). But unfortunately this is only in terms of passion and fan following. We still have a long way to go before we can claim that in terms of results. So as always a whole nation is slowly but surely going to be in the grips of World Cup mania. But what about the team they are supporting? Are they worthy of such adulation? Only time will tell.

The Indian team is just back from the tough tour of South Africa where they received a drubbing in the one dayers played there. Probably because of this there isn’t much anticipation for the world cup unlike in earlier years.

India has a very talented and experienced team as far as batting is concerned. The Holy trinity (Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly) of Indian cricket are back. With the experience of having played almost 1000 one dayers between them and having scored a combined tally of more than 33000 runs they are sure to give nightmares any bowling attack in the world. They are supported by an explosive MS Dhoni and Sehwag and the batting does look ominous.

Impressive though the batting line up might be on paper, it is not without chink. The main core of the lineup is ageing. Sehwag’s form is questionable. And even when he is in his best form he is not very reliable. He is like this lottery ticket that when it hits it will always give you jackpots or go bust. More than any other batsmen in the Indian team, his would be the performance that everyone will be watching with great interest. Robin Uthappa is still to find his feet in international cricket. It would be unfair to expect too much from someone so early in his career. Yuvraj is just recovered from an injury and will take time to get back into his groove.

The weakest link in Indian cricket would be the bowling attack. Even with the presence of Kumble and Harbhajan it would be surprising if any team where to be intimidated by our bowling attack. Barring an ageing Kumble there is no other bowler whom we can term as a genuine match winner. Even though Zheer Khan has been on god form lately he is supported by a higly inconsistent Agarkar. With Sreeanth and Munaf not coming up the ranks in ODI as they were expected, India will surely miss Pathan and his abitliy to take early wickets. India desperately needs Pathan to get the balance of their right.

However it is not all gloom for the Indian prospects. The pitches would not be fast and bouncy and hence the batsmen’s techniques will not be exposed unlike the ones in South Africa or Australia. This will be a big help for players like Sehwag who can then just thrust their front foot forward and bludgeon through the line of the ball. The pitch would be assisting the slower bowlers rather than the pace bowlers, and since India has plenty of options when it comes to slow bowling this would not be too much of concern. Yuvraj, Sehwag, and Tendulkar can all turn their arms over if need arise and can provide additional options to Dravid.

Personally I would love nothing more than seeing India win the tournament. Even though my heart desires this, I must say that we would be hard pressed to even get into the Semi-Finals. There are other teams far better than us whom we will have to overcome if we are to reach there. Based on their current form no sane person would bet on that happening. By hey, stranger things are known to have happened in cricket. Remember 1983?

So how can Australia be beaten?

So far we have been looking at the various teams other than Australia who has a chance of winning the world cup. Let’s now see what should be the best way to beat Australia.

The first thing to do would be to go into the field with the belief that you can beat Australia. You have to be aggressive all the time and come hard at them. This Australian team’s bowling can collapse when subjected to adequate pressure. The only way to beat Australia would be to out-bat them. Since their bowling is their weak point you have to get after them in a sensible manner all through the innings to make them suffer.

The second thing to do would be to take all your chances and not take the foot off the gas pedal at any point. A team like Australia will never give you a second chance and will make you pay for any lapses that may happen. Remember Gibbs dropped catch of Steve Waugh in the 1999 edition of the tournament?
Readers are welcome to add their own suggestions.

It would take a tremendous effort for any team to stop the Australian juggernaut and prevent them from winning the title for a third consecutive time. That team will have to really play out of their skins to beat the champions. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it? For what greater joy is there in sport than to see Goliath felled by David.