Cricket Tournaments

In the times of the modern era, in the advent of T20 scores of players come and go. These days national caps are distributed to easily thus lowering the sense of pride that one is supposed to wear it with. It might be easy to burst on to the scene on the international arena but hard indeed to stay there. Several players after struggle or talent have eventually come of age. Some of them are:

Australia:

Shane Watson:

Shane Watson

After making his debut in the Australian summer of March way back in 2002, Shane watson’s career is one to have changed dramatically. From starting off as a fast bowler with more than lively pace who could hold the bat at number 7 his roles in the current Australian team are completely different.

Watto Watson is one of those players who is always seemed to be plagued with injuries. After several rehabilitations and becoming the perfect replacement for a certain Ian Harvey the Australian selectors finally lost hope with this talented blonde bombshell from Queensland. Shane was struggling to make his career.

Strangely, the problem with Watson was not about talent or performance it was his fitness that was an issue that deprived him of so many international years of his playing career. Watson was nowhere near being considered for a return to the Australian side. After being picked in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League, Watson single handedly with both bat and ball carried the Rajasthan Royals towards the championship gold.

He ended up becoming man of the tournament with over 450 runs and a handful of wickets. The Australian selectors took note of this and immediately drafted him to the Australian side to tour the Windies. Ever since then there has been no looking back for Shane as he has made his mark in the international arena and is a feared competitor by all other nations.

Watson played the 2009 ashes and scored half centuries in what seemed like every innings. He has become fitter and has understood his role in the Australian team well. He now opens for Australia and generally bowls in the mid 130’s. A very handy cricketer as long as he stays fit. After 8 long years, Shane Watson finally seems to have come of age.

Cameron White:

Cameron White

Whitey or bear as he is known by his team mates has recently become an integral part of the Australian limited Overs squad. Cameron white has always been a major performer for his state side, Victoria. He is currently the vice captain of the Australian T20 side and should be the skipper in reckoning if Michael Clarke is done away with.

For a man who was not even a part of the original Australian T20 World cup squad in 2009, white has come a long way and has established himself as the Australian number 5. White was called in after Andrew Symonds was sent back home due to off field issues. White is soon filling the huge void left by Andrew Symonds. He is a brilliant fielder and is soon becoming one of the feared hitter on the international scene.

Whitey was given a long run after Australia’s ashes defeat to England in 2009. He stepped in for ponting at number 3 and played exceptional cricket which included one fifty and a century in 3 matches. From then on in there was no looking back as he helped Australia retain the champions trophy (2009) in South Africa and played some crucial knocks on difficult conditions in India. White had a brilliant 20-20 world cup this year and ensured Australia reached the finals for the first time in this tournament.

Cameron white’s reputation is rapidly building on the world stage and the owners of the IPL franchisees are now aware of the talent that the man possesses. With the fresh IPL auction that is to take place this July, one can be certain that white could be in for some big bucks and even captaincy considering he’s captained Victoria to several big bash victories down under. White is still a young man and would be ambitious to return to the test arena once again.

Nathan Hauritz:

Nathan Hauritz

Hauritz very similar to Watson made his debut for Australia way back in 2002. He was young (20) and wasn’t too successful at the international arena. He played his first test in 2004 and didn’t do too well then either. The Australian selectors weren’t too worried and dint have to look too far considering SK Warne was still in the ranks. However, the rise of Hauritz began after Warne, McGill and Hogg stepped down from international test cricket.

This left Australia with no other option but Nathan Hauritz. Hauritz wasn’t seen as a wicket taking bowler, he was more a container and this proved to be fatal for the Aussies. It was at this time only (late 2008- early 2009) that Australia began to hit rock bottom where they lost a test match series in India and went on to lose on their home turf against the mighty Proteas after 16 long years.

The lack of a quality spinner was becoming a major problem and several concerns were being raised about who would play come the ashes. The Australian selection committee decided to go with Nathan Hauritz and stuck with him throughout the South African tour in both Test and one day internationals. Hauritz proved his worth and was handy. However, his success was hugely regarded to

Mitchell Johnson:

Mitchell Johnson

Johnson was enjoying a purple patch back then and he often broke the back bone of the South African team before Hauritz came into bowl. Nevertheless, it was the best that Australia had and they decided to go ahead with Nathan for the ashes. As soon as the news was out that Nathan would be the spinner that the Australians would be carrying with themselves to defend the ashes, comments came rushing in.

Most notable amongst these was that of former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott made a scandalized remark after Hauritz got pietersen out to an infamous sweep in the first test at Cardiff. He said “It wasn’t an off-spinner. Hauritz doesn’t look like he could bowl my mum out, then he gets the best batsman out.”

Hauritz proved all his critics wrong and slowly developed into a very fine bowler for Australia. Eventually, he proved to be the difference (Not picked on a turning track at the oval) between Australia having the ashes and not. Hauritz’s growth as a spinner continues as he remains a steady part of the Australian line up. Hauritz will have to be on his toes as the Australian selectors seemed to have taken a liking towards upcoming leggie Steve Smith.

India:

Suresh Raina:

Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina is the star out of India’s huge pool of rising talents comprising the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Robin Uthappa and so on. On his debut way back in 2005 raina only managed a duck; he was trapped LBW by a Muttiah Muralidaran doosra of his first ball. Ever since then Raina has changed his game immensely. All the hard yards, extra hours of practice against spin and pace is now seen where he seems to be shining on the international stage.

This turn of events was noticed in the first edition of the Indian premier league where raina was one of the top scorers in the competition and enabled the Chennai Super Kings make the final of the tournament. He has been the most consistent performer in the IPL and is the highest scorer across all three years of the tournament with 1311 runs. Suresh raina has matured a great deal by playing under the likes of greats like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.

He was recently included in the test squad against South Africa. Raina is now able to handle responsibilities of carrying the team forward at a tender age of 23. Raina has also been chosen as captain in the on-going series in Zimbabwe as original skipper Mahendra singh Dhoni has been given a rest. Clearly raina is seen highly by the BCCI and they would want to ensure that the young man doesn’t fall ahead of himself and continues to perform the way he has been performing in the last couple of years.

England:

Graeme Swann:

Graeme Swann

The biggest revelation in the cricketing fraternity over the last year, Graeme Swann has been labeled by fellow spin legend Shane Warne as the most improved player in recent cricket. Swann is one of the few Englishmen (literally) who has been successful over the last year considering most others have been imports from either South Africa or Ireland.

He made his debut way back in 2000 but wasn’t a regular part of the side as England’s first choice spinner at that point in time still remained Ashley Giles. Swann never really knew what his role was, whether he was a batsman who could bowl or the other way around. He found himself wanting on the international stage and soon realized it was the latter that would take him to the top rung. He worked on his game tremendously and the change was to be seen.

He had a brilliant series against the West Indies leading up to the ashes and since then there has been no looking back for the man from Northampton. Swann, often the most notorious in the team and tends to calm down the dressing room atmosphere with his pranks. The ashes that went by in 2009, was where Swann was noticed by the international audience.

From then on in he helped England reach the semi finals of the champions trophy in 2009 and eventually help the Englishmen win their first ever ICC trophy, the Twenty 20 world cup in the Caribbean a fortnight ago. Swann is soon becoming an integral part of this England line up and a major part of whether England are able to retain the ashes later this year would be subject to the way he performs.

Stuart Broad:

Stuart Broad

Son of former English batsman and current commentator, Junior broad is one of the fastest improving cricketer’s going around. Stuart made his debut in 2006 and saw the up hills and down hills of international cricket. He was hit for a record six sixes in an over by Yuvraj Singh during the inaugural twenty 20 world cup in South Africa. However, since then a lot seems to have changed for this lanky pacer.

He seems to have become physically fitter, has worked on his batting and more importantly he is no more the bowler who would just run in. There is a plan, a methodology on how to go about things that is seen. He is seen as a replacement to Freddie Flintoff who retired a year or so ago. A lot is expected from Stuart and he is still just 23 years of age and has a good number of tests and one day internationals behind him and seems to understand the game better with every passing day.

He still tends to concede a bit too much when it comes to runs per over but he is a wicket taker and that’s what it comes down to in the end. A very handy cricketer and one to certainly watch out for in the future, as he seems to be improving very quickly.

Pakistan:

Saeed Ajmal:

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal, the Pakistani off spinner has captivated international cricket ever since he burst onto the international arena. More than coming of age Saeed has been one of those late bloomers in international cricket where in which the team regrets the fact that they couldn’t go on a bit longer. Ajmal is very similar to Michael Hussey in this regard.

(Talking about Hussey the duo have a bit of a history after this year’s world T20 in the Windies). Ajmal albeit at the age of 30 made his debut and turned out to be a replica of spin legend and the ‘doosra’ inventor Saqlain Mushtaq. Ajmal is able to disguise and bowl the doosra with similar effect and has always managed to keep the wood on the batsman.

Ever since Akmal joined the Pakistani team they have made it to two semi finals and one championship victory in the three ICC events to have taken place. In spite of all the unpredictability that Pakistan have to offer, Ajmal seems to have brought a bit of sense in the spin bowling department and he along with fellow spinner Shahid Afridi now form a formidable pair and curtail the batsman from scoring freely in the middle Overs of a limited over international.

Ajmal was turning out to be the star for Pakistan in the recent twenty 20 world cup that was held in the West Indies. However, Australia’s Michael Hussey had different ideas. He went on to slaughter Saeed Ajmal in the semi final which enabled the Aussies get to the final for the first time. The match which was being labeled as the best Twenty 20 match had already seen loads of thrills and spills before Ajmal came on to bowl.

Ajmal had brilliant figures up to his 3 over mark and was turning out to be the difference between the two sides but the last over where in which Michael hussey hammered three sixes changed the course of the match. Nevertheless, Ajmal remains a key armoury that Pakistan possess and how he develops in the next six months could be critical for Pakistan’s chances in the world cup which is to be played in the Indian subcontinent (barring Pakistan) where in which the pitches are low and slow.

Shahid Afridi:

Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi has been around since an age now and he’s still just over 30 years of age with a trunk load of experience behind him. Shahid Afridi made his debut way back in 1996 and its amazing in spite of being a member of the team for such a long time he comes under this category.

For a long period of time Shahid Afridi did not really know where his forte lied, in other words he never really knew his role in the team; whether it was to go and bludgeon the bowlers and chip in with a couple of tidy Overs or be a mainstream spinner thus providing perfect foil to the fast bowling greats of yesteryears.

However, only recently has Shahid Afridi grown, he has become one of the most difficult bowlers to get away in the middle Overs in limited Overs cricket. He seems to have cemented his place as a bowling all rounder. Ever since becoming vice captain and now captain in all forms of cricket Afridi has taken the extra mantle of responsibility on himself and this seems to be helping not just him but Pakistan cricket as well. Afridi recently came out of his retirement from test cricket and was made captain.

It will be interesting to see how he goes in the longer form of the game as his quick balls at 120 kmphs will not be as big an issue as it is in other forms of cricket. Shahid Afridi finally seems to have found his game and if he works on his batting, he could become one of the best spin bowling all rounder to have played the game (only in the shorter formats).

South Africa:

AB De Villiers:

AB De Villiers

Most AB fans wouldn’t agree me placing Abraham in this list and might find it a little harsh. But it’d be better to agree to disagree. This 26 year old South African made his debut in the 2004/2005 season and only recently that is ever since 2008/09 has he become one of South Africa’s mainstays in the middle over. He is a very talented cricketer and on his day could tear apart any attack put in front of him.

De Villiers, a very under estimated cricketer on the international stage is set to take over the gloves once Mark Boucher decides to call it quits. However, de Villiers seems quite reluctant to take up the job as he not only enjoys his fielding but is also worried that it would affect his batting adversely. De Villiers is proving to be a wonderful find for the proteas and is becoming ever so reliable with consistent performances in the last year or two.

He is ready to carry the mantle forward and could become South Africa’s Jacques Kallis once the latter decides to put up his feet. All this could be very soon as Kallis and boucher both are very likely to step down from limited Overs cricket after the 2011 world cup which is to be played in the Indian subcontinent.

Like all other players mentioned above AB de Villiers too holds the key to South Africa’s chances in the upcoming 50 over world cup. He seems to be the man for the occasion as he’s had a lot of experience here and has tasted success on very similar wickets.

Sri Lanka:

Angelo Mathews:

Angelo Mathews

Young Sri Lankan all rounder has cemented his place in the team’s One day international and test teams ever since he made his debuts in the formats. He has never had to face the axe, which is very rare for a young cricketer especially in the early goings in his career.

The young 23 Year old all rounder has replaced Chaminda Vaas to very good effect. The only difference between the two being that Mathews is more of a batsman than a bowler which was not the case with Vaas. When I mean come of age it doesn’t necessarily mean people who have spend a lot of time in cricket and have eventually found their spot.

It basically refers to those cricketers who have/are now matured enough to carry the mantle forward. In his short career Mathews has already established himself on the world stage. This could be seen when he was picked up by Kolkata Knight riders (one of the IPL franchisees) to participate in the league. The only worry remains his bowling, more so in test cricket as it doesn’t seem to have that nip or extra bit of pace that could either facilitate him to get the ball go past the bat or trouble them with speed.

His variations help him get through the limited Overs format quite adequately. His batting and fielding are of top notch and is a very good sign for things to come in all three forms of the game. Mathews could also be the captain in standing once current skipper Kumar Sangakkara retires.

The only other real prospect seems Dilshan, but his temper and his age (wrong side of 30) lowers his prospects of becoming skipper. As a result of this Mathews could be well groomed under experienced players like Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. This lad has sure already made a name for himself in international cricket. One bloke to certainly look out for in the future!

Bangladesh:

Shakib Al Hasan:

Shakib Al Hasan

Current Bangladeshi skipper, Shakib Al Hasan made his debut against Zimbabwe at the Harare sports club. His debut itself marked the sign of things to come in his career. He impressed one and all with his performance as he made an impressive 30 not out and bowled his quota of 10 Overs under four an over with a wicket against his name. However, he seemed to have fizzed out a bit only to have redeemed himself in recent months.

He has come back strongly and for a long time now has been right on top of the all rounder charts in one day cricket. He was soon appointed captain and he seems to be taking Bangladeshi cricket to newer heights unseen before. The man is just 23 and has a lot to promise. The Bangladeshi cricket board need to nurture their talent and ensure that their players don’t fizz out and become an Ashraful.

Certain teams namely West Indies and New Zealand don’t have players featuring on this left. With west indies their trunk load of players just aren’t able to convert it big to the international level thus underlining their poor performance in world cricket in recent years. As far as the Kiwis are concerned they don’t seem to have enough of resources.

Hence, their players don’t seem to feature even in the list of players who have promised but not delivered. Getting players to grow and mature at the world stage is highly dependent on how the national board of the respecting country helps nurture and groom young players so as to convert them to international starts. This is very similar to the business concept of converting Problem child who have the talent and potential to Stars and eventually cash cows.
Indeed, the responsibility does lie with the boards…

The Proteas clinching a one-day series win against West Indies should come as a surprise to anyone. After all, they have lost a one-dayer to West Indies just once in the previous 15 battles between the two sides. However, following the debacle in the T20 World Cup, it was paramount for both teams to get back to that winning feeling as quickly as possible.

And, so while too much can’t be read into the triumph, the South Africans should use the confidence gained as a stepping stone towards building a winning combination for the 2011 World Cup in the sub-continent. There are still two more games to go in the series, and a 5-0 whitewash ala the Hansie Cronje days would do the side no harm at all.

Despite not being at their best, South Africa have still easily managed to outplay the Caribbeans. Batting has proved to be South Africa’s strength in the series, and even when it failed in the third ODI, the bowlers stood up to seal the series for their team. With the willow, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers have been particularly impressive.

And, it has been mainly due to the duo’s efforts that the Proteas now find themselves in such an impregnable position. AB has been having a golden run in one-day cricket of late, and South Africa would be desperately hoping that it lasts a lot longer, and even against much-stronger teams.

Like de Villiers, Amla also is going through a purple patch. He was always a good Test match player, but now that he has found his bears in the 50-over version as well, South Africa can afford to look beyond Herschelle Gibbs, who form has consistently petered away with age.

While these have been the chief positives in the batting department to come out from the series so far, a couple of worries still remain. None bigger than that of their skipper Graeme Smith, whose form remains wretched. He has got a number of starts lately, but hasn’t been able to convert most.

And, his ability to pick up injuries freakishly has been haunting him and the side rather frequently. Smith would dearly love to put the bad memories behind him, and start afresh from the fourth one-dayer. With the series in the bag, South Africa will get a chance to experiment. And, so the likes of Loots Bosman, Alviro Petersen and David Miller should get a chance to remind the selectors of their presence as the World Cup nears.

Shifting focus to South Africa’s bowling, Morne Morkel has been the stand-out performer, putting West Indies on the back foot with his pace and aggression. It was his bowling effort that was significantly responsible in the Proteas defending a meagre total in the third one-dayer.

Dale Steyn has remained pacy as ever and has been keeping the batsman on their toes. South Africa’s tactics have also been well-thought out. Kieron Pollard hasn’t been allowed to free his strong arms. Darren Sammy did manage to flay the Proteas attack in one game, but their bowlers came back well to restrict him in the next encounter, indicating they had learnt their lessons quickly.

With two games left, South Africa now need to go for the kill. Yes, as aforementioned, they are bound to experiment. However, it shouldn’t be at the cost of the game. A fine balance needs to the struck between the two, so that the momentum gained via the hat-trick of wins is not interrupted.

South Africa vs West Indies

The highly anticipated ODI series between West Indies and South Africa got under way on a Saturday morning at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

The match was monumental for the stadium’s future as it had last hosted a Test match between West Indies and England in 2009, which was abandoned with only 10 balls being bowled. So, North Sound was indeed a happy place to be in, even as South Africa won both the T-20 internationals against the hosts.

And yet again, South Africa didn’t disappoint at all. A comprehensive win by 66 runs was a fitting reply to those critics who questioned Graeme Smith’s captaincy, which was said to be ruining South African cricket. The match began with Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, having won the toss and elected to field first on a damp wicket due to rain before the start of the game. South Africa lost two huge wickets of their captain and Jacques Kallis in a span of 10 overs.

However, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers had some other ideas. The pair put up a 129-run partnership for the third wicket, in the process registering identical scores of 102. West Indies bowled well in bits and pieces, picking seven wickets with Dwayne Bravo picking 3/40 in 10 overs.

But South Africa was in the driver’s seat after posting 280 runs in 48 overs of batting. During their chase, West Indies didn’t look like a team on a mission to prove that their performance in the World T-20 was a few bad days in the office. They didn’t bat with their hearts out with the team losing Andre Fletcher early.

The captain, Chris Gayle and Bravo, batting at No.3, were on course of winning the match for the hosts until Bravo fell in the 8th over itself, falling to a rash shot rather than good bowling by Ryan McLaren. And worse, Gayle’s dismissal followed in the 13th over, after playing an impatient shot of Morne Morkel.

Ramnaresh Sarwan and Narsingh Deonarine put up a 4th wicket partnership, which was slow enough to allow the rest of the batting line-up to crumble under pressure in the last over. Charismatic all-rounder Kieron Pollard hit a quick-fire 44, but the team succumbed to some good South African bowling as they were bundled out for 215 in a mere 44.1 overs, with Morne Morkel picking up 3/40 in 8 overs which included the wicket of the West Indian captain.

Hashim Amla was the man-of-the match for his fine 102 which led the foundation of a big total to post for the South Africa.

It was the same old story again in the 2nd ODI at the same venue. This time, South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first. Captain Graeme Smith was looking to finally get back into form, until he was bowled by West Indies spinner Nikita Miller.

However, that didn’t demoralize the South Africans as it was once again, the wall of South Africa, Hashim Amla who played well for his 92 at an impressive strike-rate of 96.84. South Africa had good, quick partnerships to get exactly 300 runs in 50 overs. Kallis, also with a half-century alongside AB de Villiers and David Miller took advantage of Amla’s foundation innings to put South Africa in a winning position at the innings break.

West Indies didn’t learn from their poor chase in the last match and faltered again. It was a slow start from the West Indies with Gayle getting out first in the 11th over. And it looked like it was all over at 236/7 in 44 overs, when Bravo fell for a well-deserved 74. However, Darren Sammy put up a brave fight which made even the critics of the West Indies believe that they could win from a precarious position, with just 6 overs to go!

A flurry of outstandingly-struck sixes helped Sammy score 58 runs of only 24 balls. This is the only positive that West Indies can take from this match which they narrowly lost by 17 runs, and as a result 0-2 down in a 5 match series, which means that they have to win all of the next 3 matches to win the series.

Hashim Amla was yet again the man-of-the-match, but West Indies have certainly found a third all-rounder in the team in Darren Sammy who scored the fastest fifty for the West Indies in ODI cricket, ahead of greats such as Brian Lara, Vivian Richards and his captain, Chris Gayle! No matter whether the first 2 ODIS have been bad for the hosts, yet the increasing quality of cricket played in this series makes the last three matches a lot more exciting.

West Indies fans enjoys in the stadium

Right after a successful World Twenty-20 Championship, West Indies will be hosts to the touring South Africans. To kick off the tour, South Africa plays West Indies in 2 Twenty-20 internationals.

Both teams have few things in common. Firstly, both are in the T-20 mode following the IPL and World T-20. Secondly, both the teams were knocked out unceremoniously from the World Championship in the Super 8s round. Thirdly, both have a point to prove as they look to get back to their winning ways.

North Sound in Antigua has been decided to host both the T-20 internationals. The first T-20 has had a huge hype following criticism in South Africa over the team’s recent performance, including calls for Graeme Smith to quit as captain.

The surprising exclusion of Mark Boucher, making AB de Villiers the wicketkeeper, was also not received well by many of their fans and critics. On the other hand, West Indies too were feeling the heat with their knock-out in the world championship, being the hosts of the tournament.

Some of the selections were baffling and as a result, losses must have put Chris Gayle, the captain under pressure ahead of the first T-20 international.

However, Gayle had some luck at the toss when he had a choice and decided to bowl first on a slow surface. After the early loss of opener Loots Bosman, South Africa tried to gain some momentum with a 73-run second wicket partnership between the experienced duo of the captain Smith and Jacques Kallis.

However, the team suffered after the fall of Kallis in the 16th over. None of the batsmen were able to stay at the crease, and score at a fast rate. This allowed the hosts to come back into the match in the last five overs as South Africa finished at 136/7 in 20 overs. Kemar Roach and Kieron Pollard picked two wickets each for the West Indies.

However, South Africa had an unsung hero in Ryan McLaren. McLaren, best known for playing a crucial role in helping the Mumbai Indians enter the final of the IPL this year, picked a staggering 5 wickets for just 19 runs in 3.5 overs which included the wicket of his teammate in the Mumbai team, Kieron Pollard.

Apart from the dangerous Pollard, none of the West Indies batsmen tried to attack. As a result, South Africa prevailed easily by 13 runs, which did lead to some cooling down of the temperament of the South African fans who had nearly lost hope in their team. On the other hand, West Indies had some work to do before the second T-20 international at the same ground, the next day.

The next match turned out to be a cracker! Again, West Indies won the toss and had a bowl in similar conditions the day before. South Africa batted poorly, in fact much worse than the last game, putting up a mere 120/7 in 20 overs. The score could have been lower had the debutant David Miller not fired and off-spinner Johan Botha not contributed down the order.

Jerome Taylor made a comeback for the West Indies and did a splendid job by picking 3 wickets for 16 runs in 4 overs. However, what the West Indies might have not realized is that South Africa has not just a good pace attack but also a spin attack.

And Botha had not finished. He picked 3 important wickets with the ball, those of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kieron Pollard and Ramnaresh Sarwan. West Indies, and not South Africa was choked in the end as South Africa held their nerve to win by the narrowest of margins batting first.

By a mere 1 run. South Africa played reasonably well in both the matches, considering the pressure that they were facing. On the other hand, West Indies only became more weakened and demoralized ahead of the one-day series, which could have a huge impact on the entire tour.

Needing an asking rate of just over seven runs per over, Delhi Daredevils were undoubtedly the favourites to clinch the game against the home side, Kings XI Punjab, at Mohali. However, a double strike by the often erratic S. Sreesanth, sending back the batting side’s two most dangerous hitters, Virender Sehwag and Tillakaratne Dilshan, meant Punjab were in with a chance.

The impact of those deadly blows saw them take the game into the very last over. However, an authoritative half-century by Daredevils skipper Gautam Gambhir ensured that Delhi had their noses in front for most part of the chase.

Gambhir played a typical captain’s knock, forging three fruitful partnerships with AB de Villiers, Dinesh Karthik and finally with Mithun Manhas, who eventually hit the winning runs. Though de Villiers and Karthik were not able to clear the field at will, they pitched in by giving Gambhir most of the strike on a wicket that wasn’t the easiest to score on, in particular against the spinners. And here is where Gambhir’s skills came in very handy.

He used deft touches and manoeuvred the ball around in the gaps smartly to find the boundaries. And occasionally when he stepped out, he ensured that the ball found the middle of the bat. Even though Gambhir was dismissed when Delhi where within striking distance of victory, he had done enough to see his side through safely.

On a day when his brother Yusuf became a hero for Rajasthan Royals even in a losing cause, Irfan Pathan ended up playing villain for his side. The skier he dropped at long-off, that of Mithun Manhas, could have easily given Punjab a window of opportunity. The target was still a little distance away and the bowlers had just managed to build up some pressure with a few precious dot balls. Unfortunately for the home team, Irfan could not hang on to the chance, probably losing it in the lights and letting it slip through his palms.

That definitely wasn’t the turning point of the match through. In hindsight, it came much earlier when Punjab were asked to take first strike by Delhi’s new skipper, Gambhir. Of course, Punjab also had a new skipper in Kumar Sangakkara. However, only one captain could have luck on his side on this day and that was to be Gambhir.

Dirk Nannes put in a superb first spell, bowling with extreme pace. The left-arm pacer was consistently pitching deliveries short of a length and the Punjab batsmen had no answer to it. The batting side did not do themselves any favour either when Manvinder Bisla ran himself out unnecessarily. Farveez Maharoof went for a few runs. More importantly though, he managed to strike telling blows by scalping Kumar Sangakkara and Yuvraj Singh cheaply. If that wasn’t bad enough, Punjab lost Mahela Jayawardene as well pretty soon, which put them in extreme trouble.

Ravi Bopara batted sensibly and in the company of Irfan Pathan helped Punjab reach a respectable total. However, as it turned out, the damage had already done. And despite a disciplined bowling effort, Punjab could not undo Gambhir’s good work.

It’s a clash of the two big titans—the two giants—the top two ranked teams in the world. South Africa and India clash at Nagpur in what is being termed the ‘world championship of cricket’. As we move into the series let’s have a look at which players to look out for and who’re the odds favouring.

South Africa

AB De Villiers: AB de Villiers did set the world on fire the last time he was here. He played beautifully all round the wicket and was one of the few batsmen on their debut tour to India to perform so well. He announced himself into world cricket with a very timely and aggressive century.

He’s been in pretty good knick in lead up to the series. He’s been getting pretty decent start but how would he love to convert one of ‘em into a century. He is a mainstay in the South African middle order along with Jacques Kallis and the proteas will be heavily reliant on the duo to provide some stability in the middle order. De Villiers is a brilliant fielder and must be kept an eye on—the man pulls out catches from absolute thin air.

Jacques Kallis: He has now turned 34 and with his medium pace is one of the best all rounder’s the game has ever seen. Kallis will be keen after a certain lay off and would love to grind (that’s the sort of character he is, isn’t he?) his way out of India with some runs and wickets under his belt. Now that he has returned to full fitness his bowling will come in handy for South Africa. With his slightly round arm action he should be a handful especially with the old ball where he would be able to reverse swing the ball in these conditions.

Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn: Steyn had a wonderful tour the last time he was here. Both Morkel and Steyn are more than capable of bowling a 150 kmph per hour and a swinging ball at that pace especially with a relatively inexperienced middle order (barring Sachin) against them. The Indian batsmen certainly do have their work cut out.

Morkel earlier mentioned that he would be looking to bowl a quite a few short ones considering the Indian batsmen problems with the bumpers. Steyn said “I’ve said many times before, a 150 or 145 km Yorker is absolutely no different whether you bowl it here in Nagpur, Chennai, Johannesburg, Perth. It’s the skill behind the delivery that is what counts at the end of the day”. The Indians would have to be wary of the duo see of the new ball and take it from there.

India

Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir: The duo are just over 200 runs short of becoming India’s most successful opening combination (in tests) statistically. Often in the recent past its been the opening pair of Sehwag and Gambhir that has given the middle order batsmen the platform to step upon. Their contribution is invaluable and they seem to complement each other pretty well with Sehwag being the aggressor. It wouldn’t be too surprising if they duo do have a good series (been the trend in the recent past) India should be in good stead to take the series from there.

Sachin Tendulkar: The more said about him the less it is. Sachin with his record has already made us expect from him. He being the senior man in the middle order with Dravid and laxman doubtful. He needs to shoulder the innings. The old man should do well and if he does so India goes with him.

Zaheer khan: He’s the only pace bowler who seems guaranteed of a place. His new ball bowling and more importantly his reverse swing will surely be one to deal with. If India has to win they need to come up with a very good bowling performance and if that has to happen Zaheer khan has to be at his best.

It’s India VS South Africa. Its world number 1 VS world number 2. It the clash of the champions—the world championship of cricket— promises to be an enthralling series.

In the last edition of the IPL review, we take a look at the top 3 teams of the IPL last season and what are their chances of repeating their stupendous performances this year.

1) Delhi Daredevils
Without doubt, one of the best T-20 teams on paper as well as performance. Delhi Daredevils will make any one sweat with jealousy as not many sides are lucky to have world class T-20 players such as the Delhi opening duo of Virender Sehwag and captain Gautam Gambhir, Australia’s exciting talent David Warner, Moises Henriques, the Australian all-rounder who was bought from the Kolkata Knight Riders outside auction this season, AB de Villiers, South Africa’s most reliable batsman and an excellent fielder in the 30-yard circle.

And yes, who will forget the revolutionary Sri Lankan batsman who by far is the best player of 2009 in the eyes of many. The man who invented the new shot over the wicketkeepers head. He is none other than Sri Lanka’s Tillakratne Dilshan.

All the above players have a certain amount of experience in international cricket. However, the young players too are really a talented lot. Dinesh Karthik is still in the infant stages of developing himself in the Indian team, yet the wicket-keeper batsman is known to be a good finisher.

He proved his worth in tough conditions in South Africa. The Delhi lads Rajat Bhatia, Amit Mishra, the leg-spinner who has made a name for himself in the Indian Test team, Ashish Nehra who is experienced but has lost out on a lot of cricket due to injuries but can be a good partner to Dirk Nannes when it comes to opening the bowling. If Dilshan has taken the world by storm thanks to his batting, Nannes has done the same with bowling. He is the perfect replacement for Glenn McGrath, whose contract has been bought out this season. Pradeep Sangwan and Avishkar Salvi add to the bowling depth of the team further.

However, the question is whether Owais Shah and Manoj Tiwary deserve to be removed from the Delhi roster and sold to Kolkata, when Delhi need a good bench strength in batting. Will McGrath’s buy-out cost Delhi? Will Gambhir’s captaincy inspire Delhi in the long-run, which didn’t do the team any good in the Champions League 2009? Well, time will tell.

2) Royal Challengers Bangalore
The team owned by Vijay Mallya flopped in the first season by finishing second-last. However, events took a u-turn and luck started going their way and they finished second in the tournament! Bangalore won many fans in South Africa, but they are back in India. Will pressure take a toll on the team?

Well, not really when it’s known that Anil Kumble is the skipper of the team. He is a true fighter as it is known how he won consecutive matches last season as the then new skipper of the team when Kevin Pietersen had to leave half-way from the tournament and left Bangalore in disarray as he was out of form too with the bat. They have vast experience in players such as Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher, the two South African stalwarts.

Bangalore perhaps has one of the best pool of young players amongst all the 8 teams. Manish Pandey was the find of Indian cricket last season, Robin Uthappa is a true match winner, Virat Kohli who is India’s new prodigy with the bat and on the field, R Vinay Kumar is a potential talent, A Mithun could make his debut for the team after a good domestic season, Eoin Morgan, England’s future who was picked in the auction and Ashok Menaria, the Indian U-19 captain.

However, Bangalore’s chances look grim due to injuries sustained by Kiwi players such as Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder. With no Kevin Pietersen available, Bangalore chances take a dip in the pool as it remains to be seen whether their performance last year was a fluke.

3) Deccan Chargers
They were the champions of the IPL last season. Who would write them off this time? The team gave a fitting reply to its critics who said that they don’t deserve to play in the tournament when they finished at the bottom in the first season. But an inspirational comeback was so good for cricket that it showed that the IPL is here to stay due to its excellent quality of cricket.

Unlike Bangalore, Deccan is even more strengthened despite the fact that the Hyderabad franchisee was knocked out in the first round of the Champions League 2009 in India. And a humiliatng fact is that they haven’t won a single match at home.

The fact that Adam Gilchrist is like an all-rounder who is captain, wicketkeeper and opens the batting is not just motivating, but also it leaves Deccan with several choices in the team composition, especially when it comes to the middle order. Herschelle Gibbs was missed in the Champions League and his presence this time will boost the team.

VVS Laxman is a crowd favourite in any part of India and his batting is a treat to watch even if it is a T-20 tournament. With Rohit Sharma, Andrew Symonds, Scott Styris and the young brigade of RP Singh, the highest wicket-taker last season, Ryan Harris, Pragyan Ojha as well as T Suman can perform in India too.

Can’t we fancy Deccan as champions again? Well, we could.
Thus the IPL promises to be a thriller and even better than the first two seasons as more players means more excitement and better quality of cricket, which is important.

India suffered their third consecutive defeat in the Super 8 round of the Men’s T20 World Cup competition, after they lost by 12-runs to South Africa. It was a disastrous campaign for the Men in Blue, as they could not win a single match in the second phase of the tournament. The defending champions India looked out of sorts throughout the tournament, and matches against minnows Ireland and Bangladesh did not help their cause towards gearing up for the next round. The IPL fatigue for the Indian players might have also been the reason that forced the players to come up with this kind of lackluster performance.

The South African batting got of to a sedate start before RP Singh got the better of Gibbs. This did not stop AB de Villiers from piling up the runs as he looked in supreme control throughout his innings. South African’s were looking to post a challenging total, when Indian captain MS Dhoni introduced spin into the attack. The Indian spinners especially Jadeja bowled magnificently on a slow spinning track to restrict the South Africans to a low total.

The main contributions for South Africa came from AB de Villiers, who scored 63 runs and Graeme Smith, who scored 26 runs. The rest of the South African batting line up looked fragile on the slow turning wicket. Albie Morkel, hit two boundaries in the final over as South Africa posted a score of 130, a challenging one on this slow turning track.

The Indians started the run chase in a confident manner as both Gambhir and Sharma took charge of the innings and hammered the South African pacers to all parts of the ground. India was well placed at 47 runs without the loss of any wicket after the fifth over of the innings. Things were looking in control and Indian fans expecting their team to win comfortably. However, this was short lived as South Africa introduced spin in the sixth over itself. Johan Botha then got the better of Gambhir to open up the Indian batting lineup. Botha struck a further blow to India as he removed Raina, and Duminy completed the assault by getting rid of Sharma in quick succession.

The Indian innings headed for a disaster with the dismissals of Dhoni and Pathan, as the South African spinners started to outclass the Indian batsman. The only resistance was provided by Yuvraj Singh as he scored 24 runs to keep the Indian hopes alive in the match. However, India was left to do too much in the end as they lost by 12 runs to the Proteas. The only other notable contributions were from the openers Gambhir, who scored 21 runs and Sharma, who scored 29 runs. The otherwise shaky Indian batting line up lived up to its reputation once again as they went down tamely to the South Africans. The best bowler for South Africa was J Botha as he picked up three crucial Indian wickets to turn the match in South Africa’s favor.

With this win, the Proteas remain unbeaten in the tournament. They would now be hoping to take their tally to six consecutive victories, when they take on the in form Pakistan in the First Semi Final clash. Pakistan, last year’s losing finalist will not spare an inch as they look to head for an interesting battle against South Africa.