Cricket Tournaments

This day may not be the most significant of days in cricketing history, but there are a few memorable incidents that have taken place.

In 1998, Michael Atherton faced his last day as England’s Test skipper. England lost to West Indies in Antigua and also lost the Test series subsequently. West Indies were not the strongest side in those times, but England had this uncanny knack of a batting collapse in Test matches, when Atherton was captain. And his tenure ended in that fashion. In the second innings of the Test, England lost their last seven wickets for 26 runs in a span of 26 overs, and the demolition was led by Courtney Walsh.

Today we celebrate three birthdays. One is of the Australian, Dean Jones. He was Australia’s reliable No.3 for a long period in his career. The innings of 210 in the tied Test in Chennai in 1986 was an example of his steadfastness despite him throwing up due to the heat. Once he quit the game, he switched to commentary. He was fired by a TV channel for allegedly calling Hashim Amla, the South African batsman a ‘terrorist’ in 2006 on air. Also lately he has also been under controversy for bearing a love child. Yet, he remains one of the most enigmatic Australian cricketers of all time, who has had moderate success.

The other is of Graeme Swann. He is England’s No.1 spinner at the moment in all formats of the game. Born in 1979, Swann made his Test debut as late as in November 2008 in Chennai against India. And he has been a revelation since that game when he picked Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid in two consecutive balls. He is a wily off-spinner whose guile and flight have troubled many a batsmen across the world. He ended as the second highest wicket-taker in 2010, and is currently ranked 3rd in the ICC Test bowler rankings. His contributions were vital in helping England being unbeaten at home since his debut, and levelling the Test series in South Africa in 2009 as well as winning the Ashes in Australia in 2010 for the first time since 1986.

Bangladesh’s captain, Shakib al Hasan turns 24 today. He made his international debut in August 2006 against Zimbabwe. Keeping in mind his consistent performances, he was rewarded with the national side’s captaincy in June 2009 due to an injury to Mashrafe Mortaza. As skipper, he has led Bangladesh to their first series win away from home, i.e, against West Indies in July 2009, in both Tests and ODIS. As well as a home series win against New Zealand in November 2010, beating them 4-0 in 4 ODIS. He is a cunning left-arm spinner and a handy middle-order batsman. His status as the world’s No.1 allrounder was accentuated, when he was picked by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2011 IPL auction.

Both are attacking openers and are an asset for their teams, especially in the shorter formats of the game. Chris Gayle and Virender Sehwag have so much in common that it might actually be written in a book. But the difference between both of them lies in their attitude towards the game, and this is where I dare say that Sehwag has outclassed Gayle.

Gayle has been West Indies’ lifeline especially after the retirement of Brian Lara. West Indies need to win matches, and for that Gayle has always been under the pump to fire. And he has sometimes taken the pressure in his stride or succumbed to it. He has not won enough matches for his country and the reason clearly is his reluctance to change. The fact that he is 30 now; he is the team’s senior statesman, if not captain. He is the team’s best batsman, and so he has to play the role of the ‘Mr. Dependable’, without really tinkering around with his natural game a great deal.

Gayle may have a wonderful temperament, but his callous attitude and fitness is frustrating to see. He always wants to hit the ball out of the park by the ‘stand and deliver method’. The number of times it works only can be counted on our fingers. If Gayle fails, West Indies is demoralized to a certain extent and as a result a loss lingers.

On the other hand, Sehwag is 31 but has understood the importance of his wicket at the crease with experience. Though India has a strong batting line-up, Sehwag knows that he can be win more matches for his nation if he enjoys his batting a lot more by staying at the crease for a longer period of time. And the beauty of it is that he is still considered to be a threat to any bowling attack in the world, because he is not afraid to play his natural game. He has become wiser and mature and this World Cup has given birth to a new Sehwag, which is good for Indian cricket in the long run once Sachin Tendulkar calls it a day.

Gayle’s very similar in ways to Sehwag. Both rely on hand eye coordination so why is it that Sehwag seems to be more consistent than Gayle?

The Windies dasher must introspect, indeed, a lot can be learnt from Viru’s learning’s. After all, Sehwag too was in the same phase a couple of years back when he was dropped from the team. It’s made him a much wiser man now, benefitting team India eminently.

So change works after all and it is high time for some one like Chris Gayle to learn from Virender Sehwag and become more adaptable in his batting. Maybe that is one of the reasons why he was not picked for the IPL this time around!

Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag making their presence felt, the fragile middle-order has been exposed. While Yuvraj Singh has made a few contributions, skipper M.S. Dhoni, Yusuf Pathan, Gautam Gambhir leave a lot to be desired. An important case in point is the senseless batting display by the Men in blue during the batting display. On more cases than one, the batting powerplay have witnessed some uninspired batting. The very fact that you need to get the ball past the in-field to fetch a boundary has not been worked out. For a team that has done well on the performance aspect in the last few years, Dhoni’s men have been found wanting in the imagination aspect of the game.

While the Indian batters have always wanted to use the longer handle, it is the singles that needs to be taken to rotate the strike, a trait, which I doubt would ever be mastered by Dhoni’s men.

Now, we come to the bowling and fielding assets of the team. Well, the lesser said, the better. The selectors literally spun a surprise by including Piyush Chawla in the final 15. Chawla, who last played for India back in 2008, has looked ordinary and should have been given more chances with the side than picking him up for a tournament of this magnitude.

Barring Zaheer Khan who has been inspirational with the ball, the rest of the cherry-hurlers have looked out of sorts. While Ashish Nehra played one ‘eventful’ match in this tournament, players such Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel has looked good only in patches.

Zaheer needs a special mention here. While he has constantly bowled with venom and head, the lack of support for him at the other end has made India look ordinary with the ball. With Zaheer looking like the only bowler who looks threatening, Dhoni needs to utilise him judiciously.

Indian ground fielding never was high-quality, and, in all probability, will never be one. While players such as Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh are the live-wires in the field, others in the form of Ashish Nehra are embarrassing to say the least. While the Indians may not be great fielding outfit, but showcasing intent and applying themselves on the field could go a long way in helping the team save invaluable runs.

Also, with the crunch game against the West Indies in Chennai coming up on Sunday, India will have to be on their toes if they want to make it to the quarters with a lot of confidence.

Coming to the main question—will this team lift the World Cup? Well, the world is full of miracles and India do have the necessary arsenal to surprise its spectators in both their wins and their losses. Fingers crossed.

Virender Sehwag

And so, India exorcised the ghost of 2007. And the man who had hyped this up as the revenge match was one who came up with the stellar act. Virender Sehwag who, in a recent press conference, made an uncanny statement that he would try to bat out as many overs as possible stayed true to his word. And thanks to his mature effort, interlaced with Sehwag-like strokeplay, India managed to get the monkey off their back.

The determined manner in which Sehwag paced his innings was a clear indication of the fact this wasn’t going to be an all out slam bang effort. The striking example of this was then Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh skipper, brought left arm spinner Abdur Razzak on to bowl very early on in the piece, after the ragged pacers were being carted all round the park by Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. The latter went up to the Delhi bomber, probably urging him to maintain restraint early on. And unlike, the Sehwag of old, this time the swashbuckler paid heed to Sachin’s advice. He blocked the over without muss fuss and more than made up for it in the latter part of the innings as well as for running Sachin out at the start of the innings.

Over the years, Sehwag has registered massive scores in Tests, but did not have a 150 plus score in the 50-over format till date. Surprising, considering this was supposed to be his forte when he was making his mark as a dangerous strokemaker. That’s changed now though, and what better occasion to achieve it than the opening day of the World Cup. The fact that he adopted the ‘pick and choose’ approach augurs well for India in the future games to come. However, India can only hope that it wasn’t an aberration just for the so-called ‘revenge’ game. Sehwag, when he bats with a settled mindset, like he did no Saturday, can only be doubly dangerous for the opposition.

Even as Sehwag played the major role in India’s batting-inspired victory, the contribution of Virat Kohli did not go unnoticed. Preferred ahead of the low on confidence Suresh Raina, Kohli had to bat with responsibility to repay the faith of his skipper. And he did not disappoint. Making his World Cup debut and coming into bat after Gautam Gambhir’s crucial dismissal, Kohli had a job on his hand – that of ensuring India maintained the momentum and Sehwag getting proper support to help India always stay ahead of the Bangladeshis. It was a distinct advantage that both play for the same Ranji state – Delhi. Also, Kohli has had the experience of leading the Indian U-19 team to victory in the World Cup a few years back. As such, he was no newcomer to pressure. But, this was a bigger stage and a more combative battleground. Even so, Kohli, as he has proved in the past, had the wits to make a distinct impression. The fact that his knock did not go unnoticed in the wake of Sehwag’s onslaught is a tribute to his talent and temperament. This effort should only egg Kohli on to greater stuff from here onwards.

The chief feature of the partnership between the two Delhi dashers which stood out was that neither resorted to absolute slog cricket. With the kind of start that India got and with the opposition bowling nothing short of mediocre, Sehwag and Kohli could have easily been drawn into going on an all out attack by throwing their bats at everything. However, one will be forced to believe that this is where the 2007 bitter experience must have come in handy. This is not to say that they were defending a lot of balls. On the contrary, strokes were being played very frequently, the field restrictions notwithstanding. But, it was the shot selection that made the partnership flourish for a longer period of time. There were times when the spinners bowled very well and kept the duo quiet. It was during this phase that Sehwag and Kohli maintained their cool, knowing very well that their time to attack would come soon. And when they did, there was no holding back. As soon as they cut loose, the bowlers had no answer to the onslaught, and the duo progressed from strength to strength until fatigue got the better of Sehwag.

It wasn’t all rosy for India though. The way the Bangladesh openers began, Imrul Kayes in particular, did give the Indians a brief scare. He went all out against Sreesanth and the Kerala speedster had no answer all. It was a really shattering performance by Sreesanth, who was chosen ahead of the struggling Ashish Nehra. India were relying on Sree to deliver following his impressive showing in South Africa. However, while India managed to get away with the erratic pacer against Bangladesh, it will be difficult for Dhoni to risk him against bigger teams. And if he doesn’t get another opportunity in the tournament, it will be a really sad occurrence as this was a godsend for the man from God’s own country.

Thankfully for India, Munaf Patel was in his elements and bailed India out of trouble. Sticking to his strength – line and length – Patel strangled the batsmen, who had come out in an extremely aggressive mood. And once Patel struck some crucial blows, India were always in command despite Bangladesh coming hard at them. Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan also chipped in using their experience to the hilt. And, eventually Bangladesh weren’t good enough to outdo the efforts of Sehwag and Kohli.

Despite the loss, everything wasn’t lost for Bangladesh. After making the surprising decision to field first after winning the toss, they were excellent in the field, even as the runs were flowing from the bat of Sehwag and Kohli – something the Indians really need to work on. And the fact that they managed to get very close to 300 while chasing should give them confidence going into the future games. At the end of the day, the result was least surprisingly, hype notwithstanding.

Kumar Sangakkara

Momentum hasn’t made its presence felt at the ongoing tri-series in Sri Lanka. It has either been everything or nothing for all the three teams in each of the games. Keeping that in mind, there will be no favoured team as such when India take on Sri Lanka in yet another series final on Saturday. Whatever the result, both teams, as well as the spectators from both nations will heave a sigh of relief that the two teams won’t face each other very soon after this summit clash.

The Lankans may seem to have the slight advantage since they are playing at home, and also from the fact that their team wears a more balanced look compared to their familiar opponents. Unfortunately, though, recent history goes against them as the Indians have upstaged them in two tournaments in the last year or so. And thus, the home team will be keen to set the record straight this time round.

A glance at the two teams and the Lankans would definitely feel more confident this time round. They will be playing an injury-free side, with most of the players in form as well. After all, they upset India by a huge margin in their last game. A blessing in disguise for the Lankans is that Tillakaratne Dilshan hasn’t fired to the best of his potential as yet. The home team will be hoping he has reserved his best for the last. A lot can be expected from the experienced duo of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. If they fire, the lower order will become doubly dangerous.

Special mention needs to be made of the two all-rounders in the Lankan side. Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera – one a batting all-rounder and the other a bowling – lend enviable balance to the line up. What’s more Perera will be on a high following his five-for against the same opponent in the last league game, and while Mathews is yet to make a genuine impression, with his versatile skill, one is more or less assured that he can contribute in some manner or the other. The script only gets more pleasing as even Chamara Silva impressed in the one chance he got.

The bowling should be the last of Lanka’s worries at the moment. With Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga and Suraj Randiv preceding Mathews and Perera and all three among the wickets, skipper Sangakkara should be feeling highly assured of a good show. And so, if everything falls into place for them on the d-day, India could be in for a tough time.

Virender Sehwag

Shifting focus to India, there need to be thankful to Virender Sehwag, who has somehow managed to keep India afloat in the series. With two match-winning scores, one while chasing (very unlike Sehwag) and the other while setting a target, the Delhi dynamo has been India’s one man army with the bat so far. The positive for the Lankans is that Sehwag is due for a failure, if they want to look at it that way. But then, with the maverick Indian opener, the law of averages theory doesn’t work, so there is no guarantee of what Sehwag will dish out on the day. One thing is for sure though, he won’t die wondering.

What Sehwag desperately needs is some support from the other end. It would be unfair to blame Dinesh Karthik for his failures since is just a makeshift and is trying to do a job for his team. However, India cannot afford to lose quick wickets in the final as well. Also, it is important for them to abandon the part-time theory and look for proper opening batsmen, may be someone like a Murli Vijay in case Sachin, Sehwag and Gambhir are absent, at least when the ball is moving around.

Another worrying aspect about the Indians has been the performance of their young batsmen. While Virat Kohli can be excused considering he hasn’t had a permanent spot of late, the same cannot be said of Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. Despite being given ample opportunities, and a somewhat unfairly long run considering there are other youngsters around, they haven’t lived up to the potential. Jadeja has been decent with the bat but hasn’t proved worthy of a number seven till date. Sharma, on the other hand, is just not learning from the mistakes, which is a most worrisome aspect as far as India is concerned.

Rather ironically, the bowling has fared better, but that has had more to do with the conditions. Still Praveen Kumar’s early strikes in most of the games has given the bowling attack a potent look. Further, Ashish Nehra and Ishant Sharma too have contributed, and Munaf Patel’s success against the Kiwis could mean that he could be risked in the final, which would mean a four-pronged pace attack again.
All said and done, one only hopes that the conditions don’t play an overtly important role in determining the result, and also that the series of one-sided games is brought to a halt.

Ms Dhoni

Okay, for a change we aren’t discussing about an India-Sri Lanka game in the Emerald nation. Still, the India-New Zealand clash on Wednesday will be a highly significant affair in the context of the ongoing tri-series. As aptly pointed out by Indian skipper MS Dhoni, the game will be a virtual semi-final, with the winner joining the home team in the finals. Interestingly, both teams have had similar fortunes thus far, with a win one day and a disappointing loss on the next occasion. This is what makes the tussle between the two sides intriguing and very well-matched. Whichever team can leave their worst form back in the pavilion will benefit the most from the clash.

Starting with India, they entered the tournament with massive bowling worries. However, scores of 88 and 104 have meant that their batting deficiencies have also been seriously exposed. The problem begins right at the top, with Dinesh Karthik being unable to fit into the shoes of Gautam Gambhir. As a result, Virender Sehwag’s task has become doubly difficult. And while he has succeeded in helping India clinch one win, it is crucial from India’s point of view for him to find some support.

The non-performing youngsters are proving to be another bane in India’s build up to the World Cup. While Rohit Sharma has been a little unlucky with some close lbw shouts, the reality is that he still hasn’t ironed out the flaws in his game. And when you consider that he has been around the international circuit for a good four years now, it is a danger signal. His dismissals in the last two games have been as good as carbon copies.

For a while Virat Kohli looked settled at the number three slot. However, with Sachin Tendulkar shuttling in and out of the ODI team at his own will, Kohli has had to move up and down the order. And if his recent string of scores is taken into consideration, it hasn’t helped his cause at all. He might get one more chance to prove his worth again in place of, maybe, either Karthik or Sharma. It remains to be seen how he reacts if such an opportunity comes his way on Wednesday. A note on Ravindra Jadeja is essential too. While his bowling has been decent for a while, except the T20 World Cup, his batting skills haven’t come to the fore. And so, India need to decide very quickly whether they want him in the scheme of things for the 2011 World Cup.

Bizarre as it may sound, India’s bowling looks stronger in comparison. That, however, epitomizes the team’s batting debacles more than anything else. Still, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra have done reasonably well in the series. And when the ball moves around, as it has been doing in Lanka, they aren’t the worst trio. Thankfully for the Indians, Pragyan Ojha has stepped up his game, as a result of which India haven’t missed Harbhajan Singh much. And anyways, the Punjab off-spinner wasn’t having a great time with the ball himself.

Shifting focus to the Kiwis, they have their own concerns. The inexperienced batting line-up was found out against Sri Lanka. Also, it hasn’t helped that their last game against the home team was washed out. Considering the leisurely schedule of the tournament, (the players wouldn’t be complaining) the wash out means the Kiwis haven’t batted out in the middle for well over a week. India would be hoping to take advantage of the rustiness, if any has crept in. Further, their batting looks brittle if ones takes away Scott Styris and Ross Taylor. Things seem worse when you add the fact that Jacom Oram is back on the ‘I am injured’ list, even though Martin Guptill’s expected comeback should cheer up the Kiwi camp.

Like India, their bowling too wears a stronger look in the presence of Daryl Tuffey and Kyle Mills, with the experienced Styris for support. India will need to be wary of the opening bowlers as the new ball has been doing plenty in the initial stages, and the batsmen have been guilty of not applying themselves. The pitch, once again, will play a crucial role. With the rain around, some movement has to be expected both at the start of the game as well as under lights.

Dhoni’s luck at the toss may have changed in the previous game, but he wouldn’t mind retaining the losing streak if the team continues to win. On a more serious note, winning or losing the toss notwithstanding, application should be the keyword for both sides.

Okay, so the wait is finally over. The Indian team for the Asia Cup has been announced. A first glance at the squad gives one the impression of a mixed bag. There has been extreme pressure on the selectors ever since the T20 debacle, soon followed by the recent disaster in Zimbabwe. And so, the medley of the team for the tournament in Sri Lanka is quite clearly a reflection of how things have transpired in the recent past. Even so, one can’t quite comprehend the logic behind the 15-member squad picked.

Without doubt, a lot of print and online space in the media will be dedicated to the exclusion of the under-fire Yuvraj Singh – some supporting the axe, and a few others denouncing it. We too will discuss about the southpaw’s case. But, does anyone have the courage to question Sachin Tendulkar’s decision to rest himself?

Unquestionably, he is among the greats in the game. However, it is correct for a player to request himself not to be considered, even if he is the legend himself. A couple of seasons ago, when MS Dhoni decided to opt out of the Indian Test team touring Sri Lanka, the India skipper received a mouthful from former players and the media alike, an uproar which only got stronger after India lost the series to Ajantha Mendis, and one which fell silent post India’s 4-1 one-day series win under the same man.

You can bet the same uncomfortable questions can’t be asked of Tendulkar. But, by doing so aren’t we making him bigger than the game?

Of course, it can be argued that the Mumbai batsman is doing this keeping the 2011 World Cup in mind. And, there is no question that Tendulkar has anything but noble intentions. The problem, though, is that every time he walks in and walks out, it upsets the balance of the side.

It is no secret in world cricket that he likes to bat at the top of the order. However, during the period that he was away from limited-overs cricket, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag have forged a scintillating pair at the top. But, every time Tendulkar has come back, he has separated the Delhi duo.

And, while the man himself has been performing exceptionally well, India have been lucky that Gambhir and Sehwag haven’t suffered exaggeratedly. But, for how long? After all, this isn’t the first time in the last two years that Sachin has opted out of a series, and going by the precedent the selectors have set, it won’t be the last one either.

Moving on to the ‘hot’ topic of Yuvraj, it is least surprising that he has been shown the door, considering his recent non-performances. The motivation that took the lanky left-hander to such great heights till as recently as last season is, without doubt, missing.

Being so, Yuvraj should consider this as a blessing in disguise. Probably, the selectors could have done him a favour by announcing publicly that he has been rested. After all, like the other members of the team, he too has been part of some non-stop cricket action. Just because his extra-curricular activities are on the forefront, it doesn’t mean that his contribution to Indian cricket should be undermined.

So what if the selectors didn’t do it, Yuvraj can himself look at it in a positive manner and believe he has been given a much-needed break. At the same time, he must utilize the opportunity to get back to prime form and fitness. This is not the first that he is facing a roadblock.

The last occasion when he was dropped, more than five years ago, he came back with a vengeance, and took world cricket by storm. True, he had age on his side them. But, even now he is only 28, a stage at which most players hit their peak. And so, he still has ample time to make a mark and reclaim his spot prior to next year’s World Cup.

As a parting thought, it is sad that Yusuf Pathan has been made a scapegoat once again. He rarely got opportunities to score, batting down the order in Zimbabwe, and in the one game that he was promoted, he came up with a decent effort. And, keeping this yardstick in mind, one wonders how Ravindra Jadeja has managed to retain in place in the team.

Also, why is IPL being considered a short-cut to the ODI team? What made selectors pick Saurabh Tiwary even after watching how other stars of the league, Ashok Dinda (surprisingly retained) and Umesh Yadav, struggled even against minnows Zimbabwe?

The team has been announced. Now, for the rapid-fire round.

Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are ranked 9th and 10th in ODI cricket currently. Undoubtedly, they have been occupied the position of minnows since the last decade or so. It is a Himalayan task for both these teams to get to even the Top 8 of those rankings. And if Test cricket is taken into consideration, the less said, the better. Bangladesh is languishing at the bottom, whereas Zimbabwe is not eligible for Teststatus at the moment.

However, there is a ray of light in this darkness. Even today’s well-established teams like India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand took time to become what they are today. In the first ten years of international cricket, these teams didn’t make their presence felt at all. So the fact that Bangladesh, who is ten years old in international cricket, is a growing child and soon will become an adolescent, who will make an impact soon on the game.

It is understood that in a competitive market, a new firm will take time to settle and compete with firms which are large, having a huge market share. This is practical economics. However, Zimbabwe has been in international cricket since 1983. It is a shame for the nation not to advance year after year.

The country has been affected severely by their President Robert Mugabe. The external environment hasn’t helped groom the players to play for the national team. The situation is so pathetic that the country lost their Test status in 2005 and has to play most of their ODIs against Bangladesh!

Though, all is not lost. Bangladesh has a bright future ahead of them, looking at the better quality of cricket they have produced in the last one year or so. Although they have won just 9 of 66 Tests that they have played so far, yet they are growing well as a team with a positive, fine-quality player like Shakib al Hasan as their captain.

And also Jamie Siddons is their coach. In Tests, they have a good opening pair in young Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes. Altogether, their batting in Test cricket looks impressive. Their captain is an all-rounder too. Bangladesh’s batting was one of the reasons of them winning the Tests in the West Indies last year. Though they lost all Tests at home last winter, they did win a few sessions comprehensively.

This was huge, considering the opponents were India and England. The most memorable being when Bangladesh bowled India out for a paltry 243 in the first Test at Chittagong, after Virender Sehwag said in a press conference that Bangladesh was an ‘ordinary’ team, which couldn’t pick 20 wickets in a Test match. And how wrong he was!

Also, in the second Test, Bangladesh was facing a huge first-innings deficit. But Tamim Iqbal showed his talent, by hammering 150 in the second innings on a crumbling pitch. The way he dominated Zaheer Khan and co was outstanding. The series against India prompted England’s stand-in captain Alastair Cook to say that Bangladesh are no more the underdogs.

Fortunately, even in the shorter formats of the game, the team is no longer dependent on Mohammad Ashraful, their most experienced player. This is a good sign for a united team. This team could go all the way and create more upsets against top teams just like they did against India at home in 2004, a much famous win against Australia in 2005 followed and a win against an in-form Sri Lanka in 2006.

However, the team has been impressive in world events too. They beat Pakistan in one of the most famous upsets in international cricket in the 1999 World Cup in England. India was once again beaten in the first round 2007 World Cup, effectively knocking them out of the tournament. And in the same tournament, Bangladesh also beat South Africa in the Super 8s stage. In the same year, there was the T-20 World Cup in South Africa also.

West Indies was beaten by Bangladesh comprehensively by 6 wickets, which allowed them to enter the Super 8s again. So if Bangladesh look to make a team which goes steady at least for the next two years, they could give the big guns a run for their money, as the team’s current average age is a mere 22!

Zimbabwe doesn’t have to face the pressures of Test cricket, although they might return to the format in one year’s time. So they can focus on rebuilding themselves in the ODI and T-20 formats. Like Bangladesh, Zimbabwe too has had some good outings. But it hasn’t been good going for the country against the top teams, though.

However, it seems that the country is going in the right direction, and wanting to emulate the achievements of the team of the 90s which had famous players like Heath Streak, the Flower brothers, Guy Whittall, Henry Olonga, Alastair Campbell and Douglas Hondo.

The racial quota system seems to be forgotten these days and as a result, players who had retired earlier have come back into the current team. For example, Andy Blignaut, Tatenda Taibu and Ray Price are a few talented players who have returned to play for their country.

And with a good amount of experienced players such as Prosper Utseya, Hamilton Masakadza, the captain Elton Chigumbura and wicket-keeper Brendan Taylor, the team looks set to bloom under the guidance of national coach Alan Butcher. Duncan Fletcher, the former England coach and Zimbabwe captain, is also taking huge interest in the activities of the High Performance Centre at Harare, which will allow aspiring players get some advice on the tricks of the trade.

This team can start its recovery through the T-20 format. They beat Australia in 2007 in the first round of the T-20 World Cup. They also beat them in the warm-up match of the 2009 T-20 World Cup, alongside defending champions Pakistan. And can their future get much better with Harbhajan Singh, donating branded cricket kits to the current team, courtesy Reebok?? Well, that remains to be seen in the immediate future.