Pakistan v South Africa T20 series preview

There will be plenty of subplots when Pakistan and South Africa take the field in the first of two Twenty20 matches in Abu Dhabi. Some eyes will be on Graeme Smith to see how he handles being back in the ranks after resigning the captaincy in this format, others will be on the form of players in coloured clothing as the World Cup approaches, but most will be on Pakistan as they begin life after the controversial tour of England.

The match-fixing saga continues to hang over Pakistan cricket, with the news that Mohammad Asif has dropped his appeal against his suspension dominating the build-up to what should be an interesting contest.

Its more immediate effect was shown in England, when the Pakistan squad bounced back to take a five-match ODI series to a decider. If that siege mentality is maintained, then the Proteas might struggle in conditions that suit the 2009 World Twenty20 champions more.

This increased determination to succeed is offset by the loss of Asif, Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir, three first choice players who are hard to replace in any format. The emergence of Asad Shafiq in England will soften the blow of Butt’s absence and it is likely to be trial by spin for South Africa, with major roles expected for Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman and captain Shahid Afridi.

United Arab Emirates is Pakistan’s home venue nowadays, but Abu Dhabi is not a fortress for them. They have played 14 ODIs at the Sheikh Zayed stadium, winning eight and lost both their series at the venue last year, against Australia and New Zealand by a 2-1 scoreline. This is their first Twenty20 match at the ground.

South Africa have won all four Twenty20 matches since the world event in the Caribbean, albeit against West Indies and Zimbabwe, but this will be a stern test for a team in transition under the guidance of new captain Johan Botha. A win apiece would perhaps be an outcome that both teams would settle for.

Chances of each team for World cup Cricket 2011

The stage is all set for the biggest contest of modern cricket and the countdown has already begun. ICC Cricket World Cup is to begin on the 19^th of February, 2011, hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Earlier, Pakistan was to co-host the tournament; however, thanks to an attack on the Sri Lankan Cricket team in 2009, they lost their rights.

Below are the fourteen teams fighting for the cup, divided into two broad groups. Both the groups are to have their individual league matches, where each team would have to play versus each other. The top four teams based on points awarded or in case tied based on their Net Run Rate, would proceed to the next round i.e. Quarter Finals.

Here on, the knock-out begins and it would drill down to the Last Men standing. 

A prediction in terms of who can win might be a tough job as the teams have evolved over the past four years and quite a few of them have started to make good progress. Let’s take an analytical crack at this.

Group A League Matches: 
Undoubtedly, Australia would be the hot favorites but might end up taking the second and third slot considering the fact that they don’t play as well on the sub-continental pitches as they do outside. However, Sri Lanka should come out victorious in the league table, definitely because they have five home matches out of the six that they are supposed to play.

Pakistan should either trail Sri Lanka or Australia with some of the key players back to their squad. They have a nice blend of youth and experience on their side which might come in handy on the sub continental turfs.  The Kiwis however can be very unpredictable and on a given day can beat any team in the world. They should end up third or fourth on the chart.

Kenya has been a developing team for quite a while and have shown occasional sparks but their performance have not yet established a strong belief in the mind of cricket followers. The same can be stated about Zimbabwe. However, to infer, both the teams don’t have enough fuel to outclass teams like Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand. Canada is still an amateur in this sport. They should be happy to win a match or two on a good day.

Group B League Matches: 
This is the Group of Death. Other than Netherlands and Ireland, all other teams are capable of making it through to the Quarters.

India has quite a few players capable of single-handedly butchering the opposition. Home advantage alone can play a big role in their success story.  Also, unarguably, the best batsman in the world, Sachin Tendulkar would be creating history playing the sixth World Cup. His inclusion in itself is a massive confidence boost.

The South African side has been phenomenal in terms of adapting to various playing conditions. They seem to have what it takes to win the cup, leave aside their chance of making it through to the Quarter Finals. A lot of their players have been playing in the Indian Premier League giving them a lot of comfort.

Bangladesh and West Indies are highly unpredictable in terms of their approach but I would like to keep Bangladesh ahead of West Indies due to their home advantage. They have a lot to play for and history suggests that they are capable of making huge upsets.

The English team is quite unstable and is capable of losing matches from winning situations. However, it’s hard to rule them out as well. They have quite a few match winners in Kevin Peterson, Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood. However, their strong swing attack might find it tough to adjust.

Possibilities and probabilities might be endless but, what all should be looking at is a competitive series and not something like the previous one.

Nicely Poised

IPL-2 has been different from IPL-1 in a number of ways.

Last year there were many matches where 200 or more runs were scored...but because of the pitch conditions in SA, scores of 200 or more doesn't seem to be possible in IPL-2..

Last year it was batsman's game...this year bowlers, especially spinners, have been superb..

But IPL-2 has been providing what a true cricket fan needs....Most of the matches, though low-scoring, have been thrilling....

IPL has been amazing so far making it difficult to guess the semi-finalists ....

RCB made it much more complex by beating Mumbai...

Every team, except KKR, have to play each of their remaining matches like a final...

A Rajasthan Royals win 2day will make it much more interesting...

I think DD, CSK, KXIP and DC will make it to semis...

IPL – An international competition?

I don’t think anyone was too surprised when boss Lalit Modi opted for South Africa as the hosts of this year’s Indian Premier League.

As I look outside now from my Yorkshire home, all I can see is grey murky skies, while a fierce wind is bringing huge across raindrops, which are smattering all over my window. It is hard to imagine that in just a few weeks the English cricket season will begin.

The chances are that much of the opening rounds of games will be lost to the weather. Conversely they could be played under glorious early spring sunshine. But that’s the problem with the English weather, you just never know!

With an already crowded domestic and International fixture list, there is no room for manoeuvre should IPL games be lost to the weather. Therefore I think, on this occasion, they made the right choice in picking South Africa.

But what for the future of the IPL?

The switch outside of India, albeit for security reasons, has now made it a truly global game (if it wasn’t already).

After getting a taste for the IPL won’t South Africa fans want too see them again? Similarly English cricket supporters, who only just missed out this time, may feel they should have the chance to stage the tournament?

Talks for an English Premier League were started, stalled and then stopped altogether last year, so why not make the IPL a truly global competition, with different host countries each year? It would make more sense than to have a different 20/20 Premier League for each country, when would they fit the games in for starters?

Teams like Kevin Pietersen’s Royal Challengers Bangalore could be become a truly global brand, with fans across the world adopting them as their favorite team. This could pacify the money men who would fear a drop in TV revenue if the game continued to be played away from cricket-mad India.

I personally can’t wait for the IPL to start, but it will also be interesting to see whether the South African fans take it to their hearts. If it is played out in front of packed stadiums with millions tuning in at home, it may not be the last time the IPL is played abroad.

Guest Post by Tam Mallow

Australia..Can you retain No.1 spot?

Australia have posted a tempting total for SA to chase in the 3rd test. I don't know if it was a wise decision from Ponting.

SA chased 414 easily in the first test at Perth. SA has been good against Australia in chasing 'big' totals.SA stunned the world by chasing 434 against Australia in a ODI in 2006.

I don't think it won't at all be a problem for SA to chase this total with all of SA batsmen in good touch.

But let's see if Australia can win/draw this match to retain their No.1 spot.

A great year for cricket

The year 2008 will be remembered in cricket history forever... 2008 is the beginning of the end of an era of Australia's domination in the world cricket. 2008 brought a new life to test cricket. India and South Africa are the stars in 2008. Both these teams are the strong contenders for the top spot in test cricket.

IPL was a great success... "We don't even watch one day cricket...then how can we watch test cricket....the future is Twenty20 cricket's"....This is what we have been hearing recently...All the cricket fans, former players, cricket analysts.....everyone who is attached to cricket have been saying just one thing..."Test cricket is in danger"...

But the two test match results, at the end of 2008, in a span of a week gave a new life to test cricket....one is the first test between India and England Chennai in December, and the second one is the first test between Australia and South Africa at Perth in December...And also out of 46 test matches that took place in 2008, 35 matches got the results which shows that test cricket has gained some speed.

And the year ended on Australia losing a test series to South Africa, at home, after 16 years..

The performances of teams in 2008.

India: No doubt 2008 will remain as a wonderful year in India cricket. Dhoni took on the test captaincy and now he is the captain of team India in all formats of the game. There are so many unforgettable moments like test series win against Australia in India, CB series win, test and ODI series win against England, IPL etc.. Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar, Zaheer, Ishant, Harbhajan and Dhoni's captaincy took India to great heights.. Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar and Laxman crossed 1000 runs in tests in a calender year..The year marked the end of an era with Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble bidding adieu to international cricket.

South Africa: South Africa is on a roll under Smith's captaincy. SA won 11 of their 15 test matches played in 2008. SA has been very consistent in all the formats of the game. Smith is the leading run scorer in tests in 2008 with 1656 runs in 15 test matches. Amla also crossed 100 runs in tests in 2008. Steyn is the leading wicket taker in tests in 2008. SA has got a new talent in the form of Duminy. De Villiers has been in good touch..If they continue this form, they will surely be No.1 in all formats..

Australia: 2008 is the year Australia don't want to remember. 2008 marked the end of an era of Australia's dominance. Australia's great wicket-keeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist retired in 2008 after CB series. The effect of the retirement of McGrath and Warne was completely visible on the team's performance. Australia lost to India and SA in successive test series at the end of the year. The form of their top order batsmen like Hayden, Ponting and Hussey has been their main concern. Bowling department is also looking weak with no one, except Johnson, performing well. Retaining Ashes is their main focus in 2009.

Sri Lanka: Mendis is SL's new weapon. Asia cup win was their biggest win in 2008. The team was not up to the mark in a series with Zimbabwe. With Mendis and Murlai in the bowling department, and Jayawardena, Sangakkara, Dilshan in batting department, SL looks ahead for a great future.

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming retired after the test match against England in Napier. Except Vettori and McCullum no other player performed well for New Zealand. New Zealand has many new players. It will take a little time before they all adjust. NZ got mixed results in 2008.

England: After England lost the four match series against South Africa, captain Michael Vaughan stepped down from the captaincy. England appointed Kevin Pietersen as their new captain. England's whole concentration has been on Ashes. England won the hearts of many people by coming to India and play the test series after Mumbai blasts. Pietersen was their star in 2008 with Flintoff, Strauss, Collingwood performing consistently. Stuart Broad is a rising talent. England's bowling department is also good with Sidebottom, Anderson and Harmison.

West Indies: The form of West Indies was very bad. They won only one test match in 2008. The team depends a lot on Gayle, Sarwan and Chanderpaul.

Pakistan: 2008 is a worst year in Pakistan's cricket. Pak did not played even a single test. They played some ODIs and won many matches but all of them came against weak teams. Pak is pleading other teams to come and play in Pak. Neutral venues seems to be the only option for Pakistan. Pakistan's great player Mohammad Yousuf joined ICL. It was a big shock to Pak. Aisf was accused of using drugs in IPL and banned from all formats of cricket.

Bangladesh: Bangladesh cricket was under shock when 14 of their cricketers joined ICL. But with many other youngsters like Shakib-ul-Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mortaza, the team performed well under the captaincy of Ashraful. But the results were not satisfying. On a whole, their performance improved a little bit.

Smith, Sehwag, Gambhir, Steyn and Mendis were the stars of 2008.

Hoping for a much more exciting cricket in 2009...

Money power should save

No team has toured Pakistan for the last one year showing security concerns. India has also witnessed terrosit attacks in main cities in the last few months. But I think the teams will tour India because of BCCI's money power. Other boards will lose financially if they don't tour India. Cricket is adored in India and in international cricket, it is India that generates 70% of crickets income.

Coming to England's test tour, BCCI may use IPL as the weapon in bringing them back. If England refuses to tour India, the chances of the England players playing in IPL will be nil. Already many England cricketers are worrying for not playing in IPL. The relationship between ECB and BCCI has not been so good. There has been many disputes over ICL players, ECB deciding to unveil new league, ECB not allowing their cricketers not to play in IPL etc.. If England refuses to tour India now, the relations between ECB and BCCI may slide down furthur. If England team comes to India, India can prove that playing in India is safe.

Australia and South Africa who are the partners of Champions League will want cricket to be played in India. Both these boards will get US $3 millions if CL is played. The amount may increase in future. I don't think the boards want to lose this amount.

After England's tour in India, there won't be any other matches in India untill IPL, except Chamiopns League. Everything will be normal by that time. India is trying to host the 2 test matches against England by providing a tight security and trying to prove that everything will be fine and there won't be any problem to host 2011 world cup.

When will Yuvraj learn?

India Blue won the the recent NKP Challenger Trophy. But Yuvraj Singh's contribution to the team's victory was almost nil. He was out for some poor shots in this series. He doesn't seem to be learning from his mistakes. He was trying to play too many shots too early in the innings.
His place in the team is going to be in danger. A lot of talented youngsters are there waiting for the place in the national team. Yuvraj must be aware of this and he has to perform to keep his place safe.
Yuvraj was in the form of his life one year ago. He was named as the man of the series in three consecutive series against South Africa (joint with Graeme Smith), against Pakistan and England. He scored three centuries and four half-centuries in fifteen matches in those 3 series. It helped him to make it into the top ten of the ICC ODI batting rankings.
Though he is there in the international cricket for around 8 years, he is yet to make his mark in the test cricket. Though he got many opportunities in tests, he did not utilize them. He already lost his place in the test team. And if you consider his recent ODIs, he scored 72 runs with an average of 14.40 in 5 matches against SriLanka. He struggled a lot against the spinners. And it's still the main concern for Yuvi.
In the last 12 months, he has not played a big innings. He scored 840 in 27 matches with an average of 35.00. After his successful performance in the T20 world cup last year, Yuvraj has been playing that kind of shots in all formats of the game. He was trying to hit every ball out of the ground. It's going to be difficult for Yuvraj to keep his place safe in the team(atleast ODIs) unless he changes his attitude.
C'mon Yuvi...you are a match winner...make a strong come back...

Cricket-Past, Present and Future

Cricket is one of the greatest games ever played. It is a mind game than body. Going back to the past, it was a game played by a minimum number of nations, but as time passed on, the game raised interest in the hearts of millions. The number of cricket playing nations have increased over time.

Cricket was discovered in England and the only countries which played it initially were England and Australia. Then the countries South Africa, West Indies, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Srilanka and Bangladesh have joined the list. Now cricket is played in more than 100 countries. It all started with test matches which do not have a limit on time. Then the time was limited to 5 days and later the limited overs game was established which are the one-dayer. The one-day matches were initially 60 overs but were later reduced to 50 overs. Now the new format of the game is established which are the 20-20's. This was introduced in England to provide the tired workers with some evening entertainment and it proved prosperous. Thus the unlimited time matches has reduced to a very much limited time. And what might be the future. It might even reduce to 10 overs.

In the past cricket was even seen with pride ,but now its been a business with a lot of sponserships, telecasting rights and even high amount of betting. The players are giving top priority to money than game. Now by introducing different leagues like IPL,ICL and the Champions league which are drawing more crowds, the number of one-days and tests played will get down. Even the players are giving priority to the leagues than playing to their country. Many players already said that Test matches are no more interesting. The interest in test cricket has gone down. The stadium in India which are always seen filled up are now seen empty during the test matches between India and Australia. Even the 50-50 format is slowly loosing its grip. ICC is taking care to limit the number of 20-20 played every year. But this cannot avoid the fact that other formats of the game are dipping. The future might well give way to short time matches like the 20-20 where the importance of class-play is minimum. The test matches might not be eradicated but might loose their importance.

Will Sreesanth come back?

Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, fast bowler from Kerala, is struggling to make it to the Indian team after being ruled out with a side strain injury that he suffered during the Indian Premier League. Sreesanth suffered a left side strain in the IPL during Kings XI Punjab's final league match on May 28 and played the semi-final, but only bowled one over.
He was left out for the Kitply Cup in Bangladesh, the Asia Cup in Pakistan, the Sri Lankan tour, the Irani Cup , Challenger Trophy, the Champions Trophy.(postponed to 2009) and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
He was picked for the India-A team after he was declared fit by the NCA(Bangalore) physio. But unfortunately for him he again injured his back and was left out of the squad. He is not even playing any domestic cricket. S. Sreesanth has not been included in the Kerala Ranji Trophy squad for the opening match of the plate league against Goa which begins at Fort Maidan on November 3.
Sreesanth last played for India in the Test series against South Africa in April 2008.
He is not looking to be concerned about his place in the team. He is frequently seen in fashion shows and other TV realty shows. This emotional, aggressive fast bowler needs to concentrate more on his fitness and bowling rather than these TV shows.
Former Indian Captain Ravi Shastri said "Sreesanth should be more disciplined if he has to make full use of his talent.
Kapil Dev said "I wish he concentrates more on cricket. Aggression is good but it should be on the field".
We have Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel, with RP Singh too in the mix. It would be best for Sreesanth to play matches, get match fit and pick wickets to return to the Indian side.

Shortest Test Match

The shortest test match, with a result, in the history of cricket took place between Australia and South Africa. It was the final test of the 1931-32 series. South Africa scored 36, 45 in their first and second innings respectively. Australia(153) beat South Africa by an innings and 72 runs. The match lasted 109.2 overs. The next shortest test match was between West Indies and England in 1934-35. It lasted 112 overs.