‘Spin’ seems to be the in thing in T20 today. Many IPL matches had a spinner opening the innings. In the ICC T20 World Cup matches also, spin seems to have a major role to play. Pitches in the West Indies look favourable for spin and India and Pakistan with their quality spinners may have a distinct advantage over the others. Even our own captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had underscored the importance of spinners in the press conference before the team's departure to the West Indies by saying that “spinners would play a crucial role on the slow pitches and would be the team's major weapon”. The matches played against Afghanistan and South Africa were at the Beausejour stadium in St. Lucia. Playing here for the Indians is like playing at home. The pitches here are slow and ideal for the spinners. In the tie against Afghanistan, spinners bowled half of the designated 20 overs. "If you have them, flaunt them", decided Dhoni in the next match against South Africa. As a result, the craft of spin was in full display. Spinners Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan and Piyush Chawla were given a free rein. They bowled 15 overs, a rare occurrence surely. India won both the matches. But now the situation is no longer the same. India has qualified for the Super 8 matches. Its first Super 8 match against Australia on May 7th. On May 9th, India will play the West Indies. The tie with Sri Lanka will be on the 11th. So what is different? These matches will be held not on the friendly St. Lucia pitch, but on the fast and bouncy pitch of Kensington Oval in Barbados also known as the "Mecca of Cricket". It is known to favour pace and seam. Spin may not bring the required result. Even 2 spinners may be one too many. It will all depend on the nature of the pitch on that day and the team's requirement of variety in the bowling attack. Will the spin quartet be replaced by a triple edged pace attack? Will the concerted effort of Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar, weave some magic and help India waltz to the semi-finals ? Will the team management unleash the new face, pacer Vinay Kumar, on an unsuspecting opposition, … [Read more...]
Women’s T20 World Cup :Team India
It is common knowledge that the T20 World Cup tournament 2010 commenced on April 30th in the West Indies. What is not so commonly known is the fact that the same country will also host the Women's T20 World Cup tournament simultaneously. Men's cricket hogs all the media attention, however insignificant the match may be. Women’s cricket sadly has few takers. The inaugural edition of the Women's T20 World Cup was held in 2009 along with the Men's Cup. The English team emerged as winners. This year's tournament starts on May 5th and ends on May 16th. All the group matches will be played at the Warner Park Sporting Complex in St. Kitts whereas St. Lucia will host the semifinals. The finals will be played in Barbados. There are 2 groups: Group A: England, Australia, West Indies and South Africa. Group B: New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The Indian women will play their 1st match against New Zealand on May 6th. They will play Pakistan on May 8th and Sri Lanka on May 10th. The Indian Women's team members: Jhulan Goswami (Capt.), Poonam Raut, Anjum Chopra, Anagha Deshpande, Gouhar Sultana, Diana David, Rumeli Dhar, Sulakshana Naik, Priyanka Roy, Reema Malhotra, Soniya Dabir, Amita Sharma, Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet KaurThe players of note are captain Jhulan Goswami who has claimed more than 100 wickets, batswoman Mithali Raj, the former captain Anjum Chopra and the the all-rounder Rumeli Dhar. In the ICC Women's ODI ranking, Jhulan tops the bowlers' charts while Mitali leads the batswomen charts. The major problem in women’s cricket is of course lack of sponsors, as it does not command mass support as men's cricket does. The BCCI needs to build up interest around this game. The media is also to blame; it is interested even in a non-performing men's team and ignores a performing women's team. Case in point was last year's T20 World Cup. The much hyped men's team lost all the super 8 matches whereas the women's team reached the semi-finals. In spite of this, a few days ago, newspapers prominently featured news of Dhoni and his men embarking on the West Indies tour. … [Read more...]
