Then - They Romped! Now - Dumped! (Part-1)
Couple of weeks back, if someone had said that Australia would exit from the T20 World Cup at the earliest instant, he would’ve been laughed away. But as days went by, they were the first test playing nation to exit from the tournament! Thanks to the nature of the game, teams like Netherlands could beat England and Ireland could stare at the eyes of the Lankans. So, what of the defending champions led by one of the charismatic captains the country had seen? As I write, they, by all means, have lost all their chances of getting thier hands on the cup, which they had won in great style two years back.
To put it bluntly, they did the unexpected in both the editions - in 2007, they were so new to the format and were not expected to win; this time - they were expected to defend the title, though teams like South Africa and Pakistan were expected to throw a big challenge, (Incidentally, Pak has the biggest win % in T20 cricket.) but they are out!
India did have a considerable practice in the form of IPL with the cream of performers getting selected in the 15. (Of course, Ishant had a bad IPL!) Though the warm-up matches should not be much read into, they lost to New Zealand (a team whom they had not beaten in T20 in all the 3 matches played) and defeated Pakistan (a team whom they had beat in both the T20 matches played).
Though Bangladesh is considered a tricky opponent and Ireland came to the light beating Pakistan in the 2007 50-over world cup, the two matches did not pose a great challenge and victories against them was clinical and ensured them a place in the Super-8s. The real challenge started then on where they were pit in the group comprising West Indies, England and South Africa.
The first encounter against the Caribs was lost at two places - the first and the last 6 overs of the match. In the former - they lost 3 wickets for few runs and in the latter, they leaked too many runs. Thanks to Fidel edwards and dwayne Bravo, the whole cricketing world came to know the weakness of this batting line-up - The short-pitched deliveries! Yuvaraj was the only solace in that match.
To put it bluntly, they did the unexpected in both the editions - in 2007, they were so new to the format and were not expected to win; this time - they were expected to defend the title, though teams like South Africa and Pakistan were expected to throw a big challenge, (Incidentally, Pak has the biggest win % in T20 cricket.) but they are out!
India did have a considerable practice in the form of IPL with the cream of performers getting selected in the 15. (Of course, Ishant had a bad IPL!) Though the warm-up matches should not be much read into, they lost to New Zealand (a team whom they had not beaten in T20 in all the 3 matches played) and defeated Pakistan (a team whom they had beat in both the T20 matches played).
Though Bangladesh is considered a tricky opponent and Ireland came to the light beating Pakistan in the 2007 50-over world cup, the two matches did not pose a great challenge and victories against them was clinical and ensured them a place in the Super-8s. The real challenge started then on where they were pit in the group comprising West Indies, England and South Africa.
The first encounter against the Caribs was lost at two places - the first and the last 6 overs of the match. In the former - they lost 3 wickets for few runs and in the latter, they leaked too many runs. Thanks to Fidel edwards and dwayne Bravo, the whole cricketing world came to know the weakness of this batting line-up - The short-pitched deliveries! Yuvaraj was the only solace in that match.
posted by Mukunth @ 12:28 AM
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