Cricket mania 2007

In the season of world cup if I don write anything about mah favorite sport then that would do grave injustice to my love for the game. World cup 2007 everyone seems so excited about it, they say this could be the most exciting of the world cups played till now. The teams in this world cup are very well matched in terms of overall strength but if you peep inside each camp you can see the difference among them.

Even after getting beaten by poms and kiwis the kangaroo team is still the favorite to lift the cup purely on the fact that it is the only team who has talent, confidence and experience of winning the most coveted trophy. They have a very strong batting lineup with batsmen for all pitches though I must say there bowling isn’t that great a force anymore but still good enough and under the leadership of world cup winning captain they are certain to be a force. Mr cricket Mike hussey should be the man you should look out for.

Closing to the aussies are the South Africans they are a bunch of super confident blokes. There bowing is probably the strongest in terms of experience and form but lack of a good slow bowler might prove costly in the middle overs. There batting lineup though a very long one still does not have expertise in playing slow bowlers on slow pitches. Needless to say they are the best fielding side in this cup. My man from that team is Mark Boucher.

Kiwis are another team who are really high on confidence after beating the aussies. Another team with great fielders. There strength as always are the all rounders. Though going great guns at the moment still I don’t fancy them to be the team to beat.

Jacob Oram is the player to watch out for.

The team which I think could go all the way is Sri Lanka. They are exceptional on slow tracks and with agile fielders in there ranks and bolwers like Murli and Jayasuriya they are a very strong unit when fielding. With the bat also they are very strong in middle and end overs when slow bowlers are operating and if the prediction of slow pitches all the way proves to be correct then even there top order will be handy. Sanagakara is the man with great ability both in front as well as behind the stumps.

Other good teams like Pakistan, West Indies, England all are good but unpredictable teams they might just cause an upset in super eights to change the face of semifinals but on paper a bit weaker.

Well O well my fellow country men will murder me if I don write about the most exciting team of the cup, no prizes for guesses, its our own India, Why I said the most exciting team is because this team is the most experienced team of this tournament and have the fire power to lift the cup. As always the team is studded with some big stars each of which can win a match single handedly. Leading the charge will be Sachin but I think most important players will be Yuvi and Dhoni. They are young and are proven match winners. Dada at the top is a real bonus for us simply because the amount of experience the man posses in pacing an innings is unmatched. Bowling is one department which is always considered as weaker but with in form Zaks and Bhajji things are looking brighter. Fielding is one department where this team is lagging but team India should be able to make up for it on other fronts. I ll be watching all 11 players closely but if I have to pick one , I ll go for the Wall skipper Rahul Dravid, with his captaincy and new role as floating batsmen he is ought to give much needed flexibility to the team.

Minnows or the new entrants should do justice to the there selection and should play good competitive cricket.

To sum up this article I can only say may the best team win, and hope Team India is the best.

P.S: Author has 18 years of cricket watching career.