Drumroll. World’s biggest cricket carnival ODI Cricket World Cup edition 13 is ready for its show and tell. Been 48 years since the first one was played in White clothes in England, it has been a quadrennial event and there have been numerous arguments over how ODI cricket is on its wane and eyeballers either prefer the longer test cricket played over 5 days or the quicker T20 or even T10. However, the purists want only test cricket and connoisseurs of the sport want all flavors, for different occasions.
World Cup 2023 is being hosted by India, a country of 1.4 billion people and India has been in the news for various reasons these days or as one may say, it is the flavor of the season. The world is waiting to eat out of India’s hands and a country as diverse as India, primarily only two hobbies that have the ability for Indians to unite – Bollywood and cricket. However, this isn’t about India, this is about ODI World Cup preview.
Ten countries have qualified for this version of the world cup, most notable omission being the winners of the inaugural two and the favorite of the third who were delivered a knockout punch by upcoming Indians in 1983. Yes, I am talking about mighty West Indies who ruled the roost and with their formidable intimidating team sent shivers up their spine. In the turn of ensuing events, West Indies didn’t qualify for the world cup as they were beaten by who’s who not famous for playing cricket, most notably Netherlands who had been a good “outsider” but managed to crack into the upper echelons of cricket and get an invite to walk the ramp on cricket’s biggest stage.
Five teams from Asia – host India, archrivals Pakistan, Sri Lanka – all three previous winners and Bangladesh and Afghanistan round up the Asian challenge and then we have the perennial cricket giants – England, Australia, who have won world cup before too, with England the defending champion who might be eager to repeat and New Zealand who were rather unlucky in 2019, South Africa who might be itching to get their chokers tag off and Netherlands rounding up the fray.
Stage is set and almost 30 years later, the similar format that was followed in 1992 in Australia – New Zealand is followed. There are no groups this time around and every team plays all the others, thus each team will play 9 league games. The good part is this formation takes away the dynamics of groups where your draw could make you weaker before it all begins, and one can still recover from an initial setback if any. If 1992 is serving as an example, Pakistan started slow and came back to win it all – it is different that they had the charismatic talisman Imran Khan at the helm and though his political career may have received mixed review ratings, there wasn’t denying his leadership and iron fist on the cricket field. Yes, he was driven as well as he wanted to build a state-of-the-art cancer hospital in memory of his mother.
No groups mean it is a fair and square opportunity but that also means everyone has to be on their best form as only four out of ten will live another day and others will have to pack their bags and return home without hardware. Another flip side of this format is you may have cruised through the league stages but one bad day in knockouts and you are on the way out, somewhat of an injustice but then again, this isn’t the only place where life isn’t fair. Cricket like other sports is becoming as much of a mental game.
World Cup cricket is only played once every 4 years which means each of the world cups have been swansongs of some of the legends of the sport, this edition being no different. Most cricketers especially good ones ply their trade through their late 30’s maybe just about 40 with a prolonged career of about 15-20 years. Last decade or so has some of the best names in the history of the game, who have been regaling the spectators with their gamut and number of those could head into the sunset at least for this format and maybe move into an afterlife role associated with the sport and pick up on a rather subdued option which will spare them from the hassles of being a sportsman. Names like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin from India, Joe Root from England, Steve Smith and David Warner from Australia, Kane Wiliamson from New Zealand are some of the names which have been on everyone’s lips and while some of them may be able to come back for one more edition, for the most of them, this will be it as they will call it a career. Each of those would want to put that cherry on their retirement cake.
On one hand, there are the ones who are getting ready to ride into the sunset, and on the other side are the ones who are on the side of their career’s rising sun and are eager to announce to the world that the next decade or longer could be theirs. These greenhorns are itching to make their name in the pantheons of cricketing legends and want the world to anoint them as the next big thing. This will always go on as the baton passes from generation to generation and new legends continue to bloom.
Who are the contenders and who are the wannabes? I won’t call them pretenders as there are none. Cricket is a game where the once mighty West Indies had a mega fall and newer entrants were able to down them. Based on the recent records, number of teams seem to be doing well. Hosts India, England, South Africa have done well, Australia can never be ruled out of any tourneys as they have won this coveted trophy most times; Pakistan on their day can beat the best; Sri Lankans know the environment well and can cause upsets and so can New Zealand who are possibly one injury removed from entering the top tier and Bangladesh and Afghanistan are very much capable of upsetting anyone’s dreams and plans to move forward. This only puts Netherlands in the lower category and based on ICC qualifiers, they are capable of beating stronger teams.
Hosts India seem to have a very balanced side and know the conditions better than everyone else. They obviously will have lots of support; having said that, support can also raise expectations and put some unnecessary pressure on Indians. Recent few weeks including Asia Cup have shown they are up for challenge and maybe are peaking at the right time. All their batsmen have been among runs and seem to have a problem of plenty right now. They are having a hard time selecting the best eleven out of fourteen (ok, fifteen) and should look to optimize their team mix based on the opponent and maybe rest some of their core guys against relatively easier/inexperienced opponents (mind you, I am not calling anyone weaker). They would want to win it all for their two legends Virat and Rohit who in most likelihood won’t return for an encore in 2027 and may want to win it on their home turf. Virat is amongst those who won it as a greenhorn in 2011 but would love to repeat this time as an elder stateman and a world legend. Rohit would want to lead from the front and secure the hardware while he has won many as a Mumbai Indians skipper in IPL, the world title is still elusive, and he had a great 2019 world cup personally with him scoring five individual hundreds but his journey ending with a bad day in the rain interrupted semi finals against New Zealand where one bad hour sealed Team India’s fate.
Defending champions England are other contenders and have been playing very good strong cricket of late and are belting out numbers which are jaw-dropping and awe inspiring. They have changed the batting philosophy and are raising the bar with their scoring at a very high clip. They have some batsmen who have been whacking the ball literally and what the world is getting to see is unfolding of magic never seen before. This is made possible by their New Zealander duo – coach Baz McCullum and captain Ben Stokes (although Ben Stokes is not the captain in ODIs, actually he came out of ODI retirement just recently). England’s bowling is slightly weaker compared to their batting especially for subcontinent and they will need to ensure Rashid and Moeen are up to the task though Moeen and Sam Curran can give them good strong all-round balance.
South Africa had a great series against Australia but that was in their own backyard. They would also want to win for Quinton De Kock and most of their guys are white ball experts as they play in various leagues around the world, they were jolted by injury to Nortje, their premium fast bowler. Proteas have experience galore in Indian conditions due to their IPL plaudits which will definitely give them an edge over some of the other countries. They are a strong team but again, their past history shows they are a different breed when they typically storm out of the blocks during the league level and fall short of pundit’s expectations when the knockout stages roll, and stakes get higher. So much so, now critics are
Only a novice punter can ever not consider waging on Australia or Pakistan as the big tournament contenders. Australians play tough cricket and have some battle-hardened warhorses in Warner and Smith. They have experienced and accurate fast bowlers and Mitchell Marsh, Cameron Green, Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell provide them with great multidimensional balance as they can both bat in the top order and can roll their arms over. They have the best all-rounders who have their core competencies and allow Aussies to bat deeper. Pat Cummins, their captain and Sean Abbott aren’t slouches with bat either and this gives them a depth like nobody.
Pakistan on the other hand, are dependent on their captain Babar Azam and loss of Naseem Shah will put some pressure on Shaheen Shah Afridi and Rauf to manage bowling. Babar has been simply phenomenal last couple of years and Pakistan boasts of having Babar enter their world cup as number one batter and Shaheen fresh off his wedding to Shahid Afridi’s daughter is raring to go. Pakistan has no experience playing on Indian tracks but then familiarity breeds contempt and at times, they do have familiarity in overall conditions like no other. Indian spectators are raring to have a sneak peek at their neighbors and especially the showdown in Ahmedabad at the Narendra Modi Stadium with possibly the man himself after whom the stadium is named, along with the father son duo behind the stadium, Amit Shah, and Jay Shah as brains behind this mega stadium, task becomes even more uphill. Indian team wouldn’t want to upset the non-forgiving and non-forgetting Prime Minister – Home Minister duo.
Last time’s unfortunate runners up New Zealand who all but won it on that day if not for some “rules” had a field day for meme makers aren’t too far out. Lot depends on Tim Southee’s fracture and how he recovers or if he is ready to play but the return of Trent Boult definitely bolsters their arsenal. Trent Boult has time and again dented opposition by claiming couple of wickets in his first spell (remember Indians bad one hour of the tournament in 2019) and he has been doing it all IPL and other tournaments. I even saw that on display in MLC in Grand Prairie, TX. They have some good utility players and again hoping their batting mainstay Kane Williamson is ready.
Next up, the three other Asian teams – Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan out of which Sri Lanka is still the strongest and Sri Lanka is definitely set back by injury to Wanindu Hasaranga who was expected to have a great world cup will definitely put a spanner in Sri Lanka’s plans. Shanaka and team can still cause some damage but don’t think they can do it consistently enough to make it to top 4. They still have some good role players and again familiarity with Indian conditions can only serve as tail wind to propel Lankan airplane further. Bangladesh and Afghanistan again will definitely cause an upset or two on the spin heavy Indian pitches, but they don’t have enough firepower to last the entire tournament with spirited performances. Bottom line, none of the other six teams mentioned earlier can rest on their laurels while playing either of these three Asian teams.
Lastly, Netherlands as they are the newest kid on the block. Kid because they are the only non-test playing team but have definitely qualified over three other test teams that were in the running in ICC qualifier – West Indies, Zimbabwe, and Ireland. Netherlands have been playing well with their South African, New Zealand and even desi players and no team should take them lightly. As mentioned above, cricket can be cruel on its day and that one act of laziness or overconfidence can set them back in their quest for semifinals and eventual conquest of the hardware.
Looks like Netherlands is ready to enter Cricket’s Solar System as the tenth member. Normally, test cricket is known for its constellations with 12 members a la zodiac signs but three of them as mentioned above missed the bus by not qualifying. Who’s who of the world’s white ball cricketers barring a few from West Indies and Zimbabwe and Ireland will be missing in action this time around.
I will wrap this up with my bold picks – my semifinalists are India, England, Australia, and Pakistan (I give them an edge over perennial chokers South Africa and New Zealand) and with India and England slugging it out in Finals and India keeping the trophy at home. I may be making my picks from heart but then again, brain starts aligning with decisions made by heart.
I hope this tournament is conducted in a safe manner and no untoward incidents happen and overall, great matches are played and crickentertainment prevails. The game of cricket is on its upswing and popularity of the game is rising leaps and bounds. Cricket had a solid debut on American ramp and the game is ready to romp next year with T20 world cup to be held in 2024 in West Indies and United States. If US starts investing in cricket, the game will see some fine-tuned marketing machinery at work and cricket’s coffers can only swell.
