Aranya Syed :
The ICC World Twenty20 (T20 World Cup) is scheduled to start today in Nagpur, India with the First Round match between Zimbabwe and Hong Kong. This will be the 6th edition of cricket’s shortest and most exciting format of the game and the first time that the world cricket’s superpower India will be hosting this month-long global sporting event. 16 teams will be competing during the World Cup with two teams from the First Round qualifying to the Second Round where they will be joined by the top 8-ranked nations in the world. Sri Lanka will be defending their crown which they won in Bangladesh in 2014 and the hosts India, the world’s #1 ranked T20 nation and the current Asia Cup Champions, will enter the competition as the strong favourites to advance to the World Cup Final in the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on the 3rd of April and become the first nation to win the T20 World Cup for more than one occasion.
India are almost every pundit and bookies’ favourite to lift the trophy and it is clear to see why. The last time they hosted a World Cup (the ODI WC in 2011) they were crowned Champions and they have also won the inaugural T20 WC and the Champions Trophy in recent years, under the leadership of M S Dhoni. They also won the Asia Cup after beating hosts Bangladesh on Sunday by staying undefeated throughout the continental competition. In Virat Kohli they have the undisputed best batsman in the world (in T20 and ODI he is by far the best) and will almost certainly be the tournament’s highest run-scorer and favourite to bag home another Man of the Series award in the T20 WC after winning it in the previous edition. Ravi Ashwin is arguably the world’s best T20 spinner and will most likely finish as the tournament’s best bowler. I have a strong feeling that their inspirational skipper MSD will retire after this World Cup and it will be an incredible swansong for arguably the greatest leader in the history of the game. This will also be World Cup legend and previous Man of the Series winner Yuvraj Singh’s final tournament and he will be aiming to repeat his heroics from the 2011 and 2007 events which India won. The biggest game of the World Cup will, undoubtedly, be the one between arch-rivals India and Pakistan in picturesque Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh) on the 19th of March.
The second favourites and possible finalist in my opinion will be previous winners West Indies. Although they are not considered amongst the favourites and have some serious off-field issues between the cricketers and the cricket board, they have an incredibly powerful batting lineup, including ‘World Boss’ and one of cricket’s biggest superstars Chris Gayle, and a world-class T20 spinner in Samuel Badree. Bangladesh have an outside chance of advancing to the Semis as they have played consistently high-class cricket for the last year. They are definitely in the ‘Group of Death’ (provided they qualify for the Second Round of course!) but they have advanced to the Asia Cup Final only last week knocking out Pakistan and current World Champions Sri Lanka, and also knocked out England in last year’s ODI World Cup, and have won series victories at home against India, Pakistan and South Africa during the last year, albeit all of them being in the ODI format rather than T20. The first Second Round game against Pakistan is a must-win if The Tigers have any chance of progressing to the Semis, as they have beaten Pakistan five times consecutively, and on paper have a better team than their historic foes. I expect them to beat Pakistan and if they do they will four (possible) victories under their belt already in the World Cup and the momentum to possibly hunt down one of Australia or NZ, although it will most certainly be a huge task. The world’s best all-rounder Shakib Al-Hasan is the key to their success as he plays in India regularly at the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the other players in the lineup who I expect to have a good tournament include Asia Cup Man of the Series Sabbir, highest wicket taker Al-Amin and fast bowling sensation Mustafizur.
My predictions therefore are: India, World Cup Champions (Group 2 Champions); WI, Runners-up (Group 1 Champions); NZ & England, Semi-Finalists; Virat, Player of the Tournament & highest run-scorer; Badree, highest wicket-taker.
India 2016 promises be an absolute cracker of a World Cup!
(Aranya Syed, London, United Kingdom)
The ICC World Twenty20 (T20 World Cup) is scheduled to start today in Nagpur, India with the First Round match between Zimbabwe and Hong Kong. This will be the 6th edition of cricket’s shortest and most exciting format of the game and the first time that the world cricket’s superpower India will be hosting this month-long global sporting event. 16 teams will be competing during the World Cup with two teams from the First Round qualifying to the Second Round where they will be joined by the top 8-ranked nations in the world. Sri Lanka will be defending their crown which they won in Bangladesh in 2014 and the hosts India, the world’s #1 ranked T20 nation and the current Asia Cup Champions, will enter the competition as the strong favourites to advance to the World Cup Final in the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on the 3rd of April and become the first nation to win the T20 World Cup for more than one occasion.
India are almost every pundit and bookies’ favourite to lift the trophy and it is clear to see why. The last time they hosted a World Cup (the ODI WC in 2011) they were crowned Champions and they have also won the inaugural T20 WC and the Champions Trophy in recent years, under the leadership of M S Dhoni. They also won the Asia Cup after beating hosts Bangladesh on Sunday by staying undefeated throughout the continental competition. In Virat Kohli they have the undisputed best batsman in the world (in T20 and ODI he is by far the best) and will almost certainly be the tournament’s highest run-scorer and favourite to bag home another Man of the Series award in the T20 WC after winning it in the previous edition. Ravi Ashwin is arguably the world’s best T20 spinner and will most likely finish as the tournament’s best bowler. I have a strong feeling that their inspirational skipper MSD will retire after this World Cup and it will be an incredible swansong for arguably the greatest leader in the history of the game. This will also be World Cup legend and previous Man of the Series winner Yuvraj Singh’s final tournament and he will be aiming to repeat his heroics from the 2011 and 2007 events which India won. The biggest game of the World Cup will, undoubtedly, be the one between arch-rivals India and Pakistan in picturesque Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh) on the 19th of March.
The second favourites and possible finalist in my opinion will be previous winners West Indies. Although they are not considered amongst the favourites and have some serious off-field issues between the cricketers and the cricket board, they have an incredibly powerful batting lineup, including ‘World Boss’ and one of cricket’s biggest superstars Chris Gayle, and a world-class T20 spinner in Samuel Badree. Bangladesh have an outside chance of advancing to the Semis as they have played consistently high-class cricket for the last year. They are definitely in the ‘Group of Death’ (provided they qualify for the Second Round of course!) but they have advanced to the Asia Cup Final only last week knocking out Pakistan and current World Champions Sri Lanka, and also knocked out England in last year’s ODI World Cup, and have won series victories at home against India, Pakistan and South Africa during the last year, albeit all of them being in the ODI format rather than T20. The first Second Round game against Pakistan is a must-win if The Tigers have any chance of progressing to the Semis, as they have beaten Pakistan five times consecutively, and on paper have a better team than their historic foes. I expect them to beat Pakistan and if they do they will four (possible) victories under their belt already in the World Cup and the momentum to possibly hunt down one of Australia or NZ, although it will most certainly be a huge task. The world’s best all-rounder Shakib Al-Hasan is the key to their success as he plays in India regularly at the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the other players in the lineup who I expect to have a good tournament include Asia Cup Man of the Series Sabbir, highest wicket taker Al-Amin and fast bowling sensation Mustafizur.
My predictions therefore are: India, World Cup Champions (Group 2 Champions); WI, Runners-up (Group 1 Champions); NZ & England, Semi-Finalists; Virat, Player of the Tournament & highest run-scorer; Badree, highest wicket-taker.
India 2016 promises be an absolute cracker of a World Cup!
(Aranya Syed, London, United Kingdom)
