The Reverse Sweep

World Cup Team Previews: India - Glory or Burning Effigies?

 
Up until the start of the World Cup on Saturday, we’ll be posting our preview of each of the participants.

We start today with the favourites and joint-hosts India, for whom Sachin Tendulkar could crown a quite remarkable career by scoring his 100th international hundred (he starts the tournament with 97) in the final in his hometown of Mumbai to hand India its second World Cup – 28 years after they stunned West Indies at Lord’s. Well, that’s what the Holly/Bollywood scriptwriters want anyway.

Strengths

Where do you start? A batting line-up that starts with Tendulkar and Sehwag and has the likes of Gambhir, Kohli, Yuvraj and Dhoni to follow is arguably the strongest in the competition on paper. The cherry on the top is the monstrous hitting of Yusuf Pathan who could prove to be one of the stars of the tournament. Chuck in home advantage, Dhoni’s shrewd captaincy, the cunning brilliance of Zaheer Khan and a plethora of bowlers who can take the pace off the ball, then it is hard to argue against India lifting the World Cup come 2nd April.

Weaknesses

To say the expectations of Indian supporters are high would be a colossal understatement and a fickle media will soon start getting on the team’s back if there are any stumbles. If things go wrong, expect plenty of burning effigies.

Main man

You can’t look past Sachin Tendulkar, although we’re expecting big things from Kohli, Pathan and Zaheer too.

Look out for...

The earthquake caused by a billion souls should Sachin indeed reach 100 international centuries.

The Reverse Sweep's Prediction

Having said that you’d have to be a fool to bet against India that is exactly what we’re going to do. We predict a serene progress to the final before they are be shocked by... (you’ll have to wait for later in the week when we reveal our tip for the cup).

Where next?

Our XI to shine at the World Cup

Yusuf Pathan goes from zero to nine on the Richter Scale

Graduates from the Sehwag School for Batting announced

Heroes: Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Sachin Tendulkar's Annus Mirabilis

Check out all our other Reverse Sweep heroes and zeroes featuring amongst others Yuvraj Singh, Graham Gooch, Kamran Akmal and Imran Khan

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

XIs: An XI to watch closely in the World Cup

 
We’re not particularly excited at the prospect of the World Cup. It is far too long and the initial group stage of 42 matches could easily be shortened to play-offs between Bangladesh-West Indies and New Zealand-Zimbabwe in order to produce the eight quarter-finalists.

Notwithstanding our gripes about the length and format of the tournament however, we are looking forward to seeing if England can complete a memorable 12 months by adding the World Cup to the Ashes and World T20 triumphs.

Furthermore, we are looking forward to seeing how a number of players perform on the big stage. Here’s XI of them:

Hashim Amla

Sachin’s legions of devotees will doubtless disagree, but is there a better ODI batsman in the world than the bearded wonder at the moment? An average of 75 in 2010 with five ODI hundreds, a phenomenal career ODI average of a touch under 60 and his love of the sub-continent all make Amla our bet to be the tournament’s leading run scorer.

Tamim Iqbal

The left-handed Sehwag is the key to Bangladesh springing a surprise and getting to the last eight. It will likely come down to a straight fight with the West Indies and a blitzkrieg shootout between Tamim and Chris Gayle. Now that will be worth watching.

Ricky Ponting

A last hurrah or a fourth successive World Cup and the third as captain? The Ashes series was like a Shakespearean tragedy for Ponting, so it will be fascinating to see how the World Cup plays out for one of the all-time greats.

Kumar Sangakkara

Along with India, Sri Lanka have to be the favourites to win the tournament and if that happens King Kumar is likely to be omnipresent with his elegant batting, sharp work behind the stumps, shrewd captaincy and eloquent words. As cool as a cucumber.

Virat Kohli

Despite not yet playing Tests, Kohli is far and away the most impressive of the young Indian batsmen jostling for position to eventually replace the likes of Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman. He has taken to ODI cricket like a duck to water and scored more ODI runs (995) than anyone in 2010 with the exception of Amla.

Shahid Afridi

After his belated confirmation as captain, Afridi will be even keener to improve his dreadful World Cup record of 11 with the bat and 40 with the ball. The captaincy hasn’t dimmed the explosive batting of the man with three of the top six fastest centuries in ODI history. Whether he and Pakistan fly or flop, one thing is for sure - it won’t be boring.

Yusuf Pathan

The final piece in the jigsaw for India? After continually disappointing in an Indian shirt, Pathan has suddenly transformed himself into potentially the most devastating hitter in limited overs cricket. Recent hundreds against New Zealand and South Africa demonstrated what he could do – expect more of the same during the World Cup.

Graeme Swann

His absence from the England side in all but the first of the recent seven match series with Australia showed how vital he is to England’s hopes. The pitches down under may have been deliberately prepared to nullify Swann’s threat but that certainly won’t be the case on the sub-continent. Swann loves the big stage, and in pyjama cricket at least there is none bigger than this. England’s chances rest on how he performs.

Lasith Malinga

If Sri Lanka is to repeat its success of 1996, they will need Malinga to fire and stay fit. Expect plenty of timber to fly when he is around and the ball to swing, whether it is old or new. And just how do you play that yorker?

Dale Steyn

The best bowler in the world bar none. Steyn doesn’t worry about containment and will attack relentlessly, and as he showed in Nagpur last year he can be deadly on the sub-continent.

Ray Price

The romantic in us would opt for Murali in his last international tournament, but we really like Price. He may be a spinner, but he has the attitude, stares and choice words of a fearsome fast bowler. Think Merv Hughes without the tash. And he is a decent bowler too who could help his side to a surprise place in the last eight at the expense of the hapless Black Caps.

Where next?

Yusuf Pathan goes from zero to nine on the Richter Scale

10 reasons to love Graeme Swann

Graduates from the Sehwag School for Batting announced

Exclusive: The New Ten Point Pakistan Player Code of Conduct

An XI of cricketers that died young

Check out all our Reverse Sweep heroes and zeroes featuring amongst others Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, David Gower, David Lloyd and Charles Colville 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Yusuf Pathan goes from zero to nine on the Richter Scale

 
Prior to the last couple of months, three things came into mind when the name of Yusuf Pathan was mentioned.

The first was that he was the big brother of Irfan Pathan, whose disappearance from the Indian set-up is still a mystery to us at the Reverse Sweep.

The second was when Shane Warne amusingly described Yusuf’s 37-ball hundred against the Mumbai Indians as the best innings he’d ever seen – no more evidence of the ridiculous hyperbole that comes with the IPL is needed than that. Given that he had been in the field when Laxman made his infamous 281 at Kolkata this was perhaps the best example of Warney talking utter nonsense.

Finally, we knew Yusuf as the man that visibly shrunk when he pulled on an Indian jersey. Whether it was bowling pies, dropping catches or getting out cheaply, Yusuf was your man. Indeed, a particularly fleet-footed ant had more chance of making the earth shake than the seemingly impotent Yusuf.

Not now though. After two brutal ODI hundreds from Yusuf in the space of a few months, it would seem that he could be the final ingredient in India’s pursuit of the World Cup.

Both hundreds registered at least 9.0 on the Richter Scale and each came when India were in seemingly impossible situations. His 123 not out off only 96 balls led his side to an unlikely win against New Zealand in December.

And whilst his 105 in the deciding ODI against South Africa couldn’t quite retrieve a victory for India, it was a truly memorable innings with Yusuf unleashing a blitzkrieg of boundaries in moving from 66 to 101 in just 10 balls. It certainly shook South Africa to its foundations.

He hit 15 monstrous sixes across the two innings and with home advantage and the likes of Tendulkar, Sehwag and Gambhir to come back into the side, it would be a brave man that would bet against Dhoni lifting the World Cup once the elongated tournament reaches its conclusion sometime in 2012. If they do, it would seem that Yusuf will have a big say.

Where next?

The Lovers & The Shaggers - starring Yusuf Pathan   

Where did it all go wrong for India?

 The best Indian Test XI (1980-2010)

Check out all our Reverse Sweep heroes and zeroes including amongst others MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh and Shoaib Malik

Follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

India's new generation of mediocre cricketers

Suresh Raina and his chastened team will be getting plenty of bad press in India in the next few days following their second successive defeat to hosts Zimbabwe in the Triangular One Day Competition. The first match was close, but the second yesterday was an absolute cakewalk for the home team who cantered past the winning post with over 11 overs to spare after restricting India to 194 for nine from their 50 overs.

In India's defence they are without regulars Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, who have been rested for the tournament. Any side would miss players of that calibre. They are also without Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh. The first two no longer feature in the one day side and if recent history is anything to go by, an out of form, unfit and seemingly uninterested Yuvraj is no real miss.

But even with these players missing, most people would still expect India's supposedly talented new generation to deal easily with Zimbabwe. And it's not if most of the players are inexperienced. Of the team that played yesterday, Dinesh Karthik (44), Suresh Raina (93), Rohit Sharma (45) and Yusuf Pathan (36), have all played over 30 ODIs. Suresh Raina's comment before the tour that his "team had no weakness" is coming back to bite him on his rather portly bum.

Given that some of the same players also disappointed in the recent World T20, it would seem that India does not have much strength in depth to eventually replace the likes of Tendulkar when they finally hang their pads up. Players like Pathan and Karthik have had plenty of chances but don't seem to have what it takes to succeed in international cricket.

We would have put Sharma (below) in that bracket too before his first two one day hundreds came in the first two matches of this tournament. Rohit (or The Artist formerly known as Nohit - as amusingly named by Bored Cricket) is clearly talented but an average of 31 (even with those two hundreds) in over 40 ODI is simply not good enough. Maybe he can kick on from here now that the monkey has been lifted off his back.

We would guess that all this shouldn't affect India too much in the World Cup next year because Dhoni, Sehwag and Sachin et al will return and be the core of the side hoping to win the competition on home soil. But soon after, some of these players may retire completely or at least give up playing ODI. That must be a sobering thought for embarrassed India fans this morning, who will not take mediocrity lightly. They will comfort themselves that at least Raina and Virat Kohli look like they will become very good players. 

The Lovers and the Shaggers

In his column for CricDude a few weeks ago, Jarrod Kimber of Cricket With Balls and Cricket Sadist fame, wrote that they were essentially two types of batsmen in T20 (read his post here). Jarrod called them the mentalists and the clever guys. As the names would suggest, the mentalists adopt a kamikaze approach that rarely comes off, whilst the clever guys take their time, play themselves in and invariably provide more of a contribution.

Having watched some (if not all; as that would make me insane) of the IPL action this season, we at the Reverse Sweep would agree with Jarrod, but would suggest a more base (some may say crude) categorisation.

Jarrod's clever guys are our Lovers. Chivalrous with their foreplay as they caress and ease themselves in, and then maintaining a steady and patient momentum with the ocassional shout out loud moment. Essentially they are aiming to provide pleasure for as long as possible; well for the bulk of the 20 overs at least. Obvious lovers are Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis (perish the thought) and Rahul Dravid.

Then you have the Shaggers. Too selfish to bother with needless foreplay and the inconvenience of playing themselves in, the shaggers start banging away at a frantic pace from ball one. For the most part it ends in crushing disappointment with an abrupt end after only a couple of pumps and a squirt, as they exit stage left with head bowed and bat between their legs. But when it comes off it can provide sheer ecstasy. It can even last all night as evidenced by M (don't call me Murali) Vijay's innings of 127 off 56 balls in the runfest between Chennai and Rajasthan. Some can do it on a more regular basis like Robin Uthappa, some prefer a quick shag like Kieron Pollard, whilst others can even earn superlatives such as being called the best shag they'd ever had. Witness Shane Warne's exaggerated appreciation of Yusuf Pathan's 37 ball 100 against Mumbai in the early stages of the competition - it must have been some shag for Warney to say it was the best he's ever had.

So if nothing else, T20 has given us the lovers and the shaggers; and for that we should be eternally grateful.

The A-Z of IPL3 - Part 3 of 3

So, to the last part of our IPL3 A-Z, which just to recap summarises our thoughts on our first experience of the IPL. We haven’t watched every game. In fact we haven’t even watched half of them, but we have seen enough to present our take on IPL3 in the form of an A-Z, with A-I two days ago, J-Q yesterday and finally R-Z today.

Retirement home

We cannot be the only ones to notice that the IPL at times resembles a rather lucrative retirement home for old and not so needy cricketers. Four of the eight sides are captained by players who have retired from international cricket. Indeed, Gilchrist and Warne have retired from all cricket except the IPL and it shows especially with the former in their somewhat diminished powers. Warne is a classic case. He spends most of his time playing poker, winding up the English and hawking underwear and for six weeks a year he plays cricket. Occasionally, as in the match against Deccan Chargers, he rolls back the years and produces a vintage display but he seems to be mainly in situ for his captaincy and talent spotting than his once formidable leg spin. For other retirement home incumbents see the mongoose wiedling Hayden, Vaas and Brad Hodge amongst others. Some like Damien Martyn are considered too decrepit and are slung out after a game or two.

 

Sachin

He may have missed out in the semi-final last night, but the undoubted batting giant of IPL3 has been the great man himself. His consistency at the top of the order for Mumbai Indians has been remarkable and his previously castigated captaincy has been impressive as his side has waltzed its way serenely to the final. If Sachin was in the Indian squad for the World T20 they would be favourites; without him they are likely to fall short. Genius.

 

Timeouts

Probably the most annoying invention of the IPL is the completely unnecessary 'strategic timeouts'. Not only is it another attempt to Americanise the sport that God would play, but it is clearly just an excuse to have yet more advertising. Cricket does not need timeouts. Please get rid of them, Modi.

 

Unpredictable

Say what you like about the IPL. It may be too glitzy and hyped up with advertising that would shame America and commentary that makes Channel 9 look like Test Match Special, but one thing it isn’t is predictable. The salary cap and player auction process ensures that the sides are more or less evenly matched; unlike the English Premier League for example.  T20 is a great leveller, but Kings XI Punjab apart (and even they dramatically improved towards the end of the season and beat the pacesetting Mumbai), every team still had a chance of reaching the semi-finals in their last match. This leads to exciting and unpredictable cricket and the competition is all the better for it.

 

Villain

In every drama there is a villain of the peace and the IPL is no different. We have already covered the administrators, avarice, advertising and the commentators, but villains exist amongst the player fraternity too. We have already mentioned the slightly deranged Sreesanth, but our vote for the biggest villain amongst the cricketers is his Punjab team mate Yuvraj Singh, who appears to have an ego the size of Jupiter. Yuvraj is not as good as he seems to think he is (although that would be impossible) and if the numerous stories are true, has unsettled KXIP to such an extent that he is allegedly the main reason for their dismal season. Apparently he has been sulking about not having the captaincy, appears disinterested and unfit, and has ruined the karma created by King Kumar. If even some of this is true, Yuvraj needs to buck his ideas up.

Wickets

Yes these do occur occasionally in IPL amidst all the boundaries and DLF maximums. And it seems that the main weapon to get wickets is spin. Look at the leading wicket takers and you will see Pragyan Ojha (20), Harbhajan Singh (17) and Amit Mishra (17) at the top of the table. Several sides have opted to start with spinners with mixed results, but any format of the game where spin appears to hold the key is fine by us. In terms of seam, it appears extreme pace and the ability to bowl yorkers holds the key with Lasith Malinga (15), Zaheer Khan (14) and Dale Steyn (14) riding high.

 

X-Factor

No, not the the idiotic but admittedly lucrative creation of Simon Cowell, but the team with the best sprinkling of the X Factor within its ranks. Whilst most teams seem to load themselves with star batsmen (see Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders), the secret to success (as in any form of cricket) is to ensure that both the batting and bowling departments are equally strong. The team that has done this is by sheer coincidence the standout side of the tournament. I am referring to Mumbai Indians, of course. The X-Factor is spread evenly throughout the line-up with Tendulkar, Tiwary, Duminy and Pollard with the willow, and Harbhajan, Zaheer Khan and Malinga with the ball. Other franchises should take note.

 

Yusuf, Robbie, Vijay & Pollard

There seem to be two types of batsmen in the IPL. The lovers like Sachin and Kallis caress the ball and aim to provide pleasure for as long as possible. Then there are the shaggers who can't be bothered with the foreplay of playing themselves in and start banging away from ball one. Mostly this leads to a disappointing two pumps and a squirt, but when it comes off it provides ecstasy. It can even last all night as evidenced by M (don't call me Murali) Vijay's innings of 127 off 56 balls in the runfest between Chennai and Rajasthan. Some can do it on a more regular basis like Robin Uthappa, some prefer a quick shag like Kieron Pollard, whilst others can even earn superlatives such as being called the best shag they'd ever had. Witness Shane Warne's exaggerated appreciation of Yusuf Pathan's 37 ball 100 against Mumbai in the early stages of the competition.

 

Zero

The number of wickets taken by Brett Lee in four matches for Punjab this season before his premature exit with another injury. He may be an Australian, but this Pom wishes him well and hopes he is back for the World T20. Lee is definitely one of cricket's good guys, if not one of its best singers as evidenced by this ditty featuring none other than King Kumar Sangakkara. 

Delhi Daredevils revival continues thanks to Karthik

Just as they had done on Monday against Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Daredevils recovered from the loss of three early wickets to post a decent total and then rolled over the Rajasthan Royals to ease to another IPL victory.

In the win over Kolkata, it was David Warner with support from Paul Collingwood who led the recovery. This time it was Dinesh Karthik's with support from captain Gautam Gambhir. Karthik's 69 off 38 balls was a well timed innings that exploded towards the end.

Things seem to turnaround quickly in the IPL. Last week, Bangalore looked the pick of the pops, but have now lost their last two games. Delhi and Rajasthan meanwhile had looked also-rans before sudden improvement has put them both in the mix for the top four.

Yusuf Pathan is Rajasthan's not-so secret weapon and he was held back until the Delhi spinners entered the fray when his side had already slipped 32/4. Pat Man was unable to eat all the bowling monsters this time though and when he departed for 24 off 14 balls, Rajasthan subsided to a 67 run defeat. Amit Mishra shone again as he took three wickets.

So my adopted side Delhi are now second behind the standout Mumbai Indians and with Virender Sehwag hopefully still to fire and Dirk Nannes to come back from injury, I am confident that they will now make the final four.

Perennial underachievers? Huh! Let's hope they don't do a Liverpool and flatter to deceive from here on.

Shane Warne, a Rajasthan revival and a big helping of humble pie

Last week I confidently predicted that the only thing that Rajasthan Royals were going to win in this year's IPL was the wooden spoon.

I've got nothing against Rajasthan and I've especially got nothing against Shane Warne. Admittedly, I loathe PowerPoint presentations, marketing and brand management and all these were in evidence at the Royals global franchise press conference a few weeks ago at Lord's.

But my confident prediction was based on Rajasthan's dreadful performances in their first three matches culminating in the embarrassing defeat by 10 wickets to Bangalore, where they were hustled out for 92 and then Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey chased the target down in just over 10 overs. With twoof their best players, Graeme Smith and Dimitri Mascarenhas injured and out of the tournament, and the Damien Martyn experimenthaving failed at the cost of over $5,000 per run, Rajasthan looked a shambles.

But Shane Warne does not have a reputation as an inspirational leader for nothing and the Royals now look like a galvanised unit. Michael Lumb, who would be in my England squad for the World T20, has stepped into Smith's shoes and done well. Yusuf Pathan, repeated his incredible hitting exploits against Mumbai, with another six laden innings yesterday against last year's winners Deccan Chargers. Shaun Tait has found his straps along with Sumit Narwal and with Shane Watson to come in, Rajasthan suddenly look buoyant.

Deccan followed in the footsteps of Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab as Rajasthan have now recorded three wins in a row. Maybe a repeat of their victory (see above) in the inaugural tournament is not now out of the question. If they do achieve what would be an incredible turnaround then you can bet that poker addict Warne will be the one playing the wiliest hand.

And me, I'll enjoy eating my humble pie. Can I have some custard on it please?

Delhi Daredevils and Yusuf Pathan steal the headlines on day 2

I wrote yesterday that my first real taste of the IPL was a bit disappointing; rather like an overdone rib of beef. The opening ceremony was too long and the actual cricket was mundane. Yesterday was much better.

Firstly, we had Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals pitting their wits against Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians. It was a fantastic match with Mumbai prevailing by four runs after hitting a mammoth 212/4 in their 20 overs. This was harsh on Yusuf Pathan, whose 100 off 37 balls for the Royals was a quite remarkable knock with brutality and subtleness dovetailing seamlessly together.

These days, the IPL is the only chance we get to see Warne and Tendulkar on the same pitch and Pathan's knock is what T20 is supposed to be about.

The second game was just as good, if only because it saw my adopted side, the Delhi Daredevils beat the Kings XI Punjab. England's forgotten man Ravi Bopara looked in good touch and it was thanks to him that Kings were able to post 142/9. I understand that despite having the likes of Gambhir, Sehwag, Dilshan, De Villiers and Nannes in their ranks, Delhi are the serial underachievers in the IPL. Being a Liverpool fan I know just how that feels, so it seems I have picked the right side. As befits this tag, Delhi made a bit of a dogs dinner of chasing their small target and they were indebted to a captain's knock of 72 from Gambhir that saw them over the line in the final over.

So my second taste of the IPL was much better than the first. Yesterday the beef was cooked to its succulent perfection.