Caught In Bermuda Triangle?

First week of 9^th cricket world cup and already we have seen some twists and turns in the fortunes of the big cricketing nations. Is this the sign of things to come in the following weeks? Let’s wait and see.

Already one of the premier cricketing nations, Pakistan is out of this world cup in the first stage itself. West Indies already made their way into the Super-8. There has been lots of hue and cry over the number of minnows playing in this world cup. But some stunning display by them should have left the critics with no explanation. First it was the turn of Ireland to shock the cricketing world with them forcing a tie with a test playing nation, Zimbabwe. And then came the big one, Ireland defeating Pakistan by 3 wickets after bowling them out for paltry 132. And there was more, Bangladesh had a caught a big fish, India, in their net with their accurate bowling and sharp fielding. These big upsets will surely shape the things to come in this tournament. India is in almost similar position as Pakistan. The threat of being eliminated in the first round looms large. But there is hope. India has won against Bermuda with huge margin but still Net Run Rate is still far behind that of Sri Lanka. India’s final game is against Sri Lanka if they lose that they can surely pack their bags. This time 2^nd round called the super eight stage may have the so called minnows, Ireland making it through and Bangladesh earnestly making an effort. But effectively that stage will be super six since they are still minnows at the big stage and this too with the assumption that there are no more upsets in this tournament.

Consistency and complacency are the often used terms to describe a team in cricket. Best teams in the world like Australia, South Africa display the former and teams from the subcontinent perennially display the latter. That is what has happened to both India and Pakistan. Former got an alarm call soon and the latter later. If only India wakes up to the call can they survive and advance to the next stage. There can be no excuse for India’s defeat against Bangladesh and Pakistan’s defeat against Ireland. Media and expert hypes about this India team being most balanced and being best of all the squads sent to world cup are now seem worthless. India had been bad starters in the previous world cups and they have continued their tradition here too.

On the other front New Zealand got the better of England and South Africa’s Herschel Gibbs made the world record by hitting six sixes in an over against the Netherlands. Australia and Sri Lanka recorded huge wins against Scotland and Bermuda respectively. Observing the ‘upset trend’ in the first round, the second round in this tournament is going to be an interesting one.

Final note: initially I was under the impression that format of this world cup is best so far. But now it seems there is a serious flaw. With just one bad game both Asian big guns are out of the tournament. May be it was assumed that seeded cricketing nations, 2 from each group will qualify for the super 8 and now all calculations are in a tizzy. One big upset and you are out of the tournament. What do you say?