Six, Six, Six, Six….. and just
like that the T20 WC was over much to the dismay of the Poms. Brathwaite did as
he was instructed by his senior partner at the non-strikers end. In a typical
Carribean style Brathwaite went swinging for the hills and succeeded. The
biennial event saw some star-studded teams lose their sheen. The group of death
consisting of India, Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan didn’t make it to the
finals. Afghanistan impressed the most. The South Africans were the most
disappointing of the lot. Let’s take a power review of how the teams performed.
The Afghan warriors
Afghanistan put up an inspiring
performance and showed their potential by beating the out-of-sorts Pakitanis. A
spirited performance against the South Africans set many tongues wagging. Mohammad
Shahzad was the standout batsmen for the new entrants. He was particularly
severe against the Springboks. Led by Inzamam and Prabhakar as batting and
bowling coaches respectively, Afghanistan have a bright future ahead if they
build on their recent performance.
Down and under
The boys from Down Under
continued to underperform in the shortest format of the game. Shane Watson put
up an excellent all-round performance in his farewell tournament. His talent
and experience will be missed sorely by the Roos. For the Aussies, Warner
failed to fire but Maxwell made up for that with some sweet power hitting.
Faulkner apart from his performance against Pakistan barely looked threatening
and so did the rest of the bowling pack. Even Khwaja failed to live up to his
much-hyped reputation.
Pussy cats
Fresh from their performances
against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup that preceded the World T20, the
Bangladeshis failed to generate any interest or competition. They were mauled
by every team in their group. True, they lost a couple of bowlers to suspect
bowling action but overall a very disappointing performance and nothing to
write about.
Pom-tastic performance
For someone who has followed the
English over the last 12 months it wouldn’t be surprising that they made it to
the finals. They have played some excellent cricket in all formats of the game
only thing that took the cup away from them was Brathwaite. Joe Root showed why
he is regarded so highly. Roy’s knock against South Africa was stupendous. The
English bowlers bowled well as a unit, particularly Stokes and Jordan.
Cricketing blues
The Men in Blue were outsmarted
by some good bowling in their opening match and were outwitted in their final
match by an uninspiring bowling performance. Even from the batting perspective,
apart from Kohli and Dhoni nobody stepped up to the occasion. Nehra continued
from where he left off in Asia Cup. Kohli once again showed why he is regarded
as the best run-chaser in the world. He combined class with power and played
some intelligent calculative cricket. His knock against West Indies may have
gone in vain but he won many cricketing hearts and the Player of the Tournament
award. Hard luck mate.
High flying Kiwis
It was an excellent team
performance by the Kiwis who in my opinion deserved to be champions. Despite
having some very good seam bowling options they opted for spinners which proved
to be lethal particularly against India. Under Williamson New Zealand performed
exceedingly well. They adapted to varying situations very well. They were on a
roll until they ran into the English Wall. Santner, Sodhi and McClenaghan
combined well to strangle opposition batsmen. A well balanced team overall that
deserved more than just an inglorious semi-final exit.
Fading stars
Gone are the days of Imran Khan,
Wasim Akram and Zaheer Abbas. The Pakistani team lacked conviction and depth. The
most hilarious team in my opinion was the Paksitani team. Led by the comical
Afridi, the Pakistanis came to a street fight thinking it would be a stroll in
the park. Apart from Sharjeel, Sarfaraz and in the middle order Malik nobody
looked serious. An obviously livid Waqar made a scathing post tournament report
criticizing players attitude and fitness. Time for PCB to put on its green cap
and do some serious thinking.
Choked performance
Hard to say what really went
wrong with the South African campaign. A classic example where performance
belied expectations. DeVelliers and Steyn failed to fire. Tahir and Rabada
lacked potency. And du Plessis hardly led from the front. With 9 of their
players in their 30s wonder how many will make it to Australia in 2020.
No-show
Malinga didn’t show up for the
tournament. Dilshan scoop failed to show up as well. The entire Sri Lankan team
failed to put in a cohesive performance. Their fielding also looked below-par
and the bowling lacked depth. Understandably, the team is building up but it
should have done more than just meekly bowing out of the tournament. Mathews
failed to deliver when it mattered the most.
Calypso Renegades
The West Indians may have won it
fair and square but they need to draw a line when it comes to showing respect
and maintaining the game’s integrity. The West Indians behaved like anarchists.
Marlon Samuels’ press conference was disgraceful. His actions both on and off
the field were against the spirit of the game. Even Sri Lanka have had their
fair share of problems with their board but have not reacted like the West
Indians. Bravo called the WICB unprofessional but did the West Indians behave professionally?
If they have issues with the board they should settle it like gentlemen by
sitting across the table and thrashing out thorny issues and not by washing
their dirty linen in the public. They should take a leaf from the Dutch captain
Peter Borren who voiced his anguish at not being given more opportunities to
play against some of the best teams in the world.
Apart from the unseasonal
rainfall that played spoilsport in some of the matches, the tournament
proceeded smoothly and lived up to its expectations. Over to IPL. Till then Au revoir!
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