India top guns, Aus seek redemption

COUNTDOWN Strong England have home advantage while defending champions need the title to atone for the 2018 ball-tampering scandal

NEW DELHI/LONDON: With exactly 100 days to go for the World Cup in the UK, the top contenders are shaping up for the biggest tournament in cricket. Aside of the bragging rights that come with winning a World Cup, this tournament holds varying importance for different teams.

Holders Australia are no longer the invincible lot that dominated for nearly 15 years till their 2007 World Cup triumph in the Caribbean. Last year’s balltampering scandal has contributed to Australia’s slide to such an extent that only a World Cup win can be redeeming. David Warner and Steve Smith should be back to lead that effort.

For current No 1 England — they face West Indies in the first of a five-match ODI series on Wednesday — this could be the year when a solid team under Eoin Morgan finally lifts the trophy. All they have to show for their efforts are runners-up medals from 1979, 1987 and 1992.

INDIA’S STREAK

India — ranked second — are in the middle of an amazing run, having won 20 out of 28 matches played since January 1, 2018. That includes massive series victories in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, lifting the Asia Cup in the UAE and a 3-1 series win against West Indies at home. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan make a feared opening combination followed by captain Virat Kohli, who is easily the best batsman in this format and the reason why India have mastered the art of chasing. Backed by the best bowling combination they have had till date, and the calm presence of MS Dhoni behind the stumps, India would consider it tragic if they don’t make the World Cup theirs.

New Zealand will be keen to go one better after losing the 2015 final while South Africa will hope to end years of heartbreak. Losing to India at home recently comes as a reality check for the Kiwis and they must improve quickly to stay in contention for at least the semi-finals.

West Indies, the 1975 and 1979 champions, will have an incentive after Sunday’s announcement that Chris Gayle will retire from ODIs after the World Cup. Considered best in the shortest format, this is the time for West Indies to prove their detractors wrong, especially after a great Test series win over England. They have been there and done it, having won the 2004 Champions Trophy in England, but consistency will be a big ask here.

Pakistan, the mercurial team they have always been, enter this phase knowing they will return to a country that gave them both their ICC trophies (2009 World T20 and 2017 Champions Trophy) since the 1992 World Cup win. Their form has been patchy with 10 wins out of 23 matches since 2018, but that can hardly be a yardstick to judge Pakistan.

ALL-PLAY-ALL

The all-play-all format of 1992 returns for this 10-team edition that will feature only Test sides. Ever since India and Pakistan were both knocked out in the group stage of the 2007 World Cup, causing a dent in TV audience, stadium attendance and revenue, the ICC chiefs have been determined no such ‘nightmare scenario’ ever befalls the two Asian giants again. This time, they are scheduled for a Manchester face-off on June 16 but calls have been growing in India to boycott the match after a ghastly suicide bomb attack claimed the lives of more than 40 CRPF personnel in Pulwama, Kashmir on Thursday.

The ICC has been criticised for making the World Cup too compact at a time when other sports are expanding. But ICC officials point to the qualifying tournament —West Indies only narrowly made it — to argue that non-Test teams did have a shot at the World Cup. Many believe the move to do away with the pool stages this year has more to do with ensuring India, cricket’s financial powerhouse, are guaranteed a minimum of nine matches than sporting fairness for all the teams. Such a prolonged group phase ahead of the semi-finals does reduce the chance of a team going through to the July 14 final at Lord’s unbeaten.