ICC World T20 2014 Preview: A prelude to the biennial bash

Australia have a formidable team led by George Bailey

Flaunt coupled with flair in alfresco. Blind elation soaked in euphoria. The planet is all set to feast on a fortnight of fast forward entertainment. The cricketing action promises to be riveting in a tournament matching power with precision and brawn with brain. It is time for the pragmatists and purists to take a backseat while the madmen craving for glitterati, thriving in a tempestuous atmosphere hog in the limelight.

Evenings of sheer ecstasy are around the bend. Not every over, but every delivery commands a premium just as every swing of the willow is enunciated with a savage brutality. It is an arena for the fans to exult as every heart becomes a battlefield in the global extravaganza. Though the format of action gets abridged manifold, the penchant to admonish foes and the desire to win manifests itself, as unabridged as ever. The war is imminent and action packed drama a certainty. The Word T20 is back to Asian precincts, the good men in Bangladesh being the lucky ones this time.

T20 remains enough and more testimony to the power of unknown. The game is laced with intrigue and glued with surprises. Cricket’s glamorous cousin has reached the pinnacle of unpredictability in its latest incarnation with teams resembling an ensemble of performers, armed with the might to pulverise the cherry out of the planet. The face of the man who will pose on the podium, come the sixth of April remains as blurred a vision as it could get.

All the bigwigs sport an archery filled to the brim with missiles that could give even the best in the business a run for their money. In the ocean of aggression, the victor is the one who churns out the nectar of resilience, depicts nerves of the finest ore of steel and is an embodiment of extreme mental equilibrium. In a nutshell, it is a World Cup where subtlety will from the cornerstone in the quest for supremacy.

That it loosens tongues and creates space for discussion and debate remains among cricket’s greatest virtues. In this piece, we take a look at the potential semi-finalists in all probability from both the groups, four sides which stand out as the purple cows among others in the meadow – Australia, West Indies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

The men from down under have arrived in the northern hemisphere with a vision. The ambushing ogres have embarked on a mission to claim the only piece of silverware missing from Cricket Australia’s overflowing trophy cabinet, down in Melbourne. And boy, don’t they look the part this time around?

The Australian team is a picture of completeness, in all aspects. They bat deep; even the number ten isn’t a dud with the willow. The top order looks imposing, brimming with firepower. The bowling looks menacing and intimidating even without the moustached marauder Mitch Johnson who has been ruled out, courtesy a toe injury. Add to it the presence of a couple of wily all-rounders – pace and spin, the Aussie camouflage depicts an arsenal of invulnerability. That all the players have hit top gear at the right time makes the Aussies the team to watch out for in the World T20.

Ian Bishop couldn’t have hit the bull’s eye any better when he picked West Indies as the first team which could defend their World T20 title. The calypso charmers present the lighter side of the sport, going about their business with a carefree cheer seen in a few. The Caribbean carnival is here to entertain with élan. The absence of Kieron Pollard makes them a bit top heavy.

Andre Russell is no Pollard, though coach Ottis Gibson had backed the former to fill the shoes of his more illustrious colleague. As it has always been the case, the defending champs will again bank on the Jamaican “Gail” to rock the Bangladeshi shores upfront. Indeed, Chris Gayle remains the trump card.

Captain Sammy has always been at his best in the shortest format, a bundle of energy in the field, innovative in captaincy and bludgeoning with the willow. The absence of the towering Pollard exacerbates the burden on his broad shoulders to shore up the lower order stakes. The bowling with its frugality tops the power packed batting with panache.

Narine remains the prize catch in the T20 scheme of things, his mysteriousness remaining a malady too twisted for the batters to comprehend and a force compounded in its viciousness with the entry of Samuel Badree. The pace battalion represents a settled if not threating look, the arrival of Krishmar Santokie only adding to the skipper’s glee. The Caribbean carnival may just be too long a river to ferry across, this time around too.

A team which twice experienced the feel of a finale yet failed to cross the final frontier. Pitted in an easier group, Sri Lanka ought to sail thorough to the final four without much of a hassle. The side has been among the more consistent ones in the events where the stakes are huge. With a street smart captain, two lynchpins of modern day cricket manning the middle order and a power hitting ensemble of a lower order to finish it off, the Lankans do look a perfect T20 meal personified.

‘Slinga’ Malinga resembles a machine delivering toe crushers with inhuman precision which could put even a master marksman to shame. And with Ajanta Mendis rediscovering some of his lost guile, Sri Lanka look set to top a group which really doesn’t sport of too many sides known for their adeptness in facing the turning ball. With Sanga and Mahela set to bid adieu to T20 over cricket post the World T20, the Lions would be looking to go a step further than their previous tryst to encrypt an epic farewell to their most accomplished of warriors.

Lasith Malinga still remains the most dangerous death bowler around

Bring on a top dog ICC event and it is the underdog that comes out on top. New Zealand has been a fairly consistent side in ICC events and I would pick the Kiwis over the Proteas just for the simple reason that the latter “chokes” during big chit stuff. A tinge of humour perhaps, but on form, New Zealand looks a side ready to pack a punch, providing great ROI’s for the fans’ bucks.

Brendon McCullum looks in fine touch and led the wreckage from the front in blanking the Indians on home soil. Kane Williamson along with Ross Taylor forms the batting’s bacon, a string of impressive shows in recent times driving home his credentials, but it is the emergence of a true fast bowling all-rounder by the name of Corey Anderson that takes the cake. A brute of a man, Anderson has become an overnight sensation, spooking bowlers in a format that has always been branded a batters’ haven. No doubt, the new kid on the block will be cynosure of attraction at the biggest stage of them all.

The lack of a proper spinner indeed makes a loophole blaringly evident. But a pace attack with boisterous brusqueness supplements a batting line up which indeed is one higher on substance than on sleek. The Kiwis, from a team of abstemiousness have metamorphosed into a side battle ready to lock horns with the big boys.

Surprises will be the cult, and abnormality the order of the tourney. Dark horses will transform into white knights within a wink. As I pen this piece, India has lost another match albeit a practice one. It just seems like an extended nightmare. India is yet to win a game against a top ranked counterpart in 2014. I am just hoping against hope to wake up from this prolonged slumber and let the epiphany dawn on me as the deleteriousness accompanying a nightmare.

Certainly not the favourites, it would magnificent if the breeze of change blows with full vigour inducing a turn for the better. It all started with an unexpected triumph in 2007, post a stormy era under Chappell’s regime. In more ways than one, Indian cricket has hit rock bottom once again. As they say, the night is darkest before the dawn. And the dawn is bound to break in, sooner or later. A revival of fortunes may be in close proximity.

The World T20 will of course be accompanied by the regular discourse depicting abhorrence and acrimony to the game’s supersonic format from the purist’s lounge. Let us detract ourselves from the critics’ concern, at least for the time being. Remove those saturnine cloaks and plunge into the realm of crazy, delirious action at frenetic rates. The game in general and fans in particular need this dose of unblemished exuberance. They deserve it for making the game what it is. Cricket owes it to them.