World T20 Preview

 

 

With the World T20 quickly approaching, I thought it best to fire up a preview of the tournament and how I feel like each team are lining up. I just want to have a quick look at their respective squads; their strengths; weaknesses and how I expect them to fare.

I’ve only taken a look at the 8 Full Members who are already qualified for the main stage of the tournament; I’ll get a preview of the Qualifiers up ASAP.

 

India (23/10)

Unsurprisingly India are outright favourites for the home tournament; the odds have even shortened despite the recent loss to Sri Lanka in the first game of the 3 match series. That said, India’s record in the shorter format (particularly at home) is phenomenal. It doesn’t hurt that they often keep their best for tournaments such as these.

The cricket cynics will hate to hear it, but the winning of this tournament may well rely on who has IPL experience and who doesn’t. The Indian team is packed full of players who have tasted a lot of success in the domestic competition over the last number of years. The batting line-up is probably the strongest in the tournament; the bowling is a little suspect. Bumrah is in a great vein of form and will need to continue to perform if India are to have a chance of winning the competition.

Squad: MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Pawan Negi, Ashish Nehra, Hardik Pandya.

Best XI: Dhawan, Rahane, Kohli, Raina, Dhoni, Pandya, Jadeja, Ashwin, Shami, Bumrah, Nehra

 

Verdict?

The batting line-up is one that no bowler would look forward to facing (Dhawan, Rahane, Kholi, Sharma, Raina, Dhoni).

The team has a lot of depth in terms of spin bowling; however they look to be a fast bowler light. Would Bhuvi have been a better inclusion? If their seamers struggle, India won’t stand a chance.

A lot of people see them as invincible at home, but at such a short price, I wouldn’t back ’em.

 

Australia (5/1)

It’s not a huge surprise that the bookies have Australia as the second favourites, especially considering their success in the shorter format over the last number of years. On the face of it, Australia appear to have the perfect balance of experience and youth in their squad, with power hitters littered throughout the team. Another huge positive for Australia is their ability to field both Watson and Marsh, which can lengthen the batting order and take pressure off the bowlers.

All-rounders are the order of the day. Faulkner is a very handy player to have down at 8 (he should arguably be higher) and is considered one of the best bowlers in the short format. Indian pitches will favour spin bowlers, and seamers who can execute the slow ball.

Peter Nevill is a very strange inclusion. With no international one-day experience, it’s hard to decipher why he was given the nod over Matthew Wade.

 

Squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Josh Hazlewood, James Faulkner, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Peter Nevill, Andrew Tye, Shane Watson, Adam Zampa.

Best XI: Warner, Finch, Watson, Smith, Marsh, Maxwell, Nevill, Faulkner, Zampa, Hastings, Hazlewood

 

Verdict?

Lot of power hitters – if Australia get off to a good start, they’re near impossible to catch (particularly Warner and Watson). Their batting is definitely their strongest suit.

Spin bowlers are questionable with little or no experience in India. Would Lyons have been a better option?

 

West Indies (6/1)

Avoid. Avoid. Avoid.

For anyone who has been following the news lately, or even over the last number of years; West Indian cricket is in disarray. The WICB is an incredibly poorly run organisation. The suspension of Phil Simmons in September 2015 showed how poorly aligned the system is. Fast-forward 5 months and they’re at it again. The board is currently in a stand-off with the players over their contracts (which on the face of it, are farcical).

If everything does get sorted out, they’ll be able to field a full strength team. If they don’t; it looks like a fully new squad will have to be sent to India.

 

If they stick with their squad?

It’s hard to know what to make of the West Indies. On 1 hand, they’re the number 2 ranked team (were number 1 up until yesterday). That said, places 2-6 are only separated by 3 points (or rating). The West Indies squad is the second most experienced in Indian conditions (only after India themselves). Chris Gayle has arguably been the best batsmen to feature in the IPL, ever.

Other players such as Darren Sammy, Samuel Badree, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons and Sunil Narine all have had successful careers in India. Andre Russell is in the form of his life; Narine is unplayable in Indian conditions and Badree has been one of the most under-rated players in domestic T20 cricket over the last number of years.

 

If they don’t?

It’s hard to know who’ll make up squad, but they won’t get out of their group.

 

Squad: Darren Sammy, Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Jerome Taylor

Best XI: Gayle, Simmons, Ramdin, Dwayne Bravo, Russell, Holder, Badree, Narine, Taylor

 

Verdict?

With a full strength team, the West Indies are worth a punt. It’s just impossible to predict how this whole contract situation will sort itself out / explode even further.

Player’s won’t be in the mindset regardless.

 

South Africa (6/1)

Placed in Group 1, the easier of the two groups, South Africa have a very good chance to reach the semi-finals at least.

The three biggest issues for South Africa are;

• 1) Have South Africa finally have an all-rounder who can bowl a number of tight overs (Morris)
• 2) Will Dale Steyn be fit? Or will be break down again?
• 3) Will this be the tournament that they can overcome the pressures of the semi-finals?

I would have preferred to see Eddie Leie in the squad than Phangiso. This was probably Leie’s best chance to make his mark on international cricket.

JP Duminy’s form leading up to the tournament isn’t the best, however he is very experienced in India. Similarly, one look at his stats and it’s easy to see why he should be in the team. Is capable of throwing down a few overs as well to take the pressure of the front-line bowlers.

 

Squad: Faf du Plessis, Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Chris Morris, Aaron Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn, David Wiese.

Best XI: De Kock, Amla, du Plessis, AB, Miller, Duminy, Morris, Steyn, Rabada, Tahir, Abbott.

Verdict?

Looks like a much more balanced team with Morris.

A lot will rest on Tahir’s ability to bowl economically and chip in with a number of wickets.

If Steyn goes down, their bowling looks a very light.

 

England (13/2)

At 13/2, England are a very useful outside bet. This England team is not the same as the one that struggled in the 2015 World Cup. Since the failed World Cup campaign, England have adopted a much more attacking approach, to great effect. Jason Roy and Alex Hales at the top of the order finally provide England with openers who can give it a whack. A lack of experience in India for a lot of these players may prove crucial.

The inclusion of Liam Dawson was pretty surprising; especially considering that Bayliss said that he’s never seen him play. What is more surprising is that England already have two spinners in their squad, both who are very capable with both bat and ball. Was there a need for another spinner?

The inclusion of Finn is dependent on his fitness; if he doesn’t come through, will it be Woakes or Broad to get the nod? For me it has to be Woakes! I was surprised that he wasn’t in the squad in the first place; but then again very few expected to see Liam Dawson get the nod. Woakes didn’t have a great Test series against South Africa, but his T20 stats speak for them-self; batting average in excess of 28 and a bowling average under 27. Not bad stats for an all-rounder by any means.

Anything less than a semi-final will be a failure.

 

Squad: Eoin Morgan, Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, James Vince, David Willey

Best XI: Hales, Roy, Root, Morgan, Buttler, Stokes, Ali, Rashid, Jordan, Willey, Finn

 

Verdict?

We might just see an Irishman lift the trophy on 3rd April.

The only problem I see on the face of it is the lack of experience in Indian conditions.

The above XI provides batting down to 10, 4 pacers and 2 spinners; a lot more than many teams have to offer. James Vince is knocking on the door if any of the batsmen struggle.

The squad has a number of good batsmen (Billings & Vince) in reserve, with Topley ready to step up should one of the seamers struggle.

Worth a flutter for sure!

 

New Zealand (8/1)

Why Brendan McCullum has chosen to retire before the World T20 is beyond me. The man is the master of the shorter format, with vast amounts of experience (and success) in Indian conditions. Were he playing, I would put New Zealand as near favourites for the tournament.

How New Zealand adapt will be interesting; but I don’t see them taking their foot off the peddle. Indian pitches encourage batsmen to come down the field and take it to bowlers. Of all the full-members, New Zealand are one of the best teams at this. It doesn’t hurt that (despite the retirement of McCullum), they’re still fielding a squad packed with experienced players.

 

Squad: Kane Williamson, Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Adam Milne, Mitchell McClenaghan, Colin Munro, Nathan McCullum, Henry Nicholls, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.

Best XI*: Guptill, Williamson, Taylor, Nicholls, Elliot, Anderson, Ronchi, Santner / McCullum, Southee, Boult, McClenaghan

*probably the hardest XI to pick

 

Verdict?

Williamson, Taylor, Anderson, Southee and Boult are all very experienced in India. Whether New Zealand know their best XI may be one of their biggest problems.

A lot will rest on Santner / McCullum and Anderson to bowl some tight overs.

 

Sri Lanka (11/1)

On Tuesday, an understrength Sri Lankan side convincingly beat India, on home soil. Sri Lanka were without a number of the usual starters (Dilshan, Matthews and Malinga).

Admittedly Sri Lanka are always a strange one to watch, but they are defending champions and won’t give up their crown easily.

Another important factor sees Sri Lanka placed in the weaker of the two groups, so a semi-final must be the absolute least for them.

 

Squad: **not yet announced – will update at a later date**

Best XI: **will update when the squad is announced**

 

Verdict?

11/1 is worth a punt. They’re defending champions; ranked number 1 in the format (at the time of writing). It doesn’t hurt that Sri Lankan conditions are too dissimilar to those in India.

A lot will also depend on which Lasith Malinga shows up – on his day he’s the best T20 bowler in the world. Over the last 9 months he’s struggled somewhat for form however. That said, India is where he has produced some of his best spells of bowling.

 

Pakistan (11/1)

Of all the teams in international cricket, Pakistan are the hardest to read. On their day, Pakistan are capable of beating any team.

Rather surprisingly, Pakistan don’t have a single full-time spinner in their squad. A lot will rest on the likes of Afridi, Malik, Nawaz and Wasim to up their game. The loss of Yasir Shah is a massive blow to the team.

Something which I wrote about recently was the return of Amir, and how he will perform going forward. Although he hasn’t quite lit up the world yet, I don’t doubt that he’s slowly but surely working his way back to his best.

 

Squad: Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Babar Azam, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nawaz, Khurram Manzoor, Rumman Raees

Best XI: Sarfraz, Hafeez, Malik, Afridi, Umar Akmal, Nawaz, Imad Wasim, Wahab, Anwar Ali, Amir, Irfan

 

Verdict?

This may well be Afridi’s swansong in international cricket, or at least in a major international tournament. It’s the perfect stage for him to go Boom Boom one last time.

Irfan, Wahab and Amir are all are good bowlers; however each can tend to be a little enigmatic at times.

A lot of things will have to come together for Pakistan to win the competition.