It’s easy to understand why Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka have entered the semifinals, with South Africa not very far behind. These sides believe in the ‘cumulative’ approach. They don’t subscribe to the Pakistani and Indian method of relying on two or three players to perform. Every single member of the top four sides is aware of his responsibilities toward his team.
It was sad to see the West Indies bow out with their loss to South Africa. The hosts could have done with better planning in what was a critical game for them. I was mystified to see Lara opting to bowl after winning the toss. It is perfectly normal to have preferences in any walk of life, and the West Indies have certainly indicated on more than one occasion in the recent past that they are more comfortable chasing totals. But the highest level of the sport calls for a flexible mindset.
The fact is that South Africa had lost their previous game of the competition batting second. They were under some pressure going into this game, and the West Indies’ best bet would have been to maintain it by batting first. You can be sure that Graeme Smith’s side would have felt the heat even if the hosts had scored only 200. The West Indies did their opponents a monumental favor by putting them in. Suddenly, the pressure was off, and the South Africans were able to bat without a care in the world, aided by some pedestrian bowling.
Sri Lanka and New Zealand will play for the points-table more than anything else when they take each other on later today. Lasith Malinga is a doubtful starter for the game. He has been a real asset for his side on the Caribbean wickets, which lack bounce. The Lankans can afford to keep him out at this stage, for they will need him to be fit and raring to go at the knockout stage. It isn’t as if they will miss him greatly either. Chaminda Vaas is there, and so is Muttiah Muralitharan. The hunger to win the World Cup is also there, as is evident from the way they have played so far.
New Zealand have yet to lose a game in the competition, and it is one of life’s oddities that this will be at the back of their supporters’ minds. If the law of averages is destined to catch up with them, they would prefer it to happen sooner than later. Stephen Fleming would no doubt have impressed upon his players the need to ignore negative thoughts if any and keep going on the field. It will be a good game, for both sides believe in the modern cricketing dictum of ‘making things happen’ rather than ‘waiting for things to happen’, as used to be the case earlier.
The high fielding standards of both sides will only enhance the quality of the contest. Batting and bowling-wise, there is virtually nothing much to choose between the top teams in the world today. It is fielding that makes all the difference.
It is this reality that cricket administrators in Pakistan and India will have to keep in mind as they go about repairing the damage caused by the first-round departures of both teams. This is just the right time to take sound decisions that will benefit the countries in the long run. Any proactive move to improve cricket will meet with universal approval, as opposed to several occasions in the past wherein the public has been divided in its views.
The BCCI has made some appointments already. It is important for the likes of Ravi Shastri, Robin Singh and Venkatesh Prasad to sit down and develop a bond. I feel that they should develop a system wherein Ravi Shastri will be a ‘Head Coach’ of sorts and the other two will ‘report’ to him. They can evolve a transparent and effective ‘panel’ if they work along these lines. The last thing India want is a communication gap between the trio, a clash of egos and objectives, and the consequent emergence of different ‘power-centers’ within the team.
