The second ICC T20 World Cup starts today in England which has often been referred to as the country where the T20 format was first developed and introduced to the cricket world. The South Africans may not agree but it might interest them to know that the country that claims to have started the game of cricket, England, has never won a World Cup and so it might actually be a good idea to let England have the claim if it means that they won’t win the Cup.
As the first T20 World Cup showed it does not need any great experience in a format for a team to lift the trophy. India were reluctant to adopt the T20 format believing that it would hamper the 50 overs format which was flourishing in their country.
Despite having played only a handful of T20 matches in their domestic competition and that too because the selectors wanted to see some fringe players in action before the 2007 Cup, the Indians went on to win the first ever T20 cup and with it ushered in a wave of euphoria the likes of which has seldom been seen before. That win enabled a smooth launch of the Indian Premier League and the success of that has been overwhelming to say the least.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men will be out to prove that their win was no fluke and they will have had much more practice of the format now thanks to the Indian Premier League. Not that other countries haven’t played T20 cricket but certainly not at the level of the Indian Premier League which has the cream of the world’s talent playing in it and so is intensely competitive.
That competition will also no doubt help other countries since some of their players also have been participating in it and so have gained invaluable insights into the psyche and technical and temperamental strengths and frailties of different players.
The shorter the format of the game the greater the chances of an upset for it requires just half a dozen good overs to change the course of a match and so don’t be surprised if a minnow beats a Test team but it won’t be easy for them to do it in all the games but they could well be the party spoilers for some of the established teams.
Playing the tournament in England will also give teams with seam bowlers a better chance to bowl good containing overs to start with though this format is particularly cruel on the bowling fraternity. The weather as always will be a factor but perhaps not as much as in the longer version of the game.
It would be foolish to try and predict a winner in such a format but India’s experience, thanks to the Indian Premier League and the variety it possesses in its team and thus the flexibility that Dhoni has at his disposal makes it a marginal favourite. The massive win over arch rivals Pakistan in their final warm up game will also give it just the take off that they want to go into the Championship.
