Loud music, big hits, small boundaries and women in even smaller clothes can only mean one thing: the T20 World Cup is around the corner and with Sri Lanka-fresh from hosting the Sri Lankan Premier League-the venue for the carnival, the 2012 edition promises to be bigger and better than its predecessors.
Teams from the sub-continent have generally done well in the competition and with Sri Lanka as the hosts, the trend looks set to continue. The Lankan outfit, backed by their passionate crowd have to be one of the tournament favourites. Mahela Jayawardene has a well rounded team complimented by the all-round talents of Angelo Matthews and Thisara Perera who both pack a powerful punch with the bat and are more than useful with the bowl. Their fans will be hoping that their team goes the full distance this time round rather than falling at the final hurdle like they have been doing in the past. Another team that knows all about being ‘nearly there’ are South Africa who come into the tournament after enjoying a largely successful tour of England but the conditions here would be much different and while they have a good blend of youth and experience, the lack of a quality spinner could hamper their chances of lifting the cup.
A team that is not expected to go the full distance though are defending champions England. With Kevin Pietersen taking some time off to nurture his ego, the England batting line up appears considerably light and inexperienced with Eoin Morgan the only name standing out. Add to it the fact that they have a relatively inexperienced leader in the shape of Stuart Broad and one can imagine England having a tough time at the tournament. Besides, a T20 team doing well with Ravi Bopara in it is wrong on so many levels. England’s archrivals Australia are not going great guns either and are in fact worse than Ireland if the official rankings are to be believed. Australia put their initial disappointments in this format down to intent (or lack of it) but results have not changed much even after that was rectified. However, like with every tournament, it would be foolish to write of the Aussies as they are always there or thereabouts and with the explosive batting talents of Warner and Watson in the side, they will be a tough proposition for most teams. On evidence of their recent series against Pakistan, they seem reluctant to use their spinners but it is a tactic they may have to adopt if they are to be successful on pitches which have historically favoured the slow bowlers.
Australia’s neighbours New Zealand usually head into tournaments as the underdogs but they could struggle on spinner friendly pitches after being placed in the Group of Death (Pakistan and Bangladesh being the other two teams). With the Kiwi’s potentially expected to underperform, it provides a chance for the likes of Bangladesh and West Indies to come to the fore. While Bangladesh’s fortunes will rest squarely on the shoulders of their inspirational all-rounder Shakib-ul-Hassan, the Windies have more than one ace up their sleeve. Gayle and Pollard will provide the muscle in the batting department while Sunil Narine will add mystery and guile to the bowling unit. Dwayne Bravo can always be expected to make a contribution with either bat or bowl and provided that the Windies do not self destruct, they could be involved in the latter stages of the World Cup.
This leaves us with the Asian giants India and Pakistan, winners of the 2006 and 2008 editions respectively. Like Australia, India is not very handsomely placed in the team rankings but they do not mean much in the shortest format of the game. They are a good limited over side and will once again be hoping their strong batting line up lead by the talented and in form Kohli propels them towards glory.
Pakistan on the other hand is not so blessed in the batting department and will be relying on their bowling unit to do the business. Ajmal-ignored by the International Crooked Councils independent jury for their annual awards-will have extra motivation (not that he needs any) to bowl Pakistan to victory. The fielding and batting are perennial concerns but while the fielding will continue to be a thorn in our side, the batters could find it easier given the conditions are likely to resemble those at home. Pakistan will be buoyed by their T20 victory over Australia and will be looking to call on the success they have had in the past in this particular format and on their day will be a match for any side.
While the favourites are expected to dominate, the shorter format means that the associate nations will have a more realistic chance of causing an upset and Ireland in particular will be looking to show that they can mix with the big boys. Whatever happens though, we are in for an absolute treat over the course of the next two weeks or so as the players slog it out in their bid to become the next T20 International champions.