Simple is beautiful; there is great beauty in simplicity. However there is a kind of queer beauty in complexity as well. Cricket is a favourite game for many because of their appreciation for this strange beauty of complexity. The tenth edition of the Cricket World Cup starts today with the inauguration ceremony at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh. First match of the World Cup will be played between co-hosts India and Bangladesh on 19th February, Saturday.
Cricket is one of the most complex among all games, with the ground in which a game happens, the direction in which the wind blows, the percentage of humidity in the atmosphere, the cloud covering in the sky and even the frequency with which the viewers move in the stands affect the result of the game. Most naïve fans of the game are even oblivious that there are 10 ways in which a batsman can get out. Even some of the ardent followers of the game haven’t heard of dismissals like handling the ball (Steve Waugh and Michael Vaughan had the misfortune of this type of dismissal against India in test matches), obstructing the field (Inzamam-ul-Haq was once out in this fashion against India in an ODI match) and hitting the ball twice etc. So complex, yet so beautiful is the gentleman’s game Cricket.
The 2011 Cricket World Cup edition is one of the few editions of world cup where it is impossible to predict the champion with any degree of certainty. After many editions this is one World Cup where the once mighty Australians are not the favourite of the bookies or the experts. If recent form is anything to go by, the Aussies are not in the best shape when it comes to winning matches. After the retirement of greats like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist, the Australians are not able to find replacements for them. Ricky Ponting is a perfect example of what they generally say in cricket, ‘a captain is as good as his team’. When compared to the previous captains like Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor, Ricky Ponting falls awfully short on being an inspiration or a model. He is hailed as the greatest Australian batsman since Sir Don Bradman, yet when it comes to captaincy he is not at all comparable with the previous captains.
India, Sri Lanka and South Africa are widely considered to be the teams that are very much capable of winning this edition of the cricket World Cup. With a young side, the Indian team under skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is quite capable of wining the title as well. It is also the final World Cup of the great man Sachin Tendulkar. Already the theme ‘Win it for Sachin’ echoes everywhere in India. A World Cup is the only title that is missing in the otherwise perfect resume of Sachin Tendulkar. It goes without saying that lot will depend on this great man if India has to win the World Cup. The Lankans are a force to reckon with, particularly in the sub continent conditions. They play most of their matches in their home ground and under the captaincy of Kumar Sangakara they are a team that can beat any side on a day. South Africa, as always, is a team that has the ability to the win the world title. It is to be seen whether they would be able to jettison their tag of ‘chokers’ finally and win the world cup after many lost opportunities. Pakistan, a cricket team known for their unpredictability, is another team that could make a surprise and win the world cup. Many predict that Bangladesh would be the dark horse in this world cup as well. Other major teams like England, New Zealand and the West Indies would also make all possible efforts to make a mark in this World Cup.
The whole world is in cricket fever and for the next 43 days there will be absolute cricketing action spread across 13 venues in three countries – India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. ‘Kapil’s Devils’ won the world cup for India in 1983 and hopefully ‘Dhoni’s Dare Devils’ can do it again for our country in 2011. Let us keep our fingers crossed.
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