Apurv Shukla –
Cricket is gaining global attention with abiding excitement as the 11th ICC Cricket World Cup reaches its knock out stages.
All the 14 participating teams are contributing in making the Final on Sunday, March 29, 2015 a memorable event.
From co-hosts New Zealand to defending champions India, or an emerging nation like Ireland, all have played an aggressive brand of cricket, ensuring high scoring run fests, and low scoring thrillers.
Black Caps potential
Black Caps look set to top Pool A and meet the fourth qualifying team from Pool B in the quarterfinals. Captain Brendon McCullum has produced blazing innings at the top of the order and has been brilliantly supported by Kane Williamson.
Williamson has proven his mettle under difficult conditions, and the six that he hit off Aussie pace man Michelle Starc to give his team the victory in the pool match at Eden Park, will forever be enshrined in the minds of cricket fans.
With a potential home quarter and semi-final beckoning, the Class of 2015 has a wonderful opportunity to be the first Kiwi team to make the World Cup finals.
India turns around
India has had a remarkable turnaround of form at the Trophy.
It is hard to find similarities between this team, and the squad, which was having a torrid run in Australian conditions only recently.
M S Dhoni has been an aggressive and pragmatic captain. Leading from the front, his knock of 45 under pressure against West Indies again demonstrated why he is regarded as one of the greatest one-day cricketers.
Haryana paceman Mohit Sharma has been a good addition to the squad, and provided the much needed bite to the pace bowling unit. India looks all set to top their group, and meet Bangladesh in the quarterfinals.
Dhoni has a good opportunity of emulating Clive Lloyd and Ricky Ponting as the only other captain to have won two World Cups.
Bangladesh challenges
Bangladesh made it to the knock out stages of the World Cup for the first time, after beating a hapless England side in Adelaide by 15 runs. A bleak cricketing future awaits a country in which the gentleman’s game originated.
Emerging nations
This World Cup has also been an attractive window for players from emerging nations to showcase their skills to the wider cricketing world.
Players like Afghanistan’s fast bowler Hamid Hassan and United Arab Emirates Shaiman Anwar can hope to be selected for T20 Leagues around the world.
While Hassan is already a cult figure in his country, Anwar, a hard-hitting batsman born in Sialkot, Pakistan, has also impressed critics and spectators.
An opportunity to play Club Cricket took him to UAE, where he got success, and now works and plays for Consolidated Shipping Services.
The World Cup has faced criticism from some quarters as a long drawn event, with intervals between games extending up to a week.
The International Cricket Council should look at making the next World Cup in England a more compact tournament.
Evenly matched teams will put up a tough fight in the final stages.
All teams will feel the pressure; one bad day, and they will have to wait for four years to stake their claim over the biggest prize in Cricket.
The Cricket world will know about the Cup in about four days.
