Snippets from Week 1 of the 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup

3 centuries, 2 thrilling run-chases, a first Indian win, and another loss for SouthAfrica – The World cup is truly hotting up.

Rohit Sharma 2.0!

What a knock from one of the best ODI players in world cricket today! It was by far the most ‘mature’ knock that I have seen Rohit Sharma produce for India. Chasing a fairly modest total, and with both Dhawan and Kohli departing early, the onus was on Rohit to come up with the goods. Little do you expect someone like him requiring 144 balls for 122 runs. But what India needed against SouthAfrica was someone staying there and playing a long innings. And Rohit Sharma did that with aplomb! It’s a known fact that he makes his runs much much faster. But what we saw was a very matured innings from the man. You could clearly see that he was playing out of his comfort zone; the big shots weren’t that frequent and it looked like it took a greater amount of effort from him to construct this innings. But such was his maturity level that despite the early troubles, he carried on through the innings and gave India their first victory. India will need Rohit to be in top form because the top order is India’s greatest strength and will make or break their chances at the World Cup.

Bangladesh: From also-rans to genuine contenders?

As I had predicted, Bangladesh are finally coming of age as a team in this year’s World Cup. After a magnificent win against SouthAfrica, they ran NewZealand ever so close in their second game, losing by just 2 wickets. How much they would have loved making an extra 20-30 runs with the bat!

As a unit, everyone in the team is standing up when it matters. Their openers have given them terrific starts in both their games. Soumya Sarkar has looked in ominous touch and should now look to convert his starts into substantial scores; Shakib is leading from the front with both bat and ball, and the others such as Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahamadullah are also slowly getting into the groove.

The bowling has also been very good so far. Although we are yet to see the best of Mustafizur Rahman, Mehidy Hasan and Saifuddin have stepped up big time with the ball. With 7 games left, and in their current form, Bangladesh will be looking to get 2 points each from their games against Afghanistan and SriLanka, and also run teams such as Pakistan and WestIndies close. If that happens, they have a great chance of making the top-4.

NewZealand’s World Cup begins June 13

After dismantling SriLanka easily, NewZealand somehow scraped through against Bangladesh. And in the process, earned invaluable experience an intense run-chase brings. This could prove priceless in the later stages of the competition.

NewZealand’s batting looks very scratchy and they have to fix that very soon. Their batting revolves around Williamson and Taylor, who both fired against the Tigers, but the rest have to pick up their game soon. They don’t seem to have a problem with their bowling though, which has looked incredible so far. Boult, Henry and Santner all look in good form and will hope to continue in that vein. Next for them is Afghanistan, and I expect NewZealand to dismantle them easily. But their real test will begin after that, starting on June 13 against India. From then on, they will have to treat every game as a knockout. Every win will be special and will get them ever closer to a top-4 spot.

The Kiwis have been perennial under-achievers and have qualified for just one World Cup final since 1975. Will 2019 be their year? It’s too early to make any predictions, but it’s very clear that NewZealand’s tournament will begin in earnest from June 13.

England can be beaten

So, what Pakistan discovered was a recipe to beat England! Put up a big total on the board, (in excess of 325 ofcourse!), bag some early wickets, be ready for a big retaliation, hold your catches, and produce some excellent death bowling. And at the end, you might just end up on the winning side! They did most things right Pakistan, and they are back in the World cup with that win. England though will have to regroup quickly and be ready to take on Bangladesh who beat them in the 2011 and 2015 World Cups, and are no push-overs. Fascinating contests coming soon!

3 out of 3 for SouthAfrica!

No Dale Steyn, an unincisive bowling unit, no centuries from the batsmen, and 3 losses out of 3. Where does this leave SouthAfrica in this World Cup? There is something about the Proteas and their inability of not converting their huge pools of talent into dominance at the world stage. Does the blame lie with the administration, or with the growing number of their players preferring to play county cricket over their countries, or may be it’s just the lack of experience winning global tournaments, that keeps coming back to haunt them? Whatever it is, they have got to get back to winning ways pretty soon. Waiting for them next is WestIndies who have put up a strong show at the World Cup so far and will be very tough opponents. Will SouthAfrica be the first team to be eliminated from the World Cup? We have to wait and see!

Australia looking strong while the Windies have a problem of abundance

The Aussies have made it two wins out of two. Their win against the Windies was particularly impressive. First, they came back from being 79 for 5 to put up a competitive total on board, and later produced crucial breakthroughs breaking numerous small partnerships that the WestIndies batsmen were coming up with. They are looking strong in all three departments of the game and are slowly becoming the team to beat in the competition. Next up for them is India!

WestIndies started the World Cup in blistering fashion by demolishing Pakistan, and had numerous chances to put the game to bed against Australia, first with the ball and then with the bat. But they did not, and were left to rue their chances.

They have numerous match winners in their line-up and are capable of beating any side on their day. But their major challenge lies with what they have in abundance – too many fast bowlers and too many power hitters. What they lack is a quality spinner and a couple of batsmen who can play the anchor role. Currently, Ashley Nurse and Shai Hope fill these spots. But these guys have to perform consistently to provide balance to the team. Someone like a Devendra Bishoo or a Roston Chase would have been priceless in such a situation.

Their next game against SouthAfrica will be a cracker of a contest, with the Proteas themselves fighting to stay in the competition. Can’t wait to see the fireworks between Kagiso Rabada and Chris Gayle!