What To Expect In This ICC World T20?

(Wrote this article before start of the tournament but never got the time to post it here.. and already have gone down in one of my predictions! Netherlands have convincingly beaten the home side by 4-wickets!!!)

Guys watching minnows' matches are no waste of time!!

Warm-up Again? The groupings are done in such a way that, with the exception of Group C – hoping that West Indies will put on a fight, the others pick themselves easily to move on to the next stage. England and Pakistan playing Netherland or India playing Ireland (I am just trying to be a little cautious after a bitter experience against Bangladesh in 2007 World Cup) or South Africa and New Zealand playing Scotland is a waste of time at least for the viewers. Upsets unlikely to happen, however have an eye on Ireland-Bangladesh game.

Momentum Matters: When commercialization took its ugly head in the form of ‘strategic time-out’ at the end of 10 overs in Indian Premier League (IPL) season 2, many feared if the rule may apply to international T20 matches. However, International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided against it giving batsmen a sigh of relief. Teams in IPL, more often than not lost the plot in the back 10 overs, especially losing wickets regularly in the 11th or the 12th over. But now one can easily expect 80-100 runs in the last ten overs.

Swing is King: Cricket in England and the art of ‘swing’ goes hand-in-hand. It is early summer and with favorable weather conditions, you can expect the ball to swing much, thereby making natural swing bowlers like RP Singh, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken and James Anderson more effective. Surprisingly its advantage India and not England or Australia who’s all five seamers Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan and RP Singh have the ability to swing the ball to great extent.

Spinning Success: Not before the second season of IPL, spinners were looked upon as match winners in the game’s shortest format. Captains trying to open the attack with spinners and spinners bowling in tandem were a common sight in IPL. And spinners do take the pace off the ball; batsmen have mastered the art of hitting it against the spin but how about hitting it against the wind to clear the boundaries?

More Centuries : T20 was unknown before its inaugural world cup event in 2007. But now with the success of franchise model tournament like IPL, T20 is the toast of not only cricket fans across the globe but also the players themselves. Inaugural World T20 saw Chris Gayle set the stage on fire becoming the format’s first centurion but with greater exposure and experience expect more centuries this time.

High Scoring: 140 was considered the par score in IPL in South Africa, but with no ‘strategic time-out’ batsmen will have the momentum to score more in the back 10 overs. Teams scoring less than 160 will be asking in for trouble.