Ignoring for a moment the controversy about the ICC's quite outrageous decision to exclude the minnows from the 2015 World Cup, here is a team of the tournament.
Sachin Tendulkar
An inevitable pick. Tendulkar batted as well as he did in the 1996 World Cup, when he was top scorer. He was 18 runs off being so in 2011, and his centuries against England and South Africa were both magisterial, showing how devastating orthodox batting can still be in ODIs. It’s unlikely he will play in 2015 – but not completely preposterous either.
Tillakaretne Dilshan
Though there was barely a Dilscoop in sight, Dilshan consistently got Sri Lanka off to brilliant starts, scoring two centuries and a disciplined 73 in the semi-final. No one scored more runs than his 500, and there were also eight wickets with his canny offspin, including a spectacular caught-and-bowled in the final.
Jonathan Trott
Certainly not a fashionable selection, but Trott was simply the most consistent batsman in the tournament. In six of his seven innings he managed at least 47, unobtrusively accumulating at the formidable average of 60. To those who deride him for being too slow, it’s worth pointing out that Trott’s strike rate was 80, eight more than those of Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis.
Kumar Sangakkara
Sangakkara averaged 93 with the bat; always a model of calm at the crease, his off-drive is one of the finest sights in cricket today. He also kept well and captained intelligently, utilising his spinners to suffocate England and New Zealand in the quarter and semi-finals, and would have hugely deserved to be a World Cup winner.
AB de Villiers
It was de Villiers’ run out in the quarter-final that had everyone mentioning South Africa’s history of chokes. He batted so serenely all tournament, able to change tempo at will, that all looked well with him at the crease. De Villiers hit two centuries and a 39-ball 52 in the win against India, combining finesse with six-hitting ability, as well as fielding with his trademark vivacity and athleticism.
Yuvraj Singh
It’s remarkable to think he was dropped less than a year ago, seen as unfit and unfocused. Yuvraj was deservedly named man of the tournament. With the bat, he was explosive yet possessed a calm it has often lacked, as a tournament average of 90 proved. As India’s fifth bowler, he was terrific, bowling his left-arm spin with control to claim 15 wickets.
MS Dhoni (wicket-keeper, captain)
Dhoni’s nerveless 91* was one of the greatest innings ever seen in a World Cup final. While he played big shots, these were done with selectivity and an absence of risk. Winning the man of the match award in the final was reward for leading India superbly throughout, shuffling his bowling intelligently and being more willing than most skippers to keep slips in during the middle overs.s
Shahid Afridi
No one knows quite was happened to the batting but as a pure spin-bowler Afridi was the tournament’s best. His top spinners were consistently hard to dominate, while he surprised batsman with quicker balls and occasional googlies. In total he claimed 21 wickets at fewer than 13 apiece. He also proved a good leader of Pakistan, with players seeming to genuinely enjoy playing under him.
Tim Southee
Few expected New Zealand to make the semi-finals; that they did was in large part down to Southee, who provided the wicket-taking threat his side have lacked since Shane Bond’s retirement. With good pace, late swing and a useful bouncer, Southee claimed 18 wickets. The 2015 tournament will be in New Zealand; Southee will be 26 then and should cause great damage.
Zaheer Khan
India were nothing like as formidable with the ball as with the bat, making Zaheer’s performance critical. He rose to the challenge magnificently, bowling with subtle variations – including a bare-knuckle slower ball that dismissed Mike Hussey – and great skill from both over and round the wicket. Zaheer relished bowling during powerplays, and his match-turning yorker to Andrew Strauss was a contender for ball of the tournament.
Dale Steyn
Steyn’s spell to transform the game against India – five wickets for four runs in 2.4 overs – was the product of one of the game’s most lethal Yorkers, which were lethal throughout the tournament. He is also a thinking bowler – more so than he sometimes gets credit for – and used slower balls and bouncers with selectivity to thrive on the subcontinental tracks. Steyn’s twelve wickets cost just 16 apiece, with a parsimonious economy rate (4.15) too.
Twelfth man: Ray Price
A surprising pick, but Price was outstanding for Zimbabwe, going for just 3.44 runs an over during the six games, as well as claiming nine wickets. His guile means he is well-suited to bowling his left-arm spin during the powerplays, as was illustrated with 2/21 against Pakistan. Price’s facial expressions after deliveries also never failed to provide humour.
See how it compares with our XI of the last World Cup.
Showing posts with label Yuvraj Singh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yuvraj Singh. Show all posts
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Monday, 4 April 2011
Tournament review: India
Concluding our tournament reviews, here is an assessment of how the winners did.
The pre-tournament favourites proved triumphant, their batting strength simply proving overwhelming, even when their two star batsmen made a combined 18 runs in the final. Sachin Tendulkar scored more runs than any other Indian by a distance, but this side does not lean on him as previous ones did. India’s bowling and fielding were considerably weaker, but the excellence of Zaheer Khan, aided by Yuvraj Singh’s surprising 15 wickets, prevented this from costing India. They were highly worthy winners.
Star man
Hard to look beyond Tendulkar, but Yuvraj’s performances were so brilliant you have to. He averaged 90 with the bat, with four half-centuries, including a match-winning one against Australia, and a century against Australia. Yuvraj’s bowling was almost as important, and his two-wicket hauls in the last three games, prevented the lack of five bowlers from hindering India.
Disappointment
Yusuf Pathan entered the tournament amid much hype, having just hit a 70-ball 105, with eight sixes, against South Africa. But his power lacked any selectivity in the World Cup. An average of less than 15 before being dropped was the miserable result.
Prospects
Gary Kirsten will be hard to replace as coach, but with MS Dhoni so formidable as a captain, expect good results for India to continue. They will need to be sagacious managing the workloads of players, something they have done superbly with Tendulkar of late.
The pre-tournament favourites proved triumphant, their batting strength simply proving overwhelming, even when their two star batsmen made a combined 18 runs in the final. Sachin Tendulkar scored more runs than any other Indian by a distance, but this side does not lean on him as previous ones did. India’s bowling and fielding were considerably weaker, but the excellence of Zaheer Khan, aided by Yuvraj Singh’s surprising 15 wickets, prevented this from costing India. They were highly worthy winners.
Star man
Hard to look beyond Tendulkar, but Yuvraj’s performances were so brilliant you have to. He averaged 90 with the bat, with four half-centuries, including a match-winning one against Australia, and a century against Australia. Yuvraj’s bowling was almost as important, and his two-wicket hauls in the last three games, prevented the lack of five bowlers from hindering India.
Disappointment
Yusuf Pathan entered the tournament amid much hype, having just hit a 70-ball 105, with eight sixes, against South Africa. But his power lacked any selectivity in the World Cup. An average of less than 15 before being dropped was the miserable result.
Prospects
Gary Kirsten will be hard to replace as coach, but with MS Dhoni so formidable as a captain, expect good results for India to continue. They will need to be sagacious managing the workloads of players, something they have done superbly with Tendulkar of late.
Monday, 24 September 2007
No need to pen the ODI Obituary just yet
After two weeks of fast and furious action that ended with a pulsating final, what have we learned about Twenty20 cricket?
It is, for sure, here to stay. Currently, the appetite for it appears almost insatiable. And it is easy to say why. The game, though ostensibly a slog-fest, is really just ultra-diluted cricket. It's all about skill - of course it is. But, perhaps more surprisingly, it's all about the bowlers.
They were expected to accept their maulings with good grace; instead, they have come armed with a plethora of subtleties - cutters, a variety of slower balls and the yorker. While Gautam Gambhir's 75 in the final was obviously vital, there is no way India could have defended their score without the wiles of RP Singh and Irfan Pathan. As in any form of the game, matches are won primarily by bowlers; in this case, Singh and Pathan, who took three wickets each.
It was a fitting way for a superb tournament to end. And it was quite remarkable that India, bereft of their four batting totems and their two best Test bowlers of late - Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan - triumphed. Much credit must go to Mahendra Singh Dhoni - brain as well as brawn - and Yuvraj Singh's jaw-dropping hitting. Above all, they took responsbility, and benefited immeasurably from an infinitely improved fielding outfit.
So, already, the countdown has begun for the 2009 tournament. One would hope the Champions Trophy is scraped altogether but I would still like 50-over cricket to remain alongside the other two forms. Twenty20 is wonderful, but there are certain skills - the steady (rather than spectacular) accumalation of targets, as best exhibited by Michael Bevan, that bring ODIs into their own. That format has not run its course; rather, it has been badly damaged by the tediously elongated World Cup and a plethora of seven-game series. Ideally, three-match Test series should be accompanied by three ODIs and two (or possibly three) Twenty20 games.
We have seen the future, and we like it a lot, but it is too soon to pen our obituaries for the ODI game.
It is, for sure, here to stay. Currently, the appetite for it appears almost insatiable. And it is easy to say why. The game, though ostensibly a slog-fest, is really just ultra-diluted cricket. It's all about skill - of course it is. But, perhaps more surprisingly, it's all about the bowlers.
They were expected to accept their maulings with good grace; instead, they have come armed with a plethora of subtleties - cutters, a variety of slower balls and the yorker. While Gautam Gambhir's 75 in the final was obviously vital, there is no way India could have defended their score without the wiles of RP Singh and Irfan Pathan. As in any form of the game, matches are won primarily by bowlers; in this case, Singh and Pathan, who took three wickets each.
It was a fitting way for a superb tournament to end. And it was quite remarkable that India, bereft of their four batting totems and their two best Test bowlers of late - Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan - triumphed. Much credit must go to Mahendra Singh Dhoni - brain as well as brawn - and Yuvraj Singh's jaw-dropping hitting. Above all, they took responsbility, and benefited immeasurably from an infinitely improved fielding outfit.
So, already, the countdown has begun for the 2009 tournament. One would hope the Champions Trophy is scraped altogether but I would still like 50-over cricket to remain alongside the other two forms. Twenty20 is wonderful, but there are certain skills - the steady (rather than spectacular) accumalation of targets, as best exhibited by Michael Bevan, that bring ODIs into their own. That format has not run its course; rather, it has been badly damaged by the tediously elongated World Cup and a plethora of seven-game series. Ideally, three-match Test series should be accompanied by three ODIs and two (or possibly three) Twenty20 games.
We have seen the future, and we like it a lot, but it is too soon to pen our obituaries for the ODI game.
Wednesday, 7 March 2007
Yuvraj Singh
As the World Cup approaches, Third Umpire will be selecting a ODI World 11, with one player featuring every day. We continue with our number seven, India's Yuvraj Singh.
One of cricket's most stylish and naturally talented batsmen, Yuvraj Singh made an immediate impact on the International scene in his debut innings, aged just 18, when he blasted 84 to help India beat the mighty Australians. Though he has had some ups and downs over the years he has been in great one-day form since the beginning of 2006, averaging 54.14. In that time he has struck two centuries and six fifties, amassing nearly 1000 runs.
His clean hitting and impressive strike rate of 85.98 make Yuvraj one of the most difficult batsmen to contain once he is going. He also has the ability to temper his innings to the match situation, aggressively pushing up the run rate or seeing his side home. Add to this his wonderful fielding and canny left-arm spin and you have one of the most dangerous one-day players in world cricket.
One of cricket's most stylish and naturally talented batsmen, Yuvraj Singh made an immediate impact on the International scene in his debut innings, aged just 18, when he blasted 84 to help India beat the mighty Australians. Though he has had some ups and downs over the years he has been in great one-day form since the beginning of 2006, averaging 54.14. In that time he has struck two centuries and six fifties, amassing nearly 1000 runs.
His clean hitting and impressive strike rate of 85.98 make Yuvraj one of the most difficult batsmen to contain once he is going. He also has the ability to temper his innings to the match situation, aggressively pushing up the run rate or seeing his side home. Add to this his wonderful fielding and canny left-arm spin and you have one of the most dangerous one-day players in world cricket.
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