ICC World Twenty20 2009

Wherever cricket is there nowadays the talk is mostly around the new wave - Twenty20. Looks like my blog has also caught this syndrome. First the IPL now World Twenty20.

What i think about Twenty20 as a format i would discuss in some other post. I would confine this one to this tournament.

Its a nice tournament started by ICC two years ago. What i don't feel right about this tournament is that it is held every 2 years. Every world cup should be held with a gap of 4 years, this is the norm everywhere and i think should be followed in cricket T20 world cup also. Tournaments like Champions Trophy, sometimes called as mini world cup are held every 2 years. So if a tournament is held every 2 years it somewhere dilutes the effectiveness and the prestige associated with it.

So much has changed in the last 2 years. This tournament is bigger than the last one because everywhere T20 fever has caught up. Last time India were the underdogs as they were playing without their star players (Sachin, Saurav and Rahul). But still they came back as champs. An extraordinary performance by a young and talented Indian side. Talented, not great.

Can this time India do it again. According to me India is the favorite to win the world cup...Why?...for a multitude of reasons. First of all the batting which India possess right now is the most dangerous in the world. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir both are out of form but i have a feeling they will come back to their own self when they come on to the big stage. Can this time the miracle be repeated? Well if India wins this time it won't be a miracle it would be an expected event. 2 years can change a lot of things.

South Africa...Graeme Smith's captaincy can never be underestimated. RSA has an excellent batting line up which boasts of Smith, Gibbs, DeVilliers, Duminy, Boucher. People would say Smith is not in form. Don't worry...he will come in form as soon as this tournament starts...He likes playing it when his team is under pressure. This aspect of his character makes him all the more charismatic. Watch out for this team. They are not the chokers of old, they are braveheart of new world order, in which Australia is not the only dominating team, this team has been instrumental(apart from India) in tilting the balance of power away from the Aussies.

Australia...it doesn't matter that all their star players of previous great generation have retired (except Ponting)...No matter how much balance of power shifts...this team cannot be ranked below 3rd...Even in a worst case scenario they are one of the favorites to win this tournament. But still according to me they just lack that extra bit of power needed to go that extra mile which is required in such big tournaments. They are a strong team but need a few things to go in their favor to win the trophy.

Pakistan...This unpredictable team has got a liking for T20 format. Honestly speaking their style is suited to this format. Just come and hit it, no restrictions. They haven't had much international cricket for a long period of time. Recent events have not been good especially the one in which they were removed as one of the co hosts of the world cup. So they would come out with a point to prove that they are still a force to reckon with in the international arena. And when Pakistan plays with a focused mind towards a goal they become all the more dangerous.

New Zealand has got the ability to do it. This team also likes T20 format. This team doesn't have any stars but it has got the players to pull it off. Talented youngsters like Taylor, Ryder, Broom, Guptill would be anxious to go out there and perform. Lets see can this team become the unexpected champion.

I am not writing about teams like England, West Indies and rest because i don't think they have got much of a chance. The only chance they have got is if other teams gift their matches to them with their very own hands. These teams are far too inconsistent to win such a tournament. I would bet on them on pulling off one upset here and there but winning the tournament is stretching it far too much.

Lets hope this tournament becomes a larger success than the previous installment of 2007.

Book Review: The Prestige By Christopher Priest

One day in a "Crossword" shop i came across this book named "The Prestige". On its cover was a image of Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman facing each other and there was also mentioned "Now a major motion picture". I had heard that a director named Christopher Nolan had made a movie on a book named "The Prestige". I knew that this Christopher Nolan had directed two movies named Memento and The Batman Begins. I had liked both the movies so i was sure that there would be something in the novel which must have attracted Nolan.

I picked it up and started reading it. On the back side of the book it was written that its a story of two magicians about 100 years ago with an intense rivalry but it starts as a normal fictional novel. When you are through with some pages comes some twists and turns, some flashback, some back stories and the book was back on track.

The narration is strange and engrossing in many ways. There are two magicians named Alfred Borden and Rupert Angier who have got a bitter rivalry and they stretch all limits to outdo each other. First the story is told from Alfred Borden point of view. By point of view i mean in a form of diary. The reader is introduced to several diary entries by Alfred Borden including his encounters with Rupert Angier. His feeling and emotions are captured nicely whether it be towards magic in general or towards his rival. But you get confused by some diary entries. I got the feeling "what exactly is going on?". Herein lies the beauty of the novel.

When the story is told from point of view of Angier the picture starts to get a lot more clearer. But here again the confusion slowly and steadily catches up.

I especially liked the description of scenes where you get to read the same incident from Alfred Borden's point of view and in the second part from Rupert Angier's point of view. The contrast is highlighted beautifully. Things like these keeps your hands and eyes stuck to the book. The novel lost my interest somewhere in the middle where i thought that some irrelevant things are being told. But in the end it was like a jigsaw puzzle small pieces which comes together in the end to form one complete picture.

I won't divulge much about the rest of the story because it will reduce the charm of the book. In short i would say that its journal-in journal structure is confusing and engrossing both at the same time, just hold on to it for some period of time and you will feel confusion fading away. As the picture becomes clearer, comes the ending which is totally awesome.

This is not a normal happy ending novel but it doesn't mean that it loses its effect in any way because of it. The characters (esp. protagonists) are inherently complex which is always the case in real life also. My recommendation is that you just go and grab a copy of this. Read it fully and you won't be disappointed for sure. Its a different kind of story and such stories are difficult to find. Complex, intriguing and very well narrated. This one is a must read!!!

IPL - Season 2

Well the much awaited and the controversial season of IPL finally took off in South Africa because Indian government made it clear that they won't be able to give much security in wake of the recent elections. The tournament was largely a success. The crowds were lesser as compared to last season but still overall it was a success.

Deccan Chargers won the title this time by beating Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final. Deccan had a great batting line-up which failed to click every time in the last season but because of better consistency displayed this time around they came out as champs. Much of the credit should go to Adam Gilchrist who captained the side with enthusiasm.

Royal Challengers Bangalore side was a revelation. Last year they were tagged as a "Test team" but this year after initial hiccups they won 5 or 6 matches in a row to get themselves into the final. Here again credit should be given to Anil Kumble whose inspired captaincy rubbed onto others also.

Delhi Daredevils had a envious batting line-up which included Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, AB D Villiers, T. Dilshan....and many more. But they had a off day at the knockout stage and they went out of the tournament from the semis just as they did the last time.

Chennai Super Kings was another semifinalist which didn't qualified for the final. MS Dhoni captaincy was one of the positive points for this team. Another major positive was of players like Matthew Hayden, Suresh Raina who can turn match entirely on their own. But like Delhi one off day in the semis and their campaign ended.

Kings XI Punjab had some bad luck with rain in the initial part of the season but they bounced back well by winning every do-or-die match they played. But their last do-or-die match against Chennai they were not able to pull it off. A powerful team on paper but couldn't materialize that into performance on the field. Yuvraj took 2 hat tricks in this IPL but still i wouldn't rate him too high as a captain.

Rajasthan Royals. Last time champions. This time finished at 6th. I am a Rajasthan Royals fan for one simple reason...Shane Warne. He is such a wonderful cricketer that i just can't stop liking him. It was his wonderful charismatic inspirational leadership that won Rajasthan the title. But this year they were without their main players like Sohail Tanvir and Shane Watson. The other two key players Yusuf Pathan and Graeme Smith failed at crucial times. Inconsistent batting was the main reason for their downfall. But still i am not dissapointed with their performance because they just missed the semifinal berth. One match here and there and it all could have changed. Lets hope next year Shane Warne again does a miracle.

Mumbai Indians. Whats wrong with this team? Its opening combination of Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya can be considered as one of the most dangerous pairs in the history of cricket. It has got some other good players like JP Duminy, Dwayne Bravo. But where this team lacked was its bowling. Last year they had Shaun Pollock. This year his absence was felt. Batting failures in crucial matches also led to their downfall. Another case of a team which was strong on paper but couldn't materialise it on the field.

Kolkata Knight Riders. A team mired in controversy right from the word go. From multiple captain theory to Fake IPL Player blog. Everything went wrong for this team. In the end they salvaged some pride by winning the last 2 games but it was far too late till then. John Buchanan now should be thrown out of KKR as soon as possible otherwise he will make the situation a lot more worse than it already is. Removal of Sourav Ganguly from captaincy was such a wrong move that it backfired into a last position in the table for KKR. I have read in news that Ricky Ponting would be given the responsibility to rebuilt KKR, at least he would do a better job than McCullum for sure. This year all of their bowlers bowled poorly all the batsmen batter poorly. Everything went wrong for them. What to look forward to now? I am looking forward to see some more of Dada's supreme batting ability which he is known for.