Friday, Mar 14, 2014
Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20 Cup will start on March 16 with an intense battle between eight countries to qualify for the Super 10 stage of the tournament.
These countries have been divided into two groups of four teams each based on their seeding, and only the two table-toppers will advance to the Super 10 stage.
Non-Test-playing nations Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Nepal and the UAE are in the fray along with Zimbabwe and hosts Bangladesh. Fans around the world will eagerly watch whether any of these non-Test playing nations can stop Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Going by the trend and unpredictability of the T20 format, there could be stunning results.
Afghanistan recently shocked Bangladesh in the recent Asia Cup and they also gave India a scare in 2012 edition.
The Twenty20 format is one they enjoy and that makes them a dangerous team.
Ireland are also strong enough to advance. They beat Bangladesh in their opening game of the 2009 World Twenty to make the Super Eight stage but that has remained their only victory in the event.
The fact that Ireland shocked Pakistan in ICC Cricket World Cup (50 overs) had elevated their status as the strongest among the associate nations and they are more than capable of producing a surprise on their day.
For the Netherlands, this is only their second appearance in the World Twenty20 Cup, but their first performance in 2009, when they beat England by four wickets in front of a capacity crowd at Lord’s, is talked about even now as one of the surprise results in the tournament’s history.
Hong Kong will be making their maiden appearance in World Twenty20. They enjoy producing shock results, as they have done in World Cup qualifiers. Their top-order batsmen Irfan Ahmad and Jamie Atkinson can provide explosive starts.
This will also be Nepal’s maiden appearance. They are strong in the spin department and may prove effective on Bangladesh wickets. Basant Regmi was the leading bowler in the ICC Twenty20 qualifiers and can be dangerous.
The UAE carry with them the reputation of having played in the 1996 Cricket World Cup 50-over format while they also qualified for the 2015 World Cup. They will be eager to prove that in the Twenty20 version too they are no pushovers. With an inspiring captain in Khurram Khan and a fine coach in Aaqib Javed, they are capable of shocking any team.
Each of the eight teams has extremely talented match-winners. Bangladesh all-rounder Sohag Gazi scored a century and took a hat-trick in the same Test match against New Zealand in Chittagong last October.
Afghanistan, meanwhile, have Samiullah Shenwari, the hero of their Asia Cup victory over Bangladesh after cracking 81 off 69 balls.
Zimbabwe can count on the firepower of Brendan Taylor, who cracked an unbeaten 60 in the 2007 World Twenty20 shock win over 50-over world champions Australia.
So it could be anyone’s game in the qualifiers stage, with no clear favourites.
By K.R. Nayar Chief Cricket Writer
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