World Cup 2011-The Real Contenders-Australia

The champions of the past three world cups, winner in one and runner up in second of the world cups held in sub-continent.A powerful history indeed.But good history doesn't mean a pleasant future.Australia are not even close to the team they were once.With many senior players retiring after 2007 and injury worries ,there is not a smile in punter's face.He has many questions to answer.After losing ashes to England 2-1 last year his place as captain has seriously come to doubt,but with world cup around the corner Australian selection board was not prepared to take a chance by giving clarke the captaincy who is not in good form recently.But Ponting too is not .Anyways let us have a look up,whether the team has the skill ,the ruthlessness the Australian team of the past have carried into world cups.

Shane Watson ,a player who has won the Border award for the second year is in supreme form but has the tendency not to carry the good form into making huge amount of runs and instead failing to cross 50's .Yet he is one of australia's few good batsman.His opening partner Haddin is always the ship crossing the tip of iceberg.He may survive it and go onto play a great innings or may just get hit in the iceberg and falter.Ricky Ponting's career has never fancied the indian pitches and always comes a cropper in very good spinning wickets.yet he is the player who has shown signs of good form in the practice matches and has a huge responsibility of producing innings that he produced in 2003 world cup finals.The middle order of the Australians is brittle.The recent form of cameron white has turned worrisome and clarke though shined at the end of the england series is till not dependable as he was years ago.With newbies like callum ferguson , david hussey yet to get accustomed to spinning wickets,they are not in for a good time in the sub-continent.

The bowling department is slightly better.Brett Lee is back to fitness and with Tait ,Johnson and Bollinger to support him they have a good fast men going bang against the opposition in the first 15 overs.John Hastings ,a recent addition to the team also has bowled well.It is a very good spinner they lack.Jason Krezja has showed signs of getting the loop he needs and with michael clarke being a successful spinner in spinning wickets ,Australian have little to worry in bowling department compared to batting.

Everything said,the weakness of Australia is lucid.they lack hard hitters like symonds ,matchwinners like hussey and bowlers like mcgrath and warne.They would make past the group stages as the no of teams they have to worry about his less,it's when the super8's gets going they should start worrying where they will have to play against quality teams.My advice to them win as many matches as possible in group so that the super 8's wont be that tough.

As a Australian fan i pray that they never face India or srilanka in the semis or the finals ,because they possess the two great spin attacks in present cricket generation.*

*-should they get that far.

World Cup 2011-The Real Contenders-South Africa

Ah the chokers .that's what the cricket world calls them ,the team that is bet upon to win every world cup yet haven't reached finals of a single world cup for the last three times.Be it t20 or odi or test ,they are a team to reckon with.the first team to beat Australia in Australia for over a decade.This world cup,they have the least number of players who know the pressure that the tournament puts upon them.They have a farewell to give to the world 's best all-rounder - Jacques Kallis  over 20,000 runs and 500 wicket summing up all forms of international cricket he has played.Well do the Proteas finally have the chance to make their dream come through .Do they have the team .Let's find out.

Graeme Smith ,the captain of the South African team  for the past 7 years after the  great debacle against srilanka in 2003 world cup due to a duck-worth lewis miscalculation.He is captaining the side to his final world cup after which he resigns the post.He had successfully taken South Africa to the semis of 007 only to get mauled in the hands of eventual champions Australia.He is  not in the greatest of his forms yet he is threat to any opposition if he gets going.He opens with calm and cool Amla who has the compusre to bat from over no-1 to 50 and allow others to go against the attack.The southafricans have one of the strong middle orders ,only next to India.They have got an all experienced kallis,good stroke players in de villers and duminy .It would be interesting to see who gets the nod between mone van wyk ,faf du plessis and colin ingram.All three of them have shown promise but do they have the substance to step up is a question to be asked.

In the bowling department they have the world's best opening bowlers combo at present in steyn and morkel.They would be ably supported by tsotsobe,a very good bowler who extracts bounce from any kind of pitch he has faced till date.They have three spinners in fray ,while Botha would be a automatic selection for his outstanding bowling skills and good batting he provides at the lower order.It would be a toss up between Robin peterson and Imran Tahir,who has waited for 8 years to finally get a nod from south african cricket board.

With all this said south africa still have their weakness.They dearly miss Klusner or Pollock who had provided them with the great all-round option in the last three world cups.they had the power to up the tempo but the present south african side lacks that player which would be crucial at the end stages of the world cup.They would surely make it to the super 8's even to the semis but it's the last 2 hurdles that they needed to cross which would be damn tough.With Kallis sidelined from bowling at the world-cup and talks that he may never be bowling , southafricans have additional pressure if one or two of the regular bowlers in the team get a bang from the opposition.

Truth be told southafrica have the team and all the confidence in them but there is a serious question hanging whether they would be able to give a proper farewell to the most prolific player south africa has ever produced and a very good skipper who took the responsibility when he was just 22 ?

World Cup 2011-The Real Contenders-South Africa

Ah the chokers .that's what the cricket world calls them ,the team that is bet upon to win every world cup yet haven't reached finals of a single world cup for the last three times.Be it t20 or odi or test ,they are a team to reckon with.the first team to beat Australia in Australia for over a decade.This world cup,they have the least number of players who know the pressure that the tournament puts upon them.They have a farewell to give to the world 's best all-rounder - Jacques Kallis  over 20,000 runs and 500 wicket summing up all forms of international cricket he has played.Well do the Proteas finally have the chance to make their dream come through .Do they have the team .Let's find out.

Graeme Smith ,the captain of the South African team  for the past 7 years after the  great debacle against srilanka in 2003 world cup due to a duck-worth lewis miscalculation.He is captaining the side to his final world cup after which he resigns the post.He had successfully taken South Africa to the semis of 007 only to get mauled in the hands of eventual champions Australia.He is  not in the greatest of his forms yet he is threat to any opposition if he gets going.He opens with calm and cool Amla who has the compusre to bat from over no-1 to 50 and allow others to go against the attack.The southafricans have one of the strong middle orders ,only next to India.They have got an all experienced kallis,good stroke players in de villers and duminy .It would be interesting to see who gets the nod between mone van wyk ,faf du plessis and colin ingram.All three of them have shown promise but do they have the substance to step up is a question to be asked.

In the bowling department they have the world's best opening bowlers combo at present in steyn and morkel.They would be ably supported by tsotsobe,a very good bowler who extracts bounce from any kind of pitch he has faced till date.They have three spinners in fray ,while Botha would be a automatic selection for his outstanding bowling skills and good batting he provides at the lower order.It would be a toss up between Robin peterson and Imran Tahir,who has waited for 8 years to finally get a nod from south african cricket board.

With all this said south africa still have their weakness.They dearly miss Klusner or Pollock who had provided them with the great all-round option in the last three world cups.they had the power to up the tempo but the present south african side lacks that player which would be crucial at the end stages of the world cup.They would surely make it to the super 8's even to the semis but it's the last 2 hurdles that they needed to cross which would be damn tough.With Kallis sidelined from bowling at the world-cup and talks that he may never be bowling , southafricans have additional pressure if one or two of the regular bowlers in the team get a bang from the opposition.

Truth be told southafrica have the team and all the confidence in them but there is a serious question hanging whether they would be able to give a proper farewell to the most prolific player south africa has ever produced and a very good skipper who took the responsibility when he was just 22 ?

World Cup 2011-The Real Contenders-Sri Lanka

Lankans were the champions last time when the world cup was held in the sub-continent and 15 years hence they are still one of the strongest teams in the sub-continent. They are a tough nut to crack in home conditions and with opportunity presenting that they have to play away only should they reach the world cup final they are in the position of control.

They do not have Matara Mauler(Sanath Jayasuriya) in their line up this time who introduced to the world how to bat out the opponent in the first fifteen overs but they have Tillekaratne Dilshan who is as good and could for the job. His opening partner upul tharanga has been in prime form in home. So they make a good opening setup which would make srilankan stalwarts kumar sangakkara  and Mahela jayawardane.The presence of samaraweera,chamara silva and chamara kapugedera who can step up when needed also strengthenes the middle order which can be a final free stroke by Angelo Matthews-a fine allrounder the srilankans have discovered in the past 4 years.

It is the bowling department which possess a great challenge to the other teams.With the three M’s (Malinga ,Muralitharan.Mendis) it proves a great challenge to the opposition to get that great start nor the final onslaught .They do have a great bench strength in Kulasekara,Fernando(only one of them could make the final 11),thissara perera and rangana hereath .

With the world cup being held in the own backyard  srilanka have a great chance to win it one more time and bid a great adieu to Muralitharan.