The Proteas
Its time for the Final four!!!!
Yes the teams that I am writing about are the ones which will reach the super eight.(thats pretty obvious aint it?) And the first four teams that I wrote about are the one which I think will not make it to the semi-finals. Why? Because I think all of those 4 teams will lose to these four teams.
Having said that I shall now discuss the Proteas - South Africa.
The two words that come to mind when you think about this team and past world cups are : CHOKERS and UNLUCKY.
'Chokers' is a term oft used to describe this team and many rule this team out just because of this tag. They have somehow managed to lose out during the big matches and that has probably been the difference between them and the Aussies. But if there is somebody who can remove that tag for them then it is going to be Graeme Smith.
'Unlucky'- One can say that they have been one of the most unlucky teams in world cup history. 1996 - A perfect route to the quarters was spoiled by a Lara blitz and they were out of it.
1999 - A controversial Herchelle Gibbs catch and a semifinal tie and once again they were denied.
Coming to the present team, the immediate feeling one gets is that this is a strong outfit especially in the shorter version of the game. In terms of leading from the front, Graeme Smith stands out. Though I am not a huge fan of his, I have to admit that his attitude and strong leadership is definitely praiseworthy.
Smith, Gibbs, Kallis, Prince - They form the crux of the batting order. While Smith and Gibbs are attacking players, Kallis provides the right balance, and Prince is the rock in their middle order who lends solidity to their batting. Following them are hitters like Kemp, Boucher, and Pollock all of whom can cause tremendous damage in the final overs.
The bowling could be a cause for their undoing. Nel, Ntini, Pollock, Langeveldt, Kemp, and Hall sounds like a very good attack not to forget Kallis. But the biggest problem with this attack is the sameness and lack of variety. On pitches that are expected in the West Indies, the team that is successful is likely to be the one having a good variety in their attack. Ofcourse on a helpful deck these bowlers could wreak havoc and South Africa's chances in this world cup might revolve around their bowling attack.
This is definitely the last world cup for Pollock, Gibbs, and Kallis who have been stalwarts of South African cricket and they will definitely want to leave a mark on this world cup.
The format of this world cup is one where bad luck is not going to play a big part until they reach the semifinals. But its the Proteas, so anything can happen!!!!!
The only reason I place them at the bottom of my final four is again because they are Chokers!!!
Final Word: A good team but not world cup winners!!!
Yes the teams that I am writing about are the ones which will reach the super eight.(thats pretty obvious aint it?) And the first four teams that I wrote about are the one which I think will not make it to the semi-finals. Why? Because I think all of those 4 teams will lose to these four teams.
Having said that I shall now discuss the Proteas - South Africa.
The two words that come to mind when you think about this team and past world cups are : CHOKERS and UNLUCKY.
'Chokers' is a term oft used to describe this team and many rule this team out just because of this tag. They have somehow managed to lose out during the big matches and that has probably been the difference between them and the Aussies. But if there is somebody who can remove that tag for them then it is going to be Graeme Smith.
'Unlucky'- One can say that they have been one of the most unlucky teams in world cup history. 1996 - A perfect route to the quarters was spoiled by a Lara blitz and they were out of it.
1999 - A controversial Herchelle Gibbs catch and a semifinal tie and once again they were denied.
Coming to the present team, the immediate feeling one gets is that this is a strong outfit especially in the shorter version of the game. In terms of leading from the front, Graeme Smith stands out. Though I am not a huge fan of his, I have to admit that his attitude and strong leadership is definitely praiseworthy.
Smith, Gibbs, Kallis, Prince - They form the crux of the batting order. While Smith and Gibbs are attacking players, Kallis provides the right balance, and Prince is the rock in their middle order who lends solidity to their batting. Following them are hitters like Kemp, Boucher, and Pollock all of whom can cause tremendous damage in the final overs.
The bowling could be a cause for their undoing. Nel, Ntini, Pollock, Langeveldt, Kemp, and Hall sounds like a very good attack not to forget Kallis. But the biggest problem with this attack is the sameness and lack of variety. On pitches that are expected in the West Indies, the team that is successful is likely to be the one having a good variety in their attack. Ofcourse on a helpful deck these bowlers could wreak havoc and South Africa's chances in this world cup might revolve around their bowling attack.
This is definitely the last world cup for Pollock, Gibbs, and Kallis who have been stalwarts of South African cricket and they will definitely want to leave a mark on this world cup.
The format of this world cup is one where bad luck is not going to play a big part until they reach the semifinals. But its the Proteas, so anything can happen!!!!!
The only reason I place them at the bottom of my final four is again because they are Chokers!!!
Final Word: A good team but not world cup winners!!!
posted by Raj at 7:29 pm
3 Comments:
If this post was published in cricbuzz.com, u would have recieved a reply something like this:
" Proteas are Chokers and Pakis are Jokers "
LOLLL
Hmm good point you make abt the lack of variety in the bowling attack, their slow bowling options are as good as none. That was NZ are a much better side. SA might struggle against quality spin, but their batting is a bit too strong and if their new ball bowlers gets the wickets initially then the lack of variety might not impact much. Lets wait and watch...
Dood, will get back to the tech aspects later. PLEASE change the background OR font colour. My eyesight is bad enough already.
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