I for one have been surprised bye Australia’s resurgence in recent ODIs, opponents notwithstanding. I won’t lie, I was expecting a prolonged psychological dent into the Australian outfit with a slow resurgence but this has taken me by surprise. This has forced me to re-evaluate my stance on Australia for this World Cup.
The 12th ICC Cricket World Cup is here and it is the 5th time it is being held in England. Despite arguments that the new format is commercial in nature and doesn’t make the World Cup seem like a “Cup of World Teams”, I’d say that the single round-robin format promises to make the World Cup even more exciting.
With 9 months of hindsight, it’s not only the trio who have had time to introspect. We, as the stakeholders of the game should have had introspected as well. Were we right in behaving the way we did or could we have handled our reactions in a better manner?
Post the ball-tampering saga, Australia has brought on the field what many would call a ‘good-boy’ image. While it would seem like a step in the right direction, one could also ask “Why do something to lower an intensity which brought many accolades?”
One cannot put a price on these new batting maestros. A decade ago, it was Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman and Ganguly who had become the talk of the town. Now, it is Smith, Kohli, Williamson and Root. Here is a deep statistical insight and what these players have already achieved so far in their relatively short career.
Sledging is a dark side of cricket. It does have a lighter side to it, for those who try to find it. What can be said without a doubt is that Sledging has produced some of the greatest and the most interesting matches of all time. Sledging yields better, stronger and durable players.
As contrasting as paper and butter in their physical attributes, these 2 swashbuckling southpaws scored runs at will and huge runs at that. At a time, they made 300s look like 100s. Read more about this on-the-field rivalry not many know about.
What will be the eventual outcome of Day-Night Tests? Will it be a historic event in the timeline of cricket or will it forgotten in the sands of time? No one knows. No one can know. However, let’s see what makes it an interesting prospect nonetheless.
While the series hangs in balance, here is a humorous take on the current scenario in the series, the flops and the hits and whatnot!