2012 ICC World Twenty20: Anxiety Begins, Excitement is On…

The 2012 ICC World Twenty20 began in Sri Lanka on September 18 with no clear favorites but inaugural champions India will fancy their chances on the slow familiar tracks of the island nation where they have played a lot of cricket in recent times.

Seeded second in Group A, which clubs them along side defending champions England and qualifiers Afghanistan, India were on a high after clinching the 50-over World Cup in 2011. But their fortunes took a turn for the worst soon after with Test whitewashes in England and Australia.

On a roller-coaster ride since 2011, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men have a decent shot at the title as Sri Lanka is a home away from home for Indian cricketers. The turning tracks which might bamboozle the likes of Australia and England would be hardly a concern for the Indians, who have the requisite spin arsenal to exploit the conditions as well.

Advantage for Hosts

The hosts themselves have a good chance of winning their first ICC world title after the 1996 50-over World Cup triumph in India. The talent is there and so is the much-needed familiarity with conditions, and the only thing that Mahela Jayawardene's flock has to guard against is the pressure that would come with playing in front of adoring home fans.

Not to forget the ever-so-unpredictable Pakistan, a team which can be outstanding one day and completely pedestrian the other. Mohammad Hafeez appears to have a balanced Twenty20 side with all ends covered.

What they have to battle are non-cricketing issues. To present themselves as a cohesive unit would be the challenge for Pakistan even though they are coming into the event on a high after beating Australia. The Asian giants aside, the tournament will be another arduous test for the Australians, once the seemingly-invincible world champions and now a struggling team in transition.

Gone are the days when the Aussies took the field as the outright favorites. Led by a rather low-profile batsman George Bailey, the side from Down Under still has to get comfortable with the format and it would be a tough task for them to master conditions which they have traditionally found hard to cope with. Clubbed alongside West Indies and the sprightly Ireland, the Australians will have it tough. In fact, they rank below perceived-minnows Ireland in the ICC table which quite reflects their state right now. Defending champions England, on the other hand, don't even look the part in the absence of a certain Kevin Pietersen.

The big-hitting controversial batsman has been forced to retire from the format as he has quit ODI cricket and England Board's rules bar players leaving one-dayers from T20s as well.

His ouster has created a vacuum which would be tough to fill for any other batsman and in a format which is called slam-bang, it could prove to be decisive.

Then there are AB de Villiers' South Africa. A team which has not won a single ICC world trophy even though, it has always been counted among the favorites. Labeled the 'chokers' for not coming good in multi-team events, the South Africans would be desperate to wipe off the tag. They seem to have the ammunition besides being the rare non-subcontinental side which doesn't find it tough in the region's dust-bowls.

The Proteas just have to keep it steady when things get rocky, which might end up being the recipe for that elusive success in ICC events.

The West Indies and New Zealand are the dark-horses of the tournament. The Caribbeans would want Chris Gayle to be at his destructive best after making peace with the board to force a national comeback. The West Indoes were a team on the slide but Gayle's comeback and some decent results in the past few months show that they seem to be steadily gaining in confidence and that would come in handy when they square off against the perceived stronger teams.

New Zealand has traditionally been known to save its best for big-ticket events. In inspirational Daniel Vettori, they have a world-class spinner who can make the most of the conditions. Australia's trans-Tasmanian rivals are, in fact, a better bet than Bailey's men to survive longer in the tournament.

The qualifiers — Afghanistan and Ireland — and Zimbabwe would try to ensure that they don't just make up the numbers and present a fight to ensure interesting contests. Looking at the overall picture, the event promises to be a cracking affair and it would be hard to put money on any team given the diversity of talent.

Wide Open Championship

This T20 World Cup looks wide open with India slight favorites in terms or odds and sentiment. But you could throw a blanket of even terms over the next seven teams with New Zealand and Bangladesh being the outsiders. Whatever else can be said about Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe, they cannot win the big thing.

It will however be quite interesting to observe whether the minnows, Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe are more competitive in the T20 than in the 50-over format.

There is a very good chance that in T20 games such as India versus Afghanistan will be more interesting in T20 than in 50 over form.

The toughest group is that of Pakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh where one of those teams will miss out making it to the Super Eights. All the other favorite sides should make it comfortably through the group stages unless the weather intervenes.

India’s Chance

India’s success appears to depend on how desperate they are to win the cup, keeping the devastating batsman Virat Kohi in mind. Can they match the intensity of their long journey in the 2011 World Cup where it seemed almost imperative for the team and nation that they prevail?

In those tough and defining moments of tournament play, it is this hunger and desire that can carry you through those moments of crisis. In my time as coach with the team, the biggest enemy at various times seemed to be success.

Any major win or forward step of progress seemed to be followed by a period of time where our results were mixed. It wasn’t until we found ourselves in the situation of having to win a game from all the outside pressures that our quality of play would pick up.

Among India’s main opponents, three teams stand out in terms of hunger and desire. South Africa, New Zealand and Bangladesh have never won a World Cup of any significance (This is outside the Champions Trophy which is now on its last legs).

India Wins ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

Chasing, the victory target set by the Lankan team, 274 runs to win, the host India lost its two opening batsman, Master and Blaster, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar early on but Gautam Gambhir and Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni rebuilt the innings and sealed the victory in India's favour by six wickets with 10 balls to spare. With the victory India crowned itself with the prestigious 'World Cup Trophy' at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 2 April, business capital of India. Pre-tournament favorites India spectacularly broke the jinx of the nation hosting the final of the World Cup not clinching cricket's most treasured prize in earlier editions.

India rewrote history -- a piece of which they had first scripted 28 years ago -- capping a run that got better and better as the 2011 World Cup progressed.

Clash of Asian Giants

Two Asian teams faced each other in ODI World Cup Cricket final for the first time ever. Since 1992, every final of the World Cup tournament has had one Asian team but never had both finalists been from South Asia. Moreover, this is first time in the ICC Cricket World Cup history that the host country has won the title of 'Championship.' This was the second consecutive final for Sri Lanka, who lost out to Australia in 2007. The country has won the title by defeating Australia in 1996. While India also entered third time in the final of the tournament. After winning the silverware in 1983, India on second time had entered in the final in 2003, but lost to Australia that time. As the victory shot was hit by the Indian captain, frenzied celebrations erupted across the country with people bursting firecrackers, distributing sweets and dancing in the streets waving the tricolour. Ecstatic fans, who had been glued to TV sets since afternoon, spilled into the roads, greeting each other, honking cars and dancing to the beats of drums, choking key street intersections and main thoroughfares. A festive atmosphere prevailed across the country. India's President, Pratibha Patil watched the pulsating final with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Mahinda Rajapaksa. With this, the six weeks journey of the tournament of the 10th edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup-2011 came to an end.

Yuvraj Singh, who strode in to strike some imperious blows, was declared Man of the Series for his stupendous all-round effort for the triumphant Indian team. His two wickets in the final made his total tally of wickets soar up to 15, making him the sixth highest wicket-taker in the tournament. He also has scored 362 runs in the World Cup. Indian captain Dhoni was Man of the Match.

Memorable Moments

The tournament has helped create some of the most memorable moments in the history of the sport, including one of the most dramatic games of all time, when Australia and South Africa tied the Cricket World Cup 1999 semifinal, and one of the greatest shocks, when India defeated West Indies in the final of the 1983 event. India's star batsman, Sachin Tendulkar was the official event ambassador for the International Cricket Council World Cup 2011. In his role as ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 ambassador he was called upon to promote and support a variety of ICC initiatives for the tournament. Tendulkar’s sixth World Cup campaign finally turned out to be the one he will remember for the rest of his life — 19 long years since the day he played his first Cup match back in 1992.

Semifinals

Chasing, the target set by India, 261 to win, Pakistan fell short by 29 runs in a high-voltage second semi-final match, played at Mohali in Chandigarh. With this win, India not only qualified for the final, but its World Cup record remain intact (India have won all five encounters against Pakistan in World Cup).

The enabled India to maintain its unbeaten record against the arch rivals in 36 years of World Cup history, was the result of some brilliant bowling and fielding show by the home side after its much-vaunted batting line-up had posted a modest 260 for nine to which Man of the Match Sachin Tendulkar made a lucky 85-run contribution.

Sri Lankan team entered for the title clash, outclassing New Zealand by 10 wickets at the Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on 29 March. New Zealand were dismissed for 217 in 48.5 overs. After the way Sri Lanka demolished England in the last match, New Zealand needed to post a score in excess of at least 250 to have a realistic chance of stopping the home team from storming into their second straight World Cup final.

After winning the silverware in 1983, India on second time had entered in the final in 2003, but lost to Australia that time. Two Asian teams will face each other in ODI World Cup Cricket final for the first time ever. Since 1992, every final of the World Cup tournament has had one Asian team but never have both finalists been from South Asia.

End of Murali's Magic

One of the finest and at the same time controversial spinners of all time, Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan bowed out of international cricket as highest wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs though he failed to make any impact in his swansong match -- the World Cup summit clash against India. The 38-year-old off-spinner walked into sunset after an illustrious 19-year career as Sri Lanka lost to India in the World Cup final by six wickets. Muralitharan has already quit Test cricket with a record 800 wickets.

Muralitharan's swansong appearance on home soil could not have been better as he scalped a wicket of his last ball in international cricket, a similar feat that happened in his final Test, in the World Cup semifinal.

Other Highlights

The opening match of the ongoing tournament was played between India and Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla national stadium in Mirpur in Bangladesh on 19th February, while the Final match of the world cup was held on 2 April, 2011 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai city, business capital of India. The tenth edition of cricket's quadrennial showpiece, featured 14 teams, played in India, a dozen in Sri Lanka and eight in Bangladesh. Nine editions of the tournament have taken place to date, with the event being won by Australia on four occasions (1987, 1999, 2003 and 2007), West Indies twice (1975 and 1979), and India (1983), Pakistan (1992) and Sri Lanka (1996) on one occasion. The 2011 Cricket World Cup winning team took home a prize money of US$ 3 million and US$ 1.5 million for runner-up. The 43 days (19 February to 2 April 2011) event returned to the subcontinent after 15 years, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are jointly hosting this world cup. Pakistan was also to host the world cup but lost the opportunity because of security reasons. India hosted cricket world cup in 1987 along with Pakistan and Sri Lanka in 1996. The Current world cup is the third world cup for India. India is the second country to host cricket world cup for more times after England, which hosted world cup for four times.

Sri Lankan opener was just three runs ahead of Sachin Tendulkar on the list of the highest run-scorers in the current World Cup, but he took his tally to 500 runs with what was not exactly his most fluent innings in the tournament.

Indian seam bowler Zaheer Khan is the joint highest wicket taker in the World Cup along with Shahid Afridi of Pakistan. Zaheer ended up with a tally of 21 wickets.

Gary Kirsten ended his term as the Indian cricket team coach on a euphoric note, guiding the country to an historic World Cup triumph.